Thursday, November 6, 2014
Milk Does a Body No Good
Turns out milk is bilk. The government recommended milk for generations just to bilk consumers out of their money. The government provides a lot of things, but objective truth isn't one of them. Look no further than the government's policy on marijuana to confirm that our laws are based upon lies. One goes to jail for longer for marijuana than for murdering someone. People get off scot-free if they kill, like O.J. Simpson did, but if they get caught with enough weed, they can go to the slammer for life. Really many of our laws were crafted with a narrow agenda, simply to boost one product or another and eliminate or reduce competition from another product. This is because politicians sell their hearts and minds to the highest bidder with no regard to what might be good for the country.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
NORML's Happy
I'm not too pleased by the Republicans' takeover of the Senate, but NORML's happy, and they have good reason to be so. People may be voting Republican, but they are also voting to legalize marijuana, and it's about time. One day, the U.S. may revert the status of cannabis back to the way it was prior to the 1930s. Weed was never a problem in the U.S. until the politicians got it in their head to make it into a problem. The U.S. does not need any artificially manufactured problems. We have enough real problems to deal with. It is time for the politicians to get their act together and recognize what science says about cannabis.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Religious Fascists
Religious fascists wasted no time condemning a young woman's choice of suicide over daily suffering with a terminal illness. They want to put people like her in jail. I think she was right to make the choice that she did. Culture of death, my foot.
I think that religious fascists are the ones that belong in jail, or at any rate away from civilized society, whether they are Muslim or Christian or whatever that makes them want to interfere in other people's lives. They suffer from a severe mental illness, the compulsion to control other people, and need to be treated psychologically. One doubts that traditional educational methods would work for the religious fascist. Electroshock therapy, administered daily, simulating the pain and suffering the young woman above experienced, is just the thing to get them to understand that sometimes, people want to die and that they should have that basic human right.
We as a species are moving away from a culture of darkness and death, which is religious fascism, and toward a culture of reason, which is aligned with all that is good in the world. The religious fascists know that they have lost. They know they are on the wrong side of history. Some of them even know that they are wrong and that they serve the darkness. They are in it because religion is easy money. Not much work involved, is there, honey?
I think that religious fascists are the ones that belong in jail, or at any rate away from civilized society, whether they are Muslim or Christian or whatever that makes them want to interfere in other people's lives. They suffer from a severe mental illness, the compulsion to control other people, and need to be treated psychologically. One doubts that traditional educational methods would work for the religious fascist. Electroshock therapy, administered daily, simulating the pain and suffering the young woman above experienced, is just the thing to get them to understand that sometimes, people want to die and that they should have that basic human right.
We as a species are moving away from a culture of darkness and death, which is religious fascism, and toward a culture of reason, which is aligned with all that is good in the world. The religious fascists know that they have lost. They know they are on the wrong side of history. Some of them even know that they are wrong and that they serve the darkness. They are in it because religion is easy money. Not much work involved, is there, honey?
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Climate Change
Now that gay marriage is all but certain to be the law of the land, climate change will be the next huge political issue in the U.S., and as usual, Republicans are on the wrong side of it. The cost to reduce carbon emissions is miniscule, laughable really, but Republicans act like doing anything will destroy the economy. Just like gay marriage destroyed marriage, huh? D'oh! And I suppose legalized marijuana will end the civilized world as we know it. The hysteria just goes on and on. Why do people find it so difficult to think?
The Closet
The closeting of so many gay and lesbian people back in the day meant that there was nobody around to talk to when I was growing up gay. Therefore, like many before me, I grew up believing I was the only one in the whole wide world, despite there being hundreds of millions of us, as we now know for a fact. Back in those days, the occasional gays outed in the media seemed remote and alien, unfathomable, unreal even, impossible to imagine. Meanwhile, the environment at school, where anybody who was gay kept quiet about it, meant no boyfriends and no real friends, no one that could understand me or what made me tick. There were some people I suspected probably were gay, but they were just as confused and uncertain as I was, if not more so.
The one best friend I had in middle school betrayed me in high school, becoming an enemy after he calculated it would serve his interests better. Due to his paranoid, unhappy mother, he belonged to a small church that was crazy and right-wing, and he wanted to please his mother, so he believed it was wrong to smile and good to frown, and all he did served that end. I never recall his mother smiling in all the days I knew her, so she had picked her church well. Now I smile to think that he lives on Queen St.
I used to want to write an autobiography because I thought that the people from my past and myself were important, but over the years, I decided that the opposite was true. I am not important, first of all. There is little from the past I want to remember, and many of the people from my past, that is to say friends and associates in school, were not particularly pleasant, to put it mildly. I am a loyal friend, one who tends to remember and repay good deeds, like a social accountant, and so in my writing, I used to feel obliged to express this loyal, sentimental fondness for old friends, even ones that betrayed me, due to random kindnesses I remembered, and I have a long memory, but like an infatuated lover, I had glossed over their faults, forgiven their sins, only remembering later in bits and pieces that puzzled me at first until I grasped the meaning. They are best left to oblivion. I even have trouble recalling some of their names. Drink deep of Lethe.
What is important is now. Now is the only thing relevant. Now I am out. There is no big deal about being gay. That is an old thing, an established thing, and is no longer important, no more than other physical or intellectual traits. Now I have a husband. Now I have a happy and stable life and hope for the future. Now I have ordered my life in a reasonable facsimile of the way I think things ought to be. Now is fuel for writing, for creativity energized by positive good, rather than drawing upon the powers of darkness.
The one best friend I had in middle school betrayed me in high school, becoming an enemy after he calculated it would serve his interests better. Due to his paranoid, unhappy mother, he belonged to a small church that was crazy and right-wing, and he wanted to please his mother, so he believed it was wrong to smile and good to frown, and all he did served that end. I never recall his mother smiling in all the days I knew her, so she had picked her church well. Now I smile to think that he lives on Queen St.
I used to want to write an autobiography because I thought that the people from my past and myself were important, but over the years, I decided that the opposite was true. I am not important, first of all. There is little from the past I want to remember, and many of the people from my past, that is to say friends and associates in school, were not particularly pleasant, to put it mildly. I am a loyal friend, one who tends to remember and repay good deeds, like a social accountant, and so in my writing, I used to feel obliged to express this loyal, sentimental fondness for old friends, even ones that betrayed me, due to random kindnesses I remembered, and I have a long memory, but like an infatuated lover, I had glossed over their faults, forgiven their sins, only remembering later in bits and pieces that puzzled me at first until I grasped the meaning. They are best left to oblivion. I even have trouble recalling some of their names. Drink deep of Lethe.
What is important is now. Now is the only thing relevant. Now I am out. There is no big deal about being gay. That is an old thing, an established thing, and is no longer important, no more than other physical or intellectual traits. Now I have a husband. Now I have a happy and stable life and hope for the future. Now I have ordered my life in a reasonable facsimile of the way I think things ought to be. Now is fuel for writing, for creativity energized by positive good, rather than drawing upon the powers of darkness.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Voting
As far as I'm concerned, anyone who doesn't vote has no business complaining about the government. The government doesn't require that much of citizens in comparison to Ancient Egypt. If more people voted, then more people would pay attention to what is going on in politics. People who aren't paying attention are the reason this country is in the mess it is in.
Friday, October 31, 2014
How to Handle ISIS Volunteers
When British or American ISIS militants return home, they should be treated as armed enemy combatants on the front line in a time of war. If their families take them in, then their families are clearly armed ISIS militants and should be treated in a similar fashion. Since ISIS cannot be trusted to abide by anything, there is no point in negotiating with them or allowing surrender.
