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Theory - The New Chronology
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 1635
I love a good theory. A good theory - however misguided - will always tell you something, if only about the author. It doesn't have to be right, even when theories are right they are only right until the next one comes along. But it might make you think in ways you hadn't thought before, question things you otherwise took for granted. With that in mind I thought I'd post a few links to some of the more interesting theories out there.
The first is one you probably haven't heard of - devised by a Russian of the name of Nikolai Morozov and expounded by Anatoly Fomenko it argues that we have measured the duration of history all wrong. In essence, it's only been roughly a thousand years since the time of Christ, and many of the antiquities and monuments of Classical Architecture are only a few hundreds of years old. Various devices are used to explain this, one of the more compelling of which is argument that "single events from other time periods that have been recorded multiple times from different perspectives, and thus mistaken for different events occurring at different times."
Note that the theories principal adherents tend to be mathematicians, or people somehow involved in the mathematical sciences. Garry Kasparov, the Russian chess champion, is one such adherent.
Link: The New Chronology
Mice in my walls
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 2191
They're still here. In the rubbish, they don't even quiet themselves when I'm near. I'm just one of the gang. I think of picking up the trash bag and just taking it out, there would be one less to deal with, but then I think of the widowed mouse-spouse weeping somewhere in the cupboards and a litter of mouse orphans wondering when, why mommy or daddy isn't coming home . ...
I can't do it.
And it's too cold outside.
There's one in the wall beside my computer, behind an old printing tray I use as a curio box. It rustles and chews incessantly. And in my bedroom, somewhere, I can hear it, but I can't see it or find it, somewhere down in the vents.
But they all come through the kitchen. To the rubbish. I need an aquarium so I can begin the round-up, start the big mouse collection.
The XP Police
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Technology
- Hits: 1714
Morning and I've opened 20 pages of news related links. I open them first, then close the tabs as I read them.
Windows XP with Internet Explorer 7. "New and Improved". The first legitimate edition of Windows I've ever owned, it came with the computer. It just updated itself 2 days ago, downloading all the security patches and upgrades it needed to make for a better and safer browsing experience.
And as I'm reading the news of the day, news of the world, my browser begins to behave oddly, tabs open and close of their own accord, too late I minimize them to see in the background a warning from the "XP Police" that my computer may be riddled with spyware and trojans.
Now this is funny in a way, because I know this warning, it's proof positive that my computer is now riddled with spyware and trojans, and I futiley attempt to turn off the PC and reboot, hoping to interrupt it's installation. One of the tabs I opened was a bad tab, and I want very badly to know which one, to know which site is hosting this shit, and funny as it I'm not laughing, the "XP Police", as they call themselves, are warning me that I'm using an unregistered version of their malware, I should pay a fee to unlock the full version, and furious I try to bring up the task manager to end the process only to see that they've reserved this function for the "Administrator", and, goddamnit, I am the administrator and it's pissing me off something fierce!
Vicious and sadistic fantasies fill my head as I look at the litter of pop-ups and "Urgent Attention" dialogues, "Virus Scan Interrupted" warnings, that now cover my screen. Imagining finding where these ass-holes have their office and gouging out their eyeballs, electrocuting their fucking balls with wires ripped from the wall with my bare fingers, tearing their fucking faces from their skulls and stuffing them down their choking throats....
The rest are unmentionable.
It's hard to believe the perpetrators of this are in any sort of business, that a class action lawsuit hasn't shut them down, that someone, somewhere in the world hasn't found them and executed a Guantanamo Bay on their asses. But they're in Russia which is about as lawful for hackers as Mexico is for drug dealers, or the US for bankers. Meaning they can damned well do as they please without any fear of repercussions.
So I begin the long task of malwarebytes scans and deleting files from the registry, more scans, cleaning the PC. All in all about 2 hours to get my computer back. And when I break from the violent revenge fantasies I thank God and Allah above that I have Microsoft, the IE experience, patched and updated, otherwise, well, things could have been much worse....
Or probably not. I've never gotten a virus with Firefox, Chrome or Safari. So maybe things don't get worse. Maybe Microsoft is as bad as it gets.
Later in the day, surfing my now clean pc, IE ups and closes. "An unexpected error has occurred that requires Internet Explorer to close". I diligently send in the error report, my windows is legit, the solution is that is a "Recognized Problem" with Windows, no solution at this time, please ensure my software is up to date...
This happens probably every other day. Sometimes more often than others. "We know there's a problem and can't fix it..."
I need Windows, a PC, while I love the idea of a trouble free Mac or a Linux environment I put myself through this to feel my client's pain - they too use Windows (or they wouldn't need assistance), and perhaps I should be grateful for their contribution to the economy, the millions of people, not just here but worldwide, who make their living supporting a product that doesn't really work, and certainly not as advertised.
The Onion
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Link of the day
- Hits: 1630
I don't watch TV or get the paper, relying instead on the internet. It's quicker and delivers what's relevant to me. But imagine my joy when I discovered that The Onion had redone their website with flashy video and professional broadcasters. Now even more relevance and truth than you'll find on any (other) major North American news channel!
Link: www.theonion.com
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