Category: ‘Whatchamacallit’

Self Driving Cars – Originally Published May 2015

May 24, 2015 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

This month, I’ve been thinking about self driving cars. Every day it looks more and more like we soon will all be riding in one. I just hope the built in GPS will take me where I actually want to go and not a block or two away. In my mind I imagine future car advertisements that induce me to buy their model because it won’t accidentally drive me off of a cliff.

If you do an internet search, you will find all kinds of articles either telling you how great or how bad the technology is. (Doesn’t that sound like you could researching any article about technology?) You can catch a few extra winks on the way to work or you won’t have any control in case an accident is eminent.

Personally, I’m not concerned with any of those mundane arguments. I find myself concerned with other things that might happen.

Just think of all the state highway patrol troopers that could lose their jobs. With self driving cars, accidents will be avoided. With fewer accidents to investigate, less patrol officers will be needed. What will happen to them? They won’t be able to become truck drivers. The trucks will be driving themselves.

The same scenario happens to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Why would a driver’s license be needed? Doesn’t it seem that when you buy a self driving car, the title would include the right to control the vehicle? Do you suppose all of the DMV employees will be relocated to pet licensing?

I can think of several small towns that might go out of existence. Autonomous cars will automatically go the speed limit. The speed trap towns would lose their major source of revenue. Perhaps they will have to start making traffic stops for other reasons. The officer will say, “the reason I pulled you over is because your rear window is dirty.”

It’s long past my time but I sure wish I could have had a programmable car back in the “Can I borrow the car tonight Dad?” era. It sure would have been nice to know where the car was and what time it was going to get home. When the self driving car becomes the norm, do you suppose the youngsters will be asking, “Dad, can I borrow the password for the car tonight?”

Once self driving cars become readily available, I can foresee people buying customized vehicles. Can you imagine your car as a mobile game room? You could have your game console hooked up to a medium sized monitor and play the latest edition of “Grand Theft Auto”. The workaholic could have a desk in the front seat and a secretarial station in the rear. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could sit and relax in your auto spa while your car did the driving? Personally, I’m going to save my money and buy a specially created bathroom car. I do some of my best thinking in the facilities. Just think how many articles I could be writing while on the road.

It’s not a problem for me, but I know lots of people that will be happy that there will be no need for a “back seat driver”. Those people will have to start criticizing the computer programmers. Maybe they’ll have to settle for criticizing the GPS system.

There is one thing that will definitely not change when our cars drive themselves. The monthly car payments will keep our wallet empty.

Thanks for reading.

Read full article |Leave a comment
Tags: ,
Categories: Whatchamacallit

Cruising 2015 – Originally Published March 2015

March 8, 2015 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I’ve been cruising again!  You may or may not know that I’ve been busy relaxing with the Mrs. on one of our cruise vacations.  It’s been two years since I last wrote about my thoughts on technologies aboard the ship.

One thing that hasn’t changed since the last time was the ship wide WIFI at a decent 54 mps.  The internet junkies can get their fix for a mere $0.75 per minute.  Of course, you could always sign up for the 480 minute plan and pay only 33 cents per minute.  I found it amusing that there was also a $3.95 sign up fee the first time you used the service.  Personally, I’m just fine with waiting until we enter port.  I’ve always been able to go ashore and find free WIFI somewhere.  That gives me a chance to check my email and do a little browsing.  It’s not a big thing. After all, I am on vacation.

I left my laptop at home again.  I brought a seven inch tablet to watch some videos.  It spent most of the time on the desk in the stateroom.  I ended up using my pocket computer (a Samsung Galaxy Note II) for all of my book reading and most of my video viewing.  I kept my folding Bluetooth headset and an extra battery in my pockets.

On this cruise, it seemed that a lot more people were reading actual books.  I’m not sure, but I think this might have been due to the fact that there were a lot more older passengers.  There were still a lot of tablets and e-book readers in sight though.

I was one of the few passengers that had a camera.  Most people used their cell phones for picture taking.  A few people were using an I pad.  I hope they got good pictures because they sure looked stupid to me when they held up a tablet at the dinner table.

