Author: Huw Edwards

Here to share views and discuss issues around the world going to hell in a handcart.

Trying to avoid Bitdefender’s antivirus autorenewal trap

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – oops no that’s the wrong time, though the sun is shinning and the outdoors is warm and not to hot but its definitely not THAT time of the year.

Instead it’s antivirus renewal time for my PC or at least I am getting a lot of emails from Bitdefender telling me to renew my antivirus or sit back and let them automatically take out of my bank in September £80 (HOW MUCH).

Which to my mind is far to expensive and so I have decided that whatever I do I will not be automatically renewing it with them. Normally I purchase my antivirus software on another site on the internet more often than not on Amazon. It cost me £30 last year so I am in no hurray whatsoever to have exactly the same cover for £80 instead!

I have already found a replacement package of Bitdefender antivirus for 12 months for just £20 which I will be using for the next 12 months. But I was annoyed and disappointed by the fact they have set up an autorenewal for £80 for me which I am finding very difficult to cancel.

So I have been following the online instructions on how to cancel the autorenewal and when I get to the correct page on their software the cancelation button is just off screen making it impossible to cancel both on my pc and phone, very convenient for Bitdefender and a royal pain in the behind for me.

I have contacted there customer services team asking them to cancel my rolling subscription and they just emailed me back offering more ways of spending lots of money with them and not cancelling my autorenewal. So I have emailed them again asking politely for them to cancel the dam autorenewal.

I am still waiting for a response from Bogdan C. a Bitdefender Retention & Loyalty Specialist to get back to me on this matter.

Pink Floyd – Money

Uncomfortable views in the news promoted as normal and yet anything but!

Just watching the news on television tonight and this week it seems it is not currently trying to inform me, but to indoctrinate me. I’m no believer in the view that the news is all lies, but what it certainly is is opinionated and what it does have is an agenda.

Top headline tonight on the TV is about criminal smuggling gangs getting immigrants to the UK. There is a lot of hate stirred up by illegal immigration stories. One person in my workplace even turned around last week and openly said that he thought that illegal immigrants coming over in boats should be shot as they approach our shores that would soon stop them.

I was not expecting such a violent response from a person that I worked with about such an issue as immigration. There was no way of telling if he believed his view or had a dark sense of humour but where ever he was coming from he felt emboldened enough to say it, it kind of sums up an undercurrent of racism and hatred to others that seems to be amplified across the media and then teaches people to be emboldened in their hatred of others.

You won’t get a documentary on a main screen television showing reporting on the horrors of war, famine and poverty that humans are desperately trying to escape and why they flee to wealthy countries, such a report might be controversial or deemed inappropriate propaganda promoting the people were being taught to hate and fear.   

Smash the gangs and stop the boats are both terms used by former heads of government of the UK when promoting their policies against immigrants again adding fuel to the fire of fear, hatred and paranoia of strangers. I have always thought that the left of society were more eloquent, critical and show amusing senses of humour ridiculing of the establishment and those in power who abuse the power that they have.

But it is one think to laugh at those in power, its completely different realisation that anyone in power is simply being voted in because the many support their potentially hateful and right-wing view points. People don’t like to elect kind and informed and fair minded individuals the majority appear to enjoy electing a bunch of ?!?!( I want to use a swear word hear but in my own head can’t justify it right now). Let’s just say more often than not self serving millionaires aimed at defending their own power and interests or those that will do that job for said millionaires for them.

One of the greatest mistakes and also predictable errors by our present Labour government is that they will not tax the rich and powerful in a way that is needed by society in order to strengthen our social services and pay for what we need to provide a functioning western democratic society.

The Labour government has instead argued for the removal of benefits for the disabled and removal or reduction of money to help pensioners through the winter from fuel poverty and also arguably destroy the ability of farmers to pass down the assets of a farm from one generation to the next. Oh and not forgetting stopping illegal immigration from war torn countries and poverty from entering the UK.

I’m not a member of the Labour party and also did not vote for them in the last election but they are a better devil than the Conservative party or Remain. It’s likely Remain could make it in to power one day or even at the next election and if I thought our present Labour government has tones of right wing paranoia and policies then I have not seen anything if Remain are elected in. It seems the hope and dreams I grew up with in the 1990’s as a teenager that the planet was on the dawn of a new dawn of fairness and being saved from itself has been reversed and suppressed by an establishment whose agenda and direction of travel I simply do not understand or respect and where it will all end nobody quite knows. In hindsight is this the era of Trumpism on a global scale and we are not being told the dark side of what happens when we do his bidding, just being taught the dark side of why we must do his bidding?

