OMG! This is big stuff! I worked for the SOTS in CT. Where the first merger of Insurance Co.’s and Banking occurred. And I thought that was the beginning of the end! HS! This is scary stuff. And there’s no oversight as there is for LLC’s and CO’s. Great insight and info Greg! This stuff is scary shit!
Almost everything we have purchased since the pandemic started has been delivered to our door by Amazon. I use Microsoft Word daily in my job, wrote a book with it, and couldn’t write anymore without it. I use Google practically hourly. I have a currently inactive YouTube channel. You can’t live with these corporate giants and you can’t live without them!
Since first seeing "All That Jazz" back in the 80s, which is a FANTASTIC film about/not about Bob Fosse, during which was introduced to me Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' five stages of grief, I've realized that the same five stages apply to LOTS of other things: relationships ending, the constant travails of politicians that pretend to work "for the people" while lining their own pockets, and now the invasion of Big Tech into our lives.
The five stages are: anger, denial, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, not necessarily in that order but usually, and always ending with acceptance. As far as Big Tech is concerned, the operative word being "BIG," one is prone to finally reach the level of "fuck it!" which is the new acceptance. We can be angry or depressed about it, and still accept it. We can even try and bargain with it -- I still remember my open-mouthed shock at being presented with TWO choices for ad serving; either let the Acme Store know where you live and your ads will be personalized, or don't and you'll just get generic ads. My shock was that I couldn't choose "NO ads! Where's the no ads choice? WTF?" Can you imagine? Ahh, the late 90s.... LOL
The truth is that if we are to be citizens of the online 21st century, anything less than "acceptance" is an exercise in wheel-spinning in quicksand. We can sign up for the "Do Not Call" lists, but we still get calls, "we noticed, after the hailstorm, that your roof might need some repair, can we come out and give you a FREE estimate?" Hang up. Block number. We can "unsubscribe" from email junk, but is it REALLY unsubscribing, or is it just telling the offending emailer that they've hit a live email address? It's a quandary.
I'm not trying to be a complete Debbie Downer and have already added "Containing Big Tech" to my Amazon Wish List, but when some of us (most of us) have spent 25+ years putting our information online, it would be dumb to think that some stinky capitalist out there wouldn't figure out a way to monetize that same information. Serving ads to people are a multi-billion-dollar business, but there are ways to lessen their intrusions with Ad Blockers and such. The info is out there, and everyone has it, and more importantly KEEPS it forever. It's BIGGER than anyone, and though we may fight it, for sanity's sake, it's probably best to do what you can to protect yourself, but otherwise accept it.
(ALSO, because Big Tech is notoriously unreliable, always copy a long comment like this to your clipboard before posting, in case Substack goes down like it did this morning when I hit Post. Stupid computers.)
Oh Steve! Your "Amazon Wish List"! Yes, I too am in a love/hate relationship with Amazon. The years when Mackenzie Scott was there were magical years and I shouted from the rooftops how much I loved Amazon. But since she has left, things have turned into "hate" more often. In October 2022 I became obsessed with the Coldplay song "Fix You". I happily played it over and over on my Amazon Music app as I had been doing with other songs over the years. Then on November 1, 2022 I could no longer access the song and instead got a "shuffle" symbol when I tried to play it. Rage ensued! I called Amazon to find out why the benefit that I paid for with my Prime membership had been taken away. I was given some flippant explanation that they were trying something new. F--- that! I told them several times how stupid the "shuffle" thing was and they thanked me for my feedback but nothing changed so I stopped using the app. I have been trying for years to cut the cord but the fact is that they have so much of my information that I'm not sure it will happen. I have come to accept that but every now and then I kick them, and they kick me back. I am in a dysfunctional relationship with Amazon.
My wife insisted we watch "All That Jazz" last year. What an astonishing movie. The choreography is so inventive and so erotic. I'm amazed the movie even got made!
I agree about the info out there, but these data brokers, they are really fucking awful and should be stopped. The antiabortion fascists buy data and use it to know when pregnant women are going to PP, and text them antiabortion propaganda as they are walking inside. That's....not cool.
Yes, of course the FREAKS need to be stopped. "Shot on sight" wouldn't really bother me much and I am normally a pacifist. I think those people think that women walk into PP and it's "Instabortion" and nothing else! As I said, freaks!
