Back in a kinder, gentler time I spent time in Nice, France. It was there that I experienced the rudest human beings on the face of the earth at the Russian Orthodox Church and took in the shore of the Mediterranean drinking Drambuie from snifters at a bar close by prior to returning to the ship that evening.

Riding along the cliffs where Princess Grace of Monaco had her fatal automobile accident I was taken by the sheer drop off and speed of the bus in which we traveled.

However, in all my excitement during that day I never once feared for my life. In fact I was quite at ease with most everything by the end of my stay.

Bastille Day in Nice turned abruptly tragic when a Tunisian immigrant plowed through persons watching a fireworks show killing many before being shot and killed in a hail of gunfire by police.

The perp, one Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel described as a French-Tunisian "career criminal", rammed the crowd for about a mile and opened fire on the celebrants. Those victims include a Texan and his son. In addition to those killed there are a number in critical condition in local hospitals.

It is sad commentary when that hate generated by a group of miscreants continually falls upon innocent people such as those simply out to celebrate independence day festvities in Nice, France.

The consequences are an extension of the the state of emergency already in force and I'm sure that the scrutiny of these individuals out to kill the rest of us will now increase.

When I was a child, I attempted to be much more philosophical than I am presently. Not yet having been jaded by the real world to any meaure I would immerse myself in various writings to include the epic and lyric poetry as well as drama of preclassical antiquity through the Greek classical and Roman adaptations which came later.

Nowadays I find myself predisposed to those banal pursuits of working in a Microsoft (ugh) shop with people who can't interoperate with a computer unless they have a GUI and mouse and the frustrations of that rare technological disease of the workplace called 'lackounix' ...

However, my childhood has left me with certain streams of thought pervading that which I am and the crux of my issues though rooted firmly in eating and living indoors are merely diversions which ultimately subvert my existence from those depths I once occupied to these shallows where you now find me.

Chinese philosophy has given us two principles. Yin, negative, dark, and feminine ... and the other positive, bright, and masculine called Yang. It is said that their interactions influence our destinies as well as those of things upon the earth.

It is a juxtaposition of opposite and contrary forces in a complementary configuration meant to illustrate that interconnection and interdependency in nature.

The two influences permeate all people and I for one consist of that confluence which is the differential result of competing orientations.

It makes for a subtle rage when I see the stupidity which consists of these human beings who would march down the interstate highway disrupting interstate commerce while those who would criticize these buffoons are terminated from their employment with extreme prejudice.

So in my never ending pursuit of lodging and daily bread of several types I will continue to keep my opinions regarding the so-called newsworthy mess du jour to myself lest I suffer those same brutal consequences.

Never was a fan of pokemon. Back when the kiddies around the house were watching it I was preoccupied with other things.

Now, instead of a cartoon franchise we have a new iteration in the form of an augmented reality game utilizing the GPS in a smart phone to attain the goal of locating pokemon in the real world.

As is the case with such fads it has become big bucks for the owner and people are playing it all over becoming instant tresspassers in the name of entertainment.

There has been a bit of a hubub about certain locales complaining that they are not suitable venues. It seems that the National Holocaust Museum would just as soon not host those playing the game among others.

However, in the midst of the few intrusions the bulk of the players are really having good times and I dare say I could never knock anyone for actually having fun these days.

So ... if you like it go for it. As for me, my smart phone will remain pokemonless for I do not download apps nor do I engage entertainment.

It is a work device and I try to maintain that orientation to it.

Besides, it's all pretty undignified for an old fart such as myself anyway.

Crisis of Character by former United States Secret Service officer Gary J Byrne is a book on the NY Times best seller list.

It provides the gist of the Clinton administration from 1993 through 2001 involving a lot of mess to which I'd just as soon not be exposed — but the interesting underbelly of it all is just how niggardly the nature of their interpersonal relationship appears and the profoundly deficient apparent lack of "character and temperament" requisite for any leader of the United States of America.

While I don't claim to be this stellar example of doing the right thing — it has been my personal view that entirely too many people conducting the political and business affairs of the Clintons have ended up mysteriously and suspiciously dead with wounds undocumented in the "official" investigation.

Add to this any number of other deficiencies of the Clinton reign from Monica Lewinski's semen stained dress to the infamous private mail server of the Secretary of State which was subsequently swept under the carpet by the Director of the FBI — and Attorney General, who met with Bill Clinton for an impromptu discussion ... and ALL appear to be in cahoots with the remainder of the democratic establishment in blurring the seriousness and the facts via a suppressing smoke screen of attempts to diffuse the situation.

Another Clinton white house is just about as good an idea as Bernie Sanders proposed socialist utopia: nothing good can come out of it.

Sooner or later we need to hold our leadership accountable for their actions and lack thereof. This simply does not appear to be happening. I'll take Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton any old day; particularly in light of the travesty which was eight years of Barack Obama and his professional vacationing on Air Force One agenda.

October will find ATM owners here in the states upgrading or replacing those cash fountains with models which accept chip cards or become liable for defined instances of fraud they may incur without them.

It seems that the chip machines themselves as well as that maintenance of them may be self limiting in the market of the convenience store or watering hole proper to the point that many establishments of the retail persuasion may forgo the ATM on premises altogether.

Depending on which side of the transaction fee you happen to be standing on this may be horrible or not so much ...

Statistics state that compromised ATM-created problems for customers increased some 600% last year.

The skullduggery is evolving to include these chip based technologies and there are exploits which have been drummed up for the chip based access points as well.

Be all of this as it may I feel that my fiscal responsibility should eclipse my convenience of monetary access so I am quick to only hit those few ATMs at my bank.

I have even had a lesson from the bank on what to look for before inserting the old debit card — which by the way remains a chipless "swipe" device to this day.

