this is a central component of our existing legal foundation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Big_M_Drug_Mart_Ltd
Monday, March 30, 2020
this has already been ruled unconstitutional repeatedly and i would stand in solidarity with businesses that defy this order and stay open.
i would encourage somebody to challenge this, legally.
https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/most-quebec-stores-will-be-closed-on-sundays-as-coronavirus-cases-mount/wcm/ca148c14-0557-4145-b5ff-d173473baef8/
i would encourage somebody to challenge this, legally.
https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/most-quebec-stores-will-be-closed-on-sundays-as-coronavirus-cases-mount/wcm/ca148c14-0557-4145-b5ff-d173473baef8/
at
23:47
alright, ontario. let's see a show of force against fascism, here.
this is not constitutional, and it's not evidence-based. it's just fascist bullshit.
ontarians rights are under attack?
what do we do? stand up, fight back!
let's overrun these barricades. let's march through the streets. let's make sure that the government knows that it can't do this kind of bullshit and get away with it, that it needs to be addressing the problem at it's source, and not passing laws that make everybody suffer, based on no evidence at all.
let's put doug ford in his place, on this.
at
23:19
i'm not a park person myself, but i'd challenge you to present me any actual science that suggests this is in any way dangerous to anybody. not speculation, not hyperbole, not "expert advice" - actual peer-reviewed science.
*crickets*
so, i don't think they're being reckless at all, and i will stand in solidarity with people that are pushing back against unreasonable and evidence-free restrictions on personal freedom, of which i would agree this is defined as.
if we all simply avoid the elderly as much as possible, we should be able to get through this without the need for draconian rules.
and, i hope that people continue to prioritize their freedom, and continue to push back.
at
14:00
the next review is march 5th/6th.
as mentioned, i don't think i need to go for groceries immediately on the 31st. if i can get the master document for january updated first, that would be preferable. and, i can perhaps avoid the rush of panicking nitwits.
as mentioned, i don't think i need to go for groceries immediately on the 31st. if i can get the master document for january updated first, that would be preferable. and, i can perhaps avoid the rush of panicking nitwits.
at
09:23
this is a review of the bummer/buildings show at ufo on feb 24, 2020.
the second act was called buildings, and are a little more elaborate, a little more developed in their sound, and a little less boneheaded, over all. i had not heard of this act before, but, looking into it, learned that they're on their fourth record, after some lengthy down periods. they're still fundamentally a northwestern punk band, but, and i suppose this was always true of the best northwestern punk bands, they're pulling in influences from a collection of related genres - shoegaze, no wave, noise rock and a little bit of psychedelic rock, or doom metal, as well. i wouldn't quite say it sounds contemporary, but it could be mistaken for it, if that makes sense.
as mentioned, i was kind of keen to get out of the house; this was my third trip out this year, but my first at a show like this, which is also in a genre that is demonstrating increasing scarcity amidst an aging core audience. i'm not giving up on new music any time soon, especially new electronic music, but you do have to expect me to act my age sometimes, too. this is the kind of music i grew up with....
a local act called teener closed the show, as they frequently do whenever bands of this style come through town. i guess they're just kind of the go-to to fill out the bill, for right now. i've consequently seen them a couple of times. on this night, they played as a three-piece because their singer had strep-throat.
this is marble bar in detroit, which is more often a dance club; i was catching fly pan am in windsor, on this night.
it actually didn't feel that bad at this point, as the wind had died down. or, so i thought, anyways.
as i was walking, i suddenly started to become cognizant of the reality that i was in a dangerous place, temperature wise. my face was experiencing mild frostbite. worse, i found myself fighting a sudden urge to sit down, which is very bad news, in that situation.
i went to an unusual elementary school on an army base that had a very small number of students and found myself in a split 5/6 class, twice - in grade 5 and then again in grade 6, and in fact with the same teacher both years. the instruction was often scattered, anachronistic or outright absent. as such, one thing that i found myself doing was watching a tv series called the voyage of the mimi, and doing what was essentially english-class style reading comprehension in place of actual science instruction.
and, i did get home.
and, i warmed myself up in a warm blanket.
and, i ate some nachos.
and, i took a hot shower.
and, i watched the debates.
and i got some sleep...
what do you do when you plan around going to two concerts within a few days, under the expectation that the weather won't be so bad for either, and then come up against the fact that the weather is actually going to be absolutely awful for the second, at the last minute?
