Oh lookit you, brave defender of the monopoly telcos. If you ever answered one of these calls or paged through a voicemail they left; you paid something. If your phone ever rang or buzzed for one of these calls, that's a minor, but real expense. If any of these robocalls ever held your attention, that's a bit of your life you can't have back.
I sure as hell don't want my telco storing a whitelist of my contacts. Those kinds of relationships are just begging to be sold for profit. I don't even want them holding a blacklist. My phone device should be able to do that just fine. If only those things weren't disabled so the telco could profit by selling me services which do the same thing...
The phone companies can easily log which tiny minority of their customers are making 50% of all calls and take steps to block them. They probably DO keep tabs on them, but only to maximize their revenues. And revenues come from the marks who received the calls too (in the USA).
It's the phone companies who can't be stopped! From letting 50% of all calls come from a tiny minority of customers and not flag that as suspicious behavior. And remember, in the USA they charge the chump receiving the call as well. We should end that, how bow dah?
Ahem, - Yupp. "It" being the connection between your TOR browser and the https resource. Unless you're going to split hairs about the packets being unencrypted in RAM somewhere.
And also, you can arrange to have a TOR web address for your web server to make it encrypted 100%. Teh Pirate Bay has a TOR address that works even when their domain names have been seized.
@dissy: Everyone using naf's "GVSIP" was sharing the same cert pulled out of one Obihai device. Google let this go on, but finally reached out to various hobbyist teams to tell them to knock it off. I don't know if it still works because I never set it up on my Asterisk server. The nitwits who were integrating "GVSIP" into my flavor of Asterisk had no intention of doing it properly, and projected really bad customer service. I shut down my Asterisk server, since I don't really need all the features, though having all of my calls logged and recorded was very nice. It managed 5 GV numbers used by 3 family members.
I have an Obihai, but it's the early one and they killed the GV feature it had. It's physically capable of still bridging GV to POTS, but they decline to patch it's firmware. The one I have still works as an ATA. You have to buy a later version to have GV now, but you can enable SIP relay on those and use it as a standalone PBX server for your SIP IP phone. Maybe I'll drop $50 on one of those eventually; it's still way cheaper than a phone line. You can maybe extract your unique cert from your own Obi to plug into GVSIP too.
Your Asterisk PBX is probably still connected to your GV accounts and doesn't even know it can't get or make GV calls. Google didn't take down the chat network, which is how motif/XMPP maintained presence. Google's XMPP server just won't obey voice call commands any more.
For a while, one outfit was selling a Windows app that sat in your task bar, logged into your GV account in XMPP mode, and provided a SIP server to your ATA or IP phones on the LAN. It would be nice if someone did that with the new GV protocol. Actually, would be better as a Linux service, since I have several of those running 24/7 which could host it.
I've had Google Voice since it was Grand Central, making and receiving calls with a SIP ATA on a normal desk phone. When they scuttled SIP, I used Asterisk PBX to bridge the gap via an XMPP extension. Now they've scuttled XMPP, and the remaining solution (aside from using Google Hangouts on a PC with a headset) is a hack which shares a single certificate ferreted out of an Obihai ATA. Google's current protocol actually IS SIP, but with funky headers and flags. It's been partly reverse-engineered by the community. Google literally went to extra trouble to make it incompatible with industry-standard IP telephony. I guess that was to try and make it an asset to attract people to their G+ ecosystem.
I want to connect my collection of SIP IP phones straight to Google again. Or, at least have an intermediary which signs on with my Google credentials on one side, and offers SIP service within my LAN. Even a Pidgin plugin would be nice - I'd just leave it running 24/7 and my phones could interface with it.
Well here my post sits, way down at the bottom where it will never get read, but..
This device really makes sense to me. This is what I've thought would happen eventually ever since cell phones became a thing. In fact, they ought to go even further.
Right now, we're stuck on the idea that our screen, RAM, storage and OS have to be wedded together in one package. Want a better screen or newer OS? Is there a new network protocol? Gotta throw the whole thing away. That's crap!
