Mike Shewardwow, the CIA has sunset the world factbook
I guess it shouldn't be a surprise in a world where facts are no longer important, but still
source: https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/spotlighting-the-world-factbook-as-we-bid-a-fond-farewell/
Chilly 
🛡️ 
@SecureOwl
What??? Wtf
What??? Wtf
Jan@SecureOwl
Trump will replace it with TruthBook.
Trump will replace it with TruthBook.
Bruce Heerssen 
Let's hope it can be revived if we ever return to a saner political world.
Bill, organizer of stuff
Carlos SolísSo, who's taking the mantle on that, if anyone? Wikidata?
LisPi@SecureOwl The CIA published a factbook?
That's totally a trustworthy source I'm sure⸮
Chip Unicorn@lispi314 @SecureOwl Oddly enough...
...
...it was.
It was a reliable, if very broad, resource about all the countries. It was VERY accurate about requirements for normal citizens getting into and out of countries (what visas were required, where to get them, et cetera.)
There was only about 2 pages for every country, but the information about the countries was accurate.
@Chip_Unicorn @SecureOwl > It was VERY accurate about requirements for normal citizens getting into and out of countries (what visas were required, where to get them, et cetera.)
That in particular doesn't surprise me particularly much, beyond the fact they actually shared the information.
That in particular doesn't surprise me particularly much, beyond the fact they actually shared the information.
MegatronicThronBanksCIA World Fact Book.
That's a clear Canary from 'The Company', as far as I'm concerned. "We, the USA, are now intelligence blind."
The WFB was a valuable resource. It only displayed the *party line*, the official account of policies and statistics from each country, as a deliberate choice.
You were then able to go and get the facts independently, and thus *instantly* you had a graph of what those countries were *lying* about.
It was incredibly useful.
@SecureOwl
We used it all the time for corporate travel and risk assessment. You could count on it being unbiased, clear-eyed, and as up to date as any official line can be. This is a huge loss. And probably done in order to open up a market for some private business crony of the Trump regime. @megatronicthronbanks
We used it all the time for corporate travel and risk assessment. You could count on it being unbiased, clear-eyed, and as up to date as any official line can be. This is a huge loss. And probably done in order to open up a market for some private business crony of the Trump regime. @megatronicthronbanks
Anne Ominouswe are falling so far
and the bottom is nowhere in sight
Ed Freyfogle@SecureOwl to whom will they now be turning for their facts?
Nicole ParsonsBillionaires believe ignorance & misery will rebuild the world into their version of corporate feudalism, ruled by a #MadKing
Illiteracy. Book bans. Defunding public education.
Attacking higher education. Book publishing monopolies
Media monopolies. Newspapers mass layoffs
Deprofessionalization of teaching & healthcare workers.
Premature & forced birth programs.
All they do is to create a bigoted low-information voter bloc & to demoralize and scare people into being non-voters.
noplasticshower@SecureOwl just ask chat-jippity
iam-py-test@SecureOwl The article offers zero explanation for why they are getting rid of it.
Strange.
Maybe they just figure everyone gets their information from AI and it isn't worth the resources.
No idea.
Strange.
Maybe they just figure everyone gets their information from AI and it isn't worth the resources.
No idea.
Stryder Notavi@SecureOwl @iampytest1 I mean, I figure this is just talking stuff they've already collated (and would still be collating) as part of their other activities and removing anything classified.
So I wouldn't have imagined it was costing them much, and it would have contributed quite a bit to US soft power.
Of course, current US leadership doesn't even understand what soft power is.
Nonya Bidniss@SecureOwl Republican political appointees sunset the CIA World Factbook
John de Largentaye@SecureOwl @briankrebs perhaps the greatest tragedy of the 21st century is that we thought the Internet would let people better understand our shared reality. Instead it let people construct and indulge in their own individual reality.
klausfiend has moved@SecureOwl That thing was arguably the best thing the CIA ever produced in its existence, so naturally it had to be destroyed.
royal@SecureOwl Is there an archive?
RoseyBrowser bar bookmark for me.
infosec_j@SecureOwl that makes sense, there's certainly no value in trying to understand the political/social/economic motivations a nation or people might have
...fucking hell.
draNgNon@SecureOwl Trump ruins _everything_
I have always loved the World Factbook
CyberPhilTrem@SecureOwl pretty sad, not only was it a valuable resource for adults, it was also used by kids to support school projects and to learn about the differences between countries.
Chewie@SecureOwl shame, it was one of the earliest websites I remember visiting.
It was pretty useful.
It was pretty useful.
Eric Beavers@SecureOwl Shutting down valuable resources almost daily. ¡No bueno!
Decenta Lyzed ☯️🇬🇱
@SecureOwl
where is the torrent magnet?
where is the torrent magnet?