Work Worth It?

Going on fifteen years without a full-time job. Two reasons for that. 1) Baby Boomer generation proves that it’s finally worth it to quit your job to pursue a dream (it’s even worth it to fail at that pursuit). 2) Working, or as it should be known, compulsive behaviorism, is financially NOT worth it. Twenty years ago I realized the significance of being raised by a generation that could buy a house for twenty-five-thousand dollars and sell it thirty years later for five times the purchase price. Now the cost of a home is (approximately) ten times as much as it was in the seventies. Not trying to gloat here but the choices I made, as hard and ridiculed as they were–which basically included nothing but doing the opposite of what everybody else did/does–was worth it. With that in mind, quit your day job, lower your expectations, stop procreating and/or defining your existence through feelings dictated by others and a society run amok. According to stats you don’t have a chance (of achieving what your parents did) anyway. But I digress. Good luck.

June Full-Time Jobs Plunge By Over Half A Million, Part-Time Jobs Surge By 800K, Most Since 1993 | Zero Hedge.

A Life Time It'll Take

Where is the most damage from thirty-plus-years of American’t political conservatism? Is it the economy? Is it the federal budget? Is it the middle class? Surprise! Yes to all the above. But here’s the thing. All the above could, if the political will (and knowledge) were there, be fixed. Seriously. With the wave of a magic election wand the shebang could be fixed. How? (Brace yourself, this is the advice from a guy who is worstwriter!) First. Tax the useless rich–i.e. tax those who have gotten rich off financial speculation, speculating that the US, post Reagan, would succumb to the same problems experienced prior to the Great Depression. Then cut the defense budget in half. Take 90% of that half and off spending completely. Take the other 10% and put it toward health care. Then get the war-mongering out of the way and let the middle class and beyond (or below) take over. That the military industrial complex utilizes economic conscription to fight unpaid wars has to stop. From there America’s true innovation will rise again as young men and women can pursue more fruitful life adventures–instead of fighting oil wars for oil men. But I’m off topic. The most damage conservatism has done to American’t is simple. Through false ideology and taking advantage of the dumb-downed conservatives have brilliantly manipulated the third branch of government to the point of no return. This is best exemplified in the life-time appointments of Supremes, but federal judges are part of the shebang, too. Yeah, baby. And get this. With recent supreme court rulings regarding corporations being people, money equaling votes and now religious beliefs determining what laws are followed, I’d say that the Supremes of the United States will be your worst enemy for the foreseeable future. If you want a speck of how things should or could have been if American’t hadn’t voted its feelings and emotions for the past thirty-plus years take a look at Ginsburg’s dissent. And to think her days on the bench are almost over. The only question then remains is, who will replace her in the minority position. Good luck suckers.

How Conservatism Will Forever Trick You And The Balls You Juggle | Go Ginsburg Fight Fight | Summary Via Salon

Supreme Court Decision Hobby Lobby Case | PDF Document

My Dotcom Book

As bad as things were at the end of the 20th century, the beginning of the 21st century is obviously worse. But there was some good in the 1990s that’s easy to forget. Anyone remember the Dotcom boom? I’m still waiting for the definitive book to be written about why the new-economy was so easily gobbled up by the old-economy. Yeah, that’s how I see it. The old beat-out the new–and we are stuck with living in the shit of the old. Well. If I ever get around to writing that book, here’s one reason I’ll cite as to why American’t decided to go back to its lusts of petroleum and war for the basis of consuming to survive. Or something like that.

The Supreme Court’s baffling tech illiteracy is becoming a big problem – Salon.com.

Afeared Yet

If you thought the war mongering and greed freakshow that is the beginning of the 21st century was scary wait till the reality sets in of who/what your parents really are. Indeed. There is nothing more scary than the infamous Boomer generation. No other generation in human history has taken so much and given so little back. The best part? The(ir) horror show is just now beginning. Good luck suckers.

The Happy Story of Boomers Retiring on Their Generational Wealth Is Wrong | Zero Hedge.

Useless Eaters All But One

Nothing in my useless eating worst-life will amount to an ounce of what Aaron Schwartz did. And that’s a good thing. That said. The real sad thing about his demise is that bureaucrats and corporatists will never see how their compulsive behaviorism is at the root of what’s wrong with everything. From the lawyers and the judge that prosecuted him to the Automatons at the university that tattled on him. They all have blood on their hands. So. If you have a job, remember this: you only have it because someone else can’t have one. If you have a career, remember this: you got it on the backs of others. If you think you’ve earned your keep, remember this: just shoot yourself because you’re obviously a mindless idiot. This is a lesser world without Schwartz. Good luck, suckers.

