We’re watching this reality show called “Pressure Cooker”. It’s on Netflix. We haven’t watched a reality show in years but apparently the formula hasn’t changed much in the decades we’ve had to endure these things.
It’s basically “Big Brother” with a smattering of cooking. Cooking is not the focus at all. There’s mean contestants and a Red Room for confessions and a horrible person being a backstabbing contestant because that’s what’s celebrated in the world these days.
I’m not enjoying the show anymore but I’ll watch it for the rest of the family. I couldn’t care less what happens to these people. They’re probably back at Blimpies.
Hello family and friends. This is a free IT security consultation.
Please make sure you’re using a secure password and two-factor authentication (2FA) here on Facebook (actually everywhere). Today I’m receiving messages from folks saying they found photos of me on TikTok and the provided link goes to a scam website. For what it’s worth, I’m not on TikTok.
Your password should look something like this: B@c0n3ggs!zzXaYum!yuM with random characters mingled with something you can remember, or something completely random stored in a password manager like what’s built into both iPhone or Android or in an app like 1Password or Bitwarden. Two-factor authentication is when you either grab a code of an app on your phone or get a code sent to you. I’ve included a link describing 2FA. I use a free app called Authy.
It pains me to see the Internet continue to be such a potentially dangerous place with scams and leaks and lost data and impersonation and the like. The Internet was suppose to enrich our lives, not endanger it. Safe surfing!
I’m assuming there’s a bird perched near the window out of view in this photo. Truman has been in this position for five minutes, never moving, never wavering. There hasn’t even been a twitch of the tail. He is as still as a statue.
He seems to be in good spirits today, even making a rare appearance on our bed this morning for some scritches and pets. When he does decide to engage in this behavior he starts with a visit on the bed, receives some pets for about 10 seconds and the nips at my hand, steps away for a bit and then comes back for the real thing. I think he gets overwhelmed or overstimulated with the initial scritches and doesn’t know what to do with himself but then decides everything is just fine and comes back for a second round with no nips at my hand.
His purrs are loud.
He had his annual visit to the vet yesterday and for six years old is in great health. I occasional hear comments about him being such a “big kitty” but he actually lost 2.4 pounds since this last visit. He could stand to lose another 1.5 pounds but he’s doing the right things and his adult cat diet kibble seems to be doing his some good. Making his way around the dogs is probably keeping him on his toes as well. The vet had no disparaging things to see, so that was encouraging.
Twitter finally announced they will no longer allow third party applications to access the service. So for the thousands of people that used applications like Twitterrific or Tweetbot to access their Twitter accounts you’re out of luck. If you want to continue using Twitter, and I don’t know why you would want to but that’s another rant, you must use the official Twitter app. Historically I have found later versions of the official app overwhelming with ads and weird timelines and of course the ridiculous algorithm that tells me what to see instead of just a reverse-chronologically ordered timeline. Today’s Twitter is designed to engage, enrage, engage some more, and enrage some more in what they hope will be an infinite loop of visits, thus securing revenue by forcing you to see their ads while you’re seething in between tweets from Marjorie Taylor Greene and her ilk when you’re just looking for pics of naked men and/or cats.
A few links explaining how awful (actually how much of a dick) Twitter was with the handling of this transition.
And finally, a good hint as to why Twitter is starting to sweat ad revenue a little more. Elon Musk is REALLY killing the already questionably solvent business with his antics.
As a quick aside, Tesla’s stock price has been dropping like a stone since Elon Musk’s focus on Twitter. Stock holders are not happy.
I’ve posted about this song before. It just makes me so very happy. I’m delighted to have found the original video I remembered, with bits of color here and there as the video progresses. The official channel has a weird monochrome version of the video which doesn’t look right at all. Enjoy “Breakout” by Swing Out Sister, in its original color incarnation. After all, the track screams for a colorful existence.
My husband and I picked up a few mid week groceries at the Safeway this evening. While browsing the snack aisle I noticed a classic looking bag of Doritos on the bottom shelf. The taco flavor is my favorite. It took a lot of willpower not to eat the entire bag when we got back home.