The shops, bars, internet cafe, coffee bars, etc. do not take cash aboard the ship.  Your room key not only electronically unlocks the door, but it is also your on board credit card.  It only takes a matter of seconds before your purchase is charged to your account.  Interestingly, the casino takes either cash or your key card.  If you use the card, there is a 3% service charge.  Go figure!

The key card is also used as a passkey to get off the ship in port.  At the start of the cruise, a web cam is used to take each passengers picture.  When going ashore, you just stick you card into a machine that looks like an ATM.  It beeps and you get off.  Coming back aboard is the same process, except for a Security Officer that checks your face against the picture in the file.

We took the ships “Behind the Scenes” tour.  This was a guided four hour journey through various crew only areas of the ship.  Technology was in abundant use throughout.

We didn’t get to see the engine room, but we got to walk through the Engineering Control Center.  It was about the three-fourths size of our meeting area at Sugarloaf Community.  Two officers are on watch at all times.  In addition to the engines, all of the ship’s auxiliary systems such as the water distillers, sanitary disposal tanks, fuel tanks, electricity generators, etc. are monitored and controlled from this station.  They kept a close watch on me as I studied the setup.

In the galley (kitchen), there was a monitor at nearly every piece of cooking equipment.  The displays had instructions for the cooks instructing them what to cook and when to cook it.  A computer in the head chef’s office allowed him to input his instructions into the system.  He was also able to order supplies from the storage areas.

The crews living areas had berthing, recreation and galley facilities.  They had their own cooks that used the same system as the passenger areas.  There was a large room with two or three dozen internet capable computers for crew use.  Many crew members had their own computers which they could also use.  Another thing that was available for the crew is college credit courses via the internet.  I don’t know if there was a fee or not.

By far, the most technology was visible on the bridge.  The first thing you see is a huge monitor displaying the radar for several miles.  The ship’s location is accurately displayed with GPS coordinates.  Another screen displays up to date weather data and the forecast.  Several other stations had monitors with vital ships information.  Almost all of the sailing is done by auto pilot.  The Captain gives his orders and the crew enters the data into the computer.  About the only time it is done manually is for practice in case the systems go down.

When we were on the bridge, many small fishing boats could be seen in the area.  One of the other tour members asked if we should be worried about them.  I got a few glares when I said that maybe they should be more worried about the fact that Windows XP is still being used.  I don’t know what system it was, but one of the monitors was in screen saver mode.  Windows XP Professional was being prominently displayed.

Almost all of the technology I saw had a backup system that was the exact same as the original.  It was interesting to see two computers with the same data on the screen.  Now that I think about it, there was one system that didn’t have a backup.  I guess we can only hope that the windshield wipers on the bridge don’t fail.

Thanks for reading.

Read full article |Leave a comment
Tags: ,
Categories: Whatchamacallit

Why You Should Get Your Own Domain – Originally Published February 2015

February 7, 2015 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I’ve owned my domain name since May 10, 2001.  No, this article isn’t going to be a long plug for my website.  I’m going to try and convince you to register your own domain.  I’ve long believed that everyone should have a presence on the internet.  It’s kind of like having a phone number.

The biggest reason you should probably get a domain name is so that you can easily control your e-mail.  If your e-mail address is YourName@suddenlink.net, you would lose it if you want to change your Internet Service Provider to AT&T or another company.  It would be a real pain in the you know what to have to change your e-mail address with all of your contacts.  For me, it would be even harder to have to make the change on all of the websites I’ve registered with.

If you had your own domain, you could have the e-mail address of YourName@yourdomain.com or .net, or .org, etc.  You would keep that e-mail for as long as you owned the domain.  Never again would you have to change your e-mail address.

Many people avoid those problems by registering their e-mail with Yahoo, Google, AOL, etc.  One of the problems with this method is that you are often limited in your mailbox storage, size of attachments, composition tools, security, etc.  Free e-mail also usually includes free advertisements.

Many computer users have a “junk” mail address.  This is one that they only use for message boards, free offers or other sites that you don’t want to have your real e-mail.  With your own domain, you control all your e-mail addresses.  For example, I often create a one time address for sites.  I usually make an e-mail like del0201@tinys-bs.com.  This lets me know that I can delete the mail address on February 1.  One more advantage to having your own e-mail control is that if you give an address to a specific place and all of a sudden you get spammed at that e-mail, you know who compromised you.  You can then delete the address and never deal with them again.

