Tech News

Three members of You Tube Channel High on Life die in tragic accident. C|Net:

[Megan Scraper] ...  slipped and fell from the top of the falls into the water below[.]
[.]
[Ryker Gamble and Alexey Lyakh] jumped in after her in an attempt to save her, but no one survived.

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Will your financial institution survive a tech meltdown? BBC Tech:

UK banks have been told to explain how they would cope with a technology failure or cyber-attack.

The Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority have given financial firms three months to detail how they would respond if their systems failed.

Does this really matter since...The Illuminati controls everything?!?!?!
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Gadgets Now: Over 50% of smartphones not password protected.

[A Kaspersky Lab survey] showed that less than 48 per cent of people password-protect their mobile devices and just 14 per cent of people encrypt their files and folders to avoid unauthorized access.

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Do we have a say in this? Amazon wants Alexa EVERYWHERE.  PC Mag:

[We caught up with Zain Gulamali who manages the $100 million Alexa Fund] and [posed]  a few questions about the personal digital assistant and its future.

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Extreme Tech: Self-driving Acura steers driver into oncoming traffic:

...the camera that peers ahead through the windshield needs to be re-aligned when the windshield is replaced.

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eWeek: WordPress had some security vulnerabilities:

A new version of open-source content management system WordPress, 4.9.7, was released on July 5 that patches a pair of security vulnerabilities that could expose WordPress sites to risk.

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Mobile Syrup - Canada is having a tough time retaining cyber talent:

...Canadian demand for cyber talent is increasing by seven percent annually.
[.]
Deloitte says addressing cybersecurity risks is critical because they could slow the pace of global technological innovation by as much as $3 trillion USD in lost economic value in 2020.

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Having issues with Win 10? ZD Net: Some free tech and trouble shooting tips:

Windows 10 upgrade: Survey finds half of users experience problems[.] (Win users...experiencing...problems? Really?-DD)

Dump Win; Covert to Linux.
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Beta News: The NSA is deleting millions of files.

The NSA...has announced that it is deleting hundreds of millions of call and text records because of "technical irregularities".
[.] While full details of the reasons for the deletion are not given, the NSA notes that it collected data it was not authorized to collect.

..."because of technical irregularities." Anyone buying this? It's reassuring that the NSA collects info they're not authorized to collect, isn't it?
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Tech Explore - Bandages go high-tech.

[Engineers] led by Tufts University developed a prototype bandage designed to actively monitor the condition of chronic wounds and deliver appropriate drug treatments to improve the chances of healing.

Credit: Tufts University

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Engadget - Pot In a Blender:

The Rosinbomb Rocket is a $600, 13-pound tabletop rosin extractor designed to squeeze and melt the THC crystals present on the surface of the flower into a solventless dabbable hash similar to shatter. Think of it as a panini press for weed.

[.]...tokers can get stonier than a rock garden.

I don't know what any of it means. Is this about rock gardens...comments,  anyone?
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File Hippo - Free data recovery software for Windows that boasts a 96% recovery rate.

Recoverit retrieves your data from all data loss scenarios including emptied recycle bin, accidental deletion, disk formatting, partition loss, external device corruption, virus attack, system crashes...[.]

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Have you ever wondered why cruise ships and yachts are painted white? Technology.Org:

Container ships and all other kinds of cargo and fishing ships are all kinds of colours...[while] cruise ships and luxury yachts are usually white. Why?

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And because I know you've been waiting on this news: Pokémon Quest downloaded 7.5 million times.  Mobile Syrup:

The game launched on May 30th for the Nintendo Switch and was followed on June 27th with a mobile release across iOS and Android. Pokémon Quest has been climbing the charts[.]

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The Rosinbomb Rocket-Image: Marijuana Retail Report.com

Friday Morning Music Video

"Love Stinks" from the album Love Stinks by The J. Geils Band

Did you notice what drummer Steven Bladd is using as drum sticks?

EU Thumbs Down on Copyright Reform

So far, so good, on news with the EU Copyright Reform (EU CR).

The Globe Post - Parliament rejected the bill in a 318 to 278 vote. 31 lawmakers abstained.

The European Parliament voted against a proposed controversial legislation that would require internet companies and users to take more extensive measures to prevent copyright infringement, a bill that was denounced as a threat to internet freedom.

As is "the devil is in the details", the EU copyright reform is overflowing with the devil, especially with Article 11 and Article 13.

Why is this legislation important? Had it been approved, I don't think it would have crushed news aggregators, blogs, social media and others that reproduce copyrighted material. It would have made what now is a relatively simple and fair concept into a deeply tangled mess.

While there is the component of this being a U.S./EU copyright issue, the much bigger elephant to tackle - and really, it can't be - are electronic file formats.

Had the proposed EU Copyright Reform passed, it would have created a mountain of problems, the least severe being reproducing copyrighted text. Text is text. Far more unmanageable is regulating a myriad of electronic file formats.

One example from the failed EU CR is its lack of definition in licensing copyrighted material. ArsTechnia:

...the [EU CR] proposed law does not explain how [licensing] could be done for fragmented markets where there is no single licensing body. Alternatively, online services must "prevent the availability on their services of works or other subject-matter identified by rightsholders."

