Saturday, August 30, 2008

Dell making cheap computers for India, China

Article


Beijing-based Lenovo, which acquired IBM Corp.'s PC unit in 2005, is targeting China's vast but poor rural market with a basic PC released last year and priced as low as 1,499 yuan ($220).


I just want to sit in the coffee shop and work on my novel.

My sister bought a lap top. 600$, no windows disk, they want another 400$ for the disk in case the lap top crashes. (Vista).
My wife bought a 59$ childs toy that looks like a lap top and plays 30 different games and makes cool noises and everything. Doesn't do word processing, not even on plain ascii text files.

Three years ago there was a 220$ lap top released in china. But not in north america.

We're being gypped. All these manufacturers have a lock on the market and are keeping the prices sky high. The low priced stuff is for other people , it's banned in here by various anti-competitive agreements.

There's a story floating around about how some company was going to have word perfect or some other non microsoft word processor installed on their windows computers when they sold them. Microsoft found out about it and bluntly told them that if they tried it they would stop selling them copies of windows and so they'd have no operating system to go with it.

I think it's the same thing going on here.

And I know it's the same thing going on with coke and pepsi. You walk into a store, and you see only coke products and you ask why there are no pepsi products at all , and the store owner tells you when the coke is delivered the driver checks for competeing products , and if he finds any the store loses a big discount it's getting for being a coke only provider.

The consumer is not being well served by this kind of nonsense. We're being robbed.

Why the hell can you make a childs toy lap top with 50 different educational games on it for 59$ , but you can't make a simple text editor with the same get up ? And a simple usb port to upload/download from your main computer ?

We're being robbed.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Putin accuses U.S. of orchestrating Georgian war

Article


(CNN) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia to benefit one of its presidential election candidates.


Oh please !

You've already sullied your reputation with this "we're pulling out ! Honest we're pulling out ...yeah we changed our mind we're just going to put on peace keeper hats now that we've killed off 1500 civilians ..."

Why would anyone think anything dribbling out of you two tongued bile filled mouth was anything but a wanton pack of lies ? Why don't you just open up a branch of Pravda again and we can get the lies officially from your usual propaganda mill that you ran all through the cold war , if you want to start down that path again.

Do you see USA invading their neibours ? No ! The only ones they invade are the ones with massive crowds shouting "DEATH TO AMERICA" and Imans on the TV explaining how the only way they'll stop their war on the USA is if everyone converts to their particular brand of Islam and becomes their personal slaves.

Don't think Georgia was saying that to Russia. So why do we have 1500 dead georgians at the hands of russian troops who are still occupying the place ?

Another failed democracy , with it's dictator for life and it's ethnic cleansing agenda. Thats all russia is. And it should be treated as such.

'Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale': report

Article


People are dying early not only because of health gaps between rich and poor countries but also because of a lack of housing and clean water in wealthy countries like Canada, policy-makers said in a report to the World Health Organization on Thursday.


You're an idiot.

People are not dying because of social injustice. They're dying because half the world lives in petty little dictatorships (like Burma) that ACTIVELY TRY TO KILL their own population. Thats not social injustice and you can't just throw food at it. Thats active murder, thats ethnic cleansing , or racial genocide or whatever you want to call it.

They're not dying because they're poor. They're dying because they're being shot at by their own government ! (or deliberately starved to death , or whatever)

What a pack of fools this world health organization is.


In Canada, nearly 1.5 million people, mostly single mothers and children, lack decent family income, safe and affordable housing, suffer food insecurity and are vulnerable to violence, said the group's Canadian commissioner, Monique Bégin, a former federal health minister and a professor in the school of management at the University of Ottawa.


Explain to me again why these welfare bums all drive nice cars and I who work for a living cannot afford even an old beater ? You should have seen the line up of pretty cars at my friends wedding. The brides family were all on welfare. It was ridiculous.


Food banks in Canadian cities, unacceptable housing, high suicide rates among young Inuit, and the uprooting of Kashechewan Cree community from the James Bay region in 2005 and 2008 because of unsafe water and flooding are examples of areas for improvements, Bégin said.


The indians choose to live there, we can't control that and it shouldn't be counted against us. They're free to come on in to any city they like and get a job, and they get free education all the way through university and don't pay sales tax on anything either. Don't complain about the indians turning their backs on civilization thats their own doing.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Movie paints picture of catastrophic future

Article


OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) -- The catastrophe looming in the documentary "I.O.U.S.A." isn't romantic like the doomed young love in "Titanic," but billionaires Warren Buffett and Pete Peterson warn it could break many more hearts.


