As a group we have a lot to be embarrassed about.  There were Pet Rocks in my day.  Beanie Babies?  How about fighting at ToysRUs for a Tickle Me Elmo?  Think you managed to avoid common failings?   Two words:  Registered Voter.

Right now there is a change based on our collective stupidity.   It hasn’t played out fully but it is on its way.  Computers have always been on the change fast track.  People use them for personal reasons that vary dramatically.  Appliance operator was a derisive term that has moved even former programming giants (me) into their camp.   It has been scary.  I look over my shoulder a lot anytime there seem to be cliffs near.

Programming is a joy that few can really understand.  Let me put it in a different perspective.  While computers aren’t anything close to the brain in capability, they can fake you out with speed and rote operation.  As a programmer that is a real lure.  Where in life do you find something that does only what you tell it to and does it without complaints?

The Internet really screws that all up.  We were fat, dumb and happy.  More impotently we were left alone by the mainstream.  We’d enrich a few nerds to get a copy of Frogger to play.   We could play chess against the computer or type a letter.  It started downhill when business found spreadsheet nirvana on them.  The Internet interconnect us with each other and corporations saw they could put us in their business plan.  To max out profits they want control and the newer the technology being offered the deeper their hooks go.

Users accessed “applications” and could with one that did all or most of what they wanted at some big box location.  You paid for it and it at least seemed yours forever.  Well, there was this thing called the EULA (end-user license agreement) but they ran from unenforceable to ignorable.   Because computers do things we tell them to, we can bypass outside control.  The Internet changes that but we’ve been able to interfere with that using the computer’s capability.

The latest things that look like computers are not the general purpose beast of the past.   Layers are added to limit the user’s access and capability.   But, you can play Angry Birds so…what the hey?  We keep clicking “I accept” when we encounter those annoying EULAs because we could ignore them.  But the new layer in these “devices” are becoming the presence of others in our life.  Cloud computing is taking our data away from our physical control.   It is also allowing others to audit that data for their purposes.

Understand the trade offs that are transpiring.   Life is a compromise but compromise can go beyond the benefit tipping point.  That gets closer and closer.  Try to look at everything and find the alternatives to the easy way.  They are out there and they don’t take a lot of tech savvy to pull off.

No related posts.

Objects in motion tend to remain in motion.  Objects at rest tend to remain at rest.

Well, my high school physics class did have one more thing to say about it:

Unless acted upon by an external force.

There is where Isaac let us know he really was a final table type.

What I am talking about isn’t something most bloggers talk about in polite company.  The good ones all do it.  It just isn’t that exciting a subject and we all like to fire for effect.  Lets try some examples.

I mentioned in an earlier blog that Mojo could be a great trapping player against an overactive player.  He was quick to comment that wasn’t really his norm.   I understood that disclaimer and had no argument.

Joe C, or how you want to spell that, love to say one should never limp into the pot.  It is part of her “Girls have stones too.” theme.  She may be capable of Mojo’s disclaimer but it isn’t going to be as clear — blog-wise.

Jo represents our object in motion.  Another word would be active.  She understands position and speculative hands.  Give her some chips and she’ll play table captain.  It is her raison d’être — fun through pushiness.  We could change her screen name to MissPreFlop.  (I guess I should give some form of link.)

Mojo get to be our object at rest.  That isn’t who he is but it is my example.  On good days he’s an Enigma Machine.  He is trying to be a cypher.  If Sparky got his social analysis going he might come up with multiple personalities — a good poker thing.

I not really trying to describe individuals; I’m looking for types.  And those are among the common types.  If either is as good as the results show, they are more than that.  But, KISS requires that here or this turns in to something feature-length.

Put them at the same table.  Mojo wants her on his right but that isn’t always the case.  He’ll play different on that basis.  Both are drooling over their perceived opponent — assuming they aren’t the known entity but the type.  Both should be aware they are susceptible to said player type.  But, both also see potential for their success there.  They seem to typically send opposite vibes and opposites are supposed to attract — more physics.

