THE RANT THREAD!

[Luce]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I approve of half of this statement and don't worry about the other half (zombies are not a sufficiently entertaining doomsday scenario, bad things happen to entities that try and take away my pizza supply without providing entertainment :cthulhu: )

I remember pizza. It's one of those foods that you can taste, right?

Needless to say, I can't have any.

Because I am ancient, and my blood is like jello pudding. On the plus side, I haven't had actual tobacco since September (I am using a vaporizer). I can breathe again. Downside: My sense of smell has returned...And Tucson smells like ass.

[Heka]

I remember pizza. It's one of those foods that you can taste, right?

Needless to say, I can't have any.

Because I am ancient, and my blood is like jello pudding. On the plus side, I haven't had actual tobacco since September (I am using a vaporizer). I can breathe again. Downside: My sense of smell has returned...And Tucson smells like ass.

Thats all a bit shit Luce. Sorry about your partner, and the working alone. Sounds shit house.

Sorry also thay Tucson stinks.

It all just sounds shit. Go have a drink mate, you deserve it

[ChainLightning]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Dammit! I forgot all about our resident law enforcement. I think I should review my posts for any evidence, or confessings, of felony acts, now. It's going to majorly suck if I have to figure out what might be felonious or not, let alone legal or not. That's something I just don't pay attention to, anymore. Oof!



On a serious note, my sympathies to you and your partner, there, Luce. Having the smashed leg syndrome, myself, I know it's no picnic. And desk duty, paperwork in triplicate at twice the workload, is excessive for ANY length of time. An hour, a week or 14 weeks - nightmarish is the only word that comes to mind. (I loath paperwork.)

[iflewoverthecuckoosnest]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I'm trying to turn my sleep schedule around before I have to face my 4 days a week, 3 hour long, 8:00 AM Algebra I summer class. Thing is, even when I fall asleep at a reasonable time, I always wind up waking up at about 12:00-1:00 AM. It blows.

[Roknrol]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

<Cracks knuckles>

You know...I toned it down in the "NSA has a picture of you thread" because I didn't want my rant to be taken as a personal attack by anyone in the thread. Here? It's still not personal, but you know it because it's the rant thread and I'm telling you. So there. In writing the following:

We are as secure as we choose to be unless our job happens to be one which relies on us releasing our own personal data. If you want to protect yourself from hackers, keep strong passwords (do NOT change them frequently, but also do NOT write them down or give them to *anyone*, including people you trust), don't leave your computer on when you're not at it, encryption helps, and AFAIC the best weapon that we have against our information getting out is our right to choose what companies we want to do business with. Is it "inconvenient" for me to not use Facebook? Sometimes. But it's far less inconvenient than being stalked (as you point out). Why does my sister, 600 miles away, need to know that I'm on the bus?

I did get sucked into FB for quite some time...I didn't buy into the "they're selling your data" thing, at least, not on the level that I understand it now. Frankly, privacy is one of my biggest issues right now. None of the below "anger" or whatever is directed at you in the least - it is all reserved for those that actively strive for the current model, which is quite frankly, broken. Ish. Just enjoy the rant

The simple fact is that it IS possible for people to build secure websites that don't sell your information. It is possible to protect your site from 90% of the malicious hackers out there, just by following some basic guidelines - something that IT guys (myself included) were extremely lazy about fixing because...well...we're the only ones that understand it. Hell, PF is just as secure as Facebook, and I guarantee that the Admins aren't selling your data anywhere. The only real difference between here and there are the bells and whistles...but you know, if just one single company (or dozens) were to put together a package like that, and the sheeple were willing to make a change (good Gods, do you remember how much of a clusterfuck it was when people left MySpace? ), they would have all of the funding they need without advertising. People *do* donate money to help out. I know, I'm one of them. They could get a couple of specific sponsers to pay advertising even (which is the way that it works in most forms of media). The Internet decided to adopt the newsprint model, which essentially reduces the costs to advertise to almost nothing, the usefulness of the advertising at far less than that, and the annoyance factor several grades beyond what any normal person should be expected to tolerate. You know, the only profitable part of most daily newspapers is in their Sunday edition - the one with all of the ads. Unless you clip coupons, I'm willing to bet that that entire 3 lbs of paper goes straight into the trash. And that's the profitable part.

Meanwhile, in areas like television (pre-Tivo), online advertising has always had it's own draw. Hell, one of the biggest moneymakers in the US every year are the commercials played during the Superbowl. The market and the competition has led to better advertising, not worse. Look anywhere on the 'net and tell me the last time you were entertained by a non-television or non-radio commercial.

I am deviating far from our starting point - my point here, is that the model we're using now, the one that drives the costs down to nothing, absolutely kills sites like PF, where the Owners and the few kind volunteers donate time and money, outside of their real lives. It kills them because when sites like Facebook are getting billions of hits, your price per click drops to $0.000000001. Per click. You can't pay server costs with that.

