Yeh, so, hmmm, well (and other such placeholding stalls), dead TV, out of warranty, bought a new one with decent specs-to-price appeal. Remote sucks. Manual sucks dead bunnies (and is ONLY available online, either through the TV itself–a stupidly clumsy implementation–or via third party pdf downloads). Setup sucks worse. STILL only seven channels available, and no digital channels at all. It’s even worse than that. DEMANDS network access before it’ll do ANYTHING (I’ll fix that at the router; just lock it out there). And how many firmware updates will it require? Who knows? Two so far, but says three more. *sigh* Almost want to return it just for the setup headaches.
Cool Lil Devices
Kinda enjoying my Caldwell Emax Shadow hearing protection. Really attenuates loud noises while passing ambient sounds at comfortable levels. That’s all I really use them for, although I probably could also use ’em with my phone via Bluetooth. But just enhanced ambient sound + hearing protection from loud noises is all I really want or need.
*yawn*
Not even toothpicks help. (Eyes wanna close; head nod off.) Maybe a siesta, eh? Oh, wait. BP 102/55, pulse 65. Maybe more exercise instead. Or not. *heh*
“As it was in the beginning/Is to-day official sinning. . . “
I keep running into folks who celebrated those “mostly peaceful” violent 2020 riots who view the “Lego Insurrection” as having been an existential threat to the nation. These are also folks who, for the most part, think there was an election, not a “fraud of monstrous size” (TY, RK), on Nov 3 last year. The graphic here represents a DOWNPLAYING of the BLM riots and still does not express the evil of a Capitol cop murdering an unarmed woman, but it’s a start. And, IMO, not NEARLY enough emphasis is given to the fact that Dhimmicrap politicians, both DC pols and nationwide, generally encouraged and enabled the violent rioters in their destruction of property and lives.
Ditch Your Thesaurus. Read More Books Written by Literate Writers
Third rate (but aren’t they all that, at best, now?) “news” broadcast. “Communications major” (well, apparently *sigh*), blow-dried airhead talking about a storm, particularly a falling tree that “. . .narrowly avoided hitting a family. . .” as though the tree itself had some sort of agency and could of itself AVOID hitting the family, because it wasn’t just wind and gravity, no! The TREE itself could apparently affect its fall and AVOID hitting that po’ family it had previously (apparently) “aimed” itself at. #gagamaggot No, it narrowly missed hitting the family, by chance, but avoidance requires agency (even in passive voice).
But nowadays, since Hivemind audiences are almost all subliterates themselves, who really cares?
*shrugs* I think These Things So You Don’t Have To
I kinda snicker a little bit when someone starts talking/writing about “sniper rifles.” My two word internal response is always “Simo Häyhä.” Yes, there are specialty firearms designed for extreme long-range accuracy that are frequently used primarily by snipers, but ANY rifle is a “sniper rifle” when it is in the hands of a sniper. Just say, “rifle.”
Illinois Tightens Privacy Measures. . . a Little
Specifically,
Illinois Passes Bill to Prohibit Warrantless Data Collection from Household Electronic Devices
Headed to the governor’s desk.
While it’s good they addressed this, folks who use these massive security breach devices (Alexa, Ring, Echo, and other IoT devices) are already being spied on by others who are just as nefarious as government agencies. Perhaps not as powerful as government agencies, but just as interested in jamming folks up in their own ways. (“Oh, but you use FarceBook.” Yeh, but when I do, FarceBook thinks I am hundreds of miles or more away from my location, among [many] other obfuscation measures.)
*smh*
If It’s Not One Thing. . .
. . .it’s another.
Olde Pharte tomcat (what? ~19 years old, now?) is having the Olde Pharte “everything tastes like crap” issue. A brand new fresh bag of kibble? He’ll nibble. . . for a while, then, nah. Can of “run to get it” canned cat food? He eats it for a while, then, “It is no longer to my taste.”
Found something that the “everything tastes like crap” issue does not apply to, though. I cook up a few rashers of bacon. Drizzle a bit of the grease over any old dry food. Yummers! Absolutely da bomb!
And yes, I know the commercial foods are designed for the average domestic cat’s “higher than canine’s” fat needs, and bacon grease really screws with those ratios, but he had been getting ghastly thin until I stumbled on this lil trickerooo. Now he’s a much happier camper and–side benefit–cleanup of cat puke is down. *shrugs* If I can make his “Lead Years” (what? you were thinking “golden”? *pfui* 😉 ) a bit more pleasureful for him, I’m OK with that.
It’s Really Just a Slothful Willful Ignorance
Confusion about personal pronouns has abounded among the lazy and willfully ignorant (the most pernicious form of stupidity) for much longer than the current “gender fluidity” stupidity. A typical construction for someone stuck at a VERY low English fluency (let alone literacy) level, and yet I see it time and again in books, passed over by illiterate proofreaders and editors goes something like this: “We have done something bigger than you and I.” Really? Take the magic “and” as well as the other person out: “We have done something bigger than I” just looks and sounds stupid doesn’t it? It doesn’t get any less stupid looking and sounding by adding a magic “and.” Nope, “We have done something bigger than you and ME.”
Adds to Your “Privacy Routine”
Nuke Cortana, Alexa, Siri, and any such “digital assistants” within one’s power from orbit. Report robocalls to appropriate authorities and follow up on complaints lodged. Salt the earth from whence they sprang. Lather, rinse, repeat. 😉
Oh, and “if you hear, ‘This call is being recorded for training and quality control,'” but do–eventually–get a live person on the line, tell THEM you are recording the call. . . in case you need to take legal action later. You might be surprised how many terminate the call. That’s fine. If you initiated the call, just call back and escalate your call. Firmly. The Internet is a funny critter. You can too track down and call someone in authority in a company that has irritated you. Do so. Repeatedly, if necessary, until you achieve a resolution you can live with. Make it known that you appreciate good behavior and abhor–and will appropriately “punish”–bad behavior
And, as above, lather, rinse, repeat.