There are too many radical Muslims in the West. They came over just for money with no other reason. They have no morality. Their loyalty is not to the West, but to their primitive and evil cult of savagery, which is based upon the acts of murder, looting and rape. Revoke their citizenship, but get them out of the West. Dropping radical Muslims from bombers along with bombs would be the most economical way to repatriate them with the Middle East. America does not have all the money in the world to be spent upon educating radical Muslim barbarians. We need to be spending more taxpayer money for the taxpayer's benefit and not to compensate for the lack of Muslim birth control.
There are too many radical Muslims in the West. They came over just for money with no other reason. They have no morality. Their loyalty is not to the West, but to their primitive and evil cult of savagery, which is based upon the acts of murder, looting and rape. Revoke their citizenship, but get them out of the West. Dropping radical Muslims from bombers along with bombs would be the most economical way to repatriate them with the Middle East. America does not have all the money in the world to be spent upon educating radical Muslim barbarians. We need to be spending more taxpayer money for the taxpayer's benefit and not to compensate for the lack of Muslim birth control.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
More News from Putridity
Putin's Putridity, Russia, having invaded and conquered a neighboring country without any cause but greed, is increasingly flying bombers near Western cities. I think there is an increased potential that the West may have to nuke Russia at some point, with Putin or his cohorts in charge. The world would not much miss a region that brought us only communist dictatorship, war, vodka, Russian Orthodoxy, bad manners, bad art, and bad music.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Give Judge Douglas a Break
I think it's wrong to give blackmailers the time of day. The Canadian justice system is considering whether to kick a judge off the bench because a low-life, lying, double-dealing, blackmailing scumbag posted nude photographs of her on the Internet. I think she should be exonerated, and the case dismissed out of hand. Who cares about nude photographs anyway? Is society not past that yet? I don't think seeing Obama nude or the Pope nude would fundamentally affect my opinion of either one of them. Is it so extremely difficult to imagine what people look like without clothes? I think the entire situation is preposterous. Dismiss the case and let the judge go on about her business. A big fat WHO GIVES A DAMN applies here. Tell the blackmailer where he can go!
Light Charges
I don't know what's wrong with the justice system that murder is counted so lightly in today's courts. Apparently one can kill a person and either get off scot-free or just serve a few years. The case where a college student died during a so-called "hazing ritual" should result in capital murder charges against all of the defendants, who should be put to death if found guilty. Manslaughter, my foot. When someone is beaten to death on a bus, you can squirt all the sugar-coating on it you like, but it is still a stinking murder, no better than if the victim were shot to death at point-blank range in broad daylight.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Comcast
One thing's for sure, I'm not signing up with Comcast. If even half of what O'Rourke says is so, Comcast looks as bad as they come. The Public Relations cost alone is probably in the millions, in terms of potential lost customers.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Fine France
France should be expelled from NATO for making ransom payments to ISIS. Alternatively, they could be fined one thousand dollars for each dollar they paid to the terrorist organization. As an enabler that finances terrorism, France must be compelled to pay reparations to the victims of terrorism. At this time, American taxpayers are victims of ISIS, because our money is being used to attack ISIS. France should therefore pay American citizens.
In another story, turns out France is getting millions of euros in welfare. Of course, France plans to use all that money to finance terrorism around the world. Britain should abandon the E.U. and join instead with a trade union with the U.S. It seems to me that taxpayers in the U.K. and the U.S. have to pay the bill for the mistakes committed by other countries. We should instead demand reparations and receive dividends from every war.
In another story, turns out France is getting millions of euros in welfare. Of course, France plans to use all that money to finance terrorism around the world. Britain should abandon the E.U. and join instead with a trade union with the U.S. It seems to me that taxpayers in the U.K. and the U.S. have to pay the bill for the mistakes committed by other countries. We should instead demand reparations and receive dividends from every war.
Media Should Focus on Heroes
The media should focus on heroes, such as Mr. Vickers, rather than terrorists or insane criminals. The reason some people have a false impression about the world is that the media trumpets negativity rather than an accurate and mostly positive depiction of reality.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Purchasing Test for Computer Hardware
What do I look at when I need to purchase computer hardware?
The key word here is "need." Do I really need the damn thing after all? I hate spending money. Everyone should. The world would be a financially sounder place if the rest of the human race would stop and think about their purchases before making them. If the benefit to me outweighs, in my view, the cost, then I proceed to the next question. If I can afford to make a discretionary purchase even after saving for retirement and medical expenses and the proverbial rainy day--then and only then I'll buy. I do not believe in using credit for anything other than a home mortgage, even for the sake of the stupid one per cent rewards that credit card companies offer. No. Cash money up front, every time. No exceptions. Go by that rule, and you will live a calmer life. Credit card companies are parasites feeding upon the mentally feeble.
The first thing I look at with computer hardware is what other people are saying about it. Reputation matters. If a lot of people are having problems with a product, then there is probably something wrong with it. The other thing I look at is Linux compatibility. If a piece of hardware is not Linux-compatible, then it is a piece of garbage in my view. When computer systems reach retirement age, they evolve from Windows systems to Linux systems. I don't want any nasty surprise waiting for me ten years from now with a scanner, printer, video card or external enclosure for a hard drive. The #1 thing I look at is does it work in Linux. If not, pass.
Generally I buy the absolute minimum that I need and only purchase hardware that has been around for a while. Newly introduced hardware has two problems. First, it is more expensive. Second, it is untested and may have as yet unidentified problems. I know exactly how much testing many manufacturers do. The answer is not enough. The rush to market is insane, and quality controls just don't matter to the manager-types looking to boost sales figures. Again, I want to see a lot of positive reviews from respectable sources about a product, and then I might buy it. If other people are having a problem with the product, and the problem is not related to their ignorance, then I don't want that product.
In summary:
-I can afford it
-I really need it
-Good reputation of the manufacturer and the specific product
-Linux-compatible AND moreover, works very well with Linux (positive reviews help here)
-Been out for a while, not brand new
-Good price
The key word here is "need." Do I really need the damn thing after all? I hate spending money. Everyone should. The world would be a financially sounder place if the rest of the human race would stop and think about their purchases before making them. If the benefit to me outweighs, in my view, the cost, then I proceed to the next question. If I can afford to make a discretionary purchase even after saving for retirement and medical expenses and the proverbial rainy day--then and only then I'll buy. I do not believe in using credit for anything other than a home mortgage, even for the sake of the stupid one per cent rewards that credit card companies offer. No. Cash money up front, every time. No exceptions. Go by that rule, and you will live a calmer life. Credit card companies are parasites feeding upon the mentally feeble.
The first thing I look at with computer hardware is what other people are saying about it. Reputation matters. If a lot of people are having problems with a product, then there is probably something wrong with it. The other thing I look at is Linux compatibility. If a piece of hardware is not Linux-compatible, then it is a piece of garbage in my view. When computer systems reach retirement age, they evolve from Windows systems to Linux systems. I don't want any nasty surprise waiting for me ten years from now with a scanner, printer, video card or external enclosure for a hard drive. The #1 thing I look at is does it work in Linux. If not, pass.
Generally I buy the absolute minimum that I need and only purchase hardware that has been around for a while. Newly introduced hardware has two problems. First, it is more expensive. Second, it is untested and may have as yet unidentified problems. I know exactly how much testing many manufacturers do. The answer is not enough. The rush to market is insane, and quality controls just don't matter to the manager-types looking to boost sales figures. Again, I want to see a lot of positive reviews from respectable sources about a product, and then I might buy it. If other people are having a problem with the product, and the problem is not related to their ignorance, then I don't want that product.
