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End Times

Man Who Created The Facebook ‘Like’ Button Now Warns Your Mind Can Be ‘Hijacked’ Through Social Media

Justin Rosenstein was one of a small group of Facebook employees who decided to create the least resistance, a very addictive single click ‘like’ button.

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Justin Rosenstein had tweaked his laptop’s operating system to block Reddit, banned himself from Snapchat, which he compares to heroin, and imposed limits on his use of Facebook. But even that wasn’t enough.

“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” Revelation 13:15 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s very interesting to understand that the very people who created the highly-addictive ‘like’ system have now installed extensions on their devices to block those same features from being active. What does that tell you about how enslaving social media can be? Just imagine how it will be in a few years when AI is fully rolled out, and the devices are doing our thinking for us. The “brave new world’ is a very scary place to be, and I honestly don’t think any of us really know what we’re playing with. 

In August, the 34-year-old tech executive took a more radical step to restrict his use of social media and other addictive technologies. Rosenstein purchased a new iPhone and instructed his assistant to set up a parental-control feature to prevent him from downloading any apps.

He was particularly aware of the allure of Facebook “likes”, which he describes as “bright dings of pseudo-pleasure” that can be as hollow as they are seductive. And Rosenstein should know: he was the Facebook engineer who created the “like” button in the first place.

A decade after he stayed up all night coding a prototype of what was then called an “awesome” button, Rosenstein belongs to a small but growing band of Silicon Valley heretics who complain about the rise of the so-called “attention economy”: an internet shaped around the demands of an advertising economy.

These refuseniks are rarely founders or chief executives, who have little incentive to deviate from the mantra that their companies are making the world a better place. Instead, they tend to have worked a rung or two down the corporate ladder: designers, engineers and product managers who, like Rosenstein, several years ago put in place the building blocks of a digital world from which they are now trying to disentangle themselves. “It is very common,” Rosenstein says, “for humans to develop things with the best of intentions and for them to have unintended, negative consequences.”

Rosenstein, who also helped create Gchat during a stint at Google, and now leads a San Francisco-based company that improves office productivity, appears most concerned about the psychological effects on people who, research shows, touch, swipe or tap their phone 2,617 times a day.

There is growing concern that as well as addicting users, technology is contributing toward so-called “continuous partial attention”, severely limiting people’s ability to focus, and possibly lowering IQ. One recent study showed that the mere presence of smartphones damages cognitive capacity – even when the device is turned off. “Everyone is distracted,” Rosenstein says. “All of the time.”

But those concerns are trivial compared with the devastating impact upon the political system that some of Rosenstein’s peers believe can be attributed to the rise of social media and the attention-based market that drives it.

Drawing a straight line between addiction to social media and political earthquakes like Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump, they contend that digital forces have completely upended the political system and, left unchecked, could even render democracy as we know it obsolete.

In 2007, Rosenstein was one of a small group of Facebook employees who decided to create a path of least resistance – a single click – to “send little bits of positivity” across the platform. Facebook’s “like” feature was, Rosenstein says, “wildly” successful: engagement soared as people enjoyed the short-term boost they got from giving or receiving social affirmation, while Facebook harvested valuable data about the preferences of users that could be sold to advertisers. The idea was soon copied by Twitter, with its heart-shaped “likes” (previously star-shaped “favourites”), Instagram, and countless other apps and websites.

It was Rosenstein’s colleague, Leah Pearlman, then a product manager at Facebook and on the team that created the Facebook “like”, who announced the feature in a 2009 blogpost. Now 35 and an illustrator, Pearlman confirmed via email that she, too, has grown disaffected with Facebook “likes” and other addictive feedback loops. She has installed a web browser plug-in to eradicate her Facebook news feed, and hired a social media manager to monitor her Facebook page so that she doesn’t have to.