I would LOVE to have a powerful, generic (and upgradable) processor/storage/radio package in my pocket, knapsack or attached to my belt or armband, with my own choice of wireless input/output devices. Sound will come and go from a bluetooth earpiece/headset. If I want to use a wireless touchscreen or heads-up glasses, I can purchase my choice from any vendor. Powergloves, if I'm so inclined. If I break something, I won't have to throw out the whole collection. If a wonderful new OS or display comes out, again I won't have to throw out the whole collection.
And my processor/storage module could plug into a desktop-sized workstation when I'm not on-the-go. If it's not actually performing the heavy work, it's carrying my identity or brokering the secure connection to it in the cloud.
You'll say "but that's all been done before!", true. But the industry has worked hard to keep us buying fondleslabs that are obsolete almost as soon as we buy them. Marketing has presented a false picture of reality (no surprise there). The devices' OS are crippled so that you have to purchase a service to do something the hardware could easily do on it's own (tell me again why I'm paying T-Mobile $15/mo to enable my own home wifi?).
And the crazy thing is, people will probably buy incremental upgrades even more often because they'll be cheaper, more-convenient investments than replacing their whole iOS/Android device regularly. The auto industry makes more money selling us tires and brakes instead of forcing us to replace the whole car when these things wear out.
This story ain't got nothin' on Illuminati Online of Austin, TX, aka IOCOM aka io.com. While still in operation, and after "hardening" their network so they could offer "security services" of some kind, they still featured a completely world-visible file browser and downloader for their system files and customer folders!
IOCOM is defunct now, but there's a mirror of their old website at io.fondoo.net
From the mirror website: "Fun fact: you could telnet to password.io.com from anywhere in the world, and log on as guest. Lynx, a text-only web browser, was configured as the shell, and you would then be presented with a sparse version of the web-based customer account tools found at http://password.io.com/. This was so customers could reset their own password, update their address, set their PLAN file, etc.
IO forgot to disable browsing the filesystem (press g, period, enter). Also, IO never enforced uniform file and directory permissions or audited active accounts. As a result, through 2004, after IO was taken over by Prismnet (or later), you could roam around and directly view many customer's private files, email, and IO's sensitive system areas. You could also open the Lynx config to define a custom "editor" and thus actually edit files, or run executables. This was a direct back-door into everything! This continued a full two years after IOCOM "hardened" their network to sell network security services."
Whoever runs the mirror probably didn't enjoy working with all of their co-workers: io.fondoo.net/io/staff.html io.fondoo.net/home/lori/ io.fondoo.net/home/kitten/
I received a note from someone's interior decorator about not finishing a project, and that they would like to schedule to come back the next week. I was feeling a bit evil, so I told them that they were fired, and need not return.
Their response was surprise and remorse and asking what was the matter. I said that the work was sub-par and that someone had been messing with our lingerie.
They replied with shock and denials and I'm sure they were never more baffled and embarrassed.
Their next email was an apology for trying on the lingerie, and further apologizing for drinking our expensive wine in the kitchen too *wink wink* so I know they must have finally phoned the real client and caught on to my pranks.
Like a lot of you, I have had a Gmail since the invite days... InitialUncommonlastname@gmail.com. Except that uncommon last name is common in another country. I throw out most of the crap but do try to reach out on the rare occasion something looks important. I've used "recover password" and found people's home addresses. Taken a look on Google Street View. Sent them texts telling them I liked their rose bushes, etc. Asked many women with my initial to stop using my address for junk. Lots of fun with that. Oh lord do I love the ones where they threaten me for "hacking" their mail or using "their" email address. I just tell them to bring it onnnnnn. Dipshiats.
I gave one gal about 4 extra chances when I texted her to log into her account and change the contact email. I gave her the new password but she just kept on punching "recover password" and thus sending me another stupid confirmation email.