A Film About Aaron Schwartz Most Surely Worth Seeing

Creamed

If the Corporation is milk then there is proof that butterfat doesn’t always rise to the top to give us… (guess how this ends)

Digging Wrong Holes

Paris Bookstore Buy books at a bookstore? Wait. Let me check my calender. Na. I’m good. The thing is, I’ve gone full digital as of 2014. Took me a lot of years to get here. Of course, the good or bad thing is, I can even remember the last time I went into a bookstore and bought a book. It was The British Bookshop in Frankfurt. I bought a new copy of Infinite Jest knowing that I wasn’t ever gonna read it. It was like a farewell purchase. And. I had already started it on my Kindle. What a (waste of money) gesture, eh! Nomatter. I knew it would be the last physical book I’d buy–so in a way it was a last jest on my part. (Pun?) Heck, if I gotta be honest, even the days where I waddled around with a Moleskine and a laptop are sometimes missed. Oh, those were the days where the analog and the digital mixed. But the nostalgia (like all nostalgia should) is waning. For I have moved on. And it’s time for many more to move on, too. I guess. Still. I reckon I’ll miss reading in the cramped aisles of City Lights Books in SF or Kramers in DC or Shakespeare and Company in Paris. Wait. I can still go to those places to check out the chicks, right? So you see, there’s hope. But will I buy books from them? Now there’s a question. I guess the answer is never say never. But then again, after reading the article below, I realised that some things, even though evolution is forced upon them, find a way to exist–they are like a window to a/my past. Not sure if that’s good. On the other hand, I’m starting to find all the complaining about Amazon boring. Seriously. Did no one see this coming ten years ago? Really? I was the only one. And to think I jumped on the digital band-wagon a bit late. Again. Nomatter. My only complaint about digital books is that you can’t share them with friends. So I guess it helps not having any friends.

Independent Booksellers Mount Offensive Against Amazon’s Dominance | Crooks and Liars.

Rant on, baby.

-Tommi

Soap & Presidents

Still waiting. But. Will someone come along and replace him? Can’t wait. Waiting is futile. Move on. I guess.

Who Taught The H-Word

There you have it. Less than sixty-thousand voters in the rural-bourgeois south are waking up to the inalienable right(s) of life, liberty and stupidity. They vote-out an incumbent that only a few years ago they loved–when their bank accounts reflected better the lust for debt and false ideology–and vote-in a guy that’s probably two-steps worse. Oh well. The only surprise is that maybe the reality is setting-in that there is no limit to certain political wing-nuttery. Good luck suckers.

David Brat: Hitler Could ‘Happen Again’ If We Don’t Embrace Christian Capitalism.

What? I Wanna Edumacated.

About time, dear worst-reader. About time someone step-in and finally let Das Volk know that getting an edumacation ain’t about getting a job and making munny. No. Indeed. It’s about filling the gap/chasm of never having to grow up and being raised by those who never grew up before you. And while you’re at it, let someone else pay for what you’ve done. Or something like that.

As Obama Moves to Cap Student Debt Payments, Activists Push For Broader Write-Off of Crushing Loans | Democracy Now!.

Creeps R Us

Just read this article dear worst-reader. And guess what? I’m more confused than ever. But I suppose being a fifty year old male in a perpetual state of forced early retirement made up of über-happiness where I live off the achievements of females who are much better at coping with this alpha world than I am–being confused is kinda OK. Which reminds me. I’m not the only one confused. There are so many others. This level of confusion is for the most part due to a kind of mass hysteria. Yet for me, this confusion comes from my ability to read-up, to get informed, to partake in the misinformation of American’ts most recent one-up in our lust for living and dying by… violence. And let me state here and forthwith: our first love as American’ts is violence.

Have to give credit where it’s due. Amanda Marcotte’s article is riveting–and not only because she writes about stuff that confuses the hell out of me. It’s riveting because it’s the most sincere work I’ve read so far regarding how the recent killing of six people in CA must surely be about misogyny and how well organised that misogyny is on the Interwebnets. (Sarcasm off.) I mean, that’s what this is about, right? This is about how men get on the Interwebnets, as they do in bars and previously did in caves, and talk about women? I mean, our murder-death-cult is NOT about the friction nature has imposed on our species so that life can find a way, right? Nor is it about how we, as Americans, react to our own impulses. No. It’s about the gender gap, it’s about roles, it’s about…

Do we live by the gun or is it just a lust for violence? Our impulses feed on something. Six people were killed, three with a knife, three with three different handguns, because a man, that is, the male part of our species, doesn’t like women? And BTW. I had no clue that there were websites to help men in their hate of women. Talk about reacting to impulses! And it doesn’t stop there. Hyperlinked to the hate sites are more sites with even more hate. Wow. What’s gonna happen next? Am I gonna do a Google and find sites promoting racial supremacy? Will I find sites promoting the over throw of government? Will I find sites that show people, when paid enough money, or their addictions dictate it, doing anything in front of a camera with their bodies? And the beat goes on, baby.

So let me try to get this straight. America is trying to find answers. It’s trying to find answers to its impulses. It is most certainly not trying to find answers to questions. It’s not really questioning anything. And why? Because there’s hate on the Interwebnets. (Sigh.) Indeed, dear worst-reader. It/we are trying to find answers to why we slaughter each other–even though it’s more than obvious that we really don’t give a shit. There is never any national soul searching. There is never any real debate. And why? Because, well, there’s hate published on the Interwebnets. And there are snuff films. And there’s porn. Oh. And men treat women badly. Which brings me to a(nother) worst-question. Why can’t humans navigate the chasm that separates the subject from the object? Why can’t humans figure out that love is not always a verb because for the other half it’s always a noun? Answer? We are infantil and we haven’t figured out how to grow up yet. More on that in a sec. Let me throw a daffodil wrench in the machine of natural order and put it like Chuck Palahniuk would put it.

