Everybody’s a Techie…

Technical

So the other day I walked into a shop to do some repairs. They had an in-house techie that put together their systems, but had no formal training. The kid was on vacation, so I walked in to fix an important program.

What I found was less than acceptable. The wireless was open, the computers firewalls were off and their data was completely exposed. Further, they were close to a public fairway which means that they get a lot of unknown traffic.

I have been seeing this on a regular basis – people that put their trust in non-educated techies. I lost a job to one a while back. They took price over quality. Later I found that person did something rather scary that exposed the systems and was asked to leave.

I can’t believe how many shops that have free WiFi have open systems. One system I was able to not only see the computers, I could see their POS systems. I was also able to download and upload files.

Did you know if you expose your Credit Card data in any way, shape or form, you will be subject to a $30,000 a day fine. Let me reiterate:

Thirty Thousand Dollar a day fine

I understand you need to cut corners. You wouldn’t fire your accountant for someone who does it every now and then. You wouldn’t take your Lawyer off retainer because your cousin is taking some law classes in college. Why would you do that with your tech?

There is a flip side – I know a few so called “Experienced techies” that I wouldn’t trust with my systems. They have certifications and diplomas to prove they have the knowledge, but couldn’t troubleshoot their way out of a box. A couple of them turned out to be good supervisors.

I also know some kids who come out of the gate and know their stuff. They have no certifications and are still in High School. They have the thirst for knowledge and can pick up new technologies like no tomorrow.

So if you are a company or person that needs help with technology, what can you do? You don’t know how to do that stuff and need to get things done.

Well, unfortunately the only way is to have a little bit of knowledge. Not only a little on the technology, but also what can affect you. A seasoned techie might not know that little tidbit on credit card info and you don’t want to learn of the issue until after the fact (and fine).

A good thing to do is talk to another techie. Ask them if they will come in and look at something small. If a seasoned techie sees problems, you will know pretty quick. Then you can take action.

This is going to be more important now that we can connect any machine to any available open wireless network. Laptops, phones or whatever from inside or outside the building. You might not even know someone is connecting. That is, until your data is compromised.

Do Geeks Like Humans?

Geek Culture, ,

I remember reading an interesting quote from the creator of the comic strip “Dilbert” in Fast Company magazine, if I remember correctly. He was talking about how people in office workplaces like their gadgets and often times have almost no interaction with other people. He said he talked to many people who said they kept to themselves with tech gadgets like mp3 players because they “did not like people, ANY people they worked with”. That is a profound statement by any standards. I am an introvert myself so I love gadgets that entertain me instead of having to make small talk with people I will likely never see again. Being an introvert means more than being shy. It means I am content with my own thoughts in my mind without needing other people to entertain me. So I use an mp3 player to increase my knowledge of thoughts & ideas that are already interesting to me. In other words, why should I talk to people who likely have nothing in common with me when I can listen to carefully chosen podcasts or audio books or even watch videos of my choosing? It’s not that I don’t like other humans, as I do meet interesting people at events and gatherings. But most of the time it is small talk or subjects that are not interesting to me. I am not saying these people are boring, but….. These people are boring. Just kidding it is more likely that I am the boring one. I just have different interests than most people I am around.

The podcasts I listen to are about tech (GNC), liberty (Free Talk Live), money (Dave Ramsey), and business (Dan Miller) so it is unlikely I am going to bump into people in my area who are more informed than the hosts of these podcasts. It is possible that I could & if I don’t try then I guess I will not. I am not trying to convert anyone to my views so I don’t need a group to discuss things with. Really the only people I try to influence are my children & my wife (that is a challenge!) unless someone asks my opinion or tries to sell their opinion to me. Then I have to respond if I disagree since I cannot help myself.

It is a mistake to think most people you meet will not be likeable & just keep to your gadgets though. I know this because some of the best people I know could have ignored me instead of striking up a conversation which lead to great relationships. So geeks do need people too they just may not be the first to reach out or pull out their earbuds.

Tech Will Save You

Technology, , , ,

I see all this junk happening in the news from bank failures to foreclosures. And I admit it is disturbing & can be disheartening if you allow it to be. But what I hate to see is people making excuses for why their life sucks. We all do dumb things, maybe me more than most. But it is better to own up to stupidity & try to fix it and do better in the future. One thing that really bothers me is when people complain about not being able to get a good paying job. I know it is tough out there. I really do but that is no reason to give up & expect someone else to take care of you & you life. You are in charge of you. No one from Washington is coming to save you.

You may be thinking what does this have to do with tech. Well I believe this time we are living in is the best opportunity to succeed in life. The low cost of computers and the availability of the internet makes it possible to educate yourself as much as you want to. There is the equivalent of millions of tons of data right at your fingertips online. That is how you make it. You educate yourself and make yourself more valuable to a company or make it possible for your small business to become successful. I just found http://www.scribd.com/ , a website that has many free books to download in PDF format and of course Google has many books available in the public domain.

