goldmach sachs spam

goldmach sachs sucks... they get this dubious mention because goldman sachs just tried to take over my computer... and slate helped them... i clicked on a video on the slate site and a 2 minute 49 second video advertising goldman sachs opened four times in different windows, one full screen blocking my start menu and everything else on my screen - when i click just once... and worse, when i close one, the full screen was hidden behind the browser and i only noticed because the start menu bar was black... i expect this from a company that worships money, but trust for slate has gone down considerably...

we live in a very sad culture...

weather idiots

also know as weathermen (and not weatherwomen, but that's a prejudice so inherent in our language and culture it deserves complaints of it's own so we won't let this one get too distracted for now) and meteorologists... giving the people in this particular field of study some benefit of doubt, i will not propose to assume that all those who study meteorology are idiots... this complaint is primarily about tv meteorologists anyway... even there i will not propose to assume that all tv weather-people are idiots either... what i will state as this complaint is that almost all tv meteorologists appear to be idiots in the way they are scripted, presented, and possibly manipulated... business as usual, the media is selling product and not reporting the news accurately without bias and ulterior motives...

what i mean is... just like the news, the weather sells product... the news (and sports and weather) programming is big business and made way more dramatic, scary, shocking, and stupid than it needs to be to do what it is supposed to do, present an accurate report on real events outside of our homes and immediate daily experience... we want to know there are traffic delays on our routes to work or wherever we go, we don't need to know how many people died or are injured and what agony their family is going through "how do you feel about the critical condition your son is in?" type reporting... we want to know it is going to rain or snow or storm, but we do not need to know live coverage of idiots hanging on to street light polls in hurricanes telling us not to leave our homes...

today, i refer to an even more serious stupidity... a dangerous stupidity... i refer to the vultures picking at the carcass of potential news, specifically the over-excited alarmists trying to make much more out of the weather than is necessary or responsible... the problem with meteorologists who pander to the news media and actively represent themselves as prophets of doom on television is that goes beyond the irresponsible scare tactics that manipulate viewers... the serious issue is that people are conditioned to worry, stress, and even panic over storms that never appear and then are complacent when a real threat arises...

today's tv meteorologists are boys (and girls) who cry wolf and much like the story about the boy who cried wolf, they reduce their value to the public to side show annoyances... they find the one power line that is down and present it as widespread damage... they find the one branch that fell on one car and interview the owner as if he is one of many who were devastated by the storm... they "predict" worse case scenarios as if there is no doubt that we are all in serious danger...

earlier this year they did this with a storm that never actually became a hurricane but was still presented as a potentially catastrophic event... Hurricane Sandy that is heading up the east coast of the USA this week is the latest storm to be the fuel for irresponsible and dangerous reporting... if the world (God, Mother Nature, or whatever you believe might control the world) had a Risk Management department would identify the irresponsible cry wolf reporting by television meteorologists as a potential risk reducing actual preparedness for an actual serious weather event...

the culpability of the news media for false reporting and actively pre-determining heightened threats could be called into question in court by a savvy lawyer who demonstrates that repeated exposure to over-zealous television meteorological reports could desensitize and therein give credible cause for inadequate preparation that leads to serious injury by the public the news organizations are commissioned to serve...

beyond litigation, people can be hurt and killed because they do not take weather dangers seriously because they have repeatedly been exposed to television weather idiots who manipulate news to over-state dangers only to be repeatedly proven to be wrong...

#NBCFail

complaint in progress... actually it is a tape-delay, but we'll pretend it's live...

the person and/or people in charge of the NBC broadcast of the 2012 Olympics learned nothing from two weeks of harsh criticism and complaints from thousands (at least) of viewers and most of the media critics as the hashtag #NBCFail appears all over the internet... sadly, the error that Twitter made in supporting and even colluding with the #NBCFail failure compounded itself tonight as they blocked the #NBCFail hashtag from showing up as trending in spite of the hundreds of tweets per minute with the #NBCFail tag... #TwitterFail hurts even more as it shows the new boss is the same as the old boss and people are getting fooled again...

the irony of the song lyric reference is excruciating as perhaps the largest exclamation point on the #NBCFail failures was to edit to death the closing ceremonies (editing out Muse, the band that wrote and played the Olympics theme song, among other bands) and almost an hour of the closing ceremony production and finally cutting away just before the finale starring The Who to insert a new #NBCFail sit-com - without commercial interruption (after more than 33% commercials per hour throughout the Olympics, that is insult upon injury) - and pushing the finale off for an hour to midnight on a Sunday night (so even non-internet savvy people, their primary demographic audience perhaps, had to miss the 2012 Olympics finale - getting up for work in the morning, are we?... and each night Ryan Seacrest (who was definitely not cresting this week) was asked how they were doing on the social networks to lead into a segment on how social media was talking about the Olympics and they lied by omission as the dozens of articles and many thousands of complaints were never address #NBCFail...

even the lead commentator for NBC, Bob Costas, acknowledged the issues and validated the complaints tonight as he noted that the next Olympics will be just in a much closer time zone, referencing the complaints over ridiculously alienating (and poorly produced) tape-delays... but like a nightmare that repeats, NBC failed again tonight even bigger than previous nights... the band playing the final song?... The Who... the song?... My Generation.... yeah, and we did get fooled again...