At least twice a month I get emails from a business in a foreign country where apparently they don't require 1-click opt-out links. They're wondering why I don't show up for my appointments. They also don't respond to my replies.
There was one occasion where I was getting on-boarding mail meant for a new employee at a company who used Gmail to host their website and email. It seems like their Google-hosted domain mail was getting internally re-written to Gmail addresses. So they set up InitialUncommonlastname@Googhostedcompany.com and Google just blindly forwarded his mail to me, at my long-already established address. Their admin didn't believe me of course. Those mails finally just stopped coming. They probably just made a new account with a '1' at the end, hehe.
The best story involves an interior decorator who sent apologies for not finishing work on time. I was feeling evil and wrote back saying that their services were no longer required. They got very apologetic and wanted to make amends. I wrote that their work was sloppy and we had noticed someone going through our lingerie. This went another round or two with shock and denials, but then they must have finally called their client. I got a hilarious final email brazenly apologizing for trying on the lingerie, and also for drinking 'my' expensive wine!
I own several domains, including one once owned by an internet service provider. You learn a lot about people that way! Sure I read the mails -they're mine now suckah!
Everyone wants Google Fiber, but they can't get it, because Google only installed it for people who signed up two years in advance (as it turned out in Austin), and then, only installed for those homes during a brief period before moving on to another region. It's Google's fault for making such a complicated process.
I had a Google Fiber fan blog to get the word out and spread the news. I heard from SO MANY people who pish-poshed the signup and deposit requirement and told me confidently that they would simply wait to hear from their neighbors who got it and then they would order. I SCREAMED that then it would be too late, but they just smirked at silly ole me and told me I was wrong.
Ok, I'm aware this post is a bit off-subject, but I think the message is important enough. I understand the impulse to downvote, but please consider my good intentions. Thanks!
I won't even need to post a URL here; please Google "nextdoor seized" and click on the top response. It should be about Dawson Neighborhood's community being seized from the neighbors who launched it, and handed to their hostile NA, who was the reason an alternate, free-speech forum was needed.
As one of the admins "Leads" of that neighborhood forum, I had hopes that Nextdoor would eventually provide superior tools to keep track of neighborhood projects, post up-to-date public information, and foster a good working environment organically. Nextdoor wants none of these things. They want your names, addresses, examples of what causes you're behind, and a ranking of how much of an "influencer" you are. Marketing anchors. And they embed ads everywhere. They have a mass of vague "Guidelines" which Nextdoor staff will use to argue for either side, based on their flip whims. It's thought that they will be abusive and obstinate to people who have racked up some "ignores" by other neighbors, and that they'll be supportive and helpful to the successful "influencers."
Nextdoor seems like a great place to launch an "alternate" forum for neighbors who are frustrated with their Mgt, NA or HOA's forums or mailing lists, and Nextdoor will tell you that they'll protect you. After you get hundreds of people to join, and in spite of open harassment by members of your NA/HOA's board, they'll then boot you off and hand the forum directly to your rivals. Picture your Facebook "Frozen" fan group being taken from you and handed to Disney because "you'll agree they can do a better job." I'm paraphrasing actual bullshit emailed to me from ND.
Unfortunately, Nextdoor is not an improvement over a PHPbb board, Yahoo Group or similar platform. It doesn't have organizational tools that are neighborhood-oriented, it merely has pre-labeled sections for these things and nags you to do other "neighborly" (data entry) tasks. It saves some set-up time, and it has a proprietary "app". The kids all love "apps", right?
Please visit the website for more details. tinyurl slash dawsonseized should work if Google shuffles responses differently for you. We've got a long list of reference sites stuffed with complaints about ND, and comments by visitors sharing their accounts too. We need to get the word out that NEXTDOOR doesn't have the DNA for free speech or neighborhood discourse. They've demonstrated that they know they have people by the balls and they enjoy it.
