Myside's Spew - Blog of Spontaneous Combustible Spew

How To Piss Off a Frog

20 March, 2012 10:19 CST6CDT

How To Piss Off a Frog Video

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A year ago I was writing...

Introduction to Puberty
It is Squirrel Thursday! - Pictures in the lives of the Squirrel Army
Green Valley Aromatherapy - The Next Young Living

Bullshit  Article & Comments

Dumbest Company Decision of 2011

30 December, 2011 15:55 CST6CDT

Verizon announced yesterday (December 29th, 2011) that they will be adding a $2.00 charge for paying your wireless bill on-line (paperless) starting January 15th, 2012.  Snail mail (USPS) processing of paper checks, money orders, or wired checking account transfers do not apply.  Today, December 30th, 2011 they retracted this decision after customer complaints including discontinuation of service threats and the FCC stating they are "concerned" about the additional fee and will look into the matter.

Most utility companies give consumers discounts or credits for paperless billing as it saves cost of paper, postage, and reduces billing departments processing overhead.

Dumbfound are the "year in review" articles already published, as Verizon (Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc.) within just 3 days of the new year has distinguished themselves as making the dumbest company decision of 2011.

Cheers!

A year ago I was writing...

North American Squirrel Association (N.A.S.A.)

Bullshit  Article & Comments

Internet Blacklist

14 November, 2011 11:42 CST6CDT

Stop the Internet Blacklist Legislation


The Internet Blacklist Legislation– known as PROTECT IP Act in the Senate and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House - is a threatening sequel to last year's COICA Internet censorship bill.  Like its predecessor, this legislation invites Internet security risks, threatens online speech, and hampers Internet innovation. Urge your members of Congress to reject this Internet blacklist campaign in both its forms!

Big media and its allies in Congress are billing the Internet Blacklist Legislation as a new way to prevent online infringement. But innovation and free speech advocates know that this initiative is nothing more than a dangerous wish list that will compromise Internet security while doing little or nothing to encourage creative expression.

As drafted, the legislation would grant the government and private parties unprecedented power to interfere with the Internet's domain name system (DNS). The government would be able to force ISPs and search engines to redirect or dump users' attempts to reach certain websites' URLs. In response, third parties will woo average users to alternative servers that offer access to the entire Internet (not just the newly censored U.S. version), which will create new computer security vulnerabilities as the reliability and universality of the DNS evaporates.

It gets worse: Under SOPA's provisions, service providers (including hosting services) would be under new pressure to monitor and police their users’ activities.  While PROTECT-IP targeted sites “dedicated to infringing activities,” SOPA targets websites that simply don’t do enough to track and police infringement (and it is not at all clear what would be enough).  And it creates new powers to shut down folks who provide tools to help users get access to the Internet the rest of the world sees (not just the “U.S. authorized version”). 

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has placed a hold on the Senate version of the bill, taking a principled stand against a very dangerous bill. But every Senator and Representative should be opposing the PROTECT IP Act and SOPA.

Contact your members of Congress today to speak out!

In this new bill, Hollywood has expanded its censorship ambitions. No longer content to just blacklist entries in the Domain Name System, this version targets software developers and distributors as well. It allows the Attorney General (doing Hollywood or trademark holders' bidding) to go after more or less anyone who provides or offers a product or service that could be used to get around DNS blacklisting orders. This language is clearly aimed at Mozilla, which took a principled stand in refusing to assist the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to censor the domain name system, but we are also concerned that it could affect the open source community, internet innovation, and software freedom more broadly:

* Do you write or distribute VPN, proxy, privacy or anonymization software? You might have to build in a censorship mechanism — or find yourself in a legal fight with the United States Attorney General.

* Even some of the most fundamental and widely used Internet security software, such as SSH, includes built-in proxy functionality. This kind of software is installed on hundreds of millions of computers, and is an indispensable tool for systems administration professionals, but it could easily become a target for censorship orders under the new bill.

* Do you work with or distribute zone files for gTLDs? Want to keep them accurate? Too bad — Hollywood might argue that if you provide a complete (i.e., uncensored) list, you are illegally helping people bypass SOPA orders.