I’m willing to expand on this and probably will but I’ll issue a challenge instead.  I’ll hope the parties will share with us how they’d play the prototype player that I am saying are what they seem above.   I think it’d be interesting and we might get a poker post out of them.  What pitfalls will they watch for?  What success are they angling toward?

ADDENDUM:

This old guy decided to splurge and get a shave from the local barber.  With all the wrinkles, it was hard to shave in the cracks and he was going out to dinner with family and want to look his best.   He told the barber about his problem and the barber explained he had a great solution.  He handed him a little wooden ball and told him to put it in his cheek.  He did and the shave really went well with the cheek puffed out to hide the wrinkles. At the end he asked the barber, “What if I’d swallowed that little ball?”

The barber responded,

“Then you’d do what everybody else does.  Bring it back tomorrow.”

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Bill is talking about the recent move by Bodog.   That would be totally anonymous play.

A bit of add perspective for you.   Kim Lund was half of the Bobsey twins on a site I first frequented — PokerRoom.  He did what Bill does — plan, interface, promote.

I said:

Having played at Kim’s old home, I understood community. A lot of friends were successful grinders. At the time that translated mostly to 2-4 or 3-6. Yet every day many would meet in the lobby at around 4 p.m. so the Brits and Yanks could get a S&G going to harass the loser for the next 24.

That type of culture was similar to the blogger world I then inhabited. There were regular schedules of private tournaments that were very well attended by people not really looking hard at the ROI. It was better players than most would ever see in a MTT at that level.

The reason people play is not exclusive. I would guess not a few muti-accounters did it to avoid the light and have some fun without comments.

We used to do silly things that made little monetary sense. I remember getting $10 free for not being on a site for a while along with some others I knew. We had a contest to see who could get the most in a month. Try and explain how several serious grinders got caught up in it.

With the info that sites can mine, there are a lot of promotions that make little sense beyond the class of people that it makes sense too. And, sites haven’t figure that out and maintain their shotgun approach.

Hate to steal from another site — even when it is my words.  But it will bring you up to speed on my view.

What has really happened was Black Friday.  Not as we see it but as a site might.   The management at other sites drooled.  All of a sudden, the top two U.S. facing juggernauts were out of the picture.   The idea for the survivors was to make hay while the cloud sun did its thing.

Well, that didn’t just happen and fall into their hands.  Old problems didn’t go away.  Exponential growth affected few. Problems for other seemed to get worse.   Yup, Bodog was sucking hind tit again.

Let me go back.  Kim managed to do more than other manager with bathrobes — honest, I am not making this up — than others could with a five-figure budget.  I am not saying they were perfect.  Their support operation was beyond lousy in an arena where lousy abounds.  But, he did manage to get inside the heads of a lot of players and coax them his way with limited resources expended.

An analog to the S&G’s I described above were little MTT’s called blogger tournaments.  There were a host of them at various levels that never made sense to those outside the loop.  Let me digress.  When that Friday hit, I’d been killing a stupid little Stud8 tournament for months.  Luck did not explain away my killing it.  I’d found a +EV way to succeed.  Well, blogger tournament and those S&Gs mentioned, aren’t +EV.   You have a better/worse shark:fish ratio in them.  Yet, in their heyday they were considered a must by many.  People doing things for ulterior motives isn’t anything new.

In the heyday, every site promoted the WSOP.   PokerStars figured that didn’t fill folks Jones for tournaments.  They weren’t alone but they built on it while other looked at bottom lines and, instead, pulled back.  People are still willing to promote some WSOP seats.  None promote the PokerStars circuit that has given them legs.  Why?  Well that is “the competition” doncha know.  They keep that going even knowing that the WSOP (Harrah) will shortly be all the competition they can handle and more.  Promoting the Euro/Asian/SA circuits might make sense if they bothered to look at their customers.  If a guy wants one of those circuits, why not make it possible instead of sending him to P* to play?

