NateB
Well-Known Member
I hoped to wrap up some rockets this evening, but my 12 hour shift turned into 17.5 with no downtime today.
What I did today -instead- of Rocketry.
- Thread starter Charles_McG
- Start date
Help Support The Rocketry Forum:
I do the props for a community theater. The current production needs me to make some fake food. Here is my latest creation
dr wogz
Fly caster
Was in a funk (still kinda am..) and just feeling "old" (Some of today's "conveniences" aren't that convenient or simple..)
Dealing with obtuse software.. PTC's Creo. Amazingly powerful CAD software, but their UI is atrocious! So you need to think outside the box to do some pretty basic tasks!
Dealing with Insurance. We bought a new car a few weeks ago, and teh task of cancelling insurance with one company turned out to be a long & drawn out process with a pleading salesperson.. We had our car insurance with one co., and our house with another. I decided to 'bundle' with the home insurance provider.. Needless to say, not an easy or pleasant process. 15 yrs with no claims obviously accounts for nothing... And one thing (I guess I'm showing my age) that I don't get.. Why are you (insurance companies mainly) forcing me to create & log onto a 'personal portal' on your site, for something I will use barely once a year.. and just to download & print a piece or paper you can easily mail to me..
sorry, rant off..
Dealing with obtuse software.. PTC's Creo. Amazingly powerful CAD software, but their UI is atrocious! So you need to think outside the box to do some pretty basic tasks!
Dealing with Insurance. We bought a new car a few weeks ago, and teh task of cancelling insurance with one company turned out to be a long & drawn out process with a pleading salesperson.. We had our car insurance with one co., and our house with another. I decided to 'bundle' with the home insurance provider.. Needless to say, not an easy or pleasant process. 15 yrs with no claims obviously accounts for nothing... And one thing (I guess I'm showing my age) that I don't get.. Why are you (insurance companies mainly) forcing me to create & log onto a 'personal portal' on your site, for something I will use barely once a year.. and just to download & print a piece or paper you can easily mail to me..
sorry, rant off..
3D CAD and I don't get along. I used the Creo wire harness schematic tool for a little while. Let's just say I was glad it was only a little while, and leave it at that.
Well, printing and mailing cost money, but they could just as easily email it to us.
dr wogz
Fly caster
thanks!
for the record, I believe I can still set the time on a VCR..
for the record, I believe I can still set the time on a VCR..
While these kids these days don't know what a VCR is.
I'm 33 and also absolutely hate this. The worst part is when they make you create a complicated password that you will never manage to remember.
dr wogz
Fly caster
My first cell phone, about 12yrs ago. The ringer turned off. and I couldn't figure out for eh life of me how to turn it back on.. settings: nope, volume: nope ringer: nope. I went to the kiosk in teh mall and asked them, "Oh, its here, in profiles".. Why the F.. is it in "profiles" and what the F are "profiles"?
Like a few features in Windows 10. "Oh, we put it here, as this made more sense." To who?!
Just imagine if car companies started to do this: Oh, we changed it from 'Drive' to 'Forward' and we made the indicator more intuitive, so now its a set of buttons on the backside of the steering wheel.. And tap the windshield to engage the windshield wipers..
Like a few features in Windows 10. "Oh, we put it here, as this made more sense." To who?!
Just imagine if car companies started to do this: Oh, we changed it from 'Drive' to 'Forward' and we made the indicator more intuitive, so now its a set of buttons on the backside of the steering wheel.. And tap the windshield to engage the windshield wipers..
Last edited:
dr wogz
Fly caster
yeah, another gripe.. remembering passwords. and "make sure they are all different in case you get hacked".. How do you all remember the myriad of passwords to access various things these days? "Get a password logger'!! great. So now I don't have to remember them all, but as soon as this computer / cell phone / tablet craps out, I've lost them all.. Or if I need to access the site form another machine..
I better stop.. my age is showing. sounding like Abe Simpson!
I hear you on insurance. About 5 years ago we got so frustrated that we asked an independent insurance agent to shop around all of our policies (home, auto, business, umbrella), and see what he could come up with. He saved us money, hassle, and steered us away from the companies that have a history of challenging claims processes.
Last year we had a home owners claim that ran well over 10k, and the the process was great, so he knew what he was talking about with who to work with. I sent one email "authorizing" him and the contractor to discuss the repairs directly with the insurance company on my behalf. They all did their thing, and once that was settled the contractor and my agent sent me the final docs from the insurance company and a short summary of what it all actually meant. I invested about 3 hours in the whole process, and that was me meeting with 3 contractors to decide who I wanted to handle the work.
