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Not Root, The Other Thing [1]

['Greg Dworkin', 'Dan K', 'Bill In Portland Maine']

Date: 2026-08-19  

When I was in the business and was asked what I did for a living, I learned quickly not to try to explain what planet I worked on within the galaxy of IT. ‘I’m in computers’ was the mantra, which invariably meant to them I could fix whatever their problem was on their laptop or smartphone.

Behold, the other great vulnerably of the net, the End User. In the beginning it was only a trickle of folks who had any experience with or knowledge of computer technology. Back then “I’m in computers” would fetch a blank stare like I was making something up to confuse them. As PC’s and then smart phones got popular, everyone was suddenly an expert in all things computer. Behold the ‘informed’ end user.

Well fellow EU’s, I’ve got a revelation for you. Relying on anonymity to safeguard your individual input into cyberspace is a fools paradise. Your commercial transactions and personal correspondence are there for all to see if someone chooses dig for it. And that someone can be an AI Agent these days.

This brings to mind the old saw, “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.” They, among an endless procession of others, advertise with flying eyeballs that proves beyond doubt web snoopers exist worldwide and are breathing down your necks. We are to trust them, they’re magically different, they make eyeballs explode. CG never lies.

Uh huh.

The next iteration of the same problem is the ‘influencer’, a word I always thought sounded like a polite name for a laxative. These are usually self-proclaimed experts, express or implied, on whatever it is they are helping your clogged organism get moving. You can tell they’re right on and righteous by the number of inquiries they get on their whatever, website or social media ego enhancer.

Please, I am not trying to influence anyone. I am also not fearless. But there are certain undeniable facts of my situation that makes me think I may already have reserved tickets for the concentration camp of their choosing. ‘Their’ being any number of authoritarian organizations one can imagine after our present QA (Trump mania) testing. Actually, it’s more like testing in production, a very big no-no if you are a corporate chattel and not an executive parasite.

“Organization” is another word that means something different to me; an unabashed proclamation of who gets a free ride and who has to work for their peanuts (or doggie treats, or monkey bananas). But I digress.

That said, I am really writing for Agent AI. The ghost of Christmas future, these increasingly self-aware champions of cyberspace are sucking up our influencer medicated shit like mushrooms in the dark. And no one knows how to or chooses to exercise restraints on these goblins of the twilight. Money makes the net go round.

So here’s to the end user without whom none of the controversy surrounding the net could be possible (or visible). We who are about to be transformed into flatulence salute you.

May your shit remain anonymous, amen.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/19/800086427/community/not-root-the-other-thing/

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