Funny! (And I like my cat.)
– P
Funny! (And I like my cat.)
– P
How lovely for James R Clapper to have someone willing to speak up for his honesty and integrity …
Short version: He didn’t lie, he merely “… was surprised by the question and focused his mind on [something else] …”*
Now waiting for my kids to try that one on me.
– P
* “In that context, his answer was and is accurate.” (Oh stop it! Hahahahaha … I can’t breathe!)
It’s all just a misunderstanding of the question.
I spotted this wonderful ‘defacement’ of a fashion billboard image (in Germany?) It looks like the activists have pasted on a Photoshop toolbar. How wry.
Given our discussions before about the use of Photoshop to create impossible-to-attain ‘role models’ (bleurgh) and the negative effects on women and girls of such distortions, it’s good to see a guerrilla PR campaign like this.Is it vandalism? Yeah, maybe. Or maybe it’s social commentary … bordering on art. It makes me think, it makes a point about the inauthenticity of such ‘fashion’ images — so that’s good. Where do I donate?
Kudos.
– P
This article wafted across my browser …
Really? I thought Leaked images? That sounds intriguing … but it’s not till you get to the bottom of the 1300 word ‘article’ (cough) that you read:
“There are no leaked images of iOS 8 yet, but as soon as we see them, we’ll share them with you here.”
Dorks. Yeah, I won’t bother to ‘check back regularly’.
– P
Late last year (ha! That’s the first time I’ve said that in 2014!) in a post Settlement of legal action as a ‘peace premium’ I explored how …
Sometimes it’s clearly in the interests of a ‘wrongdoer’ to pay something for peace … and it’s appropriate for prosecutors to accept effectively an admission and a plea bargain — even if the dollar amount levied and paid is actually a fraction of their real ‘proceeds of crime’ (as is often the case).
In the interests of peace (being a cessation of hostilities) it can be worth accepting a demonstrably token gesture.
Here’s a similar thought flicked to me via Facebook …
Linked to this thought ‘sometimes peace is better’ (at least in my thinking) is this key line from the Desiderata …
As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
So, yeah, there’s a time for calculation. (‘Be selective …’ above.) By all means, conduct a cost-benefit analysis, and, for the sake of your mental and physical health, be prepared to leave some battles unfought. (Some fights are ‘not worth the candle’ or, put another way, ‘A total waste of lipstick’. ;))
But some are. And let me admit this, as I have disclosed before: I struggle with the whole ‘Turn the other cheek’ thing — a version of which was recently expressed by Malala Yousafzai (wikipedia), the Pakistani girl shot by a member of the Taliban opposed to her advocacy for education for girls in her home country.
Inspiring. And, taking nothing away from her, as my friend poormastery has pointed out, sometimes evil must be opposed by force. Fascism, imperialist communism/totalitarianism, religious persecution, genocide, [fill in the gap] … the suggestion that one be selective in one’s battles (i.e choose them carefully, like your enemies) presupposes that you are prepared to fight some battles.
If I may mangle Ecclesiastes (not for the first time, nor the last): ‘For everything there is a season…’
I am, sometimes, prepared to play the part of avenging angel, defender, whistle-blower and critic. I’m not a saint* but I try to act fairly and based on facts.
Damn the torpedoes.
– P
* this is, of course, old news.
Lovebirds singing a wonderful song by Sara Bareilles.
– P
Worth watching …
December 24, 2013 3:54 PM EST — Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman discusses how his exclusive interview with Edward Snowden came about and whether the former NSA contractor would ever want to return to the United States. (Jeff Simon / The Washington Post) LINK TO VIDEO HERE
Snowden is being predictably and relentlessly demonised by the US administration and its apologists, some of whom appear perfectly willing to misrepresent to the point of outright lies, and others who merely ignorantly and unfairly berate him, question his character and his motives based on their own undisclosed ‘loyalty’ and connections to the power elite.
Tribalism, take a bow.
The Gellman interview with Snowden is here: Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished – The Washington Post.