you made sacrifices for the first show, so you don't want to cut your losses if you can avoid it. maybe you skipped a beer. maybe you came home an hour early. whatever it was, you want to tough it out, if you can, so that the sacrifices you made were not in vain.
i woke up on this day to a blizzard warning, which is not much of a challenge for an ottawan, with the important caveat that finding a way home at the end of the night was truly essential, and the border was consequently somewhat of an unwanted and annoying barrier. canadians don't fear the cold, but we do respect it; we know when to push it, but we also are very conscious of when not to, because we've all been in those situations, where we're teetering on the brink of hypothermia; unless, of course, that we were foolish enough to die of exposure, in which case we don't have to worry about making that mistake again. the benefit of hindsight is 20/20, right? glib humour aside, i would not have wanted to wander too far from the tunnel on this night and risk being found in a snow bank and, thankfully, i didn't need to - the venue is walking distance from the tunnel, something i wish i could take advantage of more often, nowadays. detroit isn't detroit anymore, everything has been exported to the suburbs....
that said, i realized pretty quickly that the weather was about as brutal as i could tolerate in the attire i left the house in. it's not like i was really a big fan of either of these acts, i really just wanted to get out of the house for a few beers and a loud, boneheaded rock show in what i thought would be acceptable weather after being couped up since december, but the wisdom of the excursion was admittedly somewhat questionable; in hindsight, though, given that the rest of 2020 is more or less cancelled, i'm actually glad that i managed to get out. it could be a while before i get another chance.....if i even survive the boredom...
it's not that the temperature, itself, was even that bad; in truth, it actually really wasn't. the issue on this night was more about the wind, and the brutality of walking through it. standing in one spot for a while actually really wasn't that bad. it was moving through the -20 windchills and the blowing, blinding snow....
there were no pancake breakfasts on this night, though, once i succeeded in trudging my way through the snow to the venue.
i was expecting a late show, so i didn't miss anything by showing up late, thankfully.
the first band was from kansas (why is kansas in missouri, anyways?), and i'm more or less just going to post the video. while they have a more melodic component to them, they fundamentally exist in the same space as a goofy, boneheaded band like the melvins, meaning i can only really truly enjoy this from a bit of a distance, but sometimes that's good enough for the night. sometimes that's all you want, and all you need to enjoy a few hours of escape....
there were no pancake breakfasts on this night, though, once i succeeded in trudging my way through the snow to the venue.
i was expecting a late show, so i didn't miss anything by showing up late, thankfully.
the first band was from kansas (why is kansas in missouri, anyways?), and i'm more or less just going to post the video. while they have a more melodic component to them, they fundamentally exist in the same space as a goofy, boneheaded band like the melvins, meaning i can only really truly enjoy this from a bit of a distance, but sometimes that's good enough for the night. sometimes that's all you want, and all you need to enjoy a few hours of escape....
the second act was called buildings, and are a little more elaborate, a little more developed in their sound, and a little less boneheaded, over all. i had not heard of this act before, but, looking into it, learned that they're on their fourth record, after some lengthy down periods. they're still fundamentally a northwestern punk band, but, and i suppose this was always true of the best northwestern punk bands, they're pulling in influences from a collection of related genres - shoegaze, no wave, noise rock and a little bit of psychedelic rock, or doom metal, as well. i wouldn't quite say it sounds contemporary, but it could be mistaken for it, if that makes sense.
as mentioned, i was kind of keen to get out of the house; this was my third trip out this year, but my first at a show like this, which is also in a genre that is demonstrating increasing scarcity amidst an aging core audience. i'm not giving up on new music any time soon, especially new electronic music, but you do have to expect me to act my age sometimes, too. this is the kind of music i grew up with....
a local act called teener closed the show, as they frequently do whenever bands of this style come through town. i guess they're just kind of the go-to to fill out the bill, for right now. i've consequently seen them a couple of times. on this night, they played as a three-piece because their singer had strep-throat.
this is marble bar in detroit, which is more often a dance club; i was catching fly pan am in windsor, on this night.
i was out in plenty of time to catch the bus, and eventually got home to canada after what was a somewhat lengthy wait at the bus stop with some very cold kids coming back from an edm party at the magic stick that cost them each $50 to get in. they had just missed the previous bus, and were consequently seriously considering calling a cab, somewhat naive at the cost - i had to talk them out of it, although there was almost enough of them there to justify the $60 fee up-front, if they hadn't already bought tickets.
