Stop Them From Stopping!

To gather information for this Blog Posting, I searched: “Idling at drive-thru restaurants is causing Global Warming”. If you want to check me out to see if I made up the idea for this Foolishness, have at it.

Come to think of it, the Drive-Thru was invented way back in 1930 when the Grand National Bank of St. Louis, Missouri set up the first Drive-Up Teller Window. The Drive-Up/Drive-Thru Window has been around a very long time. This means that the Drive-Up/Drive-Thru Window just might be the single biggest cause of Global Warming…Or might it not be?

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Drive-Thrus which allow a customer to pull up to a business’s window in their vehicle while exchanging cash for goods, often fast food, are beloved for their speed and convenience but they require waiting in a line of other cars, which all have their engines running.

Multiple City Councils in the Good Ole USofA are imposing bans on Fast-Food Drive-Thru Windows after this much-loved feature was linked to Global Warming.

Drive-Thru Windows are now under attack because they are seen by some as causing Vehicle Noise and Air Pollution, and several City Councils across the US (this is not a complete list…Orchard Park, NY, Creve Coeur, MO, Fair Haven, NJ, Long Beach, CA, Minneapolis, MN) have moved to ban restaurants from adding them to their business.

At this point they are not requiring that existing Drive-Thru Windows be bricked up but only that new construction cannot have them. The bricking up law will come later.

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This may come as a shock to you but I agree with these Forward-Thinking City Councils, however, I think they need go further.

Why are we stopping at Stopping and Idling at Fast Food Drive-Thru Windows? If we are going to fix this problem, we ought to go to the Heart of the Problem.

I say let’s Get Rid of Traffic Lights! To think of the amount of Vehicle Noise and Air Pollution these lights create boggles the mind! Add to this the humongous amount of wasted gasoline and we have a Worldwide Crisis of Epic Proportions!

Did I just hear some of you bring up the possibility of increased Traffic Accidents? Those some of you disappoint me. So what if there are a few million more traffic accidents. I think it is a fair trade off when you think there will be millions of drivers who will not get into accidents and, therefore, they will be rewarded by getting to their Fast Food Drive-Thru Windows Lineup sooner!

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Oh my gosh! I just realized there is a major problem with my otherwise perfect Get Rid of Traffic Lights Idea.

If the Drive-Thru Windows would be eliminated, people would be forced to park their cars and go into their Fast Food Restaurant and buy from the counter. This would increase the wait time at the counters.

Do you see the problem? You don’t? Again you disappoint me.

Because parents will be standing in line this extra time, more babies and fur babies will die in hot cars than ever before.

If you think I am getting carried away by warning about Hot Car Baby Deaths, click below…

https://www.kidsandcars.org/how-kids-get-hurt/heat-stroke/

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Are The Bad Guys Smarter Than The Good Guys?

Sergeant Schultz on Hogan’s Heroes used to say, “I know nothing!”

If Sergeant Schultz were a Modern-Day Computer Hacker, he would be saying, “I know everything!”

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If there are any Good Guys out there, they are not very good at stopping the Bad Guys (Hacker Guys) from having their way with us.

Here is a string of headlines I found on the Internet about what the Hacker Guys (Bad Guys) have been finding out about us.

These Bag Guys Are Very Good At Being Bad…
Ø Approximately 200 million Words with Friends and Draw Something accounts reportedly accessed.

Ø Comodo Forums Hack Exposes 245,000 Users' Data.

Ø Over A Billion Malicious Ad Impressions Exploit WebKit Flaw to Target Apple Users.

Ø New Critical Exim Flaw Exposes Email Servers to Remote Attacks.

Ø Exclusive — Hacker Steals Over 218 Million Zynga 'Words with Friends' Gamers Data.

Ø More SIM Cards Vulnerable to Simjacker Attack than Previously Disclosed

Ø Hacker Releases 'Unpatchable' Jailbreak for All iOS Devices, iPhone 4s to iPhone X

Ø Microsoft Warns of a New Rare Fileless Malware Hijacking Windows Computers

Ø DoorDash Breach Exposes 4.9 Million Users' Personal Data

Ø Outlook for Web Bans 38 More File Extensions in Email Attachments

Ø iOS 13 Bug Lets 3rd-Party Keyboards Gain 'Full Access'

Ø 1-Click iPhone and Android Exploits Target Tibetan Users via WhatsApp

Ø Russian APT Map Reveals 22,000 Connections Between 2000 Malware Samples

Ø Microsoft Releases Emergency Patches for IE 0-Day and Windows Defender Flaw

Ø Update Google Chrome Browser to Patch New Critical Security Flaws

Ø IT Firm Manager Arrested in the Biggest Data Breach Case of Ecuador’s History

Ø Smominru Botnet Indiscriminately Hacked Over 90,000 Computers Just Last Month

Ø Thousands of Google Calendars Possibly Leaking Private Information Online

When I used to listen to the Radio as a child back in the Old Days (where I come from) I thought every criminal (bad guy) had been caught or was in the process of being caught. 

If any of these Hackers are being caught, it is a well kept secret. All we hear about in the news are reports about them perpetrating their Dastardly Deeds but we never hear about them being apprehended and punished.

Many years ago I read about a Teenage Virus Maker in Europe who had been caught. His virus had cost companies worldwide millions of dollars. He was sentenced to house arrest and prohibited from using his computer for 6 weeks. At his “sentencing” the judge told him to be careful because a lot of people were really mad at him.

