It’s August, and with it the return of dog-walkable mornings. At least I hope it’s the return, not a fluke. I know we’re in for a few more weeks of 110°F daytime highs, but won’t it be nice if overnight and early morning temperatures start dropping into the 70s?
When we walk, I keep a lookout for good doggie photo backdrops. This morning I took the risk of twisting an ankle on loose rocks to hook the dogs’ leashes to an awkwardly-placed fire hydrant. Safely tethered so I could use both hands to work the camera, Mr. B, Lulu, and Fritzi posed like Instagram stars, and now we have another photo op site in the hood.
Speaking of Instagram, I’ve become a target of honey pot scammers, men who pose as young women, engage with IG users’ posts, and try to lure them into conversation. Every day, new bikini-clad followers will “heart” dozens of old posts and flood my notification queue, then, a day or two later, start sending me messages. “You’re a very handsome man”; “I’m looking for a friend”; “Why haven’t you responded — did I say something wrong?”
Thing is, I already interact with people on Instagram. Actual people, that is. Our attempts to reach out to one another, in the form of likes and comments, are getting buried under cubic yards of scam. I suppose I could take my IG account private, but doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of social media? I enjoy discovering and following new people on social media, and love it when new people discover and follow me.
I know I’m not alone in this, nor are scammers just preying on men. If my little Instagram friends and I keep our guard up and ignore the spam, it can’t hurt us, right?
Years ago, I had to manually delete comment spam on my blog. I still get tons of it, but filtering software has gotten much better at blocking it. What’s stopping Instagram from blocking bots and scammers? This might be an area where AI could do some good, even.
I don’t do this often, but a friend forwarded a link and I want to share it with you:
Yes, the article contrasts Jason Aldean with Tony Bennett, but it’s really about the history of white jazz singers and musicians fighting racism by refusing to perform at segregated venues and insisting clubs, casinos, restaurants, and hotels open their doors to Black artists and audiences, integrating the jazz scene decades before the rest of the music and entertainment industry followed.
I wish the headline didn’t pussyfoot around as much as it does. It should say “Tony Bennett Sang in a Key Jason Aldean Can’t Reach.” Aldean’s music is the music of resentment. There’s just the one clef, with seven notes & three chords.
Thanks for the link, I knew nobody ever had a bad word to say about him and that he was a towering talent who sang in many genres.
Don’t forget the bass clef, or F clef. That’s your rhythm section down there, holding up and moving the song along and making your toes tap. While the lead guitar and vocalist twitter away up there in space. It’s all about that bass. And, as always, if there’s a problem then fire the drummer.
Like bad money driving good money out of circulation, the spam fake sex hackers have driven honest sex workers out of the market. That and the Republican FOSTA law which killed Craigslist Personal ads and greatly increased sex worker vulnerability.: https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-new-law-that-killed-craigslists-personals-could-end-the-web-as-weve-known-it
At least the escorts on CL gave you something for your money, it’s claimed. The online spammers are just eastern euro men online trolling social media seeking our personal and financial data with bad intent.
Tod recently posted…Banned by Dailykos : Let’s Not Stay in Touch or Be Heard