Reality Out of Sync » Evil

Stupid Cell Phone Tricks

prata — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:20:31 +0000

The BBC has an article discusses a company producing a technology that allows people to track others with a cell phone. The short of it, is that the technology uses the motion of the cell phone accelerometers to track even small movements with the built-in GPS of the phone. For those of you not in the know, GPS is used for positional tracking and is pretty accurate down to a couple feet at least. Interestingly, I discovered how accurate the GPS was with my iphone (company purchased, I wouldn’t ever buy one — I prefer the Android platform). I needed to get to a restaurant and I’d forgotten to write down the address, but I remembered the street. With a neato keen application called “Around Me” I was able to track my distance to the door of the restaurant within at least 5 feet. How incredibly useful!

Now imagine that your boss can see with a pretty precise degree where you are, and with this new technology in the mobile phone from KDDI, you’ll be comforted by the fact that your employer (or snooping wife/stalker/private investigator/police/friendly neighborhood government agent) will know if you’re actively moving around or standing still while you’re out of sight and where you might be doing it. I really don’t think I’d be too terribly happy if my employer started micromanaging my time by ensuring that i was being productive based solely on whether my phone is moving about enough for his/her standards.

“Hmm, prata has gone over his 3 minute time limit on bathroom privileges. We’ll have to write him up and remove one of his bathroom breaks to make up for the lost productivity.”

Nevermind I was spending those minutes actually at my desk and working, but I dropped my phone on my way from or to the bathroom. Or what if I leave my phone at my desk, but have done 6 tickets and rectified numerous problems. I sense lots of signing discussions with the higher ups. Yeah. I don’t like this technology at all.

Why is it I know no girls that enjoy wearing skirts like this? Sad.

You Are Not Safe

prata — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:57:01 +0000

I know, my little cherubs, that you like to think that the companies you search with and use for IM protocols aren’t out to get you; however, you’d be wrong. I know, I know! It’s hard to imagine that a company that gives you a free IM client and provides mostly free searching ability wants something from you or wants to sell your information. That’s why I linked this article! Well, that’s why I’m about to link the article.

Someone is going to say it’s for our protection. Right, and that protection comes with a price tag and profit. Please behold the glory of what companies that are providing your communications do with your data:

tsa-screening.zip     TSA Sensitive Screening Doc Redactions Lifted    December 6, 2009 (1.8MB)
att-spy-doc-01.pdf    ATT Lawful Spying Document 1                     December 6, 2009
att-spy-doc-02.zip    ATT Lawful Spying Document 2                     December 6, 2009 (2.9MB)
verizon-spy.pdf       Verizon Lawful Spying Guide                      December 6, 2009
sprint-spy2.pdf       Sprint CALEA Spying Delivery System              December 6, 2009

sprint-spy.zip        Sprint Lawful Spying Guide                       December 5, 2009 (600KB)
voicestream-spy.zip   Voicestream Lawful Spying Guide                  December 5, 2009 (626KB)
yahoo-cryptome.htm    Yahoo Cryptome Messages                          December 5, 2009
opnav-5400-7692.pdf   Navy SERE School Relocates                       December 5, 2009
DA-09-2517A1.pdf      FCC RFC on Circuit-Switched Network to All IP    December 5, 2009

dodi-1300-24.pdf      Wounded and Ill Recovery Coordination Program    December 5, 2009
handbook-10-11.zip    Handbook 10-11 Escalation of Force Afghan FOUO   December 3, 2009 (4.7MB)
fema-usms.pdf         FEMA-US Marshals MOU for Criminal Data           December 3, 2009
yahoo-demand.pdf      Yahoo Demands Takedown of Yahoo Spying Guide     December 2, 2009
spook-wishlist.htm    The Modern Spook's Data Retention Wish List      December 2, 2009

usa-disasters15.htm   Glimpses of America's Man-Made Disasters 15      December 2, 2009
yahoo-spy.pdf         Yahoo Lawful Spying Guide                        December 2, 2009
cox-spy.pdf           Cox Lawful Spying Guide                          December 2, 2009
sbc-ameritech-spy.pdf SBC-Ameritech Lawful Spying Guide                December 2, 2009
sbc-lea-spy.pdf       SBC Lawful Spying Guide                          December 2, 2009

ameritech-spy.pdf     Ameritech Lawful Spying Guide                    December 2, 2009
cingular-spy.pdf      Cingular Lawful Spying Guide                     December 2, 2009
cricket-spy.pdf       Cricket Lawful Spying Guide                      December 2, 2009
nextel-spy.pdf        Nextel Lawful Spying Guide                       December 2, 2009
pactel-spy.pdf        Pacific Telesis Lawful Spying Guide              December 2, 2009

It is _so_ important that you use crypto tools. Encrypt your shit. If you don’t know how, ask me. I’ll point you in the right direction. It doesn’t matter if you “have nothing to hide.” It doesn’t matter. What matters is protecting what you have so that spying becomes too much of a nuisance to bother doing it anymore. You’re not necessarily doing it for you, that’s really a side benefit, you’re doing it for your fellow man that may be too ignorant to bother but shouldn’t have his/her rights violated just because he/she doesn’t know any better.

I’m just sayin’.

