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- June 4, 2017
- Case Mods ... art is long life is short
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Oh yeah. I always wanted a computer in a case that looks like a cyborg torso or a sylized eagle.
Or better yet ... some morphed space scene melded into a transparent sided fanboy looking like a scifi movie backdrop.
Seems that Computex 2017 is accommodating all of the kiddies and art nouveau types with the modified case collection from hell. I took them all in from the plain aircraft carriers to the Shield Helicarrier (of all things) and I am left wondering just what all the big whup is all about.
Some of the fantastic liquid cooling features look like ground effects on some low rider barreling down the street or worse, some pinball machine in full motion during those uses the machines contained therein must not mind.
Me ... I'm more of a "case purist" as it were and I haven't so much been a fan of liquid cooled processors since that day the pharmacist squirted his all over my 32 processors in a custom Chenbro case and burned the whole thing up posthaste. I spent over 200 clock hours on that waste of time and money.
So, never let it be said that art and geeks cannot coexist for these things not only house some bad ass machines but they are works of art in and of themselves !
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- June 3, 2017
- Gambling is a Superstitious Thing
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Today I went to my local convenience store and plopped down a 20 dollar bill for 10 powerball plays. Most of them were quick picks ... but a few I have been playing (more or less) since 2002. I was struck with my degree of underlying ritualism associated with the act. For example, I "had" to have the 5 quick picks first so they wouldn't be "influenced" by my set of regularly played 3 numbers and 2 more quickpicks.
Having brought this irrational subconscious belief up with the owner we both had a brief banter about that superstitious nature of lottery picks and she related another customer's even worse predilection for such superstition
similar to that which I imparted to the transaction today. We both had a good laugh about it and I went on my way, ten numbers in hand ... three of which I've been playing a long time now (to no avail).
So it would seem that my behavior would indicate an ignorance of the laws of probability (though I'm quite well versed on the odds) and today's rite was a trivial pursuit of some faith in magic or chance — which though underlying is really not a contender in the reality of playing the game.
So much for my abject state of mind as it continues to immerse itself in my snowball's chance in hell of winning the powerball jackpot this evening !
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- June 2, 2017
- Fake News Persistent at Facebook
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I was reading an item on cnet.com regarding the continuing fake news found on Facebook.
Shareholders of Facebook are speaking out regarding this continuing problem with 'fake' news ... must have a lot of feed straight from CNN — or perhaps the LA or NY Times.
It would seem that informational quality is a priority with some in the organization ... but the purveyors still manage to get through.
Having viewed the environment over at Mom's ... yes I haven't been able to get her to boycott that drivel ... I was impressed with the "feeds" which consist primarily of various subtle to not so subtle nothings.
The most alarming aspect of the experience are the little "questionnaires" designed to advise you regarding things like your IQ and other unqualified tidbits that the users seem to suck up like a golfball through a garden hose in — well, just whose mouth isn't important anymore.
While not fake "news" per se, it remains fakery at a higher and more insidious level giving participants some false notion of their intellectual functioning ... or personality traits ... or any one of numerous other facets of their existence which are figments of the imaginations of the writer of the spam. In return they harvest personal account information and gain permission to install modules on the accessing machine.
The sophistication of the user is typically their in. This leaves many open to any manner of exploit; the least of which is gaining some false notion of themselves.
The crux of the issue are both reliability and integrity. Something CNN lost long ago as the main stream media follow merrily down the same path of yellow journalistic influence peddling devoid of objectivity ... which has become the primary thrust of entirely too many news outlets anymore.
Zuck says that it's primarily a function of money grubbing spammers and I certainly can accept that up to a point. Where we diverge is the organizations inability to control the spammers with extreme prejudice.
He says they're just making money. I say they're the scourge of the internet and should be taken to the beach and turned over to Isis or something equally horrid.
All in all I seem to have been left with the notion that this fake news problem will be persistent over time. I attribute this to a lack of effort on the part of the company.
Be all this as it may that fodder which it is should not be taken as seriously as some do. I for one am skeptical until I fact check it across multiple news venues then again on the conservative side and those outlets I trust.
Too much is taken for granted in an information age where too much of the information is contrived by some dirt bag out to make a buck.
Boo !
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- June 1, 2017
- Cybercrime Projections Staggering
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An item on wallst.com caught my attention with it's claim that cybercrime costs will jump to some 8 Trillion dollars US over the next five years.