The assumption here is that someone actually pays for those government bonds the government has been selling.

The truth is.... aint gonna happen.
The currency will be devalued as the debt grows higher , prices will rise , savings will grow worthless , and the amount owed, in american dollars will grow less because american dollars will become worth less.

And so there will be a series of slow adjustments as prices rice and the dollar falls so that the interest paid doesn't ever grow to be too much of the economy.

And lenders like these two billionairs will take a bath , in blood , over their losses.

The truth is in 1886 a bottle of coke cost a nickle (and had cocain in it), now it's almost two bucks. That would be 2000% inflation a century.

but .. the national debt was less than 100$ / person in 2004 dollars in 1900 , now it's over 20 000$ / person

22cents / hr x 20 = $4.40 an hour today. And that's average , not a dead end minimum wage earner.

Obviously people have grown wealthier over time on top of the value of the dollar decreasing.

In the end , if it worries you , buy real objects. Gold (illegal in most western countries) land , invest in a grocery store because people always gotta eat , and you'll weather any storm.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

How to be a Scum Bag Advertiser

How to Spin Bad News

Create alternate event descriptions:
People didn't buy from lower-priced competitors; they delayed premium buying decisions.

I delay decided NOT to buy your over priced crud ! I mean I mean ... I delayed a premium buying decision...

so how do I say "No, you're stuff is crud, I aint buying it ?" in this parlance ? Ummm.... you don't.

You didn't have ineffective marketing; you delayed premium advertising to coincide with the delayed buying decisions.

Our sales team doesn't suck ! We just some how psychically knew it wouldn't work so they didn't try very hard this quarter , thats all !

You aren't laying off sales employees; you're elevating the consumer's experience through added independence.

We didn't fire half our staff ! We just decided the consumer was smart enough not to have ten people holding their hand while they wandered the store looking lost and calling out for someone to help them. Yeah , thats what we did. We enhanced their shopping experience with the independence you get from wandering alaska alone with no help at all ,yeah yeah ...

Roleplay and improve: To do this properly, it takes a group of people dedicated to the result. You will need several "devil's advocate" types to listen to the presentation and slice it to pieces. You want to know every possible argument ahead of time. Use small focus groups and make the presentation, then tweak it, then do it again. Each time the backlash is reduced, you've made an effective improvement. Eventually (after 4 or 5 sessions) you should get to a stable point.

practice practice practice dropping this bomb in the most delicate manner possible. Ah ...this explains why you can never understand what these goof balls are saying.

We have decided to enhance the shopping experience through customer independence and personal responsibility.

((what what ? Oh ... no clerks to help you and please don't shop lift))


Prepare your audience: You're not going to just jump in and make your presentation. You want the audience to be receptive to your information. Start leaking information that is favorable to your position and negative to any alternate position. You will neither confirm nor deny this information, but you will caution people that any information about your corporation will come from official sources, only.


Drop a leak ! hey , I've seen this so many times. So thats what they're doing. Bozo's.


# Go Public: Release your information. Publicly and loudly. A surprise press conference (that was rumored to be in the works) is an effective and time-tested method. Whether you have a Q&A session after will really depend on how good your spin is and, to a large extent, how prepared you are. It's also a matter of personal taste.


ha ha ..then hold the press conferance.

And of course , the number one rule for spin doctors everywhere !

Don't fall for your own spin. It sounds good, makes sense... but seriously, you know better. You built the twist - don't let it go to your head.

Yeah , your spin is for other fools to believe ! You know you're lying your head off , don't believe it!!!!

Please Don't Abandon Windows : 7 online security blunders whereby IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT !

Seven online-security blunders to avoid

1. Assuming your security software is protecting you
Keep your anti-virus software up to date.

Wrong ! Most anti-virus software is crap , even norton and mcaffery. They shout loud and long about the tiny little bit that they do and then blame you because their job is impossible so they're not even going to give it that good a try. Oh yeah , but keep paying us for trying to do the impossible ! Keep that virus subscription up to date even though it doesn't do a dang thing !