If you're thinking of using Nextdoor, please steer clear. If you're one of the many people who have glimpsed Nextdoor's deceitful and authoritarian underbelly, please write about it! The Press usually does nothing but write ND up as a feel-good neighborhood-coming-together puff piece. Nextdoor is a threat to free speech and democracy. They need to be exposed!
I tell them it's like this: Imagine a gigantic pinball machine, and inside among the bumpers and bells and paddles is a million enraged pussy cats.
What I do is set up thousands of precise walls and chambers in there, so that when I move the paddles, the cats line up in orderly patterns which represent useful information.
And if one cat gets out, the pinball machine explodes.
And I have a boss breathing down my neck every 15 minutes screaming "I simply asked for a clean and simple multilingual economic failure prediction utility! How can it take more than half an hour or so?!?"
AC, your "solution" doesn't match the experience I described. You're ignoring parts and inserting convenient parts of your own. And you're an ass. That's why you're not being accepted as a credible explainer.
I, personally don't care about what's going on in bird's brains. But thousands of highly-trained ornithologists do. And they glean lots of useful information about the environment, evolution, archeology, and geology. Oh, and there are people who examine those little bacteria too. Perhaps there are pompous little bacteria out there who scoff at other bacteria who claim The Great Eye is there to watch them and see what happens.
Your hand-waving might be slightly more credible if I were a person who has never since then laid on his back looking at the night sky watching for satellites. Bye.
It's too obvious, I don't know why I have to explain it. Aliens don't have to swoop over our cities any more. They record and photograph us through our own cameras.
Why continue to play cat and mouse with a civilization which carries cameras and microphones with them everywhere, when you can just tap in and use them to monitor from a safer distance?
The light was moving in those spiral paths QUICKLY. Thus they were high-G. I'm not going to debate the rest with you. I truly don't care if you believe that people can't tell if something is far away.
Slashdot Mirror
Fine, but make them at least do their own work. Don't do data entry labor for their benefit.
Oh lookit you, brave defender of the monopoly telcos.
If you ever answered one of these calls or paged through a voicemail they left; you paid something.
If your phone ever rang or buzzed for one of these calls, that's a minor, but real expense.
If any of these robocalls ever held your attention, that's a bit of your life you can't have back.
I sure as hell don't want my telco storing a whitelist of my contacts. Those kinds of relationships are just begging to be sold for profit. I don't even want them holding a blacklist. My phone device should be able to do that just fine. If only those things weren't disabled so the telco could profit by selling me services which do the same thing...
The phone companies can easily log which tiny minority of their customers are making 50% of all calls and take steps to block them. They probably DO keep tabs on them, but only to maximize their revenues. And revenues come from the marks who received the calls too (in the USA).
Robocalls CAN BE STOPPED.
It's the phone companies who can't be stopped! From letting 50% of all calls come from a tiny minority of customers and not flag that as suspicious behavior. And remember, in the USA they charge the chump receiving the call as well. We should end that, how bow dah?
Ahem, - Yupp. "It" being the connection between your TOR browser and the https resource. Unless you're going to split hairs about the packets being unencrypted in RAM somewhere.
And also, you can arrange to have a TOR web address for your web server to make it encrypted 100%. Teh Pirate Bay has a TOR address that works even when their domain names have been seized.
and is not free. \o_O/ ..but doesn't look bad I admit.
@dissy: Everyone using naf's "GVSIP" was sharing the same cert pulled out of one Obihai device. Google let this go on, but finally reached out to various hobbyist teams to tell them to knock it off. I don't know if it still works because I never set it up on my Asterisk server. The nitwits who were integrating "GVSIP" into my flavor of Asterisk had no intention of doing it properly, and projected really bad customer service. I shut down my Asterisk server, since I don't really need all the features, though having all of my calls logged and recorded was very nice. It managed 5 GV numbers used by 3 family members.