I know it is easy for me to say & hard for some to do. “Pull yourself up by the bootstraps” as they say. The single mom with 3 kids will have a harder time than a guy right out of school with no kids to provide for each day. It is harder to GET OUT of a hole than to STAY OUT so I do sympathize with people having a hard time. I just don’t want people to give up especially when economic times are truly tough right now. Did you know that more millionaires were made during the Great depression than during any other time in US history? Me either until I heard it on a podcast last week! That means it is possible to “make it” even when things around us are seemingly in bad shape. Another reason I am optimistic is that I read (online for free about) about people with great disadvantages who would not be denied a good life. Helen Keller was blind and deaf yet she is known everywhere as a great poet & writer. Type Helen into Google & the first choice they give is “Keller”. We should be ashamed when we complain about our little problems compared to Ms. Keller’s. What could she have accomplished with today’s technology? If you could bottle what made her tick & sell it you would get rich quick.

Time is our best friend & most valuable resource. If you are worried about the affairs of the country & your finances then how are you preparing? Are you spending 16 hours a week watching TV or reading about your passion that you can turn into a business? How are you using the vast library called the Web to make you more valuable to your boss? I’m not preaching to the audience anymore than to myself. I know I can do better & be more productive as well. One of my favorite books is The Fountainhead which shows what determination & self-reliance will do for you. Mark Cuban has said that book is what motivated him to succeed in business. I wish it was required reading in high school as it truly has motivated me to help me. Download it for free here if you need inspiration.

More handy Gmail options

gmail

In the 415 podcast Mike talked about Googles new ‘goggles’ option which if you set asks you maths questions before you send an email at times you might have had a drink or seven. Personally I have never had a problem with sending email under the influence (although I could use a feature like that for my mouth).

There are a number of other interesting options that you can find in the “labs” section of your Gmail settings. Ranging from as bizarre as an option to play Snake within your mail window, to adding “mark as read” as a button instead of a menu item. Makeuseof.com has a list of 5 features and some instructions on enabling them. My personal favorite from their list is the ‘forgotten attachment’. This option flags up a warning if you have the word ‘attach’ or a variation in your message and no attachement in case you meant to attach something and forgot. I do this all the time and wish I could get this option for my work email.

Some other options worth looking at are ‘custom keyboard shortcuts’ and ‘mouse gestures’, which are self explanatory; and ‘Superstars’ which give you multiple star colours and other icons, which can be very useful for managing your starred email with a bit more granularity.

It goes without saying that all the labs options are beta.

GNC-2008-10-10 #415 Guest hosted by Mike Dell

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Todd is still on Vacation. Guest Host Mike Dell

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High Tech XRays

Science,

I finally went to the doctor this week for a pain in my neck. I figured it was just a muscle strain (it is) but they took an x-ray to check the bones. My wife works there so I was able to go “behind the curtain” to see my x-rays. I was looking for a wall light fixture to pin the sheets of x-rays on but there was not one there. Instead they had a scanner like machine that they placed the x-rays into & then it uploaded the images to the computer. So we were able to look at the images on a nice big screen. Pretty cool I thought. You could basically do anything you could with a regular photo. They moved it around and zoomed in on the bones they wanted to look at. The picture was crystal clear and much better than the old school way of doing this procedure. Now I have no idea how much this little gizmo cost but I reckon it was close to the cost of a small car. I don’t know if it is worth the cost but I do know it is better in many ways: visible details, digital storage, easily copied, can be emailed to the patient or a specialist. Things like this make better medical options available to us common geeks. I was just glad I got to see it in action.

In-House Wireless Frustration

Information

I am becoming frustrated with my in-house wireless solution. I have ATT high-end DSL, and the modem and combination router rest in the lower level of the house, albeit on a shelf that is less than 2 feet from the ceiling. The lower level of the house is half underground, on the back side, but not underground at all, on the front side (i.e., the house is built into the side of a rock ledge consisting of iron-laden limestone). Directly above the router in the dining room, I can get a signal quite well on my laptop and the one wireless desktop I have in that area. I can even get 4 out of 5 bars on the patio, which is at least 30 feet from the router and on the other side of a host of domestic appliances (washer/dryer/freezer), our electrical intake box, and a metal and glass patio door.

But how dare me want to walk down the hall to the bedroom to use my laptop; less than 30 feet from the router, even with a parabolic enhancer on both router antennas, my wireless drops to a bar or less, and usually just is out of range altogether. This annoys me to no end! And I don’t understand it, as this is a pre-1070’s frame-based ranch house with no inside pillars, and my wireless signal should transmit easily to that part of the house.

Even my neighbor sees my wireless signal at 4 of 5 bars in his house, 50 feet away from the router. That would mean for him it is passing through two concrete walls, across his garage, and upstairs into his living room, when it can’t go merely down the hall to my bedroom less than 30 feet away.

I’m not wireless savvy enough to know what solutions I may have available. I am using a Linksys combo wired/wireless router, with four computers wired, and the rest working wirelessly. I would like for my kids to be able to use the laptops anywhere in the house, including their rooms, but right now, that just isn’t possible. Any suggestions appreciated at this point.