“One reason I think it is particularly important for us to talk about this now is that we may be the last generation that can remember life before,” Rosenstein says. It may or may not be relevant that Rosenstein, Pearlman and most of the tech insiders questioning today’s attention economy are in their 30s, members of the last generation that can remember a world in which telephones were plugged into walls.

It is revealing that many of these younger technologists are weaning themselves off their own products, sending their children to elite Silicon Valley schools where iPhones, iPads and even laptops are banned. They appear to be abiding by a Biggie Smalls lyric from their own youth about the perils of dealing crack cocaine: never get high on your own supply.

One morning in April this year, designers, programmers and tech entrepreneurs from across the world gathered at a conference centre on the shore of the San Francisco Bay. They had each paid up to $1,700 to learn how to manipulate people into habitual use of their products, on a course curated by conference organiser Nir Eyal.

Eyal, 39, the author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, has spent several years consulting for the tech industry, teaching techniques he developed by closely studying how the Silicon Valley giants operate.

“The technologies we use have turned into compulsions, if not full-fledged addictions,” Eyal writes. “It’s the impulse to check a message notification. It’s the pull to visit YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter for just a few minutes, only to find yourself still tapping and scrolling an hour later.” None of this is an accident, he writes. It is all “just as their designers intended”.

He explains the subtle psychological tricks that can be used to make people develop habits, such as varying the rewards people receive to create “a craving”, or exploiting negative emotions that can act as “triggers”. “Feelings of boredom, loneliness, frustration, confusion and indecisiveness often instigate a slight pain or irritation and prompt an almost instantaneous and often mindless action to quell the negative sensation,” Eyal writes.

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Less than 5 minutes after posting this story on social media, Facebook banned me for 6 days in retaliation for daring to expose them.

Attendees of the 2017 Habit Summit might have been surprised when Eyal walked on stage to announce that this year’s keynote speech was about “something a little different”. He wanted to address the growing concern that technological manipulation was somehow harmful or immoral. He told his audience that they should be careful not to abuse persuasive design, and wary of crossing a line into coercion.

But he was defensive of the techniques he teaches, and dismissive of those who compare tech addiction to drugs. “We’re not freebasing Facebook and injecting Instagram here,” he said. He flashed up a slide of a shelf filled with sugary baked goods. “Just as we shouldn’t blame the baker for making such delicious treats, we can’t blame tech makers for making their products so good we want to use them,” he said. “Of course that’s what tech companies will do. And frankly: do we want it any other way?”

Without irony, Eyal finished his talk with some personal tips for resisting the lure of technology. He told his audience he uses a Chrome extension, called DF YouTube, “which scrubs out a lot of those external triggers” he writes about in his book, and recommended an app called Pocket Points that “rewards you for staying off your phone when you need to focus”.

Finally, Eyal confided the lengths he goes to protect his own family. He has installed in his house an outlet timer connected to a router that cuts off access to the internet at a set time every day. “The idea is to remember that we are not powerless,” he said. “We are in control.”

But are we? If the people who built these technologies are taking such radical steps to wean themselves free, can the rest of us reasonably be expected to exercise our free will?

Not according to Tristan Harris, a 33-year-old former Google employee turned vocal critic of the tech industry. “All of us are jacked into this system,” he says. “All of our minds can be hijacked. Our choices are not as free as we think they are.” source

 


 

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8 States To Ban Gas-Powered Cars As Rush Towards UN Agenda 2030 Comes Into View Forcing Our Global Society Into An End Times Dystopia

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8 states are planning to BAN the sale of gas-powered cars entirely – after Biden unveiled ambitious plans to phase them to comply with UN Agenda 2030

We saw our very first Tesla Cyber Truck in the wild yesterday, as we were pulling out of our local Buc-ee’s after filling up our gas-powered Jeep Wrangler with low-priced fuel. If your state doesn’t have a Buc-ee’s, you are absolutely missing out, but I digress. We spotted the Tesla Cyber Truck turning at the light and coming towards us, and it was at that moment it was again confirmed to me, for perhaps the thousandth time, we are living in the last days and watching the coming dystopia rising with frightening speed.

