Instagram

I've sold out to Instagram and, by extension Facebook (yeah, Meta... not).

But it will be the one and only social media platform I use. No Facebook, no Twitter, no TikTik, no Snapchat.

Fucking Instagram, I originally signed up and in the process I made a mistake and it disabled my account.

Why? Because. Do I hate Instagram and Facebook? Yes.

Is that contradictory? Yes.

Judge me? Ok. You can.

But in my defence, or rather a poignant point I bet you use Google or Amazon or whatever it may be even if you don't agree with it having more personal data than it should or the rich getting rich.

I was going to have it set up and ready to go for 1st Jan but then Instagram/Facebook fucked me over. I know the embedding means it looks ugly, but I'll try to sort it out.

Instagram will not be a direct connection to highonlifeandtravel.com, that is to say the posts, but rather a visual realization of the concept of 'High on Life and Travel'. You'll get a different angle through my eyes.

* had to re-write this post as I basically lost the original.

- A.M.

Google speech to text in 'Memo'

I was looking to be able to speak into my phone's microphone and it type out my speech.

I was sure I could do it with the 'Memo' app, I just wasn't sure exactly how. I assumed I've have to download an app which I wasn't thrilled about.

So I looked it up and fiddled and was most surprised it was quite good at capturing and typing what I was saying. Aha, Google. Yes, I know Google is good at translating, but I still find it impressive because language is accent, speed, cadence etc. Note I did intentionally speak slowly.

Then I tried another language, not English. No can do.

I fiddled more, and then spoke. Wow, fuck yeah. I give you credit for this Google. Accurately typing out what comes out of my mouth is an achievement.

- A.M.

Welcome to Netflix

I'm a 'grown-up'. I now have my own Netflix subscription which I pay for.

Like many, possibly millions, of people, my Sister shared hers with me.

Then, most probably because of Netflix's clampdown they announced a while ago and actually acted on, I now have my own. That's my theory anyway.

It all comes down to, in my opinion, money ie profit. Specifically Netflix's most senior management feeling, possibly rightfully, they should be earning more. Because the profit they have made as a consequence of the covid-19 pandemic is just not enough so now millions of people will or have already paid for their own subscription and increased Netflix's profit.

Control is part of it. But it's mainly money.

It isn't for me, I can afford it and didn't really think about it, but really? You need more profit? And, more importantly, you want to take away something that may be really helping people during this pandemic, and who may not be able to pay for their own subscription unless they share?

Even if my theory is wrong, the concept of sharing a Netflix subscription outside one household is still questionable to me. It's not like You/Netflix didn't know.

I am not saying it is the exact same situation, but Jeff Bezos just keeps making profit through the pandemic. Of course, I don't know the intricacies, maybe he donates (anonymously), raises his employees salaries etc. But I really hope it doesn't just add zeros to his bank statement. And I state I have not done research on the details of profit of these monsters of companies, but they are powerful and have you partly eating put of their hand. Yes, I know I choose to eat out of their hand. Maybe not completely when I was introduced to Netflix, but I did when I subscribed.

For an example, Netflix controls what is available to watch, even down to which season(s). They will or will not provide access and if they will, when THEY decide.

Maybe "Friends" was an exception.

And Amazon still probably has fake products up, sellers that cannot be trusted, unsafe and inappropriate working conditions etc...

Yes, each person decides to engage with monsters like Netflix and/or Amazon, but excessive profits they do have some control over, more than the customers.

- A.M.

Hacking

I have to add my voice to this subject because it's got to a point where it can't be ignored.

I don't think anyone, even the hackers, will ever know if covid-19 is the precise cause of what seems to be an increased number of hackings, but it sure is amusing to read about the strength of systems and the surprise. Seriously, technology is smart and along with the right person you can go far.

There's also that infinite surprise of what technology and what digital information of yours is stored. I suppose we can call it 'personal data'. You really trust none of your digital information, especially if it's been online or is online, is not stored forever, regardless if you have deleted it or been told it's been deleted?

