- Is Oprah Winfrey really going to run for president? Mrs lefty asked what her qualifications are - losing weight then gaining it?
- I said that's not fair: she recommends books for her drooling legions of fans to read.
- To be absolutely fair, Barack Obama was a little known senator and Donald Trump had no political experience at all, although some argue that his financial experience qualifies him.
VTech, the company that put out toys that collect data (spy) on children, was heavily punished for this, to the tune of $650,000. Yes, they're certainly hurting. They've definitely learned their lesson, yes sir. Oh, by the way, the fine went to the Federal Trade Commission, not the affected families.
VTech has agreed to strengthen security around these devices. Hopefully that trend will catch on. Better yet, stop collecting data they have no business collecting. Who do they think they are - the government?
- A t-shirt company has a new one that says "Little Monkey" on it. The picture of it featured two black children. Imagine their surprise when people got very upset about it.
- Who could have predicted this?
- This company's next t-shirt features a face with a huge nose, with the caption "We Own Everything". It will be modeled by Jewish children.
Recently, at an airport checkpoint, this multi-step drill bit was discovered in a passenger's luggage.
The bit was confiscated, as it could be used as a weapon.
You know, when the owner whipped out his drill on the plane, then started asking people where he could plug it in.
On the bright side, it wasn't a box cutter.
- a recent article on blogger safety made several recommendations, the first being not to overshare. This is a valuable tip and valid concern.
- I feel protected, as I have a rich inner life and make all this shit up anyway.
Wireless security has a long and checkered history. At first there was no security. Then WEP security, which is very close to no security. The current standard is WPA2, which takes a bit longer than five minutes to crack (like WEP). It is interesting to note that Verizon was still configuring their home wireless routers with WEP as of a few years ago.
The new standard being worked on is WPA3. It promises the sun, moon, and stars. Unknown to the leaders of the project, the participants are also putting together a pool, where the winner will guess the exact week it will be cracked.
- The NSA is experiencing poor morale. Perhaps they feel bad about what they're doing to people.
- Just kidding - it's attributed to low pay, reorganization and recent leaks.
- In other letter agency news, the FBI Director has once again called for encryption backdoors to be created in mobile devices so that authorities can exclusively use them to access data stored on citizens' devices.
- Make no mistake, the reach of these agencies goes far beyond their authorization. Once there's a potential for abuse, there will be abuse. They cannot and will not be constrained. Contact your representatives and let them know this does not fly. They, of course, will tell you it will 'keep us safe' and it's for the children.
Great New State Laws
A new year, a new set of stupid laws and reactions to them.
In Oregon, a new law allows residents to pump their own gas. Oregon and New Jersey were the only two states that prohibited self-pumping. Having (unfortunately) driven in New Jersey, I have to say it's nice to have someone pump your gas for you every now and then. The folks who operate the pumps are generally men with turbans, from my experience, nearest a bridge.
Oregonians immediately became horrified at this dangerous legislation. They took to social media to talk about the danger of self-pumping and how nobody should be allowed to do so, only "qualified" gas-pumping workers (is there a degree?).
It hurts like hell to be serious, but even this tiny new freedom has people up in arms. Small wonder they don't care and won't vote for liberty.
Not to be left behind, Washington enacted a tax on sugary drinks. Unlike Philadelphia, which couched the tax in terms of care for children, Washington went full Nanny State, trying to discourage consumers from drinking "unhealthy" beverages. This tax has already failed in Philly, as has the burdensome New Jersey tax on cigarettes. Even if you approve of Nanny State tactics, this proves they don't work. People were going to the suburbs to buy soda!
Philadelphia and New Jersey have a long, storied history of cultural and financial exchange. Quite a while back, Jersey's drinking age was eighteen, while Philly's was twenty one. So every enterprising young partying soul would cross a bridge into New Jersey to go clubbing.
