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- July 31, 2018
- I Routinely Firewall Data Centers
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My world grows smaller ...
I routinely firewall data centers. Why? Because too many of their customers are scumbags.
The bots. The scrapers. The exploits. The spammers. The inappropriate links. The data centers which harbor all the riff raff of the web. Get lost.
In an earlier time when I was naive they got by. Then one fateful day I saw my content published on somebody else's site and it was on.
Luckily my content has been published on my site long before it ended up on some illiterate no talent dirt bag's site later ...
So I switched to Apache and started installing and getting up close and personal with all manner of modules and associated scripting designed to control access and voila — I started excluding those problems which pervade the internet thinking they own me. AS IF ...
Should you suddenly encounter a 403 (forbidden error) when you cross my patio it's due to your (or your host network's) reputation preceding you, your user agent, your web site, your previous commentary, your query string, and/or any number of other kinds of disqualifying access which may have gone down in the past. To my dismay I've amassed quite the detailed catalog of methods, agents, and networks over the years. It speaks poorly of some of our fellow denizens of the internet.
Only now I'm much less likely to drop my shields as I have been in the past. The resilient young become the wise old. I'm not your commodity. I'm not your bitch.
I don't like exclusionary practices. There just came a time when I had enough of rogue networks supporting a deviant user base with too many exploits, bots, scrapers, spammers and the rest of the vermin infesting the internet.
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- July 29, 2018
- Texting has become the BANE of my existence
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Texting. One of those SMS modalities which so many love and I despise.
It has reached the point that some in my midst want to conduct business over text messaging and there's where I drew the line in the sand.
If I have to try and communicate with you via a tiny touch screen with even smaller keys then just go away and leave me alone.
Texting is for people who don't want to call. If you don't want to call I don't want to communicate with you.
I don't REALLY want to talk either but I'll do it long before I'll have some protracted text messaging conversation I find tedious, time consuming, and less in the way of taking care of business than picking up the phone and speaking your way through it's conclusion like an adult.
Go text chat with one of the small fingered simpletons in your life.
I have things to do and they don't include texting on some cell phone.
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- July 28, 2018
- Execution of the Mentally Ill Revisited
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Over the years I have pondered capital punishment. While decidedly "pro" in this regard, there have been instances where I have personally felt it was neither judicially applied nor particularly just punishment in the context of the perp viz a viz the crime. The conflicting attitudes regarding my wish for justice for the victim and some modicum of compassion for the criminal leaves me vexed with each successive execution which I mark as societally just until that time it is outlawed which likely will be never.
The deathwish of a mentally ill convict was granted at Holman Prison in Atmore Alabama one Thursday in 2013. Convicted murder, Andrew Reid Lackey who was 29 years of age was executed by lethal injection after many communications requesting execution -- including one to the Alabama Supreme Court in 2012.
While the decision regarding execution of the mentally ill condemned remains the purview of individual state jurisdictions, the US Supreme Court has prohibited execution of mentally ill inmates.
Known as the "Halloween Killer", Mr Lackey was convicted of killing Charlie Newman, an 80-year-old World War Two veteran by stabbing him 70 times in 2005. He was an acquaintance of the man's grandson.
Again, while I am decidedly "pro death penalty" the thought of executing a person possessing faculties which may be "outside of reality" definitely gives me pause. It is a difficult matter to weigh these decisions, particularly in cases of "volunteer" status -- and there are many on death row who "volunteer" for execution rather than spend years on death row ... whereas some opt for life in any circumstance.
The considerations encompass the resources required for incarceration, justice, the reality of guilt, the evolution of despair as an agent of intolerance of being locked up on death row, and the victims and the families. Although I cannot speak to the propriety of it all, but I am decidedly conflicted with the notion of executing the mentally ill. However, given the propensity for a number of inmates to volunteer for execution rather than endure prolonged incarceration ...
Could there be fates worse than as humane a death as criminal justice systems may provide?
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- July 27, 2018
- The Fallacy of "Highly Recommended" Web Ads ...
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All over the web page retail ADverse I'm seeing labels touting that some product is "highly recommended" in some ploy to gain your confidence and utilize it however their proffer may profit the ad originator.
Do you actually think that the search engines care how much bull is tossed your way in the course of advertising?
Now, if you're like me and have a deep seeded inquisitve nature about you the question arises:
• "Highly recommended by whom?" • "What are their credentials in the matter?" • "Do they have domain expertise regarding said product?"
So I hit the source code of several of these ads and did some back tracking only to find that the "high recommendation" is essentially the smoke blown by some lamer marketing anus in an effort to relieve me of my hard earned money and the ENTIRE product being advertised is a piece of fecal matter suitable only for flushing down the toilet with the rest of the crap. Caveat Emptor: let the buyer beware ! What's the catch? YOU.
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- July 26, 2018
- We're Still Killing the Bees
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It seems that the apparent cause for the honeybee holocaust is man made and takes the form of fungicides and pesticides which result in pollen containing residues of spray treatments.
Testing was done where healthy bees were fed pollen which was contaminated with these chemical residues and their health diminished — the hallmark of this so-called "colony collapse disorder" being a susceptibility infection by a fungal parasite called Nosema ceranae.
