The Daily - Friday, October 5, 2018 (AM)

INTERNET ISSUES

We had intermittent internet access issues at work. Early indications pointed to our ISP as the potential source of the problem. As with any such events, this led me to ponder what would happen, what would we do, if there was a massive disruption (nationwide? global?) to internet access. How will we deal with life when (not if) this unfortunate day comes?

We know there is redundancy in many parts of the system. Fortunately, mobile access to the internet is somewhat separate from regular access. But what if everything goes down? How would we bank, shop, and so much more? Sharpen your pencils! It will be a bumpy ride when that happens.

HEALTH & FITNESS

"Zero" day #3! <not a happy runner here>

FACTS AND LIES

It continues to surprise people (and maybe it shouldn't) that #45 keeps misrepresenting facts for the sake of entertaining the crowds that come to his rallies. Here is a good analysis by FactCheck on the latest blunder by our Liar-In-Chief: Trump Repeatedly Wrong on Ford’s Testimony

What bothers me the most, perhaps, is that this was absolutely unnecessary. Only a child consistently puts others down so that they can feel better about themselves. This childish, mean, vindictive behavior belongs to a six-year-old and not to the president of a country, any country.

I wonder what historians will think of our nation centuries from now. We know the era has a name: Trumpism. It is unlikely to be a period filled with high praise for our country.

The Daily - Saturday, September 22, 2018

Writing Challenge- Day #24

HEALTH & FITNESS

I was very pleased to jog 3.63 miles in 66 minutes today. I used a different Podrunner track called "136 BPM - March of Progress." It has easily become one of my favorite Podrunner mixes.

One of the joys of running is that the possible routes are almost endless. As I started this morning's jog I thought about going one way and when I came to a certain point I changed my mind and decided to go a different way, one with less car traffic to avoid fumes. It was a good move and it allowed me to go further on my run.

GOALS, DREAMS, HABITS, RITUALS

Today was the first day I did not use a to-do list. It was costly in a couple of ways, most importantly that I forgot to take my meds and vitamins until this evening. Normally I take them with breakfast around 10 AM but I got distracted by having to run my daughter to her job and so I lost track of things. I think the trick for me is to get the list done the night before, and then review the list first thing in the morning right after meditating.

PERSONAL GROWTH

Despite not using a to-do list for the day, I did manage to get much done. For example, I got some things ready for next weeks trip and did some shopping. One of the items I bought (double-sided tape I will use to improve my A/C filter positioning) ended up helping to re-position the WiFi antenna on my PC. It looks better and works more efficiently than the way it was before.

TIPS & TRICKS

This gentleman has developed a great self-watering system for inside plants. Very well-thought-out system and extremely inexpensive.

PODCASTS / VIDEOS

I am a minimalist or, at the very least, a minimalist in training. I have made progress in some areas and have slipped in others. In other words, I am human. Today I came across this nice video that gives solid advise on how to get started in the process of minimalism.

I tend to be the room-by-room, do-it-now, no plan, purger. I will try some of these strategies to help me become more efficient at handling the excess items in my life.

TECHNOLOGY

The planned installation of the new router went without a hitch. The new unit is a NETGEAR Nighthawk AC1900, and the thing screams. After some minor fine tuning, the wireless speeds have gone from under 10 Mbps to just under 50 Mbps. My cellphone maxed out at 99 Mbps downstairs, and about 50 Mbps upstairs. I am very pleased with the equipment and with the increased performance.

If you are buying a new router, it is advisable to do a few things immediately:

1. Change the administrator's password; my new router forced me to change the password, which is a very welcomed change from past practices.
2. Change the SSID (the wireless identifier) to something unique and also that will not identify you personally. Leaving the default name (my router used NETGEAR70) could possible allow a hacker to guess the password of your unit. Change the router name makes it just a little harder.
3. Change the default passwords. My router has two possible passwords, one for the 2.4 GHz band (for desktops and laptops) and one for the 5 GHz band (for mobile devices such as phones). You can allow the router to use the same name and password for both or you can keep them separate; I have opted for separate for now.
4. Change the passwords for your WiFi access every three to four months. Use some cyber-security hygiene steps and use a strong password that has 10-12 characters made of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters.I advocate the use of password padding: select a password/phrase that is easy to remember (for example, TheRedFox99) and now use three or more of the same special characters at the start and end of the word to make it stronger. For example, $$$$TheRedFox99$$$$ is easy to remember and not so easy to crack. By the way, that is NOT a password I have ever used. :-)  Use a password strength checker and see the difference padding can make. The one without padding came at 78% strength. The one with padding was 100% strong and the only weaknesses reported is that it uses repetitive characters and repetitive numbers. So, to make it near perfect, we could change it to !1@2TheRedFox98#3$4 … but now that gets hard to type and hard to remember. To me, the small difference between $$$$TheRedFox99$$$$ and !1@2TheRedFox99#3$4 is not worth the extra brain power and confusion.

