5 Thoughts for October 26, 2017

1. Pokemon Go: On October 8, I leveled up to 35. I'm now past the halfway mark to reaching level 36. I'm moving up faster than anticipated, now that I've figured out my system. I ran into another player the other night. She's at level 38 and only started around Easter of this year, but she's already spent $160. I haven't spent any money at all, so, you know, I'm anticipating that it'll be around next Summer when I reach level 40. I am enjoying driving people at higher levels bonkers, though, by hitting them over and over at the gyms, forcing them to waste all of their golden razz berries and spend even more money, while turning them into paranoid obsessives -- imagine not knowing when I'll strike and take your gym down. All that is needed on my part, is to change up my long walks to shorter, more frequent walks, to make quick hits on gyms. Oh, and two high-quality Dragonites. Aside from a 100% Mewtwo, there is no better attacker, period. But frankly, I've already achieved gold status on those gyms, so, I'm just bypassing them for the gyms where I haven't yet achieved gold.
2. Cleaning Trick: I just realized that to clean out stainless steel pots from stains, I can simply use bleach and water. The stains I'm talking about are coffee and tea stains (tannins) that color the coffee press and carafe. I should have figured this out a long time ago; instead, I stumbled on it while bleaching a pot filled with some mold from forgotten tea. Then, instead of letting that bleach go to waste, I plug up the sink and pour the solution into the sink to sit as it clears out whatever's staining the sink's bottom.
3. Kaspersky: I think the media has the details slightly wrong. I suspect that, rather than being able to search for files based on names, Russia was able to access the digital signatures of files being scanned on a computer to determine whether or not that physical computer should be targeted for additional access. AV software works by comparing the digital signature of known viruses/malware to files on a device, which is not the same as being able to read the entire contents of your computer's files or the names of the files. If you, for instance, had in your possession, the known digital signature of an uncommon software file that only certain people would have -- e.g. a specific RSA2048-related authentication software file that was primarily used by military and associated contractors -- you could then pinpoint your IP address targets for unpatched vulnerabilities. The point is, Kaspersky may not have willingly cooperated with Russian FSB, yet, their traffic is accessible to the FSB, one way or another.
4. Reusable/Paper Coffee Filters: For a good long time, I've been using a reusable gold tone filter, thinking it'd be saving me money and good for the environment. I've temporarily switched back to paper filters. While I recouped by $ on the reusable filter fairly quickly, the problem I'd found was that I was constantly using up a lot of water to clean the filter after each use while washing down a significant amount of grind down the drain (even though I'd dumped most of it in the trash.)  Also, the reusable filter lets through all of the fines, which creates a sludge at the bottom of the cup. It's nice not to have to fuss with cleaning the filter and drinking sludge.
5. Theory of Niger Deaths: It seems as though many protocols were broken, allowing the deaths of four Green Berets to occur in Niger. That no one seems to be willing to talk about it or explain why we have so many American forces -- 800 personnel -- in Niger, highlights one very strong possibility: Because Donald gave military commanders the freedom to deploy/use force (as they saw fit) without first receiving the go-ahead from Donald, the military ran with it and got into trouble, and are now reticent to admit errors even as Donald had remained uninformed about their actions until after the fact. Presented with the outcome, Donald faced an acknowledgment that his decision to free the military had come back to bite him in the ass -- something he refuses to confront. This is why, contrary to offering condolences and reassurances, Donald pushed back by telling the widow of La David Johnson that he knew what he was signing up for. By pushing the onus on the military, Donald's attempting to remove personal responsibility as Commander in Chief of the armed forces.