These revelations, though edifying ... are not the whole story.
It seems that the plants from which bees consume nourishment consist of local flowers, weeds, and such which are not the crops receiving the fungicide and insecticide treatments; but those plants likewise are contaminated.
We require the bees for effective pollination of vegetables and fruits. Manual pollination is a tedious and daunting task when applied to commercial operations.
We presently require more than half of the entire bee population in the country just to pollinate some food crops we already have.
This is a critical problem caused by the indiscriminate use of insecticide and fungicide spraying operations.
Organic gardening is looking better and better at so many levels.
I just hope it's not too late.
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- July 25, 2018
- New Mail Server Platform
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I'm loosing my present mail server package for a groupware version. It has much more in the way of functionality and more intuitive configuration.
Actually, the issues I have surround the new TLS version in place and that ridiculous reconfig I'm requiring entirely too often.
I decided to let the last TLS update go on the present config and here I head into new territory yet again !
Oh well ... never let it be said that I am opposed to the implementation of anything new on my network.
Network. It used to be "node". Now it's a "5 node network". Nothing new but a lot more in the way of connectivity from the crib !
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- July 24, 2018
- The Retrospect of Saving Private Ryan
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I've never really been a war movie buff.
Suffice it to say that I should have been a better enlisted man during my hitch in the Navy.
When you're "in the moment" it's a difficult matter to extrapolate how those evolving attitudes and feelings which arise with age will end up making you feel.
It stems from a time in my childhood when "Combat" the television series appeared in my life too much and sent me in to this apocalyptic bent whereby I became afraid that the world was going to end in some great world war or something.
It wasn't until the Aliens franchise that I really warmed up to the notion of soldiers and military film noir but that allure was in reality something else altogether ...
On this day in 1998 Saving Private Ryan, the epic WW2 Spielberg flick was released to theaters.
It gave me my first realistic notion of what that conflict entailed and though the innumerable tragedies and sometimes infuriating plot elements would stick with me over the years ...
I was glad to have sat through what was really not my cup of tea as it were.
A work of fiction, based on historical elements I was touched by the entirety of this combat opus and the sacrifice of our military as portrayed so movingly by the cast.
The chain of command was never so inspiring in my lifetime.
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- July 23, 2018
- Die McDonald's Die
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So the threads are speaking of the salads at McDonalds making the masses ill.
I haven't had a positive experience there since the 1970s.
Lower than expected profits are the last thing this major contributor to the fat asses of America's children should be worried about.
I revisited this greasy spoon most recently at the 2425 Sunset Blvd, West Columbia, SC 29169-4762 (803) 796-2005 location.
And (as I suspected) got the same substandard fare, piss poor service, and moronic experience with the staff I've come to expect of a place that does nothing but market that which it can't produce, be it food or environment.
The little girl who took my order was the dullest human being I ever encountered and was totally without manners.
The order was a travesty with hamburgers being taken from a plastic drawer instead of "fresh made and cooked" like their advertising claims.
There was no attempt to get any aspect of it correct and I suppose that's how they make the only profits they get.
Sell you more than you actually get.
It's the attitude that minimum wage earners can toss your food around, drop it on the floor, from her five inch fingernails and then give it to you without anything you requested when you dropped your hard earned cash in their coffers that they should be worried about.
When you employ the lowest common denominator like the fat young Paris who was or probably still is a manager at the 434 Gervais Street Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 376-8898 location — who will toss your food on the floor you deserve the fiscal rewards of dullard provided service and inferior grease laden fast food products.
I'm sorry I ever thought that maybe they could rise to the occasion of a "second chance" after so much time has passed. Well, nothing has changed at all.
If ever there were a case for eliminating jobs with robotics this joint is one of those textbook examples of both feasibility and propriety.
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- July 21, 2018
- The DNS She Propagates
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Much of the upgrade is finished.
The remainder will be handled as required ...
I can think of the database manager and a few ftp tweaks as part of that little which remains.
The entirety of the process went like clockwork and my only troubleshooting issue was pretty sophomoric in the form of a slow switch squelching my bandwith.
I removed said switch and ka-boom ... 330 MB down and 25 MB up. Yowser !
Anyway I'll be done in due time and it's time to slow down and allow the DNS servers to pass around the new network information beyond the many I see already have it in logs.
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- July 19, 2018
- Network Upgrades
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I'm upgrading my network and bandwidth today.
This will entail configuration after the fact and I'll be down and out for a while tweaking away the issues one by one.
However, all of this will make me happier with the technology at hand and I am enthused to begin the process.
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- July 18, 2018
- National Caviar Day 2018
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So whereas that stuff I consumed with great gusto so long ago was the real thing — nowadays the word caviar is extended to any fish or shellfish roe derived by any processing which may transpire.
Suffice it to say, the expense of caviar is not something I justify in my life anymore.
The little implements, wedges of lemon, and those crackers aren't part and parcel to that off time ... which now doesn't include reclamation of my soul from the clutches of purest evil.