It is simple things like that which are beyond ignored.   Tomorrow we will do what we did today.  Nevermind we are doing it with less in customers, rake and whatever.  It is good enough and what others do.   In doing so they ignore more data than even Amazon garners.  But, Amazon mines the data better.   Amazon figures out what works; Bodog comes up with anonymous tables.  Wow!  WTG, Bodog.

ADDENDUM:

Here is a PokerRoom bathrobe example:

There was a guy in the forum promoting 3-9.  I think his name was Sikillu or such and the hand he called “The Sik”.  Bloggers will easily identify with 2-7 silliness that has abounded — THE HAMMER.   Anyway, Kim set up a promo.  The site tracked hand that played 3-9 and won.  Progress was posted.   In the end,. somebody won a PokerRoom bathrobe.  It generated playing crap hands in ring games.  It added rake.  It got more people playing.  It cost a $20 bathrobe.

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There isn’t anything wrong with being an appliance operator.  They provided me with an income.  I walked the path between their mind and mine to obtain whatever success I might.  That was a very specific framework.  The Internet has expanded that.  The appliance operator has more options these days than those of my day.  That is a good thing for them.  But, it has brought about new problems.

The commercial world wants appliance operator.  The problem is they want them as strictly vanilla ones.  This means denying them options.  There are simple instructions around the net on tech help sites that allow many to move a step above the bare minimum.  It is a way to stumble to success using the knowledge of other and I have taken advantage of their work too.  It is a good thing.

So, what is the problem?  Well, such capability has a cost.  That cost isn’t to the user.  That cost is to business.  If they can control options, they control cost.  It shows up in their bottom line.   That isn’t a new concept.  Every business uses goods and services to profit and that is right and to the common good.   But, our move from hunter-gathers to advancing technology makes us more and more dependent on a host of goods and services.   We depend on a free and open market to sustain our lives and comfort with the hope that it comes at a cost we can afford.   When supply:demand works, we all prosper.  But, the most profit comes from controlling markets.

Vanilla affects us all.  We aren’t the generalist that our pioneer forbear’s needed to be.  I may have knowledge in a particular area — like technology.  You run an office with skill or council kids or help provided the things that make the world what it is.  There will always be associated areas of weakness that others will  pray on.  But, together there is a collective knowledge well that should control our joint advancement.

Vanilla … on size fits all … whatever, it is a comfortable path that you have a right to wander.  The problem is that business is trying to force you onto their path.  There is that herd instinct that is still with us.

If you recall,  I got a Logitech Revue last fall.  It is an appliance.  It has really brought home the control that the media wants over our lives.

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My man for all seasons isn’t as likely canonization beyond the editing rooms of PBS.  His history is seasonal.  He was LBJ’s Press Secretary and he is reported to have been the guy to recommend that Kennedy take the top off for his Dallas motorcade.  His efforts at honest reporting seem consumed by perceived editorial responsibility needs.  Fits right in to the PBS view.

I watched his show last night on the secondary PBS channel run by Chicago City Colleges.  This wasn’t their usual fare.  Although, like all PBS stations, they can surprise all sides at times.  This was one of those nights.  The overlooking term is crony capitalism.  The show featured David Stockmen and Gretchen Morganson and with both appearing under the imprimatur of Mr. Moyers does make for strange bedfellows.

The first part of the show featuring Stockman on Cronyism :

Ms. Morganson’s portion on the “housing bubble”:

While Moyers sounds like some Tea Party bigots/terrorists,  he quickly moves to the Occupy side for comfort.  I’ve remarked that the two side are closer than they are apart and Moyers seems an interesting confirmation.  I’ve noted personally and here that I tend too much toward the negative.   In a Washington where all sides are pointing to the glass and discussing it fullness, Moyers goes beyond my feeble attempts at gloom and doom.

The thing you might take away from these presentations is that all sides are pointing at the current downturn as a feeble warmup to the big one.  In a way that reminds me of Fred Sanford’s oft-repeated warning about the big one.   We’ve always been a nation of pendulum swingers.  That may be a misplaced view on my part.  Things are more critical these days than I can recall in my years.  But, up to now, we’ve always seen that history repeats itself and halts our most egregious excesses in time.