This forecast is related to the IOT connection to global networks with records on the order of 2.8 billion to go to thiefs in cybercrime and moving on up to 5 billion by 2020 or so.
This gloomy data is courtesy of Juniper Research and bases those estimates on the ongoing integration of new devices and systems with legacy networks that don't take into account the overall security of those networks.
They said that the problem is particularly bad for small and medium sized networks where security spending is characterized as "marginal".
Ransomware seems to be a rapidly rising star in the toolkits of skullduggery with an increase of "ransomware as a service" as it were with individuals placing the malware and infrastructure at a crook's disposal for a fee — or a bloody cut.
The interoperability of security systems is said to be a major contributing factor because as we all know, such things tend to be reticent to "play together" in the cohabitive protection of assets prefering to be the "only show in town" much like many of the IT companies trying to finagle the business from others touting a bunch of capabilities which never seem to materialize.
So. It would seem that my overkill approach is par for the course in that realm which is keeping your stuff out of the hands of the bad guys.
And you thought I was kidding !
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- May 31, 2017
- World No Tobacco Day
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Each day when I park in the parking building and proceed across the street to the building where my tenth floor office is I must pass through the gauntlet of smokers on the sidewalk standing around puffing away. Typically I will hold my breath for a few moments until I am well into the street but I often times catch a big whiff of second hand smoke with which I start my workday.
Not really being too warm for the UN or any of it's offices I am hesitant to discuss anything important to the World Health Organization because I personally believe the UN and all of it's agencies should depart the country and stop trying to take us over.
Today is World No Tobacco Day a recurring May 31 event intended to support abstinence from all forms of tobacco as a health measure. Created in 1987 by the World Health Organization it is both a welcome and hated observance depending on the relationship an individual may have with tobacco ... smokers feel they have a "right" to smoke and nonsmokers feel they have a right not to breathe smoke.
It's a vicious cycle likely to continue into the years of "vaping" and "dipping" and all the varieties of partaking of the stimulus barrier tobacco has to offer us in these difficult times of making ends meet. Ash trays holding fresh flowers are a common symbol for the day. I must say that I rarely see this symbology in my travels. As a matter of fact I have NEVER seen it of which I am aware.
Regardless have a happy No Tobacco Day and do try to leave it alone if you can. The deleterious effects of tobacco on the health are evident in the hacking and gacking, wrinkles, and teeth encountered in and on smokers and dippers everywhere.
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- May 30, 2017
- Happy Birthday in Heaven
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My Stepfather passed January 27th of last year in a tragedy too profound for words. Our memories of him sustain us during this time which must pass before our joyeous reunion in the afterlife — but I miss him every day.
As are those who have cared about me in my lifetime I have cared back and over the years I have found that grief is simply an aspect of love and as such it's difficult to resolve and impossible to ignore.
Today would have been his 84th birthday and I just want to mark the occasion because he remains here with me abiding in my heart.
Happy Birthday Johnny !
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Psalms 34:18 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Revelation 21:4 Holy Bible King James Version
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- May 30, 2017
- Amazing USPS Delivery
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On Sunday, 05/28/2017 I received my first USPS delivery on Sunday.
I had returned from visiting Mom to discover my robot battery had arrived ... on Sunday.
Sure, I had received notifications that the item would arrive on Sunday. I never expected to receive it then, however.
Be all of this as it may, I took the opportunity to tear down the robot and blow it out and clean it up good then replaced the old battery which was failing a slow death (down to about 10 minutes run time) then attached it to the charger.
The new battery runs right at 2 hours which is plenty of time to go over the whole house well.
This new battery is the "extended life" (XLife) model manufactured by iRobot.
I had purchased a lithium rechargable earlier but it was a bit rough on the older 500 series circuits, I think.
My robot, Fred (Free roaming electronic device) operates in a much more robust fashion now.
Whereas I was a smidge whiny about the pattern and coverage I see now it was compensating for what it perceived as a power limitation.
In that contradiction of terms which is "being a dude" and "trying to keep house" the robot has been a life saver.
The new battery has breathed new life and capability into Fred, and I couldn't be happier for him.
The very surprising Sunday delivery was simply fortuitous icing on the cake.
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- May 29, 2017
- Memorial Day 2017
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Memorial Day is particularly somber for me these days. This is primarily due to it's proximity to my late stepfather's birthday which follows the next day ...
