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Google Popup Ad
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Google, as least I think it's Google, has started posting little popup ads in the upper right corner of the screen. They don't last long, less that second, barely long enough to register and definitely not long enough to do anything about it. I did manage to hit the Print Screen button, which is how we have the image above.
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| Extortion Spam |
Looking for a message, I opened my spam folder and found a demand for a $1,000 in return for a Toobin-esque video purportedly recorded from my computer's camera. Since the only on-line camera I have is in my laptop which seldom sees the light of day, the possibility of someone using it to record any kind of video is doubtful in the extreme. However, the troglodyte who attempted this extortion did have a password I commonly use on such inconsequential sites like Facebook. I've read about hacking passwords to social media accounts and it does seem at least possible, and now faced with my most popular password showing up in this email I am convinced that it can be done.
But the part that I wonder about is why did it get sent to the spam folder? How is an extortionist going to extort any money if the victims don't even know they are being extorted? And how many times have people been embarrassed when these clandestinely recorded videos were shared with their family and friends, which is the threat behind the demand? Perhaps no one cares about pornography anymore? Seems I heard that while prostitution is still illegal, making pornography is not. So all you need is a camera in the corner and you can claim to be a legitimate business. Brave New World, ain't it?
As my Chrome browser constantly reminds me, Google will stop supporting Flash at the end of this year. Being as Jumble requires Flash, I am wondering what I am going to do. Will I have to use another browser to play it? Or has Jumble been seduced by the dark side and no longer cares about the desktop world? Jumble is one bright spot I can count on every day, and twice on Sundays. I suppose I could look around for another game, and given my bouts wakefulness every morning at 2am, maybe I should.
I am still not paying for subscriptions to any news sites. We are paying the cable company (Ziply) $200 a month, but that is mostly so we can watch NBA basketball and college football. I subscribe to Netflix and YouTube which are a bargain given how much I use them. Yes, YouTube can be free, but the number of ads became irritating.
The problem with news sites, like The New York Times or The Atlantic or The Wall Street Journal, is that while there is occasionally an article I like or enjoy, I am not willing to fork out the bucks each one requires. What we need is a YouTube like website where everyone can post their writing and they will be paid based on the number of people who read it. There seem to be at least a few people making a living by making videos for YouTube.
Yes, getting someone to subscribe to your website is like a guarantee of income in perpetuity, and the more subscribers you have the more clout you have, but I don't like it. Google may not be the most ethical company in the world, but they have opened the playing field to a huge number of people, something these pay-wall protected sites have not done.
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| Majoxin Portable Computer Notebook USB 2.0/1.1 Mouse Retractable Slim USB Optical Scroll Mouse for Laptop PC Optical Sensor 800dpi - No longer available |
My desktop monitor failed the other day and a few days later the mouse gave up the ghost. I replaced both with older ones that hadn't been sent to the scrap heap yet. The monitor is not as big, but it is adequate. The mouse however is wretched. First I tried the travel mouse I use with the laptop, then I tried the new, super compact travel mouse I recently bought because it has an automatic cord winder. Both proved unusable, fine control, essential for playing games, was gone. I finally stole the one from my wife's accounting computer and while it is usable, it is still horrible. I drug one home from my brother's scrap pile but I haven't brought it into the house yet. We shall see if it is any better.
[No picture because I don't want to spend the rest of my life trying to get blogger
to display some html code. Besides, I've spent enough time on this post.]
Blogger (
Google's blog posting system)
has a new editor and it seems to have developed by amateurs. I spend more time in html mode fixing stuff than I used to and now it inserts a bunch more html tags that don't seem necessary of even useful, like
p and
div, and its choice of which to use seems random. I guess if you are inserting useless garbage, it doesn't really matter which flavor you use.
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