Why ??!!...The whinging,moaning,complaining,ranting,letting off steam thread !!

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  • Posts: 9,846
    Well my wife got hacked yesterday I think we managed to cut them off at the source and hopefully didn’t loose too much but it’s scary we are now in Vermont miles away from the situation and frankly in spite of the cold there are plenty of activities that me and my wife can do without thinking about the events of yesterday

    (Insert roger Moore eyebrow raise here)
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,032
    Risico007 wrote: »
    Well my wife got hacked yesterday I think we managed to cut them off at the source and hopefully didn’t loose too much but it’s scary we are now in Vermont miles away from the situation and frankly in spite of the cold there are plenty of activities that me and my wife can do without thinking about the events of yesterday

    (Insert roger Moore eyebrow raise here)

    At your service:
    roger-moore-eyebrow.gif
  • Posts: 9,846
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    Risico007 wrote: »
    Well my wife got hacked yesterday I think we managed to cut them off at the source and hopefully didn’t loose too much but it’s scary we are now in Vermont miles away from the situation and frankly in spite of the cold there are plenty of activities that me and my wife can do without thinking about the events of yesterday

    (Insert roger Moore eyebrow raise here)

    At your service:
    roger-moore-eyebrow.gif

    Now there’s a helpful chap..
  • edited February 2023 Posts: 1,708
    I will be talking to FBI when I get to CA , Hollywood Show/Piece of the Past and all their enablers will be flushed down the toilet for selling fake autographs......its too late asking for forgiveness now. jackmsell peddled 5k+ worth of fake 007 sigs last xmas : post death Shaw in sharpie with no fading , dubious Connery , Dalton doesnt even sign 007 items much less photos. Touch of Modern SF sold a fake sgd poster by all the 007s , no way on gods green earth was it real , blatant fraud & ToM a POTP lackey. Besides POTP certed items Jack also sells crap from our european forger Bondcollectibles......rareandsigned dot com in UK also likely provides POTP with fake Queens which POTP resells on liveauctioneers or thru other straw sellers
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited February 2023 Posts: 3,152
    I've never had the collector bug, but it's not good to see conmen just getting away with it. Rareandsigned were notorious over here a few years ago, but nothing's changed. Mind you, even reputable places like Omega Auctions fall for frauds - the 'original handwritten lyrics' for Bowie's Starman recently sold through them for £200,000, even though there's several handwritten copies and these were a self-evident modern forgery. Omega were warned, but went ahead anyway. Bowie's estate were warned and didn't even care. Scammers coin it in and the whole thing carries on. There's no deterrent - 'buyer beware' almost guarantees more of the same.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    edited February 2023 Posts: 9,032
    I wasn't aware of those scams you describe, @Tracy and @Venutius. But then, I never cared for autographs and signed memorabilia and wouldn't spend money on such things.

    Those machinations remind me of the (extremely talented!) forger Konrad Kujau, who in 1983 (in collaboration with the Nazi-obsessed reporter Gert Heidemann) managed to sell the alleged diaries of Adolf Hitler to the German magazine Stern for what was then $3.7 million, and managed to initially fool the majority of historians and graphologists. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Diaries.

    There is also a pretty good movie, more in the satirical vein, about this: Schtonk (1992), so named after the expression that Charlie Chaplin's Great Dictator Hynkel attributes to democracy and free speech. I don't know if there is an English-subtitled version available, but check on IMDb if you're interested.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,255
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    I wasn't aware of those scams you describe, @Tracy and @Venutius. But then, I never cared for autographs and signed memorabilia and wouldn't spend money on such things.

    Those machinations remind me of the (extremely talented!) forger Konrad Kujau, who in 1983 (in collaboration with the Nazi-obsessed reporter Gert Heidemann) managed to sell the alleged diaries of Adolf Hitler to the German magazine Stern for what was then $3.7 million, and managed to initially fool the majority of historians and graphologists. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Diaries.

    There is also a pretty good movie, more in the satirical vein, about this: Schtonk (1992), so named after the expression that Charlie Chaplin's Great Dictator Hynkel attributes to democracy and free speech. I don't know if there is an English-subtitled version available, but check on IMDb if you're interested.

    Oh I remember reading about that one. It had an everlasting effect on historians.

