August 18, 2014

Yesteryear
One year ago today: August 18, 2013, beware of Softonics.
Five years ago today: August 18,2009, gig thieves.
Ten years ago today: August 18, 2004, it's a Toyota.

           Want to get people NOT to vote for you? Pile them up in front of the public library like this morning. They are like a pack of ugly little kids playing politics. They got their little sign and their Styrofoam hat and they talk as stupid as they look. They also block the sidewalk and one patron finally called the police. What a spectacle that was. The mouthpiece for the voter people was one unusually stupid old fart who made a total fool of himself and his bunch. “Which half of the sidewalk do you want me off?” he kept repeating as if he’s discovered a legal principle. Politics, the most disgusting of all adult activities.

           Now don’t confuse politics with ordinary street-level organized behavior necessary for daily functions, I’m okay with that. But the idea of thinking you can elect somebody to go 2,000 miles away and represent you is goofy. Once he gets over the horizon with your tax dollar, you are the last thing he’s going to represent.
           The old fart was too dumb to understand it wasn’t politics. They just wanted you off the sidewalk. And in the ditch where you belong. Jeez, these Florida dorks, you gotta spell it out for them. He was even wearing his “old-geezer” hat. So you can tell how stupid he is from a half-mile away.
I finally left and went to the Russian store for a soda and chips. I’ve developed a taste for these dried and fried break chips. You have to like the ingredients. “Old bread. Left-over sunflower oil. Cheap sugar. Ordinary salt.” That’s a lot better for you than whatever’s inside a bag of Frito-Lay’s.

           I learned a new term, “doxxing”. This is to uncover the identity of someone who wants to remain anonymous and post it on the Internet. My guess is this will become the decisive issue in new laws to restrict the activity. Public records make some sensitive information available and that has spawned the despicable business of also making it easily available. The idle troublemakers of the world love databanks. And remember, a hacker is anybody who knows more about computers than I do. Just like a showoff is any kid more talented than yours.
           Worst culprits? Google, Facebook, and MicroSoft. All have slipped in new clauses to their terms of service (which you agree to by clicking the same button you have for years) which relinquish your right to join a class action against the companies. Obviously they know something you don’t.

           I spent the afternoon in the library listening to all the snoring people. Like I told you, when it is this hot, either run your electric up to $200 a month or go to the library. But everybody knows that and you get a percentage who fall asleep. To many for the library to really do much about. The library means trivia, and here is what I found out today.
           A pelorus is that ring thingee you see in the old navy movies. I thought it was some kind of rangefinder, but it is known as a “dumb compass”. See photo. It is used in sight of fixed objects on land when the ship is within eyesight of the shore. Any two readings give a line of position and you are at the point where they cross.
           And those “Captcha” verification boxes that pop up time to time on the Internet are more than a snappy name. Used to verify the user is not a computer, it stands for “completely automated public Turing test”, an algorithm that is supposed to weed out robots. Turing is, well, that’s one you can look up on your own. He was first with the binary and computer thing, and being first is can be the social and financial equivalent of being a genius.