It’s an important life skill, being able to plant a thought in the mind of another and in a way that is likely to be accepted.

It crossed my mind since my last writing that, in the 80s, I got a money back guarantee for any counter-surveillance equipment purchased that didn’t reveal surveillance equipment in a Fortune 100 facility. It was that pervasive back then. And my perception is that morals and business ethics have not improved in the interim. Far from it.

Good luck and thanks for the valuable, respectful input.

Points well made and taken, thanks. No hostility perceived at all.

Reasonable minds can differ and frequently do. And it could be that people may think my suggestion is unrealistic or even silly.

There’s no shortage of miscreants out there who just like to mess with things, thrown wrenches into spokes, etc. And these types could well be behind the daily local issues.

But here’s an important point, and no offense intended. Corporations are like The Terminator. But instead of getting Sarah Connor, they purse profits. And regardless of CEO intelligence or accumen, every Fortune 500 company has a department that deals in these areas. They all have their skunk works and use them. It’s been this way for centuries. A primer: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_espionage

So whether they’re operating here atm or not, there is nothing paranoid about assuming they are. If they’re not, they will be. It’s what they do.

Thanks for the input. :)

Every account they lose hits them in the pocketbook. The bigger the fediverse gets, the more adherents, the greater the momentum it will have and the harder it will be to stop.

Nipping it in the bud is the best, easiest, and least expensive place to nip it.

The downvotes suggest their operatives are reading the comments.

I wonder if the owners of deddit, fb, tweetster, et al, might think it financially worthwhile to cause disruption in the fediverse, and even its ultimate failure.

By pwning the three branches of government and, therefore, the regulatory environment.

Ignorance makes her confident. But one can’t be so charitable about the company’s fraud.

I get that these aren’t tech people. But there’s a serious gap in protocol that seems to give them the ol’ Whoosh.

If I walked up on the street and asked to see somone’s dB? Lol

If a mutual acquaintance asked for your number? I’d call you with their number.

So would these non-techies. But put them on a machine and they seem to lose their minds.

Psst, want me to help you? Just give me your dB. I’ll make it easy for ya.

And they think that’s okay.

There are so many platforms anymore that I have neither the time nor desire to keep up with even a quarter of them. So maybe eight years back, a friend suggests I check out Snap Chat.

I jump on there to find about 20 pages of names of people who thought it was okay, acceptable, to share my info from their database. I’ve always been very careful and discreet with mine. But to have it thrown right in my face like that, whew. Here’s my message to those folks:

If you think it’s okay to share my private number, or anything else I’ve provided in confidence, with the planet, please delete my number.

Wow. Very good, thank you.

I read quite a few comments, admittedly not all. But I haven’t seen this asked.

How is this 600 pounder handled? Forklift? Hoist? WTH?

These downvotes indicate that some of the assholes have now migrated.

Indeed, I was. I’d lost the plot, thought the commenter above you had bought an inkjet. Thanks for the clarification.

Because people will pay a lot for it. Go figure.

Or you could just throw it in the trash, get a laser, and enjoy trouble free printing. No offense.

I’m still on the factory toner cartridges after 15 - 18 years. They’re refillable, as are the replacements.

Or they may be good for one print, depending on how frequently the printer is used.

Install a new cartridge, print one page, wait a year before trying to print again and you’ll need a new cartridge.

It’s a no-brainer why they practically give those things away.