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October 31, 2016
Rude Profane Neighbors
Today I returned home to profane music with a reggae beat and lyrics yelling about sex acts, sex organs, the n-word, and other various inapproprate neighborhood soundtrack elements blaring from my new neighbor's porch.

Now then ... rather than get all confrontational and spend this evening in lockup preparing for death row I just went into the house and drowned it out with a little bit of The Strain and other shows on the teevee.

Hey Rasta go to jail

Be all of this as it may we are headed for a showdown because once I call the police the first time I'm going to keep calling until I get whomever is responsible arrested.

Just ask the former neighbor who was arrested on Christmas Eve a few years back for playing music too loudly for too long.

His music wasn't "profane" per se but the decibels motivated me to camp out at the police station filling out and signing complaints until I got the job done.

The third police visit usually ends up with the perp in jail and having to pay to get out.

I'm ready whether they are or not.

Tags: life, people, things, places
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October 30, 2016
Lotta cnet lately
Lately I've been getting overdosed on cnet. It appears in several places across my existing streaming video subscriptions and I tell you, I'm feeling all dirty with microsoft evangelism oozing from my pores via my 1080i 50 inch screen perched in my living room ...

cnet microsoft surface promo

So the surface pro has a lot of new features and the presentation simply squeels like a pig touting them and why you can buy into one of three levels of the device and still use these marvelous pagination routines and touch screen innovations with all the new accessories, widgets, and three dimensional modeling capabilities.

Me, I just want my QWERTY keyboard and a nice I7 running somewhere around 4 GHz thank you very much. I'm still rather chapped over the microsoft hijack of my machine in the name of pushing windoze 10 and no ... I'm still NOT a fan of it or them.

However, I remain a big fan of cnet in their never ending quest to keep me up on what's happening !

Tags: technology
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October 29, 2016
Did you hear the one about the virtual toaster ?
There's a story traversing the news threads regarding a virtual toaster demonstrating the hackability of "smart devices" ... things like web cams and DVRs and various controllers like door locks, toasters, refrigerators, thermostats, lights, and other things people may like to access from their phones.
Borg Toaster    

Anyway an application masquerading as a fake "toaster" was set up on the public domain to indicate the probe activity and attacks which begin quickly and relentlessly on any device which appears as though it may be exploited.

This thingie suffered incessant DDoS attacks as well as exploit attempts and the point was proven regarding the shielding and precautions indicated in the presence of smart devices accessible on the public domain.

Those mechanisms ... ports, sockets — and subsequently the resultant protocols or sets of rules controlling communication need to be encased in adequate shielding technology or firewalls with authentication sufficient to prevent unauthorized access lest some grid goes down at the hands of a wayward persian, syrian, or iraqi butt hole out to prove a point in retaliation for us meddling in their affairs to the extent that we do.

Be all of this as it may, I don't engage smart devices for accessibility over the internet because I'm a hack paranoid individual who would much rather firewall you up front than allow you to get over on me and teach me some cheap shot lesson.

It all goes to show you that resistance is futile. You either become proactive and get them first or they're sure to get you sooner or later.

Tags: technology
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October 28, 2016
Consumer Grade Equipment

You cannot use consumer grade equipment to do professional work. I had a cohort who was dismayed that my PDF files would not print to fit the frame they were to occupy even though the dimensions of the file were to spec.

Then I printed the file on professional grade equipment and like magic, all problems abated.

The problem with consumer grade equipment is usually the software written for them.

HP is notorious for screwing up a perfectly good piece of hardware with software written by a baboon.

In that realm which is "professional output" the production elements are essential to the final product.

Like "garbage in garbage out" junky equipment designed for a consumer who needs the scaling and other disfunctional crap they build into these 30 dollar printers that require 150 dollars worth of ink every 3 months to operate are getting precisely what they paid for.

printer Hell


I suppose the crux of the issue lay in how easy you are to please. I have discriminating tastes and can be quite demanding. Others, not so much.
 

Tags: technology
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October 27, 2016
Adventures in Caching DNS
I had been using a number of feeder servers in my caching domain name server configuration. It seems that I have also been firewalling a number of spammers on some of those networks providing the servers.

