Under-appreciated Zen technique

h/t to the Presurfer

Electoral processing complete...

Both of the major parties have held their conventions and officially nominated their candidates for Prez and Veep. Both sets of wannabes have made their speeches as to why they should have the job: what they want to do, why they think they're the best choice, what's wrong with their opponent, and so on.
I've also been paying attention to the nature and tone of the assorted political ads, speeches, comments from supporters, and all the rest.
That being said, and after a lot of comparison of the two biggies in the political arena, some careful thought, and much soul-searching, I've made my decision.
There's nothing else for me to do but make the most obvious choice:


Courtesy of this Fark Photoshop contest

Why, yes, I AM an asshole...

Of late, I've been getting phone calls for someone whose phone number is similar (off by 1 digit) to mine. Thing is, the phone calls are from a credit collection agency, and (to their credit) they're persistent buggers.

The first few times, I tried -- patiently -- to explain to them that they had the wrong person/phone, but they seem to have taken the attitude that I'm simply lying to them: that I'm actually the person they're trying to reach.

As the calls have continued, I've gotten more and more enthusiastic about letting them know that I'm not the right person; they remain unconvinced.

At least, I think, until this morning.

Shortly after 10:00, I got another call from the putzes asking to speak to Mr. H_____. Having finally had enough of their nonsense, I calmly (but pointedly, profanely, and insultingly) began to let the person on the other end know what I thought of him, his company, collection agencies, and so on. When I was done, he tried to complain that I shouldn't be speaking to him that way -- that he was simply trying to collect a debt that was willingly incurred, and that the company that was owed the money deserved to be paid.

I responded (remaining rude, profane, and insulting) that that was all well and good, IF they were calling the person that actually owed the money; but that since they weren't, and had thus far refused to correct their error, I was entitled to address them in any manner I wished -- and that I would not only continue, but get even worse as long as they continued calling me.

At that point, a stupidvisor got on the line, and tried to give me a ration of shit about how and what I was saying. Bad move on her part.

I demonstrated to her, in no uncertain terms, that she was wrong: not only could I be more offensive and disgusting toward them, but that I would. I finished my little spiel by asking her what her job title was. After a bit of confusion, she managed to tell me that she was a "Debt Collection Specialist". I responded by asking her if she'd ever considered going into another line of work -- one with more status and prestige. Cautiously, she asked what I meant, and I calmly suggested that she might consider a career change to something like prostitution or dealing drugs.

After several seconds, SHE hung up on ME. :-)

We'll see if there are any more calls from the idiot jackasses.

LOLcat

Well, now I've gone and done it...

One of the captions I put on a picture at I Can Has Cheezburger has made it to their front page.

In case things have changed since I discovered it, it's the cat & the pizza box...

VISTA

If I'm reading this little news item correctly, Microsoft's new operating system is actually an acronym for Very Insecure System Takes Anything -- as in another security hole of oh, say, Grand Canyon proportions has been discovered:

Mark Dowd of IBM Internet Security Systems (ISS) and Alexander Sotirov, of VMware Inc. have discovered a technique that can be used to bypass all memory protection safeguards that Microsoft built into Windows Vista. These new methods have been used to get around Vista's Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), Data Execution Prevention (DEP) and other protections by loading malicious content through an active web browser. The researchers were able to load whatever content they wanted into any location they wished on a user's machine using a variety of scripting languages, such as Java, ActiveX and even .NET objects. This feat was achieved by taking advantage of the way that Internet Explorer (and other browsers) handle active scripting in the Operating System.

Any bets as to how long it takes before this hits the Intertubes?

'Nuff said.

I will survive...

When (not 'if'!) the Zombie Apocalypse comes, it would seem that I'm all but certain to live -- at least, according to this Zombie Survival Test that I scored a Z+ on.

Who's going to survive with me?

How much do you really TRUST Microsoft?

I've made no bones about the fact that I run Linux, and why: that I got fed up with having to get approval from Microsoft so that I could run Windows and my other MS software after I upgraded my computer more times than Microsoft thought reasonable.

Related to that is my belief that it's my computer, and I should be able to do pretty much any damn thing I want to with it -- and bear the responsibility for it, too.

I'll grant that I may be toward one extreme of the spectrum. On the other hand, there are those that simply don't/can't/won't think about what's happening on the 'opposite' side from where I am: that they are risking the very freedoms that I am adamant about keeping.

To those people, I'd like to suggest that you have a read of the following links regarding the "Trusted Computing" that several companies (most notably, but not limited to, Microsoft) tout:

• The 'Trusted Computing' FAQ
• A fairly nonpartisan explanation of 'Trusted Computing' on Wikipedia
• Richard Stallman's opinion of 'Trusted Computing'

While you're reading the above, keep in mind some of the news reports we've all heard the last few years (i.e. the Bush II presiduncey), and decide if you really want to put the kinds of trust we're talking about in the hands of people you don't really know...

Good ol' Days

If you're old enough to remember the existence of such things as Lawn Darts and the myriad of other considerably-less-than-safe toys that we were given, I would strongly encourage you to go over and have a read this bit of nostalgia about old playground equipment (and the comments that follow it). I remember having experienced almost all of the stuff he describes.

And if you've got kids yourself, I'd suggest you give a little thought to the consequences of how you may be raising them...

NIMBY

Want to know why the prices on various oil-derived products keep going up?

It isn't just the price of crude.

It's the fact that the U.S. hasn't built a new oil refinery in 30+ years. That means that no matter how much oil we import, it can only be converted to gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and such so fast.

And why haven't we built a refinery for so long? Take a wild guess.

Anybody want to take bets that these folks are bitching just as hard as anyone else about high fuel prices when reporters aren't around?