Open Thread - Friday, August 16, 2019
Submitted by NCTim on Fri, 08/16/2019 - 3:20am
I have no need for good souls: an accomplice is what I wanted.
- Jean-Paul Sartre -
Welcome to another nearly content free edition of Funk Friday. The Internet, DSL, and land line both died right after producing last week's Funk Friday, so I broke down and made a service appointment. It appears to be fixed. So much for autonomy and a positive outlook.
A contractor installing fiber optic damaged the phone lines.
I think I will switch to fiber optic.
For now, I will have to stick with DSL. Take an encore Matt.
I should be able to join the Friday morning scrum.
Have a great weekend! The thread is OPEN.
Comments
Part of the “Asian–Pacific Islander” experience is knowing that
(1) the Americans you trust and think of as your mentors and friends today are the ones who are going to overthrow your native government and replace your native people with workers from abroad tomorrow,
and
(2) the American national leader everyone loves and you yourself probably even voted for today is going to be the one who will send you and your children, or your friends and their children, to a concentration camp in the desert tomorrow.
The economic stratification has the potential...
to get really ugly. Exploit or be exploited. Funking fascists.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
Hey, Tim. Regarding your connectivity issue:
...carpe Starlink, baby.
Elon Musk expects Starlink to be available in some parts the US in late 2019, and in a few years to cover the rest of the globe. Current satellite Internet slow because it works from too high an orbit — it's future space junk. But the thousands of low-orbit Starlink satellites form a super-fast laser grid. When they stop working, they drop out of the grid and-burn themselves up, leaving behind no junk. The object of Starlink is to bring very cheap, zero-latency Internet to all humans on the planet — no cable, no wires, no lag. So everybody can finally hook up and help each other get civilized.
Actually, I've been following this project from the beginning, and if you can hold out a bit longer, it will come to you. Broadband is already finished. It is ancient tech as far as these cyberspace scientists and AI cowboys are concerned. And, as you might expect, Starlink is on a major hiring spree.
.
The "Intergalactic Internet" that serves the distant space colonies is what's happening now — and there seems to be plenty of commercial competition. These wealthy visionaries don't pay much attention to the psychopaths and morons who are mis-leading the world today. From a futurist perspective, those pre-technology dunces are already dead and their remains were shot into space a long time ago.
I find that attitude comforting.
Sign me up
Phone line fix was temporary. The cable, laid across the street, failed by mid-evening.
I thought land line phones were considered critical infrastructure. Land line is designed to work without the power company, and typically required to operate under all but the most extreme conditions. It took four days from submitting the service request until service call, and it still isn’t fixed.
Cellphone hotspot to C99.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
Hola Tim. There is truth to the assertion that landline is
critical infrastructure. It is deemed to b such an has been declared to be such. There is one minor detail lacking, government ownership. Entrusting critical infrastructure to for profit private corporations guarantees that it will be no more robust that is necessary in order for some company rep to assert that "oh yasss, we got landline out there for everybody who wants it" even while they push powered phones that must be plugged into a wall socket as well as a phone line and alternatives like cable, fiber and sat. Pretty sure I ditched out old rotary phone a few years ago.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
We used to be intelligent
...about monopolies and pubic utilities. We used to invest in the best possible society — educated and healthy and informed. We benefitting from the civilization that we inherited from the people who came before us. We worked to enhance it further and protect it for the next generation. We all worked hard and benefitted together, and our lives continued to improve.
But, then our nation got hit by a Stupid Ray from outer space.
Advertisers blacklist news w/ “controversial” words like “Trump”
“Brand safety” consultants . . . oh, brother.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2019/08/advertisers-blacklisting-news-ot...
Someday
When I don’t phone in the Friday Funk, I will have to riff on electronic footprints. Big Brother is watching.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
Good morning, Tim ~~~
Big brother is definitely watching and has set up a system in which we can no longer hide. Even in my remote part of the world, I know they are on to me.
Heading south this weekend for a mineral springs soak. Ahhhhh ~ can’t wait.
Have a peaceful day and weekend, folks!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Mornin' Tim. Just remember that connectivity
isn't that important as long as you don't forget to boogie.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Connectivity in India is at the whim of dictatorial authorities
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/technology/india-kashmir-internet.html
Also, Arundhati Roy weighs in with her assessment of the situation:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/opinion/sunday/kashmir-siege-modi.html
Billionaire Tom Steyer: "I'm An Outsider"
you are supposed to believe this
So a billionaire hedge fund manager and former Goldman Sachs banker, is "taking on corporate power".
It worked for Trump.
The 1% have their own definition of outsider, apparently.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.