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What an interesting thread and one that makes me extremely angry at the extremists!! haha...

OK, here is an observation and grip to personal data collection... Why is my computer slower that it was 15 years ago? It truly takes longer to switch from programs, move about on the internet and such now that it did on previous Windows versions.

Here is my theory: More social media and other account synching to 'connect your digital life', but mainly just to collect data about you. Everyone wants instant connection and recognition between their multiple accounts, feeds, posts, pics, etc. and it all takes a lot of extra computing time and power to do, collect and store. All the stuff they collect about everything you say and do and everywhere you go on your computer is just too valuable. Information is the most sought after commodity and companies pay huge bucks to get this personal and consumer data and use it for promotion and advertising purposes.

I mean, why else would all of these companies develop apps and online tools for totally free, especially when it is clear they are not raising enough revenue from basic advertising to keep it afloat. Hint: they do it to collect info to sell to companies (I am looking at you, Google) - however, I really do not mind this, what I mind is the by-product being YOU HAVE SLOWED DOWN MY COMPUTER!!!

OK, I promise, conspiracy rant over...

 MDSW wrote:
Why is my computer slower that it was 15 years ago?

One of my favorite computer jokes:

(2020) Hey buddy, what are you doing with those 16 kb of RAM?
(1967) Sending a man to the moon.
(2020) Neat.
(1967) What is going on with those 32 gb of RAM?
(2020) Oh, the computer's frozen. I think there's an excel formula open somewhere.

A big part of why computers might seem slower, is the mountains of ever increasing junk software on the back end. Don't want to use Cortana? Well tough gak, cause it's running anyway. Which is maybe a bit mean. Computers have become more user friendly over the years and some of the stuff in the background is necessary. Lots of old viruses and malware that would have worked in the 90s don't anymore because security software has made things harder than that, but that doesn't necessarily make the computer run faster. There's also just degrees of 'bloat' when it comes to operating systems and Windows is particularly bad about it. There's a lot of junk in the system that probably doesn't need to be there but Microsoft's developers have never really gone back through and cleared it out.

And I think you're generally correct here:

Here is my theory: More social media and other account synching to 'connect your digital life', but mainly just to collect data about you.

A lot of data collection is passive. It really doesn't slow you down that much, but everything is synced up and many programs are very poorly optimized in the current IT development environment. A good example is Discord, which can take up shocking amounts of bandwidth even after accounting for all the things it's doing. That can slow you down especially when it comes to places with decrepit internet infrastructure (which is more places than you'd think).

 LordofHats wrote:

 MDSW wrote:
Why is my computer slower that it was 15 years ago?

One of my favorite computer jokes:

(2020) Hey buddy, what are you doing with those 16 kb of RAM?
(1967) Sending a man to the moon.
(2020) Neat.
(1967) What is going on with those 32 gb of RAM?
(2020) Oh, the computer's frozen. I think there's an excel formula open somewhere.

A big part of why computers might seem slower, is the mountains of ever increasing junk software on the back end. Don't want to use Cortana? Well tough gak, cause it's running anyway. Which is maybe a bit mean. Computers have become more user friendly over the years and some of the stuff in the background is necessary. Lots of old viruses and malware that would have worked in the 90s don't anymore because security software has made things harder than that, but that doesn't necessarily make the computer run faster. There's also just degrees of 'bloat' when it comes to operating systems and Windows is particularly bad about it. There's a lot of junk in the system that probably doesn't need to be there but Microsoft's developers have never really gone back through and cleared it out.

And I think you're generally correct here:

Here is my theory: More social media and other account synching to 'connect your digital life', but mainly just to collect data about you.

A lot of data collection is passive. It really doesn't slow you down that much, but everything is synced up and many programs are very poorly optimized in the current IT development environment. A good example is Discord, which can take up shocking amounts of bandwidth even after accounting for all the things it's doing. That can slow you down especially when it comes to places with decrepit internet infrastructure (which is more places than you'd think).

Another thing to consider is that on a standard HDD (the ones with platters, not a SSD) when your OS, particularly windows, downloads things, say, an update or the files to install a video game, and then goes through the process of writing onto the hard drive, it is physically writing data onto the platter.

Over the years, all that writing and re-writing of information onto hard drives is going to effectively "score" them. . . similar to getting a deep scratch on your fave CD/DVD or vinyl record.

This also doesnt even go into the problems Windows has perennially had "issues" with its writing prompts and fragmenting data. . . The more fragmented the drive, the longer it takes to access the data. Seems that Windows has long valued the "ease of writing" as opposed to "ease of access"

Well, I guess you can blame the "Look at ME!" generation, where they insist everything they do is digitally documented and every thought they have is shared with the world and they want it easy to synch up all of these sources.

I have always thought there is simply too much personal data out there online. You can find out everything about anyone. I also think some of these companies have no ethics - just because something can be shared, should it? You used to have to go into a county office and manually look up data, so it was difficult to find info - but now it is digitized and easy to unload into cyberspace.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

Another thing to consider is that on a standard HDD (the ones with platters, not a SSD) when your OS, particularly windows, downloads things, say, an update or the files to install a video game, and then goes through the process of writing onto the hard drive, it is physically writing data onto the platter.

Over the years, all that writing and re-writing of information onto hard drives is going to effectively "score" them. . . similar to getting a deep scratch on your fave CD/DVD or vinyl record.

This isn't quite accurate. While it's possible for the platter to get scratched and thus destroying data, the R/W head doesn't actually ever touch the disc under normal conditions. It works by flipping the polarity of magnetic bits, not physically changing anything. Damage to the platter only really happens from either mechanical failure, or jostling the drive while it's spinning, forcing the disc into the write head thanks to gyroscopic forces.

This also doesnt even go into the problems Windows has perennially had "issues" with its writing prompts and fragmenting data. . . The more fragmented the drive, the longer it takes to access the data. Seems that Windows has long valued the "ease of writing" as opposed to "ease of access"

With SSDs being pretty much standard these days, fragmentation isn't really an issue on modern PCs. Rather annoying on older machines, admittedly, as Microsoft never adopted the autodefrag systems that Macs use.

 MDSW wrote:
Well, I guess you can blame the "Look at ME!" generation, where they insist everything they do is digitally documented and every thought they have is shared with the world and they want it easy to synch up all of these sources.

So... the baby boomers? Most of the people I know that use facebook & the like are my parent's generation- their friends and business contacts.
When I think ease of use and sharing, I definitely think of grandparents.

Voss wrote:

 MDSW wrote:
Well, I guess you can blame the "Look at ME!" generation, where they insist everything they do is digitally documented and every thought they have is shared with the world and they want it easy to synch up all of these sources.

So... the baby boomers? Most of the people I know that use facebook & the like are my parent's generation- their friends and business contacts.
When I think ease of use and sharing, I definitely think of grandparents.

I think it's also a male vs female thing. I've not been on Facebook in over a year, and have never had twitter, instagram and the rest of those things.
My wife, on the other hand, has all of them except twitter (I think) and does... stuff... on them all the time.
There's a similar pattern among my friend group - most of my male friends do still have FB, but that's about it.

still think that sometimes tech slowing down is a misfiring perception thing

many many moons ago I worked in the printroom of my local council and we got a brand new full bells and whistles copier far better than the orky tech we used, and for a while all was well but about 6 months in my manager was convinced it wasnt going as fast as day one, service engineer duly comes out and runs the beachmarks with results same as set up day and even with evidence my boss was convinced otherwise

of course lazy coding doesnt help as just because you have a squillon gigglybits you dont have to use them

Definitely not baby boomers - sure they use FB and such to keep in contact with family, but I think you know the generation that has to post every single moment of their life on Instagram, twitter feed, etc. where they are, what they are doing, selfie posts, etc.

...it is not the boomers...

 MDSW wrote:
Definitely not baby boomers - sure they use FB and such to keep in contact with family, but I think you know the generation that has to post every single moment of their life on Instagram, twitter feed, etc. where they are, what they are doing, selfie posts, etc.

...it is not the boomers...

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure it isn't.

Seriously, this isn't a "generational" thing at this stage in time with smartphones and tablets. Maybe when it was digital cameras and laptops and MySpace, but there's a reason why these things are so dominant. It's available to anyone who has a device that can connect to the internet.

You do understand as well that there's a reason why people who have lived basically in an entirely texting-based world might use pictures or quick videos to showcase things rather than typing it out on a phone keyboard?

 MDSW wrote:
Definitely not baby boomers - sure they use FB and such to keep in contact with family, but I think you know the generation that has to post every single moment of their life on Instagram, twitter feed, etc. where they are, what they are doing, selfie posts, etc.

...it is not the boomers...

If you say so. The only person I know personally that behaves that way is my brother, who turns fifty this year.
Most of the people I know that use facebook are my mother (who's a great grandmother now), a few authors and a pile of farmers, most of whom have kids and grandkids.

So in terms of Generations using social media, my knowledge is mostly of X and Boomers.

If the Kids Today are doing too, it strikes me more as a cultural thing, and not a generational thing.

OK folks.

This thread treads a fairly fine line at the best of times, given its topic.

Can everyone, yes, everyone to and have 24 hours on the Naughty Step, and relax.

In the meantime, I’m going to go and find a new and hopefully interesting Conspiracy Theory to discuss.

Yes. Everyone.

Does tin foil stop the mind probes or have 'they' leaked this myth to get better readings due to foil acting as a conductor ?

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

everyone to and have 24 hours on the Naughty Step

Could this get a translation?

 Turnip Jedi wrote:
Does tin foil stop the mind probes or have 'they' leaked this myth to get better readings due to foil acting as a conductor ?

TINFOIL IS THE PROBE!

Watch out for the ALUMINUM BARONS!

 Turnip Jedi wrote:
Does tin foil stop the mind probes or have 'they' leaked this myth to get better readings due to foil acting as a conductor ?

I don't think it would stop physical mind probes cuz they are physical. . . But, so long as one builds a tin foil hat correctly, it will reflect "the signals" and prevent them getting into your head. . . Last I heard, signals up to 4G WiFi are reflected so long as the foil hat is constructed shiny side out. . . If you make one with the dull side out, it wont work and the signals will get you, man.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Voss wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

everyone to and have 24 hours on the Naughty Step

Could this get a translation?

Looking at the rest of the post, at a guess, Mad Doc is reminding everyone that this topic, at the best of times, skirts a fair few "thou shalt not" rules of this forum, and to be mindful of that and behave.

Pretty much.

Every now and again each poster might need to take a step back and have a breather.

Remember, we’re exploring the origins of conspiracy theories, not having ago at their adherents.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Pretty much.

Every now and again each poster might need to take a step back and have a breather.

Remember, we’re exploring the origins of conspiracy theories, not having ago at their adherents.

i'd still like to know where that whole tinfoil hat thing came from

Wiki says some 1920s sci-fi but as "they" control the interweb too its possible its a fib

Not Online!!! wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Pretty much.

Every now and again each poster might need to take a step back and have a breather.

Remember, we’re exploring the origins of conspiracy theories, not having ago at their adherents.

i'd still like to know where that whole tinfoil hat thing came from

Probably a rudimentary understanding of radio waves.

Wrapping an aerial in another metal affects its effectiveness, so “it makes sense” it’ll stop radio waves penetrating your brain.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:


Probably a rudimentary understanding of radio waves.

Wrapping an aerial in another metal affects its effectiveness, so “it makes sense” it’ll stop radio waves penetrating your brain.

Honestly, IMHO, it is a play on the overall ignorance of conspiracy theorists. . . So, growing up, young EF's parents refused to pay for cable/satellite TV. This meant that even in the earliest years of the 2000s, we had the ubiquitous "rabbit ears" antennas. Tin foil, or Reynolds Wrap, Aluminum foil, whatever brand/label on the box, was an important part of keeping the TV signal coming in strong.

For those Americans who are old enough, remember the early Directv commercials where the old guy was talking about "Its snowing in Miami" ?? Well, the tin foil on the ends of the antenna enhanced our signal enough to prevent snowfall in the city of miami during sporting events

So, because it turns out things like tin foil actually enhance signals, I would say that the phrase/practice comes from a lack of understanding these basic RF principles (even if one does not have an educational background in the subject, seeing this in action, in this case, is enough knowledge) and is used in a negative/pejorative way to describe people who believe in Conspiracy Theories.

Voss wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

everyone to and have 24 hours on the Naughty Step

Could this get a translation?

Looking at the rest of the post, at a guess, Mad Doc is reminding everyone that this topic, at the best of times, skirts a fair few "thou shalt not" rules of this forum, and to be mindful of that and behave.

The naughty step is where you send your kid to go and sit for 2 minutes to calm down and think about what they just did...

Typically it involves sitting on the bottom step of your staircase.

I am guessing its been talked about already but.....

Google/FB/et al. are listening to our conversations when our phone is nearby.

Who *hasn't * had that creepy asf experience of talking about something and then BOOM its there as an ad.

Or one time, my girlfriend and I were at an Italian restaurant.

I ordered some chicken with capers.

We were talking about what they were.

I went to Google and typed "what are" and before I even typed capers.....it filled it in for me.

Seriously?! You tipped your hand there Google!

I know Apple firmly denied it, but yeah. I’m not convinced they’re not.

However, I’m not the best person to say for sure, as I Don’t Understand Technology!

They do, but you can turn it off. It's a fairly complicated process and it may disable some fairly functions, because obviously they don't want you to, but it is possible.

 TheMeanDM wrote:
I am guessing its been talked about already but.....

Google/FB/et al. are listening to our conversations when our phone is nearby.

Who *hasn't * had that creepy asf experience of talking about something and then BOOM its there as an ad.

Or one time, my girlfriend and I were at an Italian restaurant.

I ordered some chicken with capers.

We were talking about what they were.

I went to Google and typed "what are" and before I even typed capers.....it filled it in for me.

Seriously?! You tipped your hand there Google!

IIRC, Amazon found itself in hot water with Alexa when a family was watching a film wherein a couple were arguing and it turned into domestic violence (as in, the scene being acted was DV, not that the viewers were), and half hour later some cops show up to "check up on" them.

Since then, I recall Amazon admitted to/fully explained the "passive listening" feature that they had been advertising that people were ignoring. They have since, I think, said that Alexa only listens when you call for her, but I think if I were to believe that, then there's a bridge in NY with a "for sale" sign on it for me.

See, I kind of appreciate that function in Alexa.

Yes the application is currently lacking, but think of the lives it could help save in years to come?

I'm of two minds about that Alexa setting.

The unit has to "listen" at all times to detect its name. I can see justification for having a feature that if the unit detects loud cries and key words "eg help help - call the police etc...." then it could spark a police call to be made out of safety concerns.

That said the issue is that its not the "computer" out of startrek - it can't tell the context of a situation; nor even "see" what is going on around it. You can be watching a DVD, listening to music, kids playing, even a parrot or raven repeating a word.

So for such a feature to work it has to have even more backup monitoring facilities built into it in order to be effective. Personally I'd have no issue with a slave unit watching without recording information - ergo passive monitoring. I can even see great value in such technology for vulnerable individuals. Eg the elderly or disabled who might be fine to live on their own, but who might fall or injure themselves in a way that leaves them unable to summon aid.


Of course Alexa and most of the current monitoring tech isn't a solo slave unit; its a unit tied into a company that has to stream its data online all the time. As a result there's vast temptation for companies to want to tap into that data stream. Even if they don't, even if the managers are dead set against it and refuse to allow it to happen, the fact that its online all the time and that it COULD do that is enough deterrent for many. It's like letting a spy into your home.


Everyone is fine with home security CCTV that they can turn on and off when they want; which cannot turn itself on when it wants and when the recording is kept on-site and you control that data fully. It's the lack of control over your data; about your data going into the web that gets people worried

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
See, I kind of appreciate that function in Alexa.

Yes the application is currently lacking, but think of the lives it could help save in years to come?

IMO, the "always listening" thing is one of many reasons why the wife and I have decided to never own one. . . I can see the merits in having a "silent dial" feature where personal safety is concerned, similar to how you can now apparently tell Siri that you are being pulled over.


The main thing with it, is that 1) Amazon didn't do well enough (apparently) in advertising the always listening function and, 2) people didn't read far enough into descriptions/terms of use to see that this was a function. . . Part of the reason I can think of for that story blowing up when it did, was a combination of lack of development of the tech (ie, it couldn't discern between real voices and whats being projected from the TV), and a lack of understanding the technology at hand.