it actually didn't feel that bad at this point, as the wind had died down. or, so i thought, anyways.
i did try villain's a second time, but i didn't recognize the bartender. somebody outside recognized me, though. i bummed a smoke, but i didn't stay; i was starting to feel the cold, and knew i had to get in. that respect for the cold became a dominant concern, and when that happens it is sudden and it is absolute - you get home, and you don't fuck around...
i need to reiterate that, if you were to check the forecast, you wouldn't be led to believe it was a particularly cold night. further, i had a toque and gloves, in addition to a sweater, with my overcoat. i was actually dressed relatively well. but, the fact that i had at that point been outside for well over an hour in subfreezing high humidity, coupled with the wind, which had picked back up again, was the kind of thing that can shut you down for good, as the icicles start building up on your hair, and the frost begins to claim you as it's own.
as i was walking, i suddenly started to become cognizant of the reality that i was in a dangerous place, temperature wise. my face was experiencing mild frostbite. worse, i found myself fighting a sudden urge to sit down, which is very bad news, in that situation.
i went to an unusual elementary school on an army base that had a very small number of students and found myself in a split 5/6 class, twice - in grade 5 and then again in grade 6, and in fact with the same teacher both years. the instruction was often scattered, anachronistic or outright absent. as such, one thing that i found myself doing was watching a tv series called the voyage of the mimi, and doing what was essentially english-class style reading comprehension in place of actual science instruction.
in hindsight, i think some heavy criticism of the curriculum is well-warranted, but it did teach me valuable life lessons about hypothermia; you don't want to experience a sensation of warmth when you know you should be cold, and you don't want to sit down. so, i dragged myself, i pushed myself - i talked out loud, i counted, i did everything i could to make sure that i strenuously avoided any thoughts about stopping.
and, i did get home.
and, i warmed myself up in a warm blanket.
and, i ate some nachos.
and, i took a hot shower.
and, i watched the debates.
and i got some sleep...
at
07:41
this is a review of the man or astroman show at el club on feb 24, 2020.
this is another show that i instantly realized i had to get to, whether the weather was going to cooperate or not, and then almost missed, this time due to the need to sleep a little bit before the show.
i can't claim it was much of an exciting night outside of the show, though; there were no adventures to report, no conversations of particular interest. my attention was largely focused on trying to get to the venue before the rain started (which i failed at.), and then in getting myself home in the rain after the show. it was an early night, and i arrived late, missing both opening acts.
they did play some newer material, and i noted in a previous post that it's leaning towards a riffier, dirtier, almost grungier kind of sound that is maybe a little less campy and more evocative of the rougher edges of the american southwest. they also brought out a dot matrix printer and performed a reinterpreted piece from eeviac to give the guitarist time to change a string; it reminded me a little of autechre's gantz graf, but i doubt that meant much to the crowd. they were, overall, though, exactly what would be expected, and i think that's what most people wanted.
there was some talk about the venue in the smoking section, and i'm going to repost my initial analysis to that question. it's not that i'm unsympathetic to the concern, it's that i'm not sure how substantive it actually is.
i haven't turned the laptop back on yet. i've been dreading it. it should come up out of hibernation, but if it doesn't then i'll have to reimage.
let's hope that i can get the clean-up finished before i crash for a few hours this morning.
i am planning on hitting the grunge show tonight. the damage last night wasn't that bad, because i was able to use the balance on the debit card, and i just avoided buying beer. so, i didn't spend nearly what i said - it was $23 usd for the ticket, $10 usd at the 7/11 and $10 cdn for the bus. yes, it costs me $5 to cross the border and $5 to get back. and, yes, it adds up. it's still cheaper to live here, though.
essentially, my choice to avoid buying expensive beer at el club last night means i'm good to go for cheap beer at ufo tonight. yeah, i didn't set the fucking prices, don't look at me. if it was reasonable, i would have bought at least one..
i'm waiting until i can order last sunday before i do these february reviews all at once. but, there is still a lot of lingering concern regarding the fiasco at el club, with people worrying about crossing boycott lines. personally? i'm a free thinker, i'm not interested in being told what to do by the central committee on ethical consumption in late capitalism, and they can rule on the issue all they want, i don't give a fuck. but, i have to be honest - i didn't find the arguments i heard to be convincing.
and, you can browbeat me on it if you want, i don't really care. what i want is a convincing argument, not a demand that i follow your moral code, which i may or may not agree with.
