MaxRedline

Walmart Shopping In The Not-Too-Distant Future?

https://twitter.com/i/status/1478094074909540354

How very helpful!

If you don't find it creepy, well -  to each their own.

That's each, not eats. That comes later.

 

LDS Turns To...Vending Machines?

GILBERT, AZ — A unique vending machine is helping many this holiday season.

You can furnish apartments or provide hundreds of meals for children in need through these.

The giving machines work just like other vending machines but with an act of service twist.

Instead of receiving, the great reward is giving to others. Everything from counseling for a foster teen, a night at a safe shelter, feeding a child for a year, to even live chickens. And it's all through a press of a button.

“I think it can give a family an opportunity to earn their own money and find a way to better their lives,” said Laurie Bramble who purchased chicken for a family.

Prices range from $5 to $150.

Beats stuffing twenties into lottery machines, I think.

 

Cool Hack

Little-known battery trick

Your wireless mouse has died and you’re on deadline. Or you kid’s toy stopped working and they’re not happy.

If you’re out of AA batteries, did you know you can use a smaller AAA battery by folding up a small bit of tin foil and inserting it on one of the ends?

It totally works since AA and AAA batteries carry the same amount of voltage.

 

Elon Goes For The Stars

Virgin Galactic Unveils VSS Imagine, The First SpaceShip III in its Growing Fleet.

Give him credit, he certainly thinks big.

 

Orwell Only Had The Year Wrong

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and his merry band of censors may currently hold all the cards in dictating what the truth is, but their heavy-handed approach to controlling the platform leading up to the presidential election doesn’t account for one thing.

Missing from their calculations is the indelible American spirit heavily steeped in revolution — meaning the one thing sure to rile up an American is to tell them what they cannot do.

White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Scott Atlas got into hot water with Twitter when he posted tweets arguing that masks are ineffective. He was locked out of his account over the weekend until he deleted the offending tweets, according to The Federalist.

He did so, and fired off an apt new "first tweet":

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." "And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth." George Orwell, 1984

Yet Another Reason To Avoid Google Whenever Possible

Rather than create entirely on its own all the parts of the mobile operating system that has now come to be known as Android, Google elected to use more than 11,000 lines of coding from Oracle’s Java to make it run.

They didn't bother with stuff like licensing; they just lifted it. In executing this theft, they willfully violated a number of laws - not the least among which was federal copyright law, which covers computer code in addition to most other works.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Google v. Oracle on Oct. 7. The case involves several legal issues, all of which boil down to one principal question: Did Google cheat and steal its way to the top? 

While a decision on the case isn’t expected for a few months, the justices’ pointed questioning at the Big Tech giant points to the answer being a clear and resounding yes.

Personally, I don't use Google; I use DuckDuckGo for searches. Google tracks everything you do on the internet, DDG doesn't. While I don't do anything nefarious, I prefer privacy to snoops, so DDG is my default engine. I also use a virtual private network that tells anyone snooping that I'm in Seattle.

It's been ten years of legal wrangling between Google 's parent company and Sun Microsystems (which did the original Java coding before disbanding and turning the code over to Oracle), but it seems that the ducks have finally come home to roost at SCOTUS. It couldn't happen to a more deserving company.

 

I Don't Use Google. Neither Should You.

(Reuters) - Google was sued on Tuesday in a proposed class action accusing the internet search company of illegally invading the privacy of millions of users by pervasively tracking their internet use through browsers set in “private” mode.

Their motto used to be "don't be evil", but they went to the dark side years ago.

Personally, I use a secure VPN as well. If you don't, you might want to look into one.

 

Proud Papa

The union representing police sergeants in New York City tweeted an internal arrest report for the mayor’s daughter on Sunday, after she was arrested at a protest against police brutality.

“How can the NYPD protect the city of NY from rioting anarchist when the Mayors object throwing daughter is one of them,” the SBA said in the same tweet. “Now we know why he is forbidding Mounted Units to be mobilized and keeping the NYPD from doing their jobs.”

Twitter took the report down and locked the sergeants' account down. You know, because they're all about free speech and whatnot.

Yet one more reason why I don't use Twitter.

 

Oddly, Tillamook County Computers Were Hit By A Ransomware Attack

EDITOR’S NOTE: There was a bit of good news today – the Library’s phone system is working again, while other county departments may still be experiencing phone issues. HERE ARE ALTERNATE CONTACT NUMBERS for the County Departments:
Tillamook County Health Department is open, although there was no access to electronic medical records. The county statement assured that personal health information was protected. If patients cannot get through on regular phone numbers, please call:
● 503-812-3916 for medical and behavioral health clinic scheduling
● 503-812-3774 for dental clinic scheduling and services
● 503-354-4257 for WIC, public health and environmental health
Department of Community Development is open Mon. to Fri. from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please visit the office for planning and other department services. Please call:
● 503-812-8543 for building, plumbing, mechanical and electrical inspections
● 503-812-2431 for sanitation

Who the heck hits Tillamook County, of all places?

One week after an Oregon county was hit by a cyberattack, the Tillamook County computers remain unplugged while a cybersecurity firm tries to negotiate with criminals who deployed the ransomware, a county official said Wednesday, January 29th.

It’s not clear if a ransom demand has been made, but McCraw said the county needs an encryption key to access all the data that the criminals encrypted. A study determined that it would take 12 years to decrypt all the data without the key.

 

Google Does Something Good

 

I'm not big on Google, whose motto used to be "don't be evil", but over time they kind of morphed into something big and often evil. So it's nice to see them actually doing something people find beneficial and helps to bring them some closure.

People are finding one final image of a deceased loved one, thanks to Google Maps' Street View

By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN

 

Updated 2:48 PM ET, Sat January 11, 2020

 

 

People are finding photos of their deceased loved ones using the Street View option on Google Maps.

(CNN)When you lose a loved one, sometimes the best way to keep the memories close is to revisit old photos. That's exactly what hundreds of people on social media are doing right now, thanks to Google Maps.

Good on them.