CEO: we were recently hacked and our customer data was exposed to the world due to our terrible security practices, so we hacked back and DDoS'ed the attackers website! Media:: that sounds scintillating enough for a front page story, what happened next? CEO: We're being sued by a hosting provider for the DDOS, and the hackers managed to switch my wifes insulin order with carfentanil, killing her instantly. But hey! hacking back right?
disclosure: I work in a tech/marketing position
astroturfing is nothing new, in most brands you're always encouraged to consume the product or service being sold to you. Student loans appear to have taken a page from the luxury automotive industry in this case. Luxury auto brand advertisements often feature sultry evenings, fancy clothes, modern homes, and posh gatherings along with esoteric screeds on technology and futurism. The marketing of a luxury automobile does not include these references because they have anything to do with successful, rich, or famous people. These elements of a successful ad for a luxury car exist because theyre your aspirations, rebranded. Legitimately rich people looking to experience a mercedes simply buy one without any real conditioning. if they dont like it, they sell the car and buy a new one. What automotive brands are doing is conditioning you to sidestep your self interests and reason in order to consume a product that is far and away more expensive than the average consumer can afford. Projecting the success of these products, most luxury automotive brands will sponsor the humbler bay yacht race, or Wimbledon, but not to sell cars to the rich. These events are sponsored in order to maintain the illusion that luxury vehicles are in some way intrinsic to wealth and success.
kids: dad what happened to grandma? dad: well kids...shes gone to a better place mom: dad flashed a rom to her pacemaker with the wrong binary architecture dad: Its more complicated than that kids, Grandma was one SMA antenna away from being able to route our IPv6 traffic so we can use faster fortnight servers. kids: is grandma in heaven?
Dad: more importantly, does daddys toolchain documentation cover the insulin pump in grandpa....
The SmartScreen API isn't as known as Google's more famous Safe Browsing API
This. Microsoft is extending something to chrome that chrome arguably never needed. its appearance and function is completely foreign to most chrome users. At best, this is another clumsy Microsoft attempt to speed past the ballmer dynasty similar to their Linux subsystem for Windows. At worst, this is Microsoft pissing in Googles Cheerios and pushing browser war brinkmanship.
and the question we're not supposed to ask is, does this thing run Kodi? because if it doesnt, I'll just stick to buying a used 4k TV and a Raspberry pi.
https://kodi.wiki/view/FireTV_...
if there even is one, is to offer a "feature" to monolithic corporations where Linux already exists as a second class citizen. typically these companies already pay a license fee for redhat/suse/Oracle linux and are addicted to consolidation. Directors/managers at these companies have zero Linux experience, but see value in consolidating anything and everything inside a windows world. In the end, "no one ever got fired for buying windows" is going to once again save the bacon of whomever inherits the train-wreck of Linux administrators trying to do their jobs in windows, and Microsofts fickle habit of ditching new ideas about eight years after they fail to generate appreciable revenue.
there is no "embrace extend extinguish" here because Microsoft is competing with something not only free, but more powerful than the OS its already offering. Much like Comcast and their bundled netflix, all MS can do is try to catch up to the money train and hope this linux support at least grants them some cloud customers.
The latest option in Comcast's Xfinity cable bundle is Netflix.
Netflix isnt something customers want as a service from your company. Netflix is an alternative to overpriced cable TV which is itself nothing but a wasteland of predatory advertisements and commercial breaks. Netflix and Kodi (https://kodi.tv/) are the killing blow for an industry that has strong-armed the american consumer for more than forty years.
self-destructing, secured, or even recall-able messages have been the hallmark of feature sets demanded by users without so much as a cursory understanding of email. Since most of human civilization uses GMail im sure the hubris of google rides high in testing this new "feature" but for power users or those outside the domain of the big G, this is feature is as useless as 'do not track.'
mash away at self destruct all you like. Once the message leaves your Google mailserver and enters my Postfix, its mine.
freedom of speech: as the american government concept applies is the freedom to criticize or speak out against the government without fear of reprisal, or censure. Its literally the ability to call Donald Trump a giant talking cheeto without being hauled out of your bed at 3 AM and forcibly executed in front of your family.
freedom of speech: as it applies to society is not the same. There are several cases where private industry and society dont tolerate freedom of speech. You cannot protest a walmart without being told to leave the property. Copyright law prevents the freedom of speech on a nearly hourly basis. You cannot yell fire in a crowded theatre or bomb on a crowded plane and expect to walk freely if no such condition exists. increasingly, you cannot espouse white supremacy,sexism, or neo-nazi sentiment and expect to keep your job. Not because the government is trying to shut you up, but because no private industry wants their brand affiliated even casually with hateful bigotry and racism.
