English Cockers Watch BBC News

There is a linux command called fallocate. I don't use it, because it sounds too dirty.

The FBI asked Google for help. No, really. They subpoenaed Google for location information of phones in a bank robbery.  This practice is getting worse. Turn off location. Anybody who watches Law and Order or other police shows, is being prepped for this going wide.

Government also asked Google for information on 10,000 people who downloaded a rifle site app. This was leaked. This is getting out of hand.... contact your reps - I am.



Ever watch those police/EMS/hospital shows and observe the tests they give people?

Police: stand with one foot in front of the other, then hold up one leg and dance on the other, while singing Dixie. Hop into the air, using one leg only. Spin 10 times and don't fall down. Now that you're bruised and battered, how many things did I ask you to do?  C'mon - I can't do that sober.

EMS/hospital/mental hospital: What day is it? What year is it? What is your Social Security number backwards? What was the name of your kindergarten crossing guard? Looks like we'll be keeping you a while....

• There is a viral video of a Whataburger back room, where a rat dives into the deep fryer.  Maybe he's been reading Political FB too.

As mentioned, an Australian university is lowering the bar for female admittance to university, to get more women into Tech.

I seem to remember trying this many years ago. It didn't work out well, created resentment, and offended the people it was intended to help because it assumed they weren't talented enough to get the job on their own.

I know someone who wasn't hired because, although her test score was higher, she was a caucasian. The bar was also lowered for Philadelphia Police. Sorry, kids, but I want the best and brightest doing that job - just like designing bridges.

Friends, it's entirely possible Women in Tech is a created emergency, based upon nothing but wishes of SJWs. Women are every bit as smart as men, sometimes smarter. If they want tech jobs, all they have to do is learn and apply - there is no preference in hiring. Maybe there's just a shortage of women interested in tech. There are certainly a lot of women already in tech, advocating for more women in tech.

Women playing guitar have not had similar fits about Women With Guitars. Guitar playing is entirely opt-in. There is no bar to entry, even if you're incompetent. As a matter of fact, you're more likely to garner attention if you're female and memorable for any one trait - not necessarily your playing.  Maybe there's a shortage of women interested in playing the guitar.  Just like jobs, I want to see people who are really good at it - not preferentially-chosen for internal plumbing practitioners.



Dear lefty

• Why are you mad at me?
• Because your wife gave me herpes.

Two US military experts have proposed giving artificial intelligence control over the nuclear launch button.  What could possibly go wrong?

• Best line: These are monster worm casts, created by monster worms.

Tulsi Gabbard (D-Wherever) is effectively out of the running for Democratic nomination for president.  It's safe to say this is why:

Presidents of both parties have wasted trillions of tax dollars on regime change wars and new cold war. This must end. I’ve seen the cost of war first-hand, and as your commander in chief, I’ll stand up against the warmongering foreign policy establishment clamoring for more war.

• Coming soon: Andrew Dice Clay and Roseanne Barr - Mr. & Mrs. America (I didn't make this up)

All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.  - Blaise Pascal

• If you say, "OMG" in real life, please don't stand near me.

We continue to visit my dad in the hospital, after his multi-pack of strokes. Fortunately he improves visibly every day. It's rough, taking my mother to and from every day, but we do what we have to.  I almost lost it the other day... I was in the cafeteria and the ice cream machine broke. Can you imagine?  A very nice employee told me that opening and closing the service door would fix the machine. That was so intuitive, I should have known it already.

After that near-death struggle with the ice cream machine, I showed up in the morning. The ice cream machine was working (breakfast of champions) but we need to pull Dad out of that place... there is only Wawa coffee. For those of you not from the hood, Wawa is a convenience store, like 7-11 or Circle K. It's a great place, except for the alleged coffee. It's largely water, with some brown coloring, and was originally sat next to a can of instant coffee. Dad says the place is great, but he's never tried the coffee.



No thanks, I'd rather be a troubled boy scout with daddy issues



Hong Kong protesters are grabbing tear gas grenades, lobbed at them by the State, and putting them in liquid nitrogen canisters, deactivating them.  Insert stereotypical Asian reference.




Heroes of the Stupid

A teen girl was ruled guilty of child porn for texting an explicit video of herself.
No.




SJW Shenanigans

A British actress is very upset because people are body-shaming her.
They are mocking her knockers.
Yes, she's being shamed for having large mamallian protuberances.
Boobie-ism at its worst.
Did you ever, in your wildest dreams, see this coming?