Owning your domain isn’t expensive.  For instance HostGator, the club’s web hosting service, charges $12.95 a year to register SWLAPCUG.org.  Hosting services are $7.16 a month.  If you sign up for three years, the rates drop to $12.98 and $3.96.  If you do a web search you will find many companies and many different pricing plans.

For that low fee, you get unlimited e-mail addresses, disk space and bandwidth.  There are several other hosting features that you may or may not want to use.

E-mail isn’t the only reason you might want to consider having your own domain.  You can easily make a website to show off your hobbies, a family photo album, share recipes, or do like me: just plain BS.

Other things I’ve used my domain name(s) for is to give family members their own e-mail address, host private chat rooms, store files, etc.

That’s all of my thoughts for February.  My mind is empty again.  Thanks for reading.

Read full article |Leave a comment
Tags: ,
Categories: Whatchamacallit

Obsolete Technology A to Z – Originally Published January 2015

January 11, 2015 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Over the years, I’ve written many articles on technology terminology.  This is another one of them.  It originally started as a Mind Bender quiz, but soon evolved into a list of obsolete technology, terminology, companies, etc.  I hope you enjoy learning the alphabet from A to Z.

A is for Amiga computers, the last product line of Commodore International.  That was the company that brought us the VIC-20, the Commodore 64 and many other great computers.
B is for Beta Max tapes.  They have become obsolete along with the letter V.
C is for Circuit City.  After the bankruptcy, the brand name was purchased by Systemax and lived for a while on the internet.  Even that is no longer with us.
D is for dial up modems.  I imagine that someone somewhere is still using one.  Can you remember calling someone on the telephone and getting that unique sound?
E is for ENIAC, the first computer.  It was initially designed to calculate artillery firing tables for the United States Army.
F is for floppy disks.  They started big and got smaller.  Finally they disappeared.  CDs and DVDs probably won’t be around very long.
G is for Google Reader, which was an RSS aggregator operated by Google.  Although it was still popular, Google discontinued it.
H is for Honeywell computers.  Still in business today, Honeywell International ceased manufacturing computers in 1989.
I is for Infocom.  If you’ve read any of my past articles, you’ll know that I think they produced some of the best games ever.  My all time favorite was Suspended.
J is for the Jupiter Ace.  In 1983, it was advertised as possibly the fastest computer in the universe.  Instead of BASIC or CP/M, the machine’s default operating language was FORTH.
K is for Kinescope, at one time the cutting edge of video technology.
L is for Laserdisc, a video technology that never really made it to the big time.
M is for Mosaic, one of the first graphical web browsers.
N is for Netscape, once the dominant browser for surfing the internet.  The final version was released in February 2008.
O is for Olivetti, once a well known typewriter manufacturer that branched out into making computers.  They are still in business as a subsidiary of an Italian telecommunications company.
P is for Pager.  It used to be the machine that made the noise in movie theaters.  Supposedly, you were important if you carried one.
Q is for Quantum Link which later became America Online.  Q-Link was one of the first on line bulletin boards.
R is for Rolodex.  Does anyone still use these index cards to keep track of their contacts?
S is for Slide Projector.  The only time you hear about slides anymore is when someone wants to know how to digitize them.
T is for typewriters.  There is still a company that makes them, but you won’t see them in use very much.
U is for UNIVAC, the first general purpose computer for commercial use.  It was also the first computer to correctly predict the outcome of a presidential election.
V is for VHS tapes.  They have become obsolete along with the letter B.
W is for Windows 1.0, Windows 2.0, Windows 3.0 Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows Millennium, Windows 98, etc.
X is for the xD-Picture Card.  These flash memory cards were only used in Olympus and Fujifilm cameras.  They were expensive and replaced by SD cards.
Y is for Y2K which on January 1, 2000 was going to be the end of the world because computers wouldn’t be able to correctly calculate the date.
Z is for Z-DOS, a forked version of MS-DOS designed to run on the Zenith computer.  I was originally going to make Z for Zenith, but they are still around.  LG owns the brand and sells a few items.