You didn't see "All That Jazz" until last year? Good gods!! I am not one of the "musical gays." I can't deal with people just bursting into song at the slightest whim, and then everyone around them acting like they're NOT singing (Note: The Sound of Music and The King & I are exempt) BUT "All That Jazz" integrates music so well into the script, it's not even a musical. Now that it's on my mind, I'll probably have to watch it again soon.
The US equivalent of the GDPR, EU’s General Data Protection Regulation is the CCPA. The CCPA (or California Consumer Privacy Act) was inspired by the GDPR, and both laws were created to protect the personal data of online consumers. Last time in Copenhagen, DK I noticed that hotels are not allowed to run your credit card before arrival. And every website discloses their privacy policy. When I was permanently suspended from @Twitter many years ago, I tried to delete my account but to no avail. I had to consult with a German EU GDPR expert to get it done.
America has fallen behind on online privacy as well. 👩🏻💻
My Danish/Swedish family were among the leaders in the WWII Resistance and yes, the American Neo-Nazis @Twitter infiltrators, trolls and bots finally got me after several other suspensions. Same happened at #Fakebook but there, I left voluntarily after several suspensions. I remember notifying you of the infiltration of social media then, and I was suspended having harassed Ann Coulter and other well known neo Nazis. @Twitter didn’t want to delete my account but after the GDPR brass contacted them, my account was finally deleted. #Resist ✌🏻 I do remember your warning about Ann Coulter back then. 😉
I highly recommend reading ‘Messing With The Enemy’ - Surviving in a Social Media World of hackers, terrorists, Russians, and Fake News. 📖 Clint Watts
… to learn what you’re up against on social media.
And below BBC Article:
The term ‘political prisoners’ is commonly used across a broad section of the right and far-right of American politics to cast rioters as heroic and patriotic. 🥷🏻 #GQP #EnemyWithin
The far-right and January 6 rioters are trying to flip the narrative and make themselves martyrs. The 'QAnon Shaman' and other Capitol rioters who regret pleading guilty.
OMG! This is big stuff! I worked for the SOTS in CT. Where the first merger of Insurance Co.’s and Banking occurred. And I thought that was the beginning of the end! HS! This is scary stuff. And there’s no oversight as there is for LLC’s and CO’s. Great insight and info Greg! This stuff is scary shit!
We will all be assimilated into the Borg.
Thanks, Sossi!
Almost everything we have purchased since the pandemic started has been delivered to our door by Amazon. I use Microsoft Word daily in my job, wrote a book with it, and couldn’t write anymore without it. I use Google practically hourly. I have a currently inactive YouTube channel. You can’t live with these corporate giants and you can’t live without them!
TRY
He talks in the book about a journalist who tried to go without using any of their stuff for a week, and could not do so.
Since first seeing "All That Jazz" back in the 80s, which is a FANTASTIC film about/not about Bob Fosse, during which was introduced to me Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' five stages of grief, I've realized that the same five stages apply to LOTS of other things: relationships ending, the constant travails of politicians that pretend to work "for the people" while lining their own pockets, and now the invasion of Big Tech into our lives.
The five stages are: anger, denial, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, not necessarily in that order but usually, and always ending with acceptance. As far as Big Tech is concerned, the operative word being "BIG," one is prone to finally reach the level of "fuck it!" which is the new acceptance. We can be angry or depressed about it, and still accept it. We can even try and bargain with it -- I still remember my open-mouthed shock at being presented with TWO choices for ad serving; either let the Acme Store know where you live and your ads will be personalized, or don't and you'll just get generic ads. My shock was that I couldn't choose "NO ads! Where's the no ads choice? WTF?" Can you imagine? Ahh, the late 90s.... LOL
The truth is that if we are to be citizens of the online 21st century, anything less than "acceptance" is an exercise in wheel-spinning in quicksand. We can sign up for the "Do Not Call" lists, but we still get calls, "we noticed, after the hailstorm, that your roof might need some repair, can we come out and give you a FREE estimate?" Hang up. Block number. We can "unsubscribe" from email junk, but is it REALLY unsubscribing, or is it just telling the offending emailer that they've hit a live email address? It's a quandary.
I'm not trying to be a complete Debbie Downer and have already added "Containing Big Tech" to my Amazon Wish List, but when some of us (most of us) have spent 25+ years putting our information online, it would be dumb to think that some stinky capitalist out there wouldn't figure out a way to monetize that same information. Serving ads to people are a multi-billion-dollar business, but there are ways to lessen their intrusions with Ad Blockers and such. The info is out there, and everyone has it, and more importantly KEEPS it forever. It's BIGGER than anyone, and though we may fight it, for sanity's sake, it's probably best to do what you can to protect yourself, but otherwise accept it.