Costas also mentioned that two high ranking NBC sports producers did call this their last Olympics... whether that was their intention before the games or whether the criticism and their poor judgment calls lead to the resignations or retirements is for anyone to speculate)... most Olympics viewers are shuddering to think about the next few Olympics as #NBCFail has exclusive rights to mess up those broadcasts too...

The New York Times agrees, establishment enough for you, #NBCFail producers?

I turned off #NBCFail and missed the fiasco, but it was interesting reading all over the internet... sad that #TwitterFail conspired in the corporate betrayal of consumers... but the bigger they get, the more out of touch they get... history repeats, redundantly... la la la...

and the NY Times was not alone... i'll be back with more as this turns into a rant for other blogs... StarTribune - monkey shine perez hilton just look up (Google for you younger folk... snark at m-m-my generation nyuk nyuk narf... oh, and you'll have to use -zimmerman in your search query or you'll get all the apologies NBC made in their George Zimmerman reporting mess-up... if you don't understand, then google how to use google for advanced searches or boelean searches and you'll be fine... aherm) apology online (especially the past 24 hours) and even Google will prove #NBCFail - it even gets it's own label...

so how was your night? (laughing with me, i hope :)

instagram?

why would anyone give any app this much permission?

from the Google Play Instagram Permissions page:

THIS APPLICATION HAS ACCESS TO THE FOLLOWING:
HARDWARE CONTROLS
TAKE PICTURES AND VIDEOS
Allows the app to take pictures and videos with the camera. This allows the app at any time to collect images the camera is seeing.
any time? so the app can collect images without my knowledge?

YOUR LOCATION
FINE (GPS) LOCATION
Access fine location sources such as the Global Positioning System on the tablet, where available. Malicious apps may use this to determine where you are, and may consume additional battery power. Access fine location sources such as the Global Positioning System on the phone, where available. Malicious apps may use this to determine where you are, and may consume additional battery power.
i can't turn it off when i don't want to use it?

NETWORK COMMUNICATION
FULL INTERNET ACCESS
Allows the app to create network sockets.
why and do what with them?

YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
READ CONTACT DATA
Allows the app to read all of the contact (address) data stored on your tablet. Malicious apps may use this to send your data to other people. Allows the app to read all of the contact (address) data stored on your phone. Malicious apps may use this to send your data to other people.
why do the makers of this app need my friends information?

STORAGE
MODIFY/DELETE USB STORAGE CONTENTS MODIFY/DELETE SD CARD CONTENTS
Allows the app to write to the USB storage. Allows the app to write to the SD card.
seems almost reasonable

SYSTEM TOOLS
PREVENT TABLET FROM SLEEPING PREVENT PHONE FROM SLEEPING
Allows the app to prevent the tablet from going to sleep. Allows the app to prevent the phone from going to sleep.
sleep is necessary to conserve battery - seems this app wants way too much control

RETRIEVE RUNNING APPS
Allows the app to retrieve information about currently and recently running tasks. Malicious apps may discover private information about other apps.
Hide
this is ridiculous

NETWORK COMMUNICATION
RECEIVE DATA FROM INTERNET
Allows apps to accept cloud to device messages sent by the app's service. Using this service will incur data usage. Malicious apps could cause excess data usage.
this app wants way too much control, can destroy a battery, make the phone useless, cost money in phone data charges, and violates privacy way too much - definitely something fishy about google wanting all this power in every phone they can get...

whatever they are called

tv ads, tv pop ups, the bottom third, ad crawlers, bottom screen ads, digital tv, samsung's mistake, whatever, they suck... first, they destroy the stories they interrupt, creative suicide for anyone producing shows for television... then, annoying interruptions do not inspire me to watch the show interrupting the show i want to watch... in fact, the show i pay to watch... i pay to go to the theatre, i would resent a scrolling banner on the scenery advertising anything - it is not part of the show i paid to see... i pay for a ticket to watch a movie in a theatre without commercial interruption... and i pay for cable television... it is reasonable that the free tv networks force advertising down our throats to pay for their shows, but when i pay for a service i do not want advertising...

i mean, why watch regular tv anymore, or even cable... they take commercialism too far, so we find other ways to entertain ourselves... foolish greed has brought so many great nations down, when will they ever learn...