That’s all of my thoughts for January. My mind is empty again. Thanks for reading.

Read full article |Leave a comment
Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories: Whatchamacallit

Christmas Gifts – Originally Published December 2014

December 7, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

It’s that time of year again. Santa Claus is coming to town. Every year, my daughter asks what I want for a gift. Every year, I tell her that I have everything I need. I’ve never been one to wait for a special holiday or a birthday. If I want something and the price is right, I buy it.  That said, I’m going to share with you my list of things that would be nice to have.  Of course, it’s all stuff that I don’t need, can’t afford or would probably only use one time.  You can feel free to give me anything on this list.

Solid state drives are all the rage this year.  They are speedy and use less power.  Is bigger better?  I don’t know but as I write this, a 4 TB OCZ drive is on sale for $665.27 off.  That brings the price down to a reasonable $7499.73.  Free shipping is included to make the deal even sweeter.

I guess if you wanted an off brand tablet, this 10 inch model has decent specifications.  I’m a little leery of buying something that doesn’t specify the operating system version.  Then again, it must be great.  It’s the KomandoTab.  For your money, you not only get the machine, but a years membership in Kim’s Club.  Best of all, it includes an autographed picture.  I’d like to see Apple top that deal.

Every time Woody demonstrates his quad-copter, I say to myself that I should get one.  Maybe Santa will bring me the Walkera Scout X4.  For your money, you get a drone that can convert from four blades to eight.  My favorite feature is that you can set the GPS to “follow me”.  I can see me slipping the control into someones pocket and watch them wonder why they are being followed by a drone.

Why settle for a lousy picture from your cell phone?  This Hasselblad H5D-60 Medium Format DSLR Camera will take digital pictures with 60 megapixel resolution.  I’m surprised that the $66,000 selling price doesn’t include a SD card.  At least the shipping is free.

It would sure be nice to replace all of my monitors with this 84 inch Planar UltraRes LED monitor.  Only problem is that I’m not sure my floor can support the 24,000 pound weight.  Oh yeah, the $30,000 price tag is a little bit of a drawback too.

This Bluetooth Toothbrush has more calculating power than the Apollo 12 guidance system.  If I get this, I’ll be looking for a Bluetooth toilet cleaning brush to complete my bathroom ensemble.

Wearable technology has been in the news all year.  You can buy eyeglasses, watches, heart monitors, jackets that recharge your electronics and many other new items.  Never again will I lose a remote controller if I get this remote headband for Christmas.

I’m not sure what Santa will bring me this year, but I don’t think that it will be any of this stuff.  That’s all of my thoughts for December.  My mind is empty again.  Thanks for reading.

Read full article |Leave a comment
Tags: , , , ,
Categories: Whatchamacallit

Turkey Technology – Originally Published November 2014

November 10, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

It’s November again, the time of the year when we gather to feast on a large gallinaceous bird, Meleagris gallopavo, of North America, having a bare wattled head and neck and a brownish iridescent plumage.  This would probably be a good month to talk some turkey.  To be more specific, I’m going to talk turkey from the slang section of the dictionary.  Not a stupid, incompetent or unappealing person, but a thing that fails.  This month is about technological turkeys.

The Affordable Care Act brought us the Health Care Website, which was such a big initial failure that it was the target of joke on every late night show.  My personal observation is that this was just one of many medical websites that are lacking.  For example, the portal for my doctor’s medical group will only allow me to request prescription refills from certain pharmacies, many of which aren’t in Lake Charles.  This is just lousy website design.  They wonder why more patients don’t use it.  The website where I actually get my medications from is down more than it is operating.  I’ve found it’s easier to just make a telephone call.  Then there was the time I had to get three blood tests in one day because the medical community couldn’t share the results.  I’m just happy that the doctors and nurses seem to be programmed much better than their computers.

The Google Nexus Q was announced in June 2012 and officially dropped in October of the same year.  I think David Pogue described the Nexus Q perfectly when he said, “I can think of only one class of customer who should consider buying the black Nexus Q sphere: people whose living rooms are dominated by bowling-ball collections.”