In summary:
-I can afford it
-I really need it
-Good reputation of the manufacturer and the specific product
-Linux-compatible AND moreover, works very well with Linux (positive reviews help here)
-Been out for a while, not brand new
-Good price
Saturday, October 18, 2014
How Much to Spend for an HTPC
An HTPC really requires very little in computer hardware, I've discovered. A low-end Intel Haswell Celeron cpu (~$50), with its built-in Intel HD graphics, paired with 2 gigs of RAM is ample to render 1080p using any free Linux distro, though I'm partial to XFCE desktops such as Linux Mint Xfce. Anything more than 2 gigs is overkill, pure and simple. I stripped my HTPCs of their 4 gig sticks and reduced them to 2 gigs and noticed absolutely no difference in performance.
Linux really shines as an HTPC, and I don't understand why anyone would want to use Windows for that purpose. There's no reason at all. Why pay the license fee? Why wait twice as long for startup? Why bother installing an anti-virus? Also, if you go the Windows route, you certainly will want 4 gigs as opposed to 2 gigs. Windows is just more expensive all the way around, and there really is no need for it when the computer is intended to be an HTPC.
I steer clear of any AMD chips nowadays for two big reasons. One, AMD is wasteful when it comes to energy efficiency. Their low-energy offerings are pathetic and simply aren't worth considering against an Intel Celeron. Two, AMD's ATI graphics are horrible on Linux. I've run into nothing but problems trying to get their Catalyst driver working in Linux, to the point where I say "Never again." I won't even buy AMD chips for a Windows system, and why? Because eventually that Windows computer may one day be converted to Linux, and I don't ever want to have to deal with installing Catalyst in Linux. I don't think Catalyst runs that great in Windows either. The only video graphics I am willing to consider are Intel and Nvidia.
An SSD isn't really required for an HTPC in any way, shape or form, although I rather like using SSD for the operating system, simply because it allows fast booting. I consider an SSD a luxury.
Everyone should have an HTPC, and nowadays cost is not a barrier. Used computer components are amazingly cheap these days. There's only one component I will never buy used, and that's a hard drive. I have learned from hard experience to always buy new with a lengthy warranty. Refurbished or used hard drives just seem to fail at an extremely high rate in my experience, and I avoid them now. I think the main reason anyone would sell a hard drive is that the seller has doubts about its longevity. Well, the seller knows best. If he's selling his drive, it must be on death's door. Word to the wise.
Linux really shines as an HTPC, and I don't understand why anyone would want to use Windows for that purpose. There's no reason at all. Why pay the license fee? Why wait twice as long for startup? Why bother installing an anti-virus? Also, if you go the Windows route, you certainly will want 4 gigs as opposed to 2 gigs. Windows is just more expensive all the way around, and there really is no need for it when the computer is intended to be an HTPC.
I steer clear of any AMD chips nowadays for two big reasons. One, AMD is wasteful when it comes to energy efficiency. Their low-energy offerings are pathetic and simply aren't worth considering against an Intel Celeron. Two, AMD's ATI graphics are horrible on Linux. I've run into nothing but problems trying to get their Catalyst driver working in Linux, to the point where I say "Never again." I won't even buy AMD chips for a Windows system, and why? Because eventually that Windows computer may one day be converted to Linux, and I don't ever want to have to deal with installing Catalyst in Linux. I don't think Catalyst runs that great in Windows either. The only video graphics I am willing to consider are Intel and Nvidia.
An SSD isn't really required for an HTPC in any way, shape or form, although I rather like using SSD for the operating system, simply because it allows fast booting. I consider an SSD a luxury.
Everyone should have an HTPC, and nowadays cost is not a barrier. Used computer components are amazingly cheap these days. There's only one component I will never buy used, and that's a hard drive. I have learned from hard experience to always buy new with a lengthy warranty. Refurbished or used hard drives just seem to fail at an extremely high rate in my experience, and I avoid them now. I think the main reason anyone would sell a hard drive is that the seller has doubts about its longevity. Well, the seller knows best. If he's selling his drive, it must be on death's door. Word to the wise.
Good for the Bishops
I'm pleased the Catholic bishops nixed welcoming gays in the Church. Anything to decrease the number of Catholics, I'm in favor of. Don't stop there, bishops. Please alienate more minority groups. Lack of social skills, social awareness and basic intelligence is the main reason that the Catholic church isn't what it used to be, and that's a good thing, because the Catholic church is a bad thing. Anytime someone with a little bit of brains tries to do something good in the church, the overwhelming majority of nitwits will veto it, because that's what Catholicism is all about, being a nitwit. The non-Catholic countries are all doing better in every possible way than the Catholic countries and have done so for a very long time. Perhaps having fundamentally the wrong idea about human existence has a catastrophic effect on a lot of other things in a society as well. Having a good philosophy has a lot of benefits--measurable benefits.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Turkey
To the extent Turkey assists ISIL, Turkey should be treated in exactly the same way as ISIL. More and more, Turkey seems like Iran, and less like anything approaching a modern republic. It is devolving into another terrorist state, perhaps the final destination for all Muslim countries. The only way Islam spreads is through violence, because it is inherently a violent religion based upon rape, murder, and fascism.
Monday, October 13, 2014
I Credit the Pope for Brains
The Catholic Church certainly seems to be acting in its own self-interest to stem the bleeding of numbers. Yes, Pope Francis, play nice with the gays and quit the quibbles over contraception. Then the Church might, might just, be able to stem the tide a little bit.
Once a soul has been disenchanted with the Church, pretty much they are free forever, shod of religion altogether, in my experience. There was a long, long horrific period when many churches pretty much declared themselves the enemies of gays, for no scriptural, moral or rational reason, but for pure prejudice and ignorance, which was stupid. Result? A considerable percentage of gays are atheists, agnostics or at least non-traditional in their spiritual beliefs. Thank you for that. That was a gift, the liberation of many minds, including my own. Who knows, I might be tithing otherwise. Now that the Church is getting intelligent for a change, the atheists are going to have to step up their game. It used to be that atheists had to do nothing to make converts. The Church made converts to atheism on its own.
In the future, we will see, but my money is still on the atheists and the spiritualists. The Church always seems a generation behind the times, doing the right thing only when it doesn't matter anymore and their position has already become irrelevant.
The Goddess just laughs at all of this drama.
Once a soul has been disenchanted with the Church, pretty much they are free forever, shod of religion altogether, in my experience. There was a long, long horrific period when many churches pretty much declared themselves the enemies of gays, for no scriptural, moral or rational reason, but for pure prejudice and ignorance, which was stupid. Result? A considerable percentage of gays are atheists, agnostics or at least non-traditional in their spiritual beliefs. Thank you for that. That was a gift, the liberation of many minds, including my own. Who knows, I might be tithing otherwise. Now that the Church is getting intelligent for a change, the atheists are going to have to step up their game. It used to be that atheists had to do nothing to make converts. The Church made converts to atheism on its own.
In the future, we will see, but my money is still on the atheists and the spiritualists. The Church always seems a generation behind the times, doing the right thing only when it doesn't matter anymore and their position has already become irrelevant.
The Goddess just laughs at all of this drama.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Donating to Terrorism
I don't understand all the billions being donated to Palestinians after their Gaza War. They need to be paying reparations to Israel to pay for the cost of the war, which was all their fault. The West is stupid in that it keeps paying the terrorists to buy more weapons, then bombs the terrorists after they kill civilians, which is what terrorists do. The only people making money in this scenario are the arms merchants, who apparently control our governments through bribery and corruption.
Friday, October 10, 2014
Pakistupid
Pakistan is populated by savages, if this story is any indication of the general mentality. Why is Islam such an evil cult?
At least the noun makes sense in English:
The minute someone reveals their muslimitis, or infection of the brain by Islam, their estimated morality plunges below average.
