I really dislike telemarketing. I try not to be rude to anyone, even telemarketers; I just wait until they say what they’re selling and tell them I’m not interested. Most of them quickly thank me and move on to their next target.
But there are times when my patience is sorely tested. Continue reading ‘Telemarketers’ »
Via LifeHacker, a very interesting article about people and why we don’t always (or even usually) make rational choices.
What is it about the holidays that makes them so virus-prone?* Continue reading ‘Nyquil: “Don’t Make Any F’ing Plans”’ »
A fellow (and apparently something of a celebrity) over in the UK decided to print his banking details in his column in the Sunday newspaper, to “make the point that his money would be safe and that the spectre of identity theft was a sham,” after it came to light that the British government lost millions of peoples’ unencrypted records last year:
I have never known such a palaver about nothing. The fact is we happily hand over cheques to all sorts of unsavoury people all day long without a moment’s thought. We have nothing to fear.
Unfortunately, it backfired — someone used the information to set up a £500 direct debit from his account. He’s changed his tune now:
The bank cannot find out who did this because of the Data Protection Act and they cannot stop it from happening again. I was wrong and I have been punished for my mistake. Contrary to what I said at the time, we must go after the idiots who lost the discs and stick cocktail sticks in their eyes until they beg for mercy.
Although more information is generally a good thing, there are some pieces of info that you just don’t want in the wild.
Scott Adams made an entry in the Dilbert Blog today, making a prediction of a coming Golden Age. It’s a lovely vision, and I’m sure the reality will be interesting, even if nowhere near as awesome as he describes. But there’s one thing in particular that he mentioned that bears repeating:
Wars appear to be shrinking too. World Wars I and II will probably be the final wars between major powers. The biggest powers of today are more interested in being trading partners than foes. As nations become more connected, via economics and the Internet, the risk of war decreases. All war requires a certain degree of lying to the citizens, and the Internet will continue to make that harder.
The Internet has revolutionized a lot of things, making it possible to connect with the people you need far faster, and at far lower cost, than ever before in history. In my own family, myself and both of my siblings run Internet-based businesses, things that would have been impossible to even imagine thirteen years ago. But the biggest impact that the Internet has had, and continues to have, is that it’s now possible for nearly anyone to find a bewildering amount of information on pretty much any subject at any time. You don’t have to read the newspapers, and try to filter out the editorial slant and the things that your local paper simply won’t print; on the Internet, you can’t cover anything up for very long.
People who make a career out of keeping others in the dark or lying to them — confidence men, lawyers, and politicians, for example — are going to find it ever-more-difficult to operate in the same old ways in a fully-connected world. And I think that’s a very desirable outcome… at least, for everyone else.
Good Lord… how are all those starving military contractors going to make any money off of it if it’s not a war anymore?!
Color me shocked.
After my post on the recent Office 2003 debacle, I expected Microsoft to do what they’ve always done (and what they continue to do with Windows Vista): ignore the complaints and forge on. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. But apparently they heard enough complaints that they’ve backed off on this one.
There may be hope for the company yet.
This article interests me. Not for the prurient aspects — sorry, I’m just not all that interested in dolls, even life-sized and anatomically-correct ones — but for what happens when artificial intelligence can make them a lot more real? When you can easily believe that a robotic woman is the real thing, except that she’s never jealous, has headaches, or complains about you leaving the toilet seat up or the toothpaste cap off?
It’ll be interesting to see how things play out.
Chris Linfoot had a couple of really snarky anti-Microsoft posts recently. Hello, Microsoft! Sit up and pay attention, you’re losing customers daily — and you’re not too big to care, no matter what you think!
ZDNet has an interesting series, profiling the major Presidential candidates and their stated technology views. So far they’ve got Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Ron Paul, John McCain, John Edwards, and Chris Dodd; I don’t know if they plan to cover anyone else.
Of course, you have to take what they say they support with a large grain of salt, but it might give people a leg up when deciding on a candidate to back. I haven’t made a firm decision myself yet.