Article = None, personal experience.
And the City of Ottawa thinks my rooming house is illegal and so two people got kicked out, and I got to move to the main floor since living in the basement in a room the size of the average broom closet is apparently against Health and Saftey rules.
I don't mind the new digs , despite having to haul all my junk up the stairs alone (that's going to take days). But I talked to the other room mates and apparently a year ago this place got declared illegal and all the roomies were given a months notice and kicked out.
Kicked out. No emergancy housing, just you have a month to find other accomidations, thanks and good night.
I swear if I have to move again I'm abandoning most of my stuff and just getting a big duffle bag for a few changes of cloths. And maybe a bigger computer bag for my lap top. It doesnt' quite squeeze into the current lap top bag I have.
Bought a garbage can and 6$ got me 100 bags for it. Why am I mentioning this ? because I had to help clean up the room I was about to move in , and it was a disgusting stye. Also ... my own room down in the basement was none too clean ... mostly I admit because I didn't have a garbage an (my fault) and going up those stairs to throw out a bag or two of garbage was just too much in my current state of health (not my fault).
In the news today ...
Lavabit , an encrypted mail service , got raided by the US Government. They decided to shut down rather than give the guys in jack boots anythings. They also got hit by a hush order, making it illegal for them to say anything. But when you publically state "It is illegal for me to talk about the issue" , and you live inside the united states, it's pretty obvious the united states government is shutting you down.
More disturbing is Silent Text pre-emptively shutting down before the US Government can force them under. Disturbing because their servers are based in canada, not the USA , but they say Canada cooperates way too much with the USA so they're not taking any chances.
Hmm... thats not good to hear.
I went looking for a canadian based mail service. Found a big list, started down it. Ping the mail server, then use a location service ( http://www.iplocation.net/index.php ) to find out where in the world that address where the mail server is. The five or so I checked were all inside the USA. So much for trying to get to a mail server outside of the USA.
I remember when I worked at rogers they actually were hosted on gmail servers, despite the rogers.ca address. And the competition Bell , were hosted on hotmail servers specially rented for the purpose. Which was a pain since hotmail and gmail were constantly fighting and locking each other out and refusing to accept mail from each other at the time ...
I think we need to petition the Government of Canada to set up some free email servers here in Canada for canadian use. Because sending in the FBI to grab all the email and arrest anyone who doesn't cooperate ? I firmly believe Obama has lost his mind. I really do.
It's going to be interesting, the next two years. That being how long Obama has left to be President of the United States.
Unless they impeach him.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Snowden link to encrypted email service closes
Article
Texas-based Lavabit service has shut down but said legal reasons prevented it explaining why. Correspondents say Lavabit appears to have been in a legal battle to stop US officials accessing customer details. In addition, secure communications firm Silent Circle has shut its email service because messages cannot be kept wholly secret.
What does this mean ?
Well, "Legal Reasons" means the USA Government , since they are based in Texas. It is there for clear that the USA Government has shut them down. It is also clear that the USA Government has muzzled them and threatened them to prevent them from saying why.
Why do we care ?
That the USA is shutting down services it cannot spy on is worrying. That Google, Yahoo, and most of the services we use are USA based is even more worrying. It may be time to start deliberately looking for non-usa providers for ... well...everything.
The part where no one is allowed to say what the USA government is doing or they get tossed in jail is particularly worrisome.
Apparently , USA has become the new Communist Russia. Communist USA, it seems. Throwing in jail all political opponents. Muzzling the press. Oh , and they recently decided to ignore a copyright decision that they lost because it would be bad for their economy.
I don't think we should be trading with these people anymore. I think we need to cut all links.
Monday, August 05, 2013
Seoul hits at Obama’s Apple veto in patent dispute
South Korea’s trade ministry on Monday criticised the US president’s weekend veto of a patent infringement ruling against Apple, expressing “concern over the possible negative impacts that this kind of decision could have on Samsung Electronics’ patent rights”.
Mr Obama vetoed a June ruling by the US International Trade Commission banning a range of Apple devices – which the court ruled had infringed a Samsung patent – from being imported into the US.
So basically , what we have here is the USA saying "we don't care that one of our countries companies is infringing on your copyright. But don't you dare do it to us. "
Aha.
His intervention over the weekend on behalf of Apple in the first case was made because the Samsung patent involved technology that is key to technology standards, potentially giving the South Korean company “undue leverage” in licensing negotiations, according to the reasoning for the veto.
"Technology standards" . In other words, the USA gets to make the standards with their for-profit companies and get that "undue leverage" but other countries do not.
Is it just me , or did US Copyright law just become a club for beating all non-usa companies to death ? I'm sure all the americans are cheering , but I'm not an american.
Basically , the US copyright system can now be ignored , since it is demonstrating a bias in favor of the USA and against everyone else.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
MMO Monotization : The not so F2P option
The Top F2P Monetization Tricks
What is F2P ? It stands for "Free to Play".
Tanstafl you say ? (Tanstafl = There Aint No Such Thing As a Free Lunch )
You are correct .
Coercive Monetization
A coercive monetization model depends on the ability to “trick” a person into making a purchase with incomplete information, or by hiding that information such that while it is technically available, the brain of the consumer does not access that information. Hiding a purchase can be as simple as disguising the relationship between the action and the cost as I describe in my Systems of Control in F2P paper.
It's long. It's complicated. To simplify ...
Your playing a game, we'll say "Bejeweled" , with slowly increasingly difficult levels.
This is called a skill game. You need skill to advance.
Suddenly , you reach this level you cannot get past no matter what , but they'll let you "buy" your way past with in game "Jewels" , the game currency. How do you get jewels ? Well, you pay for them. With real cash. And you get volume discounts, and maybe one or two jewels drop once in a while in game.
this is called the money game. You need money to advance.
Money games are tricky. They do everything they can to hide the fact that you're paying real world cash every now and then. Common tricks are , as I mentioned , volume discounts. Now it's hard to calculate how much real world cash you're paying to get past this "money game" level and back to the skill game. Other tricks include occasionally dropping in game currency (the afore mentioned jewels as an example) but not often enough , you will have a hard hard road if you don't drop some cash.
The first purchase is the hardest to get. After that , you are marked as a spender , and from then on , most of the game is the "money game" , difficulty levels now explode to ridiculous levels and the only way to get past any level is to buy your way past, though the game will always advertise there are people who get to the end without paying a dime. This is like a casino advertising it's winners. For every winner there are ten thousand losers.
Three online MMO's I have played are this kind of "Coersive Monetization" model. They are the Star Trek Online game, Guild Wars 2 , and the new Star Wars The Old Republic has switched to it. And they all use the same mechanism. A box will randomly drop (very frequently randomly) , but you need a key to open it, and that key costs special game currency to buy. (never real world cash , that would trigger a response from the user and you'd realize you're being tricked, always there is an in game currency of some kind) . And inside are random items that are far more powerful than what regularily drops from the mobs you're fighting
In effect , you can't have the good stuff unless you spend cash. You're a second class user.
SWTOR is a specially abusive model in that they charge you 15$ a month to unlock anything , and then they still sell these packs full of good stuff that you simply cannot get by just playing the game. So they're collecting from the free to play crowd and they paying customers indiscriminately, thus abusing the people who pay the 15$ / month.
Different from this is Wow's free to play model. They basically let you play until level 20 for free. And if you want to keep on playing it's 15$ / month and away you go. No packs, no special keys to buy , none of that "coersive monitization" junk . Just an honest "play our game for 15$ / month" , and the guys with the impressive gear got that stuff honestly , by playing , not because they dropped 100$ real money on packs or special keys to unlock f2p treasure and stuff.
What is F2P ? It stands for "Free to Play".
Tanstafl you say ? (Tanstafl = There Aint No Such Thing As a Free Lunch )
You are correct .
Coercive Monetization
A coercive monetization model depends on the ability to “trick” a person into making a purchase with incomplete information, or by hiding that information such that while it is technically available, the brain of the consumer does not access that information. Hiding a purchase can be as simple as disguising the relationship between the action and the cost as I describe in my Systems of Control in F2P paper.
It's long. It's complicated. To simplify ...
Your playing a game, we'll say "Bejeweled" , with slowly increasingly difficult levels.
This is called a skill game. You need skill to advance.
Suddenly , you reach this level you cannot get past no matter what , but they'll let you "buy" your way past with in game "Jewels" , the game currency. How do you get jewels ? Well, you pay for them. With real cash. And you get volume discounts, and maybe one or two jewels drop once in a while in game.
this is called the money game. You need money to advance.
Money games are tricky. They do everything they can to hide the fact that you're paying real world cash every now and then. Common tricks are , as I mentioned , volume discounts. Now it's hard to calculate how much real world cash you're paying to get past this "money game" level and back to the skill game. Other tricks include occasionally dropping in game currency (the afore mentioned jewels as an example) but not often enough , you will have a hard hard road if you don't drop some cash.
The first purchase is the hardest to get. After that , you are marked as a spender , and from then on , most of the game is the "money game" , difficulty levels now explode to ridiculous levels and the only way to get past any level is to buy your way past, though the game will always advertise there are people who get to the end without paying a dime. This is like a casino advertising it's winners. For every winner there are ten thousand losers.
Three online MMO's I have played are this kind of "Coersive Monetization" model. They are the Star Trek Online game, Guild Wars 2 , and the new Star Wars The Old Republic has switched to it. And they all use the same mechanism. A box will randomly drop (very frequently randomly) , but you need a key to open it, and that key costs special game currency to buy. (never real world cash , that would trigger a response from the user and you'd realize you're being tricked, always there is an in game currency of some kind) . And inside are random items that are far more powerful than what regularily drops from the mobs you're fighting
In effect , you can't have the good stuff unless you spend cash. You're a second class user.
SWTOR is a specially abusive model in that they charge you 15$ a month to unlock anything , and then they still sell these packs full of good stuff that you simply cannot get by just playing the game. So they're collecting from the free to play crowd and they paying customers indiscriminately, thus abusing the people who pay the 15$ / month.
Different from this is Wow's free to play model. They basically let you play until level 20 for free. And if you want to keep on playing it's 15$ / month and away you go. No packs, no special keys to buy , none of that "coersive monitization" junk . Just an honest "play our game for 15$ / month" , and the guys with the impressive gear got that stuff honestly , by playing , not because they dropped 100$ real money on packs or special keys to unlock f2p treasure and stuff.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Police given OK to murder Civilians.
Provocative title , you think ?
But It has an unfortunate amount of accuracy to it.
The Crown was able to provide only circumstantial evidence to suggest Constable Bill Bentley had willfully concocted a false story, Justice Mark McEwan said in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday.
.
.
.
The Crown had pointed to the Mounties’ similar notes and statements – which contradicted amateur video that later surfaced – as proof the officers had colluded. For example, officers claimed Mr. Dziekanski advanced on them with a stapler before he was stunned and wrestled to the ground, but the video showed no such occurrence.
VIDEO LINK HERE
This cop, one of four, murdered this polish guy at the air port, lied his ass off to cover it up , is publically caught lying his ass off with incontrovertable proof...
And is found innocent of all charges.
Basically , the cops have been given a free ride to lie and murder anyone they like. It's hard to see any other conclusion.
