I’m beyond old enough for this to happen. In the early 2000s, I wasn’t grousing about my parents. Much too old for that. Actually, I’m old enough to be the original posters dad.
Image is from one of my favorite webcomics, xkcd.
Tag: Tech
Why I’m Launching A New Career In Web Development
Just over a month ago, I learned I was being let go from my current role. I’ve wandered this path before, so I, initially, wasn’t terribly concerned. However, the more I thought about it, the more concerned I became. Mainly, I’d been laid off twice in less than a year. Thinking further, since 2009, I’d been laid off 4 times. I’m a bit tired of that. Yeah, even being a tech-savvy executive assistant/project coordinator, that work is too easy to outsource. Plus, with digital assistant growth, the lessening of friction for scheduling, the ease at which most folks can book their own travel, and you see the recipe for a dying career. I’m ready to be, shall we say, more essential.
Pretty much all of my life I’ve had a fascination with technology. As a young boy, my love of robots and radios (I had a particular fascination with shortwave radios), evolved into space and aviation, then into computers. Early PC games and BBSs then morphed into a vocational certificate in Information Processing (mainly databases and spreadsheets). Looking back, my biggest contribution to most of my past roles has been digitally based. Whether it’s my ability to fix a copier, 90% of PC issues, set up and manage a network, use things like Photoshop and AutoCAD, or build a website, those were the things that added the most value to the world around me.
I believe that the web holds our future. We will interact with most systems and data with web tools. SaaS models are already driving there…in the fast lane. Web development is a fast-growing path (projected 27% growth over the next 10 years), with decent salaries to boot.
So, it looks like fun, and there’s a need, which seems like a great combination. Thus, off I go.
The IRS and 21st Century Annoyances
So, one of my current projects is helping a non-profit get up and running. One of the things we need is an EIN (Employer Identification Number…the organizational equivalent to a Social Security Number). So, I go to the IRS page to request this, and keep getting the old “Can’t connect to the website. Please try again later” error. I don’t think too much of this, but after a couple of hours, it’s getting to me. So, I explore a bit and find this.
Really? A website that’s only useful during “business hours”? It’s a WEBSITE! Why on earth is this not available 24-7? I guess that there’s some manual approval that happens during the process. Even so, I should be able to apply and be dropped into a queue that’ll be checked Monday morning, or whatever. A website with office hours just boggles my mind.
Ok, this clearly is a 21st Century problem. But it’s just so antithetical to the zeitgeist.
Meet The Dogs Of Amazon
Just stumbled upon this post on Amazon’s website: “Meet The Dogs Of Amazon“. I was reminded of my brief stint with Amazon.
Back in the mid-90s (est. 1996) I did one temp project with them, back when Amazon was located on 2nd Avenue, close to Pike Place Market. I helped build a call center. I set up the dumb terminals for the inbound call reps. Not the most challenging work. I just pulled a monitor from a box, added the keyboard, pinged the mainframe, then off to the next one. It was just a few day project.
During my intro, I was given a tour of the building. On one floor, there was a corgi and his human. Every hour or so, the human threw the ball down the hall, the corgi chased it, repeat. I thought it was pretty amazing. It was my first experience into a more relaxed office environment. Eye opening and rather life changing. And my first experience with tech culture.
I’ve been fascinated ever since.
City of Lynnwood Free Community Shred Event – No, Not Skateboarding, Documents!
Here’s a great way to get rid of those sensitive documents. Brought to you by the City of Lynnwood. I intend to use this myself.
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Saturday, May 12th from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.Lynnwood Operations & Maintenance Center20525 60th Ave W, Lynnwood, WAFREE COMMUNITY SHRED EVENTBring and shred financial statements, receipts, invoices and any other personal documents*. Documents will be shredded on-site by LeMay Mobile Shredding. *Up to three paper bags or two file storage boxes per household. |
The Future Laughed At Me This Weekend
My wife and I were at a sandwich shop. I had cash in my wallet (which I often don’t), so pulled out a twenty. I’m aware of all the costs a small business absorbs with digital transaction, so was thinking it would be nice. And it was, but they were a bit puzzled. They didn’t have the change on hand to break the bill. And, very politely, asked if it was ok to pay via card. Which, of course, was fine by me.
