Technology Archives - Page 2 of 31

01/04/202501/04/2025

The Exit Sign – One Year Later

At about 3am on the morning of January 16, 2024, a highway sign was knocked down. The timestamp was noted as it is visible from my home security cameras. After noticing the sign on the side of the highway, I checked the camera and found the minute when the sign went from being a sign to trash on the side of the highway.… Read the rest

12/28/202412/28/2024

Leaving Instagram

Below is an archive of some Instagram accounts from over the years. One used to be able to create an Instagram account to share pictures for a hobby or club, or even a pet. When Meta (Facebook) bought Instagram, things started to go downhill.… Read the rest

08/10/2024

SHOKZ OpenSwim Pro Headphones

No more excuses. These headphones are perfect. I’ve been looking for the right way to listen to music while I swim. I wanted to break them in a bit to be sure. I can now recommend them. SHOKZ OpenSwim Pro – Open-Ear Bluetooth Headphones & 32GB MP3 Player, IP68 Waterproof, Bone Conduction Headphones, Secure Fit for Workouts, Running and Swimming, Built-in Microphone, App.… Read the rest

03/28/2024

Microsoft Account Recovery Makes No Sense

Out of the blue, I got an email from Microsoft Online Services containing a verification code. Within a few seconds, I got two more. All three messages are in Portuguese. Someone is trying to verify my email address through Microsoft for CPFL Energia, a power company in Brazil.… Read the rest

02/28/2024

Spam Pairs

For the last few months I have been seeing an annoying behavior from spammers. At it’s core it is the use of pairs of emails coming in with a time gap to give the impression of validity. The second email gives the impression of a co-worker or supervisor following up on the communication.… Read the rest

01/21/202412/28/2024

Meta Requires SMS

I’m really getting tired of this false equivalency between identity and a persons means of communication. I had another case today where a service that I’ve used for years now denies my access to that service unless I prove to them that I have the financial resources to pay a phone company every month.… Read the rest

06/04/202312/28/2024

Airalo Data Plan for Travel (and Home)

I used to keep an older cell phone around to use when traveling. When I got to my destination, I would find a local sim with prepaid service and insert it into my unlocked phone. A few years ago with the advent of eSims I was looking for a pre-paid carrier that did not need a physical sim.… Read the rest

06/03/202302/24/2024

A Note About Security Questions

I was recently trying to renew my car’s registration. I was given the option of using the “Classic Online Renewal” or the new “Texas by Texas (TxT)” system. The old system is probably over two decades old and appears to be using Java servlets.… Read the rest

04/15/2023

SAE Aero Design Competition

Ⅴisited the SEA Aero Design competition at Thunderbird Field and took a few pictures. These teams came in from universities around the North America from Berkeley to Puerto Rico, as well as Spain and Poland representing Europe. Teams had to build their own aircraft and demonstrate the flight performance.… Read the rest

01/26/2023

Clever Scammer Revisit

This is a follow-up from a previous post. I really do not understand what is going on here. I thought I had it figured out as a scam with no hope of ever receiving the product or getting the money back.… Read the rest

12/17/2022

New Wave of Spam

Like many people, I have more than one email address. One of my addresses has gotten out in the wild and become completely useless for actual correspondence. As a side benefit, I can now use it as a canary account to see trends in spam in near real time.… Read the rest

12/11/2022

Clever Scammer Website

This story starts off over a month a go when someone wanted to buy a couple of hand bags from an ad on Facebook. This wasn’t a random google search but a ad that surely was vetted by somebody on social media, right.… Read the rest