Posted By RichC on August 23, 2019
Some excellent and “do-able” ways to maintain reasonable password security in this Lifehacker article:
One of the best things about having a solid password is that you don’t have to change it. If it’s strong, unique, and hasn’t been compromised by an attacker, you gain no security benefits by modifying it according to some arbitrary timetable. Just let it be.
What you should be tracking is whether any of your passwords have been compromised on one of the many data breaches you’ve probably experienced recently—or ever. Obviously, when that happens, changing your affected password should be a top priority. But a lot of people don’t do this. According to the latest research from Google:
“…we implement a cloud service that mediates access to over 4 billion credentials found in breaches and a Chrome extension serving as an initial client. Based on anonymous telemetry from nearly 670,000 users and 21 million logins, we find that 1.5%% of logins on the web involve breached credentials. By alerting users to this breach status, 26%% of our warnings result in users migrating to a new password, at least as strong as the original.”
(more…)
Category: Advice, Computer, Technology |
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Tags: cyber, hacker, lifehacker, password, passwords, pwned, security, tech friday, techfriday
Posted By RichC on August 22, 2019
This is not the Throwback Thursday #TBT photo I would recommend using when listing a car for sale, but the 2006 Honda Pilot we said goodbye to this week did have a few minor battle scars (1, 2, 3) and occasionally a little something that needed to be cleaned off (salt above and sometimes LoveBugs). Still, it buffed up nice when I wanted to bring the gloss back to the “Sage Brush Pearl” paint – never knew the color name until deciding to scan and archive the window sticker.
All in all, it has been one of the most dependable and functional vehicles I have owned and with AWD for my winter commuting to NE Ohio, lifetime 19.8 mpg , seating for 8 and great small trailer pulling ability it was a Super Utilitarian Vehicle … SUV.
Category: Archive, Automotive, Personal, Photos, TBT |
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Tags: archive, for sale, honda, pilot, salt, scan, sticker, SUV, TBT, throwback, thursday, window
Posted By RichC on August 21, 2019
We have always shuffled our “fleet” (as my son-in-law calls it) and strive to keep the loss through depreciation on vehicles to a tolerable level … while still driving reliable vehicles. Thankfully our current and recent vehicles have served us well and regularly hit the quarter million mile mark before we retire them. In my opinion, that is an impressive number of miles without major mechanical work, especially compared to the cars that we learned to drive on or owned when we were first married.
This month we replaced our 2006 Honda Pilot with a well maintained 2010 Acura RDX (photo of me tinkering on Drew’s car in 2017). Since we bought it from family and know the history, purchasing a car with 124K was an easy decision … and actually one that Brenda made since it will be her daily driver (usually car buying is “my call”). She loves the fact that it is a smaller SUV with sporty handling and performance — the exact blend most car buyers seem to be looking for nowadays; hopefully, the RDX will remain as reliable for her as it was for Drew and give her several years of dependable driving.
As for the Honda Pilot, there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. Oh, it has a torn front leather driver’s seat, a little rust on the wheel wells and 250,000+ miles, but it is currently running perfectly. The new owner will be one of the painters we had working on the house and should serve him well as reliable transportation and a great work vehicle (still keep the 2002 Honda Odyssey around just because of that!)
Category: Acura, Automotive, Personal, Photos |
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Tags: acura, brenda, cars, drew, honda, odyssey, pilot, replace, SUV, vehicles
Posted By RichC on August 20, 2019
This content is restricted.
Category: Archive, Personal, Photos, Video |
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Tags: annalyn, aquarium, babysitting, birthday, brenda, cincinnati, drew, family, katelyn, megan, mp4, newport, richc, summer, taylor, video
Posted By RichC on August 19, 2019
Since there hasn’t been time to put together a summary post for our week with my little helper Annalyn, I’ll update the latest of many poison ivy encounters Brenda and I have had over the years. Brenda usually tangles with poison “something” yearly and I do my best to just avoid the evil plants until cooler weather (long sleeves and long pants). Unfortunately, I needed to clear the fence line in the woods to keep my fence painter going last week and thought I was handling it with care — I obviously was not being careful enough.
Although we never seem to avoid poison ivy entirely, we have learned how to best mitigate the rash and reduce the itching. Here are our steps in avoiding and “doctoring” a poison ivy irritation:
Cover all skin areas when you are working around poison ivy if you can’t avoid it- Wash immediately with Dawn Dishwashing Soap (or other oil and grease-cutting soaps)
- If a small or moderate skin rash/itch appears, use Ivy-Dry for the itch and helping it to dry (we like it better than other – FYI, Brenda is a pharmacist)
- If severe, or on your face, or any internal area, see a doctor and ask about oral corticosteroid, such as prednisone.
