Day: June 12, 2018

FOWC — CONTROL? WHAT CONTROL? – Marilyn Armstrong

FOWC with Fandango — Control

If I thought that maybe I had finally gotten my online life under control, I was wrong. Again. It’s just getting worse and worse and there is no end in sight.

I just got this message.

Dear Marilyn,
As one of our registered users, we bring to your attention that on June 4, 2018, at 1pm EST we became aware of a data breach involving 92.3 million email addresses of MyHeritage users, and their hashed passwords (these are not actual passwords).
We learned about the breach when MyHeritage’s Chief Information Security Officer received a message from a security researcher that he had found a file named MyHeritage containing email addresses and hashed passwords, on a private server outside of MyHeritage. Our Information Security Team received the file from the security researcher, reviewed it, and confirmed that its contents originated from MyHeritage and included all the email addresses of users who signed up to MyHeritage up to October 26, 2017, and their hashed passwords. We made a public announcement about the breach within 8 hours of learning about it.
Your email address was one of the accounts in the data breach.
Immediately upon receipt of the file, MyHeritage’s Information Security Team analyzed the file and began an investigation to determine how its contents were obtained and to identify any potential exploitation of the MyHeritage system. We determined that the file was legitimate and included the email addresses and hashed passwords of 92,283,889 users who had signed up to MyHeritage up to and including Oct 26, 2017 which is the date of the breach. MyHeritage does not store user passwords, but rather a one-way hash of each password, in which the hash key differs for each customer. This means that anyone gaining access to the hashed passwords does not have the actual passwords.

That is more than 92 MILLION PEOPLE whose email addresses — at the least — have been breached. There is more to this information including that they are sure no one really got passwords. I’d like to believe them, but since this hack was way back last October and I’m only hearing about it NOW, I don’t know what to believe. At least they don’t store credit card numbers. I suppose I should be grateful at least for that … but do they now have my DNA results? They say not, but they could. AND my husband’s.

You want to know how we get hacked? This is it. Companies get hacked. Half the time, they don’t know they’ve been hacked until months later, after which they do everything in their power to cover it up.

Hackers don’t need to breach our personal computers. All they need is information they get from hacking the companies with whom we work. I’m beginning to wonder who has NOT been hacked. Which company I use has thus far been spared.

Has any large company been spared?

Anything that sounds too good to be true isn’t true. Anyone giving you something for free is lying. Calls from Microsoft or the make of your computer (Dell, for example, or Mac for another)?

It’s a hack.

I got a call from “Dell Customer Service” this morning. Although Dell hasn’t announced a breach, I’m guessing there has been one yet to be announced because hackers have my computers basic serial numbers– which unlike a password, are embedded in the computer. As are numbers for every computer made. That’s how we can identify where the information came from and to whence it is going.

teravivos.com

There IS no safety as far as I can tell. Don’t talk to anyone on the phone if you have no reason to expect the call. If you have not contacted them and asked for a return call and given them a code word so you know it is actually the real people calling, HANG UP. No conversation. Don’t be cute. Don’t play mind games. Hang up. Immediately.

On another — yet somehow parallel concept — Donald Trump, our erstwhile national leader, seems to think he can trust Kim Jun On to “do the right thing” vis-à-vis nuclear arms. Right.

It’s another hack. Our NATIONAL hack.

ATAVISTIC DOESN’T MEAN RUDE – Marilyn Armstrong

ATAVISM, ATAVISTIC

I really liked the Cambridge dictionary definition better:

ATAVISTIC – atavistic meaning: happening because of a very old habit from a long time ago in human history, not because of a conscious decision or because it is necessary …

That sort of sums up the world we are seeing these days. A world where behaviors and patterns of behavior from the past are overtaking modern civility. Although I’m pretty sure back in Rome, they were pretty civil even then. Our rough incivility and crudeness aren’t atavistic. They are merely crude.

Photo: Garry Armstrong

I maintain that much of what is wrong with the world pertains to the way we treat each other. If we are kind, generous, and civil, the world remains a fairly well-oiled machine and it’s possible for everyone to hold their opinions without turning every disagreement into warfare.

These days, people seem to have forgotten the things we learned in elementary school. Like “please” and “thank you” and “excuse me” and most important, “I’m sorry.” Along with “no bother ” and “I forgive you.”

There’s no point in going on about this. Our world is becoming a crude and ugly place inhabited by people who would not be accepted in any civilized society, now or long in the past.

We aren’t being atavistic. We are simply ill-mannered.