I am not a tech wiz, but the aforementioned belief is stupidity. Not only is your digital information, especially online (as opposed to offline like notepad), always there, but giants like Google and Facebook have more information than you know. And if you buy into the bullcrap of it being encrypted or only necessary information for statistics is kept or it's made anonymous, for example, this is also stupidity.

You deny it? Then look at the fact Facebook was taken to court, or rather, Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook's notorious for its questionable (if I'm being polite), but actually lax security and privacy, likely in the name of 'being connected'. Also, why would Zuckerberg need to care in personal terms, he has enough money to last his entire life and people have already created their accounts. The moment to ruin his everyday life has passed.

As for Google, the majority of people use it. Yes, one can use another search engine, but many people don't. Google not only pretty much has no competitors, but now its influence and power are trying to be shaken, at the very least. Look at the Australian and New Zealand media tussle with Google.

I digress. Back to hacking. It not only reveals system weaknesses, but the consequences of the hackings stop important integral parts working. Technological 'warfare' may be an actual concept, and it's best to try to at least be level with the hackers so you don't have to catch up. I am not saying it is 'warfare', I am simply raising it as a concept. And I am most definitely the first person to use the terminology.

In the same vein as Bill Gates saying in 2015 the next big dilemma would be something like an infection and the world had to get a move on and look what happened, maybe money should be found to invest in technology to protect against attacks. One reason hackings and terrorists succeed is they are at least one step ahead of their targets.

As technology is not plainly in your face, it's not always obviously an issue. It is a means: for example, you use technology to do your job (computer and internet), eat (fridge), travel (train/car/plane), but it is not like you have a motherboard or a nest of wires to make a device work sitting on your bedside table and/or desk. Very much like teaching or your personal health or the arts as I have discussed in 'Arts during covid-19', https://holandt.blogspot.com/2021/02/arts-during-covid-19.html .

I am not siding with hackers, but it actually is wise to make sure you have the best defences possible in place if one or more hackings occur. Potential problems and long-term planning doesn't seem to be important in some cases. I would probably be described by some as an overplanner and thinking too much about 'ifs', but I don't give a fuck what other people think and for the most part, it's worked for me, save contributing factors that are more powerful (example: the potential employer or landlord for that job or rental you really, really want). And it doesn't take out the fun.

Happy hacking and happy protecting. :)

- A.M.

Ready to roll. Not.

Have you ever been in a situation where you are ready to go and then something happens and it kills your vibe?

I had that recently and apart from the irritation and frustration, it was the second time.

I was ready to work on my blog and post, when my keyboard went batshit crazy. Yes, it happened after I cleaned it. But I've cleaned it many times.

It wasn't usable and then it would settle slightly and then it would start up again. Re-starting the laptop did not help, just leaving it to sit for a while did not help. I couldn't find any articles, on the laptop, nor phone, that helped me, and I tried the key combinations to no avail.

Both times I solved the issue just by hitting two or more buttons simultaneously.

I think I can be fairly impatient when I need to be patient. But I can also be incredibly patient. For these times, it was 2-3 hours or more until I kind of gave up. The majority of free time after work and before bed.

It was also interesting when it happened, because it was like 'ok, I'm ready, let's go!' and I couldn't. I don't know if it's a sign, but it was definitely interesting. Anyway, I suppose if it happens again, I will just resort to angrily tap two or more keys simultaneously until my keyboard starts working as it should.

The difference with this time around was the mousepad also played up, noticeably more than the first time. And the ENTER key also went haywire. I know it wasn't a hardware problem, but it was just 'God, I just wanted my keyboard to work' mentality. Also when you re-start a computer and your keyboard doesn't work properly and you type in your password. I think I probably re-started it out of frustration but also it seemed as if the keyboard had temporarily settled down. Never again will I do that because then not only does your keyboard not work, but then you have to type in a password.

- A.M.

Bill and Melinda Gates to divorce

Interestingly enough, I read the news via https://www.news.com.au/ and immediately I thought of the impact on health and especially the financial contribution to covid-19. Secondly, the prospect of losing a figure in the health field who has not created controversy in his personal and professional dealings. He really does seem to be one of a kind, not only has he got the financial means to spend immense amounts of money towards health, but he genuinely seems to be a good person.