Because that's exactly what they've done here. Murdered some guy , and then made up stories to justify it afterwards. And then got caught red handed. And got turned loose anyways. Free to go , thank you and good night don't bother submitting a second set of lies we don't want to go through this again.
It is the principle of Law that Justice must be seen to be served.
I see no justice here.
But It has an unfortunate amount of accuracy to it.
Mountie cleared of perjury charge related to inquiry into Dziekanski taser death
A Mountie accused of lying at the public inquiry into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski has been acquitted on a charge of perjury.
The Crown was able to provide only circumstantial evidence to suggest Constable Bill Bentley had willfully concocted a false story, Justice Mark McEwan said in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday.
.
.
.
The Crown had pointed to the Mounties’ similar notes and statements – which contradicted amateur video that later surfaced – as proof the officers had colluded. For example, officers claimed Mr. Dziekanski advanced on them with a stapler before he was stunned and wrestled to the ground, but the video showed no such occurrence.
VIDEO LINK HERE
This cop, one of four, murdered this polish guy at the air port, lied his ass off to cover it up , is publically caught lying his ass off with incontrovertable proof...
And is found innocent of all charges.
Basically , the cops have been given a free ride to lie and murder anyone they like. It's hard to see any other conclusion.
Because that's exactly what they've done here. Murdered some guy , and then made up stories to justify it afterwards. And then got caught red handed. And got turned loose anyways. Free to go , thank you and good night don't bother submitting a second set of lies we don't want to go through this again.
It is the principle of Law that Justice must be seen to be served.
I see no justice here.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
US House votes to continue NSA's phone surveillance
The US House of
Representatives has narrowly voted to continue collecting data on US
phone calls, in the first legislative move on the programme.
In a 205-217 vote, lawmakers rejected an effort to restrict
the National Security Agency's (NSA) ability to collect electronic
information.The NSA's chief had lobbied strongly against the proposed measure.
The vote saw an unusual coalition of conservatives and liberal Democrats join forces against the programme.
The details of the NSA dragnet were made public by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for America's electronic spying agency. He is now a fugitive, seeking asylum in Moscow.
In a 205 - 217 vote , US Law makers decided to continue to listen in and spy on every phone call , email , chat , skype call , and more , in the entire world. Or at least any such information as they could steal.
The rest of the world did not get to vote on the matter.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Power Outage July 19 / 2013
Article = none, personal experience
So I'm at Girlfriends place on Friday , sleeping until three in the afternoon (it's 30 degree's out , major heat wave). Finally get up and take a shower ...
Thunderstorm. Flickering lights . Darkness.
Now I'm in the dark ... but the shower is still working we still have water. Where's the soap ? where's ... pretty much anything ? It'd hadn't been dark a moment ago. Get out of the shower , which I hadn't finished, visions of slipping on a bar of soap and killing myself and no one finding me for a week dancing in my head.
Find some diet cola in the fridge left over from last week sit down on my favorite chair and stare at the blank computer screen.
No power. No computer . No internet.
Girlfriend is on the phone talking to a friend. In Tagalog. I have no clue what they're saying. Luckily everyone I know is on cell phones these days. Wind with some kind of unlimited local calling is actually cheaper than a land line.
We talk about the last power outage. Lasted for days. No no , Girlfriend assures me. That was when some power company in the states blew a gasket and blamed it all on us. All I remember is getting out of work early and endlessly walking around the building while our bosses tried to decide if they were going to send us home or tough it out and hope the power came back sortly. The stars were very pretty that night long ago. Seeing as how there were no lights near by to drown them out.
Checked the balcony. The sun was still up , and it was quite cloudy, owing to the thunder storm that had most likely knocked out the power.
Sat down and watched the rain a bit. Girlfriend was glad I was there since the room mates (who now lived in my room while I lived in a broom closet across town that probably still had power and internet where as her place didn't) were off for the weekend. Camping or some strange thing.
I phoned my sister in toronto. She was on a wind phone too , so wind to wind call , no charge. We chatted for an hour. She was at work but no one else had shown up so she was sitting at her desk feet up on it relaxing. Or so she told me.
Talked about our dear sweet father , whom her interest in Geneology had turned up. No idea where that is going. Could be a new friend for life, or he might tell us to bugger off and quit bothering him. Not a clue . This isn't a soap opera, and things don't always have a happy ending in real life.
Then again in most good soap opera's there rarely is a happy ending either. House MD ended with House's best friend having terminal cancer. Greys Anatomy it's almost traditional by now , season nine, to have some disaster strike and kill someone off at the end of the season (end of september we find out if Richard survives or not... I'm betting not , mostly because I read an online artical saying one of the main actors had asked to be written out of the story , and it was Richard webber on the ground getting electrocuted at the end of the season finale. Could be a fake out though. )
Why am I meandering on like this ?
Blonde Sister (the one in Toronto) doesn't like my blog. She says I sound like a crazy man with issues all over the place. I tell her ... the blog is where I vent. It's where I can vent in private / public without sounding like a crazy man . So , according to her , I sound like a crazy man on my blog instead.
Aha. Win some lose some. I'll try to keep the ranting down to a minimum.
But really. The Americans listening in on every phone call, every email, every skype call, and more , in the world ? And their president not only refuses to apologize, but see's nothing wrong with it. Everyone does it , he publically states. Who wouldn't want to rant about that. Am I ranting again ? Sorry.
Girlfriend decides to take me to dinner, her favorite Buffet across town. She's nice enough to even pay for it , though she tells me she's knocking it off the price of the computer I "sold" her and never got paid for. Apparently I'm being paid in the form of whatever T-Shirts and pants she finds on sale at the Sally Anne , and the occassional night out.
Win some , lose some. I'm keeping my current lap top though. When Ottawa Housing comes through and gets me a place it's becomeing my new Ubuntu machine, since she has my old one and it just sits on a shelf while she uses my previous main computer.
On the internet they're constantly taking surveys, for marketting purposes, who's using what operating system. Are you an apple user ? A windows , a linux man ? Statisticians want to know so they can sell the information to advertising agencies who can in turn sell it to computer manufacturers. There's a lot of money on the table for junk like that.
Do I count as a windows guy or a Linux Guy ? I wonder sometimes...since I like to have one of each at all times (when I get a choice in the matter, when Girlfriend hasn't "liberated" one of my machines" )
We get home and the powers back on. I remember I promised myself I'd write a blog entry about this , and that I would try to keep the ranting down to a minimum.
We'll see how it goes.
So I'm at Girlfriends place on Friday , sleeping until three in the afternoon (it's 30 degree's out , major heat wave). Finally get up and take a shower ...
Thunderstorm. Flickering lights . Darkness.
Now I'm in the dark ... but the shower is still working we still have water. Where's the soap ? where's ... pretty much anything ? It'd hadn't been dark a moment ago. Get out of the shower , which I hadn't finished, visions of slipping on a bar of soap and killing myself and no one finding me for a week dancing in my head.
Find some diet cola in the fridge left over from last week sit down on my favorite chair and stare at the blank computer screen.
No power. No computer . No internet.
Girlfriend is on the phone talking to a friend. In Tagalog. I have no clue what they're saying. Luckily everyone I know is on cell phones these days. Wind with some kind of unlimited local calling is actually cheaper than a land line.
We talk about the last power outage. Lasted for days. No no , Girlfriend assures me. That was when some power company in the states blew a gasket and blamed it all on us. All I remember is getting out of work early and endlessly walking around the building while our bosses tried to decide if they were going to send us home or tough it out and hope the power came back sortly. The stars were very pretty that night long ago. Seeing as how there were no lights near by to drown them out.
Checked the balcony. The sun was still up , and it was quite cloudy, owing to the thunder storm that had most likely knocked out the power.
Sat down and watched the rain a bit. Girlfriend was glad I was there since the room mates (who now lived in my room while I lived in a broom closet across town that probably still had power and internet where as her place didn't) were off for the weekend. Camping or some strange thing.
I phoned my sister in toronto. She was on a wind phone too , so wind to wind call , no charge. We chatted for an hour. She was at work but no one else had shown up so she was sitting at her desk feet up on it relaxing. Or so she told me.
Talked about our dear sweet father , whom her interest in Geneology had turned up. No idea where that is going. Could be a new friend for life, or he might tell us to bugger off and quit bothering him. Not a clue . This isn't a soap opera, and things don't always have a happy ending in real life.
Then again in most good soap opera's there rarely is a happy ending either. House MD ended with House's best friend having terminal cancer. Greys Anatomy it's almost traditional by now , season nine, to have some disaster strike and kill someone off at the end of the season (end of september we find out if Richard survives or not... I'm betting not , mostly because I read an online artical saying one of the main actors had asked to be written out of the story , and it was Richard webber on the ground getting electrocuted at the end of the season finale. Could be a fake out though. )
Why am I meandering on like this ?
Blonde Sister (the one in Toronto) doesn't like my blog. She says I sound like a crazy man with issues all over the place. I tell her ... the blog is where I vent. It's where I can vent in private / public without sounding like a crazy man . So , according to her , I sound like a crazy man on my blog instead.
Aha. Win some lose some. I'll try to keep the ranting down to a minimum.
But really. The Americans listening in on every phone call, every email, every skype call, and more , in the world ? And their president not only refuses to apologize, but see's nothing wrong with it. Everyone does it , he publically states. Who wouldn't want to rant about that. Am I ranting again ? Sorry.
Girlfriend decides to take me to dinner, her favorite Buffet across town. She's nice enough to even pay for it , though she tells me she's knocking it off the price of the computer I "sold" her and never got paid for. Apparently I'm being paid in the form of whatever T-Shirts and pants she finds on sale at the Sally Anne , and the occassional night out.
Win some , lose some. I'm keeping my current lap top though. When Ottawa Housing comes through and gets me a place it's becomeing my new Ubuntu machine, since she has my old one and it just sits on a shelf while she uses my previous main computer.
On the internet they're constantly taking surveys, for marketting purposes, who's using what operating system. Are you an apple user ? A windows , a linux man ? Statisticians want to know so they can sell the information to advertising agencies who can in turn sell it to computer manufacturers. There's a lot of money on the table for junk like that.
Do I count as a windows guy or a Linux Guy ? I wonder sometimes...since I like to have one of each at all times (when I get a choice in the matter, when Girlfriend hasn't "liberated" one of my machines" )
We get home and the powers back on. I remember I promised myself I'd write a blog entry about this , and that I would try to keep the ranting down to a minimum.
We'll see how it goes.
Sunday, July 07, 2013
Big Data Asks, "How much can we overcharge you ?"
Study: Firefox users pay less for car insurance than users of other browsers
"CoverHound deals with several insurance companies to offer side-by-side rate comparisons, but it decided to flip the script and compare something almost as exciting as insurance: it’s users’ choice of web browser.
It found that, on average, Firefox users pay $608 for six months of car insurance, Chrome users pay $731, and Internet Explorer and Safari users pay the same: $750."
So Essentially , business is spying on you, basically which browser and by extension which computer you're using , and deciding they can charge extra if you're on some computers because you seem rich , or you're gullable or something.