* Want to write a client-side DNSSEC resolver that uses multiple servers until it finds a valid signed entry? Again, you could be in a fight with the U.S. Attorney General.

Contact your members of Congress today to speak out!

PROTECT IP (S. 968)/SOPA (HR. 3261) creates the first system for Internet censorship - this bill has sweeping provisions that give the government and corporations leeway and legal cover for taking down sites "by accident," mistakenly, or for NOT doing "enough" to protect the interests of Hollywood. These bills that are moving very quickly through Congress and can pass before Christmas aim to give the US government and corporations the ability to block sites over infringing links posted by their users and give ISPs the release to take any means to block peoples' sites, including slowing down your connection. That's right, some say this bill is a workaround to net neutrality and is bigger than net neutrality.

This is the worst piece of Internet legislation in history - the lawmakers who have been sponsoring (Leahy, Lamar Smith, Conyers) this bill need to be shamed by the Internet community for wasting taxpayer dollars on a bill that would break the very fabric of the Internet, create an Internet blacklist, kill jobs and great startup companies, huge blogs, and social networks.

Everyone, the entire Internet community needs to stand together if we don't want to see this bill actually become law. Internet and democracy groups are planning an Internet-wide day of protest called American Censorship Day on Wednesday, November 16th for the day Congress holds a hearing on these bills to create the first American Internet censorship system. Every single person with a website can join and needs to.

Source [boingboing]

Contact your members of Congress today to speak out!

A year ago I was writing...

Global Sufficiency Network: The Power of Enough - Week 1

Technology  Bullshit  Article & Comments

Litigation Against the AT&T and T-Mobile Monopolistic Merger to Settle The Cause of Increase to Market Price for Services

22 July, 2011 15:41 CST6CDT

AT&T Monsterupdated 2012-01-28

Fight AT&T's Takeover of T-Mobile - Get Involved, you may be eligible for compensation!  You may also take action here: Stop the AT&T T-Mobile Merger

 

