This is a first. In general, I enjoy Survivor (the TV series). In spite of how much I hate the direction that a season is going (including knowing where a season is going because it has already aired), I tend to follow it.
This season is an exception. Midway through the finale episode, Keith was voted out. OK. That happens. ... The problem is that the three jerks (I'm trying to be kind) that were left were all people that I care nothing about.
I aborted out of the episode (seriously, I did) because one of the three a-holes will get the $1m. I don't care at all which a-hole it is. I don't care about the great dramatic BS that the Survivor crew bothered to put them through to make it look like they earned it. I proactively don't care.
None of them deserve it. They voted off the one guy that did.
Screw this season finale. I won't watch.
Screw the reunion. I don't care.
What's worse, this season has poisoned my interest in following seasons.
Oh well, I've got better things to do anyway....
2014/12/18
2014/12/05
Where'd my Nexus 7 Face Unlock go?
Last night I installed the Android 5.0.1 upgrade for my Gen2 Nexus 7. There's some stuff I like and some stuff I'll have to get used to. But the first thing I noticed is that Face Unlock appears to have gone missing.
With some research, I found that from [Settings] -> [Security], you could enable "Smart Lock". But the problem was that I couldn't find that on my Security screen. After some looking around, I scrolled down to the "Advanced" section (near the bottom), and found "Trust agents". Tapping into that, I found "Smart Lock (Google)" which was defaulted to off. I tapped that on, and then went back up a level. Suddenly, "Smart Lock" appeared right where it was supposed to just below "Owner info".
Hopefully this tip will help some that haven't yet figured out where their Face Unlock feature has disappeared to.
With some research, I found that from [Settings] -> [Security], you could enable "Smart Lock". But the problem was that I couldn't find that on my Security screen. After some looking around, I scrolled down to the "Advanced" section (near the bottom), and found "Trust agents". Tapping into that, I found "Smart Lock (Google)" which was defaulted to off. I tapped that on, and then went back up a level. Suddenly, "Smart Lock" appeared right where it was supposed to just below "Owner info".
Hopefully this tip will help some that haven't yet figured out where their Face Unlock feature has disappeared to.
2014/11/24
Username Identity Theft
Well, once again I find myself getting to a new site/service "late" again. This time, the site/service in question is Twitch.
My continuing problem is that when I arrive late to the party, some ignorant, uncreative jackass will have already registered with my username, killermist. http://www.twitch.tv/killermist shouldn't have been allocated, because as of the time I tried to register, I hadn't yet registered an account. In order to report the user for identity theft, which is what it amounts to, I had to register a new username (realkillermist), which isn't MY username.
The last thing before this that had that problem was Kik. They seemed to totally not care that some user was engaged in identity theft by stealing my username. So, I don't have much choice but to not use their "service" and to badmouth them to others because of their utter apathy for protecting my online identity. Even worse, someone may initiate a chat with the jackass that is using my username and not realize that the user isn't me. This has put Kik on my disavowed and shunned list. Their administrators and policy enforcers don't care about identity theft? OK. They'll just get plenty of negative word-of-mouth.
Depending on how Twitch chooses to handle this bit of identity theft, they may become a service that I use, or a service that joins Kik on the disavowed and shunned list, forever to get nothing but negative word-of-mouth out of me.
Fortunately, since I'm killermist on Google, that solidifies my online identity on everything that Google provides or that authenticates via Google. So, the moronic jackasses can't take over those identifications.
My continuing problem is that when I arrive late to the party, some ignorant, uncreative jackass will have already registered with my username, killermist. http://www.twitch.tv/killermist shouldn't have been allocated, because as of the time I tried to register, I hadn't yet registered an account. In order to report the user for identity theft, which is what it amounts to, I had to register a new username (realkillermist), which isn't MY username.
The last thing before this that had that problem was Kik. They seemed to totally not care that some user was engaged in identity theft by stealing my username. So, I don't have much choice but to not use their "service" and to badmouth them to others because of their utter apathy for protecting my online identity. Even worse, someone may initiate a chat with the jackass that is using my username and not realize that the user isn't me. This has put Kik on my disavowed and shunned list. Their administrators and policy enforcers don't care about identity theft? OK. They'll just get plenty of negative word-of-mouth.
Depending on how Twitch chooses to handle this bit of identity theft, they may become a service that I use, or a service that joins Kik on the disavowed and shunned list, forever to get nothing but negative word-of-mouth out of me.
Fortunately, since I'm killermist on Google, that solidifies my online identity on everything that Google provides or that authenticates via Google. So, the moronic jackasses can't take over those identifications.