but, i'll be equally clear that i wouldn't go to a place that i thought was actually horribly sexist or horribly racist. for a bastion of white supremacism, the bar seems to have a lot of black employees (they always did. it's detroit.) and seems to cater disproportionately to the black community. if there was a problem, they made a legitimate attempt to adjust to it.
that said, i don't go there on random nights, either, for the reason that they've largely exited my sphere of interest; this has largely not been much of an issue for me for the reason that the bar no longer caters to my tastes, anyways. so, i haven't been finding myself in this conflicted space, where i'm trying to figure out if i should go or not because i haven't had any interest in what they're booking, anyways.
the bar has a great sound system. it's not likely that random touring acts have any idea what happened, so i'm not going to tar them by association for something they don't know about, whatever the merits of it. so, if a band i like does play the space, i don't see any logical reason why i wouldn't go.
man or astroman formed in the early 90s and have been one of my favourite acts for a very long time. getting to see them was a kind of a bucket list thing. while the sound system at el club really is great, and the band does legitimately have substantive latin influences, i'll also acknowledge that it would have been a lot easier had they played the magic stick, or perhaps delux fluxx. but, for whatever reason, they didn't and i had to make a choice between missing out on a band i've been listening to for most of my life or an empty statement of solidarity with something that i'm not really convinced of the value of.
that's not a hard choice, for me.
i'm sorry if you find that upsetting, but i think you're wrong.
this is a more accurate representation of the set than the previous video i posted:
i walked right back to the tunnel after the show, took the bus back to canada and tried to stop to talk to somebody at villain's on the way home, but they were closed - as they always are on monday nights.
there were nachos, there was a shower & there was some sleep.
this is another show that i instantly realized i had to get to, whether the weather was going to cooperate or not, and then almost missed, this time due to the need to sleep a little bit before the show.
i can't claim it was much of an exciting night outside of the show, though; there were no adventures to report, no conversations of particular interest. my attention was largely focused on trying to get to the venue before the rain started (which i failed at.), and then in getting myself home in the rain after the show. it was an early night, and i arrived late, missing both opening acts.
they did play some newer material, and i noted in a previous post that it's leaning towards a riffier, dirtier, almost grungier kind of sound that is maybe a little less campy and more evocative of the rougher edges of the american southwest. they also brought out a dot matrix printer and performed a reinterpreted piece from eeviac to give the guitarist time to change a string; it reminded me a little of autechre's gantz graf, but i doubt that meant much to the crowd. they were, overall, though, exactly what would be expected, and i think that's what most people wanted.
there was some talk about the venue in the smoking section, and i'm going to repost my initial analysis to that question. it's not that i'm unsympathetic to the concern, it's that i'm not sure how substantive it actually is.
i haven't turned the laptop back on yet. i've been dreading it. it should come up out of hibernation, but if it doesn't then i'll have to reimage.
let's hope that i can get the clean-up finished before i crash for a few hours this morning.
i am planning on hitting the grunge show tonight. the damage last night wasn't that bad, because i was able to use the balance on the debit card, and i just avoided buying beer. so, i didn't spend nearly what i said - it was $23 usd for the ticket, $10 usd at the 7/11 and $10 cdn for the bus. yes, it costs me $5 to cross the border and $5 to get back. and, yes, it adds up. it's still cheaper to live here, though.
essentially, my choice to avoid buying expensive beer at el club last night means i'm good to go for cheap beer at ufo tonight. yeah, i didn't set the fucking prices, don't look at me. if it was reasonable, i would have bought at least one..
i'm waiting until i can order last sunday before i do these february reviews all at once. but, there is still a lot of lingering concern regarding the fiasco at el club, with people worrying about crossing boycott lines. personally? i'm a free thinker, i'm not interested in being told what to do by the central committee on ethical consumption in late capitalism, and they can rule on the issue all they want, i don't give a fuck. but, i have to be honest - i didn't find the arguments i heard to be convincing.
and, you can browbeat me on it if you want, i don't really care. what i want is a convincing argument, not a demand that i follow your moral code, which i may or may not agree with.
but, i'll be equally clear that i wouldn't go to a place that i thought was actually horribly sexist or horribly racist. for a bastion of white supremacism, the bar seems to have a lot of black employees (they always did. it's detroit.) and seems to cater disproportionately to the black community. if there was a problem, they made a legitimate attempt to adjust to it.