I have an Obihai, but it's the early one and they killed the GV feature it had. It's physically capable of still bridging GV to POTS, but they decline to patch it's firmware. The one I have still works as an ATA. You have to buy a later version to have GV now, but you can enable SIP relay on those and use it as a standalone PBX server for your SIP IP phone. Maybe I'll drop $50 on one of those eventually; it's still way cheaper than a phone line. You can maybe extract your unique cert from your own Obi to plug into GVSIP too.
Your Asterisk PBX is probably still connected to your GV accounts and doesn't even know it can't get or make GV calls. Google didn't take down the chat network, which is how motif/XMPP maintained presence. Google's XMPP server just won't obey voice call commands any more.
For a while, one outfit was selling a Windows app that sat in your task bar, logged into your GV account in XMPP mode, and provided a SIP server to your ATA or IP phones on the LAN. It would be nice if someone did that with the new GV protocol. Actually, would be better as a Linux service, since I have several of those running 24/7 which could host it.
Give me SIP service again!
I've had Google Voice since it was Grand Central, making and receiving calls with a SIP ATA on a normal desk phone. When they scuttled SIP, I used Asterisk PBX to bridge the gap via an XMPP extension. Now they've scuttled XMPP, and the remaining solution (aside from using Google Hangouts on a PC with a headset) is a hack which shares a single certificate ferreted out of an Obihai ATA. Google's current protocol actually IS SIP, but with funky headers and flags. It's been partly reverse-engineered by the community. Google literally went to extra trouble to make it incompatible with industry-standard IP telephony. I guess that was to try and make it an asset to attract people to their G+ ecosystem.
I want to connect my collection of SIP IP phones straight to Google again. Or, at least have an intermediary which signs on with my Google credentials on one side, and offers SIP service within my LAN. Even a Pidgin plugin would be nice - I'd just leave it running 24/7 and my phones could interface with it.
Well here my post sits, way down at the bottom where it will never get read, but..
This device really makes sense to me. This is what I've thought would happen eventually ever since cell phones became a thing. In fact, they ought to go even further.
Right now, we're stuck on the idea that our screen, RAM, storage and OS have to be wedded together in one package. Want a better screen or newer OS? Is there a new network protocol? Gotta throw the whole thing away. That's crap!
I would LOVE to have a powerful, generic (and upgradable) processor/storage/radio package in my pocket, knapsack or attached to my belt or armband, with my own choice of wireless input/output devices. Sound will come and go from a bluetooth earpiece/headset. If I want to use a wireless touchscreen or heads-up glasses, I can purchase my choice from any vendor. Powergloves, if I'm so inclined. If I break something, I won't have to throw out the whole collection. If a wonderful new OS or display comes out, again I won't have to throw out the whole collection.
And my processor/storage module could plug into a desktop-sized workstation when I'm not on-the-go. If it's not actually performing the heavy work, it's carrying my identity or brokering the secure connection to it in the cloud.
You'll say "but that's all been done before!", true. But the industry has worked hard to keep us buying fondleslabs that are obsolete almost as soon as we buy them. Marketing has presented a false picture of reality (no surprise there). The devices' OS are crippled so that you have to purchase a service to do something the hardware could easily do on it's own (tell me again why I'm paying T-Mobile $15/mo to enable my own home wifi?).
And the crazy thing is, people will probably buy incremental upgrades even more often because they'll be cheaper, more-convenient investments than replacing their whole iOS/Android device regularly. The auto industry makes more money selling us tires and brakes instead of forcing us to replace the whole car when these things wear out.
This story ain't got nothin' on Illuminati Online of Austin, TX, aka IOCOM aka io.com. While still in operation, and after "hardening" their network so they could offer "security services" of some kind, they still featured a completely world-visible file browser and downloader for their system files and customer folders!
IOCOM is defunct now, but there's a mirror of their old website at io.fondoo.net
From the mirror website:
"Fun fact: you could telnet to password.io.com from anywhere in the world, and log on as guest. Lynx, a text-only web browser, was configured as the shell, and you would then be presented with a sparse version of the web-based customer account tools found at http://password.io.com/. This was so customers could reset their own password, update their address, set their PLAN file, etc.
