I Need Some Spare Memory

The other day I was blog reading in my usual "read fast there are so many posts" fashion.  (The only way I could read slower is if I read fewer blogs.  Since I don't like giving up blogs - I just try to read faster. This comes back to haunt me at times.)

I read a post that I'd like to go back and reread... trouble is - I can't find it.

I don't think it's on my regular list of reading.  I think I clicked a link somewhere, but I'm not sure!  Which means I'll never find it again. 

It falls into the realm of "fun posts"  as it was about the author very much disliking the TSA 3oz rules and the 1 quart plastic bag rule.  Her "rebellion" made me laugh - mostly because I wasn't standing in line behind her - but for the life of me I can't remember where I read it.

Like I said - not earth stopping or even "important".  But since I can't remember where I read it - this means I want to find it.  One of those oddities of life.  If I knew where it was, I probably would never have thought of rereading it.

I need new memory - a spare chip implant or something.  And it should be non-volatile. 

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 05:08 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Everyone Was Wrong

The worst part is they all think they're right!

I was over at Jill's where she had posted this story.

A Deep Divide: Digital Kids, Analog Parents

The kid knows no boundaries. But neither does the adult. The high school senior is so lost in a hyper-public, YouTube world that he thinks nothing of forwarding a private phone call to the entire planet. The wife of the Fairfax County public school administrator the kid called at home is understandably miffed about the invasion into her private sphere, yet she returns fire with a shockingly disproportionate blast of rage.

What you have here is NOT a divide over digital vs. analog - you simply have a bunch of people who never learned any manners.  Period.

First you have a kid who calls one of the school's officials at home - not at the office, but at home to basically whine about having to go to school when it has snowed.  This is the first breach of decorum.  Not surprising that he wouldn't want to go to school.  What is surprising is that he is a high school senior and he's doing this.  It's the type of behavior I might expect from a second or third grader.

Then we have the wife of the school official returning the call.  Breach of decorum number two.  This was not a call to her, she had no business returning the call unless her husband requested it.  If he did - that is yet another breach.  She is not the school official, she shouldn't be handling this. 

Then we have her completely and totally inappropriate rant at the student.  (What are we up to... number 4 or 5 now on the etiquette break down?)

...when Candy Tistadt returned Kori's call and left a message referring to the students her husband serves as "snotty-nosed little brats," and urged Kori to "Get over it, kid, and go to school!"

There's a bright idea - call the student names.  Now that's showing real adult restraint isn't it. (Okay I'm going to stop counting - the poor behavior simply gets worse and worse)

He (Devraj Kori) responded by posting the message she left on You Tube!  Oh good - now we're into "one upping" each other.  Can you hear the conversation in his head?  "Okay b*&^% you wanna leave me that kind of message, I'll fix you!"

He's a SENIOR - this means he's nearly, if not already, 18 years old.  He's too old to get a pass for not having control over his actions because he's angry!   If he hasn't learned restraint by now, when is he going to learn it?  Or does he think that the entire world is going to bend over backward to be nice to him?   Once again you have behavior more suited to a younger child - this time maybe ten or eleven years old.

What astounded me most was the response by the head of one of the schools in this district, when the youtube hit the fan...

"It used to be you could have an inappropriate or rude conversation with someone and it would stay private," says Ron McClain, head of the Parkmont School in the District and a parent of teenagers in the Montgomery County schools. "There's a much fuzzier line between public and private now. This is a case where the technology has outpaced our ability to cope with its effects. As parents, we're way behind."

So... it's okay to be rude when you believe you can get away with it and there will be no consequences???

Holy crap!  No wonder the kid hasn't learned anything - even the supposed "educators" know nothing about proper behavior. 

As I said, this is not about the digital world smacking the older people amongst us. I'm of their age range and I know more than my kids do about the digital world - ignorance of technology is not the issue!

This is about people with no idea of how to interact civilly with each other. It's exactly the outcome I would expect.  If the adults don't act with some sort of decorum, how in the world can they teach it or even expect it from the students?

Also expected is the reaction of the journalist who wrote the story. He completely missed this aspect of it in his rush to blame technology.  There's a surprise.  But if he did go after the real cause of the problem, his entire story is gone. 