Im sure they're sitting in a conference room trying to come up with a way to outdo their PS4 campaign of molten crying babies and preteens with swollen heads.
than the 4:15 AM informal alarm clock I get from every random kid that goes missing for more than 10 minutes in a wal-mart parking lot. Seriously. I'm a sysadmin, not Harvey Dent. The only time I see the Batman is when I summon him with the Netflix logo.
Mquote>Northrop Grumman built and operated the components that failed during the controversial January launch of the U.S. spy satellite known as Zuma
Failed yet again by my local main-stream media. I dont recall any coverage of the event, but i guess thats to be expected from a group of conglomerate advertisers that insist only thoughts and prayers can fix school shootings, and Hillary Clinton didnt get to be president because of some cold war conspiracy ripped from the decomposed fist of Joseph McCarthy himself.
Zuma is believed to have cost around $3.5 billion to develop, according to the report.
and thanks to the sausage-factory machinations of our federal government, im sure we'll never be privy to so much as a general idea of what this satellite was designed to do. Flint Michigan looks set to go another year without clean water, but I bet if we reclassify the mass poisoning of an entire generation of americans with indelible lead exposure to 'secret government superwater' project, we might be able to afford a few bottles of San Pellegrino for the town.
The satellite was funded through a process that received a lesser degree of oversight from Congress compared with similar national security-related satellites
Yes ladies and gentlemen, Congress brand oversight. You might remember it from such events as "repealing the affordable care act 46 times" and "honey i shut down the government for the third time" Well it wasnt as prevalent for this 3.5 billion dollar satellite and since it did such a bang-up job of everything from the timely restoration of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina to ensuring healthcare for our veterans is the best in the world, one can only assume what glory ole Zuma might bring to the nation had it been subjugated under a Bureaucratic scrutiny the likes of which can only be provided by Congress.
twitter, youtube and facebook all suffer the same malaise: cooking the books when it comes to interactivity numbers. Likes, subscribes, and similar artifacts of user interaction have no incentive to be properly vetted by either consumers or the platforms owner. For example: Fandango doesnt need you questioning the number of absurdly high likes for the upcoming Marvel trailer because that number drives revenue for them outside the platform. more likes means more user interest, a better chance to arrive on the front page of youtube, and in turn more hype generated by editors and content managers on other sites as they visit Youtube for their daily meme fix. Content management and talent management agencies that handle big names like Pewdiepie, Markiplier and similar artists dont need you questioning their half-billion member subscription count either, as the carefully curated presence on Youtube of these celebrities translates directly to the salaries of numerous behind-the-scenes studio workers in Hollywood.
but the sword cuts on both edges. Industries that have slept through nearly 20 years of fake currency in the way of likes/tweets/subscribes have no purchase when they suddenly turn around and decry fake news and the outcome of popular opinion that was driven by their broken system.
People like Soros and the descendants Rockefeller arent visionary, but products of their respective dynastic wealth. They benefit disproportionately from a wealth that came about to an extremely lucky subset of people once in a generation. The methods by which their fortunes were amassed arguably could only ever take place once in history.
Venrock, the venture capital company mentioned in tfa, has nothing to do with intrepid capitalists championing the helm of innovation and change and more to do with a branded venture capital firm seeking out new revenue streams, like an old dog seeking out the dinner bowl by smell.
some of these mods are obtrusive enough to earn the owner a black eye. for example: The JBL SoundBoost Speaker ($80): Everyone on planet earth unilaterally detests the one person on the bus, in the store, or god help us in the library or gym listening to music at full-tilt on their phone speaker. The ability to make this even more annoying is clearly not a feature. Moto's Insta-Share Projector ($300): spend $700 on a phone, then spend $300 on a projector, then casually remind yourself the internet is a ubiquitous decentralized platform from which anyone can access the content you're attempting to "present." Road warriors will stick to the presentation system at the clients office, while assholes will use this feature to exclusively bring the drive in movie experience to your next cattle-class flight. enjoy your attempt at sleeping through Frozen while a 9 year old turns the device into a disco ball. the Offgrid Power Pack ($60): its...a fucking battery. these are cheaper by the dozen at newegg and amazon...enjoy watching this thing collect dust on vendor shelves.
this is a formidably difficult feat for any hacker. first you need to identify a solvent capable of loosening the chip in the card to the degree you need to remove it without damage. next, you need to add your chip with its poisoned firmware to the card without creating such damage that the modification goes noticed. finally you need to remove the solvent without damaging the cards plastic...which is also relatively difficult. friction could be used to keep the chip in place however a cyanoacrylate is likely a good choice to keep the chip from moving...assuming this application does not inadvertently insulate contacts.
