I backed up with BackBlaze as well. In my case, it was about 4TB, but it took me over a month to complete the first full backup thanks to poor upload speeds. (Not BackBlaze's fault. My local ISP.)
Every time I get a new laptop, I take the files on the desktop of the old laptop and put them in a dated folder on the desktop of the new one. So on my current laptop, I have "Old Laptop - 2018-01-18". Inside that is another old laptop folder and inside that is another one. There are files that are a decade old in there which I haven't looked at in nine years, but I don't get rid of them because "maybe I'll need this one day and it only takes up a couple of MB."
I can confirm. I had my identity stolen. I credit card I didn't order showed up at my doorstep (a lucky break because the thieves paid for rush delivery BEFORE changing the address and the rush delivery processed first). When I contacted the police, I was told that it wasn't going to be a high priority for them because they'd probably do a lot of investigation only to discover that the thieves were in another precinct (if not another state). The fact that some other police department would make the actual arrest was a deterrent to them investigating the crime. Sure enough, the thieves were never arrested for my identity theft.
I'm not sure about Amazon.ca, but they list "Digital" versions of shows on Amazon.com. You buy them like you would buy a DVD, but you can buy single episodes or whole seasons.
Nefarious uses aside, I'd actually like to see low cost realistic text-to-voice software. I have a novel (link below if anyone's interested) and would love to release an audio book. Making an audio book is crazy expensive, though. It can cost around $2,000 or more. I don't have that kind of money to spend. I made a trial version of my upcoming book using text-to-speech software for my son who likes reading along with audio books. That sounded like a robot reading my book, though. I'd never charge anyone for that. I'd love to download "Deep Fake Audio Book Generator", run it against my text, and then upload the result to Audible and other sites. Even if it wasn't as good as a professional audio book reader, it could be good enough to charge a few bucks for.
Or have a kid walk up and press the button multiple times.
I know they said they had protections to prevent a child from ordering 100 cases of toilet paper, but how robust were they? Would they allow an order of toilet paper to be sent every week just because the child pushed the button?
At least, I can prevent my kids from accessing Amazon on my smartphone/tablet/computer and can order whatever I need there.
Amazon (and Google Play) does sell most - if not all - of the shows. Not on Amazon Prime, but via "pay $1.99 per episode or a certain amount per season."
In the same way that a lobbyist for buggywhip manufacturers might "know" about cars when crafting regulations. He'll have a skewed view that will favor old, out of date technology because that's what makes his former employers rich and will work against newer, cleaner technologies because those take business away from his old employers.
It's because TV vendors make overly complicated Smart TVs to do anything. Sometimes they are essentially general purpose PCs hobbled to only show videos. This wouldn't be an issue if the manufacturer addressed security concerns, but then they don't supply updates because they've released a new model and would rather you buy that one. (Because everyone is going to by a new $500 TV every year, right?) So what you get is a computer inside your TV, connected to WiFi, and which doesn't get updates. It's a recipe for the TV to be hacked.
Of course, the solution isn't to crap anti-virus tools into the TV. It's to actually secure the TV's computer properly or leave it out altogether, but they'd rather just take a payment from McAfee and toss in an AV.
Just do what I do. Don't connect your TV to WiFi. Instead, plug in a Roku stick (or Fire Stick or Chromecast) and connect THAT to your WiFi. The TV won't be exposed to the Internet at all.
Unfortunately, since McAfee is likely paying per TV it's installed in, the price might actually drop the more garbage they load in. Then, customers might tend to buy the cheaper (more bloat-ridden) TVs and this could become the norm.
I really hope not, though. I don't even connect my TV to my WiFi. I use a Roku stick to stream. I'd buy a "dumb TV" if they offered them anymore. I definitely don't need an anti-virus program on my TV.
The big test is: Are management giving up their offices and going with the open office plan? Or do they say that this will help us and then walk back into their offices and close their doors?
For me, music will often help my productivity/creativity because it gives my brain a built-in distraction. So instead of deciding to check out Slashdot, Reddit, or some other Internet site "just for a minute", I'll just listen more to the lyrics when my brain needs a mini-break. I'm less likely to find myself having wasted three hours listening to music than browsing the web.