Category: Advice, Environment, Health, Nature |
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Tags: clothing, dawn, dish soap, dry, ivy, ivy-dry, poison ivy, rash, washing, weeds, woods
Posted By RichC on August 18, 2019
Taylor’s new 2019 Volkswagen Alltrack – 8/15/2019
After a fantastic week with Annalyn here in Cincinnati, Brenda and I are in recovery mode. I’ll need to spend a little time getting back to my emails and piled up work but I plan on archiving a few photos from the week (in a day or so). So for closing the weekend after Katelyn and Drew left for home, I’ll just include a photo of Taylor’s new Volkswagen Alltrack. Very nice and glad to see that both Taylor and Katelyn are back to driving VWs again. Hm, perhaps I’ll have to take a serious look at the Atlas?
Taylor VW next to Katelyn’s 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan
Category: Archive, Automotive, Photos, Volkswagen |
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Tags: alltrack, automotive, cars, family, katelyn, summer, taylor, tiguan, volkswagen, vw
Posted By RichC on August 16, 2019
Hope you are enjoying the rest of the summer at the beach, perhaps at Cape Cod? 
Category: Nature, Video |
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Tags: filler, great white shark, sharks, video
Posted By RichC on August 15, 2019
Has it really been over 15 years since I was commuting back and forth from NE Ohio in my 2003 Volkswagen TDI (and filling up with biodiesel or seeing my car image on other peoples’ blogs?) Yes it has been awhile.
After posting about a friend’s new Volkswagen Atlas (Tim Hunter sent me a new updated photo – right) and “again” admiring Katelyn’s Tiguan when meeting her with Annalyn this past weekend, I couldn’t help, but think about our Volkswagen Jetta TDIs (and Taylor’s GTI). We all loved our VWs … and I enjoyed being part of CinciTDI and the TDIClub.
So when glancing at my old BIODZL vanity license plates hanging above my workbench, I figured why not a Throwback Thursday #TBT post that includes a couple photos of our little efficient diesel cars?
Category: Archive, Automotive, Biodiesel, Diesel, Personal, Photos, TBT, Volkswagen |
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Tags: automotive, biodiesel, biodzl, cars, diesel, jetta, TBT, tdi, volkswagen
Posted By RichC on August 14, 2019
Our current NetGear Nighthawk R7000 router has been exceptionally stable considering the issues I’ve had with cheaper routers and networked devices in the past. I’m pretty happy with it, but in order to get solid coverage, had to add a WiFi Range Extender to cover the detached garage and poolhouse (and yet still have weak spots). So, since I have ongoing issues in keeping the older and inexpensive router at the Florida Condo up and running, it made sense to upgrade to a Mesh System at home and move the NetGear Nighthawk to the condo before our winter renters arrive.
I looked at the Google Mesh set-up Drew and Katelyn have, but it is a bit overpriced and I tend to resist being part of the data collection business marketing model used by many of the technology giants; the whole “what are they doing with my data” thing concerns me. Of course with our new less expensive MeshForce equipment and MyMesh app … and modem hardware supplied by our ISP, Cincinnati Bell Fioptics, who knows what is being collected or being sent overseas? Besides totally unplugging from wire and wireless devices … or using VPNs, blockers, spoofing, cookie blocks/cleaners and making life ridiculously painful … I’m not sure how much privacy we really have anymore?
Category: Cellphone, Computer, Innovation, Personal, Shopping, Tablet, Technology |
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Tags: cincinnatibell, condo1718, fioptics, google, home, internet, isp, mesh, meshforce, mymesh, netgear, nighthawk, router, wifi
Posted By RichC on August 13, 2019
Great energy use tip for those of use who heavily rely on ceiling fans:
The direction a ceiling fan should turn can be confusing. Modern fans have a switch that enables them to blow the air either up or down. During the summer you want the fan to blow air straight down, so your ceiling fan needs to run in a counter clockwise direction as you look up at it so you can feel the breeze. But remember, fans consume energy, so the only way a fan will actually help lower your bill is to set your thermostat a degree or two higher when using ceiling fans. The breeze from the fan makes you feel cooler at a higher temperature. Just be sure to turn fans off after you leave the room since they do not actually lower the room temperature.
Don’t choose a higher speed than necessary to feel comfortable. The higher the fan speed, the more energy it uses. A typical modern ceiling fan uses about 30 Watts on low speed, 55 Watts on medium speed and 95 Watts on high speed.
Do you still have any of these heavy-duty ceiling fans from decades ago? You know the ones; they seem to last forever. Did you know they can use up to 500 Watts on high speed? If you use that fan several hours a day, you should seriously consider replacing it with a modern fan to cut your energy costs up to 80 percent.
LINK
Category: Advice, Blogs, Energy, Financial, Tidbits |
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Tags: blog, ceiling fan, cooling, energy, fpl, heating, tips