At least the noun makes sense in English:
Is • lam(e)
The minute someone reveals their muslimitis, or infection of the brain by Islam, their estimated morality plunges below average.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
A No-Brainer
This particular legal question should be a no-brainer, but one never knows. I'm rather appalled that Amazon continues to abuse its warehouse workers even after all the bad press they have received. That makes me feel better about not buying things from Amazon, since they now hit their customers with state sales tax.
Amazon, if any one of your products costs $0.01 more than any other retailer on the Internet, then I'm not buying from you, because morally you're just the same if not worse. There is zero loyalty to Amazon. I get a creepy feeling just thinking about the people that run Amazon. They have no morals, so what's to stop them from selling tainted or defective products, other than fear of punishment?
Amazon, if any one of your products costs $0.01 more than any other retailer on the Internet, then I'm not buying from you, because morally you're just the same if not worse. There is zero loyalty to Amazon. I get a creepy feeling just thinking about the people that run Amazon. They have no morals, so what's to stop them from selling tainted or defective products, other than fear of punishment?
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Fleecing the Sheep
What amused me most on the occasions I tuned in to Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck were the commercials. Gold was being pushed big-time, and at a time when gold was already oversold. Those cynical advertisers certainly knew where to find the goldbugs. Obama the Muslim Anti-Christ was going to bring on the Apocalypse, and only gold would retain any value, see. It's common sense, don't ya know.
Well, turns out gold has fallen from 1700/oz to 1200/oz this year. That is a double-digit decline, and the bottom of the market is not even in sight yet. I expect that the market will fall to as low as $800 an ounce. Looks to me like the right-wing sheep have been shorn, and those gold merchants are cackling all the way to the bank. I suppose they knew their audience and capitalized upon them. Ain't that just the beauty of Capitalism?
I may not the greatest forecaster of markets, but I know one thing. Buy cheap, sell dear.
And if an investment is being sold through paid advertisements, then it definitely is not a good investment. I wouldn't be interested in anything sold by commercial on Fox News, because it would be tainted already in my view. Something is wrong with the program, and something is wrong with the products being promoted during breaks.
Well, turns out gold has fallen from 1700/oz to 1200/oz this year. That is a double-digit decline, and the bottom of the market is not even in sight yet. I expect that the market will fall to as low as $800 an ounce. Looks to me like the right-wing sheep have been shorn, and those gold merchants are cackling all the way to the bank. I suppose they knew their audience and capitalized upon them. Ain't that just the beauty of Capitalism?
I may not the greatest forecaster of markets, but I know one thing. Buy cheap, sell dear.
And if an investment is being sold through paid advertisements, then it definitely is not a good investment. I wouldn't be interested in anything sold by commercial on Fox News, because it would be tainted already in my view. Something is wrong with the program, and something is wrong with the products being promoted during breaks.
Monday, October 6, 2014
Good Memories
When a loved one dies, whether friend or family, one remembers the good days, the Spring, Summer and Fall, but not the Winter of life. The same applies as when savoring a pot of tea--can it be judged by the dregs? I cherish the good memories, but dismiss the last stages of decline as being irrelevant, other than providing a lesson. I will probably want to skip the very worst stages of decline myself rather than endure them, because I don't really see the point, all things considered. I don't put any stock in religious notions of leaving existence "in God's hands." I will place my own existence in my own hands, thank you very much, and keep the change. Indeed, we are the hands of God.
New Espionage Post for China in New York
China purchased a new espionage headquarters in New York City today--the Waldorf Astoria, where lots of Western elite discuss secret and personal matters. How much do you want to bet that the top business and political leaders in the U.S. will be totally clueless and book rooms there without any awareness that everything they do, say, and transmit through cyberspace will go directly to China?
Sunday, October 5, 2014
If You Booze, You Lose
Based on the content of the some of the comments I've received, particularly from Anonymous readers, I am recommending the Freethinkers Alcoholics Anonymous web site to help those damaged and impaired minds kick their addiction to alcohol. Hell is found in a bottle. Remember, if you booze, you lose. Be a winner. Stop drinking, and start Thinking. Turn that frown upside down!
Saturday, October 4, 2014
China's Hired Thugs
More news from Hong Kong. I really don't see how anyone can defend China. Whatever it was before, a communist dictatorship evolving into a capitalist dictatorship, right now it's a kleptocracy, with crooks holding the power and unwilling to share any with the people.
A country with no morality at all and no legitimate legal system and no free press and no uncensored Internet is not the country I want to download software from. For that matter, I don't think our Western business leaders are wise to send all our jobs over to China. They may make a little money in the short-term but in the long-term they or their descendents will regret that fateful decision.
A country with no morality at all and no legitimate legal system and no free press and no uncensored Internet is not the country I want to download software from. For that matter, I don't think our Western business leaders are wise to send all our jobs over to China. They may make a little money in the short-term but in the long-term they or their descendents will regret that fateful decision.
Friday, October 3, 2014
Young People Have to Tackle Climate Change
The young people are going to have to tackle climate change, because they are the ones that will be chiefly impacted by it--they and, moreover, their descendents. Therefore, it is absolutely essential that they are politically active and intensely engaged in the electoral process.
I'm sure that is the case. I'm sure young people are very concerned about politics right now, and not too interested in video games, mobile devices, music or social media. I'm sure everyone in the 18-25 range is voting in every election and reading about politics on a daily basis.
If not, too bad for them. The planet, she is a-changing, and there's not really much being done to stop the changing. Pretty much business as usual is the rule of the day. Either people are interested in politics, or they're not. They don't see climate change as impacting their daily lives yet. By the time it does, that will be too late. Surely the stock market will suffer repercussions. Betting on those 401-K's probably isn't as safe as people think it is. More of a gamble, I would think, a gamble that the investments will actually pay off, that the market will be around, the government be around. Governments, companies, and the wealth of nations have come and gone in human history. I bet the Romans thought their government would be around forever. Well, it wasn't. One day the barbarians took over and stole all the crown jewels. It used to be that England was one of the richest countries in the world. Of course, America has lost much wealth in recent history, due to the stupidity of the leaders who will just blow money on anything, money that the nation does not have, by the way. Deeper in debt we go, year after year.
Perhaps the survivalists are right, and it's a good time to stockpile food, tools, and weapons. The trouble with their strategy lies in predicting the actual timing and severity of calamity. Climate change by its very nature is unpredictable. I would expect random, gradual alterations rather than anything sudden that would justify hiding in a hole. I'm not against hiding in a hole. Certainly an underground cave would be preferable to above-ground radiation, extreme climate, or violent conflict. I think survivalists may be trapped in a nuclear apocalypse mindset, thinking that a crisis will be sharp and sudden, rather than slow and inexorable. It is difficult for me to believe that nations would be foolish enough to exchange nuclear weapons against each other. Self-preservation is a powerful instinct.
I'm sure that is the case. I'm sure young people are very concerned about politics right now, and not too interested in video games, mobile devices, music or social media. I'm sure everyone in the 18-25 range is voting in every election and reading about politics on a daily basis.
If not, too bad for them. The planet, she is a-changing, and there's not really much being done to stop the changing. Pretty much business as usual is the rule of the day. Either people are interested in politics, or they're not. They don't see climate change as impacting their daily lives yet. By the time it does, that will be too late. Surely the stock market will suffer repercussions. Betting on those 401-K's probably isn't as safe as people think it is. More of a gamble, I would think, a gamble that the investments will actually pay off, that the market will be around, the government be around. Governments, companies, and the wealth of nations have come and gone in human history. I bet the Romans thought their government would be around forever. Well, it wasn't. One day the barbarians took over and stole all the crown jewels. It used to be that England was one of the richest countries in the world. Of course, America has lost much wealth in recent history, due to the stupidity of the leaders who will just blow money on anything, money that the nation does not have, by the way. Deeper in debt we go, year after year.
