by Prateado | Feb 3, 2017 | bullshit, bullshitt, divest, mechanization of life, Planned Obsolescence
Apple has become obsolete before their products even come out. This is because while they attempt to be industry leaders, their sights are shorter than a politician’s. They paradoxically want to create the most cutting-edge new products that have a less than 18 month lifespan. I’ve been an Apple slave since 2003. I learned their operating system, got used to the way my consciousness extended into their products, and got hooked. Sure, you couldn’t customize as much as on a PC, but their shiny aluminum casing and the attention to detail made me feel that my fingers had their own magic carpet to ride. But then the vice squeeze of greed and control destroyed a once useful technology. Gross profit got in the way of user experience, and the sleek feel of Apple’s products became an empty signifier, a symbol without depth. The coup d’état even forced out Steve Jobs, the mythical creature that Apple attempts to moor its brand in. No, it is corporate interests, Goldman Sachs and Co. that are calling the shots, and creating Soccer Mom and Metrosexual products, useless to professionals, but easy for the computer-illiterate masses. Apple is now superficial details, without the power behind it. To call their product line “Pro” becomes laughable at this point in time. While I am well aware that right now, we have bigger fish to fry, as Apple is one of the biggest companies out there, they could lead by example, delivering energy-efficient technologies, and lying less. As it stands, they are the Donald Trump of the computer industry. Dear Apple, Why do your computers suck...
by Prateado | May 1, 2016 | bullshit, intuition, mechanization of life, responsibilitization
The New York Times’ op-ed attacks midwives. Quite a “women must deliver babies for the state” sort of article, making individuals responsible for the necessary work-around in an anti-midwifery hospital industry. The article is heavy on the responsibilitization, light on the “its a systemic problem.” Par for the course coming from a Harvard Medical School Dr. Shall we even begin to speak of the environmental toxins that complicate births and how BAU is complicit in the necessity for hospital births? Lead, mercury, diesel, anyone? Or asking the question: Why aren’t there more doctors, rather than only nurses, who get their residency in midwifery and do house calls? These are systemic problems not addressed (at all) in the article. Instead, we get irresponsible women: soon-to-be mothers and these uncredentialed...
by Prateado | Nov 20, 2015 | bullshit, fear, intuition, mechanization of life, Uncategorized
My political views? I’m basically against anything that kills people or destroys the planet we live on. The problem is that many people, if they have some of their illegitimate privileges taken away (like the rich being taxed. or corporations being regulated ) FEEL as if they are being killed, even though they’re not. The lack of distinction or inability to discern between the actual and perceived threat of life is one of the gravest problems facing us today, and driving people, corporations, and governments into a preemptive berzerker mode killing everything around them because they are so over-threatened by everything that moves. This hair-triggered anxiety, paired with technological weapons, is a recipe for disaster. We need to be helping people to recoup their sense of boundaries, and recognize the difference between giving up toys, and mortal threat. Until we make this distinction between luxuries and needs, we are in for some serious trouble. Hyper-reactivity is a symptom of disease, in this case, of mental-illness. I remember the old film, The Corporation, created by the Canadian Broadcasting System back in 2003, which is still shown to high school students in Canada as an education in protecting yourself against corporate propaganda. One of the most chilling scenes is when the filmmakers check off a list of all of the qualities of a sociopath, and corporations fulfill–in a deadly way–every one of them to a T. We have come to believe that corporations, like Philip Morris (now Altria) or Exxon Mobile are people–which have indissoluble rights. I’m guessing if they could corporations would even try to be granted Human Rights, if it...
by Prateado | Aug 12, 2015 | bullshit, divest, Uncategorized
Dear computer geek friends: My macbook pro is on its last legs and its time for a new computer. I don’t want to support apple anymore because they are the biggest company in the world, valued at 1 trillion US, and their computers have a planned obsolescence of 3 years. Also, I’ve noticed that in the last 10 years, they have been doing everything they can to shut down sharing, making it difficult to share files except through their locked-down services. I say bollox to all of this. And yet, I need a computer that has Live (Abelton), is fast, portable and user friendly. Ubuntu (Linux) is what I’m leaning towards, but they don’t make Live or other music-making software I’m used to for Linux. That makes me shy away from it. Plus, I’ve heard that if you aren’t a programmer (which I’m not), it’s very hard to fix little bugs. I was thinking buying a chromebook or thinkpad and partitioning the hard drive linux windows (i would only use windows for music) but that seems very complex for me right now. Do I lose my Mac files? Can they be seamlessly converted? How can I evolve and go Ubuntu without losing all of my sunken costs in mac? Please...
by Prateado | May 26, 2015 | bullshit, intuition, Uncategorized
A recent Onion Article adroitly recognizes how we’re literally filling up our precious braincells with Bullshit. Like Harry Frankfurt’s classic, On Bullshit, we suffer from a malaise that comes from being bombarded with Bros, charlatans, and other people who are deluded into taking the unimportant to be important. One of my general rules is, if it is being advertised, it is bullshit. If it needs glitter and sauce to make it palatable, it stinks and isn’t edible. Discernment is one of the virtues of every religion. Following the hummingbird – is my mantra. Be tuned in enough to know when something feels right and when it doesn’t. This in turn requires cultivating intuition, which one gets from hanging around people who are trusting, supportive, and aren’t lying to you. The more people are insecure or are lying to you, the more poisoned, confused, and misdirected your intuition becomes. Don’t buy the bullshit. Extricate yourself from unhealthy situations. Even (and especially) if its socially awkward, requires a lot of courage, or breaks mores and norms. You can do it. For the betterment of your own soul, and ultimately, for all of creation. ...
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