  • PCMag.com: AT&T Customers Challenge AT&T, T-Mobile Merger "We've assembled a team of lawyers across the country who are working with us to jointly represent AT&T customers challenging AT&T's takeover of T-Mobile," said Barry Davis, a Miami-based trial lawyer working with Bursor, in a press release.
  • cnet News: AT&T customers try to block merger with T-Mobile The main argument in the arbitration request is that the merger will lead to higher prices and diminished service, which would harm consumers. The customers are asking that the merger be blocked or at the very least that certain requirements be put on the merger, such as AT&T divesting some wireless spectrum and stopping its practice of entering into exclusive contracts with handset makers.
  • PCMag.com: AT&T Spent 58 Percent More to Lobby U.S. Government in 2Q With the Senate's top antitrust lawmaker recently coming down on the proposed acquisition—dubbing it "highly dangerous to competition and consumers"–perhaps AT&T and T-Mobile will need to sink a few more dollars into the lobbying pot if they're going to have any shot at boosting the image of the $39 billion deal in front of the federal agencies that could block it. - David Murphy
  • CharlotteObserver.com: AT&T asks for support on T-Mobile "We all have experienced dropped calls, slow speeds and all that," Marshall said. "This merger is pretty much going to make this a thing of the past."
  • The Daily Caller: Scripted opposition to wireless merger raises credibility questions Last month the Atlanta Journal-Constitution pointed out that more than half of the filed comments opposing the merger from Atlanta residents "were identical, taken from a statement posted on a website by the Free Press."
  • The Hill: Group says AT&T/T-Mobile merger bad for mobile app makers Opponents of the merger claim it would result in a wireless duopoly with the market controlled by AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Black argues that AT&T has shown a history of stifling innovation in the past.
  • "AT&T's 'do-over' submission is a last-ditch attempt to distract regulators, politicians and consumers from the fact that it has failed to provide any evidence that its proposed takeover of T-Mobile yields meaningful benefits. Its latest model, clearly constructed with predetermined results in mind, does nothing to change the negative consequences of the takeover for consumers in the form of higher prices, reduced innovation and decreased investment. The facts do not justify allowing that to happen, and we believe the ongoing investigations by the Department of Justice, the Federal Communications Commission and 11 state attorneys general and various state regulatory commissions will reach the same conclusions." - Vonya B. McCann, senior vice president of Government Affairs for Sprint
  • cnet News: AT&T/T-Mobile merger finds more support in the states The decision puts Louisiana in a large group of states that has shown strong approval for the merger in one way or another. At the time of this writing, 26 state governors (including Jindal) have sent letters of support to the FCC and the Arizona Corporation Commission voted to approve the deal without a hearing earlier this month. And just yesterday, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel (R) announced he had jointly signed a letter to the FCC with attorneys general from Utah, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
  • Business Insider: AT&T Confirms Rumors That It Will Slow Down Data Speeds For Some Customers AT&T dropped us an e-mail this weekend, finally confirming rumors that the carrier will begin throttling data speeds for the top 5% of data users still on an unlimited plan..  In the note, AT&T blames a spectrum shortage for the policy, and says the only option is to complete its merger with T-Mobile...
  • gigaom: The going gets tough for AT&T's T-Mo plans The Federal Communications Commission said it would combine the review of AT&T's purchase of spectrum from Qualcomm with the agency's review of Ma Bell's purchase of T-Mobile. The FCC's decision on Monday night could be seen as the agency taking a careful view of consolidating so much spectrum in the hands of one company, which could be a blow for AT&T's plans to buy the No. 4 player in the U.S. market.
  • Josh Levy: AT&T's Wannabe Merger: It's the Jobs, Stupid Given this political environment, you'd think politicians would want to keep far away from anything that smells of lost jobs..  But AT&T's merger with T-Mobile — which will likely give the pink slip to as many as 20,000 workers — must smell like roses. There seems to be no other explanation for why some members of Congress would embrace the deal...
  • cnet News: AT&T may divest $8B in assets to close T-Mobile deal, report says While it's no huge surprise that AT&T will need to make concessions--the company's chief executive, Randall Stephenson, said as much--this is the first time there has been a value placed on the trade-offs it will have to make to get the deal done.
  • DSLReports.com: Leaked AT&T Letter Demolishes Case For T-Mobile Merger - Lawyer Accidentally Decimates AT&T's #1 Talking Point Yesterday a partially-redacted document briefly appeared on the FCC website --accidentally posted by a law firm working for AT&T on the $39 billion T-Mobile deal (somewhere there's a paralegal looking for work today). While AT&T engaged in damage control telling reporters that the document contained no new information -- our review of the doc shows that's simply not true. Data in the letter undermines AT&T's primary justification for the massive deal, while highlighting how AT&T is willing to pay a huge premium simply to reduce competition and keep T-Mobile out of Sprint's hands.
  • Dave Saldana: AT&T Messes with Texas: Is Campaign Cash More Important than Latino Jobs? Perry is one of the biggest cheerleaders for Dallas-based AT&T's proposed $39 billion merger with wireless rival T-Mobile, a deal which stands to put as many as 20,000 T-Mobile employees out of work if it's approved. Particularly vulnerable are those workers who have jobs that duplicate those already done by AT&T employees--think customer service and retail workers. AT&T is promising investors $10 billion in "synergies" (read: cuts) to services like call centers that it's suspiciously silent about in its public statements. Three major call centers that could be mothballed are in Texas, two of them in overwhelmingly Latino communities where workers were recruited and hired for their bilingual skills.
  • Reuters: AT&T sues customers seeking to block T-Mobile deal In eight lawsuits filed last week, AT&T accused Bursor & Fisher and a second plaintiffs' firm, Faruqi & Faruqi, of trying to pressure AT&T into "an extortionate settlement" by encouraging AT&T customers to file multiple claims against the merger..  Scott Bursor, the lawyer behind the "Fight the Merger" campaign, said the American Arbitration Association has already overruled AT&T's objections and moved forward with the arbitration process.. .
  • The Washington Post: AT&T, T-Mobile merger faces new criticism from Free Press The file, an AT&T letter, revealed that the company estimates rolling out LTE to 97 percent of the county will cost $3.8 billion. The file, which was uploaded to the FCC docket without first being redacted for public view, has since been removed and resubmitted with the redactions in place. 
  • KCBJ: FCC restarts clock on consideration of AT&T purchase of T-Mobile The FCC notified AT&T (NYSE: T) by letter on Friday that it was resuming its consideration of the merger after receiving new models the company is using in its argument for the deal. The new information concerns AT&T claims that benefits to the consumer from its size efficiencies outweigh any potential anticompetitive effects of the acquisition. 
  • The New York Times: U.S. Moves to Block Merger Between AT&T and T-Mobile The Justice Department on Wednesday sued to block the proposed $39 billion merger between the cellphone giants AT&T and T-Mobile USA, arguing that keeping them separate would preserve competition in the wireless industry and even help save jobs of American workers.
  • The New York Times: AT&T Plans to Woo U.S. And Fight It AT&T has a strong incentive to determine how many conditions the Justice Department might impose on the proposed merger. If the costs of those conditions are "reasonably likely to be more than $7.8 billion," according to the merger agreement, AT&T can walk away from the transaction without having to pay a breakup fee to T-Mobile of $3 billion in cash plus wireless airwaves worth an estimated additional $3 billion.
  • infoZine: Seven States Join DOJ in Suit Against AT&T Washington, D.C. - infoZine - On Friday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) gained the support of seven state attorneys general in their efforts to block the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. Attorneys general from New York, Washington, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio and Pennsylvania, representing more than one-third of the American population, signed on. 
  • seattle-pi: Feds ask how T-Mobile merger could really create jobs "Our review of the information currently in our record suggests that AT&T's responses on this issue remain incomplete," wrote Rick Kaplan, chief of the Federal Communication Commission's wireless telecommunications bureau. "Indeed, AT&T to date has produced almost nothing in response" to the FCC's questions on the deal's effects on T-Mobile and AT&T employees.