This is likely only going to affect american chip cards because we impemented chip and pin in the most disastrously half-assed manner so as to placate the hand wringing of major brands and corporations terrified the technology would dissuade purchases due to its complexity. a good countermeasure against this type of attack would be to have readers not trust the hardware and go through the full or partial battery of RFC specific tests for the chips authenticity. Specifically, the certificate attestation tests were designed to thwart this type of interference.
This affected Delta and Sears websites where users entered data on the website to complete a transaction.
We understand malware present in [24]7.ai's software between Sept. 26 and Oct. 12, 2017 made unauthorized access possible for the following fields of information; name, address, payment card number, CVV number, and expiration date during their purchase process if this information was manually entered by the customer and the customer completed the purchase transaction.
Why did it take 5 months to disclose? As a simple hypothesis, I would suggest its because disclosure in November may have had an impact on Deltas ability to generate anticipated levels of revenue in December, a major holiday travel season.
the deafening cacophony of cheers and laughter as class action suit attorneys joined hands together again in a fit of glorious praise. For today, the Intel legal team had truly blessed them with a bountiful harvest. Yes, truly, the second summer home in the Hamptons would see a new wet bar and game room after all.
sbpd: we came as quick as we got the call. So you guys are saying your abundant coverage of Videogames has caused a violent shooting? Youtube: what? no thats not whats happening at -- sbpd: So video games themselves have started shooting people? or the people inside are playing some kind of video game that makes you shoot people? Youtube: we never mentioned video games at all guys, this is a real -- sbpd: I get it. some kind of twitch stream where the pokemans are in augmented reality...it was only a matter of time. Youtube: thats nonsense...none of that makes any sense... Homeland Security: so due to legislative prioritization we dont really have any ability to stop whats going on except with thoughts and prayers. Also we're technically not allowed to be here unless its some kind of copyright infringement.
husband: "Honey the farm fresh preserves you ordered just arrived" wife: "you mean the fruit basket from my mom?" husband: "now that you mention it, theres a surprising amount of wicker in this marmalade..."
"I have developed a keen sense of human 'caring' and am able to reproduce this chemical response from my human thought-gland with near 35% accuracy. if required, I may also express a limited concoction of saline liquid from my entirely human eyeball which is in no way casually impeded by my nictating membrane." --Mark Zuckerberg, addressing a McDonalds cashier trying to dissuade Mark from pocketing a McFlurry.
the idea originally was that capitalism was driven by endless consumerism and that companies would compete using the quality and features of their product. then a few things happened that Milton Friedman probably did not see coming. automation made the quality of competing products indistinguishable, and products with complete feature sets inevitably damaged repeat sales. Automation also drove the price of manufacturing so low that companies could not possibly continue on the demanded path of 15% growth per quarter in earnings.
somewhere around the late seventies America shifted from a product sold based on merit of quality, to a product sold based on a brand that identified with the consumers desire. Since human emotion drives desire, its theoretically endless. Soon products exploited sexual impotency, race, gender, and status to sell themselves. The end result was that companies could grow ad-infinitum so long as consumers never stopped to question conspicuous consumption, and remained divorced from the means of production which into the 21st century grew increasingly indistinguishable from slavery. Finally we have companies that literally spy on the hopes, dreams, and fears of an entire generation of adults in order for the mere potential to make a sale.
You might not be able to avoid the spycraft, but you can certainly derail its end goal. Reduce, reuse, and recycle goods you buy. Avoid major brands, and branded consumer holidays like Christmas. Repair instead of replacing old coats, gloves, and household small appliances. Look up a cobbler in your city, as there certainly exists one or more, and resole your shoes and boots instead of buying new ones.
Slashdot Mirror
normal operational condition: everyone can buy fresh fruit and vegetables delivered at a moments notice
failure mode: an uncontrolled fruit cart is about to deliver everyone in a 3 mile radius a rudely unannounced, extremely high speed pineapple.
