Month: March 2015

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How much is too much?

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These days everything has passwords, sign-ins, PINS, & we all have multiple accounts, the invasion doubles when you try to keep your work and personal lives separated. 

Now there’s this weird trend, and it’s one I’m not sure I’m comfortable with.

After a long run of being able to view my YouTube subscriptions using Apple TV, they’ve recently changed things. My YouTube stuff has been reset with a recent release of the Apple TV firmware. Now when I ask to take a look at my subscriptions, My Apple TV tells me…

“Sign in, Get better video recommendations, watch your playlists and subscriptions, and find channels you love. On your phone, tablet, or computer, got to youtube.com/activate and enter: UISU-GWGB”

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Problem is that I ALREADY had signed in the old way, perhaps a year ago. You know where I gave them my ID and password and everything was working great. Now not only do I have to sign in again, but this new sign-in method will probably add another data point to my overall profile at Google. 

This is one of those situations where someone, somewhere is trying to link the string of pearls of my life together via my devices.

The problem is that I’m a human being, and that by most standards implies a certain amount of social interaction. Heck I might log into a device like an Apple TV to show a favorite video or selection of videos to friends at their house on their Apple TV, or Roku, or Chrome, or even their smart TV, instead of my own.

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Pushing this method of registration limits that interaction, forcing instead that sharing be done via a device with a browser.

YouTube isn’t the only one using this method. Several of the TV networks, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, History, and even PBS have been using this register/activate this device at our website model for a while. In those cases they wanted you to register at your Cable/Dish provider, or directly with their website. 

The problem is that the major TV networks and PBS, can be provided over the air without a Cable provider. So the whole registration model makes no sense for them unless they provide a way to register you’re on an antenna.

But DUDE we’re trying to make your user experience better, this way your devices will be forever linked and we’ll push you things our systems determine that you’re likely to be happiest with.

In my life, I want to see the stuff I select and I don’t want content filtered by a computer, no matter how sophisticated it’s algorithms.

Aggregation

I am becoming more uncomfortable with linkages of this type.

At the risk of sounding like I’ve got a tinfoil hat on. The whole register / activate model doesn’t seem all that insidious until you consider what information this registration can collect. Here’s a short list just off the top of my head.

Number of device(s) you own

location (via IP) 

Type of device & manufacturer (via that funny code), your name, your account information (via Cable Provider or in this case Google.)

Socio Economic status (number of devices + your cable bill and premium channels vs. over the air only.)
NewImageYou could make a case for ability to detect approximate educational level and even number of adults or if there are children in the house and possibly the political affiliation of the home just from viewing habits. Nielsen has been doing this kind of thing for years and I’ll bet their algorithms are damn efficient.

Speed of your internet connection, when cross referenced against number of providers in your area, this can provide another data point in your social economic status. Do you have basic DSL or are you in a top tier FiOs or Cable plan?

 NewImageI personally don’t like people having that much information about me. This is Big Brother territory because it’s not only what I own, but what I’m interested in and likely to own.
 
For example, because I went to a site about gun safety sponsored by the NRA I get ads in Brietbart about concealed carry and holsters. Because I checked out a new WiFi device that’s not even released to the public yet, I’m getting ads on all my search pages about the that device. Because I happen to like Andrew Klavens snark on YouTube, my YouTube suggestions are all conspiracy theory videos.
 
This is the problem, because I am curious about a wide variety of subjects I end up having ads shoved down my throat long after I’ve decided a subject or product is of no interest.
 

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 I don’t like it and the only Way I can think of to opt out is to disconnect from the internet. For a wide variety of reasons that is no longer really a viable option in the country.
 
Maybe I should be wearing a tinfoil hat after all…
 
 
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Maybe Jeb is the better Candidate…

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I doubt he can overcome the Media and the family’s legacy.

Look, during George H Bush’s presidency, there were a lot of questions. Followed by 8 years of the Clintons. Then we had George W Bush for 8 years during which there were many questions, and honestly a never ending drone of main stream media pundits bitching about his presidency. 

There are a couple of things that I admit I liked about George W. He knew how to respect and honor the Servicemen in his security detail. He brought back uniformed military at the doors to the White House which the Clintons had mostly done away with. 

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Initially, on 9/11 I thought he was an ass because he continued his visit in that classroom. In retrospect I think I admire it.

If he’d jumped up and run out of the classroom, those kids would have thought they’d done something wrong. As President, George W would know that his people were collecting data, and trying to figure out what was going on, how big a threat we were dealing with etc. He’d be privy to any and all information if he was on AirForce One or in a classroom finishing a visit with children.

George W has passed mostly out of the public eye, I’ve noticed news articles from Texas describing his charity work with veterans and what appears to be a more relaxed George W. being a decent human being. I’ve grown to like him.

The problem is, Jeb Bush will never be able to step out of his Father and Brothers shadows. No matter what decision he makes about anything, he’ll always be compared to them. There will always be people assuming that he’s the avatar of the elder Bush’s.

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My mother had an intense dislike for Jeb Bush while he was Governor of Florida. She really hates Rick Scott and refers to him as Valdemort.