There does not seem to be a recipe for love, it does not matter how long you have been together or not, how the relationship started, whether you have kids or not, and of course money is not a factor. I will not go into it further in this post, but money unfortunately does make the World go around, but it does not make you happy, the latter I believe in wholeheartedly.

When I thought of it more, I did wonder if the consequences of the pandemic have caused Bill and Melinda to divorce. Or maybe it's just one of those 'transitions'/'adjustments' you can't go through together: it's interesting that their youngest is 18 years old. 

I really would like to believe they will both continue to run the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as it has been managed since its inception, but only time will tell. 

I wish Bill and Melinda the best.

- A.M.

Turn it off and on again

A few simple words which took a long time to sink in.

This is sort of a follow-up to 'Netflix Crashed!', https://holandt.blogspot.com/2021/03/netflix-crashed.html, Netflix continued to be affected and then the new development, so did the websites I was visiting. But because Netflix was affected first, I put it all down to Netflix. And then I took out the small receiver for my WiFi and put it back in the USB port. The change was almost immediate, the pages loaded. After a while, the pages struggled to load, all of them. I started thinking it was the internet. However, there was no reason why that should be, nothing about the environment had changed.

After this being the second day with loading issues, I was frustrated. I had restarted my computer, played around with the turning the WiFi on and off, and basically it would work for a while and then it would struggle. I still thought it was Netflix because that is what started it all and it seemed the most logical conclusion. Sometimes, when you're at the end of you tether, you have a epiphany and it's simple. I unplugged the receiver from the USB port and I plugged it into another one. The cable in the other USB port I switched to where the receiver had been. Everything worked!

Don't overcomplicate things. Turn it off and on again so to speak.

- A.M.

Netflix crashed!

I thought it was just me who was experiencing problems when my Netflix had two or three playing issues.

No it wasn't: https://www.news.com.au/technology/home-entertainment/tv/netflix-crashes-for-thousands-of-viewers/news-story/01bc8ea67af3f3f228c30cac2b109f09

Ha ha ha. Not only does Netflix go down, but it goes down during covid-19, and they know the viewing has gone up. Please don't tell me Netflix don't have enough resources to handle the highly increased traffic as a result of the pandemic. That is hilarious.

Of course, I understand people are human, which actually is important because the systems are built by Humans, but you would hope that they have at least protocols in place should plan A stop functioning as it should. Planning, planning, planning, back up, back up, back up. The larger you are, the more customers you have, the more expectations and reputation you have, the better you should be performing. By extension, you better have a really good uptime and enough resources. Why? If shit hits the fan, you can get it back up and running as soon as possible.

Oh wait, a lot of governments are containing covid well aren't they? They plan and back up.

Google, as an example, has not only their own infrastructure, but their own experts. It does go down sometimes, but then it works fucking hard to be back online. They know if they fail, then the only way forward is to be back up and running as soon as possible. They are too big to not be noticed, if everything for customers becomes non-functional, it will be in the news.

Yahoo! Mail was in the news about its data breach, it's still big enough to attract that type of attention; a while ago Google was also in the news for going down and because of all its services, that includes the drive and docs etc., not just the e-mails. WhatsApp also suffered a technical problem when no messages were sending, but that's Facebook, which has a less than stellar reputation anyway, as they've been in the news about data. Their reputation for privacy and data collection is shady and it's your decision if you trust them.

I am of the stance that Zuckerberg doesn't really care about privacy and data. I don't know if he ever did, but it definitely isn't high on his priority list now. Neither is taking down content which is inappropriate: the live-streamed video of the suicide and the videos of the Christchurch Mosque attacks uploaded to it. I won't say more as I have a post in which I talk about Facebook.

Most likely my reaction was not one many other people had. I thought it was because other people linked to the profile might be watching too, then I thought it was my internet. I just got irritated, but I didn't throw a fit, undoubtedly like most people, who were probably angry and irritated. It's not the end of the World, in this day and age you find something else for a while, YouTube, a podcast, the music software you have on your computer, or if you have a smartphone, you can play Spotify, Shazam or games.

In lockdown, and in a space you may be sharing with others, sitting there all upset will do no one any favours. So just chill.

- A.M.