James – All the colours of you

Reflecting on My Birthday: A Year of Change

I did not want to do a lot on my birthday this year as I was minded to think of having lost my Dad at the beginning of the year. Normally on my birthday over the last few years I would go out for a meal with friends and last year went to a bar called the White Hart.

Me stuck in the middle with some great guys that I went out with for my birthday in 2024.

I instead went out on Friday 11th July this year to a local bar where we sing Karaoke. I got up and sung We are Young by Fun and a friend kindly recorded me singing but I sound very loud and drunk and so will not post it on here just yet.

Yesterday I went out for a meal with my mum at a pub called the Fisherman’s Cot. We got some rare photos of me and mum too then also.

So I have the week off now and will just relax and take it easy, fortunately its no longer as hot as it was last week so just chilling and recharging my batteries.


Our capitalist designed system is not set to act in our interest! 

Capitalism is an economic system where private individuals or businesses own capital goods like factories and resources, rather than the government or state. The goal is to produce goods and services and generate profit, with supply and demand playing a key role in determining prices and resource allocation. 

But in our global system, capitalism enables the wealthy and powerful to not just own business and means of production but ownership and direction of our governments, public perceptions of reality through the media and a persuasive overarching state of opinion on what should be considered successful, truthful and normal over what is considered a failed system, abnormal and even a lie. 

We operate and exist in extremely complicated economic global structures which dependent on where you look at it from can look extremely pleasing e.g. for those with wealth and power and control its a system within which they see considerable benefit for themselves but to those that live in areas of the world that are exploited such as taking away ecological resource being harvested and irreversible destroyed for economic gain such as the destruction of tropical rain-forest or the abstraction of finite minerals and other resources or even worse those living in an area where there are wars or violence inflicted on people as a means to obtain wealth, power and control things are a lot worse when your being exploited at the expense of the person that is exploiting you.This can be done through both legal and illegal means of exploitation.  

The most logical means of production and consumption to a maximum number of people at a competitive price should be by individuals and organisations but just as ‘power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’. The cost to humanity, our ecosystem and our governments integrity should all be priced into production, the means of production and our ability to consume and sustain our ability to produce and consume. 

Our governments today are not deep thinkers and do not show signs of thinking outside of the box of tools within which they think they are provided with. Capitalism and consumption should not be at any cost. A system that eats itself, destroys its own environment and severely impacts on humans within its own sphere of influence is not a healthy form of government and should therefore not be aspired to or believed to be the only economic game in town.

Just because the exploitation that feeds your economy take place on  a global scale and not in your back yard does not mean that the people within positions of power whom exploit others that live within your countries are not in some way responsible for the exploitation of the globe, the chances are the greater wealth that is obtained by someone in this world will likely be at the expense of the planet or the humans within which live upon it that have been exploited in order to capitalize on said wealth   

Just as bees collect pollen and produce beautiful wondrous nests full of honey. We as creatures must consume to exist and wondrous things have and continue to be produced as we consume and exist. As we produce and engage in ever wondrous antics to assist us to hopefully at first survive and if and when possible thrive. Consumption to exist and where possible thrive is very much in our nature but just to be a capitalist being born to exploit at the expense of others is perhaps perceived as normal but not truly necessary or sustainable into the future. 

A healthy society of consumers needs to have strong and robust legal system designed to prevent genocide, ecocide and other forms of manipulation, destruction and death across society so as to maximize the amount of sustainable growth and consumption but not at the expense of those with power, wealth and money being entitled and enabled by our political, legal and media establishments to destroy the environments of others or itself merely for profit from such actions themselves. That is not just an unsuccessful use of a system but one that is inherently flawed for humanity and the planet within which we live upon and sustains our lives.

    

Understanding Miracles and Their Implications

So how did it come to me blogging about this – well with a considerable amount of thoughtful scepticism. I started thinking about who decides what is a miracle in today’s world and what does that say about all miracles and whether they have happened or not and whether that matters anyway!

Simply put mainly according to AI’s interpretation on this issue (who would have believed a few years ago that AI would be attempting to teach a human on the divinity of a miracle, but here we are) a miracle is an extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable (meaning capable of being explained) or understood by natural or scientific laws and is therefore attributed to a divine agency.