Where is my Vietnam?
This is what happens when men are raised by women.

While Tyler Durden is explaining the rules of Fight Club he asks question #1. When I heard the question in the movie something went off in my head (it didn’t go off in my head when I read the book). It reminded me of the day when I had to register for the draft. BTW, back then the Vietnam war was still fresh–or at least it hadn’t yet been replaced by our next worldly, empirical endeavour. There were still stories of POWs not brought home and movies like Deer Hunter scared the bejeezus out of me. Thank goodness I learned to appreciate Apocalypse Now, though. Nomatter. I registered for the draft, although I seem to recall not putting a check mark in one of the boxes indicating which branch of service I preferred. I guess I was trying to confuse my recruiters as much as I was confused. And the 1980s were just around the corner. We didn’t know it then but the greed-mongering culture that so many yearned for–and history proving they/we got exactly what we deserved–was about to happen. And I’m way off subject. Sorry.

Now don’t quote me on this because it’s been a long time since I read or watched Fight Club. But #2 is another very telling and profound thing Tyler Durden says (and I paraphrase heavily). He says that men are raised by women. What a grave error in society. Except for one thing. I was raised by a woman. In fact, to this day I live by them. And. I own guns. And I’ve been somewhat violent in this life. But Palahniuk coded something in his text. What is implied with #2 is that society has a very serious problem–a problem that goes far beyond the implications of a bunch of dysfunctional males that get their kicks by beating themselves up in front of a crowd of the like-minded. And so it’s very, very clear:

What happens to a society when it has lost its ability to nurture and cultivate life?

Our history will look back and say: this is how you become a death-cult. Instinct kicks in. The true face of human nature reveals itself? Survival and money and reality emanating from reality-TV is all that’s left. With that in mind, let’s move on from Palahniuk and check out our next best thing in explaining it all–you know, for the dumbed-down.

Ever see the movie Magnolia? This movie took me for a really weird loop, dear worst-reader. To this day I wonder if the boundaries of fiction and reality (in film) will ever converge so well again. But the thing that makes this movie, not unlike Fight Club, relevant to what Ms. Marcotte misses, is the creep factor that has become part of (real) life itself. Every character in the movie Magnolia, as is the case with so many characters in our real world, is a solid, worthy, mystifying creep. Are creeps the next stage of human evolution? Am I the only one–after watching weird clips on you tube and then watching clips from Magnolia and then watching clips from life–to see Elliot Rodger in Frank TJ Mackey’s audience? But I digress.

Welcome to your future. Welcome to a world where brokenness is the standard. Brokenness, btw, is not as Ms. Marcotte states. It is not about men thinking women are broken. Like in Fight Club Rodgers is the byproduct of Disney fairy-demons fighting the mind-fuck of consuming-to-survive society that fails upwards. We are a people and a place that is stuck in the realm of infantilism–forced to live among robber barons, war-mongers and ideological miscreants. This, dear worst-reader, is all we have. It is who we are. And on top of it all, there is no need to grow up–we have proven that time and time again. And so we blame things written or things said or even, in this sad case, things done. Oh well. The blame game is a game like any other game. Yes. Game. Game of love, lust, ownership, betrayal, procreation, romance and love. Oh wait. I said that. Nomatter. We are the game only the few and far between ever really get to play. Good luck. And don’t forget to buy something today or watch Oprah or Ellen or whatever takes you away.

Links:

-Tommi

Automaton Demise Eminent

Oh look. Eurowasteland, under the führung from Germania and whatever random Munich trade-fair, is trying to bring some innovation to the continent. And how do they propose to do this? They choose what the Chinese have chosen so that the world can have tech products made with slave labor. Wait. That’s not exactly right. Nomatter. Move on. The only problem with this atypical day-late and Euro-short activity is that they haven’t beat Brazil to it. That’s right Eurowastelanders, once again you’ve been sucking on your beloved history a bit too long. Other than a few fancy cars and stuck-up fashion, what else do you have? So go ahead. Invest late and try to catch up. And what will you build in your new Automaton replacing robot factories? That’s right. Nothing. Unless you come up with a smart phone or something silly like that. Which doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Oh wait. Maybe you can make your cars at new robot factories. That way you can replace the robots you already have making them–on account they earn too much after all these years of use. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Way to go Eurowasteland! Pat yourself on the back. Drink a café-o-lay. Protect your Tower of Babel. And when that’s done, go buy some vacation.

Eurowasteland Advancing By Finally Finding A Way To Replace Overpaid Automatons With Robots.

How To Be King

How do you become king? Who picks you? What grants you the right? Nomatter. Half of Eurowastelands problems could be addressed (not solved, of course) by getting rid of the useless that claim thrones. But then again. It’s 2014. That monarchs still exist says it all.

Spain’s King Juan Carlos To Abdicate After 40 Years On The Throne In Favor Of Son.

Know Known Knows Unknown

Don’t forget to watch the vid to the link below. There might just be a few wows in there–especially when its admitted that Dubya committed war crimes. But I’m sure we all knew that, or? Otherwise you can buy the novel this guy wrote to accompany his story-telling about govt. service and such. (Sarcasm off.)