CEO: we were recently hacked and our customer data was exposed to the world due to our terrible security practices, so we hacked back and DDoS'ed the attackers website!
Media:: that sounds scintillating enough for a front page story, what happened next?
CEO: We're being sued by a hosting provider for the DDOS, and the hackers managed to switch my wifes insulin order with carfentanil, killing her instantly. But hey! hacking back right?
disclosure: I work in a tech/marketing position
astroturfing is nothing new, in most brands you're always encouraged to consume the product or service being sold to you. Student loans appear to have taken a page from the luxury automotive industry in this case. Luxury auto brand advertisements often feature sultry evenings, fancy clothes, modern homes, and posh gatherings along with esoteric screeds on technology and futurism. The marketing of a luxury automobile does not include these references because they have anything to do with successful, rich, or famous people. These elements of a successful ad for a luxury car exist because theyre your aspirations, rebranded. Legitimately rich people looking to experience a mercedes simply buy one without any real conditioning. if they dont like it, they sell the car and buy a new one. What automotive brands are doing is conditioning you to sidestep your self interests and reason in order to consume a product that is far and away more expensive than the average consumer can afford. Projecting the success of these products, most luxury automotive brands will sponsor the humbler bay yacht race, or Wimbledon, but not to sell cars to the rich. These events are sponsored in order to maintain the illusion that luxury vehicles are in some way intrinsic to wealth and success.
kids: dad what happened to grandma?
dad: well kids...shes gone to a better place
mom: dad flashed a rom to her pacemaker with the wrong binary architecture
dad: Its more complicated than that kids, Grandma was one SMA antenna away from being able to route our IPv6 traffic so we can use faster fortnight servers.
kids: is grandma in heaven?
Dad: more importantly, does daddys toolchain documentation cover the insulin pump in grandpa....
The SmartScreen API isn't as known as Google's more famous Safe Browsing API
This. Microsoft is extending something to chrome that chrome arguably never needed. its appearance and function is completely foreign to most chrome users. At best, this is another clumsy Microsoft attempt to speed past the ballmer dynasty similar to their Linux subsystem for Windows. At worst, this is Microsoft pissing in Googles Cheerios and pushing browser war brinkmanship.
and the question we're not supposed to ask is, does this thing run Kodi? because if it doesnt, I'll just stick to buying a used 4k TV and a Raspberry pi. https://kodi.wiki/view/FireTV_...
Symantec is complicit in some of the most brutal repressive regimes on the planet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
same with cisco.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
And Microsoft? theyve not only back doored every OS theyve released, they even put out a tool for governments to crack into private computers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
if there even is one, is to offer a "feature" to monolithic corporations where Linux already exists as a second class citizen. typically these companies already pay a license fee for redhat/suse/Oracle linux and are addicted to consolidation. Directors/managers at these companies have zero Linux experience, but see value in consolidating anything and everything inside a windows world. In the end, "no one ever got fired for buying windows" is going to once again save the bacon of whomever inherits the train-wreck of Linux administrators trying to do their jobs in windows, and Microsofts fickle habit of ditching new ideas about eight years after they fail to generate appreciable revenue.
there is no "embrace extend extinguish" here because Microsoft is competing with something not only free, but more powerful than the OS its already offering. Much like Comcast and their bundled netflix, all MS can do is try to catch up to the money train and hope this linux support at least grants them some cloud customers.
The latest option in Comcast's Xfinity cable bundle is Netflix.
Netflix isnt something customers want as a service from your company. Netflix is an alternative to overpriced cable TV which is itself nothing but a wasteland of predatory advertisements and commercial breaks. Netflix and Kodi (https://kodi.tv/) are the killing blow for an industry that has strong-armed the american consumer for more than forty years.
self-destructing, secured, or even recall-able messages have been the hallmark of feature sets demanded by users without so much as a cursory understanding of email. Since most of human civilization uses GMail im sure the hubris of google rides high in testing this new "feature" but for power users or those outside the domain of the big G, this is feature is as useless as 'do not track.'
mash away at self destruct all you like. Once the message leaves your Google mailserver and enters my Postfix, its mine.
freedom of speech: as the american government concept applies is the freedom to criticize or speak out against the government without fear of reprisal, or censure. Its literally the ability to call Donald Trump a giant talking cheeto without being hauled out of your bed at 3 AM and forcibly executed in front of your family.
freedom of speech: as it applies to society is not the same. There are several cases where private industry and society dont tolerate freedom of speech. You cannot protest a walmart without being told to leave the property. Copyright law prevents the freedom of speech on a nearly hourly basis. You cannot yell fire in a crowded theatre or bomb on a crowded plane and expect to walk freely if no such condition exists. increasingly, you cannot espouse white supremacy,sexism, or neo-nazi sentiment and expect to keep your job. Not because the government is trying to shut you up, but because no private industry wants their brand affiliated even casually with hateful bigotry and racism.
