Friday, May 06, 2016

Friday morning things

* The salmon (which I ordered last night) was delicious, but either I was eating too late (we were not served until nearly 7:30), or the cilantro in the "salsa" garnish on the side disagreed with me, or perhaps salmon slightly disagrees with me now (dangit). Something didn't sit too well in my stomach last night and I'm hoping it was just "too much food, too late"

* I went through and changed passwords YET AGAIN after hearing that there was some idiot who apparently breached Gmail and Yahoo and whatever Hotmail became's security. On the one hand: my account is so little and has such limited activity, why would someone want access? On the other: that's probably just the kind of account that could be turned into a malware account. So, dangit.

And, yeah, yeah, the two-factor security thing or the "get in via an SMS code sent to your cell phone" exists but it is a pain for those of us with "antique" cell phones. (I have a Motorola flipphone circa 2007. I haven't upgraded to a smartphone for three reasons: a. I'm cheap and don't feel like paying way more than the $25 a month I pay now. b. I don't NEED another device that allows me to waste time on the Internet and c. I suffer a bit of tech-paralysis with these: which one is best? Which one do I want? Which one will not be totally obsoleted and therefore require an expensive replacement in six months?)

I dunno. This is one of those little modern annoyances like telemarketing calls that should not be, but is.

(I also get annoyed at some sites that are so compulsive about password security, like, they want you to have at least eight but no more than fifteen characters, some lowercase letters, some capital letters, at least one number, at least one symbol but not certain symbols. And it's not even for anything very hush-hush like tax or medical records; it's for freaking viewing content. And the campus interface we use for enrolling students or posting grades usually does a "forced" password change RIGHT when you need fast access to the site, like a student is sitting in your office. I have taken to writing down the passwords because, dangit, if someone's breaking into my office there are bigger problems than their temporarily being able to access my campus connect account. And I've FORGOTTEN passwords in the pat which makes it bad when you need to change them)

* I'm having to get a tech out to look at my modem at home. It has started semi-randomly dropping signal: I'll be in the middle of doing something online, and suddenly: no connectivity. I suspect it's the modem because all the lights other than the power light will go off on the modem, and then it will slowly cycle back into life. (I usually have to restart my router, though, which is a pain....it's like my computer's auto-connect will not connect without a reboot of the router). I don't THINK it's the router, at least I hope it isn't, but it does seem the problem starts in the modem. They have told me at the "head office" that it is "not problems on [their] end," so I think a dying modem is the simplest explanation, and even though it's hooked up to a surge-protecting power strip, we have had a few weird outages that probably came with power surges in the last year.

They've told me it's a $30 service call UNLESS the modem is messed up, then the call is free (because I rent the modem, just another one of the little fees tacked on our bills) and they replace the modem.

It could also be the splitter and I hope that's not it because I think that's an extra charge. The guy I talked to on the phone asked me if there was any way I could avoid using a splitter and I was like "Old house, one outlet for cable" and I am SO not up to having to get someone in to pull wire. Then again - I have no problems with the cable tv, which is attached to the splitter, so I don't know.

(There is an old cable, I have no idea if it still works, from the opposite wall. It's hidden behind a table so I forgot it was there. I suppose if it looks like it's the splitter I could give a try of hooking the modem up to that - the only problem with that is there's not a super convenient power outlet with two open outlets (for the modem and the router) so I'd have to get yet another  power strip. But that might be a solution if the splitter's bad and it's not a simple matter of, "oh, let me put a new one in for you")

It does seem the dropouts are worst very early in the morning and in the midafternoon, though once or twice I've walked by late at night on the way to the bathroom and seen the lights out on the modem, so I don't know.

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