2014/11/20
Driver Behavior
Today, I was pleasantly surprised that IndyGo driver #3030 bypassed a person that was waving for the bus, but wasn't at a proper bus stop.
I can already hear some complaining, "You're so heartless. It's cold out there."
That isn't the driver's fault, or mine either. I make the effort to be on the bus stop where I should be. He and his groceries can too.
I'm glad that the driver followed the proper protocol and didn't pick him up. Picking up from any random location encourages that same behavior from others.
2014/11/13
Survivor, sigh
After 29x05 and 29x06, my heart is kind of not in Survivor so much. Missy and Baylor are such toxic people for whatever tribe they're in. Missy is blissfully unaware of her wastefulness, which is what drew Dale's attention and dislike. Baylor is suck a wishy-washy little mouse. But somehow the two of them managed to get Dale's daughter and then Dale voted out. [sigh] I don't know how the other people can be so oblivious to not see that they're making a horrible mistake keeping those parasites around.
Now in 29x07, there's the "trail mix fiasco", which translates to "eat the rich" narrative. [sigh]
I think the only three people I really even liked left in the game were Keith, Wes, and Julie. All the other ones just have this coating of sleaze on them. I'm kind of disappointed that Julie quit. But, I can't blame her. The general sleaziness of most of the rest of the tribe is something I wouldn't want to willingly deal with either.
29x08 [sigh] "War on women" narrative, anyone? Give it a friggin' rest.
When Wes and Keith go, I may not have a whole lot more reason to watch because I don't particularly "care about the characters" anymore.
Now in 29x07, there's the "trail mix fiasco", which translates to "eat the rich" narrative. [sigh]
I think the only three people I really even liked left in the game were Keith, Wes, and Julie. All the other ones just have this coating of sleaze on them. I'm kind of disappointed that Julie quit. But, I can't blame her. The general sleaziness of most of the rest of the tribe is something I wouldn't want to willingly deal with either.
29x08 [sigh] "War on women" narrative, anyone? Give it a friggin' rest.
When Wes and Keith go, I may not have a whole lot more reason to watch because I don't particularly "care about the characters" anymore.
2014/10/16
Ruined entertainment
God bless them, but the people trying to manufacture entertainment have a serious up-hill battle to deal with.
Once upon a time, movies like Back to the Future and Terminator 2 seemed like plausible futures even if there were some dystopian elements.
Now, movies like the most recent X-Men movie come along where gigantic liberties are taken with the past, present, and future, and even then, the most horrible possible future portrayed seems like a pretty, glittery impossible jewel of what could-be because what-is can't possibly lead to something so humane. Mutants dying horrible deaths at the hands of sentinels that are so adaptable that the mutants can't keep up? That's a lunatic, beautiful future compared to the kind of black hole of stupidity that humanity is working on now. Idiocracy (the movie) seems far more plausible than anything that exists now. Even if the "logical conclusions" of the movie are totally non-sensical, the initial premise (that the sane people stop reproducing and the morons reproduce copiously) is completely valid.
As dystopian futures go, many that are portrayed in movies really don't look so bad anymore.
Once upon a time, movies like Back to the Future and Terminator 2 seemed like plausible futures even if there were some dystopian elements.
Now, movies like the most recent X-Men movie come along where gigantic liberties are taken with the past, present, and future, and even then, the most horrible possible future portrayed seems like a pretty, glittery impossible jewel of what could-be because what-is can't possibly lead to something so humane. Mutants dying horrible deaths at the hands of sentinels that are so adaptable that the mutants can't keep up? That's a lunatic, beautiful future compared to the kind of black hole of stupidity that humanity is working on now. Idiocracy (the movie) seems far more plausible than anything that exists now. Even if the "logical conclusions" of the movie are totally non-sensical, the initial premise (that the sane people stop reproducing and the morons reproduce copiously) is completely valid.
As dystopian futures go, many that are portrayed in movies really don't look so bad anymore.
- 1984 - meh. We're already there. It can't be so bad.
- Equilibrium - A forced loss of emotion might not be such a bad thing. Far too many really stupid results have been caused by stupid emotional reactions.
- Dredd - In the middle of a chaotic mess there might be people that actually enforce something resembling order? Sign me up.
2014/06/16
Twilight Zone (1985 series) 01x29
I of Newton:
Not often you see a major chunk of a TV show with just two characters. But, it plays very well.
Ron Glass (Shepherd Book from Firefly and Serenity) as some lesser servant of the devil with Sherman Hemsley (George Jefferson from The Jeffersons and All in the Family) have a verbal joust.
