Here is a cheery photo I call “National ID Card”. What’s wrong with a national ID card? Lots of countries have used them in the past. Besides, only people with something to hide don’t like the idea. What could be more harmless, all you have to do is carry your card. And if the cards don’t work out, we can always change the law back again. Just remember to bring your ID card so you can vote, but other than that, it is secret ballot.
I see my lecture on computer ciphers of y’day had plenty of impact. Folks, if you need or want more information, I remind you that I am not an authority on these topics. They merely interest me. But due to demand, I will hand out a little more cautionary advice. Yes, we all love free wireless service, whether it is Starbucks or the neighbor’s un-WEP’d router. But goddammit people, you never use money services over a WiFi network. No banking, stocks, paypal, and never over your cell phone either. Don’t be a Panera Pinhead. For all cash transactions, go home and use your wired computer. And don’t retort about https, which is only secure for authentication, not for communication.
Here’s an item of interest to few. Much of the profiling software of the world is being developed in Canada, a country with few personal privacy safeguards. “When guns are outlawed, only Mounties will have guns.” A new system is available to scan crowds to measure who is not smiling hard enough. The program singles out people who are exhibiting “suboptimal perkiness”, who will then be “questioned further”.
One can only imagine the distorted uses of such a product. Available from a company called “Omniperception” in the province of British Columbia. Make damn sure you are cheering for the right hockey team, you cheeseheads, or out come the cuffs.
Remember Wallace and I went to Coral Castle? There is a new theory of how old Ed moved the blocks. We all know he was a Lithuanian stonemason and used a block and tackle. And he worked at night because of the Florida heat. Some dude named Hoagland says old Ed used a willow branch to dowse the land for “energy” to levitate the coral blocks, which probably weigh about half that of stone with the same dimensions. (If you think the theory is valid, you should also know that Hoagland is the same guy who discovered that face on Mars. Know what I’m sayin’?)
Later, I went to Borders to read, so my perennials Popular Science and Popular Mechanics provide today’s new product information. My favorite is a sensor in cars which uses GPS to report the location of potholes in the road. My least favorite is the military plan to implant electrodes in insect larvae so they are born ready to wire with sensors and weapons energized by the bugs own wingpower. (I won’t mention their use in the upcoming Sino-Russian War of 2014 because nobody is supposed to know about that yet.)
Both these magazines get a big fat zero for “smiletrain” charity ads. This is the disgusting practice with those pictures of hairlipped babies making the rounds. Good going, editors, you are sensitive beyond the call of duty. We all love to sit down with our donut and coffee and see that. We can hardly wait for “hemorrhoidtrain”. Ad money is great, but you all have rocks in your heads. The only thing that would have made me angrier is if I’d paid for the magazines.
I also see that Forbes has picked up on my pet prediction about February 2011. They’ve adjusted a few details, such as saying the Baby Boom began in 1947, but we agree closely enough on the numbers. They say 3 to 4 million per year, where I said 10,000 per day. Forbes’ resources swamp my own; I admit using a calculator I got at the dollar store. Forbes says the bust will occur in stages that parallel what’s happening in Japan.
This means several more mood swings in the stock market before most (96% or 81,600,000) of the old people lose everything. It is a formula, there is not enough money to go around. You lived your lives playing big shot on credit, now you pay it back. And that is that. Same goes for your kids who you raised to think the same way. I don’t have to work at Forbes to tell you the taxi driving jobs are all taken.
Today’s trivia says that in Peru, it takes 728 steps to obtain a certificate of land title. Hmm, in American, it takes that many dollars, doesn’t it? Goddam, we are efficient in this land.
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