Image: CDev

This is nothing new, though. Ask the music industry about their track record regarding licensing and copyright. They've been trying to define and figure it out for decades.

Th EU CR is not a dead issue. The EU Parliament will revive this copyright reform in a few months. CDRinfo: 

Parliament's position will now be up for debate, amendment, and a vote during the next plenary session, in September.

Technology consistently out-paces attempts of its regulation and law. This will never change.

The EU cannot define what it wants to define. I'm not sure any type of government, coalition or organization can do what the EU is attempting. At least it isn't the UN sticking its finger in this pie. The EU CR was thankfully voted down. I don't think they're going to figure it out come September either.

Ed Schultz, former Air America personality dead at 64

January 27, 1954 – July 5, 2018

I was surprised to read that radio and television personality Ed Schultz died. Twin Cities.com:

Sources in Fargo, N.D., say that Schultz died of natural causes in Washington, D.C. He was 64.
[.]
 He [dominated] local airwaves as a conservative firebrand in the 1990s.

However, he later said his views changed and he became a Democrat.

In 2004, Schultz took his radio show nationwide. Then in 2009, he moved to national television, becoming a prime-time progressive voice on MSNBC.

What are "natural causes" at age 64? Yes, 64 isn't 35 or 48...but 64 due to natural causes?

He later moved on working for RT News.

To say that I didn't think all that much of Ed Schultz is an understatement. Ed could get rather nasty at times, and, blogging at my old site, yeah...I took some sharp jabs at many things he said. I thought he was rather buffoon-ish and, I wrote it in the past so I can't deny it (nor would I) - I referred to him as, "Big, Fat and Dumb."

Maybe he spoke outlandish, beyond-the-point-of-pushing-the-envelope statements in order for ratings/attention/more gigs/enduring himself to the Fringe Left? I don't know. I do know I think it is very...very NOT nice...to refer to anyone as " a dead whore. " Well...I guess Ed had his demons, as do we all. And, not judging here, only noting that some of us deal with, and process, our demons better - or worse - than do others.

Back then, Air America was trying to build a successful, Liberal-oriented talk network that would compete with conservative talk radio. To make it successful, (which it was not),  it's entirely possible their on-air hosts spoke outrageous and pretty darn venomous  statements pandering to, what then was, a very agitated Liberal Fringe, the same agitated Liberal Fringe we have currently.

Some of the things he said on his radio program provided me fun material to play with.

No gloating here, though, on the news of his passing. I wish his family, friends and colleagues my condolences and sympathy.

As (the character) Doc (played by Russell Hodgkinson ) says in the (fantastic) series Z Nation, "...all is forgiven in the end."

RIP "Big Eddy".

World News - July 5, 2018

Some fun Independence day facts. Voice of America - Crunching Numbers of the 4th of July. 
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Sky News:  Meet the British divers who found the Thai football team trapped in the cave.

Rick Stanton and John Volanthen were the first rescuers to reach the group of young footballers and their coach[.]

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(At publishing time) British couple critically ill, exposed to Novichok nerve agent. Xinhua Net:

A British couple critically ill in hospital have been poisoned by the same nerve agent used in the recent attack on a former Russian agent and his daughter[.]
[.]
Britain's most senior counter-terrorism cop [confirmed] that a couple from Wiltshire have been exposed to the nerve agent Novichok, and are both critically ill in hospital.

More: Dawn Sturgess, 44, and her partner Charlie Rowley, 45 fighting for their lives. The Express:

It is not thought the couple had links to Russia.

More: The Express: Timeline of key events in the Novichok poisonings.

More: RT News: Twitter awash in conspiracy theories:

What is claimed to be a new case of Novichok poisoning of an unsuspecting British couple has made Twitter explode, with users finding links between the incident and the World Cup, Brexit, and even alleging it was an inside job.

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The EU Copyright Issue:

(At publishing time) Here comes the vote on the EU's controversial copyright law. BBC:

The two most controversial parts of it are Article 11 and Article 13.
[.]
The first of these is...called the "link tax."
[.]
Article 13 puts more onus on websites to enforce copyright laws and could mean that any online platform that allows users to post text, images, sounds or code will need a way to assess and filter content.

More: The Register: Privacy group raises eyebrows at EU copyright reform.

... the idea of getting web giants to proactively stop copyrighted material from appearing online is a good one in theory, but in practice is fraught with danger.

More: CityAM: Will the EU copyright reform break the internet?  (Internet inventor Albert Gore, Jr. will be able to fix it!)

More: CityAM: Paul McCartney pro EU copyright reform.

More: Billboard: Is this the expected outcome of the vote?

More: Crooked Timber: When copyright goes wrong.

More: Japan Times: Wikipedia protests EU copyright by going dark.

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Houston Chronicle: Angel Merkel warns of worldwide financial crisis.

(Is she setting the stage for the "big world event" to crash the global economy? Is she the Illuminati's messenger of bad news?)
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Jaguar Land Rover have Brexit fears. Daily Mail:

A hard Brexit would cost Jaguar Land Rover £1.2billion a year curtailing its future operations in the UK, the British carmaker's chief executive warned yesterday.