So now I enjoy it when I encounter it; but no longer actively pursue it.
www.nationalcaviarday.com
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- July 17, 2018
- World Emoji Day 2018
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Today is World Emoji Day — an unofficial holiday celebrated on July 17. Said to be a "global celebration of emoji" it is marked with various events and products released for the occasion.
The word Emoji means picture letter and is a a small digital image or icon by which an idea or emotion may be expressed in electronic communication.
Emoticons are pictoral representations of facial expressions usually formed by keystroke combinations like ;-) for the purpose of conveying feelings or tone.
The world in all it's facebook, twitter, and social media glory has embraced these in electronic communication for whatever value they may personally glean from their use.
The cutesy cutesy of it all having been lost on me back in the 80s, what was once a fad is now quite the mainstream social media lemming bulwark and there is even a study of emoji use by persons in states ranked by popularity.
Okay, maybe I am a word purist and maybe I could at least try to be a little more fun and YES, I have used both the emoticon and the emoji in various past lives ... but really and truly my cutesy phase ended some forty years ago and though I personally now fail to see the allure — by all means the rest of you go for it.
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- July 15, 2018
- Home on the Meth Lab
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The news threads are reporting a resurgence in the manufacture, sale, and use of Methamphetamine. I personally feel that there has been no resurgence — with the frequency pretty much remaining fairly high across recent history.
Methamphetamine has been rampant in my home county for years now. There are stupendous spreads of rows and columns of mug shots featured in the local newspaper ... mentioning the busts of meth kitchens, 60 arrests, and a veritable plethora of fugly individuals who should take a look in the mirror and understand what meth is doing to them.
It's not bad enough that cooking methamphetamine presents hazards in the form of toxic pollution requiring industrial cleanup methods coupled with the real and present danger of the effects of repeated volatile inhalants plus the possibility for violent explosion ... there are also those effects the drug imparts to the user before, during, and after exposure.
Mug shots in particular are typically dramatic in that you could tell those individuals with more lengthy histories of drug use compared to others who were 'newbies' in the drug culture.
The addictive nature of the drug is why the manufacture operations are so prevalent ... and obviously the craving for the drug tends to make an addict oblivious to the obvious detrimental effects it has upon them. It appears to leech from their pores and addict complexions are the most striking hit of meth use. Then there is a general disheveled appearance with diminished hygienic maintenance and the dull blank stare many display as well. Others look intensely angry in their throes of withdrawal — for one thing incarceration does for them is keep them away from the drug.
Personally, I don't think you can really call it a "drug" either. This is a toxic chemical admixture created by amateurs for morons such as themselves. It would never be for me and I am sorry for all of them. Based on physical appearances in the aforementioned mug shots draped across the front page of the local newspaper, jail has been the best thing to happen to a number of them for a long time.
Seems that the dreaded 'downward spiral' takes many forms these days ... I'm having problems coming to terms with all the things which presently pass for recreational drugs. Bath salts or methamphetamine cooked up by some unscientific goon in a kitchen or living room somewhere with questionable equipment and methods -- and all kinds of dirt, adulterants, insects and vermin -- simply doesn't conjure up such visions in my little brain of an ex-head long ago ... and the people continue to ingest these substances regardless of what it does to them as a result.
Having given up all recreational drugs some thirty years back I consider myself fortunate to have missed the entirety of the meth epidemic for it is truly a horrific site to behold from the standpoint of those users caught and made to answer to the law.
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- July 14, 2018
- Pseudointellectual Dumbosis
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There is a phenomenon in education whereby idiots are awarded "doctorates in education" then given leadership roles in the failed education system of the United States.
This situation affects the entirety of the educational quagmire into which we thrust trusting children whereby a small fraction thrive while the rest languish in that democrat so-called "progressive" leftist indoctrination nothingness which is the result of a public education. The evidence is a Republic layed waste by a political ilk rejected by the last election.
This predicament crosses gender boundaries with males and females in the education system being equally affected and it is becoming quite evident that some presenter of information in a book is far less effective than a true domain expert in a field when it comes to instruction of any type.
How can you tell a feeble higher educational institution? They advertise to weenies watching late night television in their mom's basement.
What is the remedy for higher educational standards in the United States of America? Stop allowing the unions to force school districts to retain incompetent, malevolent individuals and pay them to play cards and read magazines in a guarded break room. Stop letting squeaky little stupid dizzy limp brained Ed D's become public school district superintendents, do nothing significant or worthwhile over the expanse of an entire career, then collect a fat pension at the expense of the tax payers just because those populating the school board are either equally stupid or chummy, or otherwise in cahoots. The public served by the public education system is equally part of the incompetence problem.
The educational system in the United States was broken by educators. Dumb ass teachers and dumber ass administrators which formed part and parcel of "no child left behind," the passing of students despite failed coursework, "common core," and other travesties of policy and the associated didactic failures which make FAR too many of our advanced degree holders just another moron in the mix.
How many times do I have to encounter yet another incompetent doctorate or masters degree holder in my lifetime? I've already asked to pay less taxes in my attempt to stop support of this failed system ...
Whereas advanced educational credentials formerly implied advanced intellectual capabilities this simply is no longer the case in ENTIRELY too many instances. Can I at least get a DUH ? Boo!
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