I went to the Eye Doctor yesterday, for a follow up visit. Apparently, the elevated pressure in my eyes and the enlarged optic nerves raised a red flag in December and have now triggered a concern that I may have glaucoma.
Gee, I'm glad I have a job. No, wait a minute. I have a really shitty job, working for the worst employer, (New York State) and I have no health insurance. Hey Patterson, instead of intimidating staffers victims and turning college graduation ceremonies into your own campaign rallys (like you did at mine), why done you pull your head out of your ass and do something about the state budget, or quit, so the lackey you appointed can try to do something.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
F--k You, NYPD!
Here is a tale of my tax dollars at work.
Recently, I was driving in Staten Island (or as I like to call it, "That god-forsaken sandbar"). After I got off the West Shore Expressway, I turned onto Arden Avenue, which is an overpass, that has an obstructed view. As I made my turn, I noticed the police car, suspiciously sitting behind the trees that create the aforementioned obstruction, active its lights and make a U-turn. Being an experienced driver, I pulled to the right and slowed until I noticed that the police car was not passing me, but pulling me over. Me! I know!
Because of the trees, he couldn't use any speed detection technology as I approached the turn, and there was certainly no indication that I was speeding as I made the turn; so, WTF? As officer dipshit approached the vehicle, he said that I was being pulled over for having tinted windows. That's right, not the front of rear windshields, but the driver's and front passenger's windows. After explaining that it is illegal in all states to have those two windows tinted, he asked me if that law is enforced in South Carolina (the state that the vehicle is register in) and asked for my license and registration. As I handed my New York State drivers license to him, I said, "I don't know. I am not a South Carolina resident." After answering a question about who owned the vehicle, I drove off without any type of summons or citation.
So, Mr. "Term Limits Don't Apply to Me" Bloomberg and Mr. Kelly, I have a few questions for you. First, are tinted windows illegal in every state, or are they only illegal in New York City, when you have a South Carolina license plate (until you show a New York State drivers license)? Based on the fact that New York City had to pay $30,000 because the police don't even know the laws of their own city, how the hell can officer dipshit be an authority on laws in any other state? Finally, with all of the free time that the police seem to have (pulling me over on false premise, the subway wallet sting, the unconstitutional searches at the Staten Island ferry terminals, the $30,000 subway photography incident, shooting unarmed blacks an obscene amount of times), I guess you caught all the terrorists, right?
The way I see it is, if the police have this much free time, you can balance the city's budget by laying off some of these cops and giving up your limo and taking the subway to and from Gracie Manson and City Hall (just don't pick up any wallets).
Recently, I was driving in Staten Island (or as I like to call it, "That god-forsaken sandbar"). After I got off the West Shore Expressway, I turned onto Arden Avenue, which is an overpass, that has an obstructed view. As I made my turn, I noticed the police car, suspiciously sitting behind the trees that create the aforementioned obstruction, active its lights and make a U-turn. Being an experienced driver, I pulled to the right and slowed until I noticed that the police car was not passing me, but pulling me over. Me! I know!
Because of the trees, he couldn't use any speed detection technology as I approached the turn, and there was certainly no indication that I was speeding as I made the turn; so, WTF? As officer dipshit approached the vehicle, he said that I was being pulled over for having tinted windows. That's right, not the front of rear windshields, but the driver's and front passenger's windows. After explaining that it is illegal in all states to have those two windows tinted, he asked me if that law is enforced in South Carolina (the state that the vehicle is register in) and asked for my license and registration. As I handed my New York State drivers license to him, I said, "I don't know. I am not a South Carolina resident." After answering a question about who owned the vehicle, I drove off without any type of summons or citation.
So, Mr. "Term Limits Don't Apply to Me" Bloomberg and Mr. Kelly, I have a few questions for you. First, are tinted windows illegal in every state, or are they only illegal in New York City, when you have a South Carolina license plate (until you show a New York State drivers license)? Based on the fact that New York City had to pay $30,000 because the police don't even know the laws of their own city, how the hell can officer dipshit be an authority on laws in any other state? Finally, with all of the free time that the police seem to have (pulling me over on false premise, the subway wallet sting, the unconstitutional searches at the Staten Island ferry terminals, the $30,000 subway photography incident, shooting unarmed blacks an obscene amount of times), I guess you caught all the terrorists, right?
The way I see it is, if the police have this much free time, you can balance the city's budget by laying off some of these cops and giving up your limo and taking the subway to and from Gracie Manson and City Hall (just don't pick up any wallets).
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
CityTech Uses Spyware!
If you have used the wifi network at the New York City College of Technology over the last three years, then you are aware of the many “safeguards”. The speed is abysmal, you cannot download a .torrent file, and you could only log in on one laptop at a time. I have even had to complain about not being able to check my Gmail account with my preferred email client (Thunderbird), yet I could check my Hotmail account through Outlook Express. That was two years ago. Last year brought fewer access points, worse network connectivity and reliability, and slower speeds. And now, we have spyware!
Just because it is named for a tropical island in the Caribbean, doesn't mean that Aruba is good. Based on my initial impression, this new system seemed even more inconvenient than the old log in page, but further probing revealed that Aruba is spyware.
What is spyware? Spyware is a combination of the words spy and software. Spyware, as defined by Steve Gibson (the security researcher who coined the term), is software that infiltrates your computer, looking for information. The way you get infected with spyware is very easy; you can open a malicious email attachment, you can visit a malicious website, or you can allow CityTech's wifi network to run its Aruba software on your computer.
What exactly does Aruba do? Well, based on my observations and tests, Aruba scans through your computer to determine if you have the latest Windows updates, an updated anti-virus program, a specific version of the lsb package and who knows what else. What? IT SCANS YOUR COMPUTER! That sounds a lot like spyware to me. After scanning your computer, it will determine whether or not you are worthy of using the network, based on its findings. There are several reasons a computer may not meet Aruba's approval, a pirated copy of Windows, a conscious choice to not use an anti-virus program, or a Linux distribution that does not have/use/follow the Linux standard base (yes, they even have a bash script that searches your Linux system).
The obvious flaws and waste of money on the implementation of Aruba aside, I want to point out to the administration, the IT department, and to you students that while the wifi network belongs to CityTech, students' computers. I could argue that the wifi network was paid for and is being maintained by tax dollars and outrageous tuition and/or Technology fees, but that would only serve to distract from the real issue, which is that CityTech is attempting to (and to a certain extent succeeding in) tell adult owners of computers what software must be on their computers, in order to access a resource that they are paying for. Unless CityTech is giving computers away to its students (I'd like one), those computers belong to the people who paid for them; as such, what software they choose to run, how often they choose to update it, and which application they choose to check their email are decisions that are the right of the computer owners, not CityTech.
I know what the IT department's response will be. “We have to (have the right to) control/monitor our network.” Fine, but what right do you have to tell me what I can do with my computer and a college resource that I paid for? Does the Department of Transportation have the right to tell me what kind of gas to put in my car, before I can drive on a highway that I pay for? Well, I'm waiting. Maybe they can explain what grants them the right to search through my computer for anything? Again, the operative words are “my computer”!
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