Digital Poverty — What One Man’s found. (Pt 2: Job Hunters.)

20th June, 2020.

(Pt 2: The Unemployed)

Foreword.

Just so you know?

This is the second in a set of pieces I’ve done on digital poverty*.

~≈†≈~

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 6-4-2017

Hmmm … 

Did I mention I rarely make use of illegal stuff on the ’Net?

He says … !

I’m ALSO the kind of person who has nothing hide.

I wouldn’t know how to access the Dark Net’s famed ability to let you buy all sorts of illegal stuff.

But … ?

I value the fact that — if I’ve understood the law correctly — the Government has no power to read anything I do online.

NOR access any encrypted messages I send with things like iMessage, or Snapchat.

However?

The Government are planning to remedy that.   By adding powers to a bill, demanding a back-door to those messages.

AND the ability to do real time surveillance of people’s internet based communications.

At least, according to this piece.

Personally?

I realise there’s good arguments for doing so.

But … ?

There’s the online privacy thing.

I don’t think a government should be able to turn itself into Big Brother: by violating my privacy.

Or yours, come to that matter.

Personally?

I’m thinking it’s time to dig up my copy of Tor.

I think the Government wants to violate my privacy, and read over my shoulder.

That’s rude: if nothing else.

~≈Ÿ≈~

The Daily Teaser — 29-10-2013: ’Net AGAIN … !

Well, that’s it: the Saint Jude’s Day Storm is official heading for points, elsewhere.

Although not without having done some damage.

As you can see from the attached photo, one tree in Brentwood High Street — by the old ruins — went down.   As had quite a few others.

I know I noticed a few that had gone down on the way to Basildon, yesterday: including in Shenfield Common.

I kind of wish I’d got off the bus about then: the photos would’ve come out a touch better.

Across the country, people have lost power: and a few, sadly, have lost their lives.

I personally, can only offer my condolences to them.

Still … 

Brentwood, itself, doesn’t seem to have come off to badly.   For which one can only be thankful.

Let’s get a move on, shall we?

~≈Ï≈~

Yesterday’s Teaser saw a welcomed back Debbi* putting in her answers: along with letting us know she felt sad about the death of the late Lou Reed, ALSO bagged five out of six.

Let’s see how she — and you — do with today’s questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the ‘How To,’ license and video … 

Q1) 29th October saw the first computer to computer link-up over what was to become the Internet.   What was the name of the network linking those two computers.

Q2) In which year of the 1960s was this … ?

Q3) That network was funded by which US government department: the Department of Defense, Treasury or Education … ?

Q4) What — in web addresses — does HTTP stand for … ?

Q5) The system that provides many internet addresses — IPv4 — means internet addresses consist of a binary number that’s how many digits long: 32, 64 or 128 digits?

Q6) Finally … a website address is also known as a URL. URL is short for Uniform Resource … what … ?

Here’s yesterday’s questions ands answers …

Q1) 28th October, 1958, saw Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli elected as Pope.   What name did he use as Pope … ?

A1) John 23rd.

Q2) Who was Roncalli’s predecessor as pope … ?

A2) Pius 12th.

Q3) 28th October, 1886, saw President Grover Cleveland dedicate the Statue of Liberty: the Statue is in a harbour in which US city?

A3) New York.

Q4) 28th October, 1962, saw President Kennedy thank Soviet Russia for offering to remove missiles: from which island … ?

A4) Cuba.

Q5) 28th October, 1904, saw Panama establish diplomatic relations with which South American country … ?

A5) Uruguay.

Q6) Finally … 28th October, 1918, saw Czechoslovakia become independent of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.   Name either of Czechoslovakia’s successor states … 

A6) The Czech Republic and Slovakia.

I’ll leave you with this though from J. G. Ballard …

“Twenty years ago no one could have imagined the effects the Internet would have: entire relationships flourish, friendships prosper…there’s a vast new intimacy and accidental poetry, not to mention the weirdest porn. The entire human experience seems to unveil itself like the surface of a new planet.”

J. G. Ballard.

And with this tune … 

Have a good day.

*      Very true, Debbi, very true.   (Did I ever tell you I bought Transformer, Debbi … ?   You couldn’t be a student in the 1980s, WITHOUT having a copy … !)

The Daily Teaser — 24-9-2013: The Commercial Internet

I’ve got to admit, I’ve got a documentary on, that I taped, last night: A Very British Murder, a potted history of grisly murder tales.

Interesting stuff, I have to admit.

Although, it has to be said, I hadn’t realised quite how much of a ham the presenter — historian, Dr Lucy Worsley — has turned out to be.

Happily singing along with assorted folk songs and doing a lot of the re-enacting, herself.

Still … it’s rather good.

After all, who doesn’t enjoy a gruesome murder, every-so-often … ?

QUITE … !

~≈î≈~

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi* putting in her answers: along with scoring four and a half† out of five, she also let us know she felt there were similarities between the Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings movies.

Let’s see how she — and you — do with today’s rather commercial questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the ‘How To,’ License and video … 

Q1) 24th September, 1979, saw the launch of the world’s first commercial internet service.   By which company … ?

Q2) That company is — or was — an ISP.   What does ISP stand for … ?

Q3) The debut also saw the first commercial what: email, file transfer service or video streaming … ?

Q4) In which year of the 1990s did the company open a UK service: 1993, 1994 or 1995 … ?

Q5) Finally … that original company is now owned by which well known American company … ?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 23rd September, 1980, saw Bob Marley play his last live concert.   Which of his hits includes the line “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind” … ?

A1) Redemption Song.

Q2) 23rd September, 2000, saw Sir Steve Redgrave win his fifth Olympic gold medal.   In which sport … ?

A2) Rowing.

Q3) 23rd September, 1909, saw the publication of the first part of The Phantom Of The Opera.   Who played the Phantom, in the classic 1925 silent film version … ?

A3) Lon Chaney, Snr.

Q4) 23rd September, 1932, saw the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz renamed what … ?

A4) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Q5) Finally … 23rd September, 1951, saw news that the UK’s king has had part of his lung removed.   Which King was this … ?

A5) George 6th.

I’ll leave you with this promotional piece …

“CompuServe's basic service costs only $5.00 per hour, billed in minute increments to your charge card.”

From CompuServe’s advertising.

And this … 

Have a good day … 

*        I thought they were very different films, myself, Debbi: but I’d grown up on Tolkien.   I do know Frank Herbert and David Lynch were expecting issues with the film version of Dune: deserts, and rebels, fighting an evil empire … 

†        Yeah, sorry about that, Debbi: Lon Chaney Snr and Jnr were two different actors … 

BBC News - Valve boss Gabe Newell calls Windows 8 a 'catastrophe'

BBC News - Valve boss Gabe Newell calls Windows 8 a 'catastrophe'

Hmmm …

Now, I’ve got to admit, I, I saw the linked piece, this morning, when I opened my proverbial mail.

Seemingly, Gabe Newell of Valve Software has publicly stated he thinks that the upcoming Windows 8 operating system will be a “catastrophe”.

You can probably imagine what I make of that, can’t you … ?

But at any rate, from reading the article, it seems Mr Newell seems to be griping about Microsoft’s plans for a Windows 8 App Store.

I know it sounds daft, I’ve been using a Mac, now for some years, and know both how awkward it is finding software for it: and how handy the Mac App Store is.

I’m also very aware that, although Apple have tightened security for Mountain Lion, I’m also aware one has a certain amount of choice over exactly what software gets onto your system.

You can pic and choose, and DON’T — on the Mac — have to go through the Store.

But there‘s one thing I HAVE noticed in that article.

That Microsoft is — in addition to adopting an App Store model for Windows 8 — is ALSO copying Apple’s price structure.

In other words, if you’re a developer wanting to sell your wares through Microsoft’s shopfront: you’ll get charged 30% of the gross.

I think that’s what’s getting the complaint … 

About A Browser …

You know, I have to admit, I’ve had a (comparatively) busy couple of weeks.

What with scanning in the family photos.

Which, to be frank, is my slightly sneaky way of telling you that I meant to get this post done a couple of weeks ago.

But have only just now got round to starting it.

I would say Cie La Vie.

But that usually gives me too many mental images of Irish girl bands for my comfort, frankly … 

At ANY rate … ?

At ANY rate, you’ve probably figured I like following the tech news: frankly, I can’t afford as much new bits as I’d like, but that doesn’t stop me watching the BBC show, Click, to give you an example.

So, when I noticed this piece on the BBC’s site, about an Australian company charging customer’s extra for using the almost antique — in IT terms — Internet Explorer 7, I paid attention.

Especially as I’d also seen this article, about how Google were phasing out support for older browsers.

Which got me thinking.

The Work Programme I have to attend uses older PCs running Windoze XP and IE7.

As does my local job centre.

As far as I can tell, so does Brentwood Council.

As — keep following me, here — does Essex County Council: and their library services.

You can imagine what I did, can’t you … ?

I fired up Mail.app and sent an email off to the relevant person.   (The Interim Head of Libraries and Culture, Martin Palmer.)

Here’s what I said …

Dear Sir, 

My name is Paul, and I’m a blogger has taken something of an interest in technology.

And am a keen user of my local library, here in Brentwood.

Indeed, I’ve occasionally written about it: both favourably and otherwise.
And I have to admit, there’s something  I’d like to know.

As you may or may not know, Google has recently announced it will be dropping support for older web-browsers: including, but not limited to, Internet Explorer 7, Safari 3, and Firefox 3.5.

Mostly on the grounds it finds those — and earlier — to be both slow, and insecure, compared to more modern browsers.

Additionally, Microsoft has marked the fact Internet Explorer 6 is used by less than 1% of the world’s population.

What you may not ALSO be aware of, is the fact that Australian retailers, Kogan.com, have recently introduced a surcharge of 6.8%: specifically on users of Internet Explorer 7.

The company has similar security issues with the aging browser: but has introduced the charge in order to encourage users to switch to more modern browsers, as it found redesigning its site for IE7 took up more work than designing it for Firefox, Safari and Chrome.

Now, I have to admit, I’m raising this with you, as I cant help notice Brentwood Library is still using IE7.

Now, I’m sure you’ll remind me that the library’s copy of Internet Explorer 7 usually makes use of Bing as it’s default search engine: and that — as we are in the UK — not everyone will be using the Australian equivalent to Amazon.

However … ?

I’m very aware that accessing my Facebook account at Brentwood Library is becoming tricky.   What’s more, accessing my blog — hosted by Google’s Blogger service — is well-nigh impossible: something I’d expect to apply to other Google services, like YouTube or Googlemail, although they’re not something I’ve used from the library.

I also believe that other search engines — Yahoo, Jeeves and Microsoft’s own Bing service — will soon join Google in stopping support for IE7 and other aging browsers.
I also feel that I can’t be the only person to have been affected, this way.

So I have to ask a question, at this stage.

When will Essex Libraries be replacing Internet Explorer 7 with a more modern browser … ?

Now, I realise that many use mobile devices to access the web at their local library: and that upgrading Essex Libraries service will cost.

But I’m also aware that there’s equally as many — if not more — who rely on the computers at their local library.

And while I realise there’s a manpower cost involved, and that this needs to be done across Essex County Council services as a whole … ?

I also think not upgrading — at least to Internet Explorer 8 — will affect services for the people of Essex: AND for the councillors and council workers that serve them.

Yours,

And THAT’S possible one of the longest letters I’ve sent.

As soon as I get an answer to that … ?

I’ll pass it on.

That’s assuming I don’t get distracted … 

BBC News - Microsoft reveals details of its Windows Store plan

BBC News - Microsoft reveals details of its Windows Store plan

You know, that's the other thing I mean to tell you about!

Suddenly ... ?

EVERYBODY's doing it ... !

Well, I say everybody ...

I've got to admit, I came across that little article, a couple of days ago, now.

Basically, to the effect that Microsoft is planning to release its own version of an app store, with the upcoming release of Windows 8.

Hmmm ...

The times really are a-changin'.

I've got to admit, I'm vaguely pleased to hear it.

Although it does - long term - make my chances of finding a retail job in the software sector harder, it should - at least in theory - bring software prices down.

Here's hoping, anyway ... !

Safari 5.1.2 Update

Hmm …

Well, now, that’s a thing.

I’ve got to admit, I cam home after taking a stroll into town to do some shopping, and to put a post up.

And got home to find out two things.

Firstly … ?

Well, firstly, I found I’d left Bruce on.

And secondly … ?

While I’d been out, the Software Update system had updates for me.

One minor one to Keynote, the software I use to make the Teaser videos.

And another to Safaricode>, to bring it from Safari 5.1.1 to Safari 5.1.2.




According to the release notes that Apple have released with it, it “Address issues that could cause hangs and excessive memory usage” and “Address issues that could cause webpages to flash white”.




Like in the second screen-shot, I should add, which was taken AFTER I installed the update.




I’ll let you know if it helps, AFTER I’ve used it …

About A Router

Hmmm …

I think — hopefully — that I’ve hit some sort of jackpot.

Possibly.

You see, I’ve just literally had the BT engineer ’round to sort out my connection.

Very pleasant and professional chap called Kenny, if I’ve remembered his name correctly.

What’s he’s told me — if I’ve understood thing’s correctly — is that he’s had to put in a new main socket, with a built-in ADSL microfilter.

And replace my router.

I’m not TOO sure of this, but seemingly, the combination SHOULD be able to boost an incoming signal from the exchange.

Hopefully.

The other thing … ?

Is to mention that the replacement router he gave me is one of the BT HomeHub 3s.

Which — bar dropping the signal when a wire worked loose — is working reliably, so far.

The interesting bit … ?

Is that the USB port on the Home Hub 3 is functional, unlike the one on the 2.

Those screen grabs … ?

Are of one of my flash drives, happily plugged in, readily accessibly to any machine on my network.

Hmmmm …

You know, if I had the money … ?

That’d be giving me ALL sorts of ideas …

About the Router ... !

Now ...

I'll be frank, but the text on this post is possibly going to look a little stranger than usual, until I get home and do some copy editing.

Over Mother's for dinner, don't you know ... ?

But at ANY rate ... ?

I thought I'd briefly let you know I'm due a visit from a BT engineer, tomorrow, about my connection.

Seemingly, it's not necessarily the router that's causing the problem.

No ...

It's Signal Interference, between the analogue phone line ... and the broadband line.

Hence the dropout, apparently.

I'm not the only person to seemingly suffer with this, either.

Bless him, I know Kevin D's had it, as did former Councillor, Karen Chilvers, until she switch to their fibre optic connection.

And I ALSO know it's something one or two of my other neighbours has suffered with.

As soon as he's been, tomorrow ... ?

I'll let you know what happens!

About that Router … AGAIN

Hmmm …

I’ll be a TOUCH vernacular, if I may … ?

But RIGHT at the moment, I’m a touch annoyed with British Telecom, at the moment.

The Eternal Problem with the Home Hub 2, unfortunately.

To use an old clique … ?

If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

Having seemingly solved — or worked around — the BT Fon problem, a few weeks ago, I’ve NOW got the problem of the actual broadband line, itself, playing up.

I’ve now got the f¶#k∞ng thing next to Bruce, and hooking me up to the ’Net through an old fashioned ethernet cable, rather than the usual WiFi connection.

Mostly because router seems to be losing a signal from the line … !

Understandably … ?

I am MIGHTILY hacked that the signal — from BT’s end — seems to keep being lost, even though I’m up to date with my bills*, and have both a fair end-user’s working knowledge of both his OS of choice, and the USUAL steps I need to take to re-start the router itself.

Pain in the proverbial bum … ?

You betcha … !

All I can hope is that BT offer SOME sort of cashback, considering the amount of sheer frustration this has caused … !

* I try and make sure of that.

The Comantra Scam: You mean You Phone at Weekends … ?

Oh …

Dear …

LORD …

You know, I’ think I’ve got to give whoever it is in Bangladesh that’s been running what I’ve come to call the Comantra Scam — in other words, a phone scam where the scammers attempts to con you into giving them remote access to your PC, and then sell you dodgy software to ‘get rid of any problems’ — credit for persistence!

Because … ?

Well, because I’ve just had another phone call from these guys: only this time, calling themselves the ‘Windows Defence Department’.

Deary, deary me …

And I’ll be honest … ?

I’m thinking their working their way through the phone book.

Because it ALSO turns out my mother had a call, this morning, as well … !

An FB Workaround.

You know, I’ve got to ask, what on EARTH is all the fuss about … ?

No, really … ?

You see, what with one thing and another, there’s a lot of talk about online security, and about HTTPS versus HTTP.

Just in case you DIDN’T know, the former is a somewhat more secure version of the latter, and used by both Twitter and Facebook to improve their users online security.

Or partially used by Facebook, I should add.

You see, a lot of the time, when you use many of the games on FB, it’ll ask you if you want to switch off secure browsing.

You have to, in fact, to use the games concerned.

That’s not an out-and-out criticism, I should add: but it IS fiddly.

Especially when you consider that the secure browsing feature isn’t automatically turned back on, once you’ve finished playing the game.

There’s a work around, though.

Or a couple, I should add.

First off … ?

Logging OUT of Facebook, quitting your browser, then re-strarting it, and logging back in.

Those of us using a desktop or laptop can do it the easy way, of course.

Just go to the URL bar at the top of the browser windo. And in-between the ‘http’ and the ‘:’, type the letter ‘s’.

And press ‘Enter’, or the ‘Reload’ key combo.

There.

Wasn’t that easy … ?

I’m just hoping you notice the new Favicon for Nik Nak’s Old Peculiar, while you’re there …

Copyrght, Hargreaves … And stuff …

Oh, well, now …

It looks — LOOKS — like I can honestly turn around and say “Well, FINALLY” with both a certain amount of force.

And a certain amount of relief, as well.

Because, after a certain amount of consideration, Business Secretary, Vince Cable has announced the government’s response to the Hargreaves Report on Intellectual Property and Growth.

And it’s favourable.

»»·««

Just so you know, the report was published some time ago, and deals with the state of UK copyright law in the modern age: and, in part, how to deal with one or two of the anomalies of UK copyright law.

The bit of it that’s always struck me and many others as stupid, here … ?

Is the simple fact that in the UK, one cannot do what’s become known as format shifting.

In other words … ?

We can’t, legally, copy a CD or DVD we own from the original optical media, to our hard drive, and then to an iPod, MP3 player, flash drive*, external back up drive, home theatre computer … or the earlier models of Apple TV streaming device.

Ridiculous, really, isn’t it … ?

But, at ANY rate … ?

As you’ll have probably figured out, I’ve always thought that that was — speaking frankly — bloody stupid.

The law, in this sort of case, is not only an ass, but a bloody slow one, at that.

It’ll still be slow.

But if you’ve been watching the news, today, you’ll know that Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced the the coalition government will — in possibly the only good move I think they’ll make — be accepting those conclusions.

He also announced that the government will be dropping the web-site blocking aspects of the Digital Economy Act, that passed into law, just before the general election.

Mostly because of the legal moves afoot to force ISPs to block them: something I believe to be very dodgy ground. After all, it’s turning the people who provide you and me with access to the ’Net into policemen. And policemen I’d rather not have stomping around MY hard-drive, just on principle, thanking you … !

But, at ANY rate … ?

At any rate, this hopefully means that, now Mr Cable’s announced this … ?

It means we can all heave a collective sigh of relief.

Because we’re now no longer being made criminals, unintentionally.

»»·««

* I mention that as many modern models of DVD and Blu-Ray player/recorders, PVR and television set have USB ports on them, and happily play any correctly encoded video file on a USB flash drive.

The Comantra Scam: Trust me, I’m WETTING meself …

Oh …

Dear …

Oh, deary, deary me …

And I say that, whilst ALSO admitting I’m trying not to wet meself, despite this being a serious subject.

You see …

Well, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve written — a few times, now — about a dodgy company based in Bangladesh, called Comantra.

Who’ve been phoning people, for at least a year, to try and con people into to giving them remote access to their PCs: installing some seriously nasty software, and then charging the innocent mark to remove it.

I first wrote about it, roughly a year ago, when a friend of mine, Kelly, got a call from them.

And, Kelly, being Kelly, she immediately started asking around, to see if anyone else thought it was as much of a dead rat as she did.

Of course, ever since then, the Gazette’s been keeping an eyeball peeled, and managed to report at least three of these attempts.

And I’ll be honest … ?

I’ve just had a call from them, myself, calling themselves Online PC Services.

Here … this is the email I sent to the Gazette about it …

Dear Sir

I’ve got be honest, I’ve been reading your articles about scam phone calls from people claiming to be able to remotely ‘fix’ your PC, with interest

As you may know, I’ve been following the story for a while, and written about it on my blog, after a couple of friends tell me about calls they’ve had.

Well, I’ve got to confess, I’ve just had a call from the same people: today, at 12:53.

Coming from a bad line, from a caller with a heavy Indian accent.

The chap — at least I believe it was a man, the line was very bad — identified himself as coming from Online PC Support, and told me their investigations showed there was a problem with my computer.

I got him to repeat that a couple of times to make sure I’d heard correctly.

He basically told me their records were showing them there was a problem with my PC.

And I’ve got to confess, I was trying desperately to NOT laugh at him.

Because — me being me — I immediately turned round and said “I haven’t had a problem with my Mac, for years”.

They put the phone down on me.

Which was rude, I thought. You’d EXPECT a bunch of scammers to be politer, after all.

But I’m going to thank the Gazette, here. It’s nice to see others beside me and tech fans, making people aware of this sort of scam.

It really does need continual highlighting.

Lets hope that gets published.

After all, I’m thinking this sort of thing really does need continual highlighting.

Comantra: They’re Baaaaaack

Oh, my word … !

Comantra — or one of its successors that’s kept the name — is still going … !

Just to fill you in, briefly, a few years ago, a friend of mine — Kelly, the singer — got in touch with me to tell me about a rather worrying phone-call she’d had: boiling it down to its simplest re-telling, the caller tried to con Kelly into handing over remote control of her machine, SEEMINGLY intent of infecting it with some form of malicious software.

And then charging Kelly a small fortune to — seemingly — remove it.

Kelly, after asking me, and a few other way more computer literate friends of hers, managed to turn them down, without handing over control of her machine, OR her bank account details.

But, afterwards, let me write up a post about it.

It wasn’t long after that, that the Brentwood Gazette had an article about what sounded like the same people — Comantra — who’d been in touch with a local businessman — Jason Lovell, who, ironically, runs a computer security company — getting a call from them.

Nice to scoop the Gazette … !

But at any rate, that wasn’t THAT long after I’d written about Kelly.

»»·««

What did tickle me, though … ?

Was the fact that they’ve written ANOTHER article, this week: about widow, Kimie Markarian.

Who’d had a call from what sounds a LOT like Comantra.

Seems they’d tried the same thing on her … !

You can imagine my response, can’t you … ?

I fired off an email … !

Here …

Dear Sir,

I’ve GOT to admit, I read your article about the widow targeted by fraudsters, this week, with no real surprise.

After all, this is something that I, as a blogger, have covered: as has the Gazette, itself.

Quite some time ago, as I recall.

So hearing that the same sort of scam is still around?

Isn’t surprising.

What DOES surprise me, however … ?

Is the simple fact that the company that supply operating systems and hardware — and both Apple and Canonical, makers of Ubuntu, are as bad as Microsoft, Dell and HP in this regard — still don’t hand out basic security tips to people who purchase their products.

I’ve been using a Mac for years, which isn’t as prone to virus and malware as a Windows based PC is.

But I’m also aware of basic good practice, for the few that’s out there.

Little things: don’t download stuff from sites I don’t trust. Don’t open an email attachment that you’ve not asked for.

Now, I’ve been online for a while: so this is stuff I’ve learnt over the course of that.

But for someone like Mrs Makarian … ?

Well …

I’m positive someone unfamiliar with using a computer would’ve appreciated having some basic security tips: either in the box, in the local paper, or from the sales staff they bought the computer from.

Let’s hope that gets published … !

But, at ANY rate … ?

At any rate, I’m thinking I have a point …

Microsoft, Apple, and others … ?

Should REALLY be doing a bit more to help those of us who aren’t computer literate be a touch safer.

If nothing else, though … ?

Well …

I’ll leave you with THIS link, courtesy of former Councillor, Karen Chilvers.

And warn you now: the cheeky sod’s have got a Facebook page … !

Virgin and Cabaret: A warning and a film.

You know, I’ve got to admit, there’s time’s I’m glad I use BT as my ISP, I really am.

OK, granted they’re not perfect.

But at least they’ve not had to issue the warning that Virgin has, today: that some of their customer’s machine’s have been infected with the SpyEye trojan: about 1500 of them.

Hmmm …

Nasty: I’ve got to admit, while I’m very aware there’s not that many bits of malicious software for the OS X platform, most of the ones that ARE out there … ? Are trojans: you can bet I’ll be keeping my eye’s peeled …

JUST on the off-chance … !

»»·««

At ANY rate … ?

At any rate, I’m going to give a BIG Thank You to an old friend and work colleague, James.

Bless him, I’d posted to my Facebook wall that I’d never actually seen the film, Cabaret, some time ago.

And, bless him, James let me have his old, spare copy.

Like I say, I think a BIG Thank You’s in order.

BIG Thank You, there, James!

And I think I can now officially say I’ve seen what had to be Liza Minelli’s break-out role.

And admit, she weren’t half distracting, back then … !

Well, she was … !

OK … I’m perving, JUST a touch, there, let me grab a cold shower …

AHEM.

Actually, she still is …

But, at any rate, I’m burbling, aren’t I … ?

Cabaret is very loosely based on the novel, Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood: and tells us of the time that Brian — Michæl York, possibly one of the few actors in the film to not have a song! — and his stay in Berlin, as a English teacher, during the 1930s.

Back when Berlin had a reputation for being the most hedonistic city in Europe.

Brian’s life is immediately complicated by getting to know Sally Bowles, one of the acts at the nearby Kit Kat Klub: the cabaret of the title, and the singer with whom he shares both lodgings …

And a complicated lovelife.

All of this … ?

All of this is set against the back of a Berlin that is both extremely hedonistic … and seeing the raise of Hitler’s Nazi party, that, by the end of the film, is getting everywhere.

»»·««

Now, I don’t know if you — like me — are fairly new to Cabaret.

But can I make a suggestion, here … ?

And this is in spite of the fact I know that my regular movie cohort, Kevin D isn’t grabbed by the thought of seeing it*.

I personally think you should REALLY go see Cabaret.

Because … ?

I think you’re going to be in for a treat … !

* Not enough wrestling, guns or explosions …