that said, i don't go there on random nights, either, for the reason that they've largely exited my sphere of interest; this has largely not been much of an issue for me for the reason that the bar no longer caters to my tastes, anyways. so, i haven't been finding myself in this conflicted space, where i'm trying to figure out if i should go or not because i haven't had any interest in what they're booking, anyways.
the bar has a great sound system. it's not likely that random touring acts have any idea what happened, so i'm not going to tar them by association for something they don't know about, whatever the merits of it. so, if a band i like does play the space, i don't see any logical reason why i wouldn't go.
man or astroman formed in the early 90s and have been one of my favourite acts for a very long time. getting to see them was a kind of a bucket list thing. while the sound system at el club really is great, and the band does legitimately have substantive latin influences, i'll also acknowledge that it would have been a lot easier had they played the magic stick, or perhaps delux fluxx. but, for whatever reason, they didn't and i had to make a choice between missing out on a band i've been listening to for most of my life or an empty statement of solidarity with something that i'm not really convinced of the value of.
that's not a hard choice, for me.
i'm sorry if you find that upsetting, but i think you're wrong.
this is a more accurate representation of the set than the previous video i posted:
i walked right back to the tunnel after the show, took the bus back to canada and tried to stop to talk to somebody at villain's on the way home, but they were closed - as they always are on monday nights.
there were nachos, there was a shower & there was some sleep.
at
05:29
no, listen.
if they're at 10%, it's unstoppable; you give into your arrogance, like you should have in the first place, you protect the weak and you get out of the fucking way as it falls.
the other option is to try to stop the piano with the umbrella.
the other option is to try to stop the piano with the umbrella.
but, you think you're smart.
at
04:25
nono, let's be rigorous about this.
i'm not claiming that it must be immunity. don't misrepresent me; i'm a clear writer, you'll lose in the end.
what i'm pointing out is that we have two equally valid hypotheses, and we can't know which is more correct until we do more targeted testing.
maybe i'm overshooting the number of cases, in which case the fascist tactics were likely effective, after all.
but, if my mortality rate is even close to correct, then there must be millions of undocumented cases, and they must be nearing a case load that should be bringing on natural immunity.
so, you could look at it either way - is this the inevitable reality? is the whole world chasing rainbows and unicorns in trying to "flatten the curve", as it caves into ignorance spread over social media? or is this really the absolute worst case scenario, and about as bad as it can get, if you miss your chance to keenly adopt fascist tactics with zeal?
we need more data.
but, i have my hunch as to which is more correct. you'll note that scientists prefer the term hypothesis to hunch, but some people might argue that's a big word, and fancy language that nobody understands.
we need more data.
but, i have my hunch as to which is more correct. you'll note that scientists prefer the term hypothesis to hunch, but some people might argue that's a big word, and fancy language that nobody understands.
with 2500 official deaths in the united states, the true number of cases is probably more like 2-3 million, and they're probably largely in new york. if this ends up regional like it is now, the right model might be to expect cases to rise and fall in specific hot spots, and you might end up near immunity before you even figure out what to do.
so, if there's already a million cases in new york city, you're already at 10% and you basically just need to tell old people to stay inside and let it burn out.
so, if there's already a million cases in new york city, you're already at 10% and you basically just need to tell old people to stay inside and let it burn out.
at
04:21
again: if there's 11,000 dead and the fatality rate is 0.001 then there's 11 million infected people.
ok, you want a fatality rate of 0.002? 5.5 million.
there's only 10 million people in the affected region.
so, i'm deeply skeptical about claims that fascist police state tactics have accomplished anything at all.
at
04:06
it's time to take a scalpel to windows 7 and slipstream as many fixes as is possible.
soon.
https://www.nliteos.com/download.html
soon.
https://www.nliteos.com/download.html
at
03:58
my understanding is that the spike of cases in montreal is, again, due to people refusing to stop their religious rituals.
these are the problems: religion and nursing homes.
at
03:26
alright.
my hair is absolutely terrible from sitting inside for weeks. it's just so dry in here, and that's pretty much the worst possible thing for your hair. or your skin. it's frustrating. i'm going to look like these dying geriatrics soon, if i have to stay inside much longer. so, we're going to try this again in a few hours.
for now, let's hope i can get over this hump and finish up february.
it seems like the disgusting cop upstairs is smoking inside, again.
i hope she gets covid-19 and coughs to death.
