Control and Football

A weird thing. I am not at home and am using my laptop on Windows 10 and the wallpaper is reflecting the slideshow on my home desktop PC. The only vague connection is that they are both connected to the internet and Windows 10 wanted my email address. This is slightly worrying as it's doing something that I never asked for and I don't actually want. I want control of my stuff and I don't want Google , Microsoft and Apple connecting everything I do and potentially sharing it with anyone who pays them.

It's like the iCloud situation where Apple delete personal files and put copies in "The Cloud" which you can access if you pay them money and have an internet connection (see here). The guys personal recordings were stolen by Apple and he was basically told "tough". It amazes me the arrogance of corporations who put things in very small print and then say it covers them for anything they want to do. Mobile phone companies are like that too.

One article says they wont delete your stuff (see here) , but I have had dealings with them and they will never ever admit there is a problem. Your iPhone could explode and burn your hand off and Apple would say it is performing as required.

I thought She's Lost Control by Joy Division is appropriate because our reliance on technology , sees technology doing more and more things we didn't expect.

Fog From Claybank

I still don't know what's happening with my laptop.

On a lighter note Leicester were crowned Premiership Champions and had a massive party. The media generally hate it because they would rather cover Arsenal , Chelsea, Manchester City and United, in fact anybody with money and no soul. Money is the new religion you would think. To me it's a necessary evil but not something to be worshiped and put on a pedestal. It negates the need for barter , that's all. The problem is when the big clubs win , it's just about collecting shekels , they don't give a damn about anybody else , they are perfect corporate material.



Leicester have provided The Premier League with a shot in the arm and a great deal of fun , and the combined technical genii of the "big clubs" still can't get near them, and anyone with any sense is loving it.

Anyway I am enjoying the sun and quiet and I don't have to get up tomorrow morning.

Enjoy your Sunday everybody

The Internet Is Not A Private Place

This is just in response to another site telling me , via an annoying pop up , that they're going to be collecting data about what I'm looking at to enhance my browsing experience. For that read you're going to be targetted with adverts related to things you have looked at, It's why Boots and Tesco and everyone else encourage you to take out loyalty cards , it's so they can target you with adverts and offers that you are more likely to respond to.

The internet is a public place so you shouldnt be shocked that technology is used to track what you are doing , usually in the name of making you part with your money, I have a website here but that is seeing less and less of peoples money, A big part of that was when Amazon effectively stopped paying for referrals by creating a set of rules disqualifying email links , and sales to people who were already customers. Build your infrastucture then stop paying for it , a brilliant strategy.

Also The Cloud is being used as a storage facility , while I'm OK with it as a back up , I'm not happy with it as a first point of storage. Amazon and iTunes offer cloud storage , with the right to delete anything they deem not "licensed" . So when you use these facilities you effectively lose control.

Did you know that when you catalog anything with iTunes it writes to that file!! It should never do that as it effectively corrups the item, but it tries to and tries about 1000 times befor giving up,

Basically I dont need to be told that I need to be aware I'm in public when on the internet. It's Caveat Emptor and I dont need to be continually asked or reminded. I can install ad or popup blockers and switch cookies off aand everyone who uses the internet can do the same.

Thought the Bowie song was appropriate.

Security

When I logged on to this account Google asked me again for my phone number. They already have my alternative email, they just want to know even more about me.

When I log into Facebook on my mobile they want to get all my contacts. I want control of my contacts. Facebook already have 400 of my contacts as friends on Facebook so why do they want more. Are they going to spam those that already aren't on there?

I feel secure in having things under my control. Its like storing stuff on the free Cloud space that Amazon and iTunes give you. You may have paid for the items but Amazon and iTunes have n qualms about wiping accounts on the flimsiest of pretexts.

Reminds me of the Sony debacle where their CD security software screwed up thousands of computers resulting in a multi million dollar settlement.

Im doing this using the Google Blogger software on my iPad so haven't got the hang of jumping around getting links. I may ad the later

Forecast Cloudy

The lyrics to the Joni Mitchell song are remarkable pertinent to to The Cloud we know todow.

I keep getting bombarded with offers of Cloud storage (Apple/iTunes) and Cloud Players (Amazon). These are all very well and each has offered me 5GB of free storage so I can listen to my own music anywhere. However these are dependent on a reliable internet connection , so it's fine if you are at home or at a friends , or maybe in an area with reliable free WIFI. In a 4G area it will also be fine and 10GB is a hell of a lot of space to play with.

But you have to remember it's only available when you have a connection. When 4G is ubiquitous speed will not be an issue for anyone , but remember that your daya and files will effectively under someone elses control.

On the numbers involved my first desktop computer had a 10 MB hard disc , (thats 10 minutes of normal quality MP3 music!) , but I could still play colour graphic games under the DOS operating system.

The amounts of cloud storage would enable you to store 400 albums of music , a dozen DIVX movies but there wouldnt be enough room to store a High Definition movie within the 5GB, although they do offer you more space at a price. Though I would rather watch through Netflix or Blinkbox and again you come down to the issue of having a permnent reliable connection.

You are not at the moment able to watch a streamed movie in a remote Scottish Glen on on the train from Aberdeen to London.

I still havent used my Cloud Storage yet ........