TwitterDev on Twitter announced today they started enforcing rules about using their third-party API and they may have broken some of the popular third-party apps. I’m not on Twitter anymore. It’s not an awful company owned by a shitty owner and honestly I don’t know why anyone would continue to work there, but to each their own. So I’m not really invested in what happens with the platform. I’m really sick of hearing about it. I guess I am invested because I would take great glee in watching the whole platform go up in flames after a massive data leak and the personal details of every user on the platform somehow made it to the masses.
Anyways, no one knows what the actual rules are and how they were broken because no one knows the rules. In reality, Elon Musk just pulled the plug because he wasn’t getting revenue or data or something and his ass kissing sycophants (I think that’s redundant) are just covering his ass.
If you’re still on the platform, why? All I see are folks crowing about capitalism being awful and we shouldn’t have billionaires in the world (that’s a different debate) but there you are, still using the platform run by an idiot with way too much money. The guy is all smoke and mirrors. He couldn’t even run the 1939 controls that create The Wizard of Oz.
I really wish an insider still at Twitter would grow some balls and just crash the damn thing, but no one will do that because of the required ass licking. So we’re stuck hearing about Twitter every other damn minute because the news media can’t do anything without and too many people are getting their dopamine hits.
I’m not better than anyone using Twitter. I’m my own brand of ranting idiot and I’ll freely admit that. But please, just shut the damn thing off and delete it from your devices.
It’s been a cloudy, hazy weekend here in the Soronan Desert. We have winter like weather coming up this week, with the snow levels coming down to Tucson city proper by this weekend. There’s also a hard freeze in the forecast. Exciting times.
The predicted snow at this point isn’t a huge deal as it’ll be just a dusting that will probably melt quickly, but I’m sure it’ll still make an impact on the area. If it happens.
It’s been raining a lot for the past 48 hours. I still find the lights of the city to be quite beautiful, even under the clouds.
I’m always a fan of YouTube channel Trek Trendy. The reviews and sharing of experiences gives me a chance to see parts of the world I have not seen yet. I also feel a sense of inspiration to keep working hard to do some of these things shown on the channel.
For this latest video, a 17 hour first class flight from Dubai to Auckland, NZ on an Emirates A380.
It’s a quiet day here in the Desert Compound. My husband is watching football (his second game today), the dogs are sleeping near my feet, Truman is sleeping in his cat tree, and the rest of the family has gone on a movie date to see 3 1/2 hours of Avatar.
I’m enjoying the relative downtime.
I’ve been using this quiet time to clean up my computing experience a little bit. I’m always tweaking my setup here and there. I’m determined to not buy any new computers in 2023 and 15 days in I’m still holding to my word. I don’t need a new computer, of course, but once in a while I think about buying something to use at work as part of their “Bring Your Own Device” program. I have a cantankerous relationship with my work-issued, Windows 10-based laptop at best, but when all is said and done it gets the job done and that’s what’s important. I just need to take a focused approach at using the dang thing so I don’t get into my own head about buying another computer.
I’ve also been using the quiet time to engage in some of my hobbies. I’ve been watching flying videos, chatting with other pilots of aviation forums, and looking into some other flight opportunities in the area. The weather for the next 48 hours is rainy, cloudy, and cold, so I might as well engage in my aviator blood through other methods.
I’m also doing more research and planning for Storm Chasing Trip 2023 coming up later this spring. I’ve been looking at maps and the like, figuring out some key places I want to visit should I run into any downtime between storms.
And if that’s not enough, I’ve also been doing some research on my vintage point of sale systems hobby site. I found a video focused on John Lennon’s death and the impact on a local Tower Records back in 1980. It was quite interesting in itself, but I also noticed the Data Terminal Systems cash register featured in the video. It’s been over nearly four decades since these cash registers were in the mainstream, and they probably populate too many landfills, but I still hold out hope that someday I’ll find a unit I can clean up and restore for my own amusement.
Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.