On that note:

So like, umm, what time is it. I don't really care, but I'm intrigued.

The Boring Life

prata — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:25:46 +0000

It’s been noted by me on at least one occasion that I’m not a big fan of one company having all of my stuff. I am not a huge fan of Google having every aspect of my search history, or even thought I’ve ever written down in their database. They are an excellent search engine, and they do have some really interesting services; however, I try to minimize how much of my ‘Net soul I hand over to them. I wonder how much of it I could feasibly give to them and then to Grant and maintain my freedom. The two of them will eventually wipe one another out over the pieces and I’d be free. Good idea, prata, way to be smart!

One such family has apparently taken my idea of not having Google own them, and taken it to some new heights of intensity. I’m not sure how much anyone has heard of Street View, Google’s attempt to photograph the entire earth at eye level (interesting idea, maybe a little scary??), but the Borings apparently are quite afraid of the notion. You may have a gander at the results of their filing a lawsuit here. The premise is that the Google Street View vehicle which took the pictures of their home and drive (which they say was private property) had driven onto their property while taking the pictures. Of note, the Borings did not attempt to use the process already in place to have those images removed. They immediately began the lawsuit. That doesn’t sound like they did due diligence to me.

The Borings have appealed, but I doubt they will get very far. It’ll be interesting to see!

Who Needs Jesus?

prata — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:56:54 +0000

Grant needs Jesus. He also needs to have his chainsaws taken away. While we’re working on a list of things that he can no longer have on his person, in his car, or in his apartment, or at work for that matter everyone pray (because he is going to personally come here and bludgeon me to death with a toaster after this one).

Grant, I love you like a step brother with no arms and is strapped to me daily so that I have to lug you everywhere. Please don’t kill me, but you need Jesus.

Moving on to more important things, I read a lot in the papers and online that the Republicans (the party not every single republican in the universe) are tossing the word Socialist around like it’s a contagion or something. Something that needs to be stamped out because it’s against all that is free and beautiful in this world. Jesus was a socialist….keep that in mind

Seriously though, there are a few socialist programs we have in the US and there are socialist programs currently working in other countries that aren’t all bad. I personally think that Health care should be a more socialist practice. I’m of the opinion (and this is totally based on the type of individuals I meet and interact with on a daily basis in a hospital) that a lot of doctors, no not all of them but some of them are motivated by high dollar counts. They are arrogant creatures that aren’t really all that special in the world. You have your stars that shine bright (usually researchers) but your run of the mill clinician is not special. He’s not much smarter than anyone else; however, he put in a lot of time and spent a lot of money to get where he is and is entitled to treat you, the average citizen like a piece of shit. I believe this because they treat me like a piece of shit right up until their computer breaks..hehe. Suddenly their whole attitude changes. I like to call it ‘The Humbling’.

Any how, Socialism isn’t bad. It’s just different. It’s probably nicer (on a moral idea) than having your health decided on whether or not you can make the co-pay, or whether or not your insurance company decides to stop paying for something because this new drug works better but you happen to be allergic to it so your bill increases. I especially like that they torture children because the practice makes more money that way. I know this from experience, take your child to get skin testing by an Allergist at a non-educational facility and see what they do. It blows balls.

Also, sphincter!

Long Lost

prata — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:42:51 +0000

Totally Forgot to Post This (oops, I’m stupid)

My long lost partner in crime, Grant, sent me an e-card! I totally forgot to post this many moons ago, and so I’m just now getting around to it. Well, partner in crime may be pushing it a little. It’s more like when the both of us are dead and (I am cremated) buried, Grant, I believe we’ll be in Hell together. I’m not sure what my state of existence will be in Hell, probably his lackey or something because he’s so much more evil than I. Anyhow, Grant sent me an e-card and I felt it necessary to let him know (via my blog of course because e-mailing him would subject me to even more karmic debt and believe me I have enough as it is) I got it! And it was hilarious. lol

You all are so jealous…I can just feel it.

So then, what am I here writing about? Depravity. What word is synonymous with depravity? Spam. My site got 2k spam comments in about 3 flippin’ days. That’s just insane. So far my spam filter has managed to stop 30,751 comments to my site that were tagged as spam. Wow, please stop spamming me. Seriously, hardly any traffic is driven this way by anyone and yet my blog attracts that much spam.

Riding to Work

I gave a co-worker a ride to work begrudgingly. Not because I felt like he should walk himself to work and stop being lazy, but because I know his personality. I figured there wouldn’t be any harm in it, despite my total lack of desire; however, the regret really kicked me in the face (and nose and throat and mouth) when I got into my car. It’s 8am and you already smell very very heavily of alcohol? How do you go to work messed up like that? His job isn’t complicated, he’s basically just a go-fer or runner, but jeez

The longer he was in the car, the more I could smell that sour alcohol odor and even could taste it in my mouth a little bit. It was horrible. My eyes actually burned. I truly feel bad for him. That’s the only reason I’m writing it down here. Not because I was offended by it, although I was. It was just my desire to want to check him into an AA meeting immediately. No one should wake up in the morning already hammered and then inflict that on others by the seeping and sour odor that comes off of them.

I hope he gets some help and gets his life turned around. If not, he will probably die of renal failure of some sort in the not too distant future. It’s not a pleasant way to go either.