The Long Road Out

 Here's an example of a predatory, abusive use of positive option invasions of privacy.  It has all the elements--based around a failed attempt to position data theft as a customer benefit.  Aren't you ashamed to work for a company like this? They've been doing this all along, of course.  This is just an attempt to cover over the illegalities under some state privacy laws.    Introducing Verizon Custom Experience.    It’s your experience, tailored to your interests. Hi David, At Verizon, we believe being America’s most reliable network comes with a responsibility to safeguard and protect your information. Your privacy is important to us, and we want to let you know about a new choice you have regarding how we use your information. We’d like to introduce Verizon Custom Experience, a program designed to provide you more personalized experiences with Verizon. You will be part of Custom Experience unless you opt out.     How it works The pro...

Maybe this is the year that the film distribution model will change. The movie theater distribution network  has supported the big distributors and kept indie films hidden from nearly all viewers.  I won't miss it--though most of my friends still seem to long for the days of sticky seats and a very limited slate of major theater releases.  Could we at least have hybrid?  If COVID taught us anything, it's an awareness of how limited we've been by the six-plex model.   Here's what I have from the year COVID changed everything, including the film industry.  I'd like to thank Netflix.  It's been the central lifeline for so many of us as we struggled to replace our personal panoplies of cultural options.  The weight transferred to, essentially, one provider.  Netflix--you pulled through for us in 2020.  Best films of 2020 Nomadland-- it would be sufficient if the only thing this movie did was introduce you to your new mentors: Linda May, ...

I have a preference for complex characters who are not dressed up Hollywood style, in narratives that offer surprises or challenge genres.   If you agree, you'll love these movies as much as I do. Rolling ranking of top films of 2018, including two that start with "I am Not..." BlackkKlansmen-- there's so much to love about this film.   First, Spike Lee has once again done something wonderful after a period of what appeared to be intentionally amateurish efforts (OK, some would argue that he went off a cliff after the Original Kings of Comedy in 2000.  Anyway, it's been a long time.)   Then there's Denzel Washington's son, John David Washington, who acts as well as, and dances better than, his dad.  And there's the politics--in this happy story, the 1972 versions of the Charlottesville supremicists actually blow themselves up while trying to assassinate the black student leader at Colorado College.  And Adam Driver at his most wonderful--"I...

I'm posting these from Reddit and elsewhere so they might be available to more Peloton users. Both these methods have worked to solve this problem, which seems related to system upgrades perhaps. METHOD 1: RESETTING THE PELOTON BIKE WITHOUT A FACTORY RESET This is how to fix the Peloton white flashing screen / white flashing screen of death on Peloton bike without factory reset. Unplug the power cord at the base of the bike. Unplug the two cords from the back of the monitor. Press the up volume and the power button simultaneously and hold for 60 seconds. Release both buttons wait 10 seconds. Reinsert all cords, both monitor cords first, power cord second. Fire up the monitor and voilà white - Flashing screen gone problem fixed, no need to reset to factory specs etc. METHOD 2: FACTORY REBOOT/RESET OF PELOTON BIKE This is how to use the wipe/factory reset function on a Peloton bike with a flashing white screen.   1.  Turn the touchscreen off by holding down the power button....

When an individual is convicted of a hate crime in most civilized countries, they face some combination of criminal and civil justice.  Often, those pickup drivers and gun owners and just-plain-malevolent men claim that they were acting out of Christian faith.  I'd like to adjust the mass of hate crime laws in one small but important way.  It wasn't "god" or "the good book" (that's a laugh--it's a crappy book) that enabled these murderers. It was you, their local priest or minister or shaman or fraudster.  You were careless, and now the responsibility lands in your vestibule. It's the law. So, if one of your religious tribe is convicted, that's it for you.  You lose your $199 license.  You can't ever run a congregation again.  The crime?  Let's call it spiritual negligence. It's a felony. Does that make you sweat?  Why? Is it the idea that you have to be responsible for the wellbeing of any one who shows up at your church and puts...

Hertz must be receiving complaints about their current COVID-influenced price gouging.  How can you tell? Like other low-service organizations, they've started sending emails about how great their customer service is.  A new website (meaningless),  A new customer service protocol (so you can spend more time on hold waiting for an automated attendant). And other stuff I already forgot and don't care about. Instead, here's what I care about:  the weekend per day rental on a Ford Focus is $330.  That's half the price of the car!   So, I have a message for Laura Smith, Executive Vice President, Global Sales, Marketing & Customer Service.  Could you try a little harder? Please, stop insulting your Gold customers with the idea that you're investing in human contact.  Even the email telling us how great you are ends with "don't respond to this email.  We don't monitor this inbox." Hertz Hertz Hertz.  Aren't you embarrassed?  Probably n...

Just a place to capture films that took my breath away...films for the ages...send your suggestions on the greatest films on your list! This is England-- if your dad is killed in Maggie Thatcher's Falkland Island silliness, and the only replacement you can find is a group of skinheads, you need to grow up very very fast.   Beautiful coming of age story...and the best slow-mo gangster walk this side of John Travolta. Away from Her-- what it means to be forgotten...and then rejected.  I hated Tom Wilkerson for months after seeing this...not that he'll remember... The Last Waltz-- songs of our lives.   Worth it to see Robbie Robertson, not to mention a blotto Neil Young trying to grope Joni Mitchell... Days of Heaven --Terrance Malick directs Richard Gere, Brook Adams, and Sam Shepard==and don't forget the voiceover and Leo Kottke soundtrack.   Beauty makes you healthy... Breaker Morant --Australian infantry officers take the fall for British colonial malfeasance-...

I'm noting an experience my partner had during a taped Peloton workout over the weekend.  She's still researching the event, and has reached out to Peloton directly, so there will be updates and more to come. My sense is that there's no blame here to Peloton--instead what occurred results from the tendency for men to behave stupidly when they think they're part of a large group, or "anonymous." Here are the details: my partner was doing a 45 minute ride.  As is always the case, you can sign on to scheduled new rides on Peloton, or pick from a library of zillions of recent live rides.  When you do a recorded workout, you're riding against the leaderboard from the live ride. For whatever reason, the instructors normally call out select achievements from those participating in the live ride (recorded session riders get to hear those call outs, even though those riders have long moved on to other sessions).  Anyone with a Peloton is familiar with expressions l...