Does anyone remember the Iomega Zip Drive?  The problem was that thousands of them didn’t work.  You could hear the drive head clicking as it destroyed the data on your disk.  Rather than acknowledge and fix the problem, Iomega chose to ignore it until there was a class action suit.

In July of 2011, the HP TouchPad was an eagerly awaited tablet that was going to rejuvenate HP’s WebOS operating system.   The machine was buggy, slow and had hardly any apps.  In less than three months, it was history.

Whatever happened to the virtual optical keyboard?  This was a holographic keyboard that could be projected on almost any surface.  It was supposed to be the end of clunky computer keyboards.  I’m not sure, but I think the plans were accidentally rolled up in one of those flexible keyboards and thrown out in the trash.

The only good thing about Windows Millennium was that it had a cool name.  As an operating system, it was a real dud.  When the PadBot debuted, it was going to revolutionize the world as we know it.  All you had to do was attach your iPad and the machine would be “you”.  You could send it almost anywhere and view, converse and interact with people.  This device was so popular that I don’t know anyone that has ever seen one.

The Zune MP3 player was going to be Microsoft’s iPod killer.  It had a few problems.  It was ugly, expensive and had inferior sound.  Not only did it not put a dent in iPod sales, it didn’t manage to gain market share over any of its rivals.

There are many other turkeys.  I could talk about things like the Segway, Sony Betamax, Windows Phone 7, Apple Lisa and the wearable computer to name a few.  I think I’ll wait to write about them after I get my microchip implanted.

It may not be an official technological turkey yet, but I think the Amazon Fire Phone will soon be one.  Originally priced at $199 with a two year contract, the Fire Phone was reduced to 99 cents less than two months after release.  Although it has some impressive specs, consumers don’t seem to want Amazon’s forked Android system on their phone.  Even on the Amazon website, the phone only gets 2.2 stars.  Many of the reviews that are five stars are because of the year of Amazon prime that is bundled with the machine.

That’s all of my thoughts for November.  My mind is empty again.  Thanks for reading.

Read full article |Leave a comment
Tags: , , ,
Categories: Whatchamacallit

Goodbye Outlook (and other old friends) – Originally Published June 2014

September 16, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I’m saying goodbye to an old friend.  As you may or may not know, I’ve been an Outlook 2007 user for the last six years.  It’s still a pretty good organizer of email, contacts, notes and of course my calendar.

The only real problem is that it doesn’t play well with other operating systems.  For years I was a Windows Mobile user.  I got my first pocket computer in 2004.  It was a Hewlett-Packard IPAQ running Windows Mobile 2003.  (Doesn’t it sound like Apple should have made that machine?)  In July of 2012, I decided to quit waiting for Microsoft to catch up in mobile development.  I bought an Android pocket PC and haven’t looked back.  Now it is two years later and Windows mobile has become a pretty good mobile operating system again.  I’ve become vested in the Android mobile world.  I doubt if I’ll ever go back.

One benefit is that I’ve gotten a lot of new material for future lagniappe columns.  I’ve replaced Outlook 2007 with freeware and other open source programs.

My decision to change reminded me of other similar choices I made in past years.  Do you remember Sidekick?  It was one of the first personal information managers (PIM) created.  Like many other people, I spent my hard earned money to buy the program.  At the height of its popularity, it was more than software for your computer.  It spawned several pocket organizers that worked more like glorified calculators.

I really miss the old Infocom games.  To this day I remember their advertising slogan, “We put our graphics where the sun doesn’t shine”.  I’ve played a few of the modern “adventure” games, but they just don’t seem as difficult or imaginative as Zork, Planetfall or Trinity.  I think my favorite game of all time was Suspended.  I know you can still play the games online.  The problem is that they just don’t seem as good as I remember them.

My first web sites were designed with Microsoft Front Page.  It was a great program for a beginner web site designer and proved to fill my needs as my knowledge advanced.  Some of the pages on my web site today were originally created years ago in the program.  Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn’t sell the program any more.  (For some reason, I’m reminded of a labeling software.)