    Ok, my annoyance today. I'm not very active on social media, but I was posting something on Twitter which got a bit of traction, and some replies from half-witted Moscow fanboys. So I wanted to respond to those, but apparently Twitter thinks I'm on my daily limit. Which they state is 2400, not 24 ( I didn't even manage that amount). So, I decided to cmplain to Twitter, which is completely impossible. They decide what you can complain about, and this isn't an option....
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,032
    Simple. Quit Twitter. I never missed it, and with the lunatic EM at the helm I don't see why I should join it.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited February 2023 Posts: 3,152
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    I wasn't aware of those scams you describe, @Tracy and @Venutius. But then, I never cared for autographs and signed memorabilia and wouldn't spend money on such things.
    No, me neither. It's their money, they can spend it on whatever they like, obvs, but I'm glad I don't have that collector thing. There'll always be something you haven't got - I guess the search is part of the appeal, but I think it'd be a guarantee of frustration if it was me! What narks me is that these open shysters repeatedly prey on people who do like to collect stuff and nothing ever seems to happen to them. Goddamn this sense of right and wrong! ;)
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,032
    Not trying to excuse the scammers, but they certainly thrive on a lot of people who either actively like to be scammed or are too gullible to realise they are being scammed.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 3,152
    Gullibility does get tiresome, that's true.
  • edited February 2023 Posts: 1,708
    Point your finger at FBI , law enforcement & ebay , not at the victims : how many times ebay been told and yet they do nothing.....I wouldve called police immediately if I were running ebay
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,255
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    Simple. Quit Twitter. I never missed it, and with the lunatic EM at the helm I don't see why I should join it.

    That would be one solution, but it's an important information source for me concearning the war. And a good place to counter the Russia apologists. At least that way I feel I'm helping a bit.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    edited February 2023 Posts: 9,032
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    Simple. Quit Twitter. I never missed it, and with the lunatic EM at the helm I don't see why I should join it.

    That would be one solution, but it's an important information source for me concearning the war. And a good place to counter the Russia apologists. At least that way I feel I'm helping a bit.

    Good luck. It's probably as effective as countering those MAGA morons, QAnonists, Anti-Vaxxers, Scientologists... ("the list is endless", to quote M). But don't let me discourage you.
  • Posts: 12,466
    On a personal level, I’ve long felt the cons outweigh the pros of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. I know I didn’t miss either of them after trying them. It’s a wonderland of echo chambers, toxicity, and misinformation. But as with many things in life, every individual’s got to decide what’s healthier and more important to them. If someone feels more fulfilled by it, good for them, I’m happy without it.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    FoxRox wrote: »
    On a personal level, I’ve long felt the cons outweigh the pros of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. I know I didn’t miss either of them after trying them. It’s a wonderland of echo chambers, toxicity, and misinformation. But as with many things in life, every individual’s got to decide what’s healthier and more important to them. If someone feels more fulfilled by it, good for them, I’m happy without it.

    My social media diet is almost perfectly 'vegan', i.e. apart from this forum, I want nothing of it. I find the likes of Facebook and Twitter damaging to one's digital health in pretty much every possible regard. "Awful" doesn't even begin to describe it.
  • Posts: 12,466
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    FoxRox wrote: »
    On a personal level, I’ve long felt the cons outweigh the pros of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. I know I didn’t miss either of them after trying them. It’s a wonderland of echo chambers, toxicity, and misinformation. But as with many things in life, every individual’s got to decide what’s healthier and more important to them. If someone feels more fulfilled by it, good for them, I’m happy without it.

    My social media diet is almost perfectly 'vegan', i.e. apart from this forum, I want nothing of it. I find the likes of Facebook and Twitter damaging to one's digital health in pretty much every possible regard. "Awful" doesn't even begin to describe it.

    That’s my experience as well, I just try to be open-minded and think maybe some other people are wired differently and / or have better experiences than me. But yeah, I feel so much freer and happier without that stuff. I guess this site is a form of “social media,” but being more niche goes a long way in avoiding issues I think.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    FoxRox wrote: »
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    FoxRox wrote: »
    On a personal level, I’ve long felt the cons outweigh the pros of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. I know I didn’t miss either of them after trying them. It’s a wonderland of echo chambers, toxicity, and misinformation. But as with many things in life, every individual’s got to decide what’s healthier and more important to them. If someone feels more fulfilled by it, good for them, I’m happy without it.

    My social media diet is almost perfectly 'vegan', i.e. apart from this forum, I want nothing of it. I find the likes of Facebook and Twitter damaging to one's digital health in pretty much every possible regard. "Awful" doesn't even begin to describe it.

    That’s my experience as well, I just try to be open-minded and think maybe some other people are wired differently and / or have better experiences than me. But yeah, I feel so much freer and happier without that stuff. I guess this site is a form of “social media,” but being more niche goes a long way in avoiding issues I think.

    Well, compared to the acidic YouTube comment section, the bloody trenches of Twitter, or the asinine "look at my cute cats" nonsense of Facebook, I'd say we're doing okay here.
  • Posts: 12,466
    Amen to that. YouTube and Yahoo News comments probably are the worst two I've found.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    FoxRox wrote: »
    Amen to that. YouTube and Yahoo News comments probably are the worst two I've found.

