Free Republic

A former Twitter executive just blew the whistle against the Big Tech platform for allegedly ignoring serious cybersecurity problems and apparently misleading prospective owner Elon Musk on spam bots. Both CNN and The Washington Post released stories documenting explosive allegations by former Twitter head of security Peter “Mudge” Zatko. Zatko’s whistleblower complaint, which both outlets reported was sent to Congress and other federal agencies, warned about “‘extreme, egregious deficiencies’ in its defenses against hackers, as well as its meager efforts to fight spam,” The Post summarized. The complaint itself alleges that Twitter was “Lying about Bots to Elon Musk.” The...

We previously wrote about Big Tech giant Twitter getting both good and bad news on its lawsuit against Tesla CEO Elon Musk for dropping his bid to purchase the company in July. Sure, a judge had agreed with Twitter that a delay in starting the case until next February–as Musk wanted–wasn’t going to happen, with the proceedings now starting in early October. But the company also got the bad news that the “uncertainty” of the incomplete deal has shaken investor confidence, causing Twitter to post major losses to its bottom line.Now, the Musk legal team has officially responded to Twitter’s...

We think we know how he did it, but we're not going to explain it yet. Don't want to give others ideas. Meanwhile, we've temporarily disabled the login program while John makes some changes tonight to try to block bots. Hopefully, he'll have the programming complete tonight. Sorry about the mess, but looks like the mods have most of it deleted.

Many German lawmakers were flooded with messages during the recent debate on the UN migration pact, in what appeared to be the work of social media bots, said Ralph Brinkhaus, the head of the parliamentary group of the ruling conservative CDU party. The emails “often had same blocs of texts”, Brinkhaus told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in an interview published on Sunday. “But most of all, this wave of untruths and defamation was unleashed online and on social media,” he added, urging a series of measures to fight disinformation. On social media, a “bot” is a label used for automated programs...

Yahoo has tripled down on what was already the largest data breach in history, saying it affected all 3 billion accounts on its service, not the 1 billion it revealed late last year. The company announced Tuesday that it’s providing notice to additional user accounts affected by the August 2013 data theft. […] Following its acquisition by Verizon in June, Yahoo says, it obtained new intelligence while investigating the breach with help from outside forensic experts. It says the stolen customer information did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data or bank account information. …

2.2% of page views of FreeRepublic originate from India, according to the Alexa website: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/freerepublic.com Now, I suppose there could be a contingent of loyal posters from India, but I strongly suspect this represents the hot houses we've all heard about of serial posters and disruptors who come out of the wood work, especially during primary season, to push a given candidate and then switch to "I'm not going to vote" mode come general. Since there are apparently thousands of real Freepers from India, I encourage you to post here to dissuade me of what I feel certain is correct.

Finally, at least one Republican is getting tech-savvy: A Texas Republican on Monday said President Obama’s gun control campaign is a fraud based on fake messages over Twitter. Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) accused Obama of trying to make support for his position look stronger than it really is by flooding Twitter with messages from people who don’t exist. . . . Stockman said that in response to Obama’s call for people to tweet their congressman in support of gun control legislation, he received just 16 tweets. But he said all of these messages were identical, and that a closer look...

Like noxious bugs swarming over a crumbling tenement, followers of Ron Paul have invaded the blogosphere. Their target is anyone who dares to criticize their hero. Bloggers have dealt with them in various ways. Some have tried banning them outright. Others allow readers to engage them in back-and-forth debates that can easily take a thread to several hundred responses. I used to find the Paulites annoying, but recently I had a revelation: Far from being scorned, Paul’s rabid fans should be welcomed and encouraged. We should do everything we can to make certain they keep pushing their man, sending him...

Let's start with Wednesday night's CNN/YouTube debate. I'll have to admit. This is the most entertaining debate format of the season. While many of the questions are dumb, I like that the candidates are uneasy and having to roll with the punches. Here's a wrapup of the Republican version on Wednesday. But the biggest disappointment for me was that the guys at Red State Update didn't make the cut this time. Back in the summer, they were the hit of the Democratic Debate with a question about Al Gore. (see Joe Legge's Blog) But this time, they're questions were too...

State field director predicts second, even first in Iowa It seems like when we're young, we like to break a few rules.  Staying out a little too late, sneaking a drink before that official legal age, or backing a candidate who's outside the established mold (YEEEEEAH!) Several of those dynamics were on display Saturday at Olive Court, a notoriously wild tailgate spot three blocks from Iowa City's Kinnick Stadium.  It was here, just a year ago, that John Kerry was infamously photographed with a beer bong.  And into the anarchy marched the Ron Paul revolution. Ron Paul wasn't imbibing...