2. Accessing an account through an e-mail link

Thats where you click on a link in an email and it takes you to a look alike sight. Please update your banking information or we shut down your account ! If you fall for it, they empty out your bank account and rack up your credit card to max. Maybe the only good advice in the whole article.

3. Using a single password for all online accounts

I have a wonderful idea ! Lets make my banking password 1234 or something equilly trivial so everyone and the dog can guess it in less than five tries ?

Bank machines have been around for decades. people know not to do this. You're basically giving trite advice like look both ways before you cross the street.

4. Downloading free software

"We're not saying, 'Don't do it.' We're saying, 'Just do it from places you know are safe,' " Fox said.

For most of you out there , that translates into "Don't Do It" by the way.

5. Thinking your Mac shields you from all risks

Honest ! Other operating systems have problems too ! Don't even think of switching away from windows you naughty boy it won't save you a witt !

Umm...actually .. you should switch away from windows. Why ? Crack addicts have a few problems. Windows is just plain smoked when it comes to virii and trojens. Just because you can point to one or two tiny weaknesses (that you already covered earlier in the article) and say they have it too ! Does not unsmoke windows. it is the leading champion for becoming virus laden nightmares in the fewest number of hours. My complaint against mac's has to do with it being over priced, not being insecure (based on a linux core so it's got security right from the get go)

6. Clicking on a pop-up ad that says your PC is not secure

And then proceed to give advice on how to deal with this windows only problem. After just saying mac's have problems too. Nice.

7. Shopping online the same way you do in stores
Ignore the fancy pants advice. Just don't do it. It's like shopping at those little kiosks that appear in the middle of a shopping mall ,and when you discover you've bought nothing and go to take it back they've closed up shop and moved on. No place to return , don't go there. Period.


Summary



In summary , we have some useless trite advice with maybe one good notion burried among the crap. No advice at all to stop using the Internet Explorer which would solve most problems right off the top (I'm writing this article on fire fox , by the way) A certain amount of FUD (Fear , Uncertainty, Doubt) about other operating systems being no better, and some careful cheering on of the security product industry scam and online shopping , more to blame the user for anything that goes wrong than anything else.

This isn't really an online security column. It's a piece of microsoft FUD.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Boycott ad-blocking Firefox, urges furious web designer

Article


A website designer is calling for a boycott of Firefox in opposition to its ad-blocking extension. Danny Carlton is calling on website owners who rely on advertising to insert a script that prevents Mozilla's web browser from displaying their pages.


unfortunately , the only ads I ever see are for those happy faces or screen savers. Each and everyone of which demands that you download a trojen that infects your computer and turns not only your Internet Explorer surfing experience into a nightmare, but typically renders the whole computer a festering virus laden mess in fairly short order.

Let me count the number of times I've had to clean my brothers computer because he saw a cool screen saver he wanted ...


The problem, according to Carlton, is the Ad Block Plus extension, a plug-in that lets Firefox users block advertising and other unwanted content when they view web pages. The extension doesn't allow website owners to prevent it from blocking ads. The result is that "hard working people are being robbed of their time and effort," according to Carlton.


The problem is your ads are mostly virus laden executables. What ever happened to a few flash animations and a picture here and there ? Now it's just infect infect infect ....


Since Ad Block Plus cannot be blocked in isolation, the only option as far as Carlton is concerned is to block the browser. "Software that blocks all advertisement is an infringement of advertisers rights...


You can still insert pictures and flash animations.

"Numerous websites exist in order to provide quality content in exchange for displaying ads. Accessing the content while blocking the ads, therefore, would be no less than stealing."


Numerous websites exist to brutally ignore the surfers right to his own computer and turn it into a spam and virus infected nightmare. You're in the position of demanding no one have any locks on your door because you want to run a service to deliver milk and put it in their refridgerator even if they're not home. That is such a massive security violation I can't begin to describe it , and demanding we run your executables is pretty much on the same level.


...therefore blocking Firefox seems to have only minimal financial drawbacks, whereas ending resource theft has tremendous financial rewards for honest, hard-working website owners and developers," he claims.


The usual I want the profits and you pick up the pieces after wards I dont' care what kind of mess I make of your personal private equipment.

The only resource thief here is you , you bozo.
Go back to static pictures and flash animations and stop infecting everyone and the dog with your virus BS.

Monday, August 11, 2008

cbc propaganda

Police officer shot, 2 others injured as riot erupts in Montreal


The violence began after a Sunday afternoon protest at Henri Bourassa Park, the site of Saturday's police shooting, where two other young men were also wounded as two police officers attempted to make an arrest.


