Just got … at 6.30 AM ! … an AI phone call claiming that “your business listing is in serious trouble, people will NOT be able to find you. please call back at nnnnnn to fix this. it will only take a minute. Please call back at nnnnnn, it will Read more…
Date line: 20 July 2024… (da-da-di-da… <teletype noises in the background>) Yesterday’s dramatic “failure” of the Internet was because of a faulty update. Not because of a terrorist attack, or because of a junior wanna-be hacker… but because of a “legitimate” update. The Super-Duper-Supreme irony here is that it was Read more…
Gosh. Just heard. A GLOBAL TECH OUTAGE grounded flights, impacted hostpitals and public transit systems. Worldwide. Due to a bad software update. Do I hate to say “I told you so?” Or I like to say “I told you so?” Either way… I TOLD YOU SO. (So there.) You’ll find Read more…
To start with I find (and always have) the idea of a remote for one’s car to be not only a silly concept for a very, very unsafe one. Means the car can be hacked, at least the door can be. Now with keyless ignition, it’s even worse. Break the 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…
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…
Sorry to say (or maybe not) but Microsoft and Apple (mostly Microsoft, of course) have between them ruined the computer industry and all its initial promise. They have turned it into something for profit, and profit only, while more and more blatantly screwing the consumer, whose ignorance in this matter Read more…
I won’t go into any long spiel this time. Let me just give you the short version, the simple analysis of why I say Bitlocker(1) is bad. If you lose the key, even you can not erase your own data. Oh sure… plenty of articles on the Internet about how Read more…
I’ll keep this short. “Important security updates” and all they can tell you is “something went wrong”? Are you kidding me? Ah, but! Here’s the good news: there’s really no chance of Microsoft ever inventing Artificial Intelligence, is there? Not when this is the best they can do! I’m a 45 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…
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…
When I was a kid (a century or so ago(1)), and there was a Good Program coming on TV (there actually were some, occasionally — just like now), I can remember my Mom and I in the kitchen, making a snack or washing dishes, and watching the clock get toward Read more…
I hear People come down on Google for keeping track of what one does, or for “listening” to everything one says while within ear-shot of a live microphone(1). Besides the fact that this is largely misleading propaganda probably put forward by Those Who Can’t Honestly Compete with Google (so they 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…
Among a great many other things, I work on computers for people. Something that has always bothered me is that the client has to give me his password(s) for the computer before I can work on it. That’s a security violation. The rule [not that we “do” rules, here, of Read more…
This one will be short(-ish). It’s just a thought that occurs to me every time I’m on a cell phone call and the call drops, or every time some one leaves me a voice message and it takes 3 days to show up on my phone, or a text message Read more…
Ok, I harp on this a lot. But that’s because I think it really, really matters. Here’s why. Those who craft stories that get labelled Science Fiction have an obligation to make sure the science is defensible. Otherwise, at best it’s science fantasy — which *is* another genre of story Read more…
This posting’s a little different. It’s a request, to any and all of you out there who might want to take on this project. An amazing project. Our world is pretty gummed up right now. At least it seems that way, yes? Lot’s of pain, lot’s of apparent injustice. Lot’s of Read more…
I just caught word of NASA’s new mission to the moon whose sole purpose is to scout for water. Excellent. However… the article I read (and I *hope* it’s the author, and not NASA making this statement) suggests that water is important as drinking water and as rocket fuel. Please… Read more…
I cringe every time I see an ad for “high-speed” this-or-that cabling, such as USB(1) cables. I cringe because undoubtedly many people now believe that “speed” has something to do with the cabling. Trust me: it’s a piece of wire with some plastic wrapped around it. Properly crafted(2)(3) it has Read more…