Dose of Paranoia - 2025-07-06
It gets worse before it gets worse
Important Stuff
It is sort of sad that the BBC’s response to the ongoing long term collapse of democracy and discourse here in the Colonies is… (drum roll please) a paywall for American users. Back in the Day, countries which had not fallen to fascist dictatorships would use their news outlets to help people get access to less/differently biased news. Today, it is a profit opportunity. Welcome to late stage capitalism. But I will probably sign up, having lost pretty much all confidence in American Media.
And something to consider when thinking about how advances in AI are affecting authors, filmmakers, artists and other creators - at this pivotal time in technology and policy, there is no one in charge at the US Copyright Office. This is not a bug, it is a feature of the US government’s continuing abdication of its responsibilities to citizens. But on the bright side, we will have this to look forward to. Will someone please tell the White House that the movie “Idiocracy” was not meant as a blueprint?
And given the MAGA death cult assault on vaccines (as well as public health in general) - now is the time to get caught up on anything you might be missing before the insurance companies take advantage of the situation to not pay for them.
Infosec/Scam Stuff
Big Beautiful Scams - Given this week’s gutting of health care coverage for millions of Americans by the cruel/criminal Trump regime, other criminals are going to jump on the bandwagon to exploit vulnerable consumer’s fears and lack of information to commit frauds and scams. The FBI took some time out from the important mission of investigating “enemies of the President” to issue a warning about some of these types of scams. This is just the tip of the iceberg, though.
New ATT SIM Swap Protections - If you are unfortunate enough to be using ATT Wireless, now is the time to enable a new protection they are offering to protect their users from SIM swap attacks. These attacks are a favorite of fraudsters as they give the bad guys control of victims’ mobile phones allowing them to intercept calls and texts and perform impersonation attacks. More about SIM swap attacks here.
More mobile madness - Apparently, SMS blasters are now being used in London to send masses of (fraudulent) text messages to potential victims’ phones from cars roaming busy cities, bypassing carriers’ anti spam protections. These types of attacks seem to use old 2G phone technology and here in the US, most of these old networks are gone. Apparently, TMobile still has some 2G networks in some parts of the US, but these are being phased out.
Mobile payments scams - With the ubiquity of mobile payment apps, the ability to pay by phone in situations where they were not once available makes life more convenient for customers - and scammers. In one example, unwary patrons of young “water boys” in Atlanta selling cool drinks found that a bottle of water to cost them $1000. I’ve also been seeing reports of street vendors like ice cream trucks and hot dog vendors overcharging patrons who pay with cards or phones, especially in tourist areas. Make sure the vendor has clear posted prices - this has also been part of the scam in many cases.
Crime does pay - bigly - I will note that this article comes from the Bible of capitalism, Forbes Magazine - they found it important to point out that Trump’s bribes, um, pardons have cost American taxpayers and scam victims over $1.5B in lost restitution payments. So far. After less than six months of his regime. Fuck this guy and everyone who voted for him.
Tech Stuff
Here is a story to make you think - activists in LA have made a facial recognition site which allows anyone to upload a photo of an LAPD officer and find out their name and badge number by accessing public records. Obviously, cops are not happy about this. My first take is that except for some very specific circumstances, police officers doing their jobs properly should have no issue with someone being able to see their name and badge number. This information should be displayed on their uniforms when interacting with the public in non undercover encounters. But this is scary technology as you can bet your bippy that the regime is increasing its use of this technology against the people and I am sure corporations are using this in their stores for targeted marketing and who knows what else. A great reminder that we have to consider all of the ways that any “cool” new tech can be used or misused.
Tiny nose robots - Who needs Kleenex when you can have swarms of tiny nose robots! Add some AI and put this on the blockchain and I see the next nasal unicorn here. And I just like saying “tiny nose robots.”
Connections - Here is a cool little tool for writing and brainstorming - enter any two words and it will show a map of connecting words and concepts - like this. Been having fun with this - and this is an example of a computer assisted writing tool that doesn’t suck all the creativity out of writing.
Fun Stuff
Burger King in Japan seems to both want to celebrate one of my favorite parts of Japanese culture (Sumo) and out America America when it comes to mega burgers - I present to you the deceptively named “Baby Body Burger” which they describe as “Yokozuna class.” And it is officially endorsed by the Japan Sumo Association.
Here in Weehawken, one of our town landmarks is our stately water tower. But I think I prefer what the folks in Punjab have done with their water towers…
I want to start a semicolon preservation society.
And finally, save this story to read on a day when you have had a bad commute to work. It will make you feel better. Of course, if your commute includes the little preview of Hell that is the Port Authority Bus Terminal, have a look at what the Port Authority has planned for the future….