    Agreed. Pick any random YouTube video and there's a good chance that comments have lapsed into "Left-wing BS" or "You $)!#ing ... go $)!# yourself!" posts within five minutes of the video's release. Most of these platforms look like a place where frustrated people who can't do a lot of thinking for themselves gather to celebrate the fact that they hate multiple things without knowing why. Trying to talk to these people is like trying to teach quantum physics to caged mice--all they want to do is break out and wreak havoc. Certain corners of the Internet have become cesspools of human trash. Meanwhile, FB and other platforms have encouraged people to suddenly stop minding spelling, interpunction, grammar, and general etiquette. We are currently feeding inordinate amounts of energy into a world-wide-web so that vast numbers of people can splooge their insane nonsense all over it. The only thing we get in return is that a handful of companies get "stupid rich" off the stupid and their stupidities.

    Oh, and those pictures of what you're having for lunch? Not interested. Good to see you're doing okay over there in the Bahamas, by the way. I'm robbing your place while I continue to nurture your 'likes' addiction. Oh, and please put your no-doubt very insightful message in English; I don't speak "hashtag", "duckface" or "emoji". Those languages are lost on me but I hear they can be quite useful when your life equates to recycling other people's opinions in a blatant attempt to impress people who won't even look at you in real life. Also, I prefer friends over fans. Also, I talk to people rather than text them. Also, I've seen very talented, young people (try to) commit suicide after digesting a harsh regime of cyberbullying. Yes, thank you, asocial media, for making it so easy for cowards to hide behind their keyboards and destroy other people's lives.

    So no, I'm not a fan. Social media? I'd rather sell a kidney than set up an account.
  • Posts: 12,466
    @DarthDimi You, sir, have conjured up a far better rant than I could have! I’ll just have to second everything again haha. But I do want to seriously add just how much I hate cyberbullying, and feel that the harshest laws against it should be in place and pursued at all times. A lot of them are just general bigots that hate groups like trans people (this could lead to an entire other rant, but transphobia seems to be one of the most rampant issues in particular right now), but of course the ones that target individuals are as horrible if not worse based on what’s done. Just sickening.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited February 2023 Posts: 24,179
    FoxRox wrote: »
    @DarthDimi You, sir, have conjured up a far better rant than I could have! I’ll just have to second everything again haha. But I do want to seriously add just how much I hate cyberbullying, and feel that the harshest laws against it should be in place and pursued at all times. A lot of them are just general bigots that hate groups like trans people (this could lead to an entire other rant, but transphobia seems to be one of the most rampant issues in particular right now), but of course the ones that target individuals are as horrible if not worse based on what’s done. Just sickening.

    You are correct, of course, @FoxRox.

    Old-school bullying is bad enough as it is. But cyberbullying is even worse. Since a direct, "real-live" confrontation between bully and victim can be avoided, the cyberbully can go on without ever considering the other person's feelings. (It's the same reason why many of us have no trouble shouting insults at other cars in traffic over minor annoyances, while we are mostly civil and tolerant in face-to-face situations.) The Internet, meanwhile, makes everything stick. Everything the bully types, every picture or video he posts, and every lie he tells, goes viral within seconds and is almost impossible to delete. Face-to-face, a bully's words are dissolved in the air; posted on some social medium, they are carved in stone. Anyone victimised by a bully in the school's playground can try to render the episode a distant memory with the passing of time, but victims of cyberbullying are in for a never-ending nightmare from which there is no escape, neither in time nor in space. "That" picture, video or gossip will always show up again, usually at the worst possible time, to destroy within seconds what you've spent months or years rebuilding.

    I've seen students of mine, the kindest young people, cross paths with cyberbullies one day, only to find themselves bereft of all their dreams, hopes and ambitions within a matter of a few weeks. Whatever they tried only seemed to make things worse. Their parents as well as we, their teachers, were either never informed about what was going on, or found ourselves just as powerless against cyberbullies cowering away behind anonymous accounts and the assured safety of their keyboards. Losing a student to the desperate act of suicide after an exhausting struggle with cyberbullies has made me very cynical and harsh towards cyberbullies. I don't care what psychologists tell me about the cyberbully's "difficult youth", "own experiences with abuse" and whatnot. If it were up to me, we'd lock them away in the deepest, darkest, coldest dungeon. If you want to pick a fight with someone, be a man and face your opponent directly. If you are so weak that you must resort to cyberbullying, then I'm positively done with you and I wish nothing but the worst upon you.
  • Posts: 16,163
    Occasionally I find it refreshing to skip social media and take a break. Sadly most of my old friends and society as it is today mainly seems to communicate via Facebook, Instagram, etc.