If the "review" is posted before the movie is released, how is it accurate? Sure, some people might have been lucky enough to see advance screenings, but how many people see those and then post about it on Rotten Tomatoes? If there's a flood of negative reviews coming in before the movie has been released, then chances are those reviewers never actually saw the film and the reviews should be deleted.
The problem in public, online communities is the lack of hard-and-fast identity, so that punishments can be applied. Sure, an account gets banned - but the person just makes another account. There's no "shed", and no real way to run the perp out of town. Moderation becomes nothing but a gigantic game of whac-a-mole - it's almost completely pointless.
This was the problem I (and a bunch of other users) faced when I attracted the attention of a cyber-stalker on Twitter a few years back. She was convinced that I was the same person as another guy she had a beef with. Her proof? We both liked taking photos so we were obviously the same guy. (Apparently, all those photos posted online only come from one person - me. It keeps me really busy.) Oh, and god told her. She literally thought that god talked to her and told her about "crimes" I committed. There was no arguing with her - how do you counter "god told me"??? - so I didn't try. Instead, I and the others she would harass would report her account. Twitter would ban it, but she'd have two or three (sometimes more) accounts lying dormant ready for this and would bounce over to the new account and pick the harassment back up. She lived in another country so legal options were minimal. It was just a game of whack-a-mole until she lost interest in me and moved on to another victim. (She's still out there harassing people last I checked.)
Honestly, most people outside of comics fans didn't know who Iron Man was either prior to his movie. He was considered a minor hero that Marvel was trotting out to test the waters for a big movie release. They expected Iron Man to barely make a profit and just act as set up for future blockbusters. Instead, it was a huge success and now Tony Stark is a household name.
This is why I'm a big proponent of body cams for police officers. When used correctly (i.e. don't allow the officer to "switch off" the body cam just before a traffic stop and claim it "malfunctioned"), it can provide evidence to exonerate a good officer or convict a bad one. There are a lot of good police officers out there just trying to keep everyone safe. Their reputation is being ruined by the bad officers who get their kicks by abusing their power on anyone and everyone (or just anyone who their racist views deem as "automatically criminal"). The more bad cops that get kicked off the force, the better for both citizens and for the good cops.
How? How is someone who isn't vaccinated harmful to someone who is? Isn't that the whole point of vaccinations? Or, do they not work?
Three ways:
1) Vaccinations aren't 100% effective. If they are 99.9% effective then for every million people vaccinated, there will be 1,000 without protection.
2) Babies who are too young to get the vaccine can be infected by people who weren't vaccinated.
3) People with medical conditions that prevent them from being vaccinated (e.g. immune system issues) can be infected by people who weren't vaccinated.
Usually, all these people will be protected by herd immunity. However, as more people don't vaccinate, these people become vulnerable to disease.
It's not just Facebook but the Internet in general. It's the double-edged sword of the Internet. I can find and talk with other people who enjoy some obscure show/hobby that nobody else in my town enjoys. That's great. Unfortunately, if that "obscure show/hobby" is really "denying science because I have some vague belief that it's evil", then I can find others like this and we can feed off of each other, letting the conspiracy grow and suck more people in when it would otherwise have died out.
They'll also move goalposts like crazy. If you somehow manage to disprove Belief A even despite their attempts to ignore all evidence, then they'll simply move to "I don't vaccinate because of Belief B." At best, it's an endless game of Whack-A-Mole. This isn't to say that education isn't important, but don't hold your breath that an anti-vaxxer will accept your well researched argument.
I made "lightsabers" for my boys for $1 each. Get some inexpensive pool noodles, shiny silver duct tape, and black tape (electrical tape works well). Cut the pool noodle in half. Wrap silver duct tape around one end to make a "handle." Add the black tape to make decorative fixtures like "buttons." Now, you can battle and whack each other with your lightsabers without hurting each other. Depending on the length of the pool noodle, each one might make two sabers - or only one with some bits left over. These stand up for about a year or two of my boys hitting them against each other quite hard so they're quite long lived for the cost - and easily replaced. (Also, you can make them in different colors to suit your Jedi or Sith preferences.)