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The Epoch Times - Stress tests for Canadian mortgages:

The new rules mandate that borrowers must qualify for interest rates 2 percent higher than the rate of the mortgage they apply for.

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BBC:  Kim Dotcom loses appeal against extradition:

New Zealand's Court of Appeal upheld the decision that Mr Dotcom and three others can be extradited to stand trial for copyright infringement and fraud.

The charges are related to Mr Dotcom's now defunct fire-sharing website Megaupload, which allowed millions of people to download digital content.
[.]
It is now up to New Zealand's Justice Minister Andrew Little to decide whether extradition should take place.

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SMH: Sydney, a 24 hour city.

Round-the-clock public transport, less red tape for businesses, and a shift in the popular narrative that the city shuts down at night, are among the priorities identified by the City of Sydney's nightlife and creative sector advisory panel.

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The Express - China asks EU to join-up against the U.S. on trade and tariffs:

A European diplomat said: “China wants the European Union to stand with Beijing against Washington, to take sides.

“We won’t do it and we have told them that.”

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Trade War "D-Day" for Trump. The New Zealand Herald:

The first round of US tariffs - on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods - comes into effect on Friday night (NZT) and with it fears that we'll see the start of a full blown trade war.

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Is the Answer buying commodities? Live Mint:

...Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has poured cold water on the notion that a trade war between the US and China represents a serious threat to raw materials, saying most of them aren’t likely to be significantly impacted[.]
[.]
[The] trade war impact on commodity markets will be very small, with exception of soybeans[.]

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Dealers arrested; had two tons of gold coins.  Trend News:

Iranian police arrested two gold coin dealers in Tehran, saying that the arrested people were responsible for gold coin price stagnation in the market.
[.]
...police have seized 20 kilograms of gold coin and gold from [them].

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I hope this doesn't increase bacon prices. From The Hill - Tariffs will devastate US pork producers:

...some major U.S. pork producers fear they will lose a significant amount of money once China and Mexico implement the tariffs, forcing some to move their investments overseas.

Image: Pinterest

Happy 4th of July - Independence Day!

Flag via: http://bestanimations.com/Flags/USA/USA.html

A Happy and Safe Independence Day / 4th of July to All.

And let us never forget the significance of this day.  Military.com:

On July 4, 1776, the thirteen colonies claimed their independence from England, an event which eventually led to the formation of the United States.
[.]
In a June 7 session in the Pennsylvania State House (later Independence Hall), Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presented a resolution with the famous words: "Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

And to those who served or currently serve in any branch of the U.S. Military, who served to protect our freedoms and who put their lives on the line for our freedoms, this day would not exist if not for you. God Bless you.

 Image via: Gify

Minneapolis 4th of July Fireworks to be held Indoors

Due the possibility of inclement weather conditions, the Minneapolis City 4th of July fireworks display has been rescheduled and will be held indoors.

From The Eritas County Ledger:

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey  announced that due to expected rainstorms tonight, the July 4th fireworks display will take place indoors at the Minneapolis City Armory at 10PM. Liberals and Democrats and Antifa planning to attend are requested to wear non-flame-retardant clothing.

A Public Service Announcement to The Anti-Smoking Nazis: Stay away from fireworks!

First, this post pertains to the obnoxious, Anti-Smoking Nazi Little Eichmanns. Not the conscientious, polite non-smokers who nicely request no smoking in their home, car or around them. I have no problem with those folks. And yeah, I smoke. Not much. A pack of cigs lasts me about a week. I had quit, but not having a cig with morning coffee is blasphemy, so I started again. And one or two in the evening. That's the extent of my smoking.

This post is directed at the virulent, jack-booted, goose-stepping Anti-Smoking thugs.

And you know what? For once, I am in full agreement with the Anti-Smoking Nazis. Yep. I've gone fully "Left" on this issue. And I apologize, and deeply regret referring, to this wonderful group of concerned citizens as Anti-Smoking Nazi Little Eichmanns. They only care about us. I didn't realize it at the time. May the ASNLE's forgive me and how I treated them in the past. You were and are right. I was wrong. Way, way wrong. Wronger than wrong can be.

I agree wholly, fully and completely with the Anti-Smoking Nazis that there is simply no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke. None. Not one single mini-micro-particle of any type of second-hand smoke can ever be considered acceptable or safe.

So please, my newly found comrades, for the sake of your health and for the  lives of the children, DO NOT attend any 4th of July fireworks displays.

Actually, we must end all fireworks displays. For you see, fireworks are toxic. Moffitt.org:

[Firework display smoke] combustibles can produce toxic fallout that poses serious human health and environmental dangers.
[.]
...fireworks are made up of gun powder, accelerant, heavy metals and numerous contaminants, such as ozone, carbon dioxide, nitric oxide and sulfur dioxide. The toxic smoke and dust produced during firework displays can be inhaled directly into the lungs. The negative health effects of fireworks go far beyond temporary lung inflammation and respiratory problems, however.

Carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting chemicals released by fireworks can later invade the body through contaminated water or soil. That’s because firework displays often take place over oceans, rivers and lakes, and the resulting toxic fallout can directly contaminate water sources. In addition to posing a direct health risk to humans, these pollutants can affect fish and other aquatic life, and eventually move up the food chain.

