And Then, Who Knew...

Firstly, I note with no surprise that the tee-light and teddy folk are out today and even the Home Secretary made a showing. She had time for just the one comment as she left, ‘Lessons will be learned’, as she was in a rush to get down the the channel coast in time to meet and greet another inflatable boat load of our newest, bestest ever friends.

Anyhoo, during this recent flue pan-panic I’m sure that, like me, you’ve been amazed, via the wonders of Look-At-Me’dia on TV, how many Chief Executives of completely unheard of  ‘organisations’ there are out there. Yesterday, I caught a bit by the Chief Executive of Aging Better. Say wot now? And here’s me, fast – too fast – approaching seventy-four and can confirm that I’ve been aging every second of every minute of every hour of every day since my time zero and not once, through this entire aging process, have I been approached by Aging Better. Nor, to be honest, have I ever heard of ‘em. I’ve had to do it all on my own and by myself. Damn! Have I missed out on free stuff?

In other news – to me, possibly old hat to you – I ran into a piece that stated Android and Apple had sneakily installed a bit o’ kit on our smartphones. I looked and sure enough, there it was Covid-19 Exposure Notification. No, it wasn’t ‘turned on’ and as I never have Bluetooth on and never have Location turned on and never use roaming data I’m guessing that’s cool. And yes, it’s also been installed on my Samsung tablet. Still trying to figure out how to get ‘em off our phones all the same. Don’t the police have to jump through legal hoops before being allowed to tap a phone? Seems Apple and Google can just have at it. ‘We know who you are and where you are comrade.”

If you didn’t know about this, check your phone thusly;
On an iPhone, go into 'Settings', then 'Privacy' then 'Health'.
On Android phones it’s under 'Settings' then 'Google'.

While on the subject of phones, here’s another from the past I stole from the comments section of I remember not wot but can thank the author;

Reggie's Dæmons

   After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, French scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 200 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 150 years ago.
   Not to be outdone by the French: in the weeks that followed, American archaeologists dug to a depth of 20 feet before finding traces of copper wire. Shortly afterwards, they published an article in the New York Times saying : "American archaeologists, having found traces of 250-year-old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network 50 years earlier than the French."
   A few weeks later, ‘The British Archaeological Society of Northern England’ reported the following: "After digging down to a depth of 33 feet in the Skipton area of North Yorkshire in 2011, Charlie Hardcastle, a self-taught local amateur archaeologist, reported that he had found absolutely bugger all. Charlie has therefore concluded that 250 years ago, Britain had already gone wireless."

Quote;  David Mitchell.

“Right, my phone. When these things first appeared, they were so cool. Only when it was too late did people realize they are as cool as electronic tags on remand prisoners.”