I am keeping my fingers crossed

No related posts.

Columbia House was owned by CBS/Columbia.  It had ads in every magazine.  Its direct mail was as frequent as the most aggressive mass marketer.  The “great deal” was four records — now most of you don’t remember vinyl that well either — for just $.,99.   Such a deal.  What great folks compared with those CD sellers that are trying to bring about PIPA and SOPA.  But, actually, they were the same S.O.B.’s. The gimmick then was the negative option and contract.   Each month you got a mailing say some album would be on its way to you unless you sent the card they sent you back.   That’s about as sleazy a business plan as one can use and avoid the courts.   As technology changed it morphed to everything including good old 8-track.  It led in its own way by being one of the early sites spewing customer info.

That covers the quality marketing of the fine folks that are the RIAA.  The movie guys at the MPAA aren’t any better.   From Buzby Berkeley and Cecil B. on down, the cost were always something laugh/bemoaned in “the industry”.   If they couldn’t screw the audience… well, I’ll let our friend explain it to you:

 I am 100% opposed to SOPA and PIPA, even though I’m one of the artists they were allegedly written to protect. I’ve probably lost a few hundred dollars in my life to what the MPAA and RIAA define as piracy, and that sucks, but that doesn’t come close to how much money I’ve lost from a certain studio’s creative accounting.

So, the media emperors have again lost their clothes and humanity.  It will never end.  I mentioned publishing the other day and won’t go over their poor relations.

Part of the laws used to shut down poker crowd have been the same ones used on pirate sites and there has been plenty of heat over that without bring about more abusive laws.  That the marketplace has been in rebellion isn’t new.  The technology cost for you and I to do it with ease is more recent.  Some still can’t bring themselves to “steal” from the nice men with their hands always reaching for their pocket.  It is amazing the amount of creativity in rationalizing we can do.   But, even more amazing is the creativity that can be seen in creating another new media.

If I were to explain to you that you could steal studio content, I would probably get a nasty gram and subsequent threats of legal action.  They have backed off with the more common copyright “enforcement” of late because of the bad press about silver-haired grannies who evidently are downloading all the stuff from the latest teen heartthrob.  Ambulance chasers come in many guises.

Torrents is the technology they blame.   It is nothing more than a distributed network.  The problem isn’t that it is nefarious technology.  The problem is that the media people can’t monetize it.  But, for the one Luddite that I know is reading this, I can describe a site that uses bitTorrent — which can be downloaded here.  Why can I get away with it?   Well, there are — surprise surprise — quite legitimate uses.   Vodo is a site distributing using torrents.  It is out in front of the rush from the traditional middle men.   They have a number of indy feature films and scads of other docu-whatevers.  They lead the “cord cutter” trend that scares all the vested interests.  They are even bragging about the user financed movies that people damned by media self-interest villify.   So all you Luddites with varied threats aim at your not finding out another truth can click on the first and let it install.  Then you can click on the second and get legitimate viewing and explanations to ease the learning.

If you enjoy Pioneer One or some of the other indy stuff you downloaded via Vodo (and other similar sites), I suggest sending them a buck or two to help them eat and also come up with another decent idea that doesn’t have anything more creative than replacing Spencer Tracy or Liz Taylor in golden age stories that seldom get better because it the latest heart throb.  Vodo can help you do that too.

Isn’t it amazing what people can accomplish without needing congress or their friend telling them how to act?

ADDENDUM:

The above is quite legal.  The search function in that torrent program won’t necessarily continue that.  So don’t use that unless you can figure out some educational reason or avoid the further temptation.   And, should you want to succumb, ask a friend to explain things beyond this simple introduction.   With torrent downloads account for as much as 25% of all internet traffic, I’m just guessing that there are simple ways to avoid the MPAA/RIAA hangmen.  You believe I wouldn’t stoop to that, right….