As I mark the day I try to maintain the perspective of service and honor as it relates to the military.
Being both a 'Navy brat' as well as a veteran of the Navy, and the son of a highly skilled and decorated Navy veteran as well as the stepson of a decorated Air Force veteran I take pause to remember those who passed both as the consequence of their military duty — as well as those who served honorably through the ranks for long periods during their lifetimes.
These are the heroes who enabled me to grow up free.
Rest in peace.
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- May 28, 2017
- The Cost of not stocking GRITS
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So, I received a renewal notice on my Costco business account.
I'm sure they could care less, but I declined to mail it in opting to place it in the shred box instead.
Then I went online and registered for another Sam's Club business account. This morning I went to the location where I typically shop and had the card printed up and now I'm good to go.
Though I wasn't entirely dissatisfied with the Costco thingie they had a fatal flaw which rendered them ineligible for my continued patronage ... individual packets of instant grits for a quick breakfast at work.
You see, they did stock the oatmeal packets and I had been buying several of those of late. When I looked for the grits all I could buy is some 10 lb bag of a brand I did not recognize ... not that the branding matters as much as everything coming emblazioned with "Kirkland" on it.
So now I'm going to Sam's which doesn't appear to be run by a bunch of rude farina eating yankees.
C'est La vie !
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- May 27, 2017
- Bradley Manning Remains a Traitor
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The outrageous poof Bradley "Call me Chelsea" Manning is still a traitor of the United States of America.
Convicted by courts martial of violating the Espionage Act and other crimes in July 2013 and sentenced to 35 years in prison but was commuted by then President Obama as one of those final slaps in the face he could deliver to The Republic prior to the blessed removal of his reign of destruction.
Bradley Manning disclosed some 750,000 classified and sensitive documents to Wikileaks while serving on active duty in the Army.
When I was in the Navy such activity would not have gone unpunished in the manner this person was afforded ... a pardon for treason.
In the true nature of liberals everywhere who applaud treason and hate America Barack Obama saw fit to pardon him.
However, he cannot change the facts that this little boy who thinks he's a little girl is a traitor to his country.
The little creep was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by some other misguided human being.
And the media ... who boom derrogotory nothingness and false news via their stupid voices at everything Trump says or does remained oddly silent regarding those proceedings involving Wikileaks, Assange, Manning, et al.
All I can say is this man is not a hero. This man is not to be celebrated. This man is a traitor to his country who didn't even do the world a favor and kill himself after several tries in prison. His president emancipator whom he implied was a "weak leader" is no better.
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- May 26, 2017
- 4.5 GHz CPUs without Overclocking
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I remember just prior to the advent of the "compatible" computer when everything was proprietary getting a VT-180 CP/M machine with VisiCalc, Wordstar, and some database thingie I don't recall on 5.25" floppies.
Then IBM released the PC-1 (model 5150 around August of the same year) and my stuff became instantaneously obsolete.
I recall what I thought was a continuous wait state between the slow CPU and the analog action of those floppy drives and since my only comparison was the old DEC line of PDP processors I thought that the mini would always reign supreme over the micro.
So now, the rules are all changed. The clock speeds are beyond the comprehension of we in the beginning. The capacities as well and the instructions per second through the roof:
Like the i7 Extreme, the new Intel Core i9 will likely be too expensive for the tastes of many ...
but we who definitely go for respectable clock speeds in a main processor will likely not be deterred.
Enter the i9 7900X (Skylake X) CPU with 10 cores, 20 threads, and a base speed of 4.0 GHz (already there, thanks) with a 4.5 GHz totally devoid of overclocking.
Likely to leave it's nearest AMD competitor in the dust, I have forgone AMD chips for the cooler Intels a while back. However my deep resepect for AMD remains ...
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- May 25, 2017
- The News is Awful Lately
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It's reaching the point that I think I would prefer ignorance to reading the garbage circulating in the news anymore. I think that the mainstream press has lost it's ability to discern reality so they just make things up as they go and then pitch a hissy fit when you call them on the fake news they pass out as though it were candy.
