Saturday, May 21, 2016
You Still Can Pinpoint Where Grindr Users Are, Even If They Turn Off The Location Feature
Scientists at Kyoto University have shown how simple it is to triangulate a location, even if the "show distance" feature is disabled.
From: NewNowNext
Researchers in Japan have proven how easy it is figure out the exact location of users of Grindr and other gay dating apps, even if they turn off the “show distance” feature on the apps’ privacy settings.
Last week, computer-security expert Nguyen Phong Hoang and his colleagues at Kyoto University published a report in Transactions on Advanced Communications Technology, explaining how easy it is.
“You can easily pinpoint and reveal a person,” says Hoang. “In the U.S. that’s not a problem but in Islamic countries or in Russia, it can be very serious that their information is leaked like that.”
There have been complaints about location information on hookup apps before, but the standard response has always been to turn off your location information. Since Hoang were able to locate users regardless of their privacy settings, it poses a serious risk.
How does it work? By something called a “colluding trilateration attack.”
“If Grindr or a similar app tells you how far away someone is—even if it doesn’t tell you in which direction—you can determine their exact location by combining the distance measurement from three points surrounding them,” explains Andy Greenberg of Wired.
Greenberg worked with Hoang to see if his location could be determined, even after he disengaged the “show distance” feature on Grindr.
Within 15 minutes, Hoang had identified the intersection where I live. Ten minutes after that, he sent me a screenshot from Google Maps, showing a thin arc shape on top of my building, just a couple of yards wide. “I think this is your location?” he asked. In fact, the outline fell directly on the part of my apartment where I sat on the couch talking to him.
Hoang was also able to pinpoint Greenberg’s location using Jack’d and Hornet, as well.
Of course, this issue isn’t specific to gay hookup sites: A colluding trilateration attack could be used on any app that lists users’ locations by proximity. But the risks are higher in the gay community, where being pinpointed could mean getting robbed, arrested or worse.
In some parts of the world, homophobic gangs have been known to hunt gay men using the technology.
Grindr currently disables its distance feature in high-risk countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia, and says it is “working to develop increased security features.”
Victims Of Brutal Philadelphia Gay-Bashing File Civil Suit Against Their Attackers
The couple is seeking unspecified damages for psychological and emotional injuries, and emotional distress.
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
Zachary Hesse and Andrew Haught, the victims who suffered a brutal gay-bashing that left one of them lying unconscious on a Philadelphia sidewalk in September 2014, have filed a civil suit against the three assailants charged in the horrific homophobic beating.
Two of the assailants, Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams, escaped jail time by pleading guilty to conspiracy and simple assault. As part of the plea deal, they were sentenced to probation and banned from the gay-friendly neighborhood where the attack took place.
The third assailant, Kathryn Knott, the daughter of a rural Pennsylvania police chief, tried her luck at court and was found guilty. She’s currently serving a five-to-ten month prison sentence after being chastised by a judge for requesting a reduced sentence.
The suit, according to Philadelphia magazine, is seeking unspecified damages related to the victims’ psychological injuries, emotional distress, and physical injuries.
Though both men suffered injuries, Haught bore the brunt of it and was rushed into surgery after being knocked unconscious in the brawl. He stayed in the hospital for five days and suffered a fractured jaw bone and orbital bone, permanent facial scarring, and had his jaw wired shut for eight weeks.
The suit claims Haught was beaten by Williams, and that Harrigan called Hesse a “dirty fucking faggot” before punching him in the face.
The suit also claims that members of the group restrained Hesse while he was hit repeatedly, and that Knott called him a “faggot” before she punched him in the face.
As Towleroad notes, Knott is also currently being sued by a woman who was fired from her job after she created a blog to write about the attack under the pseudonym “Knotty is a Tramp.”
That woman, Kathleen O’Donnell of Norristown, Pennsylvania, is seeking more than $5 million from Knott, her father, Bucks County, the district attorney and two detectives in the case based on her free speech rights being violated.
'Lift It Up' by Justino Esteves | TOH!
From: Homotography
Models Yannick Mabille and Ugo Langlois are photographed by Justino Esteves and styled by Diamante KA in the story "Lift It Up" for issue no. 22 of TOH! magazine.
'Bizarre' is Full of Insanely Hot Young Ass and Cock
From: Fleshbot
All you really need to know about 2015 arthouse flick Bizarre is summed up in this quote from its review in The Hollywood Reporter:
...this collection of sounds and images in desperate need of a plot, or even just some recognizable human behavior, will appeal to that shady part of the queer market where young cuties plus the promise of nudity are enough for at least some VOD and DVD sales.