Im sure they're sitting in a conference room trying to come up with a way to outdo their PS4 campaign of molten crying babies and preteens with swollen heads.
than the 4:15 AM informal alarm clock I get from every random kid that goes missing for more than 10 minutes in a wal-mart parking lot. Seriously. I'm a sysadmin, not Harvey Dent. The only time I see the Batman is when I summon him with the Netflix logo.
Mquote>Northrop Grumman built and operated the components that failed during the controversial January launch of the U.S. spy satellite known as Zuma
Failed yet again by my local main-stream media. I dont recall any coverage of the event, but i guess thats to be expected from a group of conglomerate advertisers that insist only thoughts and prayers can fix school shootings, and Hillary Clinton didnt get to be president because of some cold war conspiracy ripped from the decomposed fist of Joseph McCarthy himself.
Zuma is believed to have cost around $3.5 billion to develop, according to the report.
and thanks to the sausage-factory machinations of our federal government, im sure we'll never be privy to so much as a general idea of what this satellite was designed to do. Flint Michigan looks set to go another year without clean water, but I bet if we reclassify the mass poisoning of an entire generation of americans with indelible lead exposure to 'secret government superwater' project, we might be able to afford a few bottles of San Pellegrino for the town.
The satellite was funded through a process that received a lesser degree of oversight from Congress compared with similar national security-related satellites
Yes ladies and gentlemen, Congress brand oversight. You might remember it from such events as "repealing the affordable care act 46 times" and "honey i shut down the government for the third time" Well it wasnt as prevalent for this 3.5 billion dollar satellite and since it did such a bang-up job of everything from the timely restoration of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina to ensuring healthcare for our veterans is the best in the world, one can only assume what glory ole Zuma might bring to the nation had it been subjugated under a Bureaucratic scrutiny the likes of which can only be provided by Congress.
twitter, youtube and facebook all suffer the same malaise: cooking the books when it comes to interactivity numbers. Likes, subscribes, and similar artifacts of user interaction have no incentive to be properly vetted by either consumers or the platforms owner. For example: Fandango doesnt need you questioning the number of absurdly high likes for the upcoming Marvel trailer because that number drives revenue for them outside the platform. more likes means more user interest, a better chance to arrive on the front page of youtube, and in turn more hype generated by editors and content managers on other sites as they visit Youtube for their daily meme fix. Content management and talent management agencies that handle big names like Pewdiepie, Markiplier and similar artists dont need you questioning their half-billion member subscription count either, as the carefully curated presence on Youtube of these celebrities translates directly to the salaries of numerous behind-the-scenes studio workers in Hollywood.
but the sword cuts on both edges. Industries that have slept through nearly 20 years of fake currency in the way of likes/tweets/subscribes have no purchase when they suddenly turn around and decry fake news and the outcome of popular opinion that was driven by their broken system.
People like Soros and the descendants Rockefeller arent visionary, but products of their respective dynastic wealth. They benefit disproportionately from a wealth that came about to an extremely lucky subset of people once in a generation. The methods by which their fortunes were amassed arguably could only ever take place once in history.
Venrock, the venture capital company mentioned in tfa, has nothing to do with intrepid capitalists championing the helm of innovation and change and more to do with a branded venture capital firm seeking out new revenue streams, like an old dog seeking out the dinner bowl by smell.
some of these mods are obtrusive enough to earn the owner a black eye. for example:
The JBL SoundBoost Speaker ($80): Everyone on planet earth unilaterally detests the one person on the bus, in the store, or god help us in the library or gym listening to music at full-tilt on their phone speaker. The ability to make this even more annoying is clearly not a feature.
