“Why Linkedin will make you hate Microsoft.” Wait. What? You don’t already hate Microsoft? But seriously, if they really do what this NYT article says they’re planning, we’re talking whole new levels. Wow. Beer can, mama bear, and don’t-forget-the-dog save a woman during a long ordeal. But note what she really wishes she hadn’t left at home. Have you ever sensed that Snopes.com, the great All-Powerful Fact-Checker of the Intertubz, sometimes needs fact-checking itself — particularly on political issues? Turns our you’re quite right. Look who’s providing those political “facts”. Makes me sad. Snopes has been a valuable resource and…
Category: Computers & Technology
Yet another way cynical, opportunistic cops (and governments in general) quash our desires to be kind to our fellow man. Foul parasites. And apparently Canadian sneaks are no better than U.S. sneaks. (H/T JB) Ohhhhh gawwwwwwd. Not agaiiiiiin. First Sudafed goes behind the counter and gets your name into a police registry. Now over-the-counter diahhrea meds — yes, Immodium, of all things — get targeted as part of Dreaded Scourge of Opiod Abuse. It’s one thing to carry your heart on your sleeve. Entirely another to carry your heart on your back for over a year. Well, I wouldn’t v*te…
Cops have a new machine that lets them grab money off your prepaid cards right at roadside. But it’s not about the money. Really it isn’t. Of course not! It’s about … um … erm, identity theft! Yeah, that’s what it’s really about. The cops aren’t just getting more bold and efficient about stealing from you. They’re protecting you! (H/T Fred in comments) Oopsie. Looks as if that gun “documentary” wasn’t the only one Couric and pals artfully edited to make their opponents look like dumbasses. Great news for people who love both the Web and privacy: WWW creator, Tim…
Jim Bovard writes in Reason on the high price of security theater. Then he went on C-Span to talk about it, too. Which takes us to Richard Rahn’s “Kill the regulatory parasite.” Oh, Katie, Katie, Katie. You went the full Rather. You should never go the full Rather. And at least he didn’t make phony-baloney excuses. A recent study says that the threshhold-based blood tests used by states to determine whether legal pot users are impaired or not aren’t based in sound science. This wild-and-crazy pro-pot-user claim comes from those mad radicals at … the American Automobile Association. AAA. John…
So … after last week’s discussion about TracFone and whatever URGENT ACTION item it was doing such a lousy job explaining … problem solved. Recap: All they were saying, without actually saying it, was that my 2G phones are about to become obsolete. The fact that they weren’t actually saying it, and the fact that any contact with TracFone other than buying and adding airtime is always painful threw me a bit. But by Sunday, I had a nice little touchscreen 3G phone — $7! — that did everything my old phone did, but could also send and receive photos…
Just past the halfway mark of my six months without home Internet. Not too painful so far, right?
Its original purpose of lowering monthly payments to clear last year’s home-improvement debts kind of went kablooey when Dave quit paying for the blog. At that point, I emptied savings to clear nearly all that debt, figuring any unnecessary monthly payments would not be a good idea right now.
Kept a small emergency fund, of course. Always keep a small emergency fund unless you’re living in your car and eating out of Dumpsters.
My latest foundling
Meet my latest forest foundling …
Wow whotta way to go! And what a perfect song to be performing at the time. (H/T L.A.) Twelve ways to increase your anonymity and security online. Very geeky and hardcore, but very good. (H/T Shel in comments) And for the non-geeks: is there a path forward for those who want online security but quail at the thought of TOR or an offshore VPN? You ’60s and ’70s people — you Illuminatus! fans — want a blast from the past? This was obviously written a long time ago when Robert Anton Wilson was still alive, but the crazy life of…
Be patient, citizens! That is an order! Your government is hard at work protecting you. (I do rather wonder what those TSA lines snaking up and down escalators look like. Or worse, feel like to stand in, especially if you’re stuck at the top or bottom where the stairs disappear. But not enough to want to go to an airport to see for myself.) Speaking of gummint “protection,” be glad you didn’t run into this employee of the Federal Protective Service. Whoo. gutsy woman! Militias going mainstream? So sez The Guardian with a surprising minimum of tsking about it. But…
Today it’s been exactly two months since I had home Internet. Four months to go and I confess that when Comcast comes back on August 20, I plan to binge my little heart out streaming Amazon shows, forum browsing, and even indulging in a whole bunch of disgusting news reading. I’ll surf until my brain turns soggy. When November comes, I’ll follow 16 live blogs of every dismal, depressing election result and love every second of it. That said, I generally haven’t missed connectedness that much and am looking forward to a summer of getting lots of small things done…
Yes, even when ‘Netless, I manage to pick up some newses. Enjoy. Another absurdly too-good-to-be-true “gun control” study OMG, these people are reaching so far it’s almost funny. Legalization does what the drug war never managed: cartel busting. How very unsurprising. No, we do not need an “encryption commission. No way. Nohow. Just plain NO. How the obnoxious PC police helped create Donald Trump. I know you gunfolk already heard, but West Virginia — over its governor’s cop-surrounded veto — this week became the latest state go constitutional carry Unfortunately, some people who ought naturally to have and carry firearms…