Ex-Counterterrorism Czar Richard Clarke: Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld Committed War Crimes | Democracy Now!.

Up Till The End

He does a great job up till the end. Because. There’s no need to ask the apathetic to do anything. For if they did do anything. Then there wouldn’t be apathy. Or something like that.

Snow(den) Ball Effect

conspiracy theory

noun

1) a belief that some covert but influential organization is responsible for an unexplained event

2) a royally fucked up society produces individuals who cannot face reality and thereby turn to other means to deal with their inability to comprehend

As worst-stated here and here, worst-writer is torn on the Snowden issue. Trying to get informed about it all, I found myself drifting along pathways. One pathway is that of boredom–on account I have taken comfort in my guess-work about Edward Snowden. The other is a slight fear that if I didn’t follow this stuff I might miss something. I guess that’s also an admission that I’m hoping something worthwhile might come of Snowden’s so-called leaks. But the problem is we have to wait for the guardians of information to release that information to us. Reason for that I’m sure has to do with our maturity, perhaps a bit with the result of denying evolution and the simple fact that Americans have been voting their feelings as directed by others (as opposed to reaching ones own (political) conclusions) for the past thirty-plus years. Oh. And let’s not forget that Snowden’s leak fell into the lap of only a few people–all of whom I’m sure we can trust to act in our best interests in releasing that information. Indeed. The American Dream Delusion continues. Freedom reigns for the few. The rest of us schmucks get to hang out and… blog.

For a while there I actually started to doubt my doubts about the whole Snowden/Greenwald shebang. Doubt is a serious issue, worst-reader. It should never be underestimated. The doubt-doubts I was having were starting to cloud my views. You know, like how the views of conspiracy-theorists are clouded. Thank goodness for Russia Today, though, eh! I mean, thank goodness that a Putin-loving, Russian TV, pseudo newz network is out there to inform us all about what we are missing on account our own newz services can’t really deliver the goods. (See link below.) But then again, what would the ‘goods’ bring if actually given to the dumb-downed masses that have caused the mess we are in from the get-go? You know, the ones that have been voting based on what they’ve been told to vote. Nomatter.

Edward Snowden has finally been interviewed. Now we have our first chance to hear first hand what this young man has to say. Oh wait. Stop the presses. It’s not really the first. NBC is actually the second news organization to interview Snowden. The first interview was from ARD, a German state funded TV network. What? You never saw the German interview? Gee, I wonder why? Oh well. Nomatter.

But that’s not really what I wish to worst-blog about today. What I wish to worst-blog about are the three hours of material in the recent NBC/Snowden interview that were not included. Of those three hours, due to constraints of TV I’m sure, there was some picking and choosing regarding what Americans can and cannot hear. And what, I wonder, should Americans not hear? It seems RT (see link below) has gotten its hands on at least part of the unaired portion of the interview. And what they reveal is quite interesting. At least, from what I can make of it, it’s enough to relieve me of the doubts I was having.

Oh. Btw. Does this mean RT paid NBC? And who knows. The guardians of information might think it best to get the gritty stuff from Snowden out through other means. You know the stuff that might make a rational person raise an eyebrow or three. Or it might make someone question Snowden’s motives–which has been my big thing since this started. For me, he’s always seemed a bit fishy and flakey. Add to that Glenn Greenwald’s ability to enhance revenue streams. Who knows. All of this just seems fishy and flakey. So let’s just trust the fishy and flakey guardians of information to figure out if this stuff is 1) news worthy or 2) legit. Either way, in order for NBC to make a buck off such an interview and not have to buy the rights from the Germans for the ARD interview, the term done-a-snowden or you have been snowdened should now be part of our vernacular.

Thanks to Putin’s RT pseudo news network, whose legitimacy is underscored because they’ve hired Larry King, we get some insight into the other two hours of NBC’s journalistic coup d’etat. We also get to finally see/hear what I’ve been suspecting all along–and what was the origin of my doubts. Snowden is just another conspiracy theory nut-bag caught up in the whirlwind of all the misdeeds from the past thirty-plus years. (See once again Tommi’s less than empirical definition of conspiracy-theory above.) Yeah, baby. While voting their feelings and not their heads, Americans are in a place from which there is no return. And Snowden has joined the ever growing snow-ball. So what happens to those in the Snow(den) ball? Nothing will happen. The status quo continues. Snowden’s leaks are now officially vetted. The kid spoke one or three words too many. He has revealed that he is yet another conspiracy theorists hell-bent on reducing the government to a size that can be washed down the drain of a tub. He is someone that has been sold the post-Reagan mantra that most Americans have bought hook, line and sinker. Here is what determines EVERYTHING:

Grievance
Belonging (and)
Sentiment.

Here’s the link to RT’s text excerpts from the unaired portion of the NBC interview:

Read Snowden’s comments on 9/11 that NBC didn’t broadcast — RT USA.