IO forgot to disable browsing the filesystem (press g, period, enter). Also, IO never enforced uniform file and directory permissions or audited active accounts. As a result, through 2004, after IO was taken over by Prismnet (or later), you could roam around and directly view many customer's private files, email, and IO's sensitive system areas. You could also open the Lynx config to define a custom "editor" and thus actually edit files, or run executables. This was a direct back-door into everything! This continued a full two years after IOCOM "hardened" their network to sell network security services."
Whoever runs the mirror probably didn't enjoy working with all of their co-workers:
io.fondoo.net/io/staff.html
io.fondoo.net/home/lori/
io.fondoo.net/home/kitten/
I received a note from someone's interior decorator about not finishing a project, and that they would like to schedule to come back the next week. I was feeling a bit evil, so I told them that they were fired, and need not return.
Their response was surprise and remorse and asking what was the matter. I said that the work was sub-par and that someone had been messing with our lingerie.
They replied with shock and denials and I'm sure they were never more baffled and embarrassed.
Their next email was an apology for trying on the lingerie, and further apologizing for drinking our expensive wine in the kitchen too *wink wink* so I know they must have finally phoned the real client and caught on to my pranks.
Good times!
Like a lot of you, I have had a Gmail since the invite days... InitialUncommonlastname@gmail.com. Except that uncommon last name is common in another country. I throw out most of the crap but do try to reach out on the rare occasion something looks important. I've used "recover password" and found people's home addresses. Taken a look on Google Street View. Sent them texts telling them I liked their rose bushes, etc. Asked many women with my initial to stop using my address for junk. Lots of fun with that. Oh lord do I love the ones where they threaten me for "hacking" their mail or using "their" email address. I just tell them to bring it onnnnnn. Dipshiats.
I gave one gal about 4 extra chances when I texted her to log into her account and change the contact email. I gave her the new password but she just kept on punching "recover password" and thus sending me another stupid confirmation email.
At least twice a month I get emails from a business in a foreign country where apparently they don't require 1-click opt-out links. They're wondering why I don't show up for my appointments. They also don't respond to my replies.
There was one occasion where I was getting on-boarding mail meant for a new employee at a company who used Gmail to host their website and email. It seems like their Google-hosted domain mail was getting internally re-written to Gmail addresses. So they set up InitialUncommonlastname@Googhostedcompany.com and Google just blindly forwarded his mail to me, at my long-already established address. Their admin didn't believe me of course. Those mails finally just stopped coming. They probably just made a new account with a '1' at the end, hehe.
The best story involves an interior decorator who sent apologies for not finishing work on time. I was feeling evil and wrote back saying that their services were no longer required. They got very apologetic and wanted to make amends. I wrote that their work was sloppy and we had noticed someone going through our lingerie. This went another round or two with shock and denials, but then they must have finally called their client. I got a hilarious final email brazenly apologizing for trying on the lingerie, and also for drinking 'my' expensive wine!
I own several domains, including one once owned by an internet service provider. You learn a lot about people that way! Sure I read the mails -they're mine now suckah!
Wha? Why can't I reclaim my old username by requesting a confirmation link be sent to my AOL email account?
Everyone wants Google Fiber, but they can't get it, because Google only installed it for people who signed up two years in advance (as it turned out in Austin), and then, only installed for those homes during a brief period before moving on to another region. It's Google's fault for making such a complicated process.
I had a Google Fiber fan blog to get the word out and spread the news. I heard from SO MANY people who pish-poshed the signup and deposit requirement and told me confidently that they would simply wait to hear from their neighbors who got it and then they would order. I SCREAMED that then it would be too late, but they just smirked at silly ole me and told me I was wrong.
Google's Fault Period.
Ok, I'm aware this post is a bit off-subject, but I think the message is important enough. I understand the impulse to downvote, but please consider my good intentions. Thanks!