CAFFEINATED CWESTIONS – Marilyn Armstrong

These originated as questions for an award. I don’t do awards, but I like the questions. They are all about coffee and caffeine. And how I feel about it.

I feel that caffeine is good, but I don’t want it unless it comes wrapped up in a cup of hot coffee. Not iced coffee.

Hot coffee. Preferably in a thermal cup. With an English muffin.

Do you need coffee to wake you up in the morning?

No. The dogs wake me up. The coffee is how I survive the dogs.

Would you drink coffee if all that is available is instant coffee?

I don’t even like that high-priced instant they make in those ridiculously expensive machines. I like real coffee and if I could deal with the cleanup, I’d actually percolate it. In a percolator. Meanwhile, I settle for drip and it’s okay, especially when it has been sitting on the heat for an hour.

What do you think is the highest number of cups you’ve had in one day?

Three? Maybe four? But that was a social thing. At home, we never drink that much coffee. One very large cup — like 16 ounces — and that’s it for the day.

What do you think of Starbucks™?

Overpriced, burned coffee. My son calls it “Charbucks.”

What do you think of flavored coffee?

I like some of them. I love vanilla and hazelnut.

Cinnamon is good too.

Do you like the smell of coffee?

Mmmm.

Do you think that coffee grown in different parts of the world taste differently?

It should, but often doesn’t. A lot of the coffee you buy is so mixed with other grinds that it isn’t the real deal.

I have had coffee in other parts of the world and it definitely tasted different.

What role (if any) does coffee play in your life?

It’s what I do in the morning while I’m trying to sort out my email.

What’s the difference between Irish coffee and Turkish coffee?

Irish coffee is laced with whiskey. Drank a lot of it in Ireland, but not for breakfast. It’s a drink.

Feenjon for making boiled coffee.

Turkish coffee is ground very fine, mixed (sometimes) with cardamom, and boiled. Four times to a froth then poured into tiny cups. A few cups of that coffee has enough caffeine to help you take off and fly. It isn’t Turkish coffee. It is made all around the Mediterranean. Greeks call it Greek coffee. Armenians call it Armenian coffee. I call it boiled coffee. It was the first coffee I really loved.

Do you buy whole-bean coffee or pre-ground coffee?

Ground. I got tired of grinding beans. Call me lazy.

Do you know the difference between Arabica coffee and Robusta coffee?

I know what they say about it, but I’m not convinced there really IS a difference.

When is the best time to drink coffee?

After I’ve done the “morning things” and “morning dog things.”

I take my big cuppa coffee and my toasted muffin with jelly, open the computer and my day in ON.

Which coffee would you prefer? Hot or cold?

Hot. Iced coffee is always too sweet and is less coffee than other stuff.

Do you have a favorite coffee shop?

Until they were infested with cockroaches, it was Dunkin Donuts. I still like the coffee and the donuts, but distrust the cleanliness.

How old are when you started drinking coffee?

Thirty.

Do you think that you are addicted to coffee?

Probably. I got OFF coffee then my doctor put me back ON it.

Do you believe that coffee is good or bad for you?

It is neither. Caffeine does good things and not good things.

If you drink an insane amount of it, that’s probably not good. But that’s true of everything.

Does coffee affect your appetite?

No.

Would you drink less coffee if you knew it stained your teeth?

No.

What do you think happens when you overdose on coffee?

You have to pee a LOT. And you twitch.

A SECOND ORCHID – Marilyn Armstrong

Flower of the Day

There are several more buds close to blooming and at least two more sprigs are up and growing, gradually uncurling. I think I will have quite a few orchids before all is said and done. 

Garry went and sniffed them today. I was just wondering if they smell as good as they look. I’m so allergic I can’t smell anything, but Garry said he couldn’t smell anything much either.

I love my orchids, but other than the difficulty of getting them to bloom, why do we grow them? They aren’t more beautiful than other flowers, although I think they last rather longer than most flowers.

I’m just enjoying the blooming when I never expected them to sprout, much less bloom. 

JUNE IS SQUARE – ROOF 12 – Marilyn Armstrong

It’s that time of year again and squares are back! 

Welcome to Symphony Hall!
Welcome to Symphony Hall!

It’s an awning. I think it’s a roof. It’s especially roof like if it’s raining. Then it is definitely, absolutely a roof!

Well, the theme is ROOFS (or rooves if you prefer). Your roof can be;

A – any type, any condition, any size, and in any location.
B – it could be a shot across rooftops, of one roof like today or even a macro
C – you might prefer to spend some time under the eaves and in the attic, or enjoy the view from above as Brian has already done today.

See you tomorrow!