And so. Questions remain. Questions that enhance my personal vetting process for Ed Snowden. Questions such as:

Why is it, while reading Snowden’s unaired comments, I can also hear the steam bellowing from the ears of gun-totting, angry white people and the conspiracy theories that glue them all together?
Why, if Snowden is so concerned about “government” collecting data on citizens he doesn’t once mention The Patriot Act and how and who made that act? And why doesn’t he mention that with one clean swipe of the pen that Act could be repealed and good old fashion innocent before proven guilty law could once again be the standard?
Why does he feel compelled to talk about nine-eleven in the context of an interview that we would not be having if it weren’t for the reaction by America to that day?

But I digress.

Rant on.

-tommi

Confused Success

As a locked-in take-my-money Apple slave (not to demean the real slaves putting these devices together), I have no fear in the following claim: there is love to be found for Microsoft’s Surface. Last year, with my 2010 MacBookPro reaching it’s limits, I had to make a decision. First, even though a new MacBookAir was in the plan, I didn’t want to afford one. Second, what to do? Take a step back and think things through. Result? Installed new SSD on my old MBP. Result? Wow. Never thought such an inexpensive upgrade/modification could save the day. But there was still something missing. The more and more I read about, heard about, and watched my better half use her iPad, I was itching to enter that world–which is another reason I find the frivolous, standardised premium pricing of laptops such a turn-off. Again, I love Microsoft’s Surface. I think. Or do I just love the whole new post-pc bullshit that finally galvanizes the wonders of cloud computing? Heck, I would spend a few moments here or there in any tech department of any store fiddling with the Surface. I watched youtube reviews and read various articles about it, too. It just seemed like Microsoft, by doing the same but repackaging it, putting a new coat on it, etc., might be on to something. I love the optional keyboard and the stylus rocks, too. Input was always my biggest gripe on the iPad. But there is a different turn-off with the Surface. It is a real deal killer (for moi). It is the fact that this device will 1) never be a replacement for a a productive laptop and 2) like all other devices, it is typically overpriced. Indeed. The monopoly, cabal industry that Microsoft/Intel have sewn lives on in the Surface. Which brings me to Microsoft’s biggest problem: Steve Jobs was right. In fact, Steve Jobs is the first to break the Microsoft/Intel cabal (if you ask me). He really nailed it (to Microsoft) with the iPad. Unlike its Macs, it does not depend on the cabal. And the fact that it is/can be half the price of the Surface… Wow. So let’s put it all together, dear worst-reader. I love the new Surface 3. But an aging laptop, a productivity machine, can be revived with cheap upgrades (in my case it was both an SSD and a new battery which was less than $400). My 2010 MBP now boots in less than 10 seconds and runs all day (I’m not kidding) on a single battery charge. A few months after that, realizing I saved money by not buying a new over-priced laptop, I broke down and bought a refurbished iPad4 from the US apple store. I’ve been using it for the better part of six months and I love it. I got one with 64GB and Cellular–for under $500. I even bought a marked down keyboard for it–as third-party add-ons are currently heavily discounted because of iPadAir. Although it’s not the productivity device I’d like it to be, it is the perfect device for supplementing the productivity of my laptop. I use the iPad to read, read and read. I use it to collect links to articles and even post to my blog. I also use it as my only email device and it’s perfect for video calling with my mother in the States. And it’s also fantastic when it comes to the cloud. So that I won’t bore you with all it can do. I use my laptop for all my writing and most of my blog posting. I use my iPad for everything else. Everything.

Microsoft Introduces Thinner Surface Pro 3 with 12″ Display Starting at $799 – Mac Rumors.

But, seriously, will it replace laptops?

Good luck Microsoft.

Rant on.

-Tom

Worst Question #287

Dear WorstWriter,

It seems as if the move in corporate america is to host clouds that do NOT access / use the public internet. I would say all the technology that has made the internet what it is means it is time to employ this technology “off internet” for the future movement of data. Leave the “internet” to applications like ordering a taxi or pizza or sharing your pictures and all “real” information will migrate to networks where you will have to pay to play so to speak. What do you think? Is the “cloud” just a harbinger of the future where if you are not “locked” into someone’s “cloud” then you will have nothing but TV on the internet (or Facebook like BS)? And what about those “clouds”? What real information will you actually have access to? Pretty much nothing useful, no research, information that is useful outside of commercial uses. The original Internet is like “bad currency” and it will drive out “good” meaning anything useful will move on… The original “internet” is like smoking, addictive but useless and more harmful then good…

Here’s an article that recently motivated this question. I’m confused about Microsoft’s strategy.

Yours, a concerned shitizen and former corporatist.

Dear Corporatist and respected Shitizen,

I feel the struggle inside you. I especially know what it’s like to be rejected on a whim and have to live your life as a former corporatist where your living standard has been robbed and you feel as though you know exactly who the robber is. But I digress. On to more relevant things.

Barring any changes to basic TCP/IP and HTTP protocols the Internwebnet, or Internet–as most worst-mortals refer to it–is safe. Allow me to start with a brief and nebulous explanation of The Cloud. First, it is nothing but a natural recurring technology based on open, distributed and decentralized networking. Second, the cloud as a technology is not owned (is not proprietary) but how it used can be owned. See Dropbox, Evernote, iCloud, etc. In my humble worst-opinion, Google Chromebook is the best example of proprietary hardware and software utilising this new aspect of technology. The Cloud is brilliant and worthwhile–as long as you stick with the worst-writer mantra: if you have personal info that you want to be private keep it off an open, distributed, decentralized network. That said, I am using the cloud more and more. In fact, I’ve spent the last few months getting all my work in the cloud. It’s only about 1GB of text data but now I can access, edit and work on it all from any internet connected device. The cloud has little to do with the problems of the internet.