Hey , I just saw that on the news. Some ditzy female cop shot and killed an unarmed kid. Why do they call him an adult , and merely say they wounded him ? That kid got gunned down in cold blood.


One man died of his wounds in hospital. Two other young men, age 18 and 20, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and are reported to be in stable condition.

Well...at least they admitted the kid died. Hadn't known they'd beat the tar out of two others.


Two police officers were injured, including a female officer shot in the leg, after rioters set several fires and clashed with police in the streets of Montreal North late Sunday, Montreal municipal police spokesman Ian Lafrenière said.


wow. You gunned down an unarmed kid and beat the tar out of two others and you think they might not be upset ?


"People were apprehended with guns … so we're talking about criminalized people," Lafrenière said.


Thats real good propaganda here. They're all criminal scum ! we should be allowed to gun down these kids in cold blood ! You should thank us for doing this !

Ummm... the one you shot down and killed was unarmed.

Maybe we should go the route of the english bobby and take away the police guns entirely ? You're not supposed to be gunning down the population you're paid to protect , after all.

Keybumping


http://www.medeco.com/about/keybumping/keybumpvideo.html


The above link is a link to Medeco corporation , which makes lovely high security locks and explains the evils of keybumping , which they happily demonstrate is a way by which cheap low security locks can be openned with just a fixed key and a hammer or wrench in less than 10 seconds.

Isn't that sweet ? You should buy their locks and not anyone elses, really !



And this is a you tube video of a charming 11 year old girl who's only in the 6th grade playing with a high security Kwikset unpickable lock.

She picked it in less than 10 seconds.

Oh , and here she is on one of those unpickable Medeco locks as well.



Isn't she so cute ?

Doesn't it all make you want to just run out and get a big nasty ugly dog immediatly ?

Saturday, August 09, 2008

A little mortgage sanity


Mortgages get more expensive - again



"[These actions] have raised the costs of mortgage credit and reduced its availability," said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Economy.com. "Policy makers had been hoping they would move forward to provide more credit and now they're just hoping they don't pull back."


Actually , we were kind of hoping they'd make even more stupid and ridiculous mortgages and generally give money away free like they've been doing before, it's kind of disapointing tha they're not going to keep doing that.


Fannie will also eliminate buying Alt-A loans by the end of 2008. Alt-A loans, a category between prime and subprime, accounted for about 11% of the company's loans during the last years of the boom. They have been used mostly by people who couldn't or wouldn't document their incomes, their assets or both. These buyers will find it harder to obtain financing once Fannie stops buying the loans.


You mean I can't just walk in and buy a $350 000 house and have you just take my word I'm good for it ? That is sooooooooo shocking ! They can't do that !


The additional fees imposed by Fannie will hit newcomers particularly hard, according to Yun. First-time buyers are usually most on the margins and struggling to afford a home purchase. The added fees will be passed on to borrowers and could mean quarter-point increases in interest rates.


This is insane ! you're denying us access to our best customers ! the rubes who don't realize all of our dirty tricks and how we plan on taking them to the cleaners for every red cent they have ! Who else is going to pay $350 000 for a house that's really only worth 50$ 000 when all is said and done ?


Reducing the number of first-time buyers can have a domino effect on the market. Existing homeowners looking to trade up to bigger, more expensive homes may postpone doing so because they can't sell their present home.


And then those rubes that didn't let us take them for every penny the first time round will sit tight and refuse to let us try it again ! How can you expect us vultures to make a living like this ?


Fannie and Freddie, as private companies created and sponsored by the government, have to foster home ownership while satisfying their shareholders. They have to maintain profitability or risk triggering a government rescue.


You mean like you just did ?


"They were created to provide liquidity in times of crisis," said Yun. "If they don't do that, what's the point of having Fannie and Freddie in the first place?"


Near as I can figure their primary purpose is to assist in moving cash from the government coffers to the banks you are now bailing out since you just underwrote loans to every idiot and the dog with no credit check and no securing of assets at all.
Your primary purpose seems to be to let housing salesmen ridiculously inflate the price of every house in the area to the point where people are being booted out of their rental homes because the land lord is defaulting on the mortgage payments and they're now living in their cars in parking lots despite never missing a rental payment.
And then their goal is to have people write ridiculously sappy articles about how the evil government is not letting them continue to raise the prices and bankrupt everyone and the dog , calling it "bad for the economy" that they refuse to give away free money like they own the printing press on it.
Ooops ! They do own the printing press on it. My mistake.

Capitalism at it's finest.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Writing Exercise : Aug 07 2008

Hey, fuck head.

Yeah , you holding the camera.

Don't call me fat. Thats my dad in that there coffin , and he left me a freaking fortune. Do you know how rich I am ? All those years everyone picking on me, calling me a fat dumb ass. Well , now it's my turn. Got some boys down at the construction company that know how to play dirty , if you know what I mean. Got a whole list of people who picked on me when I was akid. Fat Fuckhead Idiot indeed ! We'll see who's the idiot soon enough, just as soon as I blow this funeral.

Just gotta sit down and rest for a bit, I'm carrying a few extra pounds you know. Daddy died from a heart attack, but I aint gonna go that way ! I swear ! I'm gonna start having vegitarian pizza instead of normal pizza , well , maybe only once a week. But I swear, every one who called me a fat fuck head is gonna get it !

Just as soon as I rest for a bit. Gawd my chest hurts.

Shouldn't have had so many anchovies at lunch I think. Have to cut back on that.

Just let me catch my breath.

--------- ------------ ---------- ------------ ---------- ------------
On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 2:27 AM, M********** m***@****** wrote:

I just thought of an interesting exercise we could do. I will send you a random picture, and you will write a short piece inspired by the picture. It doesn't need to be very long. Then you send me a picture and I will do the same.

Here's your picture attached

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Spam spam spam ...

Article

Yahoo's Right Media, LucidMedia team up on contextual advertising




Yahoo has struck an agreement with LucidMedia in a move to enhance contextual display advertising on its Right Media Exchange, the companies announced Tuesday.


Oh , you just did a search on used computers ? Suddenly you're surrounded by used computer ad's selling overpriced junk ! In addition to the stuff you were actually searching for. And first before it , and to the left and right of it , in loud flashy ads that make it hard for you to concentrate on the search results.

This is "contextual" advertising.


The arrangement comes as Yahoo and its competitors, which rely heavily on ad revenue, face a challenging environment as the economy softens and advertisers pull back. With the agreement, Yahoo is seeking to grab market share from Google and Microsoft.


We're losing revenue share, Captain !
Increase the obnoxious rating of our ads to maximum ! We must hold on !
But Captain, that will crowd out the actual content and all people will see is ads , nothing else !
It's a risk we'll have to take. You have your orders. Carry them out !


Under the agreement, Yahoo's Right Media will support buyers and sellers that use LucidMedia's contextual advertising engine ClickSense. The arrangement will allow Right Media users to categorize their display advertising inventory, using targeted tags for any of Yahoo's more than 60 vertical channels, such as automotive, finance, and sports.


Sixty vertical channels..wow... you divided everyone into sixty channels and you're customizing all the ads to each individual channel. Cool !


"LucidMedia's ClickSense technology will significantly help increase the prospective yield of a publisher's available inventory and improve an advertiser's ability to contextually target ads to relevant content and categories through the Right Media Exchange," Bill Wise, Right Media general manager, said in a statement.


We gonna spam those suckers like they never been spammed before ! Yes sir ee !

Monday, August 04, 2008

Housing Lenders Fear Bigger Wave of Loan Defaults

Article


Of particular concern are “alt-A” loans, many of which were made to people with good credit scores without proof of their income or assets.

“Subprime was the tip of the iceberg,” said Thomas H. Atteberry, president of First Pacific Advisors, a investment firm in Los Angeles that trades mortgage securities. “Prime will be far bigger in its impact.”


Some guy walked into your office and said "Yeah I have a job and an old house , no problem. Gimme money" and you gave him a 350 000 $ loan without checking on him ? And you did this thousands and thousands of times ?

You deserve to go bankrupt. I have no sympathy for you.
My sympathies lie for the mess you're making of the global economy with this idiocy.


But now, some borrowers could see their payments jump 50 percent or more, and they may not be able to sell their properties for as much as they owe.


Oh yeah , honest ! You wont have that house in two years when the payments jump ! You can just sell it !

Aha. The music has stopped playing , and it's time for everyone to find a safe chair now. Only some clown stole them all and in this game of musical chairs all the chairs are missing.