Month: September 2025

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As predicted the UK is implementing Digital ID, but it’s worse and faster than anticipated.

A while back I wrote a couple of pieces about digital IDs. The most recent is linked Here . An older one is linked Here. 

Logo ec en.Yesterday I ran across articles about the UK rolling out compulsory digital ID, and another article about the EU beginning a digital ID program for visitors to EU countries. There’s another article about a Swiss version, I stumbled across this morning.

I also noted that North Dakota added their digital drivers license to the Apple Wallet, (but they’re charging their residents a fee for the privilege).

The EU digital ID program is starting mid October. This system requires visitors to supply fingerprints, and submit to a facial scan for entry to EU countries. The claim is that they’ll be able to do away with passport stamps and better be able to identify people who overstay their visas. They also claim that fingerprints and facial scans will only be maintained for 3 years.

Meaning, if you only visit one of these countries and never go back to any other EU country, 3 years after your visit they’ll purge the record. I personally think they’ll never purge those records. 3 years is a long time and I’m positive that additional laws will be enacted that make those records permanent. 

After all, the UK & EU have both been pushing for backdoors into private phone data for everyone on the planet. There’s every reason to believe they’re trying to, and will succeed in building some kind of database of not only their own citizens, but also any visiting tourists.

One article suggested that if a tourist for example refused to provide this biometric data, they’d be denied entry to the country requesting the information.

Hey, a country is entitled to maintain control over their national borders. (Unless the country’s name is the United States, ahem.)

As a tourist, I don’t necessarily want to provide biometric data, so I guess any ideas I had about visiting Europe are toast once this system is fully implemented.

My passport chip contains biometrics as well and honestly, I’m not thrilled about that either. The difference is that I have control over my passport and who sees it. Once that chip is scanned though, my data is subject to being uploaded to whatever database a requester sees fit.

Fundamentally, and in a perfect world where governments could be trusted I’m good with providing this kind of information. The problem is, we don’t live in a perfect world, and no government can be trusted.

I go into it in some detail in the posts I referenced at the top of this post.

In fact I’d already decided if I ever went to Europe that I’d leave all technology stateside. My reasoning, before the UK & EU mandates was that I didn’t want to risk being detained anywhere for an offensive meme, or a comment that was deemed “Hate speech” that might be on my phone.

I figured if I didn’t carry any tech, other than my Nikon, and refused to provide any email addresses there’s be no way I could post something someone didn’t like. Without access to my online accounts, the authorities in whatever country would have no way to review my online activity to determine if I passed their purity tests.

Yes, I used the term “Purity Test” with intention. That term hearkens back to Nazi Germany, Communism, and even the old “One Drop Rules” of the white supremacists in the Old South.

The primary difference today isn’t about skin color, or religion. It’s about compliance and purity of thought. Does a particular individual represent a threat to group think? Is that person’s presence likely to cause a disruption in thought amongst our subjects? Will this person raise or ask difficult questions?

Honestly, that’s what I think these mandates are about. It’s not just being identified, or verifying that someone is overstaying their visa or has government authorization to work.

It’s about linking an individual to their social media, which is a way to get inside their head, then limiting their privileges within the society based on how compliant a person is. Just as China is doing today.

This is authoritarianism. The UK and EU are running headlong into the abyss.

I naively thought that traveling without technology would provide some level of privacy. I no longer think that is sufficient.

The UK has famously blocked speakers from other countries one of whom is a gentleman who after much study is very critical of Islam. The first time they blocked him from entering the UK they waited until he’d made the flight to the UK. They knew they were going to ban him, but chose to cost him money by making the flight, then charging him for accommodation under guard until he could pay the extra fees to take an early flight back to the US.

It’s reasonable to ask when will the UK start scouring average people’s social media accounts as a condition of entry.

The UK is, I think a petrie dish of sorts for the EU. Yes, they’ve supposedly broken away from the EU, but they’re still headed away from freedom and into authoritarianism.

When you think about it, the UK is a perfect testing ground. They’re small, easily contained via blockade, disarmed, have a liberal population, and are steeped in white guilt.

Those factors mean that experimentation about how much a population will take before they revolt is relatively safe. If crushing authoritarian control results in civil war it’s no big deal. The EU can call in the UN for “Humanitarian reasons” and put down any rebellion.

Think that’s utter bullshit? Then why are some units of the London police force wearing UN blue uniforms? Why are common rights within the UK being abridged? Why are teenagers and adults being fined or arrested for social media posts? Why is it apparently illegal to fly traditional UK flags?

I think the powers that be behind the EU are still pulling the UK government’s strings and that it’s likely what’s happening in the UK is an experiment that’s reaching its end.