Philadelphians also discovered that liquor was more heavily taxed and strangely regulated in their home city, so they also crossed the bridge to buy alcohol. New Jersey just happened to have several very large liquor stores right over the bridge. In addition to pricing, these stores offered selection, a quality that was missing in Pennsylvania, because one can only buy liquor in State Stores, run by the state and staffed by the state. Pennsylvania is one of about two states with this ridiculous monopoly. Many have complained, but the system will not allow any infringement, between the state and the union representing the employees. Plus you can't purchase liquor on Sunday, due to ancient and unconstitutional Blue Laws. You can get beer at distributors, but are limited (six pack?) at bars.
Somebody (the state of PA, with help from its Uncle Vito, who has a controlling interest in delivery of liquor to the east coast) took offense at New Jersey getting all that money for alcohol and managed to convince somebody else to station state troopers near the Jersey liquor stores, to hunt down and kill (I mean ticket) people crossing the bridge strictly to purchase alcohol. No, really. No one knows how they were going to determine this or how many were caught, but it probably had the effect of increasing revenue at the stores farther from the bridge.
Stick with me here.... Philly levied an absolutely ridiculous set of taxes on cigarettes, pushing the per-pack price to around ten dollars. Not to be outdone, New Jersey went even further, pushing their per-pack price to twenty five dollars, and their case price required proof of a second mortgage (I'm making these prices up). So New Jerseyans started crossing the bridge to buy cheaper ciggies. As if by magic, cigarette stores popped up almost at the foot of the bridge, some even selling raw tobacco for the do-it-yourself crowd.
So yeah, Nanny State and sin taxes are a miserable failure, driving money away from the area it's supposed to 'benefit'. Let me take just a short moment to reflect the spirit of the Founding Fathers: Nanny State laws are anti-freedom and morally wrong. In a free society, people are free to make their own decisions, even if they're bad ones. If Nanny Stating actually worked, those horrid warnings on cigarette packs would be effective. In the UK, the warnings are so dire and large, you can read them from across the room, long before you can tell what brand they are. WARNING: THIS SHIT WILL KILL YOU.
As for the transit between PA and NJ, New Jersey is getting angry about a perceived trade imbalance. Philly's unofficial response was, "Yo. Fuck you."
In part two of this seemingly endless screed, I'll make up a fake civil war between the states; describing what it will look like and what sorts of projectiles will be lobbed across the water.
- Now would be a good time to get out to your supermarket: mine is blowing out something I didn't know existed.. M&M Caramel. It's like a crunchy little Rolo. I've taken out most of a bag in a day. They're almost as good as Peanut Butter M&Ms. This is the kind of important information you get at ThermionicEmissions. Tell your friends. But not your diabetic friends.
Listen up, iPhone folks: since the 6s, there's a Health app. I don't know anything about it and hadn't heard about it til today. Police caught a rape/murder suspect and examined his phone. In addition to the GPS location, the Health app tracked him going upstairs and downstairs, which correlated to the location of the victim. So if I had the Health app, I'd disable it on an immediate basis. Uninstall if possible. I know you're not going to murder anybody (well, I hope not), but your location and movement information is yours alone.
- A breach allowed access to the personal information of 30,000 Florida Medicaid recipients. The information included ID number, birth date, diagnoses, and social security number. The breach was the result of a phishing expedition against employees. It was noted that the human factor is the weakest link in the security chain. Sad but true.
- Auto-tech firm Telenav announced on Thursday an “in-car advertising platform” for internet-connected cars. Yes, you will now receive ads on your dashboard. And because your car has sensors, the advertiser will know exactly where you are and will suggest something nearby. What? This isn't your idea of Driving Heaven? No problem - just pay extra to opt out. Toyota, Lexus, Ford, and GM already use the company's connected car products. Doesn't this give you a warm feeling? Like you just peed in your pants...
No matter your mood, the sight of a vigorous tail-wagging will make you smile. Try it.
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