(ALSO, because Big Tech is notoriously unreliable, always copy a long comment like this to your clipboard before posting, in case Substack goes down like it did this morning when I hit Post. Stupid computers.)
Oh Steve! Your "Amazon Wish List"! Yes, I too am in a love/hate relationship with Amazon. The years when Mackenzie Scott was there were magical years and I shouted from the rooftops how much I loved Amazon. But since she has left, things have turned into "hate" more often. In October 2022 I became obsessed with the Coldplay song "Fix You". I happily played it over and over on my Amazon Music app as I had been doing with other songs over the years. Then on November 1, 2022 I could no longer access the song and instead got a "shuffle" symbol when I tried to play it. Rage ensued! I called Amazon to find out why the benefit that I paid for with my Prime membership had been taken away. I was given some flippant explanation that they were trying something new. F--- that! I told them several times how stupid the "shuffle" thing was and they thanked me for my feedback but nothing changed so I stopped using the app. I have been trying for years to cut the cord but the fact is that they have so much of my information that I'm not sure it will happen. I have come to accept that but every now and then I kick them, and they kick me back. I am in a dysfunctional relationship with Amazon.
You can't fight city hall, as the saying goes. In the end, we all love Big Brother.
My wife insisted we watch "All That Jazz" last year. What an astonishing movie. The choreography is so inventive and so erotic. I'm amazed the movie even got made!
I agree about the info out there, but these data brokers, they are really fucking awful and should be stopped. The antiabortion fascists buy data and use it to know when pregnant women are going to PP, and text them antiabortion propaganda as they are walking inside. That's....not cool.
Yes, of course the FREAKS need to be stopped. "Shot on sight" wouldn't really bother me much and I am normally a pacifist. I think those people think that women walk into PP and it's "Instabortion" and nothing else! As I said, freaks!
You didn't see "All That Jazz" until last year? Good gods!! I am not one of the "musical gays." I can't deal with people just bursting into song at the slightest whim, and then everyone around them acting like they're NOT singing (Note: The Sound of Music and The King & I are exempt) BUT "All That Jazz" integrates music so well into the script, it's not even a musical. Now that it's on my mind, I'll probably have to watch it again soon.
The US equivalent of the GDPR, EU’s General Data Protection Regulation is the CCPA. The CCPA (or California Consumer Privacy Act) was inspired by the GDPR, and both laws were created to protect the personal data of online consumers. Last time in Copenhagen, DK I noticed that hotels are not allowed to run your credit card before arrival. And every website discloses their privacy policy. When I was permanently suspended from @Twitter many years ago, I tried to delete my account but to no avail. I had to consult with a German EU GDPR expert to get it done.
America has fallen behind on online privacy as well. 👩🏻💻
Thanks for this. And: how did you get suspended? Did you make fun of Ann Coulter?
My Danish/Swedish family were among the leaders in the WWII Resistance and yes, the American Neo-Nazis @Twitter infiltrators, trolls and bots finally got me after several other suspensions. Same happened at #Fakebook but there, I left voluntarily after several suspensions. I remember notifying you of the infiltration of social media then, and I was suspended having harassed Ann Coulter and other well known neo Nazis. @Twitter didn’t want to delete my account but after the GDPR brass contacted them, my account was finally deleted. #Resist ✌🏻 I do remember your warning about Ann Coulter back then. 😉
I highly recommend reading ‘Messing With The Enemy’ - Surviving in a Social Media World of hackers, terrorists, Russians, and Fake News. 📖 Clint Watts
… to learn what you’re up against on social media.
And below BBC Article:
The term ‘political prisoners’ is commonly used across a broad section of the right and far-right of American politics to cast rioters as heroic and patriotic. 🥷🏻 #GQP #EnemyWithin
The far-right and January 6 rioters are trying to flip the narrative and make themselves martyrs. The 'QAnon Shaman' and other Capitol rioters who regret pleading guilty.
- BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66169914
A Report from the Minority:
Google/Alphabet,
Meta/Facebook, and
OG Microsoft are the
PRECOGS.
Time to separate and greatly diminish them.
Just ask Phillip K Dick.
If humans dont solve this
The Machines will!
Sarah Conner
Yeah, time travel would be useful right around now...
Amazon.
Wonder what Naoh would order for lka