Which means the EU is going to implement all the things that people in the UK allowed with a minimum amount of grumbling in all their member nations.

It also means that I’m not going to see Europe in my lifetime. I’m probably never going on a dive trip outside the United States territorial waters again. Curaçao and Bon Aire for example are part of The Netherlands, they fall under EU law. Although, their restaurants, bars, and hotels prefer any currency other than Euros.

It would be easy to say to myself, “Well, I’m only a tourist and this biometric data they’re asking for is nothing to worry about.” That is probably a true statement and as an average person 100% correct for now.

But how long before AI can scan everything I’ve ever posted, find a “crime” in any particular country I’m visiting & arrest me? I’ve been critical of Islam, I’ve been critical of the UK, the US, the transgender movement, some of my opinions could be considered radical, hurtful, or I could be deemed an “agitator”.

While those comments may be legal in my home country (at the moment), they may be considered illegal in other countries and all countries have different statutes of limitations on such things.

If authoritarian governments have biometric data, linked to my digital ID, and via my digital ID they link things I’ve said, even in anger, on social media… Then any of it can be used to legally detain me, fine me, or imprison me.

Much as I like the idea of digital ID’s I think I’m going to so my best not to use them and I’ll see what I can do about deleting my digital ID footprint.

It’s not about engaging in criminal activity, It’s about denying those who would control me the opportunity. 

As a plus, I don’t have to pay the US government for my passport every 10 years.

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Rain & Thunder on a Saturday evening.

The thunder & lightening in the sky mirrors my mood at the moment, But I love it so much I’m calming down rapidly enjoying the sound of rain on the roof, and rumbling in the sky.

It’s so calming for me. Even Jesse seems to be enjoying it. He’s curled up in the chair, head on the arm snoozing. He’s completely unbothered by the noise and that bodes well if we move someplace in the future that has weather.

What had me raging was I love the modern age!

NOT!

I’ve finally gotten to the point that I’m ready to donate Jerry’s car to a charity organization. It’s got over 300K miles on it, still runs, (although at the moment the battery is dead.) Nothing though that a little time on the battery charger wouldn’t fix.

So, I called the same veterans donation organization I called last year to get rid of the dead trucks. 

Last year, getting rid of two trucks took one phone call to these folks. They collected the information, and they scheduled the pickup date in one phone call. They showed up on time, we filled out some paperwork and that was that. Military precision and efficiency.

96 hours later they sent me an email telling me what the trucks had sold for at auction and appropriate tax information.

It was a good experience. So I called them again on Thursday.

This time I was talking to a heavily accented Indian woman. Sigh…Last year it was an American dude, possibly a veteran. This year there was question after question and the woman was having a hard time understanding the answers. Last year, the guy answering the phone answered with the name of the organization I was donating to. The questions were few and straight forward.

This year the woman answered the phone as some weird donation firm and when I asked if she was part of the actual organization I was trying to donate to, she hemmed and hawed about it then said she was part of some donation clearing house that would direct my donation to the proper organization. Uhh, Okaaaay.

She didn’t schedule anything, she said someone would be calling me later. They didn’t call, they sent 4 text messages, and 3 emails. From a completely different organization. Okaaaay. One of the emails had a link to schedule the pickup. I clicked  the link and scheduled a pickup for Monday. I got 2 more text messages and an email confirming the pickup date.

I heard nothing on Friday from any of the (now three) organizations.

This morning I was out walking the dog, then came home dropped him off at home and went out to run some errands. At some point my phone must’ve rung, but I didn’t hear it and didn’t look at my phone until I got home.

There was a voicemail, again heavily accented that said, “I’m calling you regarding your vehicle to be picked up.” That was it, nothing else.

AND????

About the time I’m thinking what the hell, and fuming about the complete lack of telephone etiquette, I get another text message and an email from the third organization saying that the pickup had been cancelled.

The email was asking if I still wanted to donate.

What the actual FUCK? Now I’ve got four different organizations involved in this chain of Clusterfuckery™ and apparently the vehicle is not going to be picked up.

Well yes, I do still want to donate the vehicle, but not to you!

What the hell is wrong with people? Do they not think that perhaps someone might have other things to do than exist to answer their phone calls?

I’ll find someone else, preferably someone that does not involve any of the last three organizations.

I mean, why is everything so damn complex?

Oh well, back to listening to the thunder and rain on the roof.

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Interesting. The rush for new iphones & watches doesn’t seem as fevered this year.

Something I watch after each Apple iPhone release is the backlog.

I had to wait for weeks when I wanted to get an iPhone 12. It was almost 2 months when I got my Apple 5s.