Perhaps the survivalists are right, and it's a good time to stockpile food, tools, and weapons. The trouble with their strategy lies in predicting the actual timing and severity of calamity. Climate change by its very nature is unpredictable. I would expect random, gradual alterations rather than anything sudden that would justify hiding in a hole. I'm not against hiding in a hole. Certainly an underground cave would be preferable to above-ground radiation, extreme climate, or violent conflict. I think survivalists may be trapped in a nuclear apocalypse mindset, thinking that a crisis will be sharp and sudden, rather than slow and inexorable. It is difficult for me to believe that nations would be foolish enough to exchange nuclear weapons against each other. Self-preservation is a powerful instinct.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Lesson of Hong Kong
China is reneging on its promise to let Hong Kong be free for fifty years only because its leaders have calculated with cold political calculus that they can defy and break their promise to the West and get away with it due to the economic interdependency between the West and China and the new strength of China. This is worth noting. In the future, expect China to break all promises, whenever and wherever it can, because it is absolute evil aligned with the darkness. If annihilating all Americans would produce a profit and no consequences, then the Chinese would do so. They do not know the concept of morality and misinterpret it as weakness, as evil-doers always do. I foresee that China will take Taiwan, and risk the next world war when they also muscle into neighboring countries, such as Japan and the two Koreas. First will come demands for concession, which will only increase, and then will come land grabs, because the leadership thirsts for power, for domination. Perhaps America will be diminished then and incapable of being the white knight any longer, because our strength is every year squandered stomping ants and anthills to no purpose, squandered on pointless exercises in pride and vanity to remind our greying population of past glories in WW2. But the glory days are gone, and debts accumulate, and not much is made in the U.S.A. anymore, and the U.S. is dumbing down and wallowing in corruption and chronic mismanagement that only gets worse year after year with no end in sight. There must some day arise a new champion in the West, a land with better governance--where will that be?
Monday, September 29, 2014
China's Nastiness
Anyone in doubt of how nasty China can be need only look at Hong Kong, where the population has been told "no more democracy."
China is a tyranny, same as it was twenty and even fifty years ago, and anyone alive in 2014 who doesn't recognize that is delusional. I've listened to students from China tell me everything is OK over there. Well, everything is OK for them, because their parents are in the Communist Party elite that can afford to send them overseas for a nice education in the U.S. Everything is not OK for the other billion-odd people in China that have to work for a living instead of stealing through graft and corruption in the Communist Party. Also, those apologist students from China know next to nothing about their own country and its history other than what the CP feeds them. China today is a feudal system, with knights, barons, dukes and a king and his court, and a vast number of no-account peasants the leadership regards as disposable, to the extent that the very air they are allowed to breathe brings death and misery. "Gas 'em like the cockroaches they are," the Chinese leadership says about their own people. Look up the rates of asthma and other diseases related to poor air quality in China for an eye-opener, that is if the authorities even publish such data in a system where virtually all facts deemed even slightly embarrassing are censored, and those who embarrass the leadership are sent to prison--if they're lucky enough to matter; if not they get the knife in the back, and their body tossed in a ditch.
China is a tyranny, same as it was twenty and even fifty years ago, and anyone alive in 2014 who doesn't recognize that is delusional. I've listened to students from China tell me everything is OK over there. Well, everything is OK for them, because their parents are in the Communist Party elite that can afford to send them overseas for a nice education in the U.S. Everything is not OK for the other billion-odd people in China that have to work for a living instead of stealing through graft and corruption in the Communist Party. Also, those apologist students from China know next to nothing about their own country and its history other than what the CP feeds them. China today is a feudal system, with knights, barons, dukes and a king and his court, and a vast number of no-account peasants the leadership regards as disposable, to the extent that the very air they are allowed to breathe brings death and misery. "Gas 'em like the cockroaches they are," the Chinese leadership says about their own people. Look up the rates of asthma and other diseases related to poor air quality in China for an eye-opener, that is if the authorities even publish such data in a system where virtually all facts deemed even slightly embarrassing are censored, and those who embarrass the leadership are sent to prison--if they're lucky enough to matter; if not they get the knife in the back, and their body tossed in a ditch.
Republicans Envy China
The only reason Republicans are gung-ho to invade the Middle East again is there's no one that can put up a fight over there. It's a pretty safe way to use a bunch of munitions and thus enrich the defense contractors that bankroll Republican candidates. We have just as much cause to invade Hong Kong on the side of the protesters, who just want democracy. But Republicans are scared of China. They also admire China, and want the U.S. to be exactly like China, with no voting rights, and workers earning $1 an hour with no benefits, and the political elite taking billions for their own personal wealth. That is Republican Heaven. The Republicans are doing everything in their power to remake the U.S. into China. They scaled back voting rights wherever and however they could, kept the minimum wage frozen for decades, and have siphoned trillions from the Treasury and the Social Security fund to finance their overseas adventures. Now the U.S. is trillions in debt to China, the darling of the Republican party. Instead of building factories or doing anything good in the U.S., all those trillions got flushed down the toilet in the Middle East, just so defense contractors could score easy money without working or thinking very hard.
Alcoholism and Republicanism: A Perfect Match
Alcoholism and voting Republican go hand-in-glove. If one doesn't think, it's easy to vote Republican, and drinking stops thinking better than any other substance. If you don't value your own life and don't really care about the world, then Republicans are a natural choice. They promise no change--the status quo--the country falling deeper into debt, getting more polluted, with fewer jobs and more overseas conflicts.
It's the people that think about things and care about things that are going to vote for good governance. They care about the future and want a world worth living in.
It's the people that think about things and care about things that are going to vote for good governance. They care about the future and want a world worth living in.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
NewEgg
NewEgg is cool except for one little thing--and you know that a geek is going to find that one little thing, and NewEgg caters to geeks, so they must have been forewarned.
NewEgg decided on its own without so much as a by-your-leave to change all their existing and future reviews to publish the customer's real name. The problem with that is that you may not want your negative review on a defective motherboard to pop up first thing when a potential employer is doing a Google search for your name.
I prefer to live my life in the way human beings have lived it since time began. My opinions, feelings, doubts and anxieties I keep to myself and my friends, and to potential customers and business associates, I present my professional self. I think it's stupid to spill your heart in public on the Internet, if you can possibly avoid it, that is, if you care at all about working in a corporate office environment at some point in the future. Jobs are hard enough to get without having an employer pass you over because you hated a hard drive NewEgg sold you ten years ago and spoke your mind about it, or didn't use proper punctuation or proper grammar.
All NewEgg cares about is NewEgg. They think their reviews gain more credibility with real names attached, and perhaps that is the case, but tough titty. I may buy from NewEgg on occasion to save myself the sales tax, but I won't review anything on NewEgg ever again.
NewEgg decided on its own without so much as a by-your-leave to change all their existing and future reviews to publish the customer's real name. The problem with that is that you may not want your negative review on a defective motherboard to pop up first thing when a potential employer is doing a Google search for your name.
I prefer to live my life in the way human beings have lived it since time began. My opinions, feelings, doubts and anxieties I keep to myself and my friends, and to potential customers and business associates, I present my professional self. I think it's stupid to spill your heart in public on the Internet, if you can possibly avoid it, that is, if you care at all about working in a corporate office environment at some point in the future. Jobs are hard enough to get without having an employer pass you over because you hated a hard drive NewEgg sold you ten years ago and spoke your mind about it, or didn't use proper punctuation or proper grammar.