I won't even need to post a URL here; please Google "nextdoor seized" and click on the top response. It should be about Dawson Neighborhood's community being seized from the neighbors who launched it, and handed to their hostile NA, who was the reason an alternate, free-speech forum was needed.
As one of the admins "Leads" of that neighborhood forum, I had hopes that Nextdoor would eventually provide superior tools to keep track of neighborhood projects, post up-to-date public information, and foster a good working environment organically. Nextdoor wants none of these things. They want your names, addresses, examples of what causes you're behind, and a ranking of how much of an "influencer" you are. Marketing anchors. And they embed ads everywhere. They have a mass of vague "Guidelines" which Nextdoor staff will use to argue for either side, based on their flip whims. It's thought that they will be abusive and obstinate to people who have racked up some "ignores" by other neighbors, and that they'll be supportive and helpful to the successful "influencers."
Nextdoor seems like a great place to launch an "alternate" forum for neighbors who are frustrated with their Mgt, NA or HOA's forums or mailing lists, and Nextdoor will tell you that they'll protect you. After you get hundreds of people to join, and in spite of open harassment by members of your NA/HOA's board, they'll then boot you off and hand the forum directly to your rivals. Picture your Facebook "Frozen" fan group being taken from you and handed to Disney because "you'll agree they can do a better job." I'm paraphrasing actual bullshit emailed to me from ND.
Unfortunately, Nextdoor is not an improvement over a PHPbb board, Yahoo Group or similar platform. It doesn't have organizational tools that are neighborhood-oriented, it merely has pre-labeled sections for these things and nags you to do other "neighborly" (data entry) tasks. It saves some set-up time, and it has a proprietary "app". The kids all love "apps", right?
Please visit the website for more details. tinyurl slash dawsonseized should work if Google shuffles responses differently for you. We've got a long list of reference sites stuffed with complaints about ND, and comments by visitors sharing their accounts too. We need to get the word out that NEXTDOOR doesn't have the DNA for free speech or neighborhood discourse. They've demonstrated that they know they have people by the balls and they enjoy it.
If you're thinking of using Nextdoor, please steer clear.
If you're one of the many people who have glimpsed Nextdoor's deceitful and authoritarian underbelly, please write about it! The Press usually does nothing but write ND up as a feel-good neighborhood-coming-together puff piece. Nextdoor is a threat to free speech and democracy. They need to be exposed!
I tell them it's like this: Imagine a gigantic pinball machine, and inside among the bumpers and bells and paddles is a million enraged pussy cats.
What I do is set up thousands of precise walls and chambers in there, so that when I move the paddles, the cats line up in orderly patterns which represent useful information.
And if one cat gets out, the pinball machine explodes.
And I have a boss breathing down my neck every 15 minutes screaming "I simply asked for a clean and simple multilingual economic failure prediction utility! How can it take more than half an hour or so?!?"
AC, your "solution" doesn't match the experience I described. You're ignoring parts and inserting convenient parts of your own. And you're an ass. That's why you're not being accepted as a credible explainer.
I, personally don't care about what's going on in bird's brains. But thousands of highly-trained ornithologists do. And they glean lots of useful information about the environment, evolution, archeology, and geology. Oh, and there are people who examine those little bacteria too. Perhaps there are pompous little bacteria out there who scoff at other bacteria who claim The Great Eye is there to watch them and see what happens.
Your hand-waving might be slightly more credible if I were a person who has never since then laid on his back looking at the night sky watching for satellites. Bye.
It's too obvious, I don't know why I have to explain it. Aliens don't have to swoop over our cities any more. They record and photograph us through our own cameras.
Well, that pretty much wraps up Norway for a period of several years. Glad the whole world-wide mystery is solved in your mind!
Why continue to play cat and mouse with a civilization which carries cameras and microphones with them everywhere, when you can just tap in and use them to monitor from a safer distance?
The light was moving in those spiral paths QUICKLY. Thus they were high-G. I'm not going to debate the rest with you. I truly don't care if you believe that people can't tell if something is far away.