Google Launches News Badges 112
theodp writes "Does it make you sad that you're too grown up to earn Scouting Merit Badges? Well, thanks to the PhDs at Google, you can now start earning Google News badges as you read articles about your favorite topics. The more you read, the higher rank you'll attain; Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and finally, Ultimate. They say, 'Your badges are private by default, but if you want, you can share your badges with your friends. Tell them about your news interests, display your expertise, start a conversation or just plain brag about how well-read you are.'"
Web history mandatory. (Score:5, Insightful)
To get started with badges, visit Google News from a signed-in account with web history
Ha-ha. Fuck no.
I refuse to give up one of the few pieces of data about me that Google allows me to control... for a few pixels.
"Well read" (Score:4, Insightful)
Exactly--a preoccupation with "news" stories is the opposite of being well read. Being well read involves understanding the depths of artistic works / events. News stories provide the opposite, especially from the establishment media. They provide surface-level summaries of what some people have said that generally serve corporate and political interests.
I don't think anyone's immune to being interested in the latest happenings, waiting for some great or tragic event to bolster or destroy a cause or bring salvation or damnation. But this superficiality works against a true understanding of what's going on, and such a reward system incentivizes chasing "what's new" over what's true or what's good.
Re:Web history mandatory. (Score:5, Insightful)
I refuse to give up one of the few pieces of data about me that Google allows me to control... for a few pixels.
I feel much the same way.
But I'm giving it a week before someone creates a firefox/chrome plugin that will autosurf google news and earn you all 500 badges.
Wherever there are online badges, there are people who will cheat to get them.
science fiction doesnt either (Score:5, Insightful)
lets take "magnetar capital" for example.
there has been one book that discusses this little hedge fund, its called EConned (which grew out of a blog called nakedcapitalism.com).
on the other hand there have been a half-dozen news stories about it, some of the first being in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.
there have been pretty much zero science fiction books that deal with financial engineering, credit derivatives, tranched securities, and everything else related to the financial crisis.
there are a lot of good reporters working for the 'corporate media', including louise story and gillian tett.
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i could also talk about the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group Files, which were originally found by an 'independent researcher', but later more thoroughly examined by someone who had worked for the LA Times.
i dont think there are any science fiction books about the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group Files.
Re:This is stupid (Score:2, Insightful)
How does reading the news make you an expert on anything other than reading news?
I'll let you know as soon as I read a story that tells me the answer to your question.
It lets the government know which bottom feeders suck up everything that filters down from the top, thereby indicating if the programming is working or not.