Fun quotes from the servant's t-shirts:
HELL IS A SUMMER FESTIVAL
HELL IS A CITY MUCH LIKE NEWARK
OVER 2,000,000,000 SERVED
GEHENNA MORE THAN A PLACE A WAY OF LIFE
LET'S DO DAMNATION
The whole thing is expert in so many ways. Wow.
Not often you see a major chunk of a TV show with just two characters. But, it plays very well.
Ron Glass (Shepherd Book from Firefly and Serenity) as some lesser servant of the devil with Sherman Hemsley (George Jefferson from The Jeffersons and All in the Family) have a verbal joust.
Fun quotes from the servant's t-shirts:
HELL IS A SUMMER FESTIVAL
HELL IS A CITY MUCH LIKE NEWARK
OVER 2,000,000,000 SERVED
GEHENNA MORE THAN A PLACE A WAY OF LIFE
LET'S DO DAMNATION
The whole thing is expert in so many ways. Wow.
2014/06/01
Prisoner exchanges
I hate prisoner exchanges in general.
However, there's some wisdom to be seen in the value of the exchange.
If one imprisoned Israeli soldier is worth 20, 30, 50 imprisoned Palestinians [or whatever, who cares?], what value does that contribute or deteriorate from the value of those other prisoners. Imagine: "You're only worth 1/20 of that soldier that was traded. But, that's the best deal we could swing." Real wake-up, ain't it?
If Palestinians can not comprehend the valuelessness of their terror/horror-based campaigns against Israel, then there's nothing to be done for remedying that complete and utter lack of awareness. Nothing.
However, there's some wisdom to be seen in the value of the exchange.
If one imprisoned Israeli soldier is worth 20, 30, 50 imprisoned Palestinians [or whatever, who cares?], what value does that contribute or deteriorate from the value of those other prisoners. Imagine: "You're only worth 1/20 of that soldier that was traded. But, that's the best deal we could swing." Real wake-up, ain't it?
If Palestinians can not comprehend the valuelessness of their terror/horror-based campaigns against Israel, then there's nothing to be done for remedying that complete and utter lack of awareness. Nothing.
2014/05/31
2014/01/01
First Intentionally Listened-to Tracks of 2014
This was a bit intentional. I knew that too much modern crap would be pimped, so I stuck a headphone in my right ear and thought to myself, "What do I, myself really want to hear first for this year?" So, I abused my tablet and my network to pull together what I knew I personally wanted to hear first.
I figure only the first 10 tracks count, so that's what I'll limit myself to historically.
(Track names are in bold, to be easier to read)
1.) Slash - Obsession (from the 1996 weirdo movie "Curdled") (Just the instrumental)
2.) The Birthday Massacre - Pins and Needles
3.) The Hush Sound - Wine Red (the tablet had a lack of content, duh, so I needed time to go searching for other good things. In spite of this, the track was on the tablet for good reason.)
3.) Rank 1 - Airwave (Sunset Remix) (Airwave is such an awesome track, regardless of form.)
4.) Slash - Obsession (may only be Slash doing some impressive things on a Spanish guitar, but it beats the pants off of Jason Drulo (sp?) and the #RockinEve playlist)
[please don't make me drag out the average replayers to counter the televised crap] [I have an mp3 player with better content]
Fine, I'll drag out the mp3 player. Dammit.
5.) Saliva - Ladies and Gentlemen
6.) Geto Boys - Damn It Feels Good To Be a Gangster (came up randomly, but it still beat the media-chosen crap)
7.) "Weird Al" Yankovic - Albuquerque (11 minutes, 23 seconds, worth every second) (intentional, not randomly hit)
8.) Overclocked Remix - Final Fantasy 6 (3 US) - Dirt Devil (look it up. It is spiffy)
9.) Shark Island - Father Time (from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Hasn't lost much value since then.)
10.) [gotta make this good...] Def Leppard (Hysteria) - Pour Some Sugar On Me (THE first track I ever heard via CD playback)
It may be a bit random (intentionally). But, when compared against the mass-media produced end-of-the-year, "this is the first thing you're going to hear this year" crap, I'd say my list slamdances on the grave of their playlist. Mass media needs to quit trying to tailor itself. When it does, it just looks that much more foolish.
Fergie, Fallout Boy, That chick that used to be Hanna Montana, Jenna [something] (that may have been a porn star at some point), of these I care not at all out of some specific (and probably small) context. Don't force me to hear that crap just after the new year changeover. You pull that crap and I'll both tune you out and hate you for it.