Blaming technology is just so easy. It doesn't fight back and leaves everyone with that feeling of... "gee there's nothing we can do".  I think reporters enjoy stories like that - they're easier to write - no analysis required.

As it stands, it's very likely none of them know how to spell the word etiquette, much less know what it means.  Maybe if we turned it into a computer game at least the kids would learn.  However, at this point, they may all be beyond hope. Thus you will have an entire district of kids taking to the world with no idea of polite behavior. 

Wonderful - where can I hide?

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 09:53 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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But It Could Be True

I was reading through The Register and came across this bit of Henny Penny action

CIA claims crackers took out power grids

Of course the first questions are when? where? how? and how come I hadn't heard anything about it?

"We have information, from multiple regions outside the United States, of cyber intrusions into utilities, followed by extortion demands. We suspect, but cannot confirm, that some of these attackers had the benefit of inside knowledge," Donahue said, according to a statement posted on the SANS web site. "We have information that cyber attacks have been used to disrupt power equipment in several regions outside the US. In at least one case, the disruption caused a power outage affecting multiple cities. We do not know who executed these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through the internet," he added.

Alrighty then. 

They suspect attacks, but won't confirm them. They claim multiple cities were hit with power outages, but won't say where or when it happened. 

Excuse me while I yawn. 

This is the type of baseless, scaremongering claim that does far more to hurt than to help when talking about computer and industry security. 

SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) is the system that runs most of the utilities around the country.  It has its issues, mostly that it is insecure within the confines of the utility company itself.  It could be broken into from outside, but that is very problematical for many reasons. 

Unless the other countries are using the same systems we use, set up in the same way in regard to internet access, how can he begin to equate a supposed attack elsewhere in the world with a possible attack in this country? 

The real annoyance is the lack of factual evidence. The statement itself has no content. There's nothing - not one single fact to back up what he's saying.  It's the all powerful - super menacing (cue scary music) "we know this to be true, we just can't tell you why - it's a security issue"...(/scary music)
  
Horsehockey! 

If he's serious, he should be fired for turning a legitimate threat into a farce.  In all other cases, this guy needs to do some remedial fairytale reading.  The Brothers Grimm could point him in the right direction on matters of scaring the kiddies. 

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 06:32 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Why...

Why are people astounded when THEY are late on their end of a job, this makes everyone (who must wait for them to begin) late also...

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 03:28 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Annoyance

I wish it was possible to trade in my head and get a new one... one that works better. Migraine today.  Luckily they aren't as bad as they used to be.  Unluckily, I still get them enough to screw up the day.  Oh well.

Of course on any trade in, I would request an upgrade in working little gray cells. 

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 03:02 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I'm Cold

It's 4 degrees outside.  So even when the heater is running, it doesn't really get the house warm.  (damned windows... nice to look out of - but impossible to heat the place).  My hands are freezing. 

I have no food in the house - so I'm off to get some, in the cold.  However, since it's not really warm in here, outside won't be such a shock.  Nice thought that. Wish it was true. 

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 07:34 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Reorganizing and Prioritizing

24 hours is simply not enough time in the day... really it isn't.  I spent hours today going through my blog roll trying to wish people a Happy New Year - and at that I simply didn't get to everyone.  Unbelievable.

Did I mention there is also email which I need to keep tabs on so the spam doesn't get overwhelming. 

Then I feel like I should write a post too... more time gone.

Like Harvey I'm simply running out of time to do everything - even without his commute.  That's not quite right, much as it pains me to say so. 

The good part is - I have a feed reader.  Therefore, I've split my feeds in half for reading.  Some on M-W-F the others T-Th-S.  Leaving one weekend day open with no plans to read.  Now the problem will be  sticking to it and not checking feeds on everyone every day. 

It's so easy to do - only takes a minute... which turns into several hours without even thinking about it.  And it's becoming impossible.  Oddly enough I do have other things to do.

I don't wish blogging was my job - I'd be fired immediately.  But I do wish I had more time for reading all the great bloggers and their wonderful posts.  As it is - I'm now scanning most everything very fast and not enjoying things as much as I should.  Hopefully breaking it up into bite sized portions will help. 

I may have to reorganize again if this doesn't work - but I'm hopeful. Now, I have to go make some tea and get away from the keyboard.  My arms are sore! 

Posted by: Teresa in Ho-Hum at 10:01 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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