Acer Veriton

This resulted in failure of the feed (though none of the subnets upon which the feeding servers themselves reside were in the mix) and so I had to drop back and punt.

After a hasty reconfiguration of the caching DNS on my cluster things seem to be calming down.

The moral of the story is to use a caching DNS feeder server on networks outside those spammer realms you attempt to firewall.

Meh.

Tags: technology
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October 26, 2016
New Amazon VM Venture
It appears that Amazon is really going VM up the gum stump. They have launched a new environment called Server Migration Service (SMS) which migrates virtual boxes running VMware to their EC2 virtual computing environment with instantiation of mix-and-match operating systems and enhanced access control with images supporting as many or as few systems as are required.

Bully !

Amazon Server Farm

The crux of the new implementation lay in the migration of servers on premise to their cloud ... of course.

Coupled with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and their migration touting zero downtime and what a picture this is in my mind ...

With my meager miniscule two node cluster with failover.

Anyway, though I firewall them for the company they keep ... primarily the hackers, spammers, purveyor of exploits and so forth; I have always maintained that their resolution of complaints regarding incursions into my cyberspace to be the absolute pinnacle in ethics on the planet.

So good luck, oh Amazon with this new endeavor and thank you for never trivializing my complaints regarding hack attacks, spamming, and exploits. I wish the others in networking were as totally good towards others as you.

Tags: technology
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October 25, 2016
We've been discussing the elections
Trainwreck seems to be the prevailing opinion. Both sides of the ballot. Neither side is truly happy. Those against Trump claim to be voting for Clinton as the "lesser evil" when in fact they obviously haven't done their homework.

NH Trainwreck

The people coming out of the woodwork to accuse Trump of sexual advances have the appearance of payola. Why did they not seek "justice" somewhat closer to the actual offense if there really had been one?

Despite the fact that my vote will not waiver I freely admit to this mess draped upon the world stage for all to see has our image circling right down the toilet.

The most disappointing aspect of this in my mind are the traitors to the Republican party who will likely realize the errors of their ways soon enough. Like the clinton loving bushes and the various others who fail to see the peril that awaits us in the democrat and progressive dole in exchange for entitlement sucking illegal immigrants which will ramp up if gd Hillary wins.

Trump might be a braggart but he's not the crook the clintons appear to be.

I suppose it's impossible for a career politician — republican or democrat — to spot a crook because the behaviors imitate actions too close to home.

Maybe we should cancel it all and start over.

Tags: politics
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October 24, 2016
Today is Food Day

In the US we celebrate Food Day each October 24. This observance originated in 1975 by the an entity called Center for Science in the Public Interest with the intention of creating something in the vein of Earth Day. The goals were raising our awareness of:

•the increasing industrialization of American agriculture,
•rising food prices,
•hunger, and
•the American diet and health crisis.


The spotty history of food day culminates in the present iteration which began c. 2011 where it was revived. This initiative is now conducted under the auspices of FoodDay.org which is an element of the CSPI.

While I certainly support the awareness of food given the perilous nature of production these days — with all of our migrant workers urinating and defecating in the fields they're harvesting and resultant e coli infections among the listeria and other worst case scenarios of nutrition ... I am even more shocked and apalled at the frank absence of genetic modification of the food supply and it's conspicuous absence from the published focus areas.

I for one would have listed this first along with the importance of maintaining heirloom varieties and organic and sustainable cultures for production above all else. It would seem that those things I think are important are lower priorities for the organization.

While hunger and the basic mechanics are indeed significant; we have a threat from the likes of bully companies like Monsanto which would have us consume their genetically modified commodities in the absence of informed consent.

Then we read horror stories of soybean farmers who made the mistake of planting monsanto seed making it abundantly evident that oversight is not only necessary ... but overdue AND should include machine guns pointed at these thugs who think they are supposed to be able to lord over the farmer at their whim.

 

 

Food Day 2015 Poster

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: things, health
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October 23, 2016
Soft Drink Diabetes Connection
I have metabolic syndrome x. This condition is actually composed of several concurrent maladies to include elevated blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess visceral fat and an abnormal lipid configuration to include high cholesterol and triglycerides. The morbidity is an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

This condition has been present since I stopped exercising and the consequences have been a gut and endless ridicule from those who were supposed to be "friends" of mine — one of which died of cancer a few years back.