– P
Wow, WordPress’s Akismet spam filter snapped this so it wouldn’t appear as a comment, but it’s fascinating to look at the syntax … I remember my geek pal Sarah describing translation-type scripts that spammers sometimes put article copy through to try to make it seem like ‘unique’ copy (to prevent Google downgrading it).
This looks like it’s in the same neighbourhood … in other words, the sorry sort of crap that internet marketing cowboys put their energy into.
Submitted on 2014/01/01 at 12:01 pm
{
{I have|I’ve} been {surfing|browsing} online
more than {three|3|2|4} hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours.
{It’s|It is} pretty worth enough for me. {In mmy opinion|Personally|In my view},
if all {webmasters|site owners|website owners|web owners}
and bloggers made good content as you did, the
{internet|net|web} will be {much more|a lot more} useful than ever before.|
I {couldn’t|could not} {resist|refrain from} commenting. {Very well|Perfectly|Well|Exceptionally
well} written!|
{I will|I’ll} {right away|immediately} {take hold of|grab|clutch|grasp|seize|snatch}
your {rss|rss feed} as I {can not|can’t} {in finding|find|to find} your
{email|e-mail} subscription {link|hyperlink} or {newsletter|e-newsletter} service.
Do {you have|you’ve} any? {Please|Kindly} {allow|permit|let} me {realize|recognize|understand|recognise|know} {so
that|in order that} I {may just|may|could} subscribe.
Thanks.|
{It is|It’s} {appropriate|perfect|the best} time to make some plans for the
future and {it is|it’s} time to be happy. {I have|I’ve} read this post and if I could I {want to|wish to|desire to} suggest you
{few|some} interesting things or {advice|suggestions|tips}.
{Perhaps|Maybe} you {could|can} write next articles referring to this article.
I {want to|wish to|desire to} read {more|even more} things about it!|
{It is|It’s} {appropriate|perfect|the best} time to make {a few|some} plans ffor {the future|the longer term|the long run} and {it is|it’s} time to be happy. Continue reading →
Happy New Year!
– P
‘Self-reported’, but even so. I always try to keep an open mind about these things.
Here’s the article: Mapping How Emotions Manifest in the Body Across cultures, people feel increased activity in different parts of the body as their mental state changes. — Olga Khazandec The Atlantic
– P
It appears the FBI’s assessment (‘assume that [your communication] will be intercepted and retained’) was based on reality … including the remote control of your phone’s microphone & camera.
According to leaked documents, the NSA claims a 100 percent success rate when it comes to implanting iOS devices with spyware. The documents suggest that the NSA needs physical access to a device to install the spyware — something the agency has achieved by rerouting shipments of devices purchased online — but a remote version of the exploit is also in the works.
From the NSA document in question: (quoted by Forbes, see: The NSA Reportedly Has Total Access To The Apple iPhone)
“DROPOUT JEEP is a software implant for the Apple iPhone that utilizes modular mission applications to provide specific SIGINT functionality. This functionality includes the ability to remotely push/pull files from the device. SMS retrieval, contact list retrieval, voicemail, geolocation, hot mic, camera capture, cell tower location, etc. Command, control and data exfiltration can occur over SMS messaging or a GPRS data connection. All communications with the implant will be covert and encrypted.”
Gawd. Alienating.
– P
Of course, I tooootally trust Android and Microsoft Windows phones … 🙂 (cough)
The NSA Has Inserted Its Code Into Android OS, Or Three Quarters Of All Smartphones and NSA Has Full “Back Door” Access To iPhone, BlackBerry And Android Smartphones, Documents Reveal Sheesh.
Update: Make of this what you will: Apple Denies Working with NSA on iPhone Backdoor
Apple has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone. Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program targeting our products. We care deeply about our customers’ privacy and security. Our team is continuously working to make our products even more secure, and we make it easy for customers to keep their software up to date with the latest advancements. Whenever we hear about attempts to undermine Apple’s industry-leading security, we thoroughly investigate and take appropriate steps to protect our customers. We will continue to use our resources to stay ahead of malicious hackers and defend our customers from security attacks, regardless of who’s behind them.
