IFTTT -- powerful, simple, dangerous, cool.

If This, then That.

http://ifttt.com/ is the site, the iPhone App is here.

So what the heck IS this thing?

Hmmmm...

Well, it creates 'rules' which monitor your different apps & sites, and if you (or someone else) does something at one of those things, IFTTT then responds by doing something else which you pre-define.

Like what?  Well, my first rule was -- if I post something on this blog, post it on my FB page.  And that worked.  So I then found 'a recipe' (that's what they call the 'rules') which checks this blogs & when I have new post, & it notes the post into my twitter feed.

So in a way, this is good b/c it automates tasks that I always wanted automated.

But it's really easy to imagine what could happen if this app starts posting the wrong stuff in different spots, or posting someone else's stuff into my stuff, or vice versa. 

Imagine if you have a rule that says, 'anytime there's a bikini pic in FB, send me an email' -- but you make the recipe wrong and it sends that email to someone else?!?!?

And yes, you have to imagine that it could send other people's stuff to you.  Which could be good, bad, or annoying depending.

Opportunities for rockin' new stuff, opportunities for torturous hell!  Let's be careful with this one!

Here are my shared recipes so far (9/2013):

Facebook security article -- Not very secure, or 'evil'?

I sent to an email to a writer on Gawker website,  re: Ryan Tate's Article on Gawker "Facebook's Great Betrayal":

Facebook's privacy pullback isn't just outrageous; it's a landmark turning point for the social network. Facebook has blundered before, but the latest changes are far more calculated. The company has, in short, turned evil.

Here's the email I sent to Ryan (which includes a comment I posted on his article):
Ryan,
I just posted this comment on the tail of your article:

I guess I can see why some might see this as 'the grand betrayal', if you want to take no personal responsibility for your data. But why would we all be uploading our info if we wanted to keep it private?
Bottom line -- if you don't want the public to find it, don't upload it to ANY social networking site.
I think there's something missing in this article about the concept of 'radical self-reliance'?
rekzkarz.com

That was the extent of my response.
I guess I'm waiting for you [Ryan] to explain why this is 'evil' vs stupid policy or a bad move or 'money-grubbing' etc etc?
Can you explain to me how EVIL it is to say you are protecting people's security & then not doing it ...
vs the USA invading foreign countries, bombing countless innocent 3rd parties, assassinating suspects with drones, using BlackWater Agents to run secret missions in foreign countries, and to torture people suspected of crimes?
The issue for me is that you [Ryan] are chosing to mis-use a word to create hype.
Some might argue that, in a 2010 USA, that act is evil.
I would just say it's journalism that has forgotten the point of why journalism exists. Or, another way is to say ... bad journalism.
Have a nice day!
rekzkarz.com