Slashdot Mirror
I backed up with BackBlaze as well. In my case, it was about 4TB, but it took me over a month to complete the first full backup thanks to poor upload speeds. (Not BackBlaze's fault. My local ISP.)
Every time I get a new laptop, I take the files on the desktop of the old laptop and put them in a dated folder on the desktop of the new one. So on my current laptop, I have "Old Laptop - 2018-01-18". Inside that is another old laptop folder and inside that is another one. There are files that are a decade old in there which I haven't looked at in nine years, but I don't get rid of them because "maybe I'll need this one day and it only takes up a couple of MB."
I can confirm. I had my identity stolen. I credit card I didn't order showed up at my doorstep (a lucky break because the thieves paid for rush delivery BEFORE changing the address and the rush delivery processed first). When I contacted the police, I was told that it wasn't going to be a high priority for them because they'd probably do a lot of investigation only to discover that the thieves were in another precinct (if not another state). The fact that some other police department would make the actual arrest was a deterrent to them investigating the crime. Sure enough, the thieves were never arrested for my identity theft.
I'm not sure about Amazon.ca, but they list "Digital" versions of shows on Amazon.com. You buy them like you would buy a DVD, but you can buy single episodes or whole seasons.
For example, here's a link to The Orville: https://www.amazon.com/Old-Wounds/dp/B074SY51TB/.
You could click that (or the Amazon.ca equivalent link), pay for Season 1 and/or 2, and then start watching.
Nefarious uses aside, I'd actually like to see low cost realistic text-to-voice software. I have a novel (link below if anyone's interested) and would love to release an audio book. Making an audio book is crazy expensive, though. It can cost around $2,000 or more. I don't have that kind of money to spend. I made a trial version of my upcoming book using text-to-speech software for my son who likes reading along with audio books. That sounded like a robot reading my book, though. I'd never charge anyone for that. I'd love to download "Deep Fake Audio Book Generator", run it against my text, and then upload the result to Audible and other sites. Even if it wasn't as good as a professional audio book reader, it could be good enough to charge a few bucks for.
Or have a kid walk up and press the button multiple times.
I know they said they had protections to prevent a child from ordering 100 cases of toilet paper, but how robust were they? Would they allow an order of toilet paper to be sent every week just because the child pushed the button?
At least, I can prevent my kids from accessing Amazon on my smartphone/tablet/computer and can order whatever I need there.
I don't buy many shows per-episode, but typically they appear in the listings a day to a week after it airs (depending on the show).
Amazon (and Google Play) does sell most - if not all - of the shows. Not on Amazon Prime, but via "pay $1.99 per episode or a certain amount per season."
In the same way that a lobbyist for buggywhip manufacturers might "know" about cars when crafting regulations. He'll have a skewed view that will favor old, out of date technology because that's what makes his former employers rich and will work against newer, cleaner technologies because those take business away from his old employers.
It's because TV vendors make overly complicated Smart TVs to do anything. Sometimes they are essentially general purpose PCs hobbled to only show videos. This wouldn't be an issue if the manufacturer addressed security concerns, but then they don't supply updates because they've released a new model and would rather you buy that one. (Because everyone is going to by a new $500 TV every year, right?) So what you get is a computer inside your TV, connected to WiFi, and which doesn't get updates. It's a recipe for the TV to be hacked.
Of course, the solution isn't to crap anti-virus tools into the TV. It's to actually secure the TV's computer properly or leave it out altogether, but they'd rather just take a payment from McAfee and toss in an AV.
Just do what I do. Don't connect your TV to WiFi. Instead, plug in a Roku stick (or Fire Stick or Chromecast) and connect THAT to your WiFi. The TV won't be exposed to the Internet at all.
Unfortunately, since McAfee is likely paying per TV it's installed in, the price might actually drop the more garbage they load in. Then, customers might tend to buy the cheaper (more bloat-ridden) TVs and this could become the norm.
I really hope not, though. I don't even connect my TV to my WiFi. I use a Roku stick to stream. I'd buy a "dumb TV" if they offered them anymore. I definitely don't need an anti-virus program on my TV.
The big test is: Are management giving up their offices and going with the open office plan? Or do they say that this will help us and then walk back into their offices and close their doors?
