NYC’s annual bike crushing is the height of performative bullshittery

In a city of 8 million+ people, the mayor gave a press conference which highlighted the crushing of…..tada…..96 bikes! (Forgive me, for I am not going to calculate that infinitesimal percentage!)

What is does show, and one which the referenced article below rightfully denotes, is that the city is being rather stupid on this issue.

Why weren’t these seized devices sold to folks or dealers in other jurisdictions that allow those wheeled conveyances?

Why are they still illegal to use in the city?

I will posit here that is is nothing but a racist decision aimed at the minority population in the city of New York.

Because I can bet that if the riders of these devices were White, the laws would be changed to either accommodate them, or no restrictions would have been enacted in the very first place.

Disbelieve me?

Okay.

Now tell me why electric/motorized bicycles are lawful.

And Oh, what demographic rides electric bicycles in New York again?

Referring story: https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkgy5v/six-years-of-dirt-bike-crushing-leaves-new-york-city-back-where-it-started

 

© 2002 – 2022, John Obeto II for Blackground Media Unlimited

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Throwing it all away

You take cash money - actual dinero, mind you, - and give it to someone for something called a "stablecoin", which, incredibly, mimics a dollar, but is guaranteed either by an algorithm, or by 'financial instruments'.

You are given a token.

Now, if you are particularly greedy-ish, you are then invited to invest that stablecoin in an exchange that gives you a pledge that your so-called investment will return a 20%+ vig to you unfailingly.

Seriously?

No bank ever guarantees a 20% return.

None!

But you, in FOMOistic fervor, sail right in.

Nothing in your melon says "Wait. Stop!" Nothing.

All you see are dollar signs.

In the 2000-era British comedy, "Hustle", a common refrain uttered by the protagonists was simple: "You cannot con an honest man."

Meaning, your greed opens you up to being conned.

Now, you’re crying.

You threw all that money away, folks.

The soundtrack for this blog post is “Throwing It All Away” (1986) by Genesis.

(I’ve amazed myself about not even mentioning the libertarian aspect of this mess.)

Referring story: ‘I’m out millions of dollars’: Thousands of crypto investors have their life savings frozen as Voyager files for bankruptcy protection

Would you turn Twitter into your personal blog? I wouldn’t.

And you shouldn’t as well.

Why?

Easy: control.

As in, if you blog right now, you are generally in control of your destiny.

All your content, your blog policies, your content moderation is yours.

You decide, you keep. Or discard, if that’s your wish.

When you blog on the forthcoming Twitter Notes, that’s no longer true.

You would now be subject to Twitter’s ToS, Twitter’s aimless and arbitrary moderation, policies and rules.

Oh, and the best part?

Twitter can suspend, or even permanently ban you from their platform.

If that happens, all your content is either suspended or banned as well.

Is that what you want?

Source: Twitter confirms it’s working on a built-in Notes feature

© 2002 – 2022, John Obeto II for Blackground Media Unlimited

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I am quitting Starbucks for now. And maybe forever.

Starbucks has for long been that business that I reflexively supported.....because of their track record.

Every Starbucks that has been my local has always had pleasant, friendly, engaging, and incredibly hardworking staffers.

Through any of their public travails, and even with the crazy racist incident at that Philly Starbucks, I stood by the company. Because in all my engagements with them, they weren't like that. Making that incident an anomaly. As it was proven to be.

What has been galling though, has been the Starbucks stance on unionization.

It is crass, tone deaf, and born of an almost sociopathic dislike for unions than for any basis in fact.

And it had made me question my loyalty to the firm, as it violated my personal convictions.

I have not been directly helped by any unions. However, the benefits of unions are well known. And despite being a business owner, I respect that.

So, I mulled, and kept mulling how to reconcile the two.

Today, this was shared on Twitter.

Starbucks combines its offer to help employee travel for abortions with union busting.

Starbucks offers all employees enrolled in its health plan access to abortion travel, BUT SAYS it can't "promise" that for unionized stores

I am pissed off beyond belief!

How low, Starbucks?

So, I am going to speak with my wallet.

I am quitting Starbucks completely until sanity returns.

I will end my laziness. I have a super-automatic and a Nespresso. I will start making my own coffee drinks instead of purchasing them at Starbucks. I will start patronizing boutique coffee stores in search of truly sublime coffee beans. (Here comes Insufferable Coffee Snob John.)