I had to wait for almost a month to get my Apple Watch Ultra. They just weren’t available. I got my ultra because I happened to duck into a store to look at their display model and found they had a few in stock. It wasn’t the band color I wanted, but I had the unit in hand and bought it knowing I had a collection of bands at home from previous Apple Watches.

This year, yes, there are shortages in some stores but nothing like in years past. It looks like I could head down to my local Apple Store, or my preferred Apple Store in Orange County & pick up a new watch and phone today if I was of a mind to.

We’re less than one full week out from the release date. In years past, no-one would have stock.

I see two possibilities. 1) Apple is better anticipating the demand, 2) Folks aren’t running out to drop a ton of money on the new products.

Perhaps it’s a combination of both.

I might replace my current Ultra, I’m thinking about it. My watch is 3 years old. My phone is 2 years old. Technically I could replace both without thinking too much about it. The watch battery is showing signs of age but it still gets me through a day and then some, more or less.

Apple Watch Ultra on Wrist Pocket My phone is showing signs of normal battery degradation but it’s not annoying me, generally speaking it does what I want it to do, with power lasting until bedtime.

In both instances, I’m intrigued by the new features but not enough to be drooling or demanding Apple take my money.

The trade in values do tend to make upgrading a tad more attractive. I wonder if other people are in the same boat?

Maybe people are starting to question the yearly rush to get the new “shiny”. Or maybe people are seeing that the products are kind of iterative and that waiting multiple years between upgrades gives them more value for their dollar.

I’m interested in the AirPods Pro 3. I’ve really enjoyed my version 2s and an update in that area would be welcome.

It’s just interesting to note that the rush doesn’t seem to be as intense as it’s been in the past.

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Well that’s a problem.

Lately on our morning walks I’ve been noticing a lot more trash.

This morning Jesse got to a chunk of pizza crust someone had most likely thrown from their car.

This terrifies me simply because there are those assholes in the world that would poison stuff like that just for kicks. They’re probably thinking of hurting wild animals but the reality is that it’s most likely innocent dogs and cats in the neighborhood.

Fortunately I was able to recognize what he had before he gulped it down. Once it’s down his throat there’s no getting it back. I told him to drop it but that was a lost cause. Once a street dog, always a street dog. It earned him a “Bad Dog” and just for kicks I dropped his leash and kept on walking. (We were in a safe place relatively close to home.) That really got his attention and he literally ran to me dragging the leash.

He sat in front of me looking very worried, then raised his paw. I was “Mad” so I ignored him, then he tried to jump up on me, I moved not letting him touch me. I started to walk again. He got in front of me and sat again looking up at me pitifully. He knew he’d done a bad thing.

I picked up the leash, and he walked right by my side the rest of the way home. We were nearing the 15 minute window when we got home (15 Minutes is about the maximum length a dog will worry about being scolded), so instead of taking him up the front steps and into the house, he went in the backyard via the gate in the fence.

When I got inside he was on the deck ears laid back and whining.

Point made… At the end of his “Timeout” I let him back in and he’s been very attentive since.

Hell, I can’t be mad at him for long. He gives me this face, and I melt.

Back to the original point, there’s now an old stereo receiver tossed on the embankment of the wash, Someone purposely left it there, it didn’t fall off a truck from someone moving. There are plastic and paper cups and other items at most of the road crossings along the wash. Things like broken lighters, vapes, empty cigarette packs, condoms, and even the occasional needle.

In the past during winter, we’ve had people leave trash, diapers, food wrappers, food boxes, empty beer cans, that kind of thing, but we’ve rarely had the quantity of trash I’m seeing now.

This is different. It’s purposely being left in areas that a car can park, empty their detritus and drive on. I don’t think it’s from visitors to town, nor do I think it’s trash blowing out of trash cans or trucks from the weekly trash pickup.

Something has changed. I wonder if it’s something in the makeup of the town itself. Even the walking path that’s maintained by volunteers is being trashed. Jesse insists on pooping there, but I’ve always cleaned up his mess, it’s becoming more of a problem now. There are a lot of people who don’t pick up after their dogs. That in turn makes him more likely to want to poop there.

You know it’s bad when one of the volunteers stops you on your walk just to say, “Thank You,” after seeing me fussing at Jesse not to poop on a bush or plant because it makes the cleanup so much harder. This person also thanked me for not letting Jesse kick dirt over the walking path and they’d seen me putting the rock boundary back as I walked the path.

These are all “normal” things from my perspective because I use the path and don’t assume anyone is going to clean up after me.

Even if Jesse & I are walking in the wilder areas I’ll clean up after him, and carry the poop back to the house. (Unless he’s done his thing off the various trails in the bushes.) I do this because there are people who run, walk, and ruck, through those areas. Avoiding deer and bear poop is hard enough without adding dog poop to the mix.