For me, music will often help my productivity/creativity because it gives my brain a built-in distraction. So instead of deciding to check out Slashdot, Reddit, or some other Internet site "just for a minute", I'll just listen more to the lyrics when my brain needs a mini-break. I'm less likely to find myself having wasted three hours listening to music than browsing the web.
If the "review" is posted before the movie is released, how is it accurate? Sure, some people might have been lucky enough to see advance screenings, but how many people see those and then post about it on Rotten Tomatoes? If there's a flood of negative reviews coming in before the movie has been released, then chances are those reviewers never actually saw the film and the reviews should be deleted.
This was the problem I (and a bunch of other users) faced when I attracted the attention of a cyber-stalker on Twitter a few years back. She was convinced that I was the same person as another guy she had a beef with. Her proof? We both liked taking photos so we were obviously the same guy. (Apparently, all those photos posted online only come from one person - me. It keeps me really busy.) Oh, and god told her. She literally thought that god talked to her and told her about "crimes" I committed. There was no arguing with her - how do you counter "god told me"??? - so I didn't try. Instead, I and the others she would harass would report her account. Twitter would ban it, but she'd have two or three (sometimes more) accounts lying dormant ready for this and would bounce over to the new account and pick the harassment back up. She lived in another country so legal options were minimal. It was just a game of whack-a-mole until she lost interest in me and moved on to another victim. (She's still out there harassing people last I checked.)
Honestly, most people outside of comics fans didn't know who Iron Man was either prior to his movie. He was considered a minor hero that Marvel was trotting out to test the waters for a big movie release. They expected Iron Man to barely make a profit and just act as set up for future blockbusters. Instead, it was a huge success and now Tony Stark is a household name.
6.4G ought to be enough for anybody.
Don't forget that then the department buys military surplus equipment so the cops are now essentially soldiers - except without the training.
This is why I'm a big proponent of body cams for police officers. When used correctly (i.e. don't allow the officer to "switch off" the body cam just before a traffic stop and claim it "malfunctioned"), it can provide evidence to exonerate a good officer or convict a bad one. There are a lot of good police officers out there just trying to keep everyone safe. Their reputation is being ruined by the bad officers who get their kicks by abusing their power on anyone and everyone (or just anyone who their racist views deem as "automatically criminal"). The more bad cops that get kicked off the force, the better for both citizens and for the good cops.
Three ways:
1) Vaccinations aren't 100% effective. If they are 99.9% effective then for every million people vaccinated, there will be 1,000 without protection.
2) Babies who are too young to get the vaccine can be infected by people who weren't vaccinated.
3) People with medical conditions that prevent them from being vaccinated (e.g. immune system issues) can be infected by people who weren't vaccinated.
Usually, all these people will be protected by herd immunity. However, as more people don't vaccinate, these people become vulnerable to disease.
It's not just Facebook but the Internet in general. It's the double-edged sword of the Internet. I can find and talk with other people who enjoy some obscure show/hobby that nobody else in my town enjoys. That's great. Unfortunately, if that "obscure show/hobby" is really "denying science because I have some vague belief that it's evil", then I can find others like this and we can feed off of each other, letting the conspiracy grow and suck more people in when it would otherwise have died out.
They'll also move goalposts like crazy. If you somehow manage to disprove Belief A even despite their attempts to ignore all evidence, then they'll simply move to "I don't vaccinate because of Belief B." At best, it's an endless game of Whack-A-Mole. This isn't to say that education isn't important, but don't hold your breath that an anti-vaxxer will accept your well researched argument.
I made "lightsabers" for my boys for $1 each. Get some inexpensive pool noodles, shiny silver duct tape, and black tape (electrical tape works well). Cut the pool noodle in half. Wrap silver duct tape around one end to make a "handle." Add the black tape to make decorative fixtures like "buttons." Now, you can battle and whack each other with your lightsabers without hurting each other. Depending on the length of the pool noodle, each one might make two sabers - or only one with some bits left over. These stand up for about a year or two of my boys hitting them against each other quite hard so they're quite long lived for the cost - and easily replaced. (Also, you can make them in different colors to suit your Jedi or Sith preferences.)
Nope. You don't get anything. In fact, you need to pay so that they can store all of your personal information and DNA on a "totally secure" server.