Here the problems a’la worstwriter.

Problem #1: Net Neutrality.

Politicians are trying desperately to govern, i.e. get money for Internet use by Internet hogs, or, as I like to call them: providers of video. Personally, video should get its own internet. I could live happily with an Internet and less video. Anywho. Netflix is the biggest video packet culprit. YouTube is pretty bad, too. Old school media companies hate video on the Internet (but not like I hate it). ISPs hate it, too. Netflix is the single biggest bandwidth hog on the Internet and the old economy wants them taxed. The argument for old school regarding Netflix is a typical centralized, almost mafia-like argument: You wanna play you gotta pay. Netflix’s pie has surprised them all and now there are many that think they deserve a piece of that pie. Keep in mind, government has already succeeded in fully controlling mobile/cellular data (our loss suckers). But here’s the problem (the government and old school have) that we all should be VERY thankful for. The basic infrastructure of the Internet is by default decentralised and distributed. It CANNOT be centralized–even though the government and corporations are trying their best to do so. Politicians will have a tough time controlling the Internet because of its very nature. But what the government can do is help old school get a piece of the pie.

Problem #2: Edward Snowden.

The article you sent has little to do with the cloud but instead is a marketing ploy for/by Microsoft & Co. to counter what was exposed by Edward Snowden. I’m sure you’re not hearing (through US media) about how Snowden’s NSA leak has been devastating to US technology companies. Snowden revealed that countries and international business cannot trust US technology industry because it is in cahoots with the NSA. Have you heard about Cicso turning over it’s routers to NSA to have them install back-door technology on them before shipping to customers? Also exposed was the fact that what the NSA gathers/collects is not used for national security. It is used for corporate espionage. Here a nice (shame of me) vid with 3rd grade level explanation of Snowden ordeal.

Side note: Heck, recently Google got shot down by EU saying Google has to give control of my google data back to me.

If you think Microsoft will/can succeed with its new system, buy it’s stock.

Good luck, Shitizen.

Rant on.

-Tommi (aka worstwriter)

Laugh It Off

Why I indirectly use Facebook and other FB wannabees. For me, FB first caught my attention because of all the share links available on whatever website I was reading. Those buttons were initially a great way to manage bookmarks as up to that point I had been using Delicious, which is cumbersome and monotonous. Share buttons have subsequently been replaced by “tweet” buttons. (Twitter, btw, seems to be a company that got social networking right–and it’s not even a social service, it’s a micro-blog service.) Now I just get a kick out of being able to re-post links to content from my blog automatically via wordpress. And every once-a-once I conveniently use FB messages. Personally, I got nothing against the “social” phenomenon of FB–which is code for advertising and parsing web use. Heck, I don’t even care about anonymity (because the internet is and forever will be nothing more than an extension of original telephony and that too was never anonymous. But I digress.) In my humble worst opinion, Facebook really is nothing more than what AOL wanted to be but couldn’t be simply because Interwebnet users at the time were wise enough to laugh it off. As this new generation of Interwebnets users comes onboard, i.e. those who missed the CompuServe days with dial-up modems and/or those grasshoppers incapable of investigating what this digital age is really supposed to be about, it’s been easy for FB to manipulate and conjure. Still. I think FB’s days are numbered. I, for one, am amused and soddened at the fact that my beloved Interwebnets is on the verge of collapse. But that’s a different issue. FB’s obvious problem now is its stock evaluation and an already tarnished rep. Time will tell where it goes but it ain’t looking good. Who knows, maybe FB can make a few more billion useless dollar purchases. I’ve already stopped using WhatsApp. Nomatter.

Links:

Good luck.

Rant on.

Tommi

Prank The Automaton

Activist group The Yes Men nail it again. These guys are so awesome they’re beyond funny. Seriously. It’s as though funny starts at a certain point with them and 180 degrees later it’s still funny but then again it’s not. Dark humour? Dark Parody? Dark… You know what I worst-mean. But then again. Wait. Nomatter. Check out the vid and wait till it gets to the line dance part where these pranksters organise the attending corporate-automatons to fall in line like the sheep being lead off the cliff that they really are. My only concern with this level of immaculate humour is, if, under other circumstances, if I would have made it in the corporate-automaton world, would I too have fallen for this? Ok. Wait (again). I can safely say I wouldn’t have fallen for this. Why? Because I didn’t fall for the corporate-automaton world from the get go, baby. That’s why I’m (we’re) here, baby. That’s right. That’s exactly what makes worst-writer better–including you, worst-reader. That’s why we’re free and I’m planning my next trip to Curacao at the same time I’m worst-writing this post. Yeah, baby.

In case vid fails, here’s another link to video and article.

-Tommi

Newz #002

A: But sirrah, I say to you, I’m not intolerant.
B: You are, you just don’t know it.
A: Therefore, this feeling I have, this inner burning sensation, means that I hate everybody?
Short pause.
A: But sirrah, that can’t be.
B: Oh it can–just as you were born.
Short pause.
B: And now I must move on–for the ship is sinking.