Evidence for a distinct connection between consuming sweet soft drinks and diabetes has been raised yet again in the threads. The evidence is quite asymmetric with various soft drink habits spawning different levels of the disease ...

Mountain Dew and Marlboros
But the claims are quite thought provoking at several levels and make me happy that I stopped the wholesale consuming of Mountain Dew by the can and quart bottle back in my old Red Bank heyday.

Given the fact that these green sugar bombs which I consumed in mass quantities with gusto were accompanied by various cigarette brands like Marlboro when I bought them to whatever else I would bum from others periodically ...

I'd have to say that the bulk effect of giving both up concurrently must have helped at some point.

I only wish that serious treatment of these issues had started much earlier. There is a disconnect sometimes when a physician either doesn't recognize or correlate the lab work to the person and I feel this is what happened to me until things got way out of control.

So now my beverages are virtually sugar free and unsweetened as I don't like artificial sweeteners by and large.

I gave up the smoking years back. I have little body fat aside from the visceral stuff by and large. If I could only get some exercise I might have a chance.

Tags: health
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October 22, 2016
I was cold last night ...
Last night I was cold for the first time in the year. No, not Idaho cold with frost and snow everywhere; but significantly cooler than I recall thus in 2016 and it made for brief excursions to get a lottery ticket and pick up a few beverages.

It all has me feeling like the fall of the year and I certainly welcome the feeling. However, we are supposed to be in the mid 80s early next week and it's rather conflicting indications.

Psycho    
I went to the bank yesterday and toyed with all the girls briefly with my psycho dave act.

I don't think I was REALLY fooling anyone because I'm kind of a wuss otherwise. It comes with the territory. I don't mean any harm and everyone seems to know it. I must be smiling or something when I'm talking smack.

Oh well, I'll never be a convincing menace because of the soft girly man hands I suppose.

Anyway, the weather has been refreshing, I'm living within my means, and continuing to poke fun at anyone and everyone.

Tags: weather
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October 21, 2016
The Cusp of Immersive Security
Immersive environments such as VR in conjunction with AI and all those peripherals dotting the landscape should ring a few bells of caution in the area of social design and the constructs of suitable security mechanisms interspersed ... not as an afterthought; but as a fully formed and integrated subsystem.

Situational awareness across multiple dimensions with sensory inputs which may simulate realistic attack postures in progress are a requirement now, not in the future. We are presently deluged with more than the tabular and chart metrics can adequately display in real time to spot trends and active incursions.

The dynamics of visual and spatial interaction with the inclusion of holographics and VR are essential for the user interface required to achieve the competent security analyst equipped with contextual security application in real time as though standing before the actor attempting exploit.

Business intelligence now traverses the full gamut of immersive technicals of which user interface, security, and database schema meld into a seamless presentation with metrics and scenario analysis.

It starts with the engine required to display the parameters and interact with the user. It ends with the logic control sufficient to the task of rules processing and multidimensional thinking.

All that remains is the space between our ears and that activity triggered there.

Minority Report

Tags: technology
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October 20, 2016
Hillary's Debate Questions in Advance
What good is a supposedly "spontaneous" debate when one of the participants is given the questions in advance ?

It seems that Hillary Clinton has been getting nearly all questions asked during the past 18 months approved and agreed upon in advance.

    Basket of Deplorables
This notion of heavily scripted and rehersed responses to questions during the course of a campaign is HARDLY presidential much less the pompous hypocrisy represented by the entirety of the DNC with their hidden agenda of buying votes with entitlements and mass influx of illegals in pursuit of a free ride in exchange for their vote.

As one of her "basket of deplorables" as she puts us ... I submit that she and her husband are just as deplorable as we are as well as ANYTHING Donald Trump has been accused of by various others paid to come out with supposed anecdotal evidence for mishbehavior on his part.

Couple this with the profiteering on the politics of our nation and the mass predatory behaviors otherwise and I keep wondering why all the democrats are still blowing this smoke all over the gullible as they are.

Donna Brazile may share questions meant to be spontaneous with the Clinton campaign beforehand ... but this is HARDLY the worse work of the Clintons in their political history.