simply, watching movies on tv is a waste of time for me... there is no hollywood magic, no getting into a story... there is a random and even sometimes constant distraction of a network logo or upcoming show advertisement distracting from the movie... sometimes it is an animated pop up totally destroying any mood or ambiance the actors and director and movie crew were trying to create... it's gotten ridiculous... and just one more reason tv falls further and further into the background...

dey was robbed

okc, that is... too many times the prima donnas on miami get away with fouls that effect the score and it is a shame that the favoritism and bias toward superstars is so blatant... with two points down and 12 seconds to go labron james hacks kevin durant so obviously a blind person would have heard it and called the foul, but three refs miss it and the shot does not go in and instead of shooting two foul shots with a chance to tie at home, the game is over and miami is given a gift...

OKC 1 MIAMI 0 REFs 1

it doesn't matter that miami appeared to dominate the game, that okc was shooting poorly and miami was on fire and had huge leads all game... there were 12 seconds left and it was a 2 point game and one player clearly fouled another player who was going to tie the game... so the serious is still 1-0 in my book with the refs taking one game... the game gets cheaper and more meaningless with every critical last 30 second blown call... and i don't want to hear how challenging it is to be a ref, hire more if three are not enough to get the calls right - with the price of tickets and the millions in tv revenue, they can surely afford enough officials to get the calls right, especially at the end of close games... so is it a deliberate attempt to influence who wins by the nba front office or are the refs corrupt or just incompetent?... either way, it is irresponsible to let bad calls decide championship games...

yeah, i know this is meaningless compared to the stupidity of the injustice and oppressive society explored in the previous entry, but still, these are meaningless complaints after all...

UPDATED 6/18/12
Labron elbowed Harden three times in the last 30 seconds, obvious offensive fouls, and the ref called a foul on Harden giving Miami game three... don't just take my word for it... that makes it:

OKC 1 MIAMI 0 REFs 2

ted turner broadcasting

i don't know if it is ted turner himself who is the psychotic control freak deluded with religious fears of sexuality and realism in movies but the television stations he created have destroyed so many good films by editing and re-editing until they are artistic nightmares made of chopped up scenes and hacked-job cuts that would be laughed at by professionals in the industry and are flat out insulting to the original film crew, actors, editors, director, and others who worked on the film (some of whom won academy awards for the original film before it was 'edited for television'...

just happened on to total recall on tnt... pathetic... criminal, even, or should be... there really ought to be a law protecting art from such incompetent, talentless, deliberate vandalism by people with a religious agenda... would it be ok to paint over the mona lisa or change the last supper painting?... so why is it ok to change the editing of a film?...

human beings destroy, that is what they are best at... sad, really...

pain in the neck, but that's beside the point

yeah, i have a pain in the neck and it's nagging and getting worse over time, but what i really came here to complain about is you, that is, people in general... people are so pathetically stupid... and maybe it's just time passing in this life (getting old?) but i have less and less patience for people with each passing year... it took me many years to fit in (and i don't really, but i definitely do many stupid things regularly and often just like most people)... it's the daily choice to commit suicide in little actions, poisons, laziness, ignoring obvious dangers, cruelty, and becoming so insensitive you don't know when you are being insensitive, which is just about all the time... yes, that's just about all people and sadly i can now include myself...

i am most disappointing in younger people... i thought that even as one generation grew older and stupider, younger generations would not buy into the conformity of insensitivity and suicidal behaviors and might find hope for life, but more and more i see kids buying into the death traps of modern humanity... whatever happened to the hippie mentality?... not that hi[ppies were all that smart, but the hope of living in a loving world where people could learn to not grow insensitive and suicidal, where did that hope and mindset go?...

it sure wasn't passed on to subsequent generations...

so sad...

truly meaningless complaint

if you are a taxpayer in the usa, you owe $119,913 to private banks and other countries... rich bankers in this country and others living in obscene luxury by are milking you dry while you struggle to pay your bills and taxes...

and children, what are children learning?... it is ok to go into debt for a few times your annual income and have nothing to show for it?...

anybody want to loan me $119,913 today?

the last resort

the eagles said it so well more than thirty years ago and we did not pay attention because, after all, they said it so well...

we satisfy our endless needs
and justify our bloody deeds
in the name of destiny
and in the name of god



maybe the most meaningless complaint of all... it is challenging to be aware i am part of a species so determined on committing suicide, knowing there are voices pointing this out, watching people ignore and continue destroying themselves and each other... the path to extinction if so obvious and yet, we steadfastly remain devoted to staying the course...

everybody has a price

and i am looking for someone who does not, so i must not believe the title, though it becomes more and more challenging to not believe the title with each passing year as i see person after person bought off by the holy dollar...

i wish that was not so...