July 10, 2015

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 10, 2014, Florida Potemkin tour.
Five years ago today: July 10, 2010, on electric bass design.
Six years ago today: July 10, 2009, how to get on this blog.

MORNING
           The media is having fun with the Italian Hacking Team, the outfit that sells Internet surveillance software. In a sense, the threat is over-rated since all the software does is automate certain existing tracing and scanning capabilities. Plus to really work well, it has to implant itself on a chip in your phone or computer. In that sense, it is more like a remote control which makes it another reason smart people do not use smart phones.

           Since the package sells for $56,000, it’s not likely everybody will want one—but wait, that is not what was stolen, er cough, cough, I mean hacked. Personally, I would not pay that much money for anything made in Italy. Anything. I mean, think about it. A hacking team dumb enough to go on-line where its own product can be turned against itself?
           My private data is not on a computer, but if it was, it would be a computer with all the input/output ports plastered shut with epoxy. When I say remote control, that is how the software works. It can be remotely activated to read your operating system and follow commands issued from Milan, Italy.
           The [Hacking Team] sell it by the trade name “Galileo” and it works by “highlighting relevant data”. See photo. The media under-reported what was actually taken. The hackers got the code that allowed the company to control who used the software. How fast can you type i-n-s-i-d-e-j-o-b.
           Hacking Team makes continual statements that it monitors usage to claim they ensure the system is never used for evil. But they have sold it to Ethiopia and Nigeria, and the US government. Organizations that are somewhat less than champions of your personal right to privacy. But there is no public outcry, because those who have nothing to hide seem supremely confident that they and their children will NEVER have anything to hide forever and ever, Amen.

NOON

           “We pay for the mistakes of our ancestors, and it seems only fair they leave us the money to pay with.” ~Don Marquis. He’s the original writer that typed only lower-case letters.

           Boo to Fort Lauderdale, essentially outlawing Uber. Of course I disagree, it is nothing but a money grab. That city quit issuing new taxi licenses 20 years ago. Nothing lasts 20 years in Florida unless somebody with a big gun or equivalent doesn’t want it to change. To paraphrase City Hall, “You gotta problem with that?”

           Today’s ass-hat award goes to Stacy Ritter, not because she wrongly opposes Uber, but because she supports the most vile of tax systems: based on the other man’s perceived ability to pay. And guess who is doing the perceiving? Uber should pay, she says, because “they have lots of money”. Well, Stacy, using that logic, we won’t state what it is you should go do because you have lots of, well, we won’t say. And you wonder why the whole world hates you-know-whats.
           Strange as it seems, she keeps getting re-elected by landslides. Well, strange, that is, until you see what she is running against. I don’t usually talk politics on that level, but I’m pretty sure the Pillsbury Dough Boy would win running against the crop of complete whack-jobs that Broward Country fertilizes with kickback money, and other things that stink. And any resemblance between Ritter and the Doughboy is coincidental. Meaning the Doughboy is funny.
           As examples of her humor, she strongly criticizes Uber for fighting back. How dare they fight back. They should be groveling before her. And she says if Uber leaves, they do so “voluntarily”. Either that or it’s a $500 fine or six months in the slammer. Evidently she studied contract law by watching reruns of The Godfather.
           In a similar vein, Canada is considering taxing the homeless, called “making them accountable”. The idea is placing a monetary value on the free meals they eat at shelters. Same with donated clothing and shelter itself (at the rate of a hotel room) would be taxed as income. I wonder how they would collect this tax? FEMA camps? In a Ritter-like statement, the government says this move will “give the homeless better self-esteem and an enhanced sense of fitting into mainstream society”.
           From an estimated one million users, it seems the only opponents to Uber in Broward are the 3,200 regular cab drivers and 35 people at City Hall. What does that tell you? Now, trivia. How many drunks do the police actually catch with road stops? Less than 0.00207%. That means to catch 5 bad guys, the police stop 2.407 innocent drivers. Obviously, there is some other factor at work here. They could just stand outside the bar and catch more. But as it is, it's enough to give us the impression the police like stopping people. Or something.

AFTERNOON
           First of all, let me say that I love to shop at the Russian market. Everything there is better, fresher, more wholesome, less plastic, for real, and just generally better for you. Compared to what you find in an American market, what you get is always moist, crisp, and juicy. For instance, you just know the tomatoes in front of this lady shopper are firm and ripe and will stay that way long enough to meet your expectation. You just know the goods are real and free from artificial ingredients and genetic modifications. The produce is plump and stays that way long after you get it home. And it stays that way until you either use it up or throw it out.