I wonder just how many more of the Clinton inner circle will die under mysterious circumstances as a result of the election shenanigans the DNC has continually been pulling during the course of the Trump candidacy.

Caveat Emptor: let the buyer beware. The Clintons are for sale and the stakes and fee schedules are high.

Tags: politics
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October 19, 2016
The Fair Doesn't Happen for Me Anymore

Hoochie Coochie

    
As much as I might fantasize about returning to the SC State Fair; I really don't see it ever happening again.

I was in the elevator at work speaking with a colleague from the legal department and she voiced one of my primary preventives:

They stopped selling beer.

Couple this with the even longer gone absence of "Hoochie Coochie" shows and I pretty much don't feel the need to ever return.

Now I'm not much of a drinker, nor a carouser ... and those indulgences were something I saved for the fair and my rowdy friends who accompanied me there. Things were that way for a good many years until everything came to a screeching halt in the mid to late 90s.

The fair people chalk this up to some family orientation they perceive to be "wholesome" and I simply counter with the fact that paying customers should be considered as well.

Anyway, it's all a moot point at this late juncture. I recall my last visit being somewhat less than satisfying because the concessions were mostly broken, the people running them rude, unbathed, and unkempt. All in all I'd just as soon pass anyway.

I suppose the fair is for a subset of the populace these days. Those hoity toity denominational christian separatists running that particular show.

The guy running the thing has been entrenched for as long as I can remember. Perhaps a new person in charge, a fresh perspective, and an orientation that the fair is for everyone might be in the offing someday.

Tags: people, places, things
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October 18, 2016
Ken Bone's Fifteen Minute Meme
I'd like to preface this with the fact that I neither know this man nor do I have any problem with any aspect of his existence. So we have yet another nongenetic element of culture possibly imitated intermittently which has run it's course. My issue is with the situation and that cultivation of something into what it certainly isn't in reality.

Ken Bones Fifteen Minutes

That stupidity evident in our modern world ... particularly in the United States of America manifests itself yet again. This time, in the personification of an individual named Ken Bone who attended a Presidential debate only to assume the role of some national heroic icon in the mind's eye of a subset of our idiot electorate and media addict drivel oriented manifestations impersonating human intellectual achievement ...

THAT IS until he opened his mouth and removed all doubt it likely would have served his purposes far better had he just remained silent and merely be thought a fool.

Afterward, attempting a stab at personal gain for his apparently unassuming celebrity it is noted on various threads that his commentary is described primarily as "seedy" — and perhaps this focus upon him was undue and typifies that lack of awareness that has a gross percentage of the populace supporting Hillary Clinton for chief executive. You, and SHE are precisely what is wrong with the USA in these tumultuous times.

The guy has shared some of his ideas. Likewise some of his personal fantasy. All in all he projects this working class schlep mentality which is not only unqualified ... but purely subjective and while I certainly don't begrudge his indulgence by any means I personally have found it a total waste of time.

I must have never really given a rip one way or another ... but the fifteen minutes became hours and I have long grown weary.

It's okay to be who you are. It's not okay to assume an identity who is not you as though you're this permutation of some unknown ascended master come to earth to impart your essence on we lesser entities.

I don't care for whom Kenneth Bone votes. It's simply past time for his presence in the threads to be done and in actuality; he should have never really become newsworthy. But we are focused on this lack of substance as evidenced by those throngs of democrats and progressives out to open the floodgates of taxpayer dollars for anyone and everyone who might cast a vote in their direction.

Ask me anything ? No thank you. Yes, I really do think you're stupid people so why don't you just don your large red sweater and strike a portly pose or gnash your teeth for the papparazi in the dull blankness of it all.

My preterbedness lies with a concept, not an individual. Ken Bone could have been anyone. There are plenty of us around.

Perhaps you too can be a Ken Bone and have your meaningless fifteen minutes a la Warhola. Me, I'll just remain out of the spotlight here in the background if you don't mind. That microscope called the public eye is simply WAY too fickle for my tastes. Besides, like the fool girl at Yale screaming for her 'safe space' on youtube I too have unsubstantiated needs which will never be fulfilled.

Tags: people, places, politics
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