Also, changing stuff is super easy too. When we needed a rider for our home owners policy for major renovations, one e-mail later I had a link to e-sign doc. Just bought a new car, and all I had to do was send him the new VIN number, and tell him the date we gave away the old car. Again, a link to e-sign doc within hours. When we renovated our pool we took out the diving board (didn't meet updated codes since it was installed 25 years ago), so he brought up that he should ask for a review of the home owner's policy and umbrella policies, and it saved us a few $ on both...I would not have thought of that.
All that to say, I have very much come to appreciate having an expert in this field where I can just "throw the problem over the wall" to him. If you can find a good one, an independent insurance agent is an awesome thing to have.
Worse that that is when they take away features you've grown used to and liked. Real example: I have the folder view settings that I like. There used to be a way to apply those settings to folders as the default when they are created or the first time you open them. But that disappeared in Win 10; now you get the default settings that someone decided you should have, like it or not. Everyone said of Office 2007 we should all take some time to get used to the ribbon, and then we'll love it. I'm used to it. I can deal with it. I want tool bars back.
They do. I used to be able to change the radio station and HVAC settings by feel without taking my eyes off the road. Now so much is on a shiny, nifty, hi-tech touch screen that you practically need a copilot.
I use a bad practice, I admit it. I have one pretty good password, and to make a unique one for every damn web site or application I break it in the middle and insert the first two letters of said site's name. And then come the ones that make you change it every so many months. AARRRRGH!
Have I ever told you about the time I met Abe Simpson. The year was nineteen ought seven, and I was out walking my possum. Abe was wearing a radish on his collar, which was the fashion at the time...
We have everything with USAA. Great company.
heada
Well-Known Member
I have everything through USAA as well. Every time another insurnace company calls me up and trys to sell me on their company/products I tell them I have USAA and the response is "oh......thank you for your time"
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2009
- Messages
- 2,453
- Reaction score
- 1,956
I agree 100% and have had similar experiences with our agent. He answers the phone, we explain the issue and he handles it.
I'm currently on the lookout for a similar HVAC company. I want them to be our guys for the next 10-20 years. I want them to have one of the highest hourly rates around and I want their techs to have been with the company for years and years because it is a good place to work and their customer list to have customers that have been with them for years and years. Haven't had luck with that one yet, but I don't want the cheapest people around, I want the ones that do honest good quality work and charge accordingly.
Sandy.
Took an old dryer to the recyclers. I got $10 for it.
You are selling Password managers way, way short. The good ones (all of them?) cloud sync the password locker, so you absolutely do *not* lose them if your machine goes belly up, and you can easily access them from a variety of machines including mobile devices.
It is highly advisable to use secure passwords for critical logins (e.g., anything financial), and password managers make it possible. I use long machine-generated gobbledygook passwords for financial websites, and never have to type them in.
The one password you need to remember is the one to unlock the password manager. I use a reasonably long but easy-to-remember (for me) phrase for that, and can now type it very fast.
I use 1Password and it is great. In general, using a password manager is by far the most secure way to live on the internet. I consider it to be a no-brainer investment. Go have another look.
heada
Well-Known Member
Just make sure that the encryption is done on the client and not in the cloud. The password store should never be in a decrypted form when it's off the client.You are selling Password managers way, way short. The good ones (all of them?) cloud sync the password locker, so you absolutely do *not* lose them if your machine goes belly up, and you can easily access them from a variety of machines including mobile devices.
It is highly advisable to use secure passwords for critical logins (e.g., anything financial), and password managers make it possible. I use long machine-generated gobbledygook passwords for financial websites, and never have to type them in.
The one password you need to remember is the one to unlock the password manager. I use a reasonably long but easy-to-remember (for me) phrase for that, and can now type it very fast.
I use 1Password and it is great. In general, using a password manager is by far the most secure way to live on the internet. I consider it to be a no-brainer investment. Go have another look.
dr wogz
Fly caster
You are selling Password managers way, way short. The good ones (all of them?) cloud sync the password locker, so you absolutely do *not* lose them if your machine goes belly up, and you can easily access them from a variety of machines including mobile devices.
It is highly advisable to use secure passwords for critical logins (e.g., anything financial), and password managers make it possible. I use long machine-generated gobbledygook passwords for financial websites, and never have to type them in.
The one password you need to remember is the one to unlock the password manager. I use a reasonably long but easy-to-remember (for me) phrase for that, and can now type it very fast.
I use 1Password and it is great. In general, using a password manager is by far the most secure way to live on the internet. I consider it to be a no-brainer investment. Go have another look.
And that is assuming you have (and want to ) use "the cloud". I haven't bought into it yet. (had a really bad / frustrating experience with Google Drive.. 2 actually.. just e-mail me the damn file!!) And am unsure of all this "synching" & such.. Sorry, not as tech savvy as I once was, I feel a lot of it (today) is somewhat over my head.. (or I missed some "bit" along the way, and none of it make much sense anymore.) Yes, cue the "I'm old" rant again..
sorry Neil, nothing against you or modern tech.. I just don't see the need / nor want to use all this "stuff"..
