TalkTalk = War Games

31 October

Around seven weeks till Crimble guys n gals. Then the New Year starts off again; I wonder what’s in store for all of us.

Jan went out to move our car down to outside our flat and while she was out there she met up to Roy, the guy who lives apposite us. It seems he had another stroke the other day. Another stroke? We didn’t actually know he’d had one before, but we’re not surprised really. He is a very heavy smoker and we’ve seen him in the summer sat at his table reading with an open bottle of scotch beside him. Later I saw him as he came back home and I was a tad shocked at how he looked. He used to be a smartly dressed upstanding man. Today he wasn’t so smart and he’s bending at the neck now and shuffling more than walking. Age catches up with us all eventually.

Flu jab done yesterday without any hassle, and the nurse was impressed with my one and only tattoo. All it is three little words; Multi Organ Donor. I would encourage everyone to do something similar, or at least register with organ donation people and carry a card. There are so many people waiting for organs, and far too few people donating. Please, please, register and give that gift of life.

Morning coffee biscuits; I’ve been looking for them for some time now and after my jab yesterday evening we drove down to B&M in town looking for a shelving unit Jan wants. They didn’t the unit, but did have the biscuits. I now have seven packs in the cupboard. They are larger than the normal one and they don’t taste as good but they are fine for the few I need each day. Jan also found packs of fruit polos and Foxes glacier fruits, so we have loads of those too. It’s always expensive when we do supplementary shopping trips.

Have you heard about the two 16 year olds who have been arrested over the TalkTalk hack? If it was those two, then that could be, or should be very worrying for all of us. If they are so smart to be able to do that much damage to such a large company, how much worse could it be if they hacked something else, like banking, or God forbid, the UK defence networks? The mind shudders at the thought. Such attacks are the stuff of nightmares.

Do you remember the film War Games? That was based on the idea of young lad hacking into the NORAD systems. I remember at the time it came out that the so-called experts were saying it couldn’t happen and not to worry about it. Well, computers have got smarter since then and programmers have had to get smarter to be able to work with them. What happens if one of them does go rouge? And don’t forget my friends, there’s a lot of people out who have no love of the West; how much damage could they cause?

Only recently Jan has had a lot of little transactions going through on here ATM card through Amazon and that has meant she has had to change all her passwords for them. I wonder how many others have been hit by that one! Small amounts they might be, no more than £3 in each one, but it takes seconds to set up and over a short space of time they could be netting a good amount dosh from us.

So, photo time … 

A couple of wigeon.

The Sage has been kind to us again …

A young lad from outback Queensland goes off to university, but halfway through the semester he has squandered all of his money.
He calls home.
'Dad,' he says, 'you won't believe what modern education is developing...they actually have a program here in Brisbane that will teach our dog Blue how to talk.'
'That's amazing!' his Dad says. 'How do I get Blue in that program?'
'Just send him down here with $2,000,' the son says, 'I'll get him in the course.'
So his father sends the dog and $2,000.
About two-thirds through the semester, the money again runs out.
The boy calls home.
'So how's Blue doing, son?' his father wants to know.
'Awesome! Dad, he's talking up a storm... But you just won't believe this. They've had such good results with talking, they've begun to teach the dogs how to read.'
'Read?' exclaims his father. 'No kidding! How do we get Blue in that program?'
'Just send $4,500. I'll get him in the class.'
The money promptly arrives. But our hero has a problem. At the end of the year, his father will find out the dog can neither talk nor read.
So he shoots the dog. When he arrives home at the end of the year, his father is all excited.

'Where's Blue? I just can't wait to talk with him, and see him read something!'
'Dad,' the boy says, 'I have some grim news. Yesterday morning, just before we left to drive home, Blue was in the living room, kicked back in the recliner, reading the Wall Street Journal. Then he suddenly turned to me and asked, 'So, is your daddy still bonking that little redhead barmaid at the pub?''
The father groans and whispers, 'I hope you shot that bastard before he talks to your Mother!'
'I sure did, Dad!'
'That's my boy!'
The lad went on to be a successful politician.