I'm going out on a limb and guessing the boob-shamers are women. Why? When was the last time a man said, "No - those breasts are too big for me"? 

Iqbal Goes to the Circus

Enriched uranium and neptunium 237 were detected at an Ohio middle school, which will be closed for a year.

The child made a nuclear reactor. If you don't want the kids doing great work, don't encourage them.

• A diabetes drug may cause an infection that destroys the genitals.
• "I'd give my penis for well-regulated sugar."

In Florida, they're seeing 88 degrees today. Here it's cold and rainy.
Yesterday it was 94 in Miami. Here it was cold and rainy.
Why the unrelenting gloom and rain on the east coast?




Dear lefty:

• If you hate the weather so much, why don't you move?
• Because Arizona pays me to stay away so their climate doesn't go to hell.

A Texas man blames the West Nile Virus for infecting him, causing him to distribute child porn.

Next up: the West Nile Virus assassinates a public figure and raises taxes.

• Keep an eye on the 'Iran Crisis'. Trump has already suggested a huge armed force to deal with it. The warmongers are winning. 

The US Navy warned that 5g phone service is likely to interfere with weather forecasts. The FCC did the only thing it could do: started auctioning off the 5g frequency spectrum.

UK Snowflakes

England's Jerry Springer, Jeremy Kyle, just had his show shut down. Why? A week after taping, a guest killed himself. The episode was not aired.  It featured a man accused of cheating on his fiance, who took a lie detector test and failed. She left him, he killed himself.

While we here at ThermionicEmissions are sad for this fellow and family, we can't understand why the show needed to be canceled.  Granted, 'free speech' cannot be applied equally to the US and UK, but this is a matter of personal responsibility. Personal responsibility has gone out the window in general, but in the UK, they're more worried about offending someone and 'protecting' people from bad words and antisocial behavior.

We have Jerry Springer. 

I hate Jerry Springer and all the show stands for, but would never insist it be forcibly removed. If he wanted a permanent vacation, though, I'd gladly support him.

Kyle will 'work on other projects' with the network (ITV).

I suggest thinking hard about this to figure out where you fall.

Don't take my word for it.... I'm the guy who would love a tv show featuring people tazing Judge Judy.

• While we're on England, it's illegal to sell certain kitchen knives to people under 18, as well as illegal to carry them. I just saw this on the news.

Hate

Online social sites are under fire for 'hate speech'.

What is hate speech? In the US, there is no hate speech - it's all speech.

Certain snowflaky elements define it as people saying bad things about other people, from anti-LGBTQ to neo nazis. I don't agree with any of these groups (including the snowflakes) but, as an American, I support their right to say it. The precious snowflakes want to limit speech, even in the US. These are the dangerous people.

As a libertarian and American, I know the government cannot make laws moderating speech of private entities: they don't belong there. 

There is a meeting coming up of social media companies in France, asking what can be done about 'hate speech'. It's not their job, but they either want to appear they're doing something, or actually do something. The only problem here is that it's already being applied in a one-sided manner, generally banning the right side, less so the left side. There are constant accusations on both sides. 

Howard Stern had the KKK Guy on his show, as a recurring caller. People were horrified. I think Howard did a great thing, allowing his listeners to hear what this person said and that the KKK is still alive. Plus they got to hear a completely stereotypical southern idiot racist. Keep your enemies in the light, where they can be easily monitored.

Remember: if you silence one group, you are giving approval to silence any group - including yours eventually. You also wind up with a very one-sided echo chamber. Already Faceyspaces, Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram have joined with payment processors like Paypal, in de-platforming right-leaning people and organizations. Of course they have that right, being private entities, but one can't help but notice this is all swinging one way. Eventually the remaining side will start to eat itself, having dug its own grave.

Just because someone says something doesn't mean you have to like it or listen to it.

Dear Mother Nature...

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Pneumonia, Parkinsons, Pexhaustion, Pwatever

Friends: thanks for reading. Although this blog is the 'best kept secret' on Google, I appreciate you loyal folks.



ING's data center in Bucharest, Romania, was knocked offline over the weekend during a fire extinguising test. Are you ready for this? It was caused by inert gas. No so much the gas itself, but the noise of the escaping gas. It got to the heads on the hard drives, ruining them. The site went offline and the company relied on its backup data center, seriously inconveniencing its customers. Good to know: noise will not affect solid state drives. So don't fart too loudly in front of your computer.