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Ok, with my usual attempt for confusion behind us, what do I mean — an ongoing conundrum. It means the good guys won one against the bad guys.  In this case it is the movie, recording, media mogul folks.  You know those nice folks that gave us MGM musicals and Bedtime for Bonzo.

They paid off  lobbied congress to make a mockery of copyright’s intent.   Fair use was a faint memory.  Law offices went from ambulance chasing to  suing granny for millions.    Same old same old bought and paid for to benefit mankind special interests.

Here is a little quote of the new media mogul for the media moguls (Former Senator Dodd) in the newspaper of record:

He acknowledged his side had committed a misstep by allowing Hollywood to become the face of laws that were intended to protect not just movies, but also more mundane products — for instance, home smoke alarms — that are frequently counterfeited abroad, sometimes with disastrous effects.

That is misdirection.  Isn’t The Customs Service getting plenty of heat from Prada and First Alert over enforcing very specific laws?  Are the courts turning a blind eye to all those existing laws and added regulations on the books?  Evidently.

Read the article closely.  It is a gas.  I’m not sure if it quite up to the crap spewed by Jack Valenti but he was a giant in this arena.  Poor Dodd isn’t even allowed to talk to his friends on the hill until 2013.   That seems to indicate there may be some truth to mind reading.   Or maybe action speaks louder than words.

Well, what it all really boils down to is that we won one.  That is an uncommon happening these days.  We lost when they passed a law that allows American Citizen to be held without due process as terrorists.  (Did you know that law has been passed?)  So, our win was a small one but it was a win.   Thank you, Internet.

SOPA and PIPA aren’t ever going to be dead.  They will become a new campaign with all the rhetoric about it being to our benefit.  A bit of breathing space.  Read what the former senator says and weep.  About the only bit of honesty I found was his sour grapes about the White House piling on — after the fact.

ADDENDUM:

Have you bought your Kindle or Nook yet?   Great technology.   OK, now….  Have you looked at the prices of ebooks from the major publishers?

Typewriters and pencils are out.   The books are written, edited, printed using technology.   Linotype machines are passe.  But, there are still massive presses churning through tons of costly paper to create the hard cover/soft cover world.  With ebooks that cost is gone — a substantial savings.  So why when I look at a paper back for $7.95 is the ebook also $7.95.

Couldn’t they share their windfall a bit?  Learn from the RIAA and MPAA stupidity of making your nut on the backs of your once loyal customers.  It is a new day.  You don’t own the only ball and get to make all the rules.  The sandlot is in revolt.

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Watching the market just before open and it is down a bit.  But the day (F-13) is usually an up day — go figure.

As to the big chips, well, Poker Stars will stream a final table today at 13:40 EST.   That is 1:30 PM for those who like 12 hour clocks.  Tomorrow, they stream the big buyin one.  Be sure to use up the company bandwidth, today.   Anything else employees due on a Friday the thirteenth would have to be suspect.  So, enjoy.

In blogdom, Sparky is playing suckup to the Very One.  The links should make two link whores happy.  The term used does not imply anything kinky going on there.  Of course, there is your idea of that and mine.

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One e-friend is outspoken about work and person.  Generous comment would be an honest soul.  You can’t be honest on the internet.  Another friend just as bright saw it in their workplace and ended up going private with their blog and doing away with their seemingly innocuous social media presence.  Neither really saw the risk and one got bitten and the other is vulnerable.   That is one side and personal.  There is another side that is more avoidable and that’s what I’d like to discuss today.

If you are on the internet you have an IP address.   It is issued by the ISP to connect you to the internet.  It is like your phone number.  If you leave the cable or whatever attached, it will stay the same.  Even if you don’t the info will be close the next time.  You can see it show about where you live by clicking on this.  You can’t avoid this and have to live with it.  Marketers love knowing it and can direct ads at you based on local.

This is the Firefox addon that I’m going to cover in more detail.  It automates a lot of personal protection.  I just use the free services they offer.

