Sometimes the mere presence of ads aren't enough.

There are a lot of sites out there who throw a pop up telling you how out of the goodness of their heart they're letting you view their content for "free". Many even go as far as to inform you as to how many "freebies" you have remaining.

Anyway, the search engines who place me in their clutches lose veracity in my book and if you're in a place that makes you view a certain number of ads from specific companies, or places a counter in your midst so you know they're looking for something in return for access to their resource you may just want to reconsider who or where you are.
 

I decline to be stalked by some predatory web site nor utilize some search engine being paid to place me there.

Sites such as these have conceptual problems reminiscent of the dotcom bubble where the substance stayed while the concepts went belly up.

Your ecommerce model may be telling on you and your money grubbing porno jargon oriented company.
 

The news threads yesterday evening were quite amusing. There were multiple stories about cryptids ... those animals which are said to exist outside those verified factual realms resulting in their being disputed or unsubstantiated.

Well. Two of them caught my eye because they had pretty good screen captures and videos replete with full motion action and I tell you, they weren't even compelling at all.

The "bigfoot" sighting was from a dog wearing a gopro camera and it looked as though the dog knew whomever was in the costume due to it's reaction (actually, lack thereof).

Then there was a 'chupacabra' which looked a bit more on the cgi end of reality than that composed of the physical world itself, i.e., it was even less believable than the totally ridiculous bigfoot video.

Anyway, a chupacabra is supposedly "dog like" and not walking upright in a human fashion and the yeti ... let's just say that bigfoot had a distinct fluff about him that just screamed retail.
 

I've been reading several interesting pieces on cyberbulling and the fact that it remains rampant despite being outed innumerable times now and the predictions are that it may never go away.

It seems that the latest vector is the smartphone and those youngsters who are so quick to latch on the various social medfia outlets and amass acquaintences who are mislabeled "friends" without really cultivating friendships, real knowledge about the "person behind the avatar" or even the nature of their existence outside the confines of the app by which they communicate.

Old people such as myself who are out here and able to take on anyone anywhere anytime are the exception to the rule when it comes to these millennials who know all about what they like and don't like but little else about facts, figures, and the real world.

These youngsters need filtration of those encounters so that they don't get their little feelings hurt by some big pushy keypad thumping lout regardless of the fact that she's may just be twelve.
 

All in all I would say if you are being cyberbullied there are numerous avenues available to you and it's something that should be and can be stopped quite quickly.

Of course, sexting and twerking before the quite excellent optics of smart cameras these days isn't going to help your case when those threads of who you really are online come to the surface.

However, whatever amount of tease in which you may engage the bottom line is your "safe space" has never been the internet so you may just want to go to Yale and scream at some professor with whom you don't agree ...

But that won't help either. Suffice it to say that you get that incriminating mess off the cloud to some truly private media storage then contact the proper authorities regarding your problem.

It's illegal to communicate a threat to anyone over a smartphone. If you're threatened don't remain scared or evade. Get even. There are a lot of equalizers out there to make the cyberbully run and hide.

The dark web, that anonymous amalgamation existing within the surface web obscurred by tools like tor and i2p to mask their ip addresses that they may deal in those things the mainstream does not allow has a new product available.

"Ransomware as a Service" as provisioned by malware payloads called Cerber and Cerber 2 which allows anyone to be a cyber criminal as long as the authors get their cut.

Just think ... some pimply faced conversant high school harry psychopath can now purchase instant cybercrime gratification at the expense of those in his path of vectors for a cut of the proceeds.

This is worse than the virus creation toolkits I used to buy for ten bucks in the 80s.

So this is what we've devolved to in our pursuit of the unearned remuneration only available within either inheritance or the criminal element.

So now, after I was getting all warm and fuzzy for the inclusion of my fellow netizens I now find that my old rationale is much more suitable to the information age and this mean thing we've become.

So, when we have cybercriminals publishing addressess accessible by their victims where is law enforcement to shut down and eradicate those networks which would harbor such goings on ?

Surely somebody besides me thinks this practice of ransomware for hire should be terminated with the most extreme prejudice.

Recently the threads have been aflutter with that bodacious Democratic National Committee system hack with exposure of those celebrities, executives, corporate contributors and other big time donors on that open market for pilfered data to the tune of 650 some odd entities.
 

As with many such goings on the reassurances abound with security improvements, the formation of new advisory boards, and that bevy of attorneys and representatives of various technical concerns and internet firms.

In all this hindsight where were all of these people before the fact? The damn Russians have always been there yet nothing was done to nip this betrayal of the contributors in the bud.

Who can effectively deal with the aftermath? Heck, with so many people associated with Bill and Hillary Clinton having vanished over the years maybe they can make the problem go away.

I was reading in the Chicago Tribune regarding a man who rented a car through Renault Eurodrive. The automobile GPS did not have updated maps for countries other than Italy. While travelling the Balkans the man got lost and was unable to obtain sufficient directions to find his hotel. Now he's mad and wants a discount on that sizable payment he makes due to his embarassment and incovenience.

Today for the umpteenth time I watched Simon Birch again. It's the 1998 Mark Steven Johnson film about a boy with stunted growth pursuing his concept of destiny and whatever purpose God has for him.

Anyway, after crying through the death of the Ashley Judd character as I always do and taking it all in yet again I am left with the feeling that sometimes God doesn't really plan our destiny for us and it is largely left up to us what we become.

The most troubling part of all this rehash of life, cirumstance, and consequence is the complacency at which we are expected to accept what may be handed to us as though it is our sworn duty to be what others may want at the expense of that which we may desire for ourselves.

It's always leaving me pondering those dreaded "what ifs" and "if onlys" I try to avoid but never succeed and in that end which is this existence I can only hope that the best I have done will be good enough ...

If not for me, then for the universe and whatever awaits me at the conclusion of my journey.