A miracle is generally understood as an extraordinary event that is attributed to supernatural forces or divine intervention, often defying natural or scientific laws. 

It’s also used more broadly to describe any amazing or wonderful event, regardless of whether it has supernatural connotations. 

Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

1. Supernatural/Divine Interpretation:

Many religions associate miracles with the actions of a deity or other supernatural being. 

These events are often seen as signs of God’s power or intervention in human affairs. 

Examples include healing the sick, raising the dead, or performing other feats beyond natural capabilities. 

2. Broader Usage:

In everyday language, “miracle” can refer to any highly improbable but positive event, like surviving a disaster or experiencing a stroke of good luck. 

This usage emphasizes the unexpected and beneficial nature of the event. 

For example, “a miracle of modern engineering” might describe a complex structure that was incredibly difficult to build. 

3. Key Characteristics:

Unexplained or inexplicable: Miracles are often events that cannot be readily explained by natural or scientific laws.

Extraordinary or wonderful: They are events that stand out as exceptional and remarkable.

Potentially supernatural: In many cases, miracles are associated with supernatural agency, but this is not always the case in broader usage. 

So for now where my ponderings have led me to consider whether divine miracles occur on daily basis and are real events or a thing of fiction. It’s fascinating that god requires no proof and yet a miracle is the greatest proof or all of god exists.

To me the greatest miracle of all is the miracle of life and followed by the existence of all and the wonder and beauty of all living things especial humans and other conscious beings. This is truly wondrous miracle of existence and also clear proof of a divine being at work for me – what it does not tell me though in any way, shape or form whatsoever is whether that divine being is a Buddhist, Muslim, Jew or Christian.

Religious labels and the divine have for most of my life been lost on me and therefore if one religion tells me something is not a sin and another tells me it is then how do I or anyone know else know which is the most appropriate interpretation to take? Or for that matter if one religions says that something is a miracle and another religion says no it never happened then who is the divine messenger of god and who is not? I expect it boils back down to individual belief and perceptions of those rules and regulations for certain beliefs, faiths and/or religions to be perceived and believed to be right or wrong, true or false.

Little clip of Karaoke Huw

I was out at my local bar in Exeter on Friday and I asked a friend to take a photo of me singing and she also caught a small clip of me singing a song for a few seconds and I thought I would post that clip up here as a memento of that night I was singing the Blowers Daughter by Damien Rice.

Israel’s broken clock

If Israel dictates the terms of what is a just war in the Middle East at this moment in time across our media outlet’s, then our media outlets are wrong and in this particular circumstance are not telling the truth.

The bombing of Iran by the US and Israel is a brutal distraction from the coordinated genocide of the people and country of Palestine. While a bombing raid takes place in Iran the starvation and genocide of the Palestinian people is temporarily not needed to be explained and justified in the media. They say a broken clock face is said to tell the time correctly twice a day. The meaning of the broken clock symbolism is that just because someone or something is frequently wrong. or unreliable, it doesn’t mean they can’t occasionally be right. or provide valuable insight. The phrase comes from the idea of a clock. that has stopped working. and his hands are stuck at a specific time. Even though it doesn’t tell the correct time.

So for now in my country international news broadcasters are all reporting on the importance of why strikes are taking place in Iran. The Israel and US regimes perspective of what is the right thing to do concerning preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon is a brutal show of force from those with might against those that do not have such mighty weapons. As well as an attempt to destroy nuclear facilities it is also an attempt at regime change.

I have been watching the Star Wars second series of Andor at the moment the political similarities between what is happening in Israel and the US and what is happening in the middle east with the ripples of potential consequences across the whole world is unnerving.

The British government is still supplying many weapons to Israel although it says it has stopped some. Again they continue to still sell others to them though. If profit is king instead of a belief in the importance and sanctity of human life being sacrosanct and far more important than a few dollars for arms deals then it seem my government and western media outlets are promoting and dictating nothing of value at this moment in time on the middle east bombings and wars propelled and started by Israel.

The expression of the media to style the victims as aggressors and aggressors as victims is a sad reality of how our media portrays reality to express the will of the status quo and not reach out for peace and prevention of genocide sentiments and justifying western and Israel actions across the media and then explained, played down or justified by our state governments.    