All NewEgg cares about is NewEgg. They think their reviews gain more credibility with real names attached, and perhaps that is the case, but tough titty. I may buy from NewEgg on occasion to save myself the sales tax, but I won't review anything on NewEgg ever again.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Hong Kong Free No More
Over in Hong Kong, students are protesting the disintegration of "One Country, Two Systems" policy that allowed HK to be an oasis of liberty in the tyranny that is China.
Of course, if you read much Distrowatch, China is equal to the U.S., and we should all install Chinese software on our computers. Good luck with that.
China is the #1 threat to the world, with the actual means to achieve their dark vision, but Americans are obsessed over a bunch of nutcases in the Middle East that could not reason their way out of a paper bag. While we squander whatever is left ofour treasury [Oops, nothing left there] the credit line China extends to us on bombing the ignorant savages in ISIS, China is just building more factories and taking more Western jobs away from the delusional West.
Bombing ISIS isn't in itself a bad idea, but how about using the very cheapest forms of munition, the cheapest, possibly expired stuff from the Viet Nam conflict, rather than these million-dollar precision bombs that are going to put us deeper in debt. Also, it seems to me that these rich Arabs could be paying us for the mercenary services we are rendering. If they want to hide under their robes while we do the fighting, then they need to cough up some of that oil money we pay them. I think the fight against ISIS is all about enriching the cronies of the Washington elite, just as overseas conflicts always are. National interest my foot. Beheadings of journalists who strayed into enemy territory do not equal a clear and present danger to the homeland. As usual, working people are ordered to pay the bill in order to enrich the elite, who are either stupid or corrupt--or quite possibly both.
Of course, if you read much Distrowatch, China is equal to the U.S., and we should all install Chinese software on our computers. Good luck with that.
China is the #1 threat to the world, with the actual means to achieve their dark vision, but Americans are obsessed over a bunch of nutcases in the Middle East that could not reason their way out of a paper bag. While we squander whatever is left of
Bombing ISIS isn't in itself a bad idea, but how about using the very cheapest forms of munition, the cheapest, possibly expired stuff from the Viet Nam conflict, rather than these million-dollar precision bombs that are going to put us deeper in debt. Also, it seems to me that these rich Arabs could be paying us for the mercenary services we are rendering. If they want to hide under their robes while we do the fighting, then they need to cough up some of that oil money we pay them. I think the fight against ISIS is all about enriching the cronies of the Washington elite, just as overseas conflicts always are. National interest my foot. Beheadings of journalists who strayed into enemy territory do not equal a clear and present danger to the homeland. As usual, working people are ordered to pay the bill in order to enrich the elite, who are either stupid or corrupt--or quite possibly both.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
ISIS Retards
The beheadings ISIS conducted seem like childish gestures compared to the vengeance the U.S. will wreak upon their organization. Perhaps ISIS is a good example of the influence of Thanatos. Anyone with half a brain can see that the beheadings were contrary to the long-term interests of ISIS and its leadership. Not that much is required actually to antagonize U.S. leaders and get them in the mood for intervention, as anyone knows. Yet ISIS is not motivated by Reason, but by the desire to suffer and die, a basic human desire, apparently, a desire accentuated by their primitive, false religion. That Islam is a complete fabrication with no basis in reality and no beneficial influence upon mankind is also obvious to anyone with half a brain. At least Christianity had a nice message--love thy neighbor, and God is love. Islam is Submit or die, which is mere barbarism. And rather than submit or die, there is the third option--many of us proud infidels will opt to annihilate the fanatical Muslim(s). That seems like the better option, all in all, from every perspective.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Duplicates
One of the nice things in Windows 8.1 is that when one copies files in Windows Explorer, the file manager drops duplicates to the end of the copy queue rather than querying the user immediately with a prompt. In every Linux file manager I've ever used, the file manager prompts the user the moment it encounters a duplicate. What this means is that if you go away from your computer for five hours, then return, you may discover that the copy has not completed due to one duplicate file, and whether you choose to overwrite or skip that file, the copying may have another five hours left to go.
This is another of the reasons I upgraded from Linux to Windows 8.1 on my workhorse computers. I don't need to be waiting around for files to copy.
This is another of the reasons I upgraded from Linux to Windows 8.1 on my workhorse computers. I don't need to be waiting around for files to copy.
Lack of Class Consciousness
The paradox observed in the U.S., where working people continue to vote Republican, reminds me of domestic violence victims that continue to live with their attacker/rapist, and refuse to assist police in any arrest or testify against them, should the police arrest their attacker without their consent. Some people want to be poor and feel deep down that they deserve it. They feel that rich people are better than they are, and they gain a peculiar satisfaction from knowing their place, and the place of their children, who they feel, deep down, do not deserve good governance or any hope for a better future. That is why people vote Republican--it is an embrace of the powerful dark force of Thanatos, the inner desire to suffer and to die and be one with annihilation, the destructive force of the Universe. I think Thanatos explains much human behavior and is the primary counter-force opposing Reason.
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Sticking with 14
I'm sticking with version 14 of Dungeon Crawl for the time being, because it seems to me the Devs just changed game play in 15 rather than adding new and interesting features to the game, and game play was the least of all my concerns. I may tune back in with version 16 if it has something really appealing to entice download.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Rich v. Poor Law
The verdict in the Oscar Pistorius case is explained in three sentences. The rich kill and then go free to kill again. The poor go to jail. This is our corrupt system of justice, and it has not changed since ancient times. The father of the victim has the moral right to slay the murderer, and I doubt any jury would condemn him for it.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Things that Make You Go Hm...
My playing of the latest Crawl, 14.1, has resulted in some "Hm..." moments. For one thing, there's some kind of Ring of Liberalism I discovered in the Ziggurat Sprint. Could that just possibly be a tip of the hat to me or my regen.bat? Also, Death Knights are now recommended class for Ogres, as I maintained here in my blog was only right and just, all things considered. And then too, potions of poison now have a different description after my criticism. On a negative note, Spriggans had their wings clipped after I made note of their being better than any other race, which at one time they certainly were--back in the day when they could wear more armour. And lastly, Mummies have become empowered, now able to cast Vampiric Draining to regain hit points and benefit from rings of regeneration. Either my brainwaves are tuned into the same channel as the Devs or else there's another explanation. What I think is that a Dev or two has read this humble blog of mine, just browsing perhaps without really making a big fuss.
Well, enjoy! For I have long enjoyed the game and continue to do so. It is far better than its predecessors, although Larn did have rather a nice flavor, a personality, a culture all its own--but Larn has languished too long, while Crawl has flourished. I especially like Crawl's relatively new Sprint and the Zot Defender modules, for variety's sake, a bit of spice for an old-time crawler like myself. I will never in a thousand years get into the modern high-resource video games when my imagination can be easily and cheaply engaged by Dungeon Crawl, which has such superb strategic features. Thank goodness that some people continue to develop it and add amazing new features.
Well, enjoy! For I have long enjoyed the game and continue to do so. It is far better than its predecessors, although Larn did have rather a nice flavor, a personality, a culture all its own--but Larn has languished too long, while Crawl has flourished. I especially like Crawl's relatively new Sprint and the Zot Defender modules, for variety's sake, a bit of spice for an old-time crawler like myself. I will never in a thousand years get into the modern high-resource video games when my imagination can be easily and cheaply engaged by Dungeon Crawl, which has such superb strategic features. Thank goodness that some people continue to develop it and add amazing new features.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Scotland's Independence?
I am opposed to Scotland going its own way, because the UK is a fine country as it is, and I don't want anything to weaken it. More division and more atomization is not what the present age calls for. How will Scotland compete with China and Russia? How will Scotland deal with war and other crisis on its own? It seems silly and backwards to me to abandon the UK with its marvelous public health system and public welfare system and for what? I have yet to read any solid reason for separation other than dissatisfaction with the current administration.
