Spiteful and hateful

In 1972 when Randy Newman released “Political Science” it could have been considered satire. I mean—there we were, ass-deep in the Vietnam morass, a crook in the White House, a presidential election marked by actual criminal activity, the streets awash in protestors, cops shooting them…

So of course it’s even more to the point right now.

Here he is in a performance in London in 2011, when we were riding low on Shrub’s endless war. History is a damned psychedelic spiral, I tell you.

And I would not put it past the Kleptocrat to decide—as a farewell gesture after the election—to indeed drop the big one. Just because he can.

On the frontline

So this happened at work yesterday:

An email came into my queue that looked bogus: it purported to be about some purchase order. And I didn’t recognize the sender. And it was supposedly via “Dropbox Secure Transfer”. And my company doesn’t use Dropbox.

So I clicked on the report phishing button, as I’ve had occasion to do a couple of times in the past, and immediately got this reply:

On the one hand, this really wasn’t much of a brainer—if you’re going to try to tempt me to click on something, at least pretend to use an application that’s approved within the environment. (I actually contacted Help Desk before downloading my home printer driver on my work laptop; this organization is serious about not infecting devices and networks with unauthorized miscellanea.)

On the other hand, people—do not click on links from senders you don’t know. And even don’t do it from people you think you know. Phishing is one of the easiest ways for threat actors to do really bad things to your PC, to your address list and to your company’s network. I read two to five stories a week about ransomware, malware and other crap that shuts down hospitals, governments and companies where the point of entry was some employee clicking on a malicious link.

I’m glad I passed the test. And I hope you stay vigilant, too.

Altered reality

I’ve noticed this odd business model on a lot of Internet “media” sites. Before you can see what their reportage is like, they want you to remove your ad blocking browser extension.

Dudes—that’s like asking me to lower my shields as the Klingon warbird approaches. Not happening.

But at the very same time that they block all view of their web page, they expect you to sign up for notifications.

Dudes—I have enough spam from companies I once bought a pound of coffee from. I’m not adding your nonsense to the blitz.

It’s been my experience, on the occasion that I fire up Edge to take an unprotected look at the site, that their notion of “journalism” is to repurpose a CNN report, so I’m not missing anything. But I’m gobsmacked that they at a single stroke block your view and ask, “Hey—you want more?”

I wonder how often that actually works?

Family values

It’s been a while (like years) since I focused on how people choose to depict their home lives on their motor vehicles, so how about a dose today?

This family, for example, is quite active:

 So is this one, but in a different way:

This one has a rather interesting outlook:

As does this one:

These two, now:

Gratitude Monday: the little things

Given the complete and utter clusterfuck that is the United States under Cadet Bonespurs these days, sometimes it’s hard to pull gratitude out of life. However, when this happens, I turn away from the macro and look to things immediately around me.

Viz: yesterday I went out to feed my compost bin and saw a spider web glistening in the morning sun. And look who was there:

Now there’s someone who takes pride in her work. Inspiration, no?

Also, Friday’s yoga lesson focused on core muscles, which I sorely (ha) need. And lo-and-behold: on Saturday and yesterday I really felt those muscles. Which means they’re still there, and they still work.

So there’s today’s gratitude: artists and abs. I need them both.