It sometimes seems as if someone is playing a cruel practical joke on Ron Paul. He goes to a college and delivers the same speech he's given for the past 30 years of his political career, the one espousing the Austrian school of economics. Only now the audience is packed with hundreds of kids in RON PAUL REVOLUTION T shirts who go nuts — giving standing ovations when he drones on about getting rid of the Federal Reserve and returning to the gold standard. After a speech at Iowa State last month, when nearly half the crowd had to stand...

<p>If Texas congressman Ron Paul is elected president in 2008, he may be the first leader of the free world put into power with the help of a global network of hacked PCs spewing spam, according to computer-security researchers who've analyzed a recent flurry of e-mail supporting the long-shot Republican candidate.</p>

Ron Paul’s inclusive message attracting African American votersMaple Brown, USA DailyPublished 10/25/2007 - 11:34 a.m. EDTRon Paul’s inclusive message of peace, freedom, and prosperity may be attracting African American voters. According to this poll, Ron Paul leads his GOP opponents among black voters in general election contests.In general election matches Paul loses among African American voters 60% to 33% against Hillary Clinton and loses 61% to 31% to Barack Obama.In 2004 CNN exit polls show Bush receiving 11% of the African American vote in the general election against Kerry.The averages of general election match up against either Hillary Clinton or...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 — If media muscle is any measure of a candidate, Representative Ron Paul of Texas is getting ready to flex his. In the last two weeks, Mr. Paul — a Republican presidential candidate — has spent nearly a half-million dollars on radio advertisements in four early primary states, the first major media investment of his campaign. On Tuesday night, he will take a seat opposite Jay Leno. And on Monday, a campaign spokesman said, he will roll out his first major television advertising campaign, spending $1.1 million on five new commercials to be shown in the New...

The ubiquitous and web-savvy supporters of Ron Paul now have one less forum in which to vent their rage. The influential conservative blog Redstate.com placed a ban last night on all Paul commentary from readers who are recent arrivals to the blog. Paul's followers are angry that the Libertarian congressman can’t seem to get traction in national polls as he bids for the Republican presidential nomination. Paul — a representative from Texas who ran for president in 1988 on the Libertarian Party ticket — remains mired in the low single digits. The post on Redstate, “Attention, Ron Paul Supporters (Life...

When actual Americans are polled (live) Ron Paul's campaign for the Republican Presidential Nomination consistantly draws around 2%. Yet his "supporters" on the internet make him the winner of many internet polls. How can this be explained?

%-John McCain, Sam Brownback, Alan Keyes, John Cox >1%-Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter 12%-Fred Thompson 73%-Ron Paul

Composite vote: Ron Paul 15.2% 1,196 Member vote: Ron Paul 5.5% 161 Non-member vote: Ron Paul 20.8% 1,035 We're being spammed.

Ron Paul clearly won the Republican presidential debate last night held in New Hampshire. Viewers were asked to text in their thoughts on who won the debate, Ron Paul received 34%, Giuliani 17%, all others lower. Fred Thompson who did not appear at the debate was clearly the largest loser as his pro-war stance and republican hard line talking points seem to be not what the people are looking for. Sean Hannity, Fox News pundit, was clearly upset with the results and deliberately ridiculed Congressman Ron Paul. Although outpacing all other candidates by a 2-1 margin, it was clear that...

Who Would The World Elect forthe President of the United States? YOUR VOTE You live in Country was estimated by using your IP Click on the candidate you would vote for: Democratic Candidates Barack ObamaTotal Votes:10,968 Bill RichardsonTotal Votes:261 Chris DoddTotal Votes:63 Dennis KucinichTotal Votes:2,481 Hillary ClintonTotal Votes:2,173 Joe BidenTotal Votes:184 John EdwardsTotal Votes:712 Mike GravelTotal Votes:1,462 Votes for the Democratic party: 18,304 Republican Candidates Duncan HunterTotal Votes:108 Fred ThompsonTotal Votes:459 John McCainTotal Votes:362 Mike HuckabeeTotal Votes:146 Mitt RomneyTotal Votes:397 Ron PaulTotal Votes:14,592 Rudy GiulianiTotal Votes:664 Sam BrownbackTotal Votes:66 Tom TancredoTotal Votes:86 Tommy ThompsonTotal Votes:64 Votes for the Republican party:...