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is the funniest man alive. . . and his Daily Show will be watched even a thousand years from now for insight into our time. Of course, he is backed up by a phenomenal team, brilliant writers who furnish him with killer material by research, insight and wit. It is a mistake to overlook these silent partners, but I do not know their names. Yet if I did, then we would overlook the people who support and nourish those people, such as their families and friends, and so on in a neverending chain that eventually encompasses the whole world. Jon is golden product of our age, and we are proud to have produced him. He is creating classic television that will never die.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Isis
Isis used to be associated with something mysterious and majestic, an ancient Egyptian goddess. The heartless Muslim maniacs that assumed that name imagine God is with them, but if there is a God, He is with their victims, as the more intelligent ones may deduce after observing their comrades being blown to smithereens. I can't think of a stupider move than to prod the weary tiger, America, with a stick. Talk about clueless. Is their deepest desire to be blown to bits? Perhaps their fatal flaw is believing in a pile of horse manure. Everything they think about the world is false, rendering them incapable of making good decisions. There is no bearded Allah with a flaming scimitar descending from the sky to intervene on their behalf. After they die, they become fertilizer, a far better use of their substance. Certainly no one is going to remember them other than to be glad they are gone. What a bunch of psychotic, fanatic, suicidal attention-whores! Annihilate them, already.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Neanderthal Art
The BBC has a good article on Neanderthal art. "Naughts and crosses" is British for "tic-tac-toe." I think the Neanderthals were merely marking the cave or creating a map of some kind. Calling a little grid-like symbol art may be a stretch.
Incidentally, the BBC really has good articles from time to time. Too many American newspaper and TV web sites are just an intellectual wasteland with only the bare minimum in detail, readable in two minutes or less. For really good reporting, I turn to government-operated media, such as PBS and the BBC. Capitalism doesn't work where journalism is concerned. Sooner or later an editor takes charge with the bright idea to promote sex & crime & celebrity gossip rather than do any real journalism. Sales go up, costs go down. That's where capitalism takes journalism.
Incidentally, the BBC really has good articles from time to time. Too many American newspaper and TV web sites are just an intellectual wasteland with only the bare minimum in detail, readable in two minutes or less. For really good reporting, I turn to government-operated media, such as PBS and the BBC. Capitalism doesn't work where journalism is concerned. Sooner or later an editor takes charge with the bright idea to promote sex & crime & celebrity gossip rather than do any real journalism. Sales go up, costs go down. That's where capitalism takes journalism.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Russia is HQ of Cyberwar
Most IP addresses I add to my blacklist nowadays originate from Putrid's tyranny, formerly known as Russia. Should anyone be surprised? That old rotten egg, Putrid, has instructed his computer hackers to attack web sites everywhere, big and small, no matter whether they are relevant or irrelevant, in an attempt to spread his evil tentacles all over the Internet and make everyone smell his foul stench.
In reaction to any attack originating from that blighted land, I ban the entire IP range, encompassing millions of addresses. With Putridity, "guilty until proven innocent beyond all reasonable doubt" is the rule of the day. Nothing good will ever come out of Putridity as long as the rotten egg holds sway.
In reaction to any attack originating from that blighted land, I ban the entire IP range, encompassing millions of addresses. With Putridity, "guilty until proven innocent beyond all reasonable doubt" is the rule of the day. Nothing good will ever come out of Putridity as long as the rotten egg holds sway.
Drunk Driving
I'm with Rick Perry on his criminal indictment after reading the New York Daily News. I'm against drunk driving because it kills innocent people, including a lot of people like myself who are just walking or bicycling along the side of the road trying to get some exercise and fight against the sedentary lifestyle of the modern age.
Certainly if politicians are disgraced for having an affair or hiring a prostitute, then they should step down for drunk driving, which is far worse. Dear, if you don't want the governor to defund your department, then don't drive drunk.
Politicians should vaporize marijuana rather than drink, because marijuana is less harmful--but they should only use mind-altering substances when they do not intend to be driving. Driving under the influence of any substance, even pot or too much coffee or legal medication such as pain-killers--is wrong, pure and simple. DON'T DO IT! Better to sleep it off in your car and drive home later than to play roulette with your own life and some poor strangers. Texting while driving or playing around with the radio or any other sort of distracted driving is also wrong, although many people don't seem to be aware of that, and enforcement against these negligent practices will be difficult due to the burden of proof. Busting a drunk or high driver is easy by comparison.
I'm looking forward to an era when our cars drive themselves, and one will speak the destination in order to get there, and they will run on electricity rather than gasoline. I think we can generate sufficient energy from the Sun, if enough research and development can ever be devoted to making that happen.
Certainly if politicians are disgraced for having an affair or hiring a prostitute, then they should step down for drunk driving, which is far worse. Dear, if you don't want the governor to defund your department, then don't drive drunk.
Politicians should vaporize marijuana rather than drink, because marijuana is less harmful--but they should only use mind-altering substances when they do not intend to be driving. Driving under the influence of any substance, even pot or too much coffee or legal medication such as pain-killers--is wrong, pure and simple. DON'T DO IT! Better to sleep it off in your car and drive home later than to play roulette with your own life and some poor strangers. Texting while driving or playing around with the radio or any other sort of distracted driving is also wrong, although many people don't seem to be aware of that, and enforcement against these negligent practices will be difficult due to the burden of proof. Busting a drunk or high driver is easy by comparison.
I'm looking forward to an era when our cars drive themselves, and one will speak the destination in order to get there, and they will run on electricity rather than gasoline. I think we can generate sufficient energy from the Sun, if enough research and development can ever be devoted to making that happen.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Munich to Dump Linux
I'm a pretty open-minded guy, so if igor says there's something amiss in the Linux desktop scene, there's something amiss. Microsoft is eating Linux for breakfast. Munich, Germany is all set to dump Linux for Microsoft, because Linux sucks. This news jibes with my own experiences trying to introduce some of my customers to Linux. Well, they don't like it. Why don't they like it? Mainly because they can't get some of their hardware to work and can't manage their photo collection in a civilized manner with Linux. Photo management is probably the most important thing for a computer besides Internet these days. There needs to be a Manhattan Project among Linux devs to work on that application, but instead Linux gearheads spend all their time reinventing the wheel with twenty different desktops and a couple hundred different distros. Microsoft just focuses upon creating one single killer desktop, meanwhile, that slays all the Linux competition. Another area that needs to be addressed in Linux is the problem of associating applications with filetypes. Most Linux distributions are completely retarded in this area. They open a dialog window requiring the user to hunt down a binary executable somewhere in the file system in order to open, say, an .htaccess file in a text editor. Well, that's a lot of silly nonsense, that's what that is. Instead of fixing this rather obvious problem for the end user, distros are instead working on what? Integration of the desktop model with that of smart phones? I don't know what KDE is doing, and I'm not sure KDE knows, either. XFCE is doing nothing. Aah, well, I think one can appreciate the viewpoint of Munich. At the end of the day people just want their computer to work and not have to spend a lot of time and effort in order to make that happen. At the end of the day, maybe it is worth it to pay Microsoft a hundred bucks or so to ensure the computer will work the first time, rather than the fifty-first time after a thousand hours of troubleshooting. KISS applies--Keep It Simple, Stupid.