 Big Win! AT&T Drops Its T-Mobile Takeover Bid

AT&T just announced it's finally abandoning its doomed merger with T-Mobile.  For nearly a year, we've been showing that this deal would have only meant higher prices, fewer choices and tens of thousands of lost American jobs. Free Press knew it; the Department of Justice agreed; so did the FCC.

 Click Here for the Save The Internet Announcement 

A year ago I was writing...

GIS & Geocaching Must Have Software Applications
It is squirrel Thursday! - Squirrel Decoy

Day to Day  Bullshit  Article & Comments

Introduction to Puberty

17 March, 2011 13:14 CST6CDT

Your little body's changing, it's all good, believe me. The problem now is every time we jerk the gherkin we end up with a lot of unwanted sticky white stuff everywhere, right? So first order of business, no more socks. They are expensive, gumming up the works, plumbing wise. So you might be thinking to yourself, well Uncle Andy, what am I supposed to do with all that pearl jam if I cant spew it into Mr. sock? Glad you asked. You can have a lovely time tugging your tiger in the shower each morning, that eliminates the need for a goo glove. But the day is long, masturbation is fun, so unless you wanna take 4 or 5 showers every day, we're gonna need some other options here. So let's go with the basics. Tissues: perfectly acceptable backstop for all that creamy Italian, which can be rough when dry on such soft, sensitive skin, not to mention it can stick to your dick head like a *beep* band-aid, ouch. From there we move on to more lubricated flack catchers. Specifically, bananas: step 1, peel the banana. Step 2, slip the peel over your Randy Johnson, start pitching. Now for extra credit, warm up the peel in the microwave, NOT TOO HOT, serious yowza. Also, olive oil, moisturizer, honey, spit, butter, hair conditioner and Vaseline can all be used for lube. In my opinion, the best lube, is lube. So save your allowance and invest in some soon. Alright moving on, when you tug your Thomas on the toilet, shoot right into the bowl. In bed, soft t-shirts, perhaps a downy hand towel of your very own that you don't mind tossing after tossing. There's no such thing as polishing the raised scepter of love too much. It reduces stress, it enhances immune functions, also, practice makes perfect. So work on your control now while you're a solo artist, you'll be playing some long, happy duets in the future. Alright, class dismissed.

- [Weeds, Season 2, Episode 3]

Bullshit  Article & Comments

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