Shady part of the queer market? Flattery will get you everywhere, THR! Although it might be a terrible movie, the guys in Bizarre are truly stunning and go completely nude. A bitch good friend recently called me out on my recent posts coming off BaReLy LeGaL-ish, especially the amateur ones, but after thinking about it I was like, fuck it, young guys are just super sexy! I'm broadening my horizons beyond huge matted down fur balls and feeling pretty good about it.
Bizarre is as about as low as you can go age wise because star Pierre Prieur was fresh out of high school when cast in the role of Maurice, a dejected, pouty Frenchie looking for a sense of self and belonging in Brooklyn, NY. Maurice is taken under the wing of two lesbian burlesque show owners who introduce him to club life and open him up sexually. Both Pierre and co-star Charlie Himmelstein are insanely gorgeous, sporting taut (that's... a letch term but it stays) bods and gorgeous asses.
Charlie Himmelstein is a Brooklyn-born model and fashion photographer that got his start in an underground boxing club (ugh so New York I can't stand it), while Pierre is an actor / Abercrombie & Fitch model. You can take a look at Charlie's Instagram for some pretty crazy shit. Check out their dicks and asses below!
Trump’s anti-gay SCOTUS nominee’s alleged gay porn past
Pryor, who is notorious for his homophobic views, denies that it is him in the photos.
“Images…show Pryor posing completely nude, staring into the camera and sporting a noticeable erection.”From: Metro Weekly
An excerpt from a Legal Schnauzer article on Eleventh Circuit Judge William Holcombe “Bill” Pryor, one of several individuals on Donald Trump’s list of possible Supreme Court appointees.
Pryor, who is notorious for his homophobic views, apparently appeared nude in a print publication in the ’80s — his photos were then obtained by badpuppy.com, a gay pornography website, in 1997. Legal Schnauzer broke the story in 2013, obtaining the images which are claimed to show Pryor baring all for the camera.
An unnamed Alabama Republican reportedly saw the photos and exclaimed: “Holy cow, that’s Bill Pryor!”
Pryor, who is married with two children, denies that it is him in the photos. If that assertion is false, it makes his previous comments on LGBT rights deeply hypocritical. According to Lambda Legal, Pryor has “repeatedly shown clear hostility to the rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV.”
“William Pryor is the most demonstrably antigay judicial nominee in recent memory. It’s clear from his record that William Pryor does not belong on the federal appeals court,” said former Executive Director Kevin Cathcart in 2005, when Pryor was being vetted for his current position.
Pryor has previously drawn comparisons between the rights of gay people and “prostitution, adultery, necrophilia, bestiality, possession of child pornography, and even incest and pedophilia,” in a brief submitted during Lawrence v. Texas, which led to the state’s anti-sodomy law being struck down.
Above is the image of Pryor’s alleged porn debut:
Trans Model-Activist Laith Ashley Kills It On The Cover Of “Attitude” Magazine
The 26-year-old is the magazine's first trans man cover star
From: NewNextNow
From: NewNextNow
We first met Laith Ashley last fall when he agreed to be profiled in our Know Your Instagrammer series,
There’s no denying this 26-year-old trans man is a looker, but his best qualities run more than skin deep: He currently works as an insurance navigator at New York’s Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, which focuses on the LGBT community.
Ashley has been blowing up as a model—appearing in Bruce Weber’s “Brothers, Sisters, Sons & Daughters” campaign for Barney’s and now gracing the cover of Attitude magazine’s June issue.
That’s not to say it’s been easy for him.
“I would self-destruct, I would disappear because I didn’t want to be here”, he tells the magazine of his struggle with self-acceptance. “For a long time I prayed to God to let me die. I’d think ’
I hate life, hate being trans, hate the world.’ I was very negative.”
And with therapy and support from his family and community, he says “I love who I see in the mirror now.”
Of course, modeling is still a tough racket.
“The biggest challenge with modeling would be my height (5’10”). Aside from that, my tendency to become overwhelmed when overstimulated,” Ashley told NewNowNext last year.
“My first reaction is to run away. I am learning to be more confident in myself, so that when I am presented with a difficult tasks I can handle them with grace.”
We’d say you’re doing a pretty awesome job so far, Laith—congrats!
The Adorable New Comic That Shows What It’s Like Growing Up Gay, Biracial And Mormon
Cute!
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
Terry Blas is a Portland, Oregon-based illustrator who created the digital comic series Briar Hollow and You Say Latino, and his latest work is an autobiographical comic entitled, Ghetto Swirl.
Blas described Ghetto Swirl as a comic “about growing up Mexican, Mormon, Gay and Nerdy, and eventually having to serve as a missionary in The Bronx.”
Read the first four pages of the cute comic below:
Aside from creating comic series, Blas also illustrates portraits of some of the queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race and he even had a booth at this year’s Drag Con!
Check out his Drag Race-inspired work below, including a pic with RuPaul himself!