And I will stay away from all Starbucks products.

Wifey and I share a Starbucks account, and I have informed her of my decision, and asked her not to purchase anything for me.

 © 2002 – 2022, John Obeto II for Blackground Media Unlimited

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The Amazon Delivery Partner Program was a total clusterfunk for partners!

I really thought the Amazon partner thingy would be good for several middle-aged new immigrant pals of mine, but my [wealth manager] older brother asked a poignant question:

"Why, with all their money and resources, Amazon wasn't buying the equipment outright and then loaning directly to their partners?

Turns out, he was right.

Amazon used these poor unsuspecting folks as a test bed to gather as much data into last-mile delivery, for which they will now create their in-house own offerings.

Meanwhile, many hopes and dreams, especially those of minorities and veterans, have died.

Original story: 'I'm Drowning:' Amazon Contractors Are Paying the Price for the Labor Shortage

Sacramento Police Department's gun buyback program runs out of gas after just 45 minutes

No ID needed.

However, morons, your identification is captured in two delightful ways: 1) upon spending said gift card, and 2) this beauty: “no identification was required but all firearms must be unloaded in the trunk of a vehicle when arriving.”

Stay stupid, criminals!

Original story: Sac PD gun buyback program runs out of gas after just 45 minutes

© 2002 – 2022, John Obeto II for Blackground Media Unlimited

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Apple hit with EU antitrust charges over Apple Pay exclusivity

Apple will settle.

Why?

Because of this little bit: ".....Apple could be fined up to 10% of annual revenues..."

That's not peanuts, and a cudgel like that should make Apple *want* to settle.

Think about this: the EU has laws governing this sort of exclusion by an OEM. Plainly, it is illegal; *according to EU rules.

As I understand them, and fair warning, IANAL, you cannot exclude other manufacturers from utilizing standards-based functionality that the customer/consumer - in this instance, the iPhone owner - has already paid for.

For example: it would be like Apple requiring iPhone owners to only connect to Apple-branded Wi-Fi access points.

Which would be insane.

As this situation is.

Apple Pay's use of NFC compounds Apple's problem, IMO.

Because it isn't an Apple-created technology, and is standards-based.

Moreover, Apple has had enough time to come up with the security framework and privacy scheme that it would have posited would benefit iPhone owners.

It didn't do so.

Therein lies their problem: their (Apple's) steadfast refusal to even consider 3rd-party payment processors' use of NFC has been exposed for what it is: Apple not wanting any competition.

That is a clear violation of EU antitrust laws. I think.

What do you think I am missing?

What Apple is doing with Apple Pay isn’t new, their thing, or an Apple innovation.

Apple just took NFC payments to a whole new level with Apple Pay.

They also did so using basically available technology that they repackaged magnificently.

iPhones may not be the dominant devices numerically; they are so in terms of buying power.

The iPhone demographics skew firmly towards the well-heeled, and that is why everyone wants in.

Suffice it to say, While Apple has about 20% of the global smartphone market, Apple banks over 80% of available profits for ALL phones.

That really means that, yes, Android phone OEMs deliver crappy devices and crappy user experiences.

What I think though, is that other payment system operators such as PayPal just want access to the iPhone ecosystem without having to share both profits and customer data with Apple.

I hope Apple can come out with a scheme whereby other pay processors can use iPhone NFC, but cannot harvest customer data.

That, to me, would be the ideal middle ground.

Original story at The New York Times.

© 2002 – 2021, John Obeto II for Blackground Media Unlimited

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Ads in Windows Explorer? Say it ain't so, Microsoft!

There are bad ideas, and there are BAD IDEAS.

Then, there are EFFIN’ BAD IDEAS!

This though, is the mother of all bad ideas!

Listen, I know that Microsoft has generously made Windows® literally free for registered/registered users, and with Windows 11, provided what is no doubt the most hassle-free and most capable Windows update ever.

However, even with that solid, ads in Windows Explorer are really, way too far.

As Steve Jobs might have put it,

Microsoft, please let sanity return to Redmond, and stop this nonsense immediately.

Thanks you.

Original story:

https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/15/22979251/microsoft-file-explorer-ads-windows-11-testing

Can Microsoft even create a touch-first operating system, or even a touch-first version of Windows?