The Gospel of the future according to Ai gurus

According to those who preach about the importance of Ai some say it is THE future and one day Ai will do all jobs and humans will no longer be needed for work.

Imagine in a utopian world, if this were true, we could all sit back relax pursue our own hobbies, dreams and leisure activities whilst a benevolent AI gently assisted and guided the human race along to follow our dreams and not just survive but thrive.

Or what perhaps about a dystopian world where those with money and power are left to be catered on hand and foot whilst the rest are left to starve and decay locked out of the future or so you might say.  

Now no world or land that I have ever learned about (except maybe eden) has ever been benevolent and kind to humanity, ever situation we seem to find ourselves in is one which is hard thought for existence or means of survival and just because Ai comes along and technological advancements  take place does in no way mean that suddenly life will be made easier for us of for everyone else come to that matter.

Life is a struggle and likely to continue to be one, maybe that’s a trial we all face and must endure in our limited time trial here on earth maybe that’s the whole point, if there is a point that is, is to endure, to learn to be resilient and to resolve to survive and when possible thrive.

Technologies such as Ai might one day have the answers to all question’s although according to a report on the news today, when an Ai chatbot does not have the answers to the questions that they are being asked they might simply lie to the questioner so as to pretend to know an answer or give a spin on an answer when it simply does not know what is untrue or wrong – sounds like it’s learning to lie its becoming more human and less benevolent incorruptible machine.

I remember when mobile phones were first invented and it was like wow this is the future of technology and just think what else we will be able to do in another 20 years. Well 20 years have nearly passed since the launch of the first iphone on 29th June 2007 and low and behold you can go out and by one today and ultimately it’s still a phone with a screen a computer and a camera and that is just what it’s been for the last 20 years and no more.

Fortunately for humanity and maybe designed so by god is that Ai ultimately sits behind a glass screen it’s not in the ‘real world’ like you and I and might never be in the real world like you and I, it might always be trapped in a computer behind a glass screen. For all I know that is god’s gift of Ai to humanity giving it the ability for something that is so dam smart and speedy but ultimately trapped behind a screen on a computer somewhere.

The human and other organic life forms of earth have been evolving for thousands of years to adapt to our life on earth and no matter how dam smart and capable Ai becomes it is not adapted to live, survive and thrive in the ‘real world’ but only to live and survive and thrive in an artificial one on a computer behind a glass screen.

So most likely us humans are not as outdated and defunct as the artificial intelligent gurus would have you believe or fear and we are already quite well adapted to our environment already – we just have to start acting a little more human or benevolent towards each other in order to stand a dam good chance of surviving the rest of this year, decade and beyond. Perhaps we can learn from benevolent sources of knowledge both Ai and human to help us to follow our dreams and not just survive but thrive.

The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1 [Official Music Video]

😍Weird is Wonderful 😍

I’ve never really wished to be normal, I often get confused by and fearful of those that express how normal they are and then start to say how different from their norm others that they hate are. The UK is really starting to have to consider the possibility that we could have a right wing Farage Reform government in place after the next general election cycle.

Those that vote for him like those that vote for Trump feel ignored by what is described as the establishment and will be offered electoral treats to endorse him and his policies so that they turn around and go, what the hell, why shouldn’t I vote for Farage and his right wing party. He has already boasted that no taxes will go to health care services or in other words will be making tax cuts at the expense of not having a National Health Service.

That will seriously impact on my health with life long medical condition such as diabetes and also a mental health condition that requires daily lifelong medication, I know I will be uninsurable or a waste of money to any health insurance scheme. A good health service is there to treat the ill not profit from them. We are learning the hard way in this country that the privatisation of utilities such as water and transport links on the rail result in poor services with ever increasing profits for share holders as things get worse. I would love to invest in shares of a ethical company that sees’ providing clean transport links and clean water to customers as a force for profitable good but sadly that’s just not the way it works in the UK.

My present political perspective is to try and vote for someone that will not make things shitter than what they already are which for a blue-sky thinker, dreamer kind of person is very disappointing.

Sit Down By The Fire – The Veils

Huw Edwards – The Singing Series!

I don’t know if you have seen these action figure designs yet anywhere on the internet or more specifically Facebook but people have been using AI to design there own action figures I had a go with Chat GPT. I used a template to fill out a description of what I wanted and then after a few minutes the design was created, very clever and lots of fun. The face does not look like me but I think my character definitely comes across in the image.

Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars – a favourite song to sing