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Carrion Luggage
Carrion Luggage
 
Native to the Americas, the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) travels widely in search of sustenance. While usually foraging alone, it relies on other individuals of its species for companionship and mutual protection. Sometimes misunderstood, sometimes feared, sometimes shunned, it nevertheless performs an important role in the ecosystem.
This scavenger bird is a marvel of efficiency. Rather than expend energy flapping its wings, it instead locates uplifting columns of air, and spirals within them in order to glide to greater heights. This behavior has been mistaken for opportunism, interpreted as if it is circling doomed terrestrial animals destined to be its next meal. In truth, the vulture takes advantage of these thermals to gain the altitude needed glide longer distances, flying not out of necessity, but for the joy of it.
It also avoids the exertion necessary to capture live prey, preferring instead to feast upon that which is already dead. In this behavior, it resembles many humans.
It is not what most of us would consider to be a pretty bird. While its habits are often off-putting, or even disgusting, to members of more fastidious species, the turkey vulture helps to keep the environment from being clogged with detritus. Hence its Latin binomial, which translates to English as "golden purifier."
I rarely know where the winds will take me next, or what I might find there. The journey is the destination.
January 3, 2026 at 8:50am January 3, 2026 at 8:50am
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I'm still wrestling with formatting issues related to the new editor. It's still in beta, so that's not unexpected. Just a reminder that things might continue to be a bit inconsistent here until some wrinkles get ironed out.
I think I stole today's link from Elisa, Snowman Stik  , because it's not the sort of thing I usually cover here. Well, at least not concerning YouTube, which is one of the few "social media" sites I actually visit sometimes. From ZDNET:
There are, I shouldn't have to mention but I will, many scams on YouTube. Most of them seem to be just your basic bullshit videos, spreading mis- and dis-information, promoting pseudoscience, or trolling, like trying some modern twist on the old "stick your iPhone in the microwave to charge it" thing.
A malicious network of videos hosted on YouTube has been discovered by researchers who branded it "one of the largest malware operations seen on YouTube."
Malware is a different beast, though. Instead of hacking your brain, it hacks your device. I'm not sure that this isn't worse.
On Thursday, Check Point researchers published a report that revealed the scam, dubbed the YouTube Ghost Network, which they tracked for over a year.
By "Thursday," based on the article's datestamp, they mean way back in October.
The YouTube Ghost Network has likely been active since 2021, with videos posted consistently over the years -- until 2025, when the number of videos tripled.
Spooky.
(Ghost? Spooky? October? Come on, I work hard at these.)
Over 3,000 YouTube videos, described as part of a "sophisticated malware distribution network," contained tutorial-style content that enticed viewers with promises of free or cracked software, game hacks, and game cheats.
Okay, well, my sympathy for the victims just tanked. I've known since about 1993 to never trust cracked software, game hacks, or game cheats on the internet. I ain't saying they deserved it, just that it's the second-oldest scam on the internet, right after porn malware.
Once downloaded, users are told to temporarily disable Windows Defender before extracting and installing the file contained in the archive.
Are you fucking kidding me? That's, like, an ocean of red flags right there. The Pacific Ocean's worth. Like an entire spinning discarded plastic gyre of crimson banners.
I can understand relying solely on Windows Defender. I don't expect everyone to be as careful as I am, which approaches paranoia because I'm really not all that tech-savvy compared to some others (I'm somewhere in the middle of the spectrum between "totally clueless" and "hiding behind seven proxies and fourteen firewalls").
Still, if you're going to rely on Windows Defender, don't freaking disable it.
If you're trying to use cracked software, you'd probably want to disable security protections, so the need to stop Windows Defender from catching a pirated file makes sense -- even though it's dangerous.
And look, confession: I've used cracked software, and I've pirated movies. I'm not proud of it, and I haven't done it recently, but I'm not going to hide it, either. Still, I have limits, and that limit is metaphorically pulling down my pants so someone can punch me in the balls.
The operators of the scam are using fake and compromised YouTube accounts not only to upload videos, but also to post links and archive file passwords, and to interact with watchers -- posting positive feedback that makes the cracks and tutorials appear genuine and safe.
So it's a sophisticated scam, which only makes me double down on not clicking on naked links.
How to stay protected
I'm not going to paste the tips here. They're at the link. Most of it is stuff I was already aware of, but, like I said, I don't expect others who maybe haven't been around the cyberblock a few times to be as paranoid, so go look at it if you're concerned.
But from what I'm gathering from the article, there's not much they can do to frag you if you don't click on the links (and take off your condoms) in the first place.
Sometimes I think these scams are run by professionals who are trying, via a kind of psychological warfare, to stop piracy and file-hacking. But if so, so what? The end result for the user is about the same either way. |
© Copyright 2026 Robert Waltz (UN: cathartes02 at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Robert Waltz has granted InkSpot.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
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