Say, doesn’t pic of Nevada look like a Guillotine? Just askin’?

Oh, the DNA runs deep in American’t. But what is even more obvious are the faces of these really, really, really stupid white men. Between Cliven Bundy and Donald Sterling all I see are the faces that raised me–including the female. I’m not just talking about my parents but about the environment chosen for me that I was forced to grow-up in and never looked back when I left it. Ah, the grand ol’ saying: You can’t choose your parents. Indeed. But you can choose the environment to leave.

Good luck suckers.

Rant on.

tbone

State Sponsored Injustice

Been following the case of Jeremy Hammond? Or are you just another American’t following the butthole of the dollar that rules your measly life? I know. I’m being a bit harsh (for I, as an Expat, follow the butthole of the €uro which ultimately is the same stinky, smelly thing!) What gets me about Jeremy Hammond, though, is the potential relation to others who also attempt to partake in what should be justice but instead is a systematic relegation of injustice masked in the/a happy-face of corporate dysfunction and a society hell-bent on failing upwards. Wait. Pause. Breath. Let me rephrase.

The case of Jeremy Hammond is what happens when ideologues in the form of federal judges abuse their power because, well, they have nothing better to do. Check out Aaron Swartz to see where the same abuse of state power has happened before. Obviously there can be no justice in a country that lets fraudsters and two-bit criminals get away with blatant robbery, i.e. the bankers and all those that support the speculation state that sustains itself by the profits made from trading debt and selling out. And let’s not forget the war mongers and profiteers of the military industrial complex. Yet young people, committed to openness, fairness and justice above and beyond ideology, are sentenced to jail time for being awesome computer hackers.

worstWriter also can’t help but think about how people like Jeremy and Aaron relate to other hackers e.g. Edward Snowden. Is there even a relation? Indeed. Hammond’s hack certainly differentiates from Snowden’s hack. I’m still waiting to hear about anything really significant coming out of the stuff that Snowden released. And let me not get started on how Snowden is an obvious coward compared to Hammond. (What daddy did you run away to, Mr. Snowden?) Thus far Snowden has told the world what it should already know. Hammond, on the other hand, tried to reveal to the world how the powers-that-be rule the lives of the measley.

I’m sure Chris Hedges would disagree with me.

Rant on.

-TGS-

Getting Blurred

http://www.democracynow.org/embed/story/2013/11/14/tpp_exposed_wikileaks_publishes_secret_trade

Interesting debate between/among workers-for-the-man. But what is such a trade agreement really? On the one hand, this particular trade agreement has to do w/copyrights and all that that old chestnut entails. On the other hand, the environment is mentioned in it as well. All worstWriter can say about that is, why now?, why in secret?, and what’s the rush? Oh, and is there more to this report? 95 pages doesn’t seem like much (especially if you’re worstWriter that wrote a few or three of these reports in his/her day.) Also. Can’t help but wonder if, especially when copyright and environment is in the same context, whether thisis really about empire and nothing more or less. But I wouldn’t want to confuse things more… I mean blur them more.

Great how Cato guy seems to be overwhelmed by the depth of the lefty. You go gurl!

Rant on.
-TGS-

Other Means

Digital dark ages in Germaninland? Or as Angie likes to put it (and I’m paraphrasing): To Germans the Internet is Neuland. With that in mind, I’ve been considering getting a tablet for a while now. But a few things have been holding me back. For one, my experience with a third gen Kindle hasn’t been all that great. As a reader it’s almost perfect. As a device that is meant to connect wirelessly to unlimited content, it’s a mess. Also, with the roar of technology I find it a bit overkill to have both a Kindle and a tablet. Indeed. The Post-PC era is upon us and that includes the idear of a tablet replacing not only my Kindle but potentially my ageing MacBook. Or am I off base here? Nomatter. While shopping for a tablet I happened across something that caught my attention and makes me ask: who exactly is Post-PC? Is it a he or a she? And will it/she eventually try to mate with me?

Focus, dear worst-reader, on the screenshot above. Keep in mind that I just got back from traveling and experienced exactly what is explained in the text. Here a short worst-translation from the yellow box:

If you are traveling with your Kindle Fire HDX you will only have access to the content you downloaded in Germany. You can connect to WiFi and also purchase books and apps on Amazon. In order to purchase films and TV shows from LOVEFiLM you must be in Germany.

So. Let’s have a closer look at these three sentences, shall we?

“If you are traveling with your Kindle Fire HDX you will only have access to the content you downloaded in Germany.”

This means that if you’re travelling outside of Germany you better purchase and download the content you want to read before you leave the country. Wow. Doesn’t sound like a mobile device to me. And what if I read all the books I downloaded in Germany and want to buy another one while not in Germany? I think the only logical response from Amazon to that is: shit-outta-luck, bitch!

“You can connect to WiFi and also purchase books and apps on Amazon.”

They are saying that you can download books but they are not saying you can buy them while traveling, and they specifically leave out mention of 3G.

“In order to purchase films and TV shows from LOVEFiLM you must be in Germany.”