The one thing Linux does well is Internet surfing, and that is mainly thanks to Mozilla supporting Linux with Thunderbird and Firefox. Okular is another killer app in Linux, superb for .pdf files. LibreOffice is great, although it does have limitations in terms of compatibility with Microsoft Word, and I'm sure that was a huge issue for Munich, just like it was a problem for me and my users. However, users expect a lot more from their computers than just surfing the Internet. Everybody and their brother has a digital camera these days, and the first thing they are going to do in Linux is try and manage their photo collection. Well, after a look at Gimp and Digikam, most users are going to ask me how much I will charge to install Windows and ACDSee. Those projects need a lot more developers and a lot more money in order to compete. However, I think the most logical alternative would simply be to entice ACDSee to support Linux. Probably the only group with the clout to do that would be Canonical, but they're busy plotting to take over the mobile phone market.
The one thing Linux does well is Internet surfing, and that is mainly thanks to Mozilla supporting Linux with Thunderbird and Firefox. Okular is another killer app in Linux, superb for .pdf files. LibreOffice is great, although it does have limitations in terms of compatibility with Microsoft Word, and I'm sure that was a huge issue for Munich, just like it was a problem for me and my users. However, users expect a lot more from their computers than just surfing the Internet. Everybody and their brother has a digital camera these days, and the first thing they are going to do in Linux is try and manage their photo collection. Well, after a look at Gimp and Digikam, most users are going to ask me how much I will charge to install Windows and ACDSee. Those projects need a lot more developers and a lot more money in order to compete. However, I think the most logical alternative would simply be to entice ACDSee to support Linux. Probably the only group with the clout to do that would be Canonical, but they're busy plotting to take over the mobile phone market.
No More Passwords
In the not-so-distant future, people will wear rings containing a universal password--in a matter of speaking--for all their personal online services and data. This ring will transmit via direct physical contact to a computer or other device that has been granted access to that individual ring. Devices that have not been granted access will not be able to access the ring. The ring will allow browsing sites without logging in and with near-perfect security. Mobile phones and computers owned by the user will be inoperable and in lockdown mode, broadcasting their GPS location to their owner, should anyone other than the owner attempt to access them.
I say the ring contains only a password "in a matter of speaking," because passwords are insecure by their very nature, subject to brute-force attacks. People of the future will look at passwords as a primitive stepping stone to the next generation, which is algorithm-based. An algorithm encoded within a ring can decrypt any encrypted data owned by the user and log in to any web site instantly. This method of encryption cannot be defeated, because the encrypted data is not sequential and is not key-based, but deciphered using a complicated matrix-based algorithm which varies for each individual and which also varies depending upon the time of day and time of year, body temperature, and perhaps some other environmental factors as yet to be determined. To decode such data is impossible, regardless of available resources. . .
The ring functions as a unique key that can be stolen or copied, perhaps, but needs physical possession. Thus, hackers without access to the ring are without any luck at all. Theft will consist of old-fashioned robbery or burglary to obtain the ring. But a ring is relatively easy to secure, certainly easier than many alternatives such as passwords. If one's person is safe, then one's data is safe. This is both a natural and very simple method of safeguarding data, requiring little more vigilance than people ordinarily exercise in safeguarding precious gold and platinum rings. However, there will have to be a way for law enforcement to inactivate stolen rings following a complaint of theft and DNA confirmation that the real owner is who he says he is.
I say the ring contains only a password "in a matter of speaking," because passwords are insecure by their very nature, subject to brute-force attacks. People of the future will look at passwords as a primitive stepping stone to the next generation, which is algorithm-based. An algorithm encoded within a ring can decrypt any encrypted data owned by the user and log in to any web site instantly. This method of encryption cannot be defeated, because the encrypted data is not sequential and is not key-based, but deciphered using a complicated matrix-based algorithm which varies for each individual and which also varies depending upon the time of day and time of year, body temperature, and perhaps some other environmental factors as yet to be determined. To decode such data is impossible, regardless of available resources. . .
The ring functions as a unique key that can be stolen or copied, perhaps, but needs physical possession. Thus, hackers without access to the ring are without any luck at all. Theft will consist of old-fashioned robbery or burglary to obtain the ring. But a ring is relatively easy to secure, certainly easier than many alternatives such as passwords. If one's person is safe, then one's data is safe. This is both a natural and very simple method of safeguarding data, requiring little more vigilance than people ordinarily exercise in safeguarding precious gold and platinum rings. However, there will have to be a way for law enforcement to inactivate stolen rings following a complaint of theft and DNA confirmation that the real owner is who he says he is.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Security 101
Facts
1. Any competent programmer can devise a nonsequential, noisy encryption scheme that unlocks by algorithm, not key, and thus cannot be defeated by any method.
2. Such a run-of-the-mill coder can also devise a virus that cannot be detected by any method.
3. No complicated software can be certified virus, malware, and trojan-free with 100% certainty, even if the source code is exhaustively reviewed by a national security agency over a period of a hundred years and with a billion-dollar budget. (If you are in any doubt about this, review #1 & #2.)
4. No complicated software can be certified to be free of all present and future security vulnerabilities, intentional or unintentional.
5. People who download programs or operating systems from Pirate Bay are either kidding themselves or don't care because they have taken precautions such as running the software in a sandbox, etc.
6. People who think it is fine and dandy to install software from China, etc. are in the same boat as the #5 group.
The bottom line is this--and everyone using the Internet today needs to know this not now, but yesterday--computer programs are just as complicated, diverse, and potentially harmful and untrustworthy as human beings. Therefore, the same rules apply. Consider the source, reputation, and available references. Take precautions and reduce risk. And continue observing.
DistroWatch Silly Over Deepin
Distrowatch is silly to repeat their assertion that anyone who doesn't have an open mind about Deepin is "tribalist."
Probably more than half the people reading this blog don't know what Distrowatch is or Deepin is, but I digress. Research 'em if you like. I usually start at Wikipedia for my research. On the other hand, most people won't care. I care, not because it's a fascinating subject, but mostly because I'm right, and it always feels good to be right about something.
Now looky here, Distrowatch. If a Linux distro pops up from, say, Brazil or even Japan, then I'm OK with it. Different tribes than mine, but no biggie. Hey, live and let live--the more, the merrier. Brazil and Japan have something I respect. It's called Freedom of the Press. Nice concept. It means web sites like DistroWatch don't have to sit a-quivering in their shoes that the police are going to bust down the door and drag them away by their hair for writing something on their web site. Ain't that nice, Distrowatch? I think so.
So Distrowatch, that's why I won't install a Chinese-made Linux distro on my computer. It's not because they're from a different tribe than mine. It's because China ain't free. Someone slips a trojan or a subtle, intentional vulnerability into Deepin. . . then there's no one in China that can talk about it without fear of the police. Point made. End of discussion.
One would think that people with an education--ahem--would already know all this, but perhaps they have a certain motive to pretend otherwise. Hmm . . .
Probably more than half the people reading this blog don't know what Distrowatch is or Deepin is, but I digress. Research 'em if you like. I usually start at Wikipedia for my research. On the other hand, most people won't care. I care, not because it's a fascinating subject, but mostly because I'm right, and it always feels good to be right about something.
Now looky here, Distrowatch. If a Linux distro pops up from, say, Brazil or even Japan, then I'm OK with it. Different tribes than mine, but no biggie. Hey, live and let live--the more, the merrier. Brazil and Japan have something I respect. It's called Freedom of the Press. Nice concept. It means web sites like DistroWatch don't have to sit a-quivering in their shoes that the police are going to bust down the door and drag them away by their hair for writing something on their web site. Ain't that nice, Distrowatch? I think so.
So Distrowatch, that's why I won't install a Chinese-made Linux distro on my computer. It's not because they're from a different tribe than mine. It's because China ain't free. Someone slips a trojan or a subtle, intentional vulnerability into Deepin. . . then there's no one in China that can talk about it without fear of the police. Point made. End of discussion.
One would think that people with an education--ahem--would already know all this, but perhaps they have a certain motive to pretend otherwise. Hmm . . .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)