The bottom line here is increasing vigilance is warranted for anyone who wants to protect their bottom line.

Let the foolhardy get ripped off by the cyber criminal. I hit my transaction logs several times daily and I don't use just ANY machine to access my money.

There is a manchild named Raymond Geisel who lives aboard a boat at Marathon in the Florida keys and is repeatedly landing himself in trouble by opening his mouth when he should remain silent.

The kid has done federal time for threatening presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush while in Miami training to be a bail bondsman.

Now he's allegedly stalked an animal control officer and threatened the lives of a deputy sheriff and a state marine officer.

OK. I was way too mouthy from childhood through well beyond age 28 when I started straightening up otherwise. There comes a time when you need to keep that puffy tude to yourself because even though you might be quite angry you're really not all that.

When you go around making threats and being all banty rooster bad ass the only thing you're doing is bringing yourself more grief. AGAIN ... far better to remain silent and be though a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Like me at your age, you're running out of chances.

The users. Early on there were conscientous individuals with various items to sell. Indeed I purchased a number of old alcatel routers and various other pieces of hardware there until the riff raff hit that market.

I noticed the turd bird ex husband of my cousin on eBay "bidding" on his own listings to artificially raise the price.

At that moment I had the epiphany all is certainly what it would appear on ebay.

net neutrality is a rationale which says that ISPs should enable access to all content and apps without discrimination due to source or favoring or blocking any particular product or web site.

Another word for this principle is "open internet" and the concept enables and protects free speech without discrimination.
 

The FCC has declared that the internet will now be regulated as a public utility. Net neutrality is regulated based on redefining broadband permitting the regulation of the internet infrastructure just like it used to with the old POTS systems of yore ...

Thursday, the FCC held it's monthly meeting whereby the rules were reinstaed in a 3 to 2 vote split which was polarized by political affiliation.

These regulations had been thrown out in federal court last year.

I have been very anxious regarding the possibility for micromanagement of the internet by service providers for a number of years now.

This development has been most welcome to me personally inasmuch as I value freedoms as that part of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" of which they are a significant aspect.

Now to see how congruent the reality is with the theory.

So our Fort Leavenworth resident Bradley "call me Chelsea" Manning is in the news for hospitalization secondary to what appears to be attempted suicide.

It would appear that the reality of who he is either isn't sinking in or he has come to that epiphany that his life is indeed as screwed up as I think it is ...

Regardless his incarceration has only begun and barring any unforseen political shenanagans such as we've come to expect from the obama administration he will likely remain incarcerated until his mid to late sixties.

Quite a way to spend your prime years too I might add. I would think that this business of viewing yourself as the wrong gender might have some limitations on the psychosocial front in the presence of all the criminal justice coddling in the form of hormones and such.

I believe I would attempt to rationalize my situation more from a standpoint of "what is" instead of "who I THINK I am" given the fact that the reality remains bradley is a male with an adams apple and all that associated equipment which goes with MALENESS.

As I've stated earlier, I think we should definitely pursue happiness in this limited time we have on the planet. However, I have also stated that "transitioning" while incarcerated on the taxpayer's dime is about as low as humanity goes and I hope that such antics will be abolished by competent authority at the earliest possible moment.

Bradley Manning, presently incarcerated in the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas is a male traitor who should stay where he is for the rest of his life. I realize this is pretty harsh but were he payiing for his own lifestyle and footing the bill for his pursuit of phenotypical manipulation I would not have any issues with him other than the fact that he is a traitor to his country.

Real world issues revolve around the exploitation of people by individuals who would spitefully impose their will upon them, enact revenge, or for tactical advantage and control in the name of domination.

Those resources which relatively recently have come to the fore as particularly susceptible to outside exploits via those network segments they occupy, the power grids which supply electricity to the populace are becoming known for control structures which are deemed subject to the control of malevolent individuals remotely.
 

The advent of networked control mechanisms for power grids has introduced this possibility for hack vulnerability which may result in uncontrollable blackouts for the masses via rogue remote intrusion into the infrastructure.

Sensors and controllers which operate independent of networked hardware would provide a mechanism which is impenetrable by hacker attack and though more people intensive, likely a safer alternative to regional nodes controlling massive parts of the power grid.

Given the recent spate of hack attacks on power grids in Europe I personally view the consideration of analog control systems on them to be a viable preventative for the safety of our power utility functionality. IMHO not everything needs to be state of the art digital with network access to be superior technological implementation.

It would seem that the claims of being both apolitical and above influence is no longer the case for Bitcoin.

Bitcoin, a digital currency utilizing encryption techniques to regulate the generation of currency and verify the transfer of funds allegedly operating independently of a central bank has been hijacked by China.

It seems the entirety of bitcoin operations have been sucked up by the Chinese who have taken control via massive server farms across the country.

US executives interested in the new age currency now have to travel to China to engage the top tier hierarchy of the Bitcoin industrial complex as in excess of 70 percent of the transactions on the Bitcoin network are routed through four Chinese Bitcoin mining pool companies.

So much for independence and decentralization, eh Bitcoin.

A new currency which was supposed to be above those petty entanglements that heavy handed governments who love their crackdowns on anything and everything is now just another exploit lynchpin for the exclusive use of China.

Leave it to the Chinese to ruin things for everyone. Bitcoin is nothing with which I care to be involved any longer. BOO !

Well, the web server is now online after protracted testing and figety never ending stream of configurations ...

This morning I awoke at about 5:30 in the am then cleared out the server room, vaccuumed, dusted, recabled, and placed the boxes in their respective stands where they sit presently.

I have to say that the machines are operating quite well and gave me no grief during any part of the retrofit.

So today I'm going to take a respite and go to Mom's for a nice visit.

It's been a good last few couple of days.

Have a happy fourth.