Random Rotation Honorable Mentions: (timestamps = when noticed and/or typed) ((Some skipping may be occurring))
01:37 Republica - Ready To Go
01:39 Amy Grant - It Takes a Little Time
01:45 Vengaboys vs ATB - Shalala Lala Ibiza Trance (Alice DeeJay Remix) [Good luck finding that track, not sure where/when I found it]
01:48 Crash Test Dummies - How Does a Duck Know? [Awesome track] [also oddly seems to be the one time-unmodified one in the bunch, since I've got a +/- 5% speed and +/- 10% speed version both in the directory]
01:53 AC/DC - Thunderstruck
01:57 t.A.T.u vs. Rammstein - Ondo I To Zhe (Long Repeat Remix) [Very good happenstance to get this track and its siblings]
02:08 Chumbawamba - Mary, Mary
02:11 Sophie B. Hawkins - As I Lay Me Down
02:13 Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around (The man (Cash) wasn't wrong...)
02:17 Pidgeonhed - Battle Flag (Lofidelity Allstars Remix)
Sleep:
I'm on record for what I permitted/required myself to listen to. If you're not on the list, you don't necessarily suck. You're just in a really fierce competition. If you were tapped by the mass-media to play something or sing something for the waving in of 2014, there's some high probability that some people missed your "contribution" entirely.
[edit] Came back and undid the coloring, which really didn't work for this blog's background, and instituted some far more simple formatting.
I figure only the first 10 tracks count, so that's what I'll limit myself to historically.
(Track names are in bold, to be easier to read)
1.) Slash - Obsession (from the 1996 weirdo movie "Curdled") (Just the instrumental)
2.) The Birthday Massacre - Pins and Needles
3.) The Hush Sound - Wine Red (the tablet had a lack of content, duh, so I needed time to go searching for other good things. In spite of this, the track was on the tablet for good reason.)
3.) Rank 1 - Airwave (Sunset Remix) (Airwave is such an awesome track, regardless of form.)
4.) Slash - Obsession (may only be Slash doing some impressive things on a Spanish guitar, but it beats the pants off of Jason Drulo (sp?) and the #RockinEve playlist)
[please don't make me drag out the average replayers to counter the televised crap] [I have an mp3 player with better content]
Fine, I'll drag out the mp3 player. Dammit.
5.) Saliva - Ladies and Gentlemen
6.) Geto Boys - Damn It Feels Good To Be a Gangster (came up randomly, but it still beat the media-chosen crap)
7.) "Weird Al" Yankovic - Albuquerque (11 minutes, 23 seconds, worth every second) (intentional, not randomly hit)
8.) Overclocked Remix - Final Fantasy 6 (3 US) - Dirt Devil (look it up. It is spiffy)
9.) Shark Island - Father Time (from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Hasn't lost much value since then.)
10.) [gotta make this good...] Def Leppard (Hysteria) - Pour Some Sugar On Me (THE first track I ever heard via CD playback)
It may be a bit random (intentionally). But, when compared against the mass-media produced end-of-the-year, "this is the first thing you're going to hear this year" crap, I'd say my list slamdances on the grave of their playlist. Mass media needs to quit trying to tailor itself. When it does, it just looks that much more foolish.
Fergie, Fallout Boy, That chick that used to be Hanna Montana, Jenna [something] (that may have been a porn star at some point), of these I care not at all out of some specific (and probably small) context. Don't force me to hear that crap just after the new year changeover. You pull that crap and I'll both tune you out and hate you for it.
Random Rotation Honorable Mentions: (timestamps = when noticed and/or typed) ((Some skipping may be occurring))
01:37 Republica - Ready To Go
01:39 Amy Grant - It Takes a Little Time
01:45 Vengaboys vs ATB - Shalala Lala Ibiza Trance (Alice DeeJay Remix) [Good luck finding that track, not sure where/when I found it]
01:48 Crash Test Dummies - How Does a Duck Know? [Awesome track] [also oddly seems to be the one time-unmodified one in the bunch, since I've got a +/- 5% speed and +/- 10% speed version both in the directory]
01:53 AC/DC - Thunderstruck
01:57 t.A.T.u vs. Rammstein - Ondo I To Zhe (Long Repeat Remix) [Very good happenstance to get this track and its siblings]
02:08 Chumbawamba - Mary, Mary
02:11 Sophie B. Hawkins - As I Lay Me Down
02:13 Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around (The man (Cash) wasn't wrong...)
02:17 Pidgeonhed - Battle Flag (Lofidelity Allstars Remix)
Sleep:
I'm on record for what I permitted/required myself to listen to. If you're not on the list, you don't necessarily suck. You're just in a really fierce competition. If you were tapped by the mass-media to play something or sing something for the waving in of 2014, there's some high probability that some people missed your "contribution" entirely.
[edit] Came back and undid the coloring, which really didn't work for this blog's background, and instituted some far more simple formatting.
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