It did strike me, though, as a sign of the changes the economy has gone through. When I managed cashiers, I had to make sure we had able cash and coins to make change. HAD TO! Running of of change was a huge failure, and pretty much ruined our ability to do business. Credit cards were a small fraction of transaction, most being cash or check. And now, I get the impression that the incident above almost went down like “oh, yeah, I should’ve hit the bank and got cash. Oops!” Followed by a “meh”. Maybe I’m wrong, but I got the impression cash was something of an inconvenience.
I expect many of these small business folks are simply embedding the costs of e-transaction into their model. So many people I know, myself included, rarely have cash any more. It’s probably far easier to let paper currency go the way of the dodo.
I guess it’s time to, finally, set up my Google or Samsung pay apps. Maybe even buy some Bitcoin!
Maybe….
Now There’s Tickets for the E-DUI (hands-free cell phone)Law
The six month grace period is over. Now offenders are looking at a $136 fine. The second offence is $234.
So, hands-free, or have your phone in some kind of holder (like one of these things) so you can operate it with one finger.
https://youtu.be/ikjrALr-KFU
The Samsung S6’s Voice Assist And Other Annoyances
My son managed to turn on Voice Assist on his S6. Don’t do this unless you really mean to. And I recommend spending some time learning about the system before diving in. For me, coming into the middle, it was an exercise of frustration. Fortunately, I figure this stuff out.
The biggest challenge was learning to type within this system. You tap the desired key once, then two more times. So, two traps total. My frustration was getting in through the lock screen. My son does have a great password, which is a pain to enter taps per character. Fyi, that includes “shift” and “done”. Then I was able to “tap” the settings, which I needed to do with two fingers, which has made my life better.
Anyway, glad this mess is done.
Hackers claiming to have info for millions, including *gasp* celebrities
Hackers claim to have personal info of millions of Instagram accounts, including celebs
When I first heard the story (not this specific article), I believed that the photos were pulled from her phone. Which is what caught my attention.
Now I’m a bit puzzled. Ok, they posted nude photos of Justin Beiber on Selena Gomez’s Instagram account. Now, was the exploit posting to her account? Were these photos randomly findable ones under a Google images search?
If the hack enabled them access to photos stored on theses celebs phones, this seriously powerful. If this is true, Instagram and its parent Facebook, have a deeper reach into our data than many realize.
Else = a data skimming tool was able to glean passwords. Which is clever and all, but not that remarkable. One that gives remote users full, or at least significant access to a phone’s data? Now that’s something. Otherwise, though this sucks for the victims, is a relatively standard hack. And the dramatic piece is that he victims are, <insert gasp here>, celebrities.
Me and My Neti Pot!
Last week was pretty awful for my allergies, with all of the smoke coming down to greater Seattle from BC. So, with a dollop of rain on Sunday, and the changing winds, our smoke has cleared and my allergies have been far less cranky. Well, for a few days.
Now, though, something has started blooming. I’ve noticed a nice fragrance, but then the burning itching starts in the ol’ nasal passages. That’s where my neti pot has become a dear friend.
The clearing granted by the flushing of all things nose-y has, for years, made my life better. Allergy meds have had their place, don’t get me wrong. I greatly appreciate where we’ve come in that regard. Remembering the old days, of the drugs that filled you with grogginess, or the ones that amped you up (once I think I actually was having heart palpitations. Even though they aren’t perfect, they’ve been wonderful, really improving my life.
That silly neti pot, though. It flushes out the worst irritants, doesn’t dope me up or amp me out. This little bit of ancient technology has been, well, life-changing. Seems silly, perhaps, but I’m quite grateful I discovered the thing.
Though I love tech, and high-tech solutions, there’s value in the simple, and ancient. Flushing out my poor nose with water; who would’ve thought that we be the most dramatic learning in my adult years…at least in regards to living with allergies.