We can only hope that today’s Caught Hackers (if there are any) are being more severely punished than this Computer Deprived Teenager.

Would I kid u?
Smartfella

A Fella Public Service Announcement

Our Connected Society is a Wonderful thing…Or is it?

Our Smartphones are Wonderful things…Or are they?

The Internet is a Wonderful thing…Or is it?

All of the above Wonderfuls are Wonderful but that does not mean they are Wonderful all the time.

Below is an excerpt from an information piece sent to me by Malwarebytes. It tells us that we had all better be aware that there is a lot of danger hidden in our Modern Electronic Toys.

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Stalkerware is software that was created to monitor a person’s activities on their computer or, more commonly, their mobile device without the person being monitored knowing that they are being monitored. Though often advertised as a tool for parents to track their children’s activities, these apps are more commonly used for nefarious purposes.

Here are some of the things Stalkerware Applications can do while hidden from view…

 Track unsuspecting victims’ locations

 Record calls

 View text messages

 Pry into locally-stored photos

 Rifle through web-browsing activity

Here is a list of information that Stalkerware can gather (all of which can be sent to a remote user) as well as activities an abuser can conduct on a user’s device without their knowing or consent...

 Can see your Geographic Location by using your GPS

 Can see the IP Address of your device

 Can have access to your SMS Message History

 Can see your Phone Call History (including call length)

 Can see your Browser History

 Can see your Contacts (including phone numbers and email addresses)

 Can see your Email Account Credentials

 Can see your Email Content from all accounts accessed from device

 Can see Photos, Videos, and hear Audio Recordings and stored on the device or connected cloud account

 Can Take Pictures using your front/rear camera

 Can Record Audio using your device’s microphone

 Can remotely Turn On and Turn Off your device

Malwarebytes detects Stalkerware Applications through the longtime mobile threat category monitor, which is a subset of potentially unwanted programs (PUPs). Because some of these Stalkerware Applications can be used “legitimately,” they are currently flagged as programs users might not want on their phones. However, once presented with what Stalkerware can do (or once gaining knowledge of a program that’s been installed on their device without consent), many users will likely want to delete these apps.

These applications represent real-life threats to domestic abuse victims, who can readily be tracked down (along with their children), even when hidden in shelters.

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Be Afraid…Be Very Afraid.

I wish I were kidding u.

Smartfella

Those That Say George Orwell Was Wrong As Hell When He Predicted That One Day Big Brother Would Be Watching Our Every Move Ought To Rethink What They Think About Ole George…Or Ought They?

What harm can a few Cameras do?

George wasn’t kidding u.
Smartfella

It’s Awful Out There!

This is not my first Blog Posting. Actually it is somewhere around the 1,400th Blog Posting but who’s counting?

I did one about the Traffic Report People running out of drastic words because they are constantly screaming at us thing like, “Highway 123 Is a Disaster Area!”

I also did a blog about the Wind Chill Factor and how it was an example of the Weather People trying to make things seem as bad as possible. They define Wind Chill Factor as the Effect of Wind and Temperature on Bare Skin. Since I hardly ever go outside naked on cold nights, I really could not care less about their Wind Chill Factor.

Today they (whoever “they” are) are at it again. For the first time I heard them (“them” is “they”) say, “Traffic Misery Index Reading”. 

Is this really necessary?

 Do we really need an index misery reading for us to worry about the traffic we probably are not driving in?

 For that matter, do we really need an index misery reading for us to worry about the traffic we are driving in? 

 If we hear about a Critically High Traffic Misery Index Reading what are we to do about it? 

 Should we pull over? 

 Should we call 911? 

 Should we tweet our Congressman?

 Now that we know the Traffic Misery Index Reading, will we get home sooner or later?

I think we will get home later because it is really hard to drive a car in the Fetal Position.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

The New York Stock Exchange Ain’t Paying Attention

Do you waste time going to my Blog only to find out that I have not yet posted a new one? Save yourself the time and disappointment by asking me to add your email address to my Blog Notification List.  Then all you need do is Click, Sit Back and Enjoy my latest Foolishness. Send your request to be added to my Blog Notification List with your email address to zooombuggy-forii@yahoo.com.

What is wrong with the Stock Market? Many times when everything seems to be going the hell in a hand basket the Stock Market does not seem to notice…

• The Price of Gasoline goes up and so does the Stock Market.
• The Unemployment Rate goes up and so does the Stock Market.
• The Federal Debt goes up and so does the Stock Market.
• The stock Market even goes up when Iran says that after they wipe Israel off the face of the Earth tomorrow they are going to do the same to the Toledo the day after tomorrow.

The only thing that used to make the Stock Market nervous was a few years ago when it appeared that the country of Greece was about to go belly up. We heard such “logic” as, “Things were really bad in Greece today but yesterday things were really really bad in Greece. Since one really is one less than two reallys, the Stock Market went up today”.

If the Stock Market ever starts paying attention to the world around it, it is going to go into a rapid and prolonged decline.

This Fella doesn’t purport to know what I am talking about when it comes to the Stock Market but I bet I know more than the Smart Fellas who push the Up or Down Button behind that big curtain at the New York Stock Exchange.

Would I kid u?
Smartfella