“And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.” Genesis 49:1 (KJB)

The Tesla truck looks a lot like what they imagined vehicles in the Tribulation would look like in movies such as A Thief In The Night and A Distant Thunder. That is to say an amateur design on a low budget, that’s the first thought I got when I saw it, and it made me silently chuckle. The second thought that hit me was that it looks a whole lot like the type of vehicle that, when they come to haul off believers in Jesus to the concentration camps, it will be a vehicle that looks a whole lot like a Tesla Cyber Truck. It wasn’t funny at that point, as you might imagine. If the Lord tarries, we will soon find ourselves living in a dystopia where gas-powered anything is outlawed, meat is gone, personal privacy a thing of the past, and all the rest. As you read this, 8 states are preparing to outlaw gas-powered cars, with many more to follow. Texas and Florida will be the last two hold outs.

Educate yourself on the UN Agenda 2030 mandate, because you will soon be living under it. Now would be a good time to remind the Lord of the Rapture.

Gas-powered vehicles will soon be outlawed as America complies with UN Agenda 2030

FROM THE DAILY MAIL UK: At least eight states are planning to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in the next decade – and others are considering joining them. Only zero-emission vehicles can be sold in participating states beginning from the 2035 model year, according to the Advanced Clean Cars II legislation.

The rule, which was first adopted by California, means that automakers and dealerships would be banned from selling new gas cars in these states from that point onwards. Americans will not be forced to take their gas-powered cars off the road, however, and will still be able to buy used and secondhand gas vehicles. These states have gone further than the latest federal legislation announced last week, where the Biden administration released new rules to gradually phase out gas cars by 2032.

The new federal legislation requires automakers to reduce the tailpipe emissions of new vehicles by around 50 percent from model year 2026 to 2032.

In order to achieve this, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is targeting 35 percent to 56 percent of vehicles needing to be EVs by 2032, and 13 percent to 36 percent needing to be plug-in hybrids by that date.

It was initially proposed that two thirds of all cars sold by 2030 would need to be EVs, but the brakes were put on that plan last week, giving a concession to carmakers and giving them more ways to comply. But carmakers will eventually stop making full gas-powered successors to the beloved muscle cars of the 1960s and 1970s under Biden’s new edict. According to personal finance site Money, California was the first state to adopt the Advanced Clean Cars II rule, which will put a complete ban to new sales of gas-powered cars by 2035.

Plans in the state, which is run by governor Gavin Newsom, specify that 35 percent of all new car sales will need to be zero-emission by 2026, rising to 68 percent by 2030.

Rhode Island was the most recent state to join the list of states pledging to ban the sale of gas-powered cars, joining Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington. According to the site, the District of Columbia has also made the commitment. Other states have adopted versions of the legislation, but not yet pledged to ban gas-powered cars entirely by that date. READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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End Times

A Massive Security Fence Ordered To Surround The Capitol As Pretend President Joe Biden Prepares To Attempt The Teleprompter For SOTU 2024

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A massive fence will ironically surround the Capitol while President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address on March 7, as federal government issues highest possible security level

Oh, the irony! As Barack Obama prepares to give the State of the Union SOTU 2024 speech through pretend president Joe Biden, the federal government has assigned its highest possible security status to the event with a massive security fence having been put up last night. We don’t need walls and fences on our southern border to keep out illegal alien strangers, but we do need walls and fences to prevent the American people from getting too close to the Capitol building. If we are not a nation on the brink of civil war, I’ll eat may hat.

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” Proverbs 29:2 (KJB)

I won’t be watching the State of the Union address, my King James Bible has already informed me what our true state actually is, we are a drop of a bucket. We already know that the actual president, Barack Obama in his third term, has written the words that will come across Biden’s teleprompter. The only question is can he successfully navigate and deliver those words in a coherent and rational way? I’m thinking not. My heart hurts for the shape America is in in 2024, it’s a hot mess and about to get hotter and messier. In the meantime, enjoy the Third World fence around the capitol of the most-powerful nation on Earth. I wonder if the State of the Union will be addressing that, probably not.

