I am the internet  equivalent of the abacus 

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

stuckinline said:

FCC Announces Plans To Repeal Net Neutrality

Trump’s FCC Chairman thinks Comcast should have even more control over your internet than it already does.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fcc-plans-net-neutrality_us_5a14459ae4b0aa32975df36b?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

This is where things get scary.

Sad to say, this should come as no surprise to any of us.  People have the ability to make choices but as a whole, the masses often chose to ignore that which is a poor choice (similar to what I just wrote in the Manson thread).

It's not a surprise at all - the writing has been on the wall since before the election. Trump is a totalitarian. Nothing about this is surprising.

Technology has brought us many wonderful things (Ten club forum, for example!!) but I think it goes without saying there are aspects of technology that are absolutely FUBAR!  For example, I spent an hour and a half on the phone with my long distance carrier and my local phone service to get the two to interface properly.  My father died two weeks ago and this was a really shitty time to not be able to call my sister so I went to great lengths to get this mess-- which was none of my doing--  straightened out.   Sure, back when I was a kid it was just one phone in the house, one phone company and that was it.  But when you NEEDED to make a call, you picked up the phone, you dialed, you talked.  No problem.  Todays phone technology is much worse in terms of having to deal with issues- both on land lines, cell phones, iPhones, you name it.  I could name several other instances where I spent (wasted) a lot of time getting my phone service to work properly. 

For several years I have held to the belief that our technology is too complex for us to manage properly.  It's as though we have constructed something we have great difficulty keep from falling down or sinking.  We are more stupid than our technology.

PJ_Soul said:

I have to admit... I hear these stories sometimes Brian... But I have never had such experiences myself. I have never once felt like technology has inconvenienced me. An hour and half trying to get your local phone service and long distance carrier to interface?? I don't even understand why that would be necessary. Just have one phone with one company, and that should do it, no? That's the case with me and everyone I know.

I have also never had any issues with my cell phones or anything... I feel like there has been little change in terms of ease of use when it comes to old vs new phones. I'm just happy I have a pocket sized computer now. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that such a thing as smartphones would exist. I used to fantasize about what kinds of cool things would come along in my lifetime, as many of us did, and I had a lot of far-fetched ideas about it, and yet I seriously never conceived that smartphones or anything like them would be possible during my lifetime. It's absolutely amazing to me.

Move to the U.S. for a while.  You'll see what I mean. 

oftenreading said:

tempo_n_groove said:

So I wanted to come back to this thread as FB has come up with a new in home device called "Aloha".  

With all the breaches in security they have had these last couple of years are you really trusting of this device, with a camera, in your home?

Also on the topic of security, the DNA ancestry registry where you take a swab in your mouth and send it in to get tested on your ethnic background.  I just saw a story where a  persons DNA was used to solve a crime.

So when you volunteer your DNA it is put in a database where it can be used for law enforcement use.

Now I don't plan on committing any crimes anytime soon, but this is some next level big brother stuff to me.

This all ties into technology and it taking over.

Thoughts?

Similar to yours. There's no way I'm putting an Alexa or Echo or any of those things in my house, given what I've read about their data collection. I don't see that any of the touted benefits would actually be a benefit to me, compared to the drawbacks. I recently read an article where a company of "ethical hackers" is in business to try to breach home security, for a fee, to show people where their vulnerabilities are. The article profiled a family where the couple considered themselves tech and security savvy - the hackers got into their house not only digitally, via their cameras, but physically, by reprogramming the digital lock on their door after hacking into their security system. It all took less than a couple of hours. No thanks.

I've also always been wary about the home DNA stuff, given what I've read speculated about the potential for insurance companies and such to get their hands on the data in the future. 

Coincidentally, I just upgraded my virus software last night and bought the package with a VPN, for greater security online. 

Good call, everyone should be using a VPN at this point in time.  There are some cheap options out there for mobile devices too.

Technology has not made life easier.  Went to book an appointment for car maintenance at a dealership.  10 minutes later the lady is still pecking at the computer imputing a data ... fuck that, I now go to a small garage where he just jots down my name and issue in under 10 seconds.