    Small hopefully amusing rant............
    I was doing a bit of grocery shopping with my Dad today. I ran into someone I barely know and honestly didn't recognize. Someone I maybe met once at a job, say 5 years ago. He suddenly starts baring his soul to me and asking my advice. Nautical advice and I had no idea what he was talking about.
    I answered his questions to the best of my knowledge and politely excused myself.
    Then I realized I was wearing my Navy peacoat and he had mistaken me for a sailor.

    lastdetail_thirteenbuttons_FC_470x264_061320160536.jpg?w=400

    I suppose if I don my fedora someone will come up and start asking me archeology questions?


  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 14,571
    @ToTheRight I'm sure he was very grateful that you took a first in oriental languages at Cambridge.
  • edited February 2023 Posts: 12,466
    @DarthDimi Again, so many valid points. The “argument” or rather excuse that a bully has had a hard life is complete BS. I suffered emotional abuse my whole life at the hands of my father and did not take it out on others with abuse of my own. And it’s sadly true “the internet is forever,” which has led to so much shame, guilt, depression, and other terrible results for people. People that try to ruin others based on stuff they did years ago since becoming a changed person also qualify as bullies and have my full contempt. I’m not 100% anti-cancel culture in the cases of recent and ongoing behavior that must be rectified, but I know I’ve done bad things as a different person in the past I feel far removed from, and I’d think others can agree.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited February 2023 Posts: 3,789
    Hahaha! I talked to an AI James Bond......I have a chance to talk to Bond...... :))

    Thanks to AI hahaha.....

    I don't know how AI could talk like that, but still, it's not perfect, I'm exhausted after the conversation :))

    It's not different to a messenger, just chatting, no pictures or videos, just messaging or chat.

    Here's the link: https://beta.character.ai/chat?char=JOWIEiYfDk-E-PyBybRUB_fSrMLFvJCPidDfvclzJvU&hist=Ef2qByf-on9eQ3FYylC2V90zLUT1y4AT_FmnHFhjwQ0
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited February 2023 Posts: 24,179
    FoxRox wrote: »
    @DarthDimi Again, so many valid points. The “argument” or rather excuse that a bully has had a hard life is complete BS. I suffered emotional abuse my whole life at the hands of my father and did not take it out on others with abuse of my own. And it’s sadly true “the internet is forever,” which has led to so much shame, guilt, depression, and other terrible results for people. People that try to ruin others based on stuff they did years ago since becoming a changed person also qualify as bullies and have my full contempt. I’m not 100% anti-cancel culture in the cases of recent and ongoing behavior that must be rectified, but I know I’ve done bad things as a different person in the past I feel far removed from, and I’d think others can agree.

    Our society has a duty to provide victims of abuse with everything they need in terms of physical and mental health care, legal assistance, and more. If it fails to do so, the democratic machine must try to "correct" the situation. But a hard life with or without abuse is never a good reason to start running other people's lives into the ground.

    @FoxRox No matter what we have done at some point in our lives, if we can learn from past mistakes and change our ways, become better and more empathic people, then that's always a good thing. We are inherently imperfect people, but the best of us, yourself included, try to change for the better. Bullies don't.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 3,152
    FoxRox wrote: »
    @DarthDimi Again, so many valid points. The “argument” or rather excuse that a bully has had a hard life is complete BS. I suffered emotional abuse my whole life at the hands of my father and did not take it out on others with abuse of my own.
    Same, FoxRox. Both parents were violent abusers, physically and emotionally, and it was constant - day-in, day-out, week-in, week-out, from as young as I can remember until I got out of home at 18. I didn't replicate their behaviour and hide behind it as an excuse - it made me determined not to be anything like them, instead.
  • edited February 2023 Posts: 12,466
    Venutius wrote: »
    FoxRox wrote: »
    @DarthDimi Again, so many valid points. The “argument” or rather excuse that a bully has had a hard life is complete BS. I suffered emotional abuse my whole life at the hands of my father and did not take it out on others with abuse of my own.
    Same, FoxRox. Both parents were violent abusers, physically and emotionally, and it was constant - day-in, day-out, week-in, week-out, from as young as I can remember until I got out of home at 18. I didn't replicate their behaviour and hide behind it as an excuse - it made me determined not to be anything like them, instead.

    I’m so sorry. I can’t speak to physical violence, can only imagine how much worse that made it all. But I’m very glad you made it out and wanted to be better. That’s how I imagine it should be for way more abused people is for others not to suffer the way they did. But for instance, with predators that prey on children, they bring up their own past experiences to excuse it. It makes it worse honestly; why would anyone want to repeat such a horrible cycle?
  • Posts: 380
    Never used any social media and never will. It worries me that young people especially feel that they have to be on it. Like it's the law you have to have Facebook or Twitter.
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