If you subscribe to 1Password, it handles the sync for you to its own servers. You don't need to deal with a 3rd party cloud drive.
You may not, and of course it is your choice.
This "stuff" simply keeps you much more secure. It's the difference between putting a junky lock on your front door that is easy to pick and/or break through, versus one that is nearly impossible. Except this lock is protecting your entire online digital existence. And there are a lot of bad actors out there.
Tell me about it. Some how someone got a hold of my vital statistics. Name, address, phone number, birth date and social security number. I found out when I got a debit card from the Ohio unemployment office. I live in Nevada. Called equifax about it and put a fraud alert on my credit. But there is no way to know what else they are doing with the info.
Cleaned the desk and did filing. Very exciting...
Truth! Haven’t had an HVAC company I liked yet, but we do have a good plumber...like you said, not the cheapest, but good every time. The plumbers actually work for the plumbing company, and are paid fairly so they stay. Not just a loose assembly of subcontractors.
The part that's always bothered me, and maybe I should get over it, is that the keys to all those nearly unpickable locks are all in one place, in a single lock box which, in turn, is not so nearly impossible to pick (since it has a password that a human can remember). Yes, it helps that the figurative lock box is literally in my possession, not exposed to the figurative street. So, again, maybe I should get over it,
A lot of the leakage of vital information, such as teepot is talking about, occurs when companies like Target get hacked, not through cracking of one's own passwords. So if one's own passwords were (somehow) absolutely uncrackable by any means, and your lock box password were as well, you'd still be vulnerable. I wonder what the statistics are regarding how much of the stolen vital data is stolen through such mass hacks and how much by cracking people's individual passwords.
dr wogz
Fly caster
last point I will add to my initial comments (on computer security & "use") Feeling overwhelmed.
A lot has changed since Win 95, or even DOS 5.. and it's now on more & more 'platforms' and if you miss some trend or key update, you're out of the loop pretty fast. At least, that's how I feel..
A lot has changed since Win 95, or even DOS 5.. and it's now on more & more 'platforms' and if you miss some trend or key update, you're out of the loop pretty fast. At least, that's how I feel..
Certainly, the password you use for the lock box (aka password manager) should be a good secure one, and absolutely positively only used in that one place.
The problem is, when folks try to wrangle their myriad passwords, they will often resort to one of three insecure practices (or a combination thereof):
1) Re-using the same password in multiple places
2) Using different passwords, but writing them down on paper and keeping that paper in a non-secure location
3) Using easy-to-remember, easy-to-type, and easy-to-crack passwords
A password manager solves all three of those problems. Essentially it is #2, but the list is kept securely. It also helps you generate secure passwords, and saves you from ever having to type them.
When data leaks, those who use strategy #1 are potentially trouble. It's not just the one site that may now be cracked, but others that share the same or perhaps very similar password.
No strategy is perfect, just like no home security system is impregnable. And there is always conflict between security and convenience. At the moment, password managers offer the best balance.
As always, the choice is up to the individual. But it's good to be informed.
I think it was Ford, many years back, that put the horn button on the end of the turn signal lever (whaaAAAAT??). Broken turn signal levers from people slamming the turn signal the way they used to slam the center of the steering wheel...they changed back the next year.
That happened with me and smart phones. I delayed getting one for a while, and when I finally tried to use one, I had no idea how to do anything. I think that the phone interface has slowly evolved over the years, so if you had one from the beginning you could figure it out incrementally. But it just took one giant leap of development way past me and I can't catch up now.
(I'm referring to lots of little things such as gestures, and the hamburger menu....)
dr wogz
Fly caster
Yeah, exactly! when I got my first 'smart phone' the sales guy asked me for my gmail account..
"I don't have one"
Well, you need one to get your phone set up.
I have Hotmail..
No, you need to have a Gmail account
Why?
Cuze that's the way it works. Here, let's get you set up with one..
[frantically, in the store, get a google account set up.. I likely have a Gmail inbox full of crap buy now!]
-we go thru a few settings, and I ask about having my e-mail on it.
Well, you now have a Gmail account, it uses that.
But I have a hotmail account.
Yeah, it doesn't use that.. You will need to go and convert it all over to Gmail
Seriously?!
I have since figured it out, but wasn't easy.
That kind of stuff drives me absolutely bonkers! I want my phone/computer/whatever to be a tool that serves me. I admit, I can be a bit stubborn and obstinate, but a technological solution shouldn't be a one size fits all, "just do it this way, it is what everyone does" method that is forced upon me with many assumptions about what I want to do, and how I want to do it.
So I'm a bit of a retro grouch, but that suits me very well.