Does anything seem wrong with this to you ? Do you suddenly feel like a sucker , a mark waiting to be ripped off , because you don't have the technical expertise to install firefox on your comptuer ? Do you feel ticked because you think insurance, in this case, is looking to take you for a ride ?
Trust me. This is only the beginning of Big Data and it's effect on the general population. Business people will do anything to make a buck. Today they figure what browser you use tells them something worth money , tommorow it will be your picture on face book , or who knows what else. But they're mining , and they're spending millions looking.
And apparently it's working.
This is why data privacy is so important. You are now being ripped off financially because of violations of your data privacy. And where there's money involved, you can bet they're going to exploit this as far as they can.
"CoverHound deals with several insurance companies to offer side-by-side rate comparisons, but it decided to flip the script and compare something almost as exciting as insurance: it’s users’ choice of web browser.
It found that, on average, Firefox users pay $608 for six months of car insurance, Chrome users pay $731, and Internet Explorer and Safari users pay the same: $750."
So Essentially , business is spying on you, basically which browser and by extension which computer you're using , and deciding they can charge extra if you're on some computers because you seem rich , or you're gullable or something.
Does anything seem wrong with this to you ? Do you suddenly feel like a sucker , a mark waiting to be ripped off , because you don't have the technical expertise to install firefox on your comptuer ? Do you feel ticked because you think insurance, in this case, is looking to take you for a ride ?
Trust me. This is only the beginning of Big Data and it's effect on the general population. Business people will do anything to make a buck. Today they figure what browser you use tells them something worth money , tommorow it will be your picture on face book , or who knows what else. But they're mining , and they're spending millions looking.
And apparently it's working.
This is why data privacy is so important. You are now being ripped off financially because of violations of your data privacy. And where there's money involved, you can bet they're going to exploit this as far as they can.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
France, Spain take action against Google on privacy
Article
(Reuters) - France and Spain led a Europe-wide push on Thursday to get U.S. Internet giant Google to change its policies on collecting user data.
News that the U.S. National Security Agency under the Prism surveillance program secretly gathered user data from nine U.S. companies, including Google, to track people's movements and contacts makes the timing especially sensitive for Google.
France's data protection watchdog (CNIL) said Google had broken French law and gave it three months to change its privacy policies or risk a fine of up to 150,000 euros ($200,000).
Spain's Data Protection Agency (AEPD) told Google it would be fined between 40,000 euros and 300,000 for five violations of the law, that it had failed to be clear about what it did with data, may be processing a "disproportionate" amount and holding onto it for an "undetermined or unjustified" period of time.
Whoa , this is unexpected.
Google is a USA company. It must follow USA laws. But what happens when those USA laws are in conflict with other nations laws, especially in the area of Data Privacy ? Is negotiating with France and Spain actually going to do anything when the USA holds the strings to the puppet and can make them do anything ?
How many violations of privacy laws will it take, that Google has no control over it must do , will it take before all USA computer companies start getting banned from providing services to these countries ? One can already immagine local competiters drooling in anticipation of google, yahoo, and the like getting booted out of their little ponds.
All thanks to the antics of the USA government.
It's a new age out there, a post PRISM age.
And it's not Snowdens fault (the guy who leaked the existance of PRISM) because one of the first things any intelligence agency learns is that "two people can keep a secret , but only if one of them is dead" , so they must know that it is inevitable that all secrets eventually come to light. What did they think would happen when people found out you're recording every phone call in the world ? Every email , every facebook posting ?
This won't be boring , that's for sure.
(Reuters) - France and Spain led a Europe-wide push on Thursday to get U.S. Internet giant Google to change its policies on collecting user data.
News that the U.S. National Security Agency under the Prism surveillance program secretly gathered user data from nine U.S. companies, including Google, to track people's movements and contacts makes the timing especially sensitive for Google.
France's data protection watchdog (CNIL) said Google had broken French law and gave it three months to change its privacy policies or risk a fine of up to 150,000 euros ($200,000).
Spain's Data Protection Agency (AEPD) told Google it would be fined between 40,000 euros and 300,000 for five violations of the law, that it had failed to be clear about what it did with data, may be processing a "disproportionate" amount and holding onto it for an "undetermined or unjustified" period of time.
Whoa , this is unexpected.
Google is a USA company. It must follow USA laws. But what happens when those USA laws are in conflict with other nations laws, especially in the area of Data Privacy ? Is negotiating with France and Spain actually going to do anything when the USA holds the strings to the puppet and can make them do anything ?
How many violations of privacy laws will it take, that Google has no control over it must do , will it take before all USA computer companies start getting banned from providing services to these countries ? One can already immagine local competiters drooling in anticipation of google, yahoo, and the like getting booted out of their little ponds.
All thanks to the antics of the USA government.
It's a new age out there, a post PRISM age.
And it's not Snowdens fault (the guy who leaked the existance of PRISM) because one of the first things any intelligence agency learns is that "two people can keep a secret , but only if one of them is dead" , so they must know that it is inevitable that all secrets eventually come to light. What did they think would happen when people found out you're recording every phone call in the world ? Every email , every facebook posting ?
This won't be boring , that's for sure.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
he EU is demanding assurances that Europeans are not having their rights infringed by a massive US surveillance programme.
Article
The EU is demanding assurances that Europeans are not having their rights infringed by a massive US surveillance programme.
Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding plans to raise the concerns with US Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday.
Last week a series of leaks by a former CIA worker led to claims the US had a vast surveillance network with much less oversight than previously thought.
The US insists its snooping is legal under domestic law.
Let me take a moment to answer the EU's concerns , and the rest of the worlds concerns, in this matter.
1. The USA assures us that under their own laws that they get to make up , that say anything they want them to say , they are acting in a perfectly legal manner.
2. The USA assures us that the "traiter" who let everyone know that the USA was lying proflifically to everyone in the world will be prosecuted to the full extent of any law the USA may have already invented out of thin air , or might invent in the future. It is their intention to make this guy an example to all , just like they're doing to the wikileaks guy , that they will not tolerate being caught laying, not by anyone.
3. The USA will now give you the usual lies , I mean assurances , that this will never happen again and you're all perfectly safe and shouldn't worry about it.
4. No , the USA will not consider simply telling everyone in the world "We're spying on you all. If you're a terrorist , your only option for secure communications is a network of carrier pidgeons. " despite the fact that this is probably the truth.
5. It is unlikely that Obama , or any us president , will understand how a person screened for loyalty to the USA , who is specially selected for his desire to protect and defend his country , who truely believes in the ideals of his country (freedom , and privacy in particular) could ever betray them just because they've sold their countries morals down the river for short term gain.
In closing, I'd like to paraphrase President Obama.
"Don't worry , be happy. No one is listening in on all your phone calls. "
The EU is demanding assurances that Europeans are not having their rights infringed by a massive US surveillance programme.
Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding plans to raise the concerns with US Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday.
Last week a series of leaks by a former CIA worker led to claims the US had a vast surveillance network with much less oversight than previously thought.
The US insists its snooping is legal under domestic law.
Let me take a moment to answer the EU's concerns , and the rest of the worlds concerns, in this matter.
1. The USA assures us that under their own laws that they get to make up , that say anything they want them to say , they are acting in a perfectly legal manner.
2. The USA assures us that the "traiter" who let everyone know that the USA was lying proflifically to everyone in the world will be prosecuted to the full extent of any law the USA may have already invented out of thin air , or might invent in the future. It is their intention to make this guy an example to all , just like they're doing to the wikileaks guy , that they will not tolerate being caught laying, not by anyone.
3. The USA will now give you the usual lies , I mean assurances , that this will never happen again and you're all perfectly safe and shouldn't worry about it.
4. No , the USA will not consider simply telling everyone in the world "We're spying on you all. If you're a terrorist , your only option for secure communications is a network of carrier pidgeons. " despite the fact that this is probably the truth.
5. It is unlikely that Obama , or any us president , will understand how a person screened for loyalty to the USA , who is specially selected for his desire to protect and defend his country , who truely believes in the ideals of his country (freedom , and privacy in particular) could ever betray them just because they've sold their countries morals down the river for short term gain.
In closing, I'd like to paraphrase President Obama.
"Don't worry , be happy. No one is listening in on all your phone calls. "
Saturday, June 01, 2013
Internet at Home
Article = none, personal experience
Ok, it turns out my land lady doesn't have camera's everywhere spying on us through the internet. Apparently there was an outage a week or so ago , and I heard the other residence in the hall talking about how "a lot of people depend on that router for their internet".
Take that with her comment about how expensive internet is , and a quick peek at the rogers internet page shows it's 10$ / gigabyte for overages , and she was talking about how she was paying a lot of overages ... yeah she just doesn't want any new users on her modem. It's too expensive.
My phone has internet , they charge me 8$ / month for it. I phoned them up and they said it was a five gigabyte limit. (apparently "unlimited" internet is pretty limited).
Yes , I'd tried my phone before at my old place, my brothers basement. I got cut off every five minutes. But here at my new place on the other side of town , or should I say NOT on the very edge of Ottawa where if you walk across the street to the shopping mall and try to go behind it you find nothing but trees for the next one hundred kilometers , reception is considerably improved. I can actually hold a steady connection and play for two hours at a time.
Installing World of Warcraft is 22 gigabytes , I had to bring my lap top over to a friends place and use their connection , but after I got it going , a week of fairly steady playing was only 240 megabytes , less than a quarter of one gigabyte.
Good enough.
Guess I'm online again.
Ok, it turns out my land lady doesn't have camera's everywhere spying on us through the internet. Apparently there was an outage a week or so ago , and I heard the other residence in the hall talking about how "a lot of people depend on that router for their internet".
Take that with her comment about how expensive internet is , and a quick peek at the rogers internet page shows it's 10$ / gigabyte for overages , and she was talking about how she was paying a lot of overages ... yeah she just doesn't want any new users on her modem. It's too expensive.
My phone has internet , they charge me 8$ / month for it. I phoned them up and they said it was a five gigabyte limit. (apparently "unlimited" internet is pretty limited).
Yes , I'd tried my phone before at my old place, my brothers basement. I got cut off every five minutes. But here at my new place on the other side of town , or should I say NOT on the very edge of Ottawa where if you walk across the street to the shopping mall and try to go behind it you find nothing but trees for the next one hundred kilometers , reception is considerably improved. I can actually hold a steady connection and play for two hours at a time.
Installing World of Warcraft is 22 gigabytes , I had to bring my lap top over to a friends place and use their connection , but after I got it going , a week of fairly steady playing was only 240 megabytes , less than a quarter of one gigabyte.
Good enough.
Guess I'm online again.
Stupid Salesmen Tricks
Article = none , personal experience
Ok. I got on disability , finally , and they sent me a nice big check , a double sized one actually , and then some. So I did a little shoping and I got myself an android phone.
And that was not a nice story.
The bottom of the line phone is 139$ and they were out of stock. And they weren't interested in selling me the demo model that they had on display. There was a 200$ one , but I was feeling pretty robbed because they were displaying a phone they didn't actually have for sale , the old bait and switch game.
So I hopped on a bus and I went over to the next shopping mall along the transit way (3 minute ride) and thought I'd try it again.
Big mistake.
The guy played me like a fish. Promised a big discount no problem , let me handle the phone and play with it , showed me a few tricks on it. Then suddenly he didn't know how to enter the discount in his computer. And no he wouldn't give me a rain check , he had to phone his manager for that and he already tried twice ....
... and I remember walking by this joker in the shopping mall a few weeks earlier, and he was explaining to a new salesman about how you con people , phone your own home phone because you know no one will answer (you're there at work) , say you can't work the computer what are they going to do ? You can't let them touch it can you ?
I knew he was doing it, but I had my heart set on a new phone , and I'd already been at this a few hours bouncing around... so I caved in and payed the full price.
Honestly , 200$ + tax isn't a bad price for the phone I got , but it's the principle that I got conned , that's what ticks me off.
It's a Huawei U8681 running Android 4.0.3 and it has 2 gigs of ram (well , it reports 1.98 ... close enough) and it cost 200$ , 236$ when all was said and done.
I hate the stunts salesmen pull... but I see this phone or phones like it for 400$ or more at other stores ...
Ok. I got on disability , finally , and they sent me a nice big check , a double sized one actually , and then some. So I did a little shoping and I got myself an android phone.
And that was not a nice story.
The bottom of the line phone is 139$ and they were out of stock. And they weren't interested in selling me the demo model that they had on display. There was a 200$ one , but I was feeling pretty robbed because they were displaying a phone they didn't actually have for sale , the old bait and switch game.
So I hopped on a bus and I went over to the next shopping mall along the transit way (3 minute ride) and thought I'd try it again.
Big mistake.
The guy played me like a fish. Promised a big discount no problem , let me handle the phone and play with it , showed me a few tricks on it. Then suddenly he didn't know how to enter the discount in his computer. And no he wouldn't give me a rain check , he had to phone his manager for that and he already tried twice ....
... and I remember walking by this joker in the shopping mall a few weeks earlier, and he was explaining to a new salesman about how you con people , phone your own home phone because you know no one will answer (you're there at work) , say you can't work the computer what are they going to do ? You can't let them touch it can you ?
I knew he was doing it, but I had my heart set on a new phone , and I'd already been at this a few hours bouncing around... so I caved in and payed the full price.
Honestly , 200$ + tax isn't a bad price for the phone I got , but it's the principle that I got conned , that's what ticks me off.
It's a Huawei U8681 running Android 4.0.3 and it has 2 gigs of ram (well , it reports 1.98 ... close enough) and it cost 200$ , 236$ when all was said and done.
I hate the stunts salesmen pull... but I see this phone or phones like it for 400$ or more at other stores ...
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
My New Dibbs
Article = none , personal experience
Moved out of my brothers basement (his wife hates me ) , or was forced out , after the landlord started in on renovations and the place was literally unlivable. Hit Kijiji and after a week or so got lucky and found a place up on Hunt Club.
Place is a large closet.
Judging by the fresh drywall and tiny closet doors everywhere, the luxury three bed room house had been converted into an eight bedroom room rooming house. Eight tiny bedrooms. As in don't bother buying a box spring for your mattress you'll never get it down the stairs into the basement (where my room is)
The room is 7' x 9' and 7' tall.
There's no internet because the landlord has the internet by Bell and is using it to "monitor temperature alarms" or so she says. I wouldn't put it past her to have audio bugs in the house, but thats illegal she'll never admit to that. And besides, after looking over my neibours , I don't really trust them and I wouldn't blame her a bit.
I got a fold up lawn chair , I looked all over for a tag for a weight limit (I'm about 300lbs), couldn't find one. Openned it up and sat down on it at walmart before buying it. No problem holds my weight nicely.
Got it home , openned it up ... whats this tag ? 225lbs maximum weight.
Sheesh. I put a milk crate under it and a big cushion , so that would take the weight and not the chair.
Got a little fold out table for my lap top , but no internet. My phone has internet , but the lap top is Linux and won't recognize the phone. I'm going to have to turn it back into a windows machine eventually , it seems , for the duration. (It's ok to do that on a wind phone, but bell or rogers or telus will charge you extra for using your phone as a modem , a lot extra)
The duration ?
Application is in at Ontario Housing for a rent to income place (bachelar pad or one bedroom) and disability should give me an answer end of april whether I qualify or not (I hope so , I sent enough test results from the doctor in , and there was another guy in the waiting room who also had Chrones Disease and he was on disability )
Hopefully in a year or two I get the rent to income house and disability and it's early retirement time.
Some people say they'd go crazy if they didn't work. But truthfully , I don't think I've ever had a job that mattered much to anyone. Security guard. Telephone tech support for computers and later cell phones, computer programmer. I liked computer programmer , but they decided Quebec needed more jobs and move the whole (government) contract to Quebec , and the little firm I was working for suddenly didn't need me anymore.
How can anyone love a job where they treat you like dirt and toss you out the door at the first opportunity ?
I'm going to pick up my piano lessons and start a band. I'm not actually going to travel , not with my bad belly , I'm just going to upload stuff to youtube. We'll see how that goes.
Moved out of my brothers basement (his wife hates me ) , or was forced out , after the landlord started in on renovations and the place was literally unlivable. Hit Kijiji and after a week or so got lucky and found a place up on Hunt Club.
Place is a large closet.
Judging by the fresh drywall and tiny closet doors everywhere, the luxury three bed room house had been converted into an eight bedroom room rooming house. Eight tiny bedrooms. As in don't bother buying a box spring for your mattress you'll never get it down the stairs into the basement (where my room is)
The room is 7' x 9' and 7' tall.
There's no internet because the landlord has the internet by Bell and is using it to "monitor temperature alarms" or so she says. I wouldn't put it past her to have audio bugs in the house, but thats illegal she'll never admit to that. And besides, after looking over my neibours , I don't really trust them and I wouldn't blame her a bit.
I got a fold up lawn chair , I looked all over for a tag for a weight limit (I'm about 300lbs), couldn't find one. Openned it up and sat down on it at walmart before buying it. No problem holds my weight nicely.
Got it home , openned it up ... whats this tag ? 225lbs maximum weight.
Sheesh. I put a milk crate under it and a big cushion , so that would take the weight and not the chair.
Got a little fold out table for my lap top , but no internet. My phone has internet , but the lap top is Linux and won't recognize the phone. I'm going to have to turn it back into a windows machine eventually , it seems , for the duration. (It's ok to do that on a wind phone, but bell or rogers or telus will charge you extra for using your phone as a modem , a lot extra)
The duration ?
Application is in at Ontario Housing for a rent to income place (bachelar pad or one bedroom) and disability should give me an answer end of april whether I qualify or not (I hope so , I sent enough test results from the doctor in , and there was another guy in the waiting room who also had Chrones Disease and he was on disability )
Hopefully in a year or two I get the rent to income house and disability and it's early retirement time.
Some people say they'd go crazy if they didn't work. But truthfully , I don't think I've ever had a job that mattered much to anyone. Security guard. Telephone tech support for computers and later cell phones, computer programmer. I liked computer programmer , but they decided Quebec needed more jobs and move the whole (government) contract to Quebec , and the little firm I was working for suddenly didn't need me anymore.
How can anyone love a job where they treat you like dirt and toss you out the door at the first opportunity ?
I'm going to pick up my piano lessons and start a band. I'm not actually going to travel , not with my bad belly , I'm just going to upload stuff to youtube. We'll see how that goes.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Why My Privacy Is Important To Me
Article = none , personal opinion.
There's been a lot of talk about online privacy , or the lack there of , the recent c-30 bill that was killed that would have given canadian police the right to basically spy on anyone any place , any time.
And there is that tired old argument that still gets traction in some corners, you know, "If you have nothing to hide , you have nothing to fear from the police watching you. "
I'd just like to say a few words about why I value my privacy.
I don't want to receive coupons on my phone about the great sale the pizza place I'm currently walking by is having.
I don't want to find out ten credit cards were openned, in my name and now the companies aim to collect thousands of dollars from me , money I don't have, or they'll wreck my credit rating.
My boss doesn't need to know which political party I voted for, and doesn't need the ability to insure that I voted for his party or he'll demote / fire me. Same deal with which religion I believe in.
I don't need a team of psychologists going over my "data profile" and deciding when would be the best time to hit me with a sales pitch , when would I be weakest , what would really cinch the deal to buy their piece of junk.
I certainly don't need such a "data profile" being even gathered in the first place.
I don't need some salesman to find out what my girlfriends phone number is , and then bollux my call display so it looks like she's calling when it's really a sales pitch.
I don't like talking to machines. I especially don't like talking to machines that phone a thousand people an hour and ask personal questions they have no business asking.
I don't need some computer to find out which ailments I have and send off ten thousand bogus homeopathic recipies that will "cure" what ails me please have your credit card ready.
Microsoft has no business knowing that my lap top is running Linux , even while my main machine continues to run Windows. I don't need bill gates to decide to "punish" me for my customer disloyalty.
I'm not intersted in that collect phone call from my brother Tom who's in the carribian and desperately needs a thousand dollars cash right now. Tom died about ten years ago , by the way , so I'm pretty sure it's a scam.
I don't think the grocery store has any business asking for my postal code and refusing to serve me if I don't give it. I don't need the flyers landing in my mailbox, I'm trying hard to get rid of the last batch.
I don't need Rogers to come knocking on my door , kick me out of bed because its VERY IMPORTANT , ask one question about how my internet is doing , and then launch into a sales pitch.
I don't need the rogers sales person freaking out when they come back three months later and I slam the door in their face because they already pulled that one on me once before.
I'm not intersted in receiving a letter from the local hospital stating that "Dear ...OTTAWABOY... we heard about your recent stay in our hospital for INSERTDISEASE-X , but you have to understand that in order for our facilities to stay open we are asking for donations ..."
I find it desgusting that every contract I am forced to sign against my will includes the clause "... we will not share your personal information with anyone except our business parters and associates and representatives , affiliates ... " because that basically means they will sell your information to any idiot on the street with two pennies to rub together.
I am actually upset that when I bought my first Dell Computer , Sympatico phoned me up knowing all the details and tried to sell me a dsl modem. I said no , no NO ! NOOO ! and one arrived in the mail a few days later anyways. It took two hours on the phone to cancel the account I never wanted , and another hour a few days later to pack up the modem in a box they mailed me and carry it across the street to mail it back. ... Three months later they sent me another one. I refused to touch it and told the post man holding it to return to sender I refuse delivery.
I am upset that the last time I applied for a job they demanded my facebook page and password so they could snoop around on it and see if I was the kind of person they wanted to hire.
I'm even more upset when I told them a) I don't have a face book account , b) I want my resume back because I don't want to work in such a place , and c) they kept my resume anyways so they could show their client what kind of people worked for them, even though I'd just told them I don't want to work for them. Their instinctive reaction of "What's on your facebook page that you're hiding " just ticked me off even more. Is everyone a criminal who doesn't want to recieve endless spam ? Apparently so.
(edit : Feb 18) A british bank clerk noticed "The CEO makes 7000 pounds an hour , I make only 7. That's fair. " on face book. She got fired for it.
A Canadian Woman suing her employer for depression put up a picture where she had smiled for the camera. The Insurance company decided she didn't look depressed , and denied her claim.
There's been a lot of talk about online privacy , or the lack there of , the recent c-30 bill that was killed that would have given canadian police the right to basically spy on anyone any place , any time.
And there is that tired old argument that still gets traction in some corners, you know, "If you have nothing to hide , you have nothing to fear from the police watching you. "
I'd just like to say a few words about why I value my privacy.
I don't want to receive coupons on my phone about the great sale the pizza place I'm currently walking by is having.
I don't want to find out ten credit cards were openned, in my name and now the companies aim to collect thousands of dollars from me , money I don't have, or they'll wreck my credit rating.
My boss doesn't need to know which political party I voted for, and doesn't need the ability to insure that I voted for his party or he'll demote / fire me. Same deal with which religion I believe in.
I don't need a team of psychologists going over my "data profile" and deciding when would be the best time to hit me with a sales pitch , when would I be weakest , what would really cinch the deal to buy their piece of junk.
I certainly don't need such a "data profile" being even gathered in the first place.
I don't need some salesman to find out what my girlfriends phone number is , and then bollux my call display so it looks like she's calling when it's really a sales pitch.
I don't like talking to machines. I especially don't like talking to machines that phone a thousand people an hour and ask personal questions they have no business asking.
I don't need some computer to find out which ailments I have and send off ten thousand bogus homeopathic recipies that will "cure" what ails me please have your credit card ready.
Microsoft has no business knowing that my lap top is running Linux , even while my main machine continues to run Windows. I don't need bill gates to decide to "punish" me for my customer disloyalty.
I'm not intersted in that collect phone call from my brother Tom who's in the carribian and desperately needs a thousand dollars cash right now. Tom died about ten years ago , by the way , so I'm pretty sure it's a scam.
I don't think the grocery store has any business asking for my postal code and refusing to serve me if I don't give it. I don't need the flyers landing in my mailbox, I'm trying hard to get rid of the last batch.
I don't need Rogers to come knocking on my door , kick me out of bed because its VERY IMPORTANT , ask one question about how my internet is doing , and then launch into a sales pitch.
I don't need the rogers sales person freaking out when they come back three months later and I slam the door in their face because they already pulled that one on me once before.
I'm not intersted in receiving a letter from the local hospital stating that "Dear ...OTTAWABOY... we heard about your recent stay in our hospital for INSERTDISEASE-X , but you have to understand that in order for our facilities to stay open we are asking for donations ..."
I find it desgusting that every contract I am forced to sign against my will includes the clause "... we will not share your personal information with anyone except our business parters and associates and representatives , affiliates ... " because that basically means they will sell your information to any idiot on the street with two pennies to rub together.
I am actually upset that when I bought my first Dell Computer , Sympatico phoned me up knowing all the details and tried to sell me a dsl modem. I said no , no NO ! NOOO ! and one arrived in the mail a few days later anyways. It took two hours on the phone to cancel the account I never wanted , and another hour a few days later to pack up the modem in a box they mailed me and carry it across the street to mail it back. ... Three months later they sent me another one. I refused to touch it and told the post man holding it to return to sender I refuse delivery.
I am upset that the last time I applied for a job they demanded my facebook page and password so they could snoop around on it and see if I was the kind of person they wanted to hire.
I'm even more upset when I told them a) I don't have a face book account , b) I want my resume back because I don't want to work in such a place , and c) they kept my resume anyways so they could show their client what kind of people worked for them, even though I'd just told them I don't want to work for them. Their instinctive reaction of "What's on your facebook page that you're hiding " just ticked me off even more. Is everyone a criminal who doesn't want to recieve endless spam ? Apparently so.
(edit : Feb 18) A british bank clerk noticed "The CEO makes 7000 pounds an hour , I make only 7. That's fair. " on face book. She got fired for it.
A Canadian Woman suing her employer for depression put up a picture where she had smiled for the camera. The Insurance company decided she didn't look depressed , and denied her claim.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Manufacturing jobs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zls4tdDwFo
Remember long ago , we used to manufacture our own stuff ? Before all the jobs got shipped over seas to those dollar a day places like china ?
Those jobs are coming back !
Oops, I mispoke myself. The jobs are not coming back. The manufacturing is coming back.
It's called 3D printing, and basically a box the size of an end table plugs into your computer and "prints" three diminsional objects.
Think star trek replicator.
I am looking around the living room, and what do I see ? A plate, a fork (ok, I ate at the computer) a fold out table, cheap furnature (I'm on a budget , all right ? ) my girlfriend has a shelving unit full of knick knacks ...
Most of this stuff could be made by a 3D printer.
What do I really see that cannot be made by a 3D printer ? The guts of a cell phone. It can do the case, but not the guts. The socket and switch part of a lamp , and the electrical cord. The bulk of the lamp it can do.
I look at a shelving unit and I remember it cost 50 bucks. Blowing thirty dollars on the colored "goo" a 3D printer will use to make a shelving unit seems ... a bargain. Especially since I don't have to pay for taxi fare to haul the thing home.
Picture frames , and pictures litter up this living room. A regular cheap under a hundred dollars printer for the pictures , and a 3D printer for the picture frames will cover that.
I'm not saying rush out and buy one today , they're still $1,300 .
But the last time I checked on them they were $20,000 . Hmm... thats quite the price drop.
Sewing machines snuck up on us you know. They're already here. Under $100 at walmart , cheap material everywhere. Heck I'm not even talking making your own cloths, just taking it in if it's a little loose, hemming your own pants, sewing on a patch over that rip , things like that.
Lap top computers are down to $235 according to my last trip to the electronics store . Thats a brand new lap top as well. Plug in some speakers ... forget about a stereo system. My friend bought a $1200 stereo system when we were young , I limped along with a $310 unit from the local discount store.
And internet is less than 50$ a month for unlimited here in Canada. Stay away from Rogers and Bell and Telus , look for those tiny DSL providers. Their service is terrible ,you'll wait a long time on hold , but the price is so cheap ($42 + tax = $47 for Primus here in ottawa) and once you get it set up I've never seen it go down for more than a few hours a month.
Looking into my rather fuzzy , but still somewhat accurate crystal ball , I see that my home will eventually contain ...
...A cheap lap top playing music, and Television shows streaming from internet sites (such sites already exist , by the way)
... maybe you splurged and got the 80$ speaker set I got for my computer. Maybe you didn't and can live with the 20$ set most people get.
... A 2D printer for making pretty pictures
... A 3D printer for making trinkets, picture frames, cases, boxes, dishes, cutlery, cups, umpteen zillion other things.
... a small number of pre-built pieces of furnature that were cheaper to buy than 3D print.
... a cheap sewing machine in the corner on a table for those quick repairs. maybe you'll get into larger projects like making your own cloths, maybe just hemming your pants and patching the odd rip is all the work it will ever see. Whatever, it's dirt cheap for one and the dang things last for decades. Decades of heavy use. Occasional use you will more likely lose it in a fire or a divorce than have it actually break down.
... a "3d goo" recycling device , to shred your 3d printed objects and turn it back into goo , and make something else out of it. (and round and round it goes...)
Remember long ago , we used to manufacture our own stuff ? Before all the jobs got shipped over seas to those dollar a day places like china ?
Those jobs are coming back !
Oops, I mispoke myself. The jobs are not coming back. The manufacturing is coming back.
It's called 3D printing, and basically a box the size of an end table plugs into your computer and "prints" three diminsional objects.
Think star trek replicator.
I am looking around the living room, and what do I see ? A plate, a fork (ok, I ate at the computer) a fold out table, cheap furnature (I'm on a budget , all right ? ) my girlfriend has a shelving unit full of knick knacks ...
Most of this stuff could be made by a 3D printer.
What do I really see that cannot be made by a 3D printer ? The guts of a cell phone. It can do the case, but not the guts. The socket and switch part of a lamp , and the electrical cord. The bulk of the lamp it can do.
I look at a shelving unit and I remember it cost 50 bucks. Blowing thirty dollars on the colored "goo" a 3D printer will use to make a shelving unit seems ... a bargain. Especially since I don't have to pay for taxi fare to haul the thing home.
Picture frames , and pictures litter up this living room. A regular cheap under a hundred dollars printer for the pictures , and a 3D printer for the picture frames will cover that.
I'm not saying rush out and buy one today , they're still $1,300 .
But the last time I checked on them they were $20,000 . Hmm... thats quite the price drop.
Sewing machines snuck up on us you know. They're already here. Under $100 at walmart , cheap material everywhere. Heck I'm not even talking making your own cloths, just taking it in if it's a little loose, hemming your own pants, sewing on a patch over that rip , things like that.
Lap top computers are down to $235 according to my last trip to the electronics store . Thats a brand new lap top as well. Plug in some speakers ... forget about a stereo system. My friend bought a $1200 stereo system when we were young , I limped along with a $310 unit from the local discount store.
And internet is less than 50$ a month for unlimited here in Canada. Stay away from Rogers and Bell and Telus , look for those tiny DSL providers. Their service is terrible ,you'll wait a long time on hold , but the price is so cheap ($42 + tax = $47 for Primus here in ottawa) and once you get it set up I've never seen it go down for more than a few hours a month.
Looking into my rather fuzzy , but still somewhat accurate crystal ball , I see that my home will eventually contain ...
...A cheap lap top playing music, and Television shows streaming from internet sites (such sites already exist , by the way)
... maybe you splurged and got the 80$ speaker set I got for my computer. Maybe you didn't and can live with the 20$ set most people get.
... A 2D printer for making pretty pictures
... A 3D printer for making trinkets, picture frames, cases, boxes, dishes, cutlery, cups, umpteen zillion other things.
... a small number of pre-built pieces of furnature that were cheaper to buy than 3D print.
... a cheap sewing machine in the corner on a table for those quick repairs. maybe you'll get into larger projects like making your own cloths, maybe just hemming your pants and patching the odd rip is all the work it will ever see. Whatever, it's dirt cheap for one and the dang things last for decades. Decades of heavy use. Occasional use you will more likely lose it in a fire or a divorce than have it actually break down.
... a "3d goo" recycling device , to shred your 3d printed objects and turn it back into goo , and make something else out of it. (and round and round it goes...)
The Evilness of Linux Repositories
Ah that first blog of the new year. What shall we blog about ? Winter ? Roads ? Bad weather ?
blah.
Lets blog about Linux.
Which by the way I am on (my old lap top) at the moment.
So , what is a Linux Repository and why is it so evil , you are asking ? You know how on windows you can download programs from any site you like ? Linux you can't do that.
Instead, you have a couple of "Repositories" that hold all the vetted (and free of charge) Linux programs you could hope for. All in one place. And there in lies the problem .
What if someone made a commercial version of Linux, say if ubuntu kicked Windows to the curb and took over ? And the owners , who ever they may be in the end after what I have no doubt will be numerous sell offs and branches of the operating system being made, decided to make a profit by selling access to their repository only , and you weren't allowed access to anyone elses repository.
With me so far ? What if Windows openned a "Windows Online Store" for software , on their new Windows 8 system, and you could only buy from that store , no where else ? They'd jack up the prices really high , wouldn't they ?
Linux isn't really that bad, it should be mentioned there are ways to add new repositories to the list , effectively allowing another store on your computer for you to buy from. But it's annoying , and involves copying and pasting long command lines, and is really unfriendly.
A tool to make adding a new repository a snap would be pretty cool .
The problem with repositories, or online stores, is that hackers will seek to shut them down with the inevitable ddos (distributed denial of service attack) possibly even demanding money to let up. Which never works of course because if you actually pay such a ransom 10 other hacker groups will promptly shut you down again and demand their ransoms as well.
Repositories are a bad business model all around. Bad for the user because it essentially creates vender lock in , which will triple (or more) all prices, and because they're too hackable. If Linux ever goes mainstream , those repositories will become a huge target for hackers. Take down half the computers in the world by shutting down one site ? What hacker could resist that ?
blah.
Lets blog about Linux.
Which by the way I am on (my old lap top) at the moment.
So , what is a Linux Repository and why is it so evil , you are asking ? You know how on windows you can download programs from any site you like ? Linux you can't do that.
Instead, you have a couple of "Repositories" that hold all the vetted (and free of charge) Linux programs you could hope for. All in one place. And there in lies the problem .
What if someone made a commercial version of Linux, say if ubuntu kicked Windows to the curb and took over ? And the owners , who ever they may be in the end after what I have no doubt will be numerous sell offs and branches of the operating system being made, decided to make a profit by selling access to their repository only , and you weren't allowed access to anyone elses repository.
With me so far ? What if Windows openned a "Windows Online Store" for software , on their new Windows 8 system, and you could only buy from that store , no where else ? They'd jack up the prices really high , wouldn't they ?
Linux isn't really that bad, it should be mentioned there are ways to add new repositories to the list , effectively allowing another store on your computer for you to buy from. But it's annoying , and involves copying and pasting long command lines, and is really unfriendly.
A tool to make adding a new repository a snap would be pretty cool .
The problem with repositories, or online stores, is that hackers will seek to shut them down with the inevitable ddos (distributed denial of service attack) possibly even demanding money to let up. Which never works of course because if you actually pay such a ransom 10 other hacker groups will promptly shut you down again and demand their ransoms as well.
Repositories are a bad business model all around. Bad for the user because it essentially creates vender lock in , which will triple (or more) all prices, and because they're too hackable. If Linux ever goes mainstream , those repositories will become a huge target for hackers. Take down half the computers in the world by shutting down one site ? What hacker could resist that ?
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Who the heck is Santa Clause ?
Ok. I understand this Saint Nicholes guy was a european nobleman who every christmas gave presents to the children of this town he owned and was lord of.
So how did we get from there , to this coca cola swilling fat ugly beared old man selling everything from cars to sun tan lotion , neither of which are likely to be of any use to someone puported to live at the north pole where there is little sun and no roads , and he already has a magical sleigh that can travel across the world in seconds.
When did this transformation happen , exactly ?
The answer is , slowly , and in gentle steps.
Jolly old Saint Nicholas lived in southwestern turkey in the 4th century. He was apparently a bishop of Myra and did a number of miracles involving sailers and children.
It should probably be noted that in the 4th century , a date had not yet been established for Christmas , or christ's birthday. Eventually it was decided to "celebrate it on dec 25" , a carefully phrased decision that hides the fact that they kept really terrible calenders at the time and no one knew when the heck the big JC had been born , that's just the day they're going to celebrate it on. However there were all these pagans they wanted to christianize , and if they're at some big Christian festival on that date they can't be at their own pagen festival at the same time , can they ? So ..yeah , the decision of Dec 25 was made to help convert pagans , rather than out of any need for accuracy.
(actually, people picked up on the star that marked Christs birth and , assuming it's true , there are at least three possible dates ranging from 4 years to 7 years BC . Which really shows how terrible they were at keeping time back then if they can't even get the year right. )
During a 16th century schism in the european church , the people of Holland started calling Saint Nicolos Sinter Klass, which of course , the americans corrupted into , you got it , Santa Claus.
in 1822 a biblical scholar called Clement Moore decided to write a poem , just for fun, for his children. He didn't really mean for it to get around , but it eventually was published anonymously .
What a familiar looking story ?
Thomas Nast , a 19th century cartoonist , did a few cartoons of the fat guy , and added to the legend things like a workshop where toys were made and a book that seriously violated the privacy of the children of the world by detailing their names and whether they were naughty or nice.
in the 20th century the Coca Cola company is commonly cited as flooding America with ads of the fat man , usually drinking their product as he went about his business of inappropriately entering peoples houses and violating their privacy by keeping black lists that are quite frankly illegal in most countries.
After the Coca Cola company openned the flood gates, it just became good business to use this image painted in 1921 by Norman Rockwell to try and sell anything that wasn't nailed down.
To this day the Catholic church bemoans how the true message of christmas was lost in the noise of this Santa Claus figure , while conveniently forgetting that the very selection of dec 25 was used not to teach anyone accurate history , but to forward the cause of stamping out pagans. They generally ignore any suggestion that they are pimping out their faith for gain by pointing out that the local hardware store is pimping out a story they know to be false just to sell a few extra products. At least their version is based on truth , even if it got lost in the babble of 20 centuries of history.
So how did we get from there , to this coca cola swilling fat ugly beared old man selling everything from cars to sun tan lotion , neither of which are likely to be of any use to someone puported to live at the north pole where there is little sun and no roads , and he already has a magical sleigh that can travel across the world in seconds.
When did this transformation happen , exactly ?
The answer is , slowly , and in gentle steps.
Jolly old Saint Nicholas lived in southwestern turkey in the 4th century. He was apparently a bishop of Myra and did a number of miracles involving sailers and children.
It should probably be noted that in the 4th century , a date had not yet been established for Christmas , or christ's birthday. Eventually it was decided to "celebrate it on dec 25" , a carefully phrased decision that hides the fact that they kept really terrible calenders at the time and no one knew when the heck the big JC had been born , that's just the day they're going to celebrate it on. However there were all these pagans they wanted to christianize , and if they're at some big Christian festival on that date they can't be at their own pagen festival at the same time , can they ? So ..yeah , the decision of Dec 25 was made to help convert pagans , rather than out of any need for accuracy.
(actually, people picked up on the star that marked Christs birth and , assuming it's true , there are at least three possible dates ranging from 4 years to 7 years BC . Which really shows how terrible they were at keeping time back then if they can't even get the year right. )
During a 16th century schism in the european church , the people of Holland started calling Saint Nicolos Sinter Klass, which of course , the americans corrupted into , you got it , Santa Claus.
in 1822 a biblical scholar called Clement Moore decided to write a poem , just for fun, for his children. He didn't really mean for it to get around , but it eventually was published anonymously .
| ’T WAS the night before Christmas, when all through the house | ||||||||||||||
| Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; | ||||||||||||||
| The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, | ||||||||||||||
| In hopes that ST. NICHOLAS soon would be there; | ||||||||||||||
| The children were nestled all snug in their beds, | 5 | |||||||||||||
| While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; | ||||||||||||||
| And mamma in her ’kerchief, and I in my cap, | ||||||||||||||
| Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap, | ||||||||||||||
| When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, | ||||||||||||||
| I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Away to the window I flew like a flash, | ||||||||||||||
| Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. | ||||||||||||||
| The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow | ||||||||||||||
| Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below, | ||||||||||||||
| When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, | 15 | |||||||||||||
| But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer, | ||||||||||||||
| With a little old driver, so lively and quick, | ||||||||||||||
| I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. | ||||||||||||||
| More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, | ||||||||||||||
| And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name; | 20 | |||||||||||||
| “Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! | ||||||||||||||
| On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen! | ||||||||||||||
| To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! | ||||||||||||||
| Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!” | ||||||||||||||
| As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, | 25 | |||||||||||||
| When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky; | ||||||||||||||
| So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, | ||||||||||||||
| With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too. | ||||||||||||||
| And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof | ||||||||||||||
| The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. | 30 | |||||||||||||
| As I drew in my head, and was turning around, | ||||||||||||||
| Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. | ||||||||||||||
| He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, | ||||||||||||||
| And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; | ||||||||||||||
| A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back, | 35 | |||||||||||||
| And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack. | ||||||||||||||
| His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! | ||||||||||||||
| His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! | ||||||||||||||
| His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow | ||||||||||||||
| And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow; | 40 | |||||||||||||
| The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, | ||||||||||||||
| And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath; | ||||||||||||||
| He had a broad face and a little round belly, | ||||||||||||||
| That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly. | ||||||||||||||
| He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, | 45 | |||||||||||||
| And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself; | ||||||||||||||
| A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, | ||||||||||||||
| Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread; | ||||||||||||||
| He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, | ||||||||||||||
| And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, | 50 | |||||||||||||
| And laying his finger aside of his nose, | ||||||||||||||
| And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose; | ||||||||||||||
| He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, | ||||||||||||||
| And away they all flew like the down of a thistle, | ||||||||||||||
| But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, | ||||||||||||||
| “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.” |
What a familiar looking story ?
Thomas Nast , a 19th century cartoonist , did a few cartoons of the fat guy , and added to the legend things like a workshop where toys were made and a book that seriously violated the privacy of the children of the world by detailing their names and whether they were naughty or nice.
in the 20th century the Coca Cola company is commonly cited as flooding America with ads of the fat man , usually drinking their product as he went about his business of inappropriately entering peoples houses and violating their privacy by keeping black lists that are quite frankly illegal in most countries.
After the Coca Cola company openned the flood gates, it just became good business to use this image painted in 1921 by Norman Rockwell to try and sell anything that wasn't nailed down.
To this day the Catholic church bemoans how the true message of christmas was lost in the noise of this Santa Claus figure , while conveniently forgetting that the very selection of dec 25 was used not to teach anyone accurate history , but to forward the cause of stamping out pagans. They generally ignore any suggestion that they are pimping out their faith for gain by pointing out that the local hardware store is pimping out a story they know to be false just to sell a few extra products. At least their version is based on truth , even if it got lost in the babble of 20 centuries of history.
So remember. Drink Coca Cola. It's Santa's favorite. Though I'm not sure what a 4th century Christian Saint from southern Turkey would have to say about that.
And for all those nay sayers who still don't believe. I point to that unquestioned Bastion of Truth in Journalism, the new york times.
"DEAR
EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Report from the front : the shooting of 20 children
Maple Leaf Rag , our transplanted Canadian now living in texas , gives us his views on gun control and violence and the recent shooting of 20 children down there and what he thinks is causing it all. Since he actually lives down there every day , rather than just reading a few newspaper articals like the rest of us, I thought his opinion might be worth more than mine.
I remember you once asked me to give you some Canadian views of life in America. Here's my view on America's reaction to the horrible massacre of little school kids in Connecticut by a mentally ill 20 year old who used powerful semiautomatic weapons.
First thing you need to understand is how incredibly polarized between Left & Right America is. The Left and Right have moved to very far extremes and there is NO middle ground. Each side dismisses out of hand everything the other says and insists that their way is the only way. A President from one side gets in for a few years and undoes or tries to undo what the other party did. Repeat every 4 to 8 years ad infinitum, and the two sides never work together.
I don't know if it is that apparent from Canada's viewpoint, but I think if ranked on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being total peace and harmony and 10 being outright Civil War, the USA would sit at around 6.5 to 7 now.
About this mass murder (and the many many similar massacres in recent years), the Left insists it is entirely due to readily available guns and wants strict controls on them. Good idea in theory as far as I am concerned, but there are so many guns and real gun fanatics in the USA I don't know how they would ever implement it). The Right insists it is entirely due to lax morals, poor parenting and lax mental health laws and the spread of uncensored violent entertainment, which are all also very real factors. Anyone with common sense would recognize that all these factors work together to promote these mass killing sprees.
The Left Wing's leftover Hippie sacred cows of relative morality, "revolutionary" Baby Boom era lax parenting styles, lenience to criminals, the "rights" of mental patients to refuse treatment, refusing to accept media censorship, all these create the spoiled, desensitized, deranged young killer, who, upon hitting the hard brick wall of adulthood where trophies and awards are no longer given out just for showing up, decides he hates his life where he is not the star of his own reality show, and wants to take his toys and go home in the most outrageously violent manner possible. Then, the Right Wing's pigheaded obsessive insistence that every American has the God Given Right to own high capacity military style firearms with little or no obstacles to obtaining them, enables the killers.
So both sides contribute majorly to the problem and utterly refuse to accept that their side has any guilt whatsoever. I made a couple of posts on Yahoo News about how ridiculous this situation was and people from both camps immediately leaped down my throat. Lefties called me a fascist, Righties called me a commie. I call me sensible.
America's extreme political polarity has basically crippled its power to make any positive changes in its very sick society. America will shout and rant and rave about doing something about this horrifying problem of mass killings, but nothing effective will ever come of it.
I remember you once asked me to give you some Canadian views of life in America. Here's my view on America's reaction to the horrible massacre of little school kids in Connecticut by a mentally ill 20 year old who used powerful semiautomatic weapons.
First thing you need to understand is how incredibly polarized between Left & Right America is. The Left and Right have moved to very far extremes and there is NO middle ground. Each side dismisses out of hand everything the other says and insists that their way is the only way. A President from one side gets in for a few years and undoes or tries to undo what the other party did. Repeat every 4 to 8 years ad infinitum, and the two sides never work together.
I don't know if it is that apparent from Canada's viewpoint, but I think if ranked on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being total peace and harmony and 10 being outright Civil War, the USA would sit at around 6.5 to 7 now.
About this mass murder (and the many many similar massacres in recent years), the Left insists it is entirely due to readily available guns and wants strict controls on them. Good idea in theory as far as I am concerned, but there are so many guns and real gun fanatics in the USA I don't know how they would ever implement it). The Right insists it is entirely due to lax morals, poor parenting and lax mental health laws and the spread of uncensored violent entertainment, which are all also very real factors. Anyone with common sense would recognize that all these factors work together to promote these mass killing sprees.
The Left Wing's leftover Hippie sacred cows of relative morality, "revolutionary" Baby Boom era lax parenting styles, lenience to criminals, the "rights" of mental patients to refuse treatment, refusing to accept media censorship, all these create the spoiled, desensitized, deranged young killer, who, upon hitting the hard brick wall of adulthood where trophies and awards are no longer given out just for showing up, decides he hates his life where he is not the star of his own reality show, and wants to take his toys and go home in the most outrageously violent manner possible. Then, the Right Wing's pigheaded obsessive insistence that every American has the God Given Right to own high capacity military style firearms with little or no obstacles to obtaining them, enables the killers.
So both sides contribute majorly to the problem and utterly refuse to accept that their side has any guilt whatsoever. I made a couple of posts on Yahoo News about how ridiculous this situation was and people from both camps immediately leaped down my throat. Lefties called me a fascist, Righties called me a commie. I call me sensible.
America's extreme political polarity has basically crippled its power to make any positive changes in its very sick society. America will shout and rant and rave about doing something about this horrifying problem of mass killings, but nothing effective will ever come of it.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
The Credit Card Scam
Article = none , personal experience
Here's how the scam works.
You work hard, you get a job , you're financially responsible , you get a credit card.
You're girlfriend wants to go to the casino and demands money off you , or she'll withhold sex. She knows you have a credit card , she knows you have it.
Your brother , every now and then , very subtly , asks you "So how much you have on that credit card ?" He's already twice borrowed money and never paid it back.
Your employer at your two bit company that only has three people decides that you can wait for your paycheck , because you have a credit card and can get by, the other employe doesn't , and can't wait.
and on , and on , and on it goes.
Next thing you know , you're 10 grand in debt , and you literally have nothing to show for it. No new car, no fully paid off computer , nothing. Everyone and the dog owes you thousands of dollars that you know you'll never collect on , but the bank fully expects to collect from you. And now it's time for the whole bankruptcy / garnashee of salaries thing.
And now all your friends and relatives are ticked at you because you leant them money when you were in trouble before , why arn't you lending them anything now ?
And your bank sends you to a credit counciling session that basically tells you "Pay us every single dime you owe us, including the 150$ / month interest that you can't actually afford. Beg, borrow, steal if you have to , just not from our bank. And if you owe anyone else money , pay us first because we paid to hold this credit counciling session and you owe us. "
Don't get a credit card. Especially not "Just in case" .
Don't tell anyone how much you have in the bank. Put money in a savings account and if anyone asks, you live paycheck to paycheck , and always gripe how you never have any money just before the next pay check.
It's none of their business, and them knowing it just opens the door to endless requests for money , and fights.
And if you can't tell anyone that you have no money , then don't bother saving a dime , because you'll never get to spend any of it on yourself.
Here's how the scam works.
You work hard, you get a job , you're financially responsible , you get a credit card.
You're girlfriend wants to go to the casino and demands money off you , or she'll withhold sex. She knows you have a credit card , she knows you have it.
Your brother , every now and then , very subtly , asks you "So how much you have on that credit card ?" He's already twice borrowed money and never paid it back.
Your employer at your two bit company that only has three people decides that you can wait for your paycheck , because you have a credit card and can get by, the other employe doesn't , and can't wait.
and on , and on , and on it goes.
Next thing you know , you're 10 grand in debt , and you literally have nothing to show for it. No new car, no fully paid off computer , nothing. Everyone and the dog owes you thousands of dollars that you know you'll never collect on , but the bank fully expects to collect from you. And now it's time for the whole bankruptcy / garnashee of salaries thing.
And now all your friends and relatives are ticked at you because you leant them money when you were in trouble before , why arn't you lending them anything now ?
And your bank sends you to a credit counciling session that basically tells you "Pay us every single dime you owe us, including the 150$ / month interest that you can't actually afford. Beg, borrow, steal if you have to , just not from our bank. And if you owe anyone else money , pay us first because we paid to hold this credit counciling session and you owe us. "
Don't get a credit card. Especially not "Just in case" .
Don't tell anyone how much you have in the bank. Put money in a savings account and if anyone asks, you live paycheck to paycheck , and always gripe how you never have any money just before the next pay check.
It's none of their business, and them knowing it just opens the door to endless requests for money , and fights.
And if you can't tell anyone that you have no money , then don't bother saving a dime , because you'll never get to spend any of it on yourself.
And todays privacy violation is ... Stalker Apps
'Stalking apps' could be banned in US
It would also outlaw apps from collecting or sharing location data without the consent of the owner.
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.
.
"But right now, companies - some legitimate, some sleazy - are
collecting your or your child's location and selling it to ad companies
or who knows who else."
The joy of it all. Your phone that you paid probably hundreds of dollars for (doesn't work on cheapie phones that can't run apps !) is probably spying on you. And your kid. Sometimes just for commercial gain (spamming you with ads) , and sometimes because your ex boyfriend / girlfriend is stalking you.
Fun fun fun.
Don't you love modern technology ? It's no longer big brother you must panic over. It's now your ex's and your over bearing mother or father as well.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Report from The Front : Texas Health Care
I asked Maple Leaf Rag how health care was in xx xxx , Texas, where he lived. And boy , did he have a few words to share.
Ok. so ... my dreams of imigrating to the states are shattered. How about yours ?
Doctors that push pills rather than cure diseases ? Months with Bronchitis until you looked it up and handled it yourself ?
I have a real sickness (Chrones Disease) which means if I was an American I would either be hooked on narcotics by now , or simply dead from endless misdiagnosis designed to enrich the doctor rather than cure disease.
If you do a better job looking stuff up on the internet than seeing the doctor ... something is wrong with that system.
I thought of some more aspects of the US medical system that
you might find interesting, and that I have not heard discussed
elsewhere. These are my personal observations.
Whenever
I got sick in Canada and decided I needed to see a doctor, I went in,
the doc found out what was wrong, treated me, I got better and that was
that. OHIP paid my bill and I was happy. On the other hand, when my
cat, Wizard got diabetes when she was 15 years old, I took her in to the
Vet, and as there is no OHIP plan for pets, and everything was coming
out of my own pocket, the vet tried really hard to scare me and
encouraged me to have them do some $2000 dollar procedure on Wizard or
she would basically be dead within a week. When I told them that I was
completely unable to pay that kind of money and had tears in my eyes
thinking that I would have to have her euthanized, the veterinary
assistant took pity on me and mentioned as an afterthought that I could
just start buying insulin and needles at the drugstore for 20 or 30
bucks a month and inject her 2 times a day. I tried it and it worked.
She lived 5 more years.
American
doctors operate on a profit basis much like Canadian veterinarians.
The more you see them, the more you pay them, the richer they get and as
there is no OHIP to deny unnecessary procedures, they encourage all
kinds of ridiculous tests, scans, & endless return visits. They
scare you with all kinds of hypotheses and frightening possibilities and
drop frightening little comments and concerned looks and basically try
to hook you like a fish and milk you like a cash cow. You see their
waiting rooms full of the same frightened patients week after week,
going in for probably unnecessary tests and coming out with huge bags of
pill bottles. I got sucked into this a few years
ago when I got a case of bronchitis that would not go away for months.
At my doctor it was "come back next week, take more pills, get more
chest x rays, it's PROBABLY not
cancer, etc. etc." Finally, I took some different antibiotics my
mother in law had gotten over the counter in Mexico and the bronchitis
went away in a week. Drugstores here have huge LED signs outside
advertising vaccines against all kinds of diseases, from meningitis, to
flu, to shingles. Scary medical billboards flank the highways. The USA
is host to a culture of fear. Fear of sickness, fear of crime, fear of
terrorists, fear of social ostracism, fear of damnation, you name it,
and it is all calculated to make you spend your money, whether on
doctors, guns, deodorant, church tithes or whatever.
One
of my xxxx sons has to see a shrink ever month or so. His
former doctor was a shameless pill pusher. His waiting room was full
of
people who were essentially junkies, asking the receptionist every 5
minutes when he would see them so they could get their allotment of the
happy pills he threw around like Willie Wonka at the chocolate factory.
He gave my son these pills that seemed to work at first. But after
a few weeks, however, the kid started losing weight and displaying
psychotic symptoms like cutting off all his hair and attacking his
brother in his sleep. He started to look like a skeletal Auschwitz
inmate. I checked into the pills online and it turns out the doctor
had prescribed him what was basically speed, which apparently works on
hyperactive kids, but NOT on xxxxxxx. We got him to another doctor
who seems a LITTLE more ethical.
Also,
as it is all profit based, their offices and waiting rooms have this
cheap, unprofessional appearance in many cases, because they skimp on
anything peripheral to the operation of scamming patients. I've been in
waiting rooms that felt more like someone's den. Better than Mexico
though... I once had a root canal and a crown done by a lady dentist
down in Juarez who had her 2 year old daughter on her lap screaming
PEE-PEE! PEE-PEE! PEE-PEE! in my ear for the whole time and her office
looked about as sanitary as a bachelor's kitchen. But then again, that
only cost me $70 dollars.
A
lot of American institutions seem to be run by the seat of the pants. I
blame the capitalistic profit-based mindset for this. Very
inefficient, very wasteful, very foolish due to poor decisions and
trying to stretch the buck. The xxxxx xxxxx that employs me, for
example. Several years ago they bought half a million bucks worth of
some kind of hand-held data organizer and matching software for use by
the xxxxxxx simply because they were on sale. When they distributed
them, they found that these things were totally unsuitable for their
needs. Whoops! No returns on sale items. Into the warehouse
they went, where they sit like the Lost Ark of the Covenant on a dusty
wooden skid, gathering dust and getting more and more obsolete every
day. Not to mention all the corruption, misappropriation of funds etc.
in local government. In xx xxx, it is commonplace for
the FBI and Texas Rangers to step in and raid municipal government
offices and local police departments in order to arrest politicians and
cops for corruption. Recently, a County Commissioner was arrested for
smuggling thousands of pounds of pot from Mexico to northern cities. I
don't know if all this corruption is a result of being tied so closely
to the thoroughly corrupt culture of our Mexican neighbors or if it is
endemic to the entire US, but it is pretty much a Mickey Mouse outfit
around here as far as local Government goes.
Ok. so ... my dreams of imigrating to the states are shattered. How about yours ?
Doctors that push pills rather than cure diseases ? Months with Bronchitis until you looked it up and handled it yourself ?
I have a real sickness (Chrones Disease) which means if I was an American I would either be hooked on narcotics by now , or simply dead from endless misdiagnosis designed to enrich the doctor rather than cure disease.
If you do a better job looking stuff up on the internet than seeing the doctor ... something is wrong with that system.
Monday, December 10, 2012
For Maple Leaf Rag ...
For Maple Leaf Rag. A reminder of all that you left when you decided to fly south to warmer climes ...
Saturday, December 01, 2012
Guard Rails
See the above picture ? Just a road, with guard rails right ?
I walked by and there were construction workers puting up guide wires and doing measurements, and no guard rails.
An hour and a half later , I walk back , and they just finishing up. And there were guard rails. Sunk into the ground, ready and waiting to be crashed into , the works.
An hour and a half ? Dang that was fast. I figured such a thing took days, not 90 minutes.
Weird.
Friday, November 23, 2012
This Week's Privacy Violations
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20155192
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15004063
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20461752
So , what do we have today to complain about in the way of personal privacy.
I see a school down in texas has decided to put sticky chips on the skin of pupils and track their every move on school property. Probably so they can't just take it off and hand it to a friend to "check in" for them when they're not actually there.
Has anyone considered that such things can be hacked, and your child can be tracked everywhere , by , say , the school bully, and thence become a target of repeated bullying with no place to hide ? I can just see hackers selling you subscriptions to the local weaklings location any time you like on your cell phone for a few bucks a month , and the bullies can ambush him any time they like.
Another brain dead ad for the "Internet of Things" (IoT) , whereby they put a radio chip in your jeans and now you can be tracked anywhere. Does anyone really want to sign up for that ? No ? What if they put it in every piece of clothing and there is no clothing for sale with out it ?
What if your job only hires you if you have your "Things" registered so they can track your every move , everywhere ? Think I'm crazy ? How many of you get asked in your job interviews for your face book address (and possibly password ) ? That many eh ? And you obviously don't get the job if you decline , am I right ?
Speaking of facebook , there's an article out there about how businesses should "carefully" go through applicants face book pages to determine if they are suitable employee's or not. Their only worry ? You might fake your public profile and make yourself look like a good candidate rather than tell the truth. Those who tell the truth about that night five years ago when you got really drunk and the police arrested you for piddling on the police cruiser while the cop was still inside ? Yeah , ever wonder why no one will hire you ?
I have a friend who thinks the whole world is spying on him. He is not far wrong. The whole world is spying on all of us. And it ticks me off that it's for the stupidest of reasons. It's because they think I might have a nickle in my pocket , and they want a slice of the action. They want to know my exact location not because of a vast government conspiracy , but because if I happen to be passing a pizza joint they want to send me a text message full of advertising for that place.
We are being robbed of our privacy. And it's for the dumbest of reasons you can imagine. And that is just so wrong.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Goodbye Wireless Toaster , Part Deux !
After spending the last month trying to convince me to move into the same building as himself, wireless toaster has now sent me a nasty email saying that he will call the police for stalking if I do so.
This is on top of endlessly talking about conspiracy theories about how the government is out to get him. And its the second time he pulled this stunt, the first time he accused me of working for the imaginary government conspiracy in his mind , but months later he came back and it was all a terrible misunderstanding.
I just looked up paranoid schizophrenia at the Mayoclinic.com . He's batting seven out of 9 symptoms.
- Signs and symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia may include:
- * Auditory hallucinations, such as hearing voices - pass
- * Delusions, such as believing a co-worker wants to poison you - yes ..government out to get him does count
- * Anxiety - always
- * Anger - wants to kill our friend maple leaf rag
- * Emotional distance - he always was
- * Violence - did I mention he wants to kill someone ?
- * Argumentativeness - oh he will argue for hours
- * Self-important or condescending manner - More so that most of us yes, he thinks he's important enough for the government to be after him because he knows stuff , he can get them into trouble (which ,he already tried, and it got no where)
- * Suicidal thoughts and behavior - never asked.
Yeah , "Life Long Condition" (ie: there is no cure) and sooner or later he's going to either get tired of waiting for the imaginary government conspiracy to pick him up and start going after people ,or he's going to off himself.
And everyone around him is a government agent. Aha.
Goodbye , Wireless. Your condition has no cure it seems. Plus from the way you go on and on and on about the government secretly testing LSD on people , you took some didn't you ? The damage LSD does to your brain is also permanent , for the rest of your life.
I am getting old , and I don't have the ability to deal with a potentially violent person who might decide to stab me and then stand over my corpse laughing manically and shouting "He thought he fooled me ! But I know the Truth !" .
OK , maybe a little too much movie drama in that image. But you get the idea. I can't deal with him and no one can cure him. It's time to say goodbye.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
I hate Wind
So ,here I am at the library , no internet again.
I hate wind. (my phone and internet data stick provider )
I gave them $67.80 on the 30th (yes ,I just looked that up , I really don't have a photographic memory) . This covers 25$ for my phone , and 35$ for their unlimited plan. And 8.50$ I presume to be tax.
So why is it on the 15th I'm staring at a web page that says your account is suspended add more money ?
so I phone wind up , and I get this long sad story about how your data stick the end of the billing cycle is the 15th and they want money.
but I just gave you 35$ on the 30th , thats only 15 days ago. I wnat to speak to your supervisor.
No dice. The supervisor demands 25$ , something about a minimum balance yadda yadda yadda. I tell her that the fact that her accounting system is broken and is eating my money is not an acceptable excuse and hang up on her.
I mean sheesh, they took 35$ for 15 days service, now they want another 25$ ... thats 60$ a month ! I can't afford that.
And these monkeys can't keep their stories straight , the last one told me I was good to the 30th thanks for your 35$ and now this one is saying more money , and it's all your mistake for not reading our minds and following our rules which we don't tell anyone about and don't publish anywhere give us more money.
so ... here i am at the library with no internet access.
And the internet access i did have was all crappy and you couldn't play online games on it anyways , my primary use for it.
I aint paying 60$ / month for a service that cuts out every 5 minutes and doesn't let me play online games. I will soldier on without it and use the money for something else.
On another note...the first time I walked all the way to the library i was totally beat. This time it was just a pleasant walk. I think I might be getting used to this whole early retirement disability business.
Except for the part where i can't eat anythign until i get back home. Travelling the world on an empty stomache to avoid ... unmentionables isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Valve's Linux video games plan described as 'unethical'
To sumerize : Everything on Linux should be free ,and you should provide source code as well for it all , selling commercial products on Linux is an evil thing , yadda yadda yadda... . .
I have no problem buying useful commerical products and paying for them.
My problem comes from "the upgrade treadmill" that microsoft wants everyone on. Just how useful is the latest microsoft office compared to the one issued 20 years ago ?
You know ,they had perfectly usable spread sheets even in the 90's , and 80's, and the fancy new ones really don't add much. So why are people trying to charge me a couple of hundred dollars for something someone else wrote twenty or thirty years ago ?
And why am I forced, kicking and screaming , against my will , to upgrade to a new operating system when the old one is doing it's job just fine ? Why am I forced to buy a new computer with all new software , and it doesn't do anything any better than the old stuff ever did ?
That is what I have a serious gripe over.
I am happy to kick out 50$ for a new game.
I'm not too happy to have to kick out 2000$ every 3 years for a new computer and software that doesn't do anything the old one didn't do just as well.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Library internet
So here I sit in the Library , literally a one hour walk from home. And it's a hot spot.
Yep. Brought my lap top along and everything, and all you do is provide your library card number and your pin number for it and off you go.
No place to plug the thing in though , so I guess I have a two hour limit. And after a one hour walk to get here, I'm in no hurry to head off home right away. Think I'll stay a while and look around.
The cheap 15$ internet plan I was on was only good for one gigabyte. I watched an episode of a TV show on the internet , using that up. Thought they'd just slow me down , like they do for other plans but nope. The 15$ plan they cut you off until you give them more money. Well...end of the month.
McDonalds has a hot spot too, no password or anything required. I can just see me sneaking around back late at night , illicit lap top in my back pack , pulling it out at the back of the building when no one is looking and getting a little free surfing done , checking my email , before I skulk off into the darkness like some criminal. Hilarious.
Action Housing got wireless toaster a house within four years , which sound really terrible. But the last three months he was living in a mens shelter, so i think the mens shelter thing sped that up a lot. I'm going to apply in a day or two , maybe my application for disability will speed things up as well. Maybe even just being on Ontario Works will speed things up and I'll get something even if disability turns me down.
Wireless toaster lives in such a building and it's full of people on disability. He says it's really easy to get on , some people just get on because they drink too much. Not sure if I should believe him though.
Right now he's on a high because he's been writing a lot of stuff in his blog about how evil the chinese are and how they're spying on us and stuff, and the FBI down in the states just confirmed it all. Said Huawei , a company that is based out of china , has been caught spying and putting in back doors in communications equipment they've been selling , and trying to bid on contracts to build secure networks for the united states when those secure networks are supposed to be fighting off the chinese ... ha ha ha thats pretty funny.
Wireless Toaster is a wierd one all right. Most of his rants sound pretty paranoid, and then stuff like this happens and it looks like he was right on the money. Odd how things work out.
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