Over the past several months, I have been subjected to several news reports about the Microsoft Surface Duo 2, the ‘lost’ Microsoft Windows Version S operating, the new Surface devices, and quite happily, the magnificent Windows 11.

I also use the iPad as a tablet. Daily.

What does that have to do with anything?

Plenty.

While the Surface line really shows off their hybrid chops, they aren’t touch-first devices like the iPad is.

Resultantly, they cannot be used as pure tablets, and that’s a darned shame! Because, into this breech steps the iPad, which is a very good media consumption device. Only.

Which does everything well in that realm, as long as you desire to live in Apple’s walled garden.

I don’t.

I don’t want anything Android either. Ever!

I just want a Microsoft touch-first, preferably windows-based operating system for all my Surface tablets.

So that I can ditch the keyboard and the mouse.

That can’t too much to ask now, can it?

© 2002 – 2018, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited

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In-road Wireless Charging.

This is very interesting.

However, one mile = about a minute's drive at 60mph.

How much charging would that accomplish?

Also, the energy loss would be insane.

Home charging stations take all night to give ~400 miles or so; Tesla Superchargers take an hour minimum.

This has to beat those, so we're looking at miles and miles of municipal roadways.

Plus, mix in payment schemes.

While innovative and all that, I just can't see the ROI.

https://interestingengineering.com/first-wireless-road-in-the-us

Windows Search is still a steaming pile of ^%&^*!

It is January 1, 2022, and Windows Search is still a steaming pile of, you know, merde!

It is. I am serious!

It takes forever – and I do mean, f-o-r-e-v-e-r!  - to have your files indexed, and you cannot trust it to just work.

More infuriatingly, Windows Search constantly, intermittently, and without warning, loses track of the search index, and voila, your files can no longer be found!

This is absolute bullcrap!

This is in stark contrast to Windows Search on Windows Server.

Any version of Windows Server, for goodness sakes!

Shame on whatever group is in charge of this BS.

I don’t want to search the effin’ Internet.

I just want to locate files I know I have on my PC.

Now, is that too much to ask for, Microsoft?

By the way, Windows Search has been running all day, and failing all day.

For two days now.

 

A flying biped robot

Fantastic concept.

However, I see the biped locomotion as a mobility hindrance, as it most likely would be a drain on the battery.

The addition of motorized "feet" my be a range extender, I think.

Original story on

Gizmodo.

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I have been on a Twitter timeout....

Twitter put me on a timeout.

Evidently, I hurt the feelings of that troglodyte Stephen A. Smith quite badly.

The account suspension came as I was preparing to go OTG, so I decided to give social media a rest until I got back stateside.

The suspension notification is below, and the actual offending tweet is below that.

I had to delete the tweet before being let back into the Twitterverse.

Zooming into the tweet.

Screenshot 2021-07-14 170637a.png

This is another strike against Twitter’s algorithms, the first being that their ad presentment algorithms which cannot correctly surface relevant ads at all!

© 2002 – 2021, John Obeto II for Blackground Media Unlimited

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Apple Moves to Owning More of Apple Pay Customer Experience

Headline:

Apple, Goldman Plan ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Service

(c) Bloomberg

 My take:

Children,

This lesson is titled, "Owning the Customer".

By owning ALL aspects of the customer purchase experience, Apple becomes privy to a more granular insight into Apple-devices customer needs, wants, and aspirations leading to more Apple devices and services.

Genius!

In one fell swoop, Apple would be able to keep control, and indeed all aspects of owning the customer purchase experience, start and continue to glean valuable customer data, monetize that as a new service, use that same data to develop new products and services, and best of all, keep new entrants at bay!

Additionally, because Apple already has an existing relationship with the customer, via Apple ID, it raises the bar for new entrants and for even existing apps when it comes to customer acquisition.

Apple Pay is baked into iOS, MacOS, and iPadOS, remember?

Meanwhile, customer retention for Apple is as easy as releasing a new product.

A veritable masterstroke, this is, Padawans.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-13/apple-goldman-plan-buy-now-pay-later-service-to-rival-paypal

 © 2002 – 2021, John Obeto II for Blackground Media Unlimited

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HPE Discover 2021: HPE Silicon On Demand

Shades of the mainframe era, no?

