Not just because you are a congressperson as this Wired article points out but because not everyone who’s trying to get into your wifi is going to have a public relations motivation for doing so…
A representative for Consumer Watchdog — a group largely funded by legal fees, the Rose Foundation, Streisand Foundation, Tides Foundation and others — parked outside Harman’s and other lawmakers’ Washington-area residences to determine whether they had unsecured Wi-Fi networks that might have been sniffed by Google as part of the internet giant’s Street View and Google Maps program.
The group wants the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which Harman is also a member, to haul Google executives before it, so they can publicly explain why, for three years, Google was downloading data packets from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks in neighborhoods in dozens of countries. Google has repeatedly said it didn’t realize it was storing snippets of payload data on unsecured Wi-Fi networks, until German privacy authorities began questioning what data Google was collecting.
Recently we had a less than happy experience with our car insurance company. We had called and let them know the monthly payment was going to be two days late, we were told that was not going to be a problem and understood there would be an additional fee, but it was unavoidable. A few days later, after the payment was already made, we received a letter in the mail from the State of Ohio, a suspension notice/warning because the insurance company notified the state that the insurance lapsed. While it was easily resolved, it was frustrating to have had to go through this since we had notified the insurance company and they never mentioned that this was something that they would do. This means when you look for an auto insurance company? Make sure their customer service is not only approachable but honest…
Since my April 16 rant, I read this post this morning from Wired on The Facebook Privacy wars that are going on right now. I was surprised in reading the comments how angry some people are about something that to me, is simple logic. Facebook isn’t your bank or your credit card company so expecting privacy from a free social network service seems a bit…unrealistic. For those that are not happy about the changes Facebook made? No one is forcing them to use it.
It is supposedly the latest fashion, according to these photos on CNN. If consumer is really king? Perhaps the goal should be to have clothing that real people would actually wear in public?
I checked out most of the photos, and very few of the items are ones that the average woman would be able to wear. Even the Six hot fahion week trends (I’m guessing they meant “fashion”) made me laugh. Shorts with tights? Yeah, that’s a smart move.
I resisted getting a Facebook page, in part because I saw so many people become addicted to it. When I finally joined a few months ago I thought it might be a good way to connect with people in a way I can’t do through my blogs since I try to keep personal/family details to a minimum. I admit I have enjoyed some of the Facebook games, though I only play a few of them now after discovering some of them just were not worth the effort. Yet the overall communication aspect of Facebook that I was hoping for as a way to stay really connected to people doesn’t exist. In part because people are not really that communicative, most of the stuff they put on their Facebook profiles is really nothing more than spam or scam.
I’ve actually had a few people defriend me after pointing out to them that a group they “joined” was a scam or something that they were spreading through Facebook asking people to cut and paste, who then blindly do so like lemmings, wasn’t true. Reading this piece in Time hit home for me some of my problems with Facebook. It’s demonstrated how people are gullible, they don’t think for themselves and they appear to be willing to go along with what everyone else is doing rather than be brave enough to question it. My experiences with Facebook have led me to believe that we are in trouble as a society if we don’t start to use our brains…
Every year my dad and I used to watch “It’s a wonderful life” — after he died I ended up watching it alone every year since none of my bunch would watch it with me and all it did was make me sadder, more depressed, miss my dad more and hate Christmas. So, this year I decided I was not going to watch it. I ended up getting stuck in the middle of an attempt at a forced photo op that resulted in my nose being broken, our car died, we had no money for a tree or even presents this year so I ended up more depressed, missed my dad, and hate Christmas. So, apparently? Watching or not watching the movie did not have an impact on Christmas.
Not such a great deal for those who tried to help Imeem or who worked hard, according to Wired:
Independent artists who sold their music through imeem’s Snocap music storefronts on MySpace and other sites won’t be paid what’s owed even after MySpace Music’s acquisition of some — but not all — of imeem, Wired.com has learned.
MySpace Music bought “certain assets” from imeem, and they do not include imeem’s liability to more than 110,000 independent artists with Snocap storefronts, according to a source with inside knowledge of the deal. Those artists’ contracts mandate they be paid each month if they’re owed more than $20. Some artists have been owed money for more than a year, and the chance of them seeing any money now is, for all intents and purposes, zero, the source says.
Artists attempting to get paid for songs sold through Snocap stores — many or most of which were on MySpace itself — must get in line with imeem’s bank and other creditors. MySpace Music paid less than $1 million for imeem, so it’s doubtful much will remain for the artists.
I’m not in the best of moods today with the election being so close and things being crazy, so what do I do? Play old songs of mine that are favorites at a very, very, loud level compared to what I normally listen to. That way it drowns out the phone so anyone who tries to call me to give me more bad news or another project they’d like to see me cover? HA! I can’t hear you…
I’d embed the video because I think it’s a great one, but unfortunately they have disabled embedding so you’ll have to use the link to visit. This is one of the songs that I listen to when I’m trying to motivate myself to get my work done. On nights like tonight it can be difficult after limited sleep, working as a fact checker then coming home trying to finish things while dealing with a barrage of comments caught in moderation from an outside group of people who appear to be organized to try to come to my political blog against an issue on the ballot in November. Another reason to have moderation for new commentors..
