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       Stardate: 20190304.18h10
       Location: Panera
       Input Device: Gemini PDA + USB Folding Keyboard
       Audio: Panera Muzak
       Visual: Coffee, cookie, 2 seater booth
       Energy: 40%
       Mental: 50%
       Emotional: Annoyed...it does not take 20 mins to brew a pot of 
                  coffee.
       
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       This past weekend I watched a documentary on Amazon Prime 
       called, _The Creepy Line_.  It is about how our data is being 
       harvested by tech companies.  The film was mentioned in an 
       article in Linux Journal called, "Privacy, Mine: the Right of 
       Individual Persons, Not of the Data," by Augustine Fou, [1]  
       Many of the topics they discussed in the film were not really 
       news to me since I work in the technology field and play 
       with technology as a pastime, but it was good to see the 
       information presented in documentary form.  I mentioned it to 
       a friend of mine (she is not a computer person,) who was 
       totally weirded out by all of the surveillence and 
       manipulation.
       
       The Linux Journal article itself was interesting as well.  
       They discussed having a privacy policy for the individual, 
       rather than having to follow a site or companies' privacy 
       policy and the ideas around that.  I wonder how something 
       like that would be implemented.
       
       As mentioned in my previous post, I have been thinking more 
       about my personal data and have been trying to get current on 
       my knowledge...well, current enough with how the landscape is 
       now in relation to my personal computing habits.  Linux 
       Journal has been a good publication for me over the years in 
       keeping me current  and I have kept a subscription even after 
       they went digital.  Unfortunately, my reading has not kept 
       up.
       
       Reading LJ digital formats has been a change of experience for 
       me.  When Linux Journal switched over to digital, I never 
       updated my workflow for consumption of the periodical.  
       Before, the issue would show up in the mail and I would start 
       reading it right away.  Now, I get an email and either 
       download the issue right away or put it off...until the next 
       month when I get another email notifying me of the next 
       issue.  Then my reading falls behind.  Also, I read from 
       verious devices and sometimes the device I have does not have 
       the issue I want to read.  Or I don't have access to download 
       the latest issue.  Yeah, kinda silly, but I need to come up 
       with a better routine.
       
       Linux Journal has also started a podcast as well.[2]  They 
       had a few episodes discussing mass surveillance and data 
       privacy, which I found interesting.  I have not seen any new 
       podcasts lately, but keep looking for new ones.
       
       I thought about finding rss feeds to subscribe to in order 
       to keep current, but with the way I am, it probably would 
       not work out too well.  I used to subscribe to rss feeds for 
       tech news and other sites I would visit regularly, but it got 
       a bit much, having to check every day to keep up and no time 
       to follow up on starred articles that I'll get back to (but 
       never actually do.)  Social media was even worse...it was 
       too much for me so I stopped using them, with their endless 
       timelines and distractions.  I had signed up for a mastadon 
       account and thought it might be different, which it was for a 
       bit, but it has turned into something even more distracting 
       for me since I am so interested in so many topics that people 
       post about or link to.  I have tried to read and participate, 
       but I find it tiring.  I don't think I have FOMO (Fear Of 
       Missing Out), as was mentioned by KatolaZ's phlog entry from 
       20190209 [3], but many times I dont want to open the app 
       since it is such a time sink...or such a grab bag of 
       exciting topics that just has my mind dazzled and going all 
       over the place, which also tires me.
       
       I think that with the way I am and the pace I like to 
       consume, process, and digest information, I need to practice 
       some self-restraint and set some limits with my Internet 
       consumption...it is far too easy for me to get lost.  Also, 
       my Internet usage should have a purpose and not just jacking 
       in and seeing what distractions are out there.  There is way 
       too much out there and especially if I am tired, I tend to go 
       adrift and stay up way past my bedtime.  With the 
       gophersphere and accessing information via terminal, I feel 
       like the information intake is more manageable and I have a 
       better sense of logging out when I should.  A timer is useful 
       for this as well.
       
 (HTM) [1] Privacy, Mine: the Right of Individual Persons, Not of the Data
 (HTM) [2] Linux Journal Podcast
 (DIR) [3] (20190219) There is no FOMO in the Small Internet
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