I think Mom hated Jeb primarily because he was about controlling government spending and improving education without raising taxes to do it.

That meant that the administrators in the Florida schools wouldn’t reduce their salaries or refuse to take a raise but they would instead make sure that the teachers didn’t get raises and that classroom supplies would be in short supply. The administrators would then tell the teachers it was because of “budget cuts”.

The thing is, “budget cut” implies money is being taken away. Not allocating MORE money to a budget is not a cut, its keeping the budget constant. Why do the media and many Democrats describe keeping the budget flat as a cut?

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Looking at Jeb’s record on Wikipedia I don’t think he was all that bad a Governor.

He reduced taxes, reduced the size of the state government vetoed 2 Billion in new spending, (a large part of which was a high speed rail boondoggle), and increased Florida’s financial reserves from 1.3 Billion to 9.8 billion.

My Mom was probably upset as an educator that he vetoed 6 million in grants to public library pilot projects to create homework centers, and create web based high school texts in Tampa.

Given that we’ve seen how horribly wrong that kind of thing can go in the Los Angeles Unified School District iPad debacle, perhaps Jeb was right. 

He used his line item veto to stop that pilot program, maybe the documentation he read about the project led him to believe that it would be money wasted. It didn’t mean that he’d never support a similar program. It meant he didn’t think that particular program was a good investment.

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The really sad thing is after reading his history, and the things that he’s championed, I’ve begun to think Jeb might actually make a good President. 

I just don’t want to hear the incessant bullshit about him being a “Puppet” or an extension of the Bush Dynasty for the next 5 years. 

Perhaps we need someone completely new, and unknown. Someone with vision and who’s committed to hope and change.

OH WAIT! We’ve been down that road already TWICE.

This country is without question more racist and divided than I can remember since the 60’s. Due in part to all that “Hope and Change”.

Maybe Jeb should be given another look, no matter what the assholes in the main stream media say.

One alternative is that you could elect me as President!

If the newscasters are freaking out about Jeb now… Wait ‘till they get a load of me!

Muhahahahahahahaha!

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No more Clinton

Yeah, I said it and I can get away with it! 

TAKE THAT Main Stream Media!

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In all seriousness, please tell me that we’re not actually even considering Hillary Clinton for president. 

Its not even about her most recent scandal regarding her email server. For me its the phrase “MOST RECENT SCANDAL”.

While I recall there was always some kind of controversy during the Clinton years, the scandals that pop out in my mind aside from Bill’s indescressions, are;

  • Whitewater
  • Vince Foster
  • Benghazi

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Then finally, email-gate.

While I was working for a company involved with government contracts, we were reminded at least once every six months about email protocols. These protocols included sending only encrypted emails, never sending emails to unknown addresses. Questioning sending or refusing to send to any external email address that was not part of a (dot) GOV or (dot) MIL domain.

My boss got questioned because he sent an email to me at my private account. That email was fully encrypted and contained nothing more than his telling me what to bring to the Christmas potluck.  To this day… I look for (dot) GOV or MIL on emails. I’m not even working in that industry anymore. 

I’ve always believed that we should encrypt all email. I used to use PGP but when Symantec purchased it, and made the product so horribly expensive and incompatible with Macintosh products I gave up. You see, there were just too few people who thought as I did that privacy was important.

Apparently Hillary Clinton values her privacy quite a bit. By having her own private server she maintained absolute control over email storage. Which meant that if she had a hard disk crash, (Remember Lois Lerner?) literally all the emails would be wiped. 

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I seem to vaguely recall that there were more questionable things during the Clinton Administration, but like most of the American public i’ve been distracted by the most recent atrocities and abuses of power.

My point is this. Given the number and frequency of Scandals that Hillary Clinton has been involved in during the past 30 years, perhaps she really isn’t the best person for the Presidency. At the very least she’s a lightening rod for bad things & not bright enough to get out of the way of the scandal train. At worst she’s complicit in the scandal and believes she can dupe the American people.

Either way, I think that’s sufficient to disqualify her from seeking the presidency.

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OK I KNOW it’s Friday the 13th already!

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I swear I’m expecting Jason to go walking across my computer screen any minute!

I was working on a blog post minding my own business. I got up to get some coffee, then noticed the trash was full. In keeping with my effort to become more efficient and build good habits, I slipped on my shoes and took the trash out. While I was outside I did poo patrol and then came back in.

Then I made myself a cup of coffee and sat back down at my desk.

I swear I was only gone for 10 minutes 15 minute tops!

I tapped the mouse and the computer woke rrrrreeeeeaaaaaallllyyyy sllllllooooooowwwwwlllly

Hum. This can’t be good!

There is a message from my virus scan software saying that it’s on access scan is offline.

Hum. This is really not good.

I fire up the console application. Its scrolling like a mother!