I’ve lived through some of my daughters trying similar products, the funniest one was when one of mine (I won’t embarrass her by saying which one) decided that if she took a ginko supplement it would help her memory, but then she forgot to take it. So, when I saw this Wired article on Smart Drugs I was curious to see if Alexis Fitts had similar results as what I witnessed in my own home. (That they really didn’t work any differently than eating a good diet rich with omega-6 fatty acids.)
What was unexpected, at least from my perspective was the venom in the comments, it was clearly not meant to be a scientific piece but Alexis and Wired were ripped in the comments…
Here’s an interesting one from Wired, Mapping the 7 Deadly Sins and they really do map them. It looks as if Wrath is close to Lust, but I recommend visiting and seeing for yourself what you think as far as which one of the 7 Deadly Sins is the “biggest one” in the US.
Starting on September 6, Skype is doubling its connection fee for calls to most countries from 3.9 cents to 7.9 cents. The connection fee remains 3.9 cents for calls to so-called Global Rate Countries, a selection of countries that includes Germany, the U.K. and the United States. Calls to those countries cost 2.1 cents per minute after the first minute, which will cost 6 cents in total.
Skype is doubling the rates as part of a normal process of looking at prices and making any necessary adjustments, according to a Skype spokesman, who points out that Skype subscribers won’t see a price increase, and Skype-to-Skype calls remain free. The rate change was quietly announced on a hard-to-find page on Skype’s site.
My oldest daughter lives near San Jose and today she traveled to San Diego to attend Comic-Con, or at least she tried to attend Comic-Con - evidently they close registration so anyone who traveled there today and arrived after a certain time period can’t get in until tomorrow - which means they basically ripped her off for the first day’s attendance. Nor do they really provide clear information on transportation, but, that’s what Mom’s and google are for.
I’m picky about my bubble bath, it’s one of the few skin care items that I am willing to spend just a bit more on because when I get the chance to enjoy a nice bubble bath, I want it to be an enjoyable experience where my skin feels wonderful afterwards. Yes, the basic Calgon take me away on steroids moment…
Enter the saga, I was all ready to enjoy said bubble bath when I discovered my 20 year old daughter had used up all of my bubble bath without even telling me…Moral of this story? Hide your bubble bath….
Having watched the original, The live and times of Harvey Milk I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy watching the semi-remake that had Sean Penn playing Harvey Milk. It was better than I expected and you can decide for yourself, you can watch the original at the above link and then rent the newer version…From a historical standpoint, I’m glad that my 14 year old watched it with me.
Some of you will remember how we ended up with Yoko, my ex-husband decided he no longer wanted to care for the cat that he got for my youngest daughter that was kept at his house (against my advice to not get a cat) so two years ago he taped the cat inside a box and left it on my porch on my birthday. Yoko is young, all of my other cats are more elderly and as she’s grown (she’s almost three now) she’s become a monster. She guards the litter boxes and has created a scenario where two of the cats are afraid to use them. Which you can guess what happens next.
The last thing I wanted was a litter box in my bedroom, however, yesterday I bought a third box and placed it here with the hopes that the two who were now afraid to go into the basement and have to deal with the monster Yoko would use this one. This morning we were awakened early by Yoko deciding to guard this one as well…It’s getting to the point where we are going to have to find a home for her where she will be the only cat or she’s going to have to be locked up in a separate room at night so that the other cats can have some peace…and be able to use the litter box…
I wanted to watch Gone with the Wind, which is a two part DVD, the first part of the movie played wonderfully, the second DVD? Damaged beyond watching, which has been a problem with other Netflix movies in the past. It makes for a frustrating watching event because this would mean next weekend I’d be one movie less to watch the second one that was messed up this weekend.
Looking at the DVD it’s hard to imagine how Netflix could not notice it was messed up. It makes me remember what I went through when I tried to watch the end of Gods & General’s. After seven different attempts to watch the ending with all of the DVD’s messed up, I gave up…
I had heard the various joke lines and references to the whole “I will drink your milkshake” but I had not watched “There will be Blood” until last night. I have to admit it was okay but the movie at times dragged and it wasn’t the type of movie that you felt that the “bad guy” met his just rewards. Which is probably a more accurate portrayal of the way things were during the oil rush, so it was not a bad movie, I’ve seen far worse.
The other day someone expressed being offended by the phrase, “pot calling the kettle black” and suggested that it was a racist statement. It made me start thinking because it’s not racial, it’s reality, when a pot heats up over a fire, the smoke turns the pot black, that’s where the phrase generated from. I’ve also seen offense taken with the word “black hole”, when in space, that’s what it is, the color black and it’s a hole. I’m waiting for it to get to the point when talking about blackheads is stated to be a racial slur. Which with as silly as things have gotten at times? It probably already has…It also makes me wonder why there has not been more of an uprising over what the color black is in Spanish…
Internet friendships can lull you into a false sense of security when it comes to what type of personal information you share with someone. Recently I discovered that someone that I thought was a friend didn’t keep things confidential that had been shared and worse yet? Actually gave private information to someone who disagreed with me politically so that they tried to threaten me with the information. Before you speculate, it wasn’t anything about me, but was about one of my children who have nothing to do with my political blogging and when I called their bluff? Ended up not being used. Read the rest of this entry »
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