think technology is a good thing, but it depends which.

Some weeks ago I chatted with the man who came to check our electric+gas readings. It was a nice chat and a nice lad/pal. He explained that in some of his visits he encounters tampered-with meters, typically in homes that break other laws (e.g. growing weed indoors).

Thankfully we never had such meters installed. It was never obligatory (they were pushy) and our resistance paid off.

When it comes to water, however, it’s not the same. They can do anything they wish outside the home and beyond the fences. So about a month ago they forewarned everybody – by leaflet at the doors – that they’d take out the “old” (mechanical) water meters and replace them with “smart” (digital) ones.

It seems like today, belatedly, they finally did that.

Some “smart” water meters save work for the measurer, they say it is more tamper-proof, but those things can also store info (personal data) on how much water is used WHEN. So that’s a spying opportunity.

We don’t get to give water treatment (“United Utilities” in our case) firms any input on this matter, so the outlet is my blog.

T was 15 years ago when I first met Rianne. It was at a birthday party of a friend of hers and a friend of mine. We started chatting randomly and soon figured out we had a lot in common, including our Computer Science background.

A lot of time has passed since then and I do my best to be a good husband. This coming Saturday we’ll do something special but modest.

I should note that the reason Microsofters try to put me and my wife in prison [1-3] is because I did the right thing and protected my wife, whereas the Microsofters would just strangle women or worse.

Some people, instead of trying to become better human beings, try to become better sociopaths.

_____

1. Matthew J. Garrett Has Just Sent a Threat to Put My Wife and I in Prison Because His Own Spouse Says He’s a Rapist
2. Threats From ‘Former’ Red Hat (Now IBM) Staff While IBM’s Likely Accounting Fraud Attracts Public Scrutiny
3. Put Criminals in Prison, Not People Who Report the Crimes

We are exposing serious corruption every week and maintain 100% source/leaker/whistleblower protection record after 20 years

esterday we published post/page #14684 in “New Techrights”, 42 days after this year’s first (#13769). That’s 915 new ones in 42 days or almost 22 per day, on average (it would be 7952 for the whole year or 365 days at this pace). That’s in spite of me writing many more original articles in the sister site. Not everyone is happy about this. The hired guns of the Microsofters, who admit third parties pay for their litigation against me and against my wife, are trying to put me in prison, as noted in:

• Matthew J. Garrett Has Just Sent a Threat to Put My Wife and I in
  Prison Because His Own Spouse Says He’s a Rapist
• Threats From ‘Former’ Red Hat (Now IBM) Staff While IBM’s Likely
  Accounting Fraud Attracts Public Scrutiny
• Put Criminals in Prison, Not People Who Report the Crimes

I cannot stress strongly enough how absurd this is. Thankfully we have NGOs and politicians involved.

The hired guns in London are eager to turn the UK into another China. On behalf of despicable Americans and against the locals.

omeone recently asked me about devoting money to Software Freedom causes so as to focus on what is right, what one is “meant” to do as it is better devoting one’s capacity/potential/knowledge/energy/experience/recognition to maximise public good. It makes perfect sense because life is finite and money does not go into one’s grave. It is meant to be used for something, not to be hoarded. Hoarding is in human’s nature and it is a weakness, nothing to be boastful about.

I am thankful and truly grateful for the fact that my life is rewarding and satisfying, with few exceptions here and there (not every moment is perfect). Vices and online additions are not necessary. Compared to peers and relatives, my life is good, it’s better than theirs. I am happier, freer (as in free will), healthier, and richer (except in monetary terms) than them. Some people I know became slaves to (or of) money – to the point of being willing to work from every morning until every night (maybe 60-80 hours a week) to make someone else or some large company richer. They seem to fail to grasp that those salaries are merely a form of compensation for them compromising their best years (of one’s life), plus abandoning the prospect/potential for self-determination while dragging down both physical and mental health (of most staff, most of the time). It’s a fast-corroding, slowly-progressing experience (corrosion is silent, not sudden) that over time shortens people’s lives. In my 40s I can still do a fullstack circuit” at the gym like I did my in 20s. I have hardly lost muscle mass/weight, only relative strength, and my stamina probably improved owing to regular jogging.

Ultra-capitalists dislike such ideas because they rely on intellectual people becoming their de facto slaves and brown-nosing management for pay increases and better job titles (the latter are merely symbolic rewards, a fake “status” nobody objectively cares about).

Safety and mental comfort (calm, zen) cannot be taken for granted either, more so in world full of conflicts and scarcities. To love and be loved is easier said than done, but that too is attainable. One must actively pursue it, not follow herds.

love birds.

Birds are lovely, adorable animals. They’re enjoyable to feed or even just to look at. Birdwatching isn’t just some reactional activity of old generations (elderly people); anyone out there should be able to enjoy that and it doesn’t cost anything. Today we watched a wren hiding in the trees and singing. Later another bird walked towards our door, so we treated it while it was carefully watching no other bird noticed (or competed for the seeds).

But we don’t really want the birds inside the home, not just for sanitary reasons or damages. We seldom let them indoors, sometimes for shelter from horrible weather, sometimes by accident, and sometimes not (neither). The Sick Bird walked into our home once and it was – for a change – with full consent because she was vulnerable.

Birds are in general not domesticated and it would be cruel to put any kind of bird inside a cage. It’s not in their nature and massive cages in zoos are still cages. We need more wildlife, not zoos. As for pets, it depends on the animal.

“Hello Roy Schestowitz,” told me Pest Control today regarding an item I discussed with them yesterday [2, 1]. “Please reply to the MCC Neighbourhood Compliance North Team who sent you this letter if you wish to make comments. You have blanked out the sender details.”

I replied: “They told me to contact you.”

At the moment they seem to be playing ping-pong regarding an important matter in our area. Several of us in the street are looking after wildlife and clarity is needed.

This ping-pong routine is beginning to remind me of what they did half a decade ago [1, 2, 3]. Both sides tell you to talk to “the other side” as if the goal is to waste your time.

Why? Because Dr. Stallman (RMS) will be giving a talk there soon.

“Hi Dr. Schestowitz,” it said. “Thank you again for your support – it truly means a lot! We officially purchased RMS’s flights to Atlanta last night, and we’re all incredibly excited about the upcoming event.”

It’s about more than just the talk, it’s a statement of sorts. See what’s at stake.

“You’ve absolutely got a new ally here at Georgia Tech through us at LibreTech Collective, and you’ve also gained a new regular reader in me. I already follow Phoronix and a few other tech blogs, so when your Techrights post popped up in my newsreader a few days ago, it genuinely made my night!”

Techrights is a bit ‘different’ a site, http://tuxmachines.org has more ‘conformist’ material.

Techrights deals with whistleblowers. “Whistleblowing isn’t impulsive but premeditated,” as noted yesterday. “Impulse can lead to errors.”

Our reporting is certainly hurting all the “right” people. So we’re on the right track.

Those people could, instead, buy several houses. But no.

Instead they chose to give ‘firepower’ to the FSF, the real and true protector of Free software, unlike opportunistic copycats or splinter groups. “One of the reasons for my complete resignation from the organization is the deception of a volunteer who gave them a bequest of €150,000,” Daniel Pocock recalled. Last year when he ran for European politics he said: “Research found that some of the world’s largest companies have spent over $120,000 trying to censor me even before I announced my candidacy. I guess that I might have something to say that is in the public interest.”

Last year and again this year my wife and I filed three lawsuits against men who had attacked women and Free software luminaries [1, 2, 3].

They were on the payroll of monopolists when they did this.

Lawsuits are not cheap, but they are the necessary thing to do in this situation.

In life, people must make sacrifices to do what’s right and just.

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.”

-Mark 12:41-12:44

“He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.””

-Luke 21:2-21:38

echrights wrote about this several times before, but it is worth repeating because a lot more is known now.

That is relevant because, as an associate put it:

TIL: Signal (app) is *only* for smartphones and even the desktop version
will not work without first registering via a smartphone instance. Not good.

Can I install Signal Desktop without a mobile device?

No. Signal Desktop must be linked with either Signal Android
or Signal iOS to send and receive messages.

Security theatre

“I would presume the connections are logged externally and at the minimum timing correlations can be made,” the associate noted.

Also, under oath, you might be compelled to admit you spoke over Signal or other digital means to a Serial Strangler from Microsoft about how to sue Roy.

That actually happened. And we have proof (under sworn oath).

That’s good to know, as it’ll prove relevant in the future.

That serves to prove that Brett Wilson LLP lied to me and also about me many times. Lying to a Court about a person isn’t a trivial thing to do. It’s also legally risky.

After more than 2 months since their own clients sued them (Yanpolsky and another v Brett Wilson LLP and another) they still appear to have filed no defence [1, 2, 3, 4].

I don’t want to comment much more at this stage, except note that now there is substantial proof of what we’ve said all along and got defamed for. How much will they spend to silence me?

Years earlier the same happened after I had reported crimes at the EPO.

Right now I report on some more Microsoft crimes and substance abuse at the EPO. Crimes at Microsoft are routine, but some are more personal than others. Sometimes the companies can ‘personify’ matters to make the disputes seem like anything but corporate muzzling (like Philpott at EPO).

As a result, there is more heat and costs.

That does beg the question: how safe is it to be an investigative reporter in the UK?

Put another way: is it possible to really report on crime in the UK?

Or only the crimes detested by the state?

Back in 2009 we saw how the UK Ministry of Defence was classing Investigative Journalists among “Terrorists” or something to that effect.

Society where crimes cannot be reported – or cannot be safely reported on – would look something like Putin’s Moscow. We do not want that, do we?