We register on sites all the time.   It wants our name, address, phone and so on.  That can be controlled by those with limited computer skills and a bit of healthy paranoia.  You need to use Firefox as your browser.  There is one stop shopping for an add-on that will make it stupid-easy to add protection.    If you use it, you can confuse the trackers that try to follow every aspect of you life.   It doesn’t solve everything but protects a lot.

Your credit card is a nasty thing.  Your real name is there and there is a number that doesn’t change.  Things that are constants are what trackers use to keep you in their sites and consolidate what they know about you in a single file.  Many cards allow you to generate temporary or different card info.  I have an application on my desk that lets me do so with my Discover card.   I don’t need it at Amazon or the known, legit sites.  But, I occasionally shop others on a one time basis or where someone wants a credit card that it will auto renew some service that I’d prefer to control instead of them.  You want this capability.

Names are hard to avoid. That especially true as it relates to a credit card.  If you don’t have to use the card, you don’t have to make it easy.  As far as I know, I can use a pseudonym without legal ramifications.  At least that was true as long as I wasn’t preforming an illegal act before The Patriot Act and its ilk.   I tend to use variations on my real name.   Many of you have seen my KenP comments which is a bit of that.  I use JKenP and a host of other to obscure things.  If you clicked on the above link, it will even set up a way to recall which you’ve used – where.  Only use your given name where you don’t have a choice.   I’m Ken Prevo, James Prevo, Jim Prevo, etc on sites where I do have to give credit card info.  It isn’t bullet proof but it does add some confusion.

Your address is unchanging and often needed.  If you have a single family residence, you are home free.  You turn it into a high rise apartment building.  1234 Main St. Apartment 101   1234 Main Street Suite B   This won’t confuse the mailman but it will confuse the trackers.

That link above will generate names and password for common sites and let you enter others for it to remember for you.  That a danger so you probably want to avoid bank, mortgage, financial relationships.   Your data is encrypted there and covered by the password you use which works for the common stuff.    But, we are talking paranoid here.

Real password are a problem.  People often come up with really stupid (crackable) ones like their birthday.   Number are good to included in password.  Words listed in a dictionary are very bad choices.  There are number you hold in memory that aren’t easily known.  A street address from childhood, the phone number of your best friend in grade school and so on remain available and cryptic. Select a half dozen really secure combinations and rotate them.  It isn’t as perfect as a randomly generated password but it probably will both keep the wolf from the door and let you log into those important sites where you need such protection without having to have to jump through hoops to get access after you forgot the PW.

Email addresses become exponential with the tool above.  The one I’ve used for years is another that has kept a lot of spam out of my inbox.  It has a nice feature of letting you disable spam after a certain number received and also allowing through the ones you want to allow to continue after said trial period.  And, it lets you go to the site and respond using one of the addresses used.  Your real email address should be on gmail, ymail, live or such.  These are online address that you can access over time from anywhere.  You should have several with varying security.  Family and friends is the top-level here.  Business relationships come next and so on.  I have five “real” email accounts including the one for here.   Don’t use the ones the ISP provides except as possible throw away ones.  If you move or change ISP, they go away and that can be a real annoyance not related to security.

All of the above is pretty easy to use by the least tech savvy among us.  It isn’t foolproof but it is confusion to the enemy.   Most certainly most can’t be worse off than what they have done — lacking concerns they weren’t aware they should be concerned about.

ADDENDUM:

Friend Waffles is one of the 5%ers that I used to be and is far more net savvy than I am these days.  If we harass him a bit he might do a post that expands and improves of what I’m providing.   Pester him!

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She is Linda.  Besides being my beloved old boss, she was a poker dealer and wrote about it.  TMZ ain’t got nothing on her.  It was always my must read.  Sadly, she left the casino life and all that Bobby’s room dirt dried up for a while.

Now she got the Jones going and has reembarked on the dealer’s life.

You must read!

The latest one is about 4th in the series so mosey on over

And the smart ones will start from the start.

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