Merry Hollidays

Copyright violation IS a real problem.

I used Google search to try to identify the provenance of a painting I've seen around. A million sites may use the pic, but none credit the painter. So I reckon when creative artists bitch about their work being used without compensation or credit, they have a legitimate beef after all.

-- Mal

Scenes in the City

Well, here I am, right back where I was yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that.

Quoth the Raven?

I have had a number of sightings of posts on social media featuring a video of "X reads the Raven," so I couldn't resist digging this up from the dustbin of history:

"The Spaniel" by Edgar, Al, & Moe (From Mad Magazine)

"Once upon a midnight cautious, while I pondered, weak and nauseous,
Over some advertising copy I had wrote for Macy's store -
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a yapping,
As of someone loudly yapping, yapping at my office door.
'Tis some client there,' I muttered,'yapping at my office door -
only this and nothing more.'

Then I felt my terror worsen, for my guest was not a person!
In there stepped a cocker spaniel, naturally I jumped in fear.
Tried to climb an oaken panel, ripping there my new grey flannel,
But the spaniel merely stood there, speaking out with voice so clear -
Speaking out like Jack Lescoulie, in a voice both loud and clear -
Quoth the spaniel - 'Drink Blatz Beer!'

How I marveled this ungainly dog who did commercials plainly;
How he spoke the message clearly; selling points he underscored.
For I could not help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet could mouth a slogan without sounding
Slightly bored -
Most announcers being human, can't help sounding
slightly bored -
Quoth the spaniel, 'Buy a Ford!'

Thus this dog with voice like Murrow made my heavy
brow unfurl;
Thoughts of fortunes I could make now made me shake
down to my knees.
But the spaniel set me grieving then by turning tail
and leaving.
Naturally, I begged him tarry, crying out, 'Stay
with me, please!'

Chasing him along the hallway, crying out, 'Stay
with me, please!'
Quoth the spaniel, 'Eat Kraft Cheese!'"

-- Mal

I preferred when it was hip to be contemptuous of authority...

... not the default state.

-- Mal

The perfect song for Mr Trump

You Tube never fails me...

What do you call a dominatrix from Bangkok?

... the Thai that binds.

--Mal

SvcHost and me...a question

I have picked up a used laptop, and the previous owner left a lot of crap on it (75 processes running at once?). My query, though, is about the behavior of SvcHost. When I start the 'Net (WiFi connection), it uses up over 2.5 gigs of memory, which since I only have 4 gigs, means that I'm using about 90% of my available RAM. This degrades my surfing experience, so to speak. But suddenly, after a couple of hours of tedium, I find that it's only using 80k or so of memory, and I'm occupying only about 30% of available RAM.
Okay, I'm an ignorant idiot, but why is this happening, and is there anything I can do about it? I kinda like surfing, watching the odd video, and posting at DU.

-- Mal

Guess what, I'm alive!

My computer died some months ago, and it's taken me this long to save up the money for a replacement. Damn all fixed incomes. Worse yet, I haven't been able to read any news since last October Is the Republic still standing?

I'm sure you all missed me greatly.

-- Mal