Facial Recognition Deemed Obscene

By me.

RE: Amazon Pushes Facial Recognition to Police. Critics See Surveillance Risk. – The New York Times

It has a huge potential for abuse. And while I try to personally not commit crimes, I don’t want my whereabouts or my loved one’s whereabouts followed by some corrupt government official, law enforcement officer, or even an [evil] neighbor trailing (lusting) after my wife.

It’s easy to say “hey look! this new technology will catch criminals!”, but in reality humans behave like humans. Meaning 1% corrupt might as well be 99% corrupt.

I know cops say they don’t have quotas to fill, but I have seen (and personally heard) that they do. *Just for the Record: I support our local Officers*. Having quotas (income to the department) to fill just makes the system ripe to abuses from those with low or no ethical standards.

I don’t even like to consider the potential for abuse by a corrupt government official.
But, it will happen.. and by then, I hope the entire world will learn better and ban the easy use of this technology, except for use in extreme cases of violence or criminal acts such as the murder of crowds of People. Or rapists.. God, I hate people who rape or kill.

:/

” Beggars can’t be choosers!” and other such Bullshit.

First off, I’m sorry to use coarse language.
But the statement “Beggars can’t be choosers”, really *really* pisses me off.

It perpetuates the mindset that you are better than the beggar. That you know better than they know. That you’ve made better life choices than they did.

And, you know what? It’s pure bull crap.

Sometimes in life, you hit a low point. Sometimes a point so low that you can’t see a way out of it. So, you need help from others. Someone to lean on while you get back on your feet.. Even if it takes years to break out of the struggle to survive.

You need the kindness of a stranger. Not their pity. Not their ‘I’m better than you’ attitude. Or even the feeling of “I’m doing you a service [so you owe me]”.

Those kinds of attitudes don’t help you or the person you’re ‘helping’.

Just because someone is at a low point, sleeping in the alley, on a park bench, under a bridge does not mean they have to take/accept whatever they’re handed. They do not have to eat the moldy leftovers from your lunch two days ago.

Beggars can choose. They’re sentient beings. They have the same rights, wills, and dreams.. like you have. They deserve to be treated with dignity.

So.. Be Nice! Help a fellow human out any time you can. Don’t wait until Thanksgiving or Christmas.

And, as always: “Do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.”.

Later!

Words that annoy me..

I know. You didn’t ask for this and I don’t much want to write them, but gosh darnit there are just some words that are overused, wrong, or just plain ol’ annoying. I also figure it might therapeutic to list them here. In the hopes that one day, a wise soul will stumble upon them and help spread the light..

So, here is the List of Words That Annoy [me]:

  • Shortly
  • Crypto-anything
  • Cyber-anything
  • Condone
  • Disputed Fact
  • “This.”
  • First!
  • i c u r
  • Curated
  • The f-word
  • E-mail (should be email)
  • hashtag!
  • rekt
  • yolo
  • categorically
  • cray cray
  • And finally, the most annoying word: the “Cloud”

I’m sure more words will come along..
Maybe I should make a “Words I Love” list to counter the karma here.

Lol, later!

The correct way to make Windows 10 boot more reliable..

Okay, you’ve bought or built yourself a nice new shiny computer system..
Now, how do you go about protecting yourself from any losing data, music, pictures, or videos?

That’s right, you make backups. Of the data. Of the family photos..
(Please make backups!)

But what do you do when your Windows 10 gets corrupted and won’t even boot?
That’s easy.. just boot into the other Windows 10 you installed on another drive!

What?

Okay, when you build (or buy) a new computer, spend a few more dollars and buy a second drive or two. A single 1 TB drive is easily less than $50 these days. However many drives you want to add into your shiny new system (and that computer is capable of connecting drives). You can even install and run Windows from a USB external drive.

And install your legit Windows 10 onto each drive. That’s right, install once per drive.

You don’t have to play games on these drives, or run any software you don’t need. You just want the basic Windows 10 Operating System. Oh, and maybe let each OS run Windows Update every few weeks. Just not all on the same day or week, lol.

What this does is adds more options to the Windows Boot Menu screen. (You can set your “real” OS to boot by default with a timer, btw.)

And what this allows you to do is still access your files, documents, or anything you have stored on each drive.

Even if the “real” OS fails out on you. Have fun with your newfound resiliency!

Assault Weapons Ban of 2018

via Text – H.R.5087 – 115th Congress (2017-2018): Assault Weapons Ban of 2018 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

What a PIECE OF CRAP bill this is!

Methods of taking away our gun rights:

  • Create false flag attacks.
  • Pick a group of people and label them as ‘terrorists’.
  • Spread fear about ‘terrorists’, real or imagined.
  • Associate the word ‘assault’ with [almost] any gun they want.
  • Imply that only terrorists use these ‘assault’ weapons.
  • Generate propaganda about any group owning these ‘assault’ weapons.
  • Smear campaign against any who opposes bills like this.
  • Create a “Threat” score on everyone.

People, wake up! Seriously, it is a bad idea to take away the right to defend ourselves.

The old adage you may have heard, “If You Take Away Our Guns, Then Only Criminals Will Have Guns” is true.

Think about it.. you’re a law abiding citizen, right? You’d follow rules that our government for us to all be ‘safer’ right? Right?

Okay. Now, who are the people that tend to not follow the ‘Rules’ of the land? Criminals? Yup.

And you just willingly traded in your weapons for “Those Awesome Prices” at the government-run ‘National Gun Safety’ event. You got twice the full value of your weapons, right?

And days go by with nothing bad happening. Months. Maybe even years.. and then your house is broken into and robbed, or you’re mugged at gunpoint.

Now how do you defend yourself?

How?

Bonus question: What if that criminal is part of a larger group.. a nation perhaps?