my hair is absolutely terrible from sitting inside for weeks. it's just so dry in here, and that's pretty much the worst possible thing for your hair. or your skin. it's frustrating. i'm going to look like these dying geriatrics soon, if i have to stay inside much longer. so, we're going to try this again in a few hours.
for now, let's hope i can get over this hump and finish up february.
it seems like the disgusting cop upstairs is smoking inside, again.
i hope she gets covid-19 and coughs to death.
at
03:21
what did i do today?
i was done eating around 13:00 and got a response from my isp, explaining that the extra bandwidth must be due to a virus, and i should change my wireless password.
i've told them at least five times that i don't have a wireless network, and have gone to great lengths to demonstrate that the data they're logging isn't entering my network. so, i sent them a series of snotty emails, and then took a nap, planning to shower a little later.
but, i was flummoxed, so i was up again in a few hours, and got a response from a manager at the isp, who offered to send me a test modem to verify that my mac address had been cloned. i told him i'd take the test modem, but i wasn't going to purchase it, at which point it became clear that he was just trying to sell me the modem. fucking capitalists.
in fact, i've been through something like this with teksavvy before, and i'm starting to wonder. are they basically just sending me bullshit stats to try to coerce me into upgrading, or to give me bullshit overage charges, like a bank charges user fees? is that what's really going on?
after napping again for a few hours (so that's two three hour naps), i got into a technical back and forth with the supervisor in the evening regarding the question of changing the mac address, threatening to hack my modem with a bus pirate and change it myself if they won't do it via server-side scripting (which they can do). and, i seem to have gotten through, finally.
we're in disagreement over the likelihood of a split in the line, if we take the situation at face value. they're saying that they don't want to send a tech because a cloned mac address could log in from any live cable. i'm pointing out that if my landlord cloned my mac address, he'd need to find a live cable, and the most obvious way to do it is to split my line. the point of testing with the test modem would be to prove the line was split; that wasn't registering with him, as he continued to insist that he could be logging in from saskatchewan, or something. ridiculous, of course, but the downside of cheap internet is that it's very hard to get a tech out, because the resellers have to rent them from the isps; teksavvy would have to order a tech from cogeco, and it's pricey. but, i'm not buying a new modem, and had to be really aggressive about the point to get it across.
we settled on a compromise solution - they will contact cogeco and ask how many ips are connected to the mac address, where the ips are, etc. and, if they can demonstrate to themselves that there are two users on the mac address, they will react accordingly.
that's fine.
and, then i napped for a few more hours, before getting up a little after 23:00. so, i got a full day's sleep in three installments.
in the mean time, what are my stats for the day?
wan: 3.73 gb down / 1.16 gb up
lan: 2.33 gb down / 1.59 gb up
wireless: no traffic
again: this suggests some concerns on my local network. 2.33 down is believable; 1.59 up doesn't make much sense, that's 3-5x too much. but, let's get the ridiculous stats on the sever dealt with, first.
my workaround is going to mean that i'm really only going to be connecting via the chromebook for a good, long while, and i can frequently powerwash it to try to frustrate an attacker. i'm clearly getting a lot of dropped packets on the way in, indicating somebody (probably the person that cloned the mac address.) is keying in on something. as i have completely reformatted my 90s laptop, if it is the cause of that upload spike then the pathogen is on the network. i haven't connected with my windows 7 laptop in some time, now, and my pc has the nic disabled in the bios - it stays off the internet. permanently. so, i suspect that fixing this is the same thing as changing my mac address, and perhaps the same thing as changing it frequently.
the smell in here has been getting worse all day. so, now it's time to take that shower.
i've told them at least five times that i don't have a wireless network, and have gone to great lengths to demonstrate that the data they're logging isn't entering my network. so, i sent them a series of snotty emails, and then took a nap, planning to shower a little later.
but, i was flummoxed, so i was up again in a few hours, and got a response from a manager at the isp, who offered to send me a test modem to verify that my mac address had been cloned. i told him i'd take the test modem, but i wasn't going to purchase it, at which point it became clear that he was just trying to sell me the modem. fucking capitalists.
in fact, i've been through something like this with teksavvy before, and i'm starting to wonder. are they basically just sending me bullshit stats to try to coerce me into upgrading, or to give me bullshit overage charges, like a bank charges user fees? is that what's really going on?
after napping again for a few hours (so that's two three hour naps), i got into a technical back and forth with the supervisor in the evening regarding the question of changing the mac address, threatening to hack my modem with a bus pirate and change it myself if they won't do it via server-side scripting (which they can do). and, i seem to have gotten through, finally.