According to Antonio Neri, CEO of HPE,

“This is unique. None of the cloud providers—public cloud or other competitors—are offering what we call Silicon on Demand. What that means is with a single click I can turn cores on and off. If I need more cores, I turn it on. If I need less cores, I turn it off.

Today we go at this at the virtual or container level. Now I am taking this to the silicon level. That is a significant improvement because we know there is a lack of utilization trapped in your infrastructure.

We believe we can take it to the smallest amount of unit you can think about—the core level. So we are introducing what we call Silicon on Demand, which is a partnership with Intel. Intel is doing that just with us at least for now because they know we are a unique vendor that has a huge advantage in as a service with software and metering capabilities nobody else has in the market that allows us to measure at the core level. Therefore in a true pay per use we can turn on and off cores.”

I dunno.

Based on what I have been able to glean so far, it reminds me of something AMD or Intel tried to bring to market a while back, and it doesn’t see worth the buzz/hype/expended ink.

I’m not feeling it.

Here is Neri talking about it.

As that lunkhead Kanye might say, “Ima need more info.”.

I do.

Still not feelin’ it.

Q.E.D.

© 2002 – 2021, John Obeto II for Blackground Media Unlimited

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This article originally appeared in the July 2021 issue of The Interlocutor.

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HPE Discover 2021: HPE Alletra & Data Services Cloud Console

While HPE did not release something specific about storage at Discover 2021, they had released both Alletra and their Unified DataOps product  dubbed Data Services Cloud Console earlier in May.

According to HPE’s Calvin Zito, these products are the fruits of a new vision for storage.

  • Unified DataOps takes a holistic, data-centric approach to managing data and infrastructure across the data lifecycle. Policies including how data is stored, accessed, protected, and mobilized and should be data centric policies and automated.

  • Unified DataOps should be cloud-native – abstracting the management of data and infrastructure from physical infrastructure through a cloud-native control plane. This eliminates the complexity of keeping on-premises software maintained.

  • Unified DataOps should be AI-driven – True autonomous operations requires AI-driven insights and intelligence to watch over your data and your infrastructure to make your operations invisible.

  • Unified DataOps is a game changer across your organization: for line of business, IT management, data innovators, and data managers – to deliver a better data experience and drive more value. It will eliminate the silos and complexity across organizations.

He explains more in the video below.

Sources

Absolutely John: HPE Alletra & Data Services Cloud Console

HPE: Introducing HPE Alletra: Flipping the switch to the cloud experience

StorageReview.com: HPE Alletra unveiled.

NetworkWorld: HPE kicks off software-defined storage-as-a-service

Calvin Zito, ‘The HPE Storage Guy’ forever!: Huge news! Welcome to the age of Unified DataOps

© 2002 – 2021, John Obeto II for Blackground Media Unlimited

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This article originally appeared in the July 2021 issue of The Interlocutor.

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HPE Discover 2021: HPE GreenLake for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI & Microsoft SQL Server

Azure Stack HCI is Microsoft’s Azure cloud delivered in on-premises hyperconverged software-defined hardware, software, networking, and APIs delivered in Microsoft-certified Windows Server boxes from Microsoft partners.

Just ahead of Discover 2021, HPE announced the availability of both Azure Stack HCI and Microsoft SQL Server for HPE GreenLake.

HPE GreenLake, as we all should know by now, is a subscription service that delivers infrastructure as-a-service for your workloads - on premises, fully managed in a pay-per-use model at the edge, in colocations, and in your data center. <- HPE

This is huge, allowing for the creation of cloud-native solutions within a customer’s premises. Customers can run Windows workloads with the confidence that their environments can be hybridized on their whim and expertise, with coexistence with Linux and other virtualization schemes.

HPE says that GreenLake Azure Stack HCI and SQL Server will be a user-operated point-and-click service utilizing a per-core, pay-per-use model for pricing. It also aims to eliminate the costs associated with overprovisioning.

Sources

HPE: HPE GreenLake Edge-to-Cloud Platform

Block & Files: Azure Stack HCI and SQL Server set sail on HPE’s GreenLake

Search Cloud Computing: HPE bolsters GreenLake with support for Microsoft Azure Stack

© 2002 – 2021, John Obeto II for Blackground Media Unlimited

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This article originally appeared in the July 2021 issue of The Interlocutor.

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