Tech in the Trenches

Carl T. Holscher fights for the customers.

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Eavesdropping on the Dawn Patrol

By

On October 10, 2014

In Observations

Dawn Patrol is a fun, new podcast from the makers of Technical Difficulties, (formerly Generational).

If you want to know what it’s about in 140 characters of less, I’ll let Justin Lancy put it better than I can.

When I was in college, my roommates and I would often have rambling conversations about technology, video games, movies, TV and anywhere the threads of discussion took us. I love this podcast because it captures the random threads created by four friends talking. There’s no editing. No caffeination. No polished presentations. There’s real people having real conversations.

I feel like I’m eavesdropping on their conversation when there’s a new episode released. It’s so much fun and I highly recommend it.

Men and Women and Internet

By

On October 8, 2014

In Links and Quotes

Good Morning Class.

Please open your textbooks. We have a lot to cover today. David Cain has written an incredible piece to young men. It is required reading. Go read it. I’ll wait.

Dear Young Men

…he unfortunate biological reality that even a physically unremarkable man can knock out the average woman, if he thinks it will help him more than it will harm him….
…
Unlike the woman, the man could expect to get his way without having an intelligent argument, without considering the needs of others, without being right at all, without any sensible reason for things to go his way.

Welcome back, class. Now that you have a better understanding on what it means to be a man and human in society. Go read Kathy Sierra’s incredible piece. It’s terrifying and exhausting and it brought me to tears reading it on the metro ride in this morning. We don’t need movies to show us women super heroes. Everyone woman on the internet is a Super Hero.

Trouble at the Koolaid Point

As any parent of a two-year old can tell you, ignoring the child usually leads to escalation. Cry harder, scream louder, and in the most desperate scenarios, become destructive. Anything to get the attention they crave. Simply moving on is not an option for the haters once you’ve been labeled a Koolaid server and/or a rich source of lulz. Ignore them, and the trolls cry harder, scream louder, and become destructive.

If you’ve already hit the Koolaid Piont, you usually have just three choices:

  1. leave (They Win)
  2. ignore them (they escalate, make your life more miserable, DDoS, ruin your career, etc. i.e. They Win)
  3. fight back (If you’ve already hit the Koolaid Point, see option #2. They Win).

That’s right, in the world we’ve created, once you’ve become a Koolaid-point target they always win. Your life will never be the same, and the harassers will drain your scarce cognitive resources. You and your family will never be the same.

Are you still with me? Good.

If you’re a woman on the internet, I salute you. Keep doing your work. I will support you.
If you’re a man on the internet, support these women. If you’re a man on the internet, call out those who are not.
If you’re raising a boy in this world, teach them to be empathetic and loving.
If you’re raising a girl in this world, I hope by the time they’re older we’ve made positive changes.

We can be better. We will be better. This is harassment. If this were happening in a workplace, on a playground, in a supermarket, there would be police action. There would be jail time. There would be consequences.

If there are no consequences, nothing changes. Let’s make a change. But how can you, a single person make a change?
Simple.

  1. Don’t harass women.
  2. When you see a woman being harassed, stand up for them.

Class, you’re dismissed. Go forth and be better humans.

Telephone scams

By

On October 6, 2014

In Observations

Telephone scams are common and unexpected. They are often successful because they make claims that scare us into action. We have a problem with our computer. The IRS needs to speak to us about an urgent matter. There is some other impending doom that will befall you if you don’t act now.

That’s also how to spot a scam. The urgency. The life or death tