Chronic Pain Scammers

I run the Chronic Pain Daily, which aggregates tweet about Chronic Pain. I have a vested interest in it, because I’ve been a wide variety of pain medications for the last twenty years. In my case, the damage is spinal, and isn’t going to go away. I get to live with this.

So keeping the scammers/spammers out of the Daily is a prime concern. Today I deadfiled four of them.

Seriously. Some of them were dangerous – the guy who constantly tweets that you won’t suffer any pain if you come to Jesus!

The woman who believes that her special little goodies (which appear to be copper bracelets) will cure everything, pain included.

Another woman who has a vlog on how you can stop feeling pain by following these simple instructions…

And last, a website that sells Dr. Oz products.

Sick. Totally sick.

Wayne Borean

Saturday June 20, 2015

Odd Paths

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Research is fun. Often when I’m researching a story I get sidetracked into some really odd paths. This one is a bit odder than usual.

Most people have heard about the Duggars, either from their TV Show, or from the recent revelation that Josh Duggar had sexually assaulted his sisters.

No. This has nothing to do with them directly. I was researching Arranged Marriages, got sidetracked into courtship, and found this woman’s story of her courtship and marriage. it really is a fascinating story, and one I suggest everyone read. The Duggars use a similar for of courtship for their children, which I personally think is harmful to the mental health of both the bride and groom.

And, no. I couldn’t use anything from her story for what I’m writing. Not directly. But anything that expands your understanding of human nature is always useful somewhere.

Regards

Wayne Borean

Tuesday June 9, 2015

Gotta love Spring

Last couple of days it was so cold everyone was wearing winter coats. Today everyone is wearing shorts.

That’s life in Northern Ontario!

Of course the grass needs cutting. I’m not allowed to do it, as it could damage my back further. Some days, like today, it is easier to remember that. The pain today has been off the scale – probably because the last two days were so cold.

Which really messes with my ability to write. When the pain is this bad, I have a hard time putting a sentence together, never mind getting anything done.

Regards

Wayne Borean

Saturday June 6, 2015

 

Why Johnny Can’t Code Redux

  David Brin

A long time ago (BK – Before Kids) I was lucky enough to meet David Brin at Ad Astra, the Toronto Science Fiction convention. It’s easy to meet people who have opinions. It isn’t often that you meet someone smart enough to explain to you exactly why the opinion is right. David Brin is one of the few I’ve met who are that smart.

A long time ago in Internet Time (2006) David wrong an article for Salon called Why Johnny Can’t Code. It’s a great article, and I recommend everyone read it, and share it.

Got reminded about the article when Michael (our oldest – he’s 28 now) and I were out yesterday picking up plumbing parts – the downstairs bath tub faucet was leaking hot water.

While he was driving (I wasn’t in shape to drive yesterday – heck, I barely managed to get into the car) we were talking about games. Michael is good at games. Really good. And he reminded me of one of the reasons why.

Apparently (I’d forgotten) a long time ago I’d taught Michael how to use a hex editor to view (and change) save game files. We’d done a lot of fooling around with the old Gold Box AD&D game Pool of Radiance, making things like a ‘Shield of Fireballs +5’…

Why does this all hang together?

Because it is getting harder for kids to learn how to code as David Brin pointed out, and it is getting harder for kids to learn how to use a hex editor too. I’m serious. The big growth area for games is phones and tablets. Have you ever seen a hex editor for IOS or Android? How about for any of the Playstation or XBox game consoles?

So we are moving further into a culture where people use things that they don’t understand, can’t play with to understand, and where it is often illegal to play with stuff in that matter (read up on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act – it makes it illegal to modify ‘copyrighted works’ without the consent of the ‘owner’ and yes, this does include save game files).

Which is sad. Really sad.

Regards

Wayne Borean

Tuesday June 2, 2015