Can you believe I get paid for this shit?
Just kidding.

• Apparently the version of android tracks you even if you uninstall Google Maps. Lovely. The only way to avoid this is to disable GPS and only activate it if/when you need it. I saved myself by disabling GPS when I got the phone. You might also want to do this.

Seagate, the hard drive manufacturer, is in trouble. Their H/R department fell for a phishing scam, released all sorts of W-2 data, and now the employees are suing.  Does phishing rhyme with fishing?

• If Hillary Clinton had a heart attack outside her ambluance and fell on the ground, her supporters would say "she just needed a nap - why are you picking on her?"
• Speaking of Hillary supporters, they're lining up to meet her and catch her pneumonia as a remembrance.

BREAKING: three people killed, tripping over adapters needed to use headphones with new iPhones. See Airpod samples.

• Elon Musk says pending Tesla updates could have prevented fatal crash. Oopsie.

A woman is suing the manufacturer of her (phone-connected) dildo because it knows too much about her. Folks, if you buy a FitBit, a VagBit or anything else phone-connected, the data will flow upstream from your phone. Rest assured it will be used for marketing, at very least. If you can deny internet permission for the app, do so. Otherwise, firewall it or just Don't Use It.

Again, I use No Root Firewall on my phone. As the title indicates, you don't need to root your (android) phone to use it. The moment I installed it, I saw a frightening amount of data leaving my phone. Why do my file manager, internet radio and others so desperately want to contact Faceyspaces? Why do apps need to go to the internet when I'm not using them (or at all). No Root Firewall is not for everybody - you have to have a real interest in privacy and a few moments here and there to decide what YOU want to let contact some address outside of your phone. Allowing one app might allow all sorts of addresses you don't need to contact, so you have to go with granular permissions (yes, it may contact the addresses it needs to do its job but not Faceyspaces or ad networks).

• Today is International Chocolate Day. What 'they' are not telling you is that EVERY DAY is International Chocolate Day. Don't be fooled.

A man using stolen wifi from a neighbor's unlocked system downloaded and distributed child porn. Whose house do you think the authorities raided? That's right.  Secure your wireless.

• As we know, I'm no Trumpian, but I find the charges of racism to be manufactured. If he said to deport illegal aliens, that's not racism- it's the law.
• Come on with the Hillary Health Hoo-Ha. The woman is sick; all that remains is a correct diagnosis. First it was dehydration, then is was pneumonia, per her own campaign. Then the press that she owns said she tripped. Lie upon lie, although her supporters say this is all Trumped up. The Kool Aid is unbelievable.
• Meanwhile the Great Unwashed are most concerned with Various Activities performed by millionaire football players during the national anthem. Can you say diversion?

Happy 70th to Freddie Mercury. Rock on.

• Got a Samsung 7? I'd do something with it before it does something to you. They're catching fire and exploding. Using one is now discouraged on airplanes. Discouraged? Ban the damn things. Those hoverboard things were banned... do you want one of these on a plane? Btw, this is not the only phone with this problem.

inSecurity News for the Week

When the US Army found it difficult to locate IT people with the correct certifications, it did the only logical thing it could: lowered the requirements.

Hey, remember the break-in to the Utah Department of Health's Medicaid server?  It turns out the damage is just a teeny bit worse than suspected, to the tune of ten percent (280,000 Social Security numbers).  Ah, what's a decimal place or two?

The Department of Justice just seized more than $896,000 and seven domain names for selling counterfeit sports apparel.  Isn't it great to see your tax dollars hard at work (supporting large manufacturers)?

Just in case you thought the TSA could manage to stay out of the news for a day, another TSA worker has been charged with child porn.

Perhaps next time you buy a cell phone it will come with the new Broadcom chip that can help locate you to within centimeters! Won't it be nice to know that Faceyspaces can locate and market to you while you're in the mall or an underground parking facility?  Or worse?

Just in case you wondered why unmanned drones are being used by local police, check out this guy, who got arrested and will be suing.  No good will come of drones.


Dear Readers: please keep your systems patched, antivirused, and up to date.  Windows is releasing a boatload of fixes to their buggy operating system.  Java and Flash will now auto-update if you allow them to.  Regardless of whether you use linux or one of the inferior operating systems, you need to keep everything current.  This includes you 600,000 infected Macs.

Remember - the majority of hacks are caused by not patching.