we're in disagreement over the likelihood of a split in the line, if we take the situation at face value. they're saying that they don't want to send a tech because a cloned mac address could log in from any live cable. i'm pointing out that if my landlord cloned my mac address, he'd need to find a live cable, and the most obvious way to do it is to split my line. the point of testing with the test modem would be to prove the line was split; that wasn't registering with him, as he continued to insist that he could be logging in from saskatchewan, or something. ridiculous, of course, but the downside of cheap internet is that it's very hard to get a tech out, because the resellers have to rent them from the isps; teksavvy would have to order a tech from cogeco, and it's pricey. but, i'm not buying a new modem, and had to be really aggressive about the point to get it across.
we settled on a compromise solution - they will contact cogeco and ask how many ips are connected to the mac address, where the ips are, etc. and, if they can demonstrate to themselves that there are two users on the mac address, they will react accordingly.
that's fine.
and, then i napped for a few more hours, before getting up a little after 23:00. so, i got a full day's sleep in three installments.
in the mean time, what are my stats for the day?
wan: 3.73 gb down / 1.16 gb up
lan: 2.33 gb down / 1.59 gb up
wireless: no traffic
again: this suggests some concerns on my local network. 2.33 down is believable; 1.59 up doesn't make much sense, that's 3-5x too much. but, let's get the ridiculous stats on the sever dealt with, first.
my workaround is going to mean that i'm really only going to be connecting via the chromebook for a good, long while, and i can frequently powerwash it to try to frustrate an attacker. i'm clearly getting a lot of dropped packets on the way in, indicating somebody (probably the person that cloned the mac address.) is keying in on something. as i have completely reformatted my 90s laptop, if it is the cause of that upload spike then the pathogen is on the network. i haven't connected with my windows 7 laptop in some time, now, and my pc has the nic disabled in the bios - it stays off the internet. permanently. so, i suspect that fixing this is the same thing as changing my mac address, and perhaps the same thing as changing it frequently.
the smell in here has been getting worse all day. so, now it's time to take that shower.
at
01:15
i've been online since the mid 90s, and i've never really experienced it without an adblocker. over the last few months, i've been forced to bareback, to go online without a condom, and i've developed the same kind of general mental block on ads that i do everywhere else in society.
i'm very much post-paradoxical, when it comes to my reaction to ads - i don't even notice they're there, broadly, unless they get to me at the worst point, in which i'm likely to never interact with the manufacturer of the product, if not the product itself, ever again. i really hate them.
but, i've noticed this walking down the street, and i do a lot of walking because i don't have a driver's license; i've never driven a car before, for environmental reasons. it sort of hit me one day, walking home - i know there's a giant billboard over there, and i know there's another one down the street, etc. i recognize the existence of the ads. i don't know what the ads actually say.
so, i'll walk by the same billboard every day for weeks, months or even years and recognize it's there, without remembering what it actually says - because i filter it out of my conscious existence. i've learned to ignore it at a subconscious level, the way i'd ignore everything else that happens around me that isn't important to me, or doesn't affect my life.
we only process about 1% of what we actually experience, or so they say. most of what we see & hear just goes in one orifice and out the other. we hear a dog barking down the street, but it doesn't register. we see a forest, but we don't isolate the trees. i'm very much that way with advertising - it's just background noise, something that i know exists, but that my subconscious brain processes identify as irrelevant to my conscious, waking self.
i've more or less built up the same kind of immunity to ads on the internet over the last little while. i know they're there, so i know i'll need to hit x five or six times when i open a web page. i don't stop to learn what they are; what i've learned is to hit the mute button before i open a news site. so, i know i'm deleting dozens of ads a day, but i don't know or care what the ads are for.
if nothing else, i'll go back to windows to bring back adblock.
and, if i've been grouchier than usual lately, that's probably a big part of it - the fact that i'm dealing with all of these fucking ads, all of a sudden.
and, if i've been grouchier than usual lately, that's probably a big part of it - the fact that i'm dealing with all of these fucking ads, all of a sudden.
at
00:43
this is absolutely hilarious.
what year is it? 1920? fuck.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-bars-nightclubs-and-cannabis-growers-dont-qualify-for-bdc-covid-1/
what year is it? 1920? fuck.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-bars-nightclubs-and-cannabis-growers-dont-qualify-for-bdc-covid-1/
at
00:14
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