1. Google is going to track credit and debit card transactions in order to "prove" that their targeted ads work. If this isn't the epitome of over stepping. Any credit card or debit card transaction of mine I see in this data will result in me pulling out of the bank I'm in and going elsewhere. 2. Shariah compliant crypto gold is being batted about as a new Islamic currency ... actually it's being touted as a New World Reserve Currency, i.e., for use when they take over the world as is their intent. 3. Everyone is heavily into AI. The scuttlebutt appears to indicate a general rise to their level of incompetence ... but in the movies skynet was formed from similar attempts to go beyond those boundaries of human existence. I must admit that my trust in these companies is not all that either. 4. Uber has a fare fraud suit in the works. You know, it's always something. 5. Apple is providing free app development curricula to schools. Ah yes, indoctrinate the kiddies so they can be as unthinking as the teachers. 6. NASDAQ is investing in AI in an attempt to detect fraud and circumvent the innumerable scandals of recent history. Good luck with that. 7. Turns out that AT&T has bought HBO. One of their grand scheme ideas is abridging Game of Thrones episodes for mobile devices. See what happens when a selfish entity is allowed to acquire art? Boo! 8. It seems that hackers are hiding malware in fake movie subtitles as a mechanism for getting it to the desktop of PCs. I'm glad I have other things to do besides watch online streaming video from my computer. Let's hope that the streaming hardware can dodge this bullet so I don't have to purge my network and buy another stupid cable subscription. 9. Net Neutrality is in the news again. People are mourning the possibilities for consequences if it is abolished. This is one of those FCC thingies I would have preferred to be left alone. You don't always get what you want. Mr Trump is keen on leaving out some of the most important stuff to me ... and I voted for him. 10. China is linked to the APT3 hacker group. They have been attacking government and defense industry targests since 2010 and are linked to the Chinese Ministry of State Security along with others. It pains me to note that we buy the bulk of our routing hardware from Chinese sources and in our collective stupidity; apparently have plans to continue to do so. 11. Texas billionaire Robert Bass wants to build 12 seat supersonic business jets. Oh well, remember the Concorde. With just a dozen seats the thing will either sell out or belly up fairly quickly. I'm sure there are plenty of people in the upper 1% with that much money to spend frivolously. 12. Taylor Swift's record label is taking Spotify and YouTube to task. My but that child loves writing and singing songs about ex boyfriends ... and of course a nice infringement lawsuit every now and then, now dosen't she.
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- May 24, 2017
- Hackable Biometrics
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I have never been a fan of biometrics. Utilizing body part patterns to identify users has always been something I viewed as less than adequate as well as being a database for intrusions — you know, facial recognition, big brother, and blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Well ... it figures. Biometrics, once touted as the totally unique primary identifier for user input in the universe are turning out to be just another hackable gateway to data systems.
A German hacking club called Chaos hacked the iris biometrics of a brand new Galaxy S8 using a photo of an eye with a contact lens placed upon it. Upon holding it up to the alleged "smart" phone it unlocked the S8 pretty as you please.
They say that iris security is riskier than fingerprint security but I fear that the technology is likely overused at this juncture given these circumstances and the propensity for hacking utilizing items commonly available. So much for face scanning, biometric passports, and other highly accurate yet spoof prone technologies.
Boo !
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- May 23, 2017
- The Internet of Hazards
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I don't spend a lot of time on political sites, but an item by Robert Samuelson on realclearpolitics.com dated May 22 drove something home which has been bothering me for quite a while now.
The piece discusses how even though we dodge the bullet on much of the "digital damage" reeked by things like ransomware and other exploits that there are only going to be more and more attacks.
The malware primarily strikes older versions of windows software and though most have replaced those with newer distros, there are still hold outs clinging to them as vestages of times gone by and memories of happier lives.
The unmistakable lesson of recent years is that the internet is a double-edged sword. Despite enormous benefits -- instant access to huge quantities of information, the proliferation of new forms of businesses, communications and entertainment -- it also encourages crime, global conflict and economic disruption. The drift seems ominous.
As our dependence increases and continues on internetworking those out to have their way with you grow more able to exploit your existence and those risks will remain for years.
Robert Samuelson
America's Internet Delusion
realclearpolitics.com
May 22, 2017
The divergence of personal interest and national security is a chasm across with the typical end user is unaware. Those trecherous packets on the internet continue to circulate and we who are blissfully ignorant remain unaware and uncaring.
Couple this with the emerging technologies associated with the "internet of things" there remain virtually unlimited avenues for others to take what you have and remain untouchable by the unwary victims of their advancing predation.
The so-called "internet of hazards" remains a function of our deficiences in conjunction with that burgeoning addiction to technology ever present in the fray.
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