This sentence is the only one that really makes any sense. You must be in Germany to buy film and TV content. Is it me or does anyone else out there in worst-land feel the ropes around our digital necks tightening?

What Amazon is saying here, obviously at the behest of German regulators and overseers of the German state controlled media, is that in order for you to utilise the technology offered by Amazon and its tablet, you must be in Germany to do so. And you must also not expect anything different than the status quo of publishers and content owners using technology to sell you what they’ve always sold you. I can attest to the fact that that is wholly true. While in Morocco the 3G of my Kindle didn’t work at all. And there were two more books I was planning on reading while traveling. Luckily I had my MacBook with me and my hotel room had an ethernet connection. Using my Mac and ethernet I was able to connect to Amazon.de and buy a book. After that I was able to find a place in the hotel that had WiFi where I could then download my purchase to my Kindle. Wow. What a hassle in this technology driven world, eh? And all because German regulators are in control of everything. And to think that German technocrats are all sitting around in their historic offices in their historic buildings thinking about the next bratwurst and pils they’ll stuff in their fat ass faces! Indeed, dear worst-reader. Germany is the most prosperous country in the shithole of Eurowasteland and none of that prosperity has anything whatsoever to do with progress or technology.

But before I really lose my cool. What can we take from all the hassle put out by German regulators? 1) It’s not worth it to pay the extra money for the 3G technology of a German Kindle. 2) Make sure you know exactly what digital content you want before leaving Germany and make sure you download it before you travel. 3) For Germans, as with most other advancements, the Post-PC era ain’t quite here yet. Tough shit, eh! I guess there’s still not enough reason to consider why so many people (excluding yours truly, of course) resort to other means to download their digital content. Indeed. All the wrong people are controlling our digital world. And all those same controlling people want to prevent the future.

Links:

Rant on.

-tgs-

Connect Dysfunction Dots

Can it be said enough? I mean, can it be said enough before it becomes commonplace? No. Then let’s do it now. Let’s say it, dear worst-reader. For it is… American’t. It is The United Mistakes of America. And then there’s, The Land Of The Free To Be Stupid. Etc., etc. Alone the common misinterpretation of the 2nd Amendment should give away how utterly dysfunctional a people can be when it comes to grasping even the tip of the floating iceberg that is sinking our ship. Ineed. If one heeds the creed of liberty and freedom and all that jazz, America is a über-dysfunctional place sailing along as though we have earned our vacation of doom. Or is it our nightmare of glory? Nomatter. But then again, if one wishes to continue on through life as though optimism is as real as the pill prescribed by our shrink or the golden shoes that match the iPhone bought at the mall or the ice cream licked from the corporate restaurant chain, then I worst-suppose all is well. We can continue on connecting the dots as though they contain the entertainment we seek in order to shut down for an hour or four before going out yet again to work for-the-man. For it doesn’t matter what those dots eventually turn out to be–the most important thing is that as soon as you’ve connected them the faster you/we can return to the intended state of disconnection–I mean, dysfunction. Comfort zone for all. Eternal holiday. Let the games begin. Ahoy!

****

(Update: unfortunately link to vid referred to is broke; seems MSNBC has removed it.) What is the most shocking part of the report by Rachel Maddow in the vid below? Is it the fact that the bad guy outed American intelligence services that helped prevent a suicide bombing in Yemen? Or is it the fact that the DOJ circumvented fourth estate journalists and their right to not reveal their sources? No wait. None of that is important because it also turns out that the bad guy, you know, the one caught because of DOJ fourth estate circumvention, was also a child pornographer. Wow. Stop the presses! Or should we, Miss Maddow, not stop the presses?

What’s fascinating after listening to this report several times is how Maddow forgets to mention one very important dot that is not connected. That dot is this: None of this would have been possible prior to the current crazed state of law enforcement in America. Put another way, it took 9/11 to set America on a path of radical anti-constitution law making, including government bureaucratic expansion that has put us in a state of perpetual bankruptcy ad-absurdum. Which brings worst-writer to this conclusion: When will Maddow tell the story of how American’t, while lost in connecting all the wrong dots, eats itself from within?

Now don’t get me wrong here. I’m not an anti-government nutbag. In fact, I’ll happily stand up and sing the song titled You Get The Government You Deserve right after The Star Bangled Banner. It’s just that while listening to Maddow rip this story as though she were revealing something significant–probably because of how it’s all somehow connected to Hillary Clinton and her involvement in Benghazi and hence her chances of election in 2016–I can’t help but feel squeamish regarding all that is not said. And so, the most shocking thing is that Maddow, in her attempt to reveal the news, that is, play journalist, doesn’t really get around to telling American’ts what they really should know. But who am I to judge. She’s got the TV show, earns lots and I’m just a useless eater.

Links:

Update: Dead link above has made worstWriter VERY curious. Why would MSNBC kill such a link? And if they kill it, why then make it so hard to find? Any sys admin or website admin could have made the appropriate changes to whatever linked this vid to the world. But I should stop there. Not trying to fan the flames of Maddow conspiracy. Luckily (as of Nov. 2013) I was able to find a Tweet linking to this video but not able to find the video via NBC or MSNBC. Below the link to the vid from the tweet. Good luck.)

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/53089884/#53089884

Rant on.

-tgs-