But these models are pushed by the advertising agencies, the salesmen, the corporate executives and the shareholders of people who already have too much goddamned money. You know, the people we all "trust".

Now, this is all in regards to private hackers - they will still try to get your credit card information, but the simple solution to that is to not give your credit card information to people you don't trust. Do you know more credit card fraud is perpetrated per year with the physical card than is perpetrated through the internet? You're more at risk by going to McDonalds than you are going to eBay. Of course, there are "bad" sites out there too - but there are also "bad" stores.

But these "hackers", as a general rule, don't give a shit about you. Oh, yeah, they'll try to extort money by installing viruses - but those are blind attacks. Literally flinging poo and charging a removal fee. They aren't after YOU...they're after *anyone*. Those aren't the people you need to be worried about.

The people YOU should be worried about are the people that our Constitution is supposed to protect us from: The Government. Do you know why we have a place like Gitmo and why the NSA is allowed to copy every single bit of electronic communication you participate in? It's because we asked the United States Government to protect us from the terrorist threat. Their response to us asking for better defense of our borders (including internal - it was an interstate flight) is a gross violation of our privacy and at fundamental odds with the various oaths and promises that we hired them to keep.

Some of the best tools that we had to protect our privacy were strongarmed into literally opening holes in otherwise secure software so that the US Government could snoop. This is not bullshit. They may have intended it to be for spying on the Chinese, but they are using it to spy on everyone, including the people sworn to protect us.

No. I don't think that asking the Government to protect us is a good idea. I think telling the Government, firmly and without compromise, that our individual Rights trump their curiosity. If you are unable to protect us without violating the Constitution, then shut down the f'ing programs and refund my tax money. Or better yet, put it toward education, or Tort reform, or prison reform, or environmental reform, or christ, mortgage reform.

But then again, I'm a realist - which is why I've started pulling back from the Internet.

Google cannot track me specifically, because I anatomize my access whenever possible, etc etc etc. And I have withdrawn from all of those areas that I just don't feel like learning how to deal with - like Facebook. Having to go in and double check my security settings every week, with multiple options having changed, been removed, or added, and reset, and having them in three different places, and learning that this was all done intentionally, so that you'd screw it up. makes me want to gag. It's fucking disgusting money-grubbing. And it's dishonest. So I don't participate. Now, granted, I have the technical acumen and background to do a lot of it myself, and that helps considerably. I realize that most end users don't even know where to begin looking to even find out what they need to be concerned about. Everything sounds like fearmongerging - and it is. Some of us (myself included) feel like we're on the cusp of losing the last bit of what used to make this country Great. That has been sold to the highest bidder for something like 30 Trillion dollars of debt.

No, everything the Government does, they fuck up. In my opinion? I think we should learn how to live with each other, and dissolve as much of the Government as humanly possible. They have earned less power, not more, and that's what they should get.

Well...<sniff>...got me dander up.

I remember in high school my history teacher telling me that American history was arguably the most important thing that I should learn. I needed to understand why our founders did what they did (commit Treason) for the promise of a better life. And no, the problems that we're experiencing aren't "new" by a long shot - but...we treated them differently. The Post Office, while perhaps not as secure as we'd like from the NSA/FBI/CIA, was still secure. Despite it not being Government funded, they were able and willing to enforce the Constitution as Law, and that was built in. What we're experiencing now, are people being bullied when they get a little too loud. And the Feds know how to bully. And you might think these people are paranoid and maybe thinking too strongly about this stuff...but if that's the case, why would the Government want to shut them up.

Gitmo exists because the US Government (among others at the time) were unable to legally "extract information" from suspected Terrorists if they were on American soil. And the right to a fair trial. And the right to an attorney. And the right to charges being brought against you. Now I'm not saying the people in Gitmo are necessarily angels - but don't they also deserve the right to a fair trial? We give one to Manson, we give one to (oh no's! Godwin!) Hitler, but some religious (possibly) extremists with a penchant for things that pop don't get a trial? That doesn't sound like the Constitution to me. Not even a little. And that says nothing about "right" and "wrong". I would love to see the evildoers punished for their crimes. But we can't see that happen until there are charges...until then, they're just locking them in a quiet room until they die. That can't be "right".

As I've said before, the NSA right now doesn't have a vested interest in monitoring much. They're probably monitoring me (and you, and six of your friends now, you're welcome ), but nobody's really "watching". They're making sure they catch it all, just in case, but we aren't a threat. They've been going after bigger fish lately.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's the last of the Government stuff for now...I had to catch myself in the other thread though, because I was going into a privacy rant about marketing and...*sigh*...lost it. Maybe I'll be back.

Dammit.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh...on the NSA thing, they don't have the staff - yet. But IMO if the only thing restricting their ability is their budget, the best way to restrict their infringement is the same way. I'm just saying.