Tomorrow I will write a little about password managers and why they are critical for online security.

STREAKS - For the record

Current list of streaks:

• Writing: day 24
• Blood Pressure Readings: day 11 (started on the high side but I wa able to bring it down with deep breathing and acupressure)
• Logging to SparkPeople: day 14
• Daily Exercise Routine: not counting for now
• Cardio: Yes -- awesome 3.63 miles in 66 minutes
• Yoga: Not today
• Strength Training: Nope
• Stretching: Yes, as I got up and after running
• Meditation: Yes, first thing in the morning
  
• Meditation: day 11
• Number of tabs open: day 7

The Daily, September 6, 2018

This is day eight of the writing challenge.

TODAY

On September 6 we celebrate "National Read A Book Day" and "National Coffee Ice Cream Day." Coffee ice cream is one of my favorites, and reading a book one of my favorite pastimes. Maybe it is a sign that tonight we should eat some coffee ice cream (my favorite) while reading a book, although we must be careful not to drip all over the pages (especially if it is a borrowed item).  J

Lots of things happened on this date, among them:

1620  The Mayflower departs Plymouth, England with 102 Pilgrims and about 30 crew for the New World

1901  US President William McKinley is shot by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, while visiting the Pan-American Exposition in New York

1916  1st true supermarket, the "Piggly Wiggly" is opened by Clarence Saunders in Memphis, Tennessee

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Meditation is a way for nourishing and blossoming the divine within you." ~ Amit Ray

HEALTH & FITNESS

I am been good about logging in to SparkPeople everyday for the last six days. I just caught up with entering the food I have eaten. Sadly, this effort brings to mind that I have not been exercising daily as I know I should. Time to get back on it — today! :-)

PERSONAL GROWTH

As I rose this morning I realized I missed one of my streaks yesterday. I was rushed in the morning and forgot to meditate; then got busy all day and did not meditate during the day. And so my streak of meditation days ended at 40 days. Today, I start that streak again. There is an important lesson there: just because we miss one day of whatever activity we are trying to do regularly, it does not mean we need not start all over. The event (in my case, missing the meditation period) gives us pause to evaluate the importance of relevance of that event. If it is still important and relevant, then we must start again. And, as my Buddhist Master often says, when we forget the activity (and we will), then start again, and then again, and be kind to yourself when you find yourself starting over and over. Whether this applies to meditation, exercise, diet, work assignments, cleaning, or anything else, it is a daily process that we commit to everyday. 

How appropriate that today's quote is about meditation.

The other lesson from this finding is that rituals and routines are critical in developing better habits and achieving our goals and making our dreams come true.

FINANCES

As I venture into using "EveryDollar" everyday, I learn more and more about my finances. One of the things we must be alert to, regardless of what budgeting/tracking system you use, is the impact of automatic transactions. I have many transactions carefully scheduled, and tracking each manually will be a nice challenge.

POLITICS

I published my "Manifesto for a Better United States of America" as a separate post. It is not meant to be a call for revolution, but for reform. Some of the reform is drastic and could be confused with revolution. In my mind, the time for this type of drastic change is now, perhaps overdue by decades. We cannot continue doing things in the same way and expecting different results. When we waste billions of dollars on war instead of spending those resources on peaceful efforts that would result in less suffering then we miss the opportunity to make a real positive impact in our world.

AND THE LIES CONTINUE

Did you read about the inauguration photos? Go read all about it!

TIPS & TRICKS

50 Ways to Make $50+: we could usually use some extra cash, right? Here are 50 ways to do just that. If you want more ways, how about 107 Ways to Make Extra Money?

How about part-time jobs to supplement your income. Here is a list for you!

PODCASTS / VIDEOS

One of the podcasts I listen to regularly and that applies to anyone is called "Hacking Humans." I think we can all learn from the hacks hackers are using to hack into our lives. Power is knowledge, and knowledge brings safety.

TECHNOLOGY

Have you been the victim of an internet based crime? Not sure who to talk to about it? Try the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center or IC3