Steampunk Watch–WANT IT.

ThinkGeek almost prints money…

~Hoozyrdady

Excellent Write-up on Manliness

The Excellence of Manliness

When the terrorist, naked from the waist up—what’s up with that? Did he see too many Tarzan movies as a little Jihadist child?—emerged from the bathroom with a rifle, decades of solemn advice from “the authorities” flaked away like dust under a power washer. The authorities on that French train did a Monty Pythonesque King Arthur: “run away! Run away!” Run they did, locking doors behind them, apparently imagining they were safe, or at least that the Islamist alligator would eat them last.

Go read.

~Hoozyrdady

Funny Stuff

Microsoft Using Windows 10 to Spy On You.

Windows 10 Is Spying On You: Here’s How To Stop It Windows 10‘s privacy settings very much need to be frowned at. Essentially: unless you pay close attention to the fluffy options offered when you first install Microsoft’s new operating system, it’s going to quietly track your behaviour and use it to fire targeted ads at you, as well as keeping tabs on your location history, data from messages, calendars, contacts and God knows what else. It is a bit scary. At least some of this stuff can be turned off after the fact, however. I’ll explain how to do that below. Yesterday we talked about whether or not you should upgrade to Microsoft’s new operating system and before that we looked at the potentially dodgy WiFi Sense feature. Privacy is an even bigger issue. Conventional wisdom has it that Microsoft’s fight for technological relevance is against Apple. For a time that was true, but as of late they’ve effectively ceded the floor to the Cupertino mob when it comes to hardware (although I hope the Surface Pro line continues – I’m a big fan) and have once again narrowed their computing focus to software. The battle there is against Google, whose search, browser and productivity tools increasingly form a loose, web-based operating system. People aren’t so hot on paying for things these days, which means the money comes from harvesting data and flogging it to advertisers and other organisations who want to know exactly what we’re all up to online. Microsoft want a piece of that, so if you ever wondered why they’ve made the Windows 10 upgrade free to Win 7 & 8 users, here’s one possible answer. Windows 10 has all sorts of user tracking baked right in.

Read the entire article here.

I bet I can whip up a PowerShell script to change the local settings from “Take all my data” to “Mind your own damned business”.

Also, Lifehacker has a nice article with more info on what settings need to be changed in Windows 10.

~Hoozyrdady

Windows 10 shares wifi passwords like an STD

Windows 10 Shares Your Wi-Fi With Contacts Starting today, Microsoft is offering most Windows 7 and Windows 8 users a free upgrade to the software giant’s latest operating system — Windows 10. But there’s a very important security caveat that users should know about before transitioning to the new OS:Unless you opt out, Windows 10 will by default share your Wi-Fi network password with any contacts you may have listed in Outlook and Skype — and, with an opt-in, your Facebook friends!

 

My suggestions: Prior to upgrade to Windows 10, change your Wi-Fi network name/SSID to something that includes the terms “_nomap_optout”. After the upgrade is complete, change the privacy settings in Windows to disable Wi-Fi Sense sharing. If you haven’t already done so, consider additional steps to harden the security of your Wi-Fi network.

~Hoozyrdady

Been there…

 

~Hoozyrdady

Hackers gonna hack your ride

I WAS DRIVING 70 mph on the edge of downtown St. Louis when the exploit began to take hold. Though I hadn’t touched the dashboard, the vents in the Jeep Cherokee started blasting cold air at the maximum setting, chilling the sweat on my back through the in-seat climate control system. Next the radio switched to the local hip hop station and began blaring Skee-lo at full volume. I spun the control knob left and hit the power button, to no avail. Then the windshield wipers turned on, and wiper fluid blurred the glass. As I tried to cope with all this, a picture of the two hackers performing these stunts appeared on the car’s digital display: Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, wearing their trademark track suits. A nice touch, I thought.

Last thing I need is for some zit popping basement dweller to fuck with my brakes while I’m trucking across town on a donut & coke run, all from the comfort of his mom’s house in BFE. Two guys accomplished this in a few years, imagine what it’s going to be like in 5 years now that folks KNOW it can be done.

Like I need another reason to prefer older cars to the new hotness.

Poached from Wirecutter.

~Hoozyrdady.

Zounds!

I’m so going to the Renaissance Fair this year, especially if I can convince Red to wench up!

Above pic from Wirecutter’s.

~Hoozyrdady.

Wise Words

Warning:

The next person who says “Cray-Cray” around me may end up with my coffee mug crammed in his ass.
~Hoozyrdady

Public Service Announcement

I crossed paths with a coworker last week while trekking out to lunch. Its colder than hell out so she’s all bundled up… hell we’re both layered deep… anyway this lady is coming at me and I get the impression there’s more of her than the last time I saw her. Um… when WAS the last time I saw her…?

I don’t get away from my cubicle often, much less visit her floor, but we interact often over the phone and email. If she were With Child, I’d have heard something right?

I considered asking, or commenting, but only for .0587 seconds because fukkit I ain’t going near that potential can of worms.

Moral of the story:

~Hoozyrdady

Somebody Really Likes French Toast

Can’t Fucking Do It.

I’m not an angry, hater type of fellow by default, but I’m heavy into the left column. “Shit” and F-Bombs just carry more punch.

Limiting myself to the sensitive column may blow the top of my head off.

~Hoozyrdady.

A Funny

A black man shows up at the hospital for his scheduled vasectomy, wearing a tuxedo.

When asked why he dressed up, the guy replied “If Ah’s gonna be impo’tent, ah’s gonna look impo’tent.”

Heh, I think I first heard that one in High School… maybe from my Dad…

~Hoozyrdady.

Tell me more…

Don’t lie, you smiled.

~Hoozyrdady

What the hell…

Before I left the house this morning I caught a whiff of pee. Red has a better sniffer than I and couldn’t smell anything, but that didn’t keep me from walking around looking for the wet spot… damn dogs. I didn’t find anything, and trusting my wife’s superior nose I went off to work.

Later on, sitting at my desk I scratch my nose with my left hand and damn, it smells like rubber. Not just a hint, but a solid, strong aroma. I know what you assholes are thinking, but you’d be wrong ‘cause I’m a Rightie thank-you-very-much. But what the hell did I touch?

I couldn’t take it anymore and went to wash my hands, and the hallway outside my office smells like someone had a bad case of the toots from one end to the other. Somebody needs to lay off the boiled cabbage, oof!

Right about then I recall reading that picking up weird smells could be sign of an inbound stroke or some shit.

My hands smell like soap and a coworker just commented on the eau de shite, I think I’m going to be ok.

~Hoozyrdady