[midgnostic]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I got a little carried away as well.

One problem with too much law is that it replaces the moral faculty in us. Without there being a proper legal deterrent there is less chance for hackers to exercise moral choice, so perhaps there is no more evidence of malicious intent than with burglary. I don't work for the NSA by the way, in case anyone wondered.

[iflewoverthecuckoosnest]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Had quite the adventure last night.
My brother called me around one in morning, which I didn't mind because he knows I'm a huge night owl. He told me that he was stuck way out in the middle of nowhere across town because he'd locked his keys in the car, and that my Mom had some of his spare keys in her purse. Could I grab the keys and drop them by, please? I was up for it, since I had a GPS and he gave me his friend's address. I wasn't doing anything, anyway. Thought it would take an hour, hour and a half tops.
So I set out, but our GPS somehow got completely mixed up (as is her habit) and I wound up on this dirt road next to a shed. Having just watched The Shining, I hightailed it out of there and reset the GPS. This time she did lead me to the right area, but not to the house, so I was just left generally guessing where the living hell I was. Finally, my brother called me and gave me some apology laden directions. After looping around the trailer park one or two times, I saw him charging up to my car.
By then, the trip down had taken an hour unto itself.
We get into his friend's house, I pull the keys out... they're the wrong. Fucking. Keys. Well, we all had a good laugh about that, and they smoked me out with a big, fat "thank you" joint. I hung out with them for about an hour or so before leaving. The effects of the joint had worn off. My brother figured he'd just get my parents to bail him out the next day or something.
I thought the trip back would be easy. Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. It was almost 3 in the morning when I left. I got in my car, made sure I had everything, and set the GPS for home.
Somehow, the GPS got me even more lost this time. I was on a highway next to some camping spots and a lake. As I followed the highlighted route, I saw that the arrow was pointing backward. Somehow, the GPS had told me to go in the direction of where I came from... only it wasn't leading me in the direction of the house I just left. I don't know what the hell it was doing. As time went on, I was getting more and more exhausted and anxious. I was very afraid that I would wind up falling asleep at the wheel if I didn't get back soon.
Fortunately, after much disorienting bullshit, the GPS lead me down some weird route to my house that I'd never taken before. I marched straight to bed and passed out. My brother made it home safely with my Dad this morning.

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

What kind of GPS do you have?

[iflewoverthecuckoosnest]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

What kind of GPS do you have?

It's a Garmen.

[Medusa]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

So I have lime stains in my toilet bowl because I don't flush my pee at night to save water. Apparently my Diabetic pee screws up the toilet. I let it go too long I must admit. So I got a wire brush and went at it with bleach. My bowl is now full of black scratches. So I'm now going after it with CLR. Then when it's clean of the lime, I'll go back and do the BarKeeper's friend solution to remove the scratch marks. I'm an idiot. I know this.

*bows head and wanders away.

[Maria de Luna]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Laying down hurts, sitting up hurts, standing..... F u I am not standing..... Rolling over requires me to sit up first, which hurts, bending or subsequently unbending my knees hurts, and any movement that involves my hip makes me literally cry out in pain...... I am so effing tired, but the NyQuil is not knocking me out fast enough.... Has someone got a baseball bat they could knock me out with? It might hurt less than how I feel right now.....

[Medusa]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Laying down hurts, sitting up hurts, standing..... F u I am not standing..... Rolling over requires me to sit up first, which hurts, bending or subsequently unbending my knees hurts, and any movement that involves my hip makes me literally cry out in pain...... I am so effing tired, but the NyQuil is not knocking me out fast enough.... Has someone got a baseball bat they could knock me out with? It might hurt less than how I feel right now.....

I know the feels. I hope you were able to get some sleep!

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

It's a Garmen.

That's what I have, and the only thing it's done wrong so far is tell me someone's house is on the left when it's really on the right.

[thalassa]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

That's what I have, and the only thing it's done wrong so far is tell me someone's house is on the left when it's really on the right.

Makes me wonder if its been updated lately.

That's the only problem I've ever run into as well...

[Heka]

Boys are annoying. And in this case, it is nearly a boy. Hes quite mature, and can be a bit aloof at times, part of what draws me, plus he's sexy. But I just have no. F******. Idea. What. He. Is. Thinking. None. We'll talk about random shit, have a flirt, we talked quite a bit when I was helping him with his girl problems. I thought we bonded. Clearly not. He wont talk to me in public, or even see me. And he just doesn't tell me random shit. I invited him over to watch a movie, and he said he wasnt home, but his car way home, then I thought he was drunk cos none of his messages made sense, then he said he was bush camping, which he clearly is not, but then he's driving around town. I just dont know. And I dont know why I bother. I want to just go away and not talk to him or think about him or anything. Last time I tried I lasted 2 days.

F****** sick of it.

And yet, I cant stop

:S