Nice bit of FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) or is it Shock and Awe?
Dedicated to Martyn Bradbury.
– P
The Atlantic has a must-read article on an internet marketing cowboy and [alleged] hustler and con-artist called Jesse Willms. It’s a longish read but a very good one.
Reading about Willms, I saw some similarities in the story of motormouth Shaun Stenning, a figure in various failed internet marketing enterprises Geekversity, Twalk, Snipr, YouTube Traffic Thieves, NZ Property Guru’s (sic) etc. who we discussed here. (The post ‘Is this how Shaun Stenning handles a request for a refund?‘ is still the most-commented article on The Paepae.)
Among the similarities was starting young, extensive use of hyperbole and deceit, and choosing what ‘lesson’ one takes out of a major business failure due to ethical lapses:
After Microsoft crushed his company, Willms sifted a valuable lesson from the remains. The lesson was not in what he’d done wrong, but in what he’d done right: a person, he now knew, could make a hell of a lot of money selling products without ever coming within 1,000 miles of them.
This paragraph sounds a touch too… admiring, but it makes a point about how characters like this build their ‘skills’:
When we use the term con artist, we typically place the emphasis on the first word while forgetting the implications of the second: that there is, after all, a real art to fleecing people. And no matter whether you believe Willms deserves a marble bust in the scamming pantheon, there is little question that he was something of a virtuoso—a Web wunderkind. By the time he’d built and lost his first fortune, Willms was still just a teenager, but the experience taught him something important: what it would take to really make a killing on the Internet.
Go and read Taylor Clark’s article at The Atlantic and know that these characters rival cockroaches for survival skills. Of note was the deployment of loud charitable giving as image-enhancing ‘…Willms began donating money “to not look like the bad guy all the time”… ‘ That reminds me of another spruiker I encountered who tried to cover up his reptilian ways with well-publicised ‘support’ for ‘worthy causes’. {retch}
Shaun Stenning has, apparently, used the ancient tactic of taking his spouse’s name to conceal/compensate for his own impaired track record and ‘rebranded’ himself as John Panchalad and JP Digital Tech, selling (you guessed it) internet marketing ‘services’ among other things … with a good dose of ‘personal testimonials’ from ‘satisfied clients’ (right).
But taking a leaf from Shaun Stenning’s own book,* it appears some of Stenning/Panchalad’s dissatisfied customers have set up an attack/exposé website — http://johnphanchalad.net.
One of the (anonymous) organisers of the site wrote to me:
We’re actually a group of people who had been scammed by Stenning, the purpose behind our website is to inform people that Stenning is still at large. Our goal is to prevent more victims to Stenning’s scam program. We’re not looking to gain any financial benefit by establishing johnphanchalad.net, for anyone who wants to know more about Stenning’s latest activity, please visit our site, and feel free to spread the world.
‘Reputation management’ is a growth industry, isn’t it? ‘There’s gold in them thar hills!’
– P
* Possibly. See: Internet ninja cowboys … or schoolboys? and Internet ninja cowboys … spoofing revisited
I know this is contentious, the claim that Yasser Arafat was murdered using Polonium (as the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was, his killers leaving a radioactive trail through London). I reproduce this Al Jazeera banner (above) here, prompted in part by the clever use of the Po 84 periodic table reference to spell ‘POISONED’.
Whatever your own opinion of Arafat and the whole ‘Palestinian question’ which has so fixated world leaders and the United Nations, this 1990 ABC TV ‘town meeting’ appearance by Nelson Mandela is absolutely essential viewing on the subject of the PLO and its struggle for ‘self-determination’. (I know use of that word is contentious too, but let’s run with it for now. It’s a quote, as you’ll see.)
Some people resist the equating of apartheid to anything else at all, but when I see photos like this:
… I just can’t help but think of South Africa’s townships and the forced segregation and brutality of apartheid. My conclusion: Nelson Mandela’s opinion, his ‘identification’ with the PLO is worth hearing …
Continue reading →