I guess as I get older, old great software has become like other things in my memory.  I know that modern automobiles are quieter, safer and getting better every year.  Even though, I sure do miss my ’54 Oldsmobile.

That’s all of my thoughts for June.  My mind is empty again.  Thanks for reading.

Read full article |Leave a comment
Tags: , ,
Categories: Whatchamacallit

National Do Not Call Registry – Originally Published April 2014

September 15, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Does anyone remember the Perry Mason television show that aired back in the 1950’s and 60’s?  Perry was a lawyer that had an extra phone line installed in his office.  The only people that had this second telephone number was his secretary and a private detective.  That way, whenever the phone rang, Perry knew it was important and would answer it immediately.

Here we are, sixty years later.  Almost everyone has a telephone they can carry with them wherever they go.  Isn’t technology great?  Now we can get a call almost everywhere we are.  Gone are the days of running to the telephone from the other side of the house, picking it up and hearing a dial tone.

Hardly anyone has to miss a call anymore.  You can answer it in the mall, behind the steering wheel, walking down the street or sitting on your throne.  How wonderful!

Unfortunately, behind every silver lining, there is a cloud.  It is so easy for telemarketers to program their computers to call you and everyone else that has a phone number.  Don’t you just love all of those interruptions?  Me neither.  I sure wish the government would save us.

Wait a minute!  I nearly forgot!  The government is already protecting us from unwanted calls.  On March 11, 2003, President George W. Bush signed into law the Do Not Call Implementation Act.  The law established the FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry in order to facilitate compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.  This law is working so good that compliance complaints have increased every year except one.  You would think that complaints would decrease until unwanted calls are a thing of the past.

Could it be that people are complaining because of the law’s exemptions?  A person may still receive calls from political organizations.  Luckily for me, I don’t get any of those types of calls.

A person may still receive calls from not for profit organizations.  Once again, I’ve been lucky.  I don’t get any of those types of calls.

A person may still receive calls from companies with which he or she has an existing business relationship for up to eighteen months after their last purchase, payment or delivery from it.  I can’t believe how my luck is holding.  I don’t get any of those types of calls either.

My personal favorite exemption is that a person may still receive calls from companies conducting surveys.  Turns out that some of these companies call with a survey and then ask for permission to make a follow up call.  The follow up is an attempt to sell you something.  Guess what?  My luck is still holding.  I haven’t gotten any survey calls.

Even though I have never registered for the Do Not Call list, I expect that my luck will continue to be pretty good.  I don’t really care who has my phone number.  If I receive a call from a number that isn’t in my address book, it goes straight to my voice mail.  When my phone actually rings, I know that it is a call I probably want to answer.  Just like Perry Mason, I don’t get calls from unwanted people.

That’s all of my thoughts for April.  My mind is empty again.  Thanks for reading.

Read full article |Leave a comment
Tags: , ,
Categories: Whatchamacallit

Password Grievances – Originally Published March 2014

September 7, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Dashlane, a password manager program, recently released a report assessing the password policies of the top 100 e-commerce sellers in the United States.  They examined 24 different criteria identified as important to online security.  Each company could receive a score between plus 100 and minus 100.

Interestingly, the most secure site was Apple.  In spot number five was Target.  Lately, they have had a few other “security” problems.  The bottom spot was graced by MLB (Major League Baseball).  Near the bottom, with a score of -40, was Amazon.  Do you know anyone who has purchased from them?

I’m not going to bore you with the details of which websites were good or bad.  If you’re interested, you can read Dashlane’s blog by clicking on the link.  If you would like to see the full report, click here.

One of the things the report highlighted for me was how widespread are some of the things I really hate about online passwords.  Why do these sites even let you create the passwords monkey, danger, 123456, 0000, etc.?  It just demonstrates that they don’t really care about security.

Another thing that makes no sense is having those little asterisks show when you are typing in your passwords.  It had some usefulness in the 1990’s, but it doesn’t in 2014.  I have noticed that a few web sites do have a “show password” button.  Want to really test what a company thinks about password security?  Click on the “I forgot my password” button.  A lot of them will go through a lot of rigamarole.  Your password is so important to them that you have to know some silly fact like the breed of your first dog or what brand of diapers you used as a child.  They then proceed to e-mail your password in plain text.

