Staccato

I like rap.  Some of it, anyway.  If it mentions 'nines', 'tens' or anything about smacking and bitches, I'm out:  that shit is low-brow thuggery and offensive, yo.

But I like this style:  (go to 2:05)

And this style:

Okay, especially the latter style.  And it's funnier.

Fired Again

No, I still work at the sweatshop.  But it's an important point I need to make.

The guy at the right will fix your computer.  He'll come to your home or business, and he'll make things go.  Browser updates, software installs, email configuration?  Sure:  tell him precisely what you need done and he'll do it.  He'll do everything on your list, log his time, submit a bill to be sent in the mail and leave.

And you'll never see him again, and he'll not give your setup another thought until you call him again.

He'll probably not ask whether you're backing up your data, and whether it's done in a manner that doesn't put your banking information in the hands of foreign companies who are beyond prosecution if they lose, leak or sell it.  That is, unless he's selling you a paid backup service.

He'll not ask how your wireless is set up, and probably not warn you that it's not secure - it's known as 'private', which is like a drawn curtain vs the locked door of security - or that the latest version of the privacy is reeeeally close to being completely cracked.  He'll not explain that wireless is less like a telephone and more like a CB radio, and privacy is like speaking piglatin and hoping no one else can understand it.  That is, he'll not ask unless a new wireless unit will help his commission numbers and then it's the most secure thing in the world.

VPNs?  Linking two networks like they're in the same room?  Sharing your family photos safely?  He can't do it.  He works at the big box store, and he's just a tech.  Your backups?  Remote support?  Discussion over where you're at with computers and where you may want to go?  Honest recommendations for new gear?  That's not in his training, his to-do list and his best interest.

And there's the difference.  I don't do computer repair by choice;  it's just that I don't know of someone I can trust not to use a key logger, copy programme or duct tape in the process of fixing your box.  I don't trust they'll not sell you something stupidly outdated and overpriced, and leave you without offsite backups for when lightning hits your place and fries all your stuff at once, and without remote tech support.  I don't trust their goals as being your success vs their own immediate payoff, and I especially don't trust the small town fatcat long-time shysters to do what's best for you.  They've made a good living doing what's best for their company.

But I support your choice to go with an over-priced, short-sighted, blinkered, self-centered junk dealer.  I won't worry once you understand that keeping your backups in the same house as your computer is not helpful in a house fire or flood.  It's your choice, and that's fine.  Let me know that I've been fired beforehand so I can stop the backups and we can consider where your new offsite backup place will be;  because as soon as you swap out the router, getting your data copied out becomes a difficult task -- if I can't get to your machines, you can't get to my backup machines to get all your stuff back.

And I'm also fired.  It makes me sad because I thought I was doing a good job.

Can I have your old blue router?  It has massive potential and it saves you chucking it out.  Call it my severance.

Muppets: Ode to Joy

Beaker is so very awesome.

That's kind-of it.  

For now.  The new routine is cutting into a lot of my regular time, with its awesome commute, and so even less time trickles down to the blogging level.  Which level of hell does that make it?

Foreign Bodies, 20 Years On

It's been 20 years, to the day, since the incident which resulted in the semi-permanent installation above.

I'm not sure what I'm doing here; really I think I'm just marking the day.

In another version of this post, I had a list of fun facts about it, but I think it benefits no one.

So that's it.