           The Miami band I applied for did not return my call. Fine, it’s their loss. A big chuckle to the sudden spate of bands looking for “bass w/lead vocals”. Such groups are a waste of time. It means the group consists of a guitarist who can’t sing and drummer who can’t fart on key. You just know what the guitar player has in mind. He can focus on his incredible ten-minute riffs and let you do a four-bar bass break once or twice during the show.
           I have yet to see a band where the bass lines don’t suffer whenever the bassist sings. I watched (more like studied) the band [above] videos and they take some getting used to. I’ve met the singer somewhere, likely Churchill’s. She’s assertive, you know the sort, over 40 but still wears a hippie flower in her hair. With that standup bass [they have now], every song is faked. But they gig, and that overrides all other considerations for me.
           They have a mandolin and fiddle player, though these musicians rarely last. I see in a separate ad they are also looking for a guitar player. Hmmm, no bassist, no guitarist, that’s not much of a five-piece group. The singer strums acoustic and sings, which as you know is enough for me to get us booked. I can’t figure why they have not yet called back, but it sounds like the core of the band has just headed for the hills.
           Additionally, I contacted an ad, a singer looking for a band. Talented, studio trained, but terrible stage presence. I didn’t have the heart to tell her. “Glee” put aside, the music world is not that forgiving or accepting of self-conscious teens already packing on the pounds. She has youthful exuberance, which someone is sure to take for their own purposes, but once that is gone, she is going to come out of the meatgrinder a bitter middle-aged wannabe. I advised her to learn some guitar chords and strike out on her own.

EVENING
           Trump. He’s making the right moves. I don’t like the guy, but he’s gaining and he has already done almost everything his detractors said were impossible. I admire the way he refuses to apologize for telling the truth and I’ll make a prediction. If he makes it, it will because he keeps repeating the point that politicians cannot do what he does. He is totally right about that, that they are all talk, while he is a doer.

           And who doesn’t love the way he calls media people stupid? Or points out nobody respects them, or how they lie. And he uses real names. Even friendly newspeople won’t let him finish his sentences, a sure sign that they can’t deal with him because he isn’t playing their little game. Every century has its dark horses and I’m beginning to hope he makes it.
           What I see emerging is support for his stance on closing the border. That is the single most uniting issue in America. Depending on how the question is asked, some polls show 70% of the country wants that fence built. Other polls, well they go ridiculous with false dichotomy wording. “Do you want an open border or are you Satan?”
           Speaking of business deals, the particular piece of property that I chose almost randomly (I liked the color) has been chosen for special treatment by the seller. Remember, I’ve been watching nearly two dozen properties and would know [within a day] when something changes. In this instance, the seller has paid to have the exact property re-appraised and re-valued at $20,000 higher price. And have SEO’d the picture to come to the top of the front page on every search.
           They have then added a line to the description and to the pop-up that the “auction estimate” has now been raised from $100 to, get this, $112,000.
           It is uncanny.
           Explain to me how, of the 23 places we looked at, did the [seller] bank know which one I had chosen?
           (I immediately changed all my passwords.)

ADDENDUM
           The numbers are in and this blog has suffered an 88% decline in readership since the social media sites attained critical mass. Peak month ever was December 2013 and the real bite began in June of 2014, with a steady decline since then. The other side of the coin is that the blog has become a habit and it is widely recognized that outfits like Twitter are fads. As such, it is questionable they will endure the next “app for dummies” conjuration.
           What’s lacking in Facebook and Twitter is the same thing that doomed chat rooms and bulletin boards—the average user could not make money off them. As soon as something comes along with that option, poof! Nor do I see any evidence that anything published on those sites ever become, in itself, a major or enduring work. They lack content, which is one certain way to quick death in the writing trade.
           Thus, I will likely continue publishing to an audience of less than 10,000 per month, in some months much less. The good news is sparse, but I will reach 15% of my lifetime readership goal in slightly over 13 days from now. If this was a book, there were several months I would have made the NYT Bestseller list. I now accept there are times (usually between 1:00AM and 3:30AM) when nobody is reading, something that never used to happen.
           Hits have smoothed out a new lower level, so I’ve decided to continue publishing in case the whole texting fad gets replaced by the next round. I’ve tried other blogs for different topics and content, but nothing comes close to the vast total of visitors to this puppy. Not bad, I conclude, for something that was never meant to vie for market share.

           Most popular day: April 24, 2010, Holly does her thing.
           Second most popular day: September 14, 2013 Larry the Lizard.
           Lowest month: July 2010 with 489 hits.
           Lowest month in the past 12: February 2010 with 2,346 hits.


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