The dangerous chemicals released during firework displays can wreak havoc on the human body, affecting the endocrine system, immune system, gastrointestinal system and metabolism, as well as the neurotransmitters in the brain.

Basic, common knowledge tells us we know that if we smell something, anything, we are actually inhaling micro-particles of the substance that we smell. And since there is absolutely no safe level of smoke, or second-hand smoke, we cannot and must not allow fireworks displays to continue.

And all that particulate matter from the fireworks smoke finds its way into the earth and water supply. The only logical conclusion is that if you are adamantly opposed to any level of second-hand cigarette smoke, you must hold and apply the same standard to the smoke and pollution caused by fireworks displays.

You don't want to poison the air and the water with toxic fallout from fireworks displays, do you?

In fact, if you oppose eliminating fireworks displays, you can only be an environment-hating, alt-Right-Hate-mongering Racist Republican who doesn't care at all about dirty air and filthy water.

Need more evidence? Well, check out Medical Xpress:

...[fireworks] displays are achieved by adding metals to the gunpowder. When a pyrotechnic display takes place it releases a lot of smoke, liberating minute metallic particles (of a few microns in size, or even less), which are small enough to be inhaled deeply into the lungs.
[.]
[Studies] confirm that the levels of lead, copper, strontium, potassium and magnesium skyrocketed after the fireworks were launched.
[.]
...researchers analysed [sic] the levels of more than 30 chemical elements and compounds [and found high concentrations of] lead, copper, strontium, potassium and magnesium skyrocketed after the fireworks were launched. [In addition], fireworks smoke includes high concentrations of] aluminium [sic], titanium, barium and antimony, and also concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) and sulphur dioxide (SO2).
[.]
The researcher compares the problem with that of tobacco.

For your health, and for all that is sacred and holy, my dear, newly-found kindred Anti-Smoking Nazis, stay indoors during all fireworks displays. Close all the windows and doors. Shut the shades. Tie a bandanna, or better yet a surgical breathing mask - and wear it for at least a full 24 hours after any fireworks display.

And take an added step of caution that I plan on doing, not to watch fireworks displays through a window. Who knows, it could be very hazardous.

And the children, oh - oh - oh, the children. You must keep them far, far away and indoors from any type of fireworks display. It would be nothing short of child endangerment, abuse and neglect if we allowed them to attend a fireworks display.

Even "smoke bombs" and "snakes" release toxins. You wouldn't give your child a lit cigarette, would you? It goes to reason, then, you don't want your child near any type of small-scale firework that emits metallic toxins and poisonous smoke.

Yes, I was against this group of goose-stepping Anti-Smoking Eichmann Kill-joys.  But no more. I am one with you. We are one. I am you. I am Negan. You are Negan. We are all Negan.

You can't possibly oppose all second-hand cigarette smoke and not oppose the toxic pollutants from fireworks. If there's one thing I now know, it's that Uber Liberal Anti-Cigarette Nazis are not hypocrites. No, they care. They really do. And that's what I overlooked for so long. Again, I'm sorry...Mea Culpa.

It's time to end this hazardous, polluting and toxic tradition of fireworks.

Lard Lad Fat Bastard Michael Moore Needs Ten People

The Fat Bastard, Michael Moore, says he will join a million other people in surrounding the U.S. Capitol in protesting President Donald Trump's Supreme Court selection. The Washington Examiner: 

...Moore said on Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO Friday, “I'll join a million other people surrounding the United States Capitol."  Moore was on the show to promote his upcoming anti-Trump movie, Fahrenheit 11/9.

Well, since Tubby is grotesquely obese enough to represent 999,990 individuals, there only need be ten more people joining him to total one million people.

And oh - gee - he appeared on "Real Time" to promote his upcoming movie "Fahrenheit 11/9".

Is this giant, lard filled Rubber so bereft of creativity he has to continually rip-off the partial title of the classic 1953 Ray Bradbury novel and the iconic 1966 film of the same name?

Can this Fat Fcuk do one, single act of altruism...maybe paying $ 2,251 on behalf of an orphan who is being sued by the Social Security Admin?

$2, 251 must be one-tenth of what The Fat Bastard spends daily on M&M's.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I'm sure the Fat Bastard's colossal obesity is glaaaaaaandular and not metabolic syndrome.

Tech News

The Revered Cone of Silence

And I thought the Cone of Silence was awesome...well it is, but check out...

...Science Daily - Spectral Cloaking:

Most current cloaking devices can fully conceal the object of interest only when the object is illuminated with just one color of light. However, sunlight and most other light sources are broadband, meaning that they contain many colors. The new device, called a spectral invisibility cloak, is designed to completely hide arbitrary objects under broadband illumination.

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Ars Technia - 1990 Technology For 2018:

I decided to enroll the Macintosh IIsi as my main computing system for a while. A 1990 bit of gear would now go through the 2018 paces. Just how far can 20MHz of raw processing power take you in the 21st century?

So how does 20MHz fare in 2018? You'll have to read the story.
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You've seen it, you've perhaps interfaced with it without even knowing. So, WTF is Dark Pattern Design? TechCrunch:

Manipulative timing is a key element of dark pattern design. In other words when you see a notification can determine how you respond to it. Or if you even notice it. Interruptions generally pile on the cognitive overload — and deceptive design deploys them to make it harder for a web user to be fully in control of their faculties during a key moment of decision.