Moto's Insta-Share Projector ($300): spend $700 on a phone, then spend $300 on a projector, then casually remind yourself the internet is a ubiquitous decentralized platform from which anyone can access the content you're attempting to "present." Road warriors will stick to the presentation system at the clients office, while assholes will use this feature to exclusively bring the drive in movie experience to your next cattle-class flight. enjoy your attempt at sleeping through Frozen while a 9 year old turns the device into a disco ball.
the Offgrid Power Pack ($60): its...a fucking battery. these are cheaper by the dozen at newegg and amazon...enjoy watching this thing collect dust on vendor shelves.
this is a formidably difficult feat for any hacker. first you need to identify a solvent capable of loosening the chip in the card to the degree you need to remove it without damage. next, you need to add your chip with its poisoned firmware to the card without creating such damage that the modification goes noticed. finally you need to remove the solvent without damaging the cards plastic...which is also relatively difficult. friction could be used to keep the chip in place however a cyanoacrylate is likely a good choice to keep the chip from moving...assuming this application does not inadvertently insulate contacts.
This is likely only going to affect american chip cards because we impemented chip and pin in the most disastrously half-assed manner so as to placate the hand wringing of major brands and corporations terrified the technology would dissuade purchases due to its complexity. a good countermeasure against this type of attack would be to have readers not trust the hardware and go through the full or partial battery of RFC specific tests for the chips authenticity. Specifically, the certificate attestation tests were designed to thwart this type of interference.
We understand malware present in [24]7.ai's software between Sept. 26 and Oct. 12, 2017 made unauthorized access possible for the following fields of information; name, address, payment card number, CVV number, and expiration date during their purchase process if this information was manually entered by the customer and the customer completed the purchase transaction.
Why did it take 5 months to disclose? As a simple hypothesis, I would suggest its because disclosure in November may have had an impact on Deltas ability to generate anticipated levels of revenue in December, a major holiday travel season.
the deafening cacophony of cheers and laughter as class action suit attorneys joined hands together again in a fit of glorious praise. For today, the Intel legal team had truly blessed them with a bountiful harvest. Yes, truly, the second summer home in the Hamptons would see a new wet bar and game room after all.
Heres the RHEL 8 alpha branch for anaconda
https://github.com/rhinstaller...
As well as the commit activity...
https://github.com/rhinstaller...
What are the chances of a Redhat Enterprise Linux 8 release this year?
sbpd: we came as quick as we got the call. So you guys are saying your abundant coverage of Videogames has caused a violent shooting?
Youtube: what? no thats not whats happening at --
sbpd: So video games themselves have started shooting people? or the people inside are playing some kind of video game that makes you shoot people?
Youtube: we never mentioned video games at all guys, this is a real --
sbpd: I get it. some kind of twitch stream where the pokemans are in augmented reality...it was only a matter of time.
Youtube: thats nonsense...none of that makes any sense...
Homeland Security: so due to legislative prioritization we dont really have any ability to stop whats going on except with thoughts and prayers. Also we're technically not allowed to be here unless its some kind of copyright infringement.
husband: "Honey the farm fresh preserves you ordered just arrived"
wife: "you mean the fruit basket from my mom?"
husband: "now that you mention it, theres a surprising amount of wicker in this marmalade..."
"I have developed a keen sense of human 'caring' and am able to reproduce this chemical response from my human thought-gland with near 35% accuracy. if required, I may also express a limited concoction of saline liquid from my entirely human eyeball which is in no way casually impeded by my nictating membrane." --Mark Zuckerberg, addressing a McDonalds cashier trying to dissuade Mark from pocketing a McFlurry.
the idea originally was that capitalism was driven by endless consumerism and that companies would compete using the quality and features of their product. then a few things happened that Milton Friedman probably did not see coming. automation made the quality of competing products indistinguishable, and products with complete feature sets inevitably damaged repeat sales. Automation also drove the price of manufacturing so low that companies could not possibly continue on the demanded path of 15% growth per quarter in earnings.
somewhere around the late seventies America shifted from a product sold based on merit of quality, to a product sold based on a brand that identified with the consumers desire. Since human emotion drives desire, its theoretically endless. Soon products exploited sexual impotency, race, gender, and status to sell themselves. The end result was that companies could grow ad-infinitum so long as consumers never stopped to question conspicuous consumption, and remained divorced from the means of production which into the 21st century grew increasingly indistinguishable from slavery. Finally we have companies that literally spy on the hopes, dreams, and fears of an entire generation of adults in order for the mere potential to make a sale.
You might not be able to avoid the spycraft, but you can certainly derail its end goal. Reduce, reuse, and recycle goods you buy. Avoid major brands, and branded consumer holidays like Christmas. Repair instead of replacing old coats, gloves, and household small appliances. Look up a cobbler in your city, as there certainly exists one or more, and resole your shoes and boots instead of buying new ones.