I’m one of those wierd-os who wants to know the actual meaning of words. Black Friday is a very strange phrase we batter around in America, generally to mean the Biggest Shopping Day of the year, and as the kick-off of the Christmas spending season. So where does the term Read more…
I am fed up with websites, especially the larger sites, who insist that I disable my ad blocker, even if they offer an option to continue without doing so. Don’t you get what an ad blocker is? It means: I’m never going to click on an ad on your site! Read more…
Ouch. New York Times suing Microsoft and OpenAI for copyright infringement. This is a no-win scenario. Whatever happens it’s bad. I am not a fan of AI as it currently is engineered. Too many unknowns, too much brute force and too much training from the social and psychological sewer known Read more…
I have had it with Microsoft. Allow me to explain… (he said, with a theatrical flourish). If you read these post (rants) you know already that Micrisoft isn’t exactly at the top of my Ethical Companies list. Not since Mr Gates retired from control of the thing. Without his vision Read more…
There’s a funny little symbol used on some checkout pages on the Internet. (Not showing it here, but you’ve seen it, though maybe you didn’t notice it.) It’s a Norton (“Norton Secured”) thing and it’s supposed to mean that the site is secure and safe for giving your purchase info Read more…
What is it with you people and your d**n robocalls? Do you really believe anyone who picks up the phone and hears “please do not hang up…” is going to do anything but hang up right at that very moment? It’s a serious clue, that rude and stupid opening line. *Maybe* Read more…
The holding company mistakenly taken for a technology company known as Microsoft now wants to buy Activision / Blizzard, for the staggering sum of $68B. Besides telling me that have way too much money and way too little imagination on what to do with it, here’s what bothers me about Read more…
Back in 1965 first class postage was $0.03 (3 cents!) for one ounce. We also had two deliveries — to the house or business — each week day, plus one on Saturday. You could send a letter in the morning and get an answer back by the afternoon post. So, Read more…
I keep getting these emails lately … newest fad in BS / leveraging-your-ignorance, steal-your-money advertising: “the nn warning signs of dementia — number nn is really scary.” Besides being a totally Evil way of marketing — leveraging your fear is just plain Evil, no other word for it — this Read more…
So I’m looking at medium business printers (aka, enterprise equipment) for some nefarious purpose of my own, and a friend of mine starts getting ads on her laptop for … guess what? … medium business printers. Just to be clear, she was never looking at those. We do have some Read more…
I must be a little slow… It just dawned on me that Elon Musk’s objection and attempt to back out of buying Twitter (which he has just rescinded of, by the way) was not because Twitter maintains Fake Accounts, but because they under counted the number of Fake Accounts. That Read more…
I use an adblocker… ever since I found out that they actually work. (Imagine my surprise! — But what a Major Joy!!) Some times, though, I go to certain websites and they say “please turn off your ad blocker — this is how we make money.” I leave the site Read more…
I see (today) where Elon Musk has filed with the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) to terminate the deal for his take over of Twitter, on the basis that Twitter lied. Well… they’re a corporation, of course they lied. But in fairness (sort of) it’s possible they (i.e., Twitter) didn’t see it Read more…
Telemarketers have become a fungus on the planet, a disease with no cure. A Toxin in the culture of every nation, not just America the Incredibly Gullible. Ok, that’s harsh, maybe [and maybe not], but let me explain. Everyone of you who calls someone uninvited (there’s the key word) can Read more…
So there I am, working on a computer, and I’m in the updates (the never-ending, interminable updates) and up pops this “ad” (update now or else, sort of thing) saying I can now take this computer to Windows 11. Ok. Groovy, even. (As they used to say.) EXCEPT, the way Read more…
Every time I pick up a Mr Coffee coffee pot and it dribbles all over the table, or every time I go to put a special sheet of paper in the printer to find the paper already in there is no longer properly in place and has to be adjusted before Read more…
If it’s not good for at least 100 years, why did you design it, build it, sell it or buy it? Why? Imagine how much bounty the Human Race (and the God-Zillions of other critters we share this planet with) could have if every thing we made or did was Read more…
Recently I had opportunity (and reason) to watch 3 different versions of the same movie: Ten Little Indians(1), based on Agatha Christie’s play and book of the same name. 1965 with Wilfrid Hyde Wight, Fabian, Hugh O’Brien, and others. 1974 with Oliver Reed and Richard Attenborough. Badly directed. 1989 with Read more…
I’ve been a programmer for a very, very long time. (Yes, before sand was invented, even. 🙂 OK, not quite that long.) I have been watching the standards for software design, implementation, release and after-market support spiral down the rabbit hole for the last 28 years, more or less. (That’s Read more…
I just received another “update” from the Powers That Be in my county [“county” not “country”], update on CoVid. As with the previous posting inspired by a previous such report, I don’t see that these “daily briefings” can possibly do anything except inflame the population over an issue they understand Read more…