My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on January 19, 2014

The much publicized Obamacare, Target and Neiman Marcus security issues are an in-your-face reminder (receive my email from Target last week) that individuals need to be wary and take precautions with their financial, medical and personal identity information. Having been through the nightmare of ID theft back in the 1990s, before companies or banks were paying much attention to their customers information, I can tell you that it is not an easy thing to clean up. What was frustrating to me was that I tracked down the “criminal” and gave the information to the FTC and law enforcement … yet they did not have the tools or resources to prosecute. I was “this >||< close” to driving down to Atlanta (where the person lived) and administering personal justice. Deterrent? Nope! Something should have been done.

Six steps to minimize Identity Fraud/Theft and potential financial impact?

1. Use commonsense when handling “paper documents” containing sensitive personal data and switch to electronic records when possible. Buy a shredder.
2. Secure your online ID and create a careful system of password protection in order to secure your log-ins and the electronic information you keep on your computer. Upgrade your passwords to make them longer and include CAPS, symbols and numbers … and consider changing them often. Flush your cache on your browser or use  a program like CCleaner once a week or so to clear caches and cookies.
3. Don’t use comment passwords, easy security words (mother’s maiden name) and consider using an encrypted password tools like Keepass or Lastpass. If two-step security is offered, consider using the extra step today that might save you from a big headache later.
4. Check your credit reports (Experian, Transunion, Equifax) and “try” to keep it as clean and crisp as possible. It makes it easy to monitor and far more attractive to lenders. Consider adding a fraud alert status so those issuing credit in your name are particularly careful. Also a “monitoring service” can be added ($) and alerts sent by email when things change … peace of mind** if you are concerned you might be a target.
5. Reconsider what information you keep on your “easy to misplace” smartphone, tablet or notebook computer. At minimum secure it with a secure log-in and IF available, set up a security wipe as soon as possible if the device is ever stolen.
6. Wallet and purse: Minimize what you carry and embrace the “less is better” philosophy when it come to numbers of ID cards, credit and debit banking cards and difficult to replace items … and make a copy of what you do carry so calling to cancel is simplified. I’ve never carried my Social Security card and see no reason it needs to be in my wallet. That said, I’m waiting for my new Ebay purchased BigSkinny bifold wallet to arrive so I can purge even more from my budging trifold (perhaps a future review post?).

* Consider CreditKarma.com if you are looking to see your credit score.
** I couldn’t resist linking the 1976 Boston song Peace of Mind above.

Category: Advice, Financial, News | No Comments »
Tags: credit, equifax, experian, fraud, ID Theft, identity, reports, transunion

Posted By RichC on January 18, 2014

Those who spend any amount of time listening to amateur radio hear operators closing their exchanges with a polite and concise “73” … meaning “best regards” … but where did it come from?

From what I’ve read, it goes back to a convention in 1859 where telegraph operators discussed saving “line time” by devising a code that would reduce the number of characters for standard expressions. Twenty years after the the convention, Walter Phillips, created a list of shorthand codes and it became the Phillips Code. The number portion of the codes were called “Wire Signals” and a few remain with us today.

Here’s one of the shorthand abbreviations that I found particularly interesting:

“The terms POTUS and SCOTUS originated in the code and entered common parlance when newsgathering services (in particular the Associated Press) adopted the terminology.”

The numeric code is a small part of the abbreviations outlined in the Phillips Code (developed by telegrapher Walter P. Phillips). Here are the numbers as referenced:

W I R E S I G N A L S

WIRE Preference over everything except 95

1- Wait a moment

2- Important Business

3- What time is it?

4- Where shall I go ahead?

5- Have you business for me?

6- I am ready

7- Are you ready?

8- Close your key; circuit is busy

9- Close your key for priority business (Wire chief, dispatcher, etc)

10- Keep this circuit closed

12- Do you understand?

13- I understand

14- What is the weather?

15- For you and other to copy

17- Lightning here

18- What is the trouble?

19- Form 19 train order

21- Stop for a meal

22- Wire test

23- All copy

24- Repeat this back

25- Busy on another wire

26- Put on ground wire

27- Priority, very important

28- Do you get my writing?

29- Private, deliver in sealed envelope

30- No more (end)

31- Form 31 train order

32- I understand that I am to …

33- Car report (Also, answer is paid for)

34- Message for all officers

35- You may use my signal to answer this

37- Diversion (Also, inform all interested)

39- Important, with priority on thru wire (Also, sleep-car report)

44- Answer promptly by wire

73- Best regards

88- Love and kisses

91- Superintendent’s signal

92- Deliver promptly

93- Vice President and General Manager’s signals

95- President’s signal

134- Who is at the key?

See full Phillip Code at Radions.net

– 30

Category: History | 1 Comment »
Tags: amateur, code, ham, phillips, radio

Posted By RichC on January 17, 2014

A Tech Friday reminder to consider Soluto if you have a slow booting computer and revisit it after upgrading hardware … especially if you are  for trying to stretch the “use by date” of an aging computer. Everyone I know love a fast booting computer, although I doubt a Windows machine is ever going to be truly fast, perhaps just less slow?

I installed Soluto back in 2010 and can highly recommend using it in order to tweak the boot of your computer and have been revisiting a few settings now that I have the SSD drive in my 7 year old Gateway notebook. I’d love to say that I’ve been 100% satisfied with the cloning process and the new Kingston 240GB SSD, but all did not go as smooth as I had wished. The intended plan was to plug the new drive into my adapter and begin cloning the entire boot partition with EaseUS. What I realized was that the SSD needed to be “initialized” and no matter what I tried, it would not initialize in order to format. Eventually I installed Windows 7 from CD onto the SSD and THEN had a recognizable drive. After switching drives once again I started EaseUS and began the easy cloning process.

After switching drives once again, the boot began with only a few stumbles and drivers that would not operate correctly. Once updated, the Adobe Creative Suite needed to be reinstalled as did Intuit’s QuickBooks. I’m still finding a few start up glitches when it comes to recognizing USB and Bluetooth hardware, but after multiple boots and tweaking the old notebook is finally booting with a usable selection of apps in under 2 minutes … but it still will not hibernate or standby correctly and is left confused if items are unplugged between boots. So the theory I’m going with at this moment is to do a full “shutdown” IF I’m moving the computer and only use standby when remaining unchanged (always open to suggestions). Small problems aside, the SSD drive is definitely faster and would have probably been much better IF I would have done a “clean install” of Windows and manually installed all my software again. The boot is now reasonable and apps definitely start quicker, but the goal was merely to extend the life of my current computer and retain the hodgepodge of software that was installed over many years.

Category: Advice, Computer, Software, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: gateway, notebook, soluto, ssd, techfriday, windows 7

Posted By RichC on January 16, 2014

Completing the thank you circle to my kids for their thoughtful Christmas gifts this year, I’ll post a thank you to Katelyn and Drew for their gift of a Sodasteam machine. The thought is that it might be a solution for soft drinks on the boat. Super idea! The small and simple device reduces the number of cans or disposable plastic bottles and doesn’t require any electrical power – a great idea for cruising as disposing of garbage is a big problem.

I’ve been watching the company and posted a Greenberg/Cramer challenge back in 2011 but thought it was still not cost effective. Before Sodastream, I looked into my own home soda machine, but the cost and required maintenance for a small commercial fountain station prevented building one into our kitchen. Cans have been our preferred method for decades and those who know us, know we are addicted to Pepsi products (particularly Brenda and Diet Pepsi). We definitely drink our share of “pop” especially in cans, and found that we have enough aluminum to recycle each year to pay for dinner at our favorite restaurant.

The biggest concern from my perspective is the taste and flavor options. During the holidays we ran through the included six sample flavors. My conclusion was that only two of the Sodastream flavors were passable. I liked the Pink Grapefruit and really enjoyed the Diet Lemon-Lime. Brenda was not happy with the diet-cola. Pricing is going to be another issue along with the inconvenience (at home) of filling a bottle with water, chilling it ahead of time and then carbonating and hand mixing the soda.

{adinserter 2}

Back to pricing … Target current has Diet Lemon-Lime at $4.99 for a bottle of syrup that will produce 33 12oz cans (.15/can). Add the price (and inconvenience) of carbonators and that adds roughly 13 more cents per 12 ounces at the listed Sodastream carbonator price. This brings the cost to about .28/can or $6.72/case, if I’ve got my numbers and yields correct (FYI: we regularly buy Pepsi or Coke products at $4 to 7/case …  and over our lifetime “shop” to buy cans under 20 cents each).

The goal in the end is not to pay the Sodastream price for syrup or for carbonator refills, but to find a way to “home refill” (SodaMod) lower than the $14.99/ 60L carbonator or replace the tank entirely (CO2Doctor). I’m already working on a wholesaler or restaurant that will sell box/cube Pepsi or Coke.

I’m ok with the $4.99 Diet Lemon-Lime and normal $14.99 carbonator refill on the boat so as not having to lug as many cans aboard and store the empties, but wouldn’t mind finding something better that will satisfy Brenda, especially if I’m going to use it everyday at home.

Category: Misc, Shopping | 2 Comments »
Tags: pop, soda, sodastream, soft drinks

Posted By RichC on January 15, 2014

My oldest Corbett cousin Michael passed away on Sunday and although we have not stayed in touch over the years, his “too young” passing is a telling sign that we are all vulnerable when it comes to our health. My dad who talks to his brother (my Uncle Sonny, Mike’s father) mentioned to me during our Christmas together that Mike, who lives in Georgia, was not doing well … and I recall him saying that he thought he was receiving hospice care.

I’m unsure if Mike’s health issue revolved around his work, as my dad mentioned, but what we come in contact with is something we should all take a bit more seriously. The food we eat, the chemicals we use and the air we breathe can all have deteriorating long term effects on our bodies. Unfortunately, I know that I was careless when it came to handling paints (automotive lacquers and enamels), solvents, inks, fumes and “noise” (printing industry) … and am dealing with at least the hearing loss. A little more precaution would have been wise. Take heed if you are young.

A quick thank you to my cousin Diane (my mom’s side) for sending me the Toledo Blade’s obituary … it was much appreciated. It is nice to stay in touch with her every couple of weeks and I know we both enjoy the text chats.

My condolences to Jan and the family. Richmond Hill Funeral Home link

Category: Obituary, Personal | No Comments »
Tags: family, michael corbett, obit, Obituary

Posted By RichC on January 14, 2014

{adinserter 2}

My aging 2007 Gateway NX570XL notebook computer is now running like it did when it was a new computer thanks to replacing the harddrive this past weekend. I replaced my “previously replaced” 320GB 7200RPM drive when installing Windows 7, but the porky speed was beginning to become an issue. This time I opted for a Kingston 240GB SSD that I picked up for $129 in order to clone my C: partition. After a couple hiccups, I was running in a few hours, although I did clear off a few unused programs along with video, photos and data. I found EaseUS free software did a good job with the cloning although the Kingston really needs to package a few more instructions with their product. The only problem so far was with my Adobe Creative Suite software as it needed to be reinstalled.

I still use this old relatively heavy and slow notebook everyday and have been reluctant to upgrade to a new machine. Besides price, I don’t want to install all new software and deal with incompatibilities which I know would occur. Also, I now use the Apple iPad and iPhone for more and more of my everyday “light” computing and probably don’t need a full sized or full featured notebook computer anymore (reading, contact management, calendar, email, social networking and web surfing is now done primarily on the iPad2 … and I can see replacing that before buying a new laptop). 

Category: Computer, Personal, Tablet, Technology | 1 Comment »
Tags: Computer, gateway, harddrive, nx570xl, ssd, upgrade

Posted By RichC on January 13, 2014

Here’s a beautiful satellite photo from NASA showing the ice formation on Lake Erie from  January 9, 2014 and a link to an interesting Discovery Magazine blog post discussing ice on the Great Lakes. Since I grew up on the south shore of Lake Erie and a lot of time “recreating” in all seasons on several of the Great Lakes, the discussion of change from a scientific point of view peaked my interest. Besides the photo, I enjoyed the explanation for Lake Superior’s 2.5 degree rise between 1979 and 2006 and a few more charts, graphs and photos from the Wunderground blog. Worth reading and debating if you like these kinds of things.

When there is more ice, more sunlight is reflected from the surface back into space, enhancing cold temperatures. Conversely, when air temperatures warm lake ice melts, and this results in more of the sun’s energy being absorbed by the relatively dark surface of the lake. This, in turn, causes water temperatures to rise.

Category: Environment, Nature, Space, Weather | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By RichC on January 13, 2014

The previous spar varnish on the teak instrument mounting board deteriorated under the sun and weather when in storage last year. This time I’m going to use a product I’ve used on previous boats and while doing some other brightwork on Encore. Hopefully with enough coats and yearly maintenance the finish will hold up a bit longer. Eventually I may replace the teak with Starboard, maybe when I replace the sporadic older “legacy Navman depth, knotmeter and log.”

Category: Sailing, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: brightwork, encore, instruments, navman, sailboat

Posted By RichC on January 12, 2014

After receiving a nice percolator coffee pot from my son for Christmas to use on the boat with the propane stove, I saw a neat wooden one-cup brewer  on the Core77 industrial design blog. I wanted to replace the cheap plastic filter holder I use to make a single cup of Joe with a “pot of coffee” gadget and a stainless steel percolator makes the most sense. I don’t mind the single cup maker for “just me” but truth be told, I really want more than a single cup. I could be talked into making a couple of these as simple projects (gifts) … but first I want to know if the coffee grounds mixed with wood doesn’t hurt or enhances the taste? Maybe I should make one to fit a larger thermos and paper filter? Anyway, below are archived photos from the Core77.com.

Category: Archive, Misc, Sailing, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: archive, canadiano, coffee, core77

Posted By RichC on January 11, 2014

It’s been interesting watching the track of Katharine, (a GPS tagged 14’2” immature 2300 pound Great White Shark) this week along the north and central coast of Florida using the global shark tracker iPhone app from Ocearch.org. In previous posts watching Mary Lee (a 16 foot 3456 pound Great White) we saw her well south and close to beaches then travel back north … although that monster reported in cruising the shores of Georgia just south of Hilton Head, South Carolina late in December 2013.

Currently while watching Katharine inch further south and close to some of the surfing and swimming beaches, the thought occurs to me that we are now just learning that Great White Sharks patrol close to shore and much further south (see Florida Keys post) that many of us suspected. Just how many are untagged and hunting along the southern U.S. beaches?

Category: Environment, Nature, Sailing | No Comments »
Tags: florida, great white sharks, ocean, ocearch, sharkshares