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Remember this story when the U.S. - some day - thinks that this is the panacea to everything. ZD Net: India's digital Universal ID program is deeply flawed[.]

When the Indian government embarked on the plan to issue a compulsory nationwide universal identification (UIDAI) and accompanying digital payment system, the idea was that technology would act as an efficient tool for service delivery as well as a panacea for rampant corruption.

Well..how do you think it worked out?

A: Just as planned
B: It tanked, sucked and made things worse
C: It caused Pennywise  to appear

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Computer World: Win 10 1803 needs...

.

.

.

...wait for it...

.

.

.

...wait for it...

.

.

.
... Security patches. MS is stuck in 1992.

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ATTN GAMERS - Geek: Hitman 2 and an interview with Sven Liebold.
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All ECommerce: Study shows online retail experience embarrassingly slow.

* The Average Score This Year Was 45% - Retailers did not do well in this evaluation. In fact, the highest score this year was only a 63% - down from a D+ last year.
[.]
* Mobile Performance Is “Embarrassingly Slow”
* Third Party Requests Are Slowing Down Sites

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Is this fake news? Splinter News: White house want to enact FART Act.

...the White House wants Congress to pass a bill that “provides Trump a license to raise U.S. tariffs at will.” The bill is called the United States Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act.

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Extreme Tech: Facebook Files Patent For Exactly the Kind of Spying It Claims It Doesn’t Do.

In a patent application filed on June 14 and first discovered by the UK publication Metro, Facebook requested a patent on exactly the kind of system it has sworn that it never uses. 

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Technocracy: It's okay to hate Hungary because they don't kowtow to EU values. 

Hungary Refuses To Bow To the EU’s Imperial Technocracy[.]
[.]
The Hungarian government and in particular the prime minister, Viktor Orban, are continually denounced for their alleged violations of EU values. The mainstream Western media have picked up the message that it is okay to hate Hungary.

"What are EU Values?", has to be the answer/question to a Jeopardy Daily Double under the category "Extreme and Laughable Oxymorons."
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BGR: Consumer Reports investigates Comcast's hidden fees.

With the proliferation of add-on fees, it’s nearly impossible for consumers to find out the full cost of a cable package before they get locked into a contract[.]

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TechDirt: Some of their Comments of the Week. Kinda hard to give you a preview or snippet, ya just gotta go there and read it.
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NextGov: There is no White House Cyber Coordinator.

White House National Security Adviser John Bolton eliminated the cybersecurity coordinator position soon after taking office in May.

The elimination was greeted with consternation by many cyber analysts who believed [...] U.S. cyber policy, was too complex to be subsumed into broader White House operations.

This is a very valid concern.
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Security Week: Facebook app exposes data of 120 million: 

...privacy bug on Nametests.com resulted in the data of over 120 million users who took personality quizzes on Facebook to be publicly exposed.

Patched as part of Facebook’s Data Abuse Bounty Program, the vulnerability resided in Nametests.com serving users’ data to any third-party that requested it, something that shouldn’t normally happen.

I have such a hard time believing that the numerous data breaches of Facebook are "accidental."
- - -
UberGizmo: Camera explodes on the foot of a man trying to take videos up women's skirts.

...a 32-year old man from Wisconsin, [attempting to take] upskirt photos and videos [using] a camera he had attached to his shoe blew up on him. Thankfully this happened before he managed to get any actual footage because according to the reports, he was testing out the camera at home when the battery exploded.
[.]
He had to be taken to the hospital for his burns[.]
The action of upskirting is considered a felony under Wisconsin state law[.]

World News - July 1, 2018

Times of India: Angela Merkel attempts to calm her conservative critics.

Merkel's government has been pushed to the brink over the migration issue after allowing more than one million asylum-seekers into Germany since 2015.

The policy has provoked a backlash from Merkel's conservative CSU coalition[.]

- - -
Lucify: An asylum seeking map of immigration into Europe.  Scroll down to the map, hover your icon on various places on the map for detail.
- - -
Italy will not accept migrants from NGO orgs. BBC:

[Italy's Interior Minister] has often accused the NGOs of encouraging the trafficking of migrants.

- - -
The New Zealand Herald: North Korea fully expected to conceal the number of weapons it has and secret production facilities, according to U.S. officials.
- - -
Uber's gender pay gap. The Sydney Morning Herald:

A study of more than a million American Uber rideshare drivers has found male drivers get roughly 7 per cent more an hour, on average, than female drivers.

- - -
Metro: Four young men die in car accident with an Uber:

[They] crashed head-on with the Uber travelling [sic] from the opposite direction at around 2.40am on Saturday.

- - -

The Final Battle for Brexit. Political Betting: 

The Government has done nothing to prepare the public for any form of major concessions.
[.]
When the choice confronting Britain finally becomes apparent (probably in October), the public mood is likely to become sulphurous [sic].

- - -
Hindustan Times: Eleven members of a family were found hanging blindfolded in their home in north Delhi’s Sant Nagar near Burari on Sunday morning, said police.

...a neighbour with whom the businessman used to go for morning walks went to call him and found door open and found the family, including the businessman, hanging.
[.]
“The neighbour told us that the door usually remained closed. But on Sunday, it was open," [said police].

- - -
Restaurant manager fired for refusing to serve customer in MAGA Hat. The Epoch Times:

“... our manager went up to the gentleman and asked him to take off his hat, that he wouldn’t serve him with that hat on,”, [said Eva Gates, vice president of Human Resources for the Sequoia Group of Restaurants that owns the Teahouse].
[.]
In another statement, the company said they had fired [the manager] for violating the company’s “philosophy of tolerance.”

- - -

Is recycling rigged against us?  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Americans were not set up for success in recycling plastics.
[.]
Why such terrible rates? Partly because some changes that were supposed to make recycling simpler ended up making it almost impossible.

- - -
First Post: Boko Haram kills four civilians in an attack.

The gunmen entered the camp in the town of Banki near the border with Cameroon on bicycles and on foot Friday night and opened fire.

- - -
Trump's "Space Force" is for real. Washington Examiner: 

...the idea of a Space Force has captured the imagination of Internet memesters and Trump supporters alike.
[.]
“We're going to win at space,” Trump said to thunderous applause at a recent rally. “Space Force. People love that.”

- - -
The Telegraph: U.S. teachers receive training on using hand guns.

The curriculum includes handgun basics, range shooting, casualty care tactics and roleplaying with an active shooter and simulated fire.

- - -
Social Security Admin sues 6-year old orphan boy. Forbes:

It was Social Security’s mistake in every way, shape and form. Yet Social Security has a rule – if it pays us benefits due to their mistake, it’s our mistake and we have to repay.

Dylan is in absolutely no financial position to repay the $2,251.

- - -  
The Mirror: DNA proves innocent for a man who spent 23 years on death row. 

"... it took them 15 years to give me a DNA test for Mrs Craig’s murder – I watched other men walk free while I waited."

- - -
Kelo Land: Family creates their own ice cream truck.

One central Iowa family didn't have an ice cream truck in their neighborhood so they decided to take matters into their own hands and launch a family-owned business too.

TSA to grope snacks?

Here we go again, with the TSA groping your children and grandma snacks: The Day

TSA agents are instructing [passengers] to remove their snacks and other food items from their carry-ons and place them in those ubiquitous plastic bins for separate screening.

It's not part of agency's standard policy, according to TSA spokesman Mike England[.]
[.]
[The] "recommendation" appears to be gaining steam and moving rapidly into the territory of de-facto protocol[.]

Ho! We actually have a name of a person from the TSA instead of the usual, "The TSA says..."

"De-facto protocol"?!?!? The TSA is nothing but de-facto protocol.

What will the TSA do next...search your liver?

Fat Bastard Michael Moore says," We have to put our bodies on the line."

Leni Riefenstahl Lard Lad propagandist Michael Moore, says:

"The only way that we’re going to stop [President Donald Trump] is eventually we’re all going to have to put our bodies on the line. You’re going to have to be willing to do this."

Well...The Fat Bastard certainly has enough "body" to put on the line.

Because Fat Shaming the Fat Bastard is fun.

 

Click on the "labels" below for more Fat Bastard Fat Shaming.

Maybe...if the lines were painted 50 yards apart?!?!?!?

We've all seen the below, in person, or pics from a friend or online.  I'm probably the 189th million blogger/Tweeter/social media etc to post a pic like this...

...but we all agree, don't we, that the below would continue happening even if the white lines were 50 yards apart? Can I get an 'Amen'? Thanks.

(Actual image taken by me. Not a Pho-shop or a pic found via search).

Tesla Electric Cars: Dirty, Filthy, Polluting, Earth Destroying, Global Warming Escalatng Contributor

The pure, clean, enviro-friendly electric Tesla cars are no better for the environment than diesel or gas. Climate Change Dispatch:

Despite being recognized as among the most environmentally friendly on the market, Tesla vehicles harm the planet just about as much as their diesel and petrol equivalents, according to a recent analysis by Engaged Tracking, a London-based research firm.
[.]
This is because more CO2 is emitted during the manufacturing of electric vehicles, and the electricity Tesla vehicles in the U.K. require are generated mostly by coal and gas.
[.]
Tesla countered with: "the group’s findings, claiming the comparison of a Model S — a larger model — to an average vehicle is not fair."

Oh, gee - the "[ it's ] not fair" cry from the Left / Earth-Fcukers. What isn't unfair to them? When have they ever been "fair"?

Unfortunately for Tesla, this is not the first study that concluded electric cars proved no benefit to the environment.

From the same story/link above:

The Manhattan Institute published a report in May that analyzed the cost of electric automobiles and their effectiveness to clean the environment.

The Institute’s findings were quite notable: electric cars actually increase the amount of pollution into the atmosphere compared to new internal combustion vehicles.

So far, (and tech can change), electric cars provide no benefit to the environment. This information has no impact or effect on the Enviro-First-Facts-Don't-Matter crowd who will once again don their denial cap and undergo yet another session of flip of the switch.

Wolrd News - June 27, 2018

Lake County, CA Image: ©Canadian Press

 
Wildfire in Northern Cali rages. MSN:

The fire in Lake County north of San Francisco is now nearly 18 square miles[.]
[.]
... over the weekend residents had to evacuate all homes in the town of Spring Valley, where about 3,000 people live.

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India Today - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau  criticized for taking too many days off and worsening ties with India:

The Canadian Conservative Party's tweet..."Justin Trudeau is taking yet another "personal" day today.["]

- - -
SMH.au - Liberal Party gathering at a chicken and kebab shop turns into brawl:

There are conflicting stories on what caused the brawl.

- - -
Eurasia Review Op/Ed: Trump is right leaving the Iran deal.

...the Obama administration’s bad deal, [was] long on promises but short on verifiable claims of denuclearization by the Iranian regime.

- - -
The Week (UK): A "far-right" surge in Sweden.

EU’s most liberal country could be next to face populist earthquake, analysts suggest[.]
[.]
Dozens of people have been killed over the past two years by gangs mostly from run-down suburbs dominated by immigrants.
[.]
The rise in violence, which has been linked to Sweden’s liberal “open-door” policies[.]

- - -
Science Alert: Astronomers Are Freaking Out Over a Very, VERY BRIGHT Cow:

[The Cow] stood out [because] it was so unlike a standard exploding star.

Most events like it take several weeks to reach peak luminosity, but in the course of just three days, AT2018cow became about 10 times as bright as a normal supernova.

 Image: Clipartix

- - -

BBC|Northern Ireland:  When is it too hot to work? (Not just outside).

Beside a furnace...[which] is kept at around 1150F so it's hot anywhere close to it no matter the time of the year.

- - -
London South East: UK business, unions and workers want Brexit fast-tracked:

"We are calling on the UK government and the EU to inject pace and urgency in the negotiations, bringing about measurable progress, in particular a backstop arrangement to avoid a hard border in Ireland."

- - -
I News: Tampons should be free. (Are they being caged?)

Image: Vintage Paper ads

- - -

BBC: London mortuaries installing more coolers for obese people.

Funeral director Ashley McDonald recently had to install an extra-wide fridge to make sure his firm could keep up with a heavier population.

"We've bought fridges with a larger than standard door to help us to be sustainable for the future as people are getting larger."

- - -

Talk about a more appropriate time for the title of an Alice Cooper album:

Flush The Fashion

Flush it indeed. Take in the latest from the Paris Men's Fashion 2019 Spring/Summer collection.  Who is wearing these clothes and where? Other than the catwalk? There are 55 images. Keep on scrolling down the link...heck, maybe you will find something you like.
- - -
Typo fixed 6/27/2018

Woman goes meltdown whack on Spirit Airlines

How did this woman pass the TSA checkpoint, as opposed to the "threat" posed by a 96 year-old lady in a wheelchair?

It's too bad the TSA can't "pat-down" what's going on in someones mind. (Although I'm sure it's just a matter of time until the TSA implements technology that will read our thoughts and brain  before allowing us to board our flight).

(Possible short commercial prior to the plane video).

From ABC7 / Chicago:  

Passengers on a Spirit Airlines flight are describing what they saw when a woman had a mid-flight meltdown on the way from Houston to Minneapolis, [that occurred when] the flight made an emergency landing in Rochester, Minnesota, for a different passenger who needed medical attention.
[.]
During the intense one-minute, 20-second video, the woman curses, makes threats involving her brothers, and acts erratically before a plane full of stunned passengers.

"Get me the f*** off this (long string of expletives) plane!" the woman screams. "You want to be (expletive) and b**chy to me? You'll see me f***ing pissed."
[.]
"Do you know who my brothers are? They are f***ing Marine snipers. Do you want to f*** with a f***ing Marine?" she screams, before pushing her way toward the cockpit.

The ABC7 story mentions some believe the woman has PTSD, which, if so, I truly feel for her. But that's not justification for this behavior on an airplane or in public. I hope she seeks help before she harms herself and/or others.

Saint Maxine Waters, Patron Saint of Harassers and Bullies

In April, California Rep. Maxine Waters [D-LooneyBin], accused President Donald Trump of "bullying California."  (How do you 'bully' a landmass?) Truth Feed News:

Maxine Waters, the Cali Rep. who calls for Trump’s impeachment every other day, is now saying that Trump is bullying California because he didn’t win the state[.]
[.]
...she thought President Donald Trump was being “vindictive” and “taking it out” on California[.]

And in December 2017, Saint Maxine decried Fox News as being "holy" and "bullying everybody." 

Just another case of deranged, Liberal  psychological projection.

On Saturday, June 23, Saint Maxine encouraged confrontational harassment of Trump staffers. And she said, 'God is on our side.' The Christian Post:

At a weekend rally in California, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters encouraged her supporters...

"Go forth in multitudes ye Liberal Fringe and Harass those who disagree with 'us'. Do not allow them to dine in peace, buy gasoline in peace nor shop in department stores in peace. We shall harass them and bully them day and night, without end, for eternity. And, God is on our side! Except on that abortion thingy. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"

Okay, she didn't say those exact words...but yeah, that's what she said.

This is the same Saint Maxine who referred to the deaths of over 50 people and property damage exceeding $1 Billion Dollars as "an insurrection."