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ERROR File Not Found. Virus Scan application failed to load.
Warning
Fatal error Antivirus scanner failed to load, Virus database missing or corrupt

ERROR File Not Found. Virus Scan application failed to load.
Warning
Fatal error Antivirus scanner failed to load, Virus database missing or corrupt

ERROR File Not Found. Virus Scan application failed to load.
Warning
Fatal error Antivirus scanner failed to load, Virus database missing or corrupt

ERROR File Not Found. Virus Scan application failed to load.
Warning
Fatal error Antivirus scanner failed to load, Virus database missing or corrupt

ERROR File Not Found. Virus Scan application failed to load.
Warning
Fatal error Antivirus scanner failed to load, Virus database missing or corrupt

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So I think I know what happened… question is how do I fix it? First thought is to ask the AV program to check for updates.

NO JOY. The program posted that it had downloaded the latest version.

Try deleting the latest downloads? NO JOY couldn’t find them and the company web site was pretty much useless about this kind of error.

Delete the preferences, user settings, and anything that looks like new files associated with the AntiVirus program.

OK… Now the AntiVirus program is FUBAR!

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Uninstall / Reinstall

Uninstall works! No more errors and my computer is now running normally. Grab the installer from a network drive and install it.

NO JOY

AntiVirus program reports that this version is too old and cannot be updated via auto-updater. I’m instructed to download the latest version from their web site.

OK Navigate to their website, attempt to log-in.

You’ve entered an incorrect user ID or password. Please try again.

TankGirl

I recheck the credentials I have stored. The date on the receipt matches the date stored in the credentials so what gives?

Sigh…

I normally wouldn’t really care all that much, but the way that this has happened is reminiscent of the way AntiVirus gets disabled in WinDOZE computers and It’s spooky to think that someone might have figured out how to do the same thing on a Mac.

Of course if someone had created some piece of malware that could mess with my system like that… I’d be really, really, pissed off.

I end up getting the password reset, and then I’m able to download the package…

It installs flawlessly and then updates the virus definitions.

GOOD, now we’re making progress.

All is right once again with my computer and gee whiz it only cost me 4 hours.

I’m doing a full system scan, just to be sure that I don’t have something nasty crawling around in my machine. Call me paranoid!

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At least I haven’t had the horrendous time suck a buddy had. His Windows 8 machine is still a smoldering pile of donkey doo. Since it’s a laptop maybe a steaming pile of cow poo is a more appropriate description.

Sorry man… I told ya last year you might be better off with a Mac instead of yet another Windows machine. I have sympathy for ya but have to say I told you so.

Oh, it appears that my antivirus problem was simply that the update data was glitched in transmission. I guess I need to figure out what files I need to wipe to force a complete virus database download if this happens in the future.

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OH who the HELL am I kidding? I’ve been using this AV software since 2008 and this is the FIRST time I’ve seen it do something like this. I’m going to call it a “One-Off” and not waste any more time on it.

I have better things to do with my time…

After all this isn’t a Windows System.

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Ferguson is Dead, it just doesn’t know it yet.

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By now you’ve read or heard that two police officers were shot in Ferguson, MO last night.

There are conflicting accounts about the aftermath. Some have said that protestors were taunting the police administering first aid. Other accounts say that the protesters scattered.

Either way, Ferguson, MO is dead.

Their police force is resigning in droves. The Chief is only the latest resignation. Digging around, you can find reports that say officer turnover is increasing and with good reason. It’s not that the police department is a bad department per-se. It’s any cop, but most especially any white cop taking a job in Ferguson is willingly strapping a target to their body.

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Going in, an officer must know that he or she will be under a microscope for any arrest or shooting they’re involved with. They know they’ll have no backing from the public and no matter what, they’ll be accused of excessive use of force, and simultaneously accused of not doing enough to protect the town.

I’m guessing Ferguson will disband their police force and then complain because St Louis PD isn’t doing enough. The people of Ferguson will have what they wanted, all the bad cops will be gone… and so will all the good cops. There are probably folks right now wondering if they should walk away from their homes because it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s coming.

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Next, will come the gang bangers renting or squatting. Then comes the turf wars, drugs, burglaries, violence,  drive by shootings, and victims families wringing their hands asking, “Why?”

The stigma of any police officer having “Ferguson, MO” in their service records, the heightened danger, coupled with any incident in Ferguson being a career destroyer, will further slow police response. After all, why be involved in an incident, when you can show up and hour later and just clean up the mess?

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These factors will create fertile crime zones and what was once a nice suburb will become yet another wasteland. Today, no bank in their right mind will loan money to open businesses in Ferguson, at this point I doubt that any insurers will issue policies either. So tax revenue, and local stores will dry up, then in time, Ferguson itself will cease to exist.

Through all of this there will be lots of blood. Black folks, White folks, Police, Firefighters, and even the occasional tourist who gets lost on the way to see the St Louis Arch. All these people will bleed, suffer and many will die over the next five, ten, or twenty years.

All of it for nothing. Except building the careers of men who didn’t live in Ferguson, but who saw an opportunity to exploit the town and it’s people.

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In the end Ferguson will look like Detroit, or Berlin after the blitz.

Eric Holder will be living in luxury on a government pension. Al Sharpton will be dancing on the graves of yet another “Racism” crisis.

They’ll both have long since forgotten about Ferguson. They’ll forget all the blood spilled, the racial flames fanned, and the town destroyed.