Security fence goes up at Capitol for State of the Union address

FROM GAZETTEXTRA: The Capitol Police Board on Friday approved the installation of the fencing. A security fence went up around the Capitol for last year’s State of the Union speech. The State of the Union is designated as a National Special Security Event, the highest security status the federal government can assign to an event. These are determined by the size, scope and potential threat profile.

U.S. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said people should expect to see a heavy law enforcement presence around the Capitol complex. He noted that there will be technology, plainclothes officers and support teams.

The agency is working with Capitol Police, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and dozens of other federal and city agencies, Guglielmi said.

The House sergeant-at-arms led a briefing earlier this week that included representatives from the Pentagon, White House and several other agencies and stakeholders on security preparations for the event, a source familiar with the briefing said. READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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End Times

US Power Grid Is Starting To Fail As The Relentless Energy Demands Of Clean Technology, Data Centers, EVs And Crypto Mining Are Pushing It To Blackout

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Vast swaths of the United States are at risk of running short of power as electricity-hungry data centers and clean-technology factories proliferate around the country, leaving utilities and regulators grasping for credible plans to expand the nation’s creaking power grid.

Do you ever wonder if our leaders here in America are really as stupid as they appear to be, making decisions that are absolutely asinine in their totality? Or, is all this a calculated and carefully crafter agenda to bring down our nation in a ruinous heap? Today we ponder our insane rush to clean technology and electric everything while at the same time possessing a power grid that is unable to comply with the demands made on it.

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.” Ezekiel 22:25 (KJB)

Back in November of 2023, Barack Obama released the dystopian end times movie ‘Leave The World Behind’ which shows you how a nation obsessed with electric vehicles and technology winds up. I might add also that we wind up there because our rogue government has intentionally pushed us to the conclusion, as shown in Obama’s movie. You can’t believe the vast majority of stuff that Obama says, but you can believe him when he shows us America’s future in ‘Leave The World Behind’. Whatever you do, don’t buy into the EV hype, don’t give up your gas stove, and do everything you can to reduce your dependence on electricity as much as possible. The United States power grid is going to fail, only a matter of time.

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Amid explosive demand, America is running out of power

FROM MICROSOFT START: In Georgia, demand for industrial power is surging to record highs, with the projection of electricity use for the next decade now 17 times what it was only recently. Arizona Public Service, the largest utility in that state, is also struggling to keep up, projecting it will be out of transmission capacity before the end of the decade absent major upgrades.

Northern Virginia needs the equivalent of several large nuclear power plants to serve all the new data centers planned and under construction. Texas, where electricity shortages are already routine on hot summer days, faces the same dilemma.

The soaring demand is touching off a scramble to try to squeeze more juice out of an aging power grid while pushing commercial customers to go to extraordinary lengths to lock down energy sources, such as building their own power plants.

“When you look at the numbers, it is staggering,” said Jason Shaw, chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates electricity. “It makes you scratch your head and wonder how we ended up in this situation. How were the projections that far off? This has created a challenge like we have never seen before.”

A major factor behind the skyrocketing demand is the rapid innovation in artificial intelligence, which is driving the construction of large warehouses of computing infrastructure that require exponentially more power than traditional data centers. AI is also part of a huge scale-up of cloud computing. Tech firms like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft are scouring the nation for sites for new data centers, and many lesser-known firms are also on the hunt.

The proliferation of crypto-mining, in which currencies like bitcoin are transacted and minted, is also driving data center growth. It is all putting new pressures on an overtaxed grid — the network of transmission lines and power stations that move electricity around the country. Bottlenecks are mounting, leaving both new generators of energy, particularly clean energy, and large consumers facing growing wait times for hookups. READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

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