As you may or may not know, I use a password manager.  I like to generate and use big complicated passwords like |%;,0w4>\rN@aJvrh>7;,?-:T”A8rBbyxWqmk}oh.  Unfortunately, many web sites won’t accept that password.  Many places limit the number of characters in the password, some as few as twelve.  Other sites won’t allow all of the special characters.

I think that there is such a thing as too much security.  One of the sites that I want to remain really secure is my military retirement pay.  It used to be that when you typed in your password, they required that you use an on screen keyboard.  Copy and paste wasn’t allowed.  It was a really pain in the rear of my left foot to correctly enter the password.  To make it even worse, there was a time out.  If you didn’t complete your entry in 15 seconds (I think it was), you had to start over.

They have since changed their password policies.  I think that all on line banking sites should be as good.  The on screen keyboard is still there but it is optional.  You are required to change your password every 60 days.  Here is a complete set of password rules:
The Password must:
be 15 to 30 characters in length
contain at least two UPPERCASE letters (A-Z)
contain at least two lowercase letters(a-z)
contain at least two numbers (0-9)
contain at least two of the following special characters: # @ $ ^ ! * + = _ %
change at least four characters from the previous password.
The PASSWORD CANNOT:
contain spaces
be one of your last 10 previous passwords

That’s all of my thoughts for March.  My mind is empty again.

Thanks for reading.

Read full article |Leave a comment
Tags: ,
Categories: Whatchamacallit

Are Apple Products Safe? – Originally Published February 2014

September 6, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I did it again.  Sometimes I just can’t keep my mouth shut.  The other day, I was at Best Buy waiting in the Geek Squad line.  Yes I know.  Going to the Geek Squad for a computer repair is kind of like going to Burger King for a steak.  It’s not going to happen.  Anyway, that’s another story.

There were two ladies in front of me in the line.  One of them was carrying a laptop and a copy of Webroot Secure Anywhere.  She was telling the other gal how she had called Best Buy.  They told her to bring her computer in and they would clean the viruses an reset the password.  The second lady told her, “You need to get a Mac.  If you’ve got windows then you have a virus.”

That’s when I opened my mouth and asked her why I didn’t have any viruses on any of my four windows computers.  She quickly changed the subject and started talking about how she didn’t have to worry about getting hacked.  I said, “You obviously haven’t heard about Mat Honan.”

She hadn’t, so I briefly explained to her how Mat Honan’s Apple account was fairly easily hacked.  Mat Honan is a writer for Wired magazine.  One of his most widely read articles was about how his digital life was ruined by hackers in less than an hour.  Hackers got the last four numbers of his credit card from Amazon.  (These numbers are available on many web sites.  They then called Apple and asked for a password reset using the same numbers for identity verification.  After that it was simply a matter of changing passwords on all accounts.  Honan then could not access any of his data.

I’m not rehashing this story to trash Apple.  My point is that all computers are vulnerable to viruses and/or hackers.  It’s almost always because of operator error.  I’m knocking on wood as I tell you that I’ve never had any malware problems that shut me down.  Over the years, the worst thing that has happened is the root kit I got from a Sony music CD.  After all these years, I’m still steaming over that incident and refuse to knowingly purchase any Sony products.

The easiest way to clean viruses and malware from you computer is to not let them install in the first place.  It doesn’t make a difference if you’re a Windows or Apple user.  Use a good anti-virus program.  Read EULAs and all carefully check boxes when you install software.  Don’t blindly click on links in e-mail, even if it is from someone you know.  Be wary of clicking links in forum posts, especially if the poster is new to the group.

Keep your web browser updated.  On sites visit often I sometimes click on a ad, not because I’m interested in buying something, but to send a little cash to the web site owner.  Be careful if you do this.  Many of these advertisements lead to bad sites.  I’ll click an ad for a reputable company much faster than one that tells me I can get rich quickly.  It doesn’t really make a difference if you use Windows, Apple, Linux or anything else.  It’s almost always the operator that causes problems.

Thanks for reading.

Read full article |Leave a comment
Tags: , ,
Categories: Whatchamacallit
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »