Geek Stuff category archive
Snared by the Snaring Economy 0
She pulled over to check that she had not forgotten her prescription and she got shared.
. . . she heard the car door behind her open.
A young woman was already seating herself in the back of Sue Ellen’s sedan and a young man was about to open the rear door on the passenger side.
“I think you have the wrong car,” she said – pleasantly, I’m sure. That’s the kind of person Sue Ellen is.
“Oh, then you’re not our Uber driver?” the young woman asked.
We are a society of stupid.
Geeking Out, Bit Bucket Dept. 0
/dev/null is your friend.
This screenshot captures part of my .procmailrc file showing how I send spam and other unwanted email to the bit bucket. The .procmailrc file is in the right pane of the Terminator window; the left pane is my Mutt inbox. (The music player is qmmp, currently streaming KCEA.)
All the “From” addresses listed in the right pane go to /dev/null, and that’s a small portion of those so designated. Since I refined my .procmailrc file to filter the junk before it lands in Maildir, Mutt has been ever so much more responsive.
Peeking out from the back is Ktorrent, which is seeding downloads for the recently-released Slackware 14.2 so as to take some of the load off other Slackware mirrors.
The window manager is, natch, Fluxbox.
Oh, yeah. You can’t do this on Windows.
Once More into the Breach 0
If you want a sane discussion of the DNC email leaks and similar hacks by persons who
- know how email and networks work,
- are not grinding political axes, and
- can explain stuff good,
listen to the latest episode of The Sunday Morning Linux Review.
German Engineering 0
Aside:
In the rush to market shiny new computerized things, marketing trumps computer security every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
Pokemon Go and the Pixels of Power 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Liraz Margalit explores the fascination of a fantasy world.
She left out the part about the stupid.
Facebook Frolics 0
Alas, poor troll.
I knew him, Horatio. But I unfriended him all the same.
I do not miss the Zuckerborg. It makes the Slough of Despond look like a resort town.
Facebook Frolics 0
Shorter Mark Zuckerberg: You will look at my stupid, annoying, obnoxious ad and like it.
Full Disclosure:
I don’t use ad-blocking software. I use a HOSTS file.
The Snaring Economy 1
Dan Baker discusses Uber’s exit from Austin, Texas, ostensibly over a requirement that it’s drivers be fingerprinted and have their backgrounds checked. He suspects that was a ruse:
Rather, the issue was likely that Uber is worried about its drivers being labeled as employees. Uber claims that its drivers are independent contractors, not employees. As independent contractors, Uber is not responsible for paying Social Security taxes, nor is it liable for workers’ compensation for drivers who get hurt in traffic accidents. It also doesn’t have to withhold income taxes. And, independent contractors don’t have the right to unionize.
More at the link.