Dear Todd,There is no need to apologise, as far as I am concerned, though it is nice to see it on occasion. We all make fuck ups and I would be the first to admit it. My life is full of mistakes, errors, wrong assumptions, misinterpretations and if one does the research one can even see them on the internet...not that anyone on this list would possibly be interested in my background...
An apology occasionally goes a long way to bring our egos back to a more normal level. Part of the problem of our world today, is that our politicians, our leaders find it extremely difficult to apologise for past mistakes, particularly those who have committed human rights violations, and those who do say sorry, are never really specific about exactly what it was that they did wrong, or mistook. Mr. Dickens explored the area of humbleness quite well, as I recall. A mission accomplished and appointment of an expert in Middle Eastern Affairs comes to mind....
I too have found that using my phone or my tablet rather than my computer has led to all sorts of errors. Being a master of touch typing, 65 words a minute, the industry standard, learned by having a love affair with Mavis, the Touch Typing Tutor, by someone who was once suffering from dyslexia, is very good, but a complete waste of time when it comes to using ones thumbs and forefinger to type an email in a mobile phone or tablet...plus...if one suffers from poor eyesight, never mind MS it makes the operation extremely difficult. And as to putting stuff on the internet which one later may come to regret....Well, it is all part of the learning process. Learning from ones past stupidities is all part of the process of learning.
And I never realised that I was such a hypocrite, such a janus and dishonest and even deceptive person until I researched myself. And then there were people who accused me of such behaviour...as if they themselves, were somehow pure and unsullied with the proper motives for changing the world to their much better lifestyle.
Still, one of the good things about computers, is that they tell one exactly what one has learned...or not learned...and when one learned it. When I first gained an interest in computers, I kept saying to myself. I am never going to learn this, I am never going to learn that, it was like a mantra...but I did...in the end. And when I come across other people who have got into the same fix, I say to them. I will learn, I will make mistakes, but I will learn from my mistakes. At least a computer can provide one with ones previous learning habits, and allow one to develop them and so make even bigger fuck ups in the future. it is one of the things that most security organisations and governments don't realise.
Whereas such activity was a private activity in the past, now the NSA and GCHQ and the likes of Google can set up profiles on each individual in the world who uses the internet, and use an algorithm, which allocates a number to a piece of data or information, and eventually unite it and turn it into a name, such as tagging photos and create a profile...etc. Nuffink wrong with that of course, but when it comes to the "dark side" of framing people...then one only has to read "Harlots Ghost" by Norman Mailer...but, who wants to read that these days...Who is Norman Mailer anyway...some rubbish author who changed America...for better or for worse...;-) There is no doubt, we need far more accountability and who is it that it is going to provide it, not some paid government lackey...in my view. c'est la vie.
ATB Dougie. On 04/07/14 17:07, Todd Judge wrote:
Ok. Screw it. I'm on notes, where I should have started. Never again will I jump to respond w/in email. Please forgive me. I should know better than to type much from my phone. I have MS, and, well, it's stupid to type on a cell phone with Mr. Wacky-fingers. Below is what I intended, and am hoping for better dexterity before "Send" is hit. ============= This is totally unnecessarily too long at this point. I do want to complete a few sentences. Promise, never again. ....if you're not familiar with the Asian way they do things, there may or may not be a few things to ponder. You should experience japan banking and bill paying. Now and 10 years ago and on before then. Hint: there's no such thing as checks. Credit cards in japan are the same as debt cards in the west, not domestically used, nor accepted on a semi-nationwide basis until very recently. You have a limit based on your balance. It's automatically paid directly by withdrawal from your bank holdings on the do date. Cash IS still the most common accepted exchange. And it has it's advantages. The credit card implementation for Japan was based on watching South Korean consumers, as a whole, fall something like 40 or 60% (don't even remember) into debt when western banks brought them in. It was a disaster. I realized, as silly and time consuming as it is to now go to the bank's on site row of ATMs the 1st of the month, wait in line, literally pull cash out of your account, then feed it into another account isn't really such a bad thing, security-wise. As a fun sideline, not more than around 10-12(?) years ago, ATMs were installed outside of the physical banks at convenience stores, typically, they used direct serial connection to a slow wire to the bank computers. No encryption. Nothing but a wire. For years! When the yakuza wasn't stealing a backhoe, tearing out the store wall, and dragging the ATM down the road and vanish, a trained monkey could tap the line and feed their own account from every single user. Talk about not getting it.. There! Finished. Sorry Done.