There’s more trash and debris around the buildings in town too. It’s like the people who’ve moved in over the years have reached a critical threshold where they’re just completely uncaring about it. They seem to assume “Someone else will take care of it”. The critical threshold is that there are more of those that don’t care if the town looks like a trash heap, than there are who’ll clean it up.

There are trash cans conveniently placed throughout town, and even secured bins along the walking trail. There are even free poo bag dispensers conveniently placed equidistant between the secured bins so cleaning up along the walking trail shouldn’t be that big an inconvenience.

The poo bag dispensers have saved me more than once with Jesse. I’ve got bags on the leash but there have been times when I’ve used the last bag and Mr. Sneaky decides to go one more time, than I have bags to clean up with.

It’s just that people don’t seem to care.

It makes me wonder if maybe I should sell before the town is so trashy people don’t want to live here.

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For the first time in a very long while…

I’m actively considering downgrading from an Apple update.

IOS 26 is pretty on my phone. It’s also pretty on my watch. But it’s very annoying.

Notifications half the time don’t show up on either my watch or my phone. Sometimes on one but not on the other, and sometimes on both. There’s no rhyme or reason to it.

I’ve checked and rechecked the settings and all the troubleshooting steps I can think of, and those suggested by Apple. Even turning off the “New” features doesn’t help.

How they could fuck up something that worked so well, is beyond me. I mean phone calls, and messages from known contacts not ringing? REALLY? That’s kind of basic stuff.

Thing is, it’s not any glaring “This is IT,” issue. It’s death by a thousand cuts. It’s little things.

For example, when starting a workout on my watch. In IOS18 I’d hit the action button on my ultra, that would take me to a list of workouts I’d done in the past. It was logically sorted by most frequent. I could tap the workout I was going to do and be off.

Now, hitting the action button takes me to the last workout I did. FULL SCREEN, No list, with a “Play” button.

If I want to select something else, I’ve got to roll the crown to see other selections.

They added an un-necessary complication to the process. The previous way was clean, direct, and simple.

It’s a minor thing, but it’s annoying. Then on the phone side you’ve got live activities which is fine and maybe even useful. But if you open the fitness app even after you’ve completed a workout and stopped it using the watch, there’s a screen showing the summary of that completed workout with a green check in the upper right hand corner.

Okay, but what I wanted out of the fitness app was something completely different, and now I’m forced to press the green checkmark to get to the underlying data screens in the fitness app.

Again another unnecessary step.

The whole of the OS is filled with extra, unnecessary steps that make working with my phone like answering 50 questions at a damn gas pump.

I just want gas! Take my money and turn on the fucking pump!

I’m not having a battery drain issue with my phone as so many others are, Because I’m not using it. Really, I’ve noticed I’m going to my computer for even the slightest bit of information.

Maybe this is just settling in stuff. Maybe I’ll get used to it. But I don’t need an interrogation from a device that is supposed to be my assistant, every time I interact with it.

Maybe this is just the age we live in.

Even researching the roll back process is annoying. I entered a search on how to roll back then found an article from Macobserver, fine. I tapped on the link, then Macobserver wanted age verification. WHAT? Then they wanted me to click on a check box the proved I was human. Then cloudflare pops up with a “Verifying” dialog and I still hadn’t gotten to the fucking article.

Why does everything have to be so complicated? I bailed on their page and made a different selection. Even then I was pounded with cookie notifications, an AI chat box to help answer my question, a Google login prompt, and some EU notification. ALL OF WHICH prevented me from reading a text article related to the question I asked. I couldn’t even see the title of the article to verify if it was what I actually wanted.

I bailed on that page, and went to the next listing in line. Finally! There was an article describing the process without all the bullshit!

Maybe I’m just cross.

Then again, maybe I’m just sick of bullshit at every turn of my existence.

It looks like downgrading from IOS 26, while possible, has a rather high risk of fucking up my phone, and data. I’ll have to reach a much higher level of annoyance before I undertake that project.

It’s got me thinking though.

I’m convinced that dumping the web hosting and this blog entirely, is in fact the right thing for me to do. It’s become such a headache I’m not interested anymore.

Between endless demands from the EU regulators to verify the owner and contact information on every single web domain, and them telling me that they’re implementing new rules to protect the delicate sensibilities of their members. I’m over it.

Gee Thanks Obama! You fucking moron! Turning over the domain registration to the EU was a fucking brilliant idea!

Well, the internet was a good idea, while it lasted…

I wonder if I can still get a print version of Encyclopedia Britannica? Why yes… it’s 2K on Amazon.