Saint Maxine later tried to back-peddle her pro-harassment LA speech by saying "Protest is civility." CNN:

"I have nothing to do with the way people decide to protest," she said. "I have no way of telling people how to protest, what they should protest."

What's with the sudden memory loss, because Saint Maxine did indeed tell her minions how they should protest. "Harass them" when dining, when buying gasoline and when in department stores. For once, Saint Maxine's words were not unclear.

Model/Actor and possible future Conservative political candidate Antonio Sabato, Jr. suggests putting Saint Maxine in jail for,  basically, inciting harassment and bullying

Saint Maxine...final, irrefutable, empirical evidence that Cali grows the best ganj in the world. Take another toke, Saint Maxine. God is on your side.

EU + Copyright Reform = Making Sausages

The quote is attributed to Otto von Bismarck: "Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made."

And in some cases, this with the EU, these sausages internet regulations should simply be abandoned.

From The Journal.ie:

The EU [Legal Affairs Committee] narrowly passed the reform, with 13 votes in favour and 11 against in a ballot that was kept secret given the bitter divisions on the issue. This means the Copyright Directive is now in its final form.
[.]
* Article 11 would force online platforms like Google and Facebook to pay for links to news content they use. Major publishers have pushed for the reform, seeing it as an urgently needed solution against a backdrop of free online news that has decimated earnings for traditional media companies.

* Article 13 would require websites to monitor copyrighted material and would make them legally liable for any copyrighted material shared by users.

From Futurism:

Article 11 would create a new “link tax” that would force news aggregators, search engines, blogs, social networks, and publishers to get a license before linking to any other news source.
[.]
Article 13 would institute “censorship machines” that would scan every piece of user-uploaded content for any copyright infringement, no matter whether it’s a meme, a parody, or some other totally innocuous piece of content.
[.]
We already know this kind of link tax doesn’t work to bring more income to publications. As Julia Reda, German Member of the European Parliament, points out, the result of similar “link taxes” in Germany and Spain was disappointing. “Journalists certainly never saw additional remuneration,” she writes[.]
[.]
“Algorithms that do content-matching are frankly terrible at it,” writes Cory Doctorow, journalist and co-editor of Boing Boing, in a blog post for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Tech News

 
Take the time to read this. Technocracy: We are All Prisoners of the Surveillance State:

We now find ourselves in the unenviable position of being monitored, managed and controlled by our technology, which answers not to us but to our government and corporate rulers.

Consider that on any given day, the average American going about his daily business will be monitored, surveilled [sic], spied on and tracked in more than 20 different ways, by both government and corporate eyes and ears.

- - -
In the "Thank You, EU" Department, memes could become a punishable offense.  BGR:

As Business Insider reports, Article 13 of the new EU Copyright Directive has been approved, and it could have a huge impact on the amount of potentially copyright-infringing content you see on sites like Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook.

- - -
ZD Net: Is your brain analog or digital?

 

Credit: iStock / D3Damon via Medical Xpress

- - - 

Naked Security - iPhone pwned? Can iOS be unlocked without running out of attempts?

...a security researcher known as Hacker Fantastic just published a video purporting to show a way that you can get more than 10 guesses at a locked iPhone’s PIN – without opening up the device or trying a physical bypass of the security hardware.

- - -
Ars Technia: The second man to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin is suing his family, his son, his former manager and just about everyone else.

[Aldrin's lawsuit] alleges that the family has taken advantage of the 88-year-old through a de facto guardianship.

- - -
Ars Technia: If you have children playing Nintendo you need to read this and from Reddit, this.

...it seems hackers have found a way to insert indecent content into our children's games.

[And] it seems to be an issue with users' profile pictures. The picture was changed several times over the course of my time patrolling, each picture being [graphic content].

- - -
PC World - Review and all the specs on Lenovo's Y730 laptop for gaming.
- - -
Dark Reading.com: Email scam: pay the ransom or get infected with the WannaCry virus.

...the attackers don't really have the WannaCry malware in hand. "Simply put, it's a protection racket[."]

- - -
Not for the squeamish. Ars Technia: Selfies show worm slithered through woman’s face for 2 weeks.

... she noticed an unusual lump on her cheek, below her left eye. Five days later it was gone, but another had formed just above her left eye.
[.]
To track the progress of her roving blemish, she took selfies.

- - -
We all wish we had more hours in the day, don't we? Well,  there's always a day on Venus. Ars Technia:

Sunrise to sunrise (metaphorically speaking, given Venus’ cloud-choked atmosphere), a day there is about 117 Earth-days long.

Long days on Venus.  Image: ©Planet-C

Charles Krauthammer: 1950 - 2018

Charles Krauthammer, the definitive definition of civility. 

Charles Krauthammer March 13, 1950 - June 21, 2018

Various obituaries

CBS News

NY Daily News

NY Post

NPR

And Variety:

Fox News’ Chris Wallace said that “in all the years I knew Charles, I never heard him express any sense of pity, why me.
[.]
"He loved his Washington Nationals."

I don't know if Mr. K. enjoyed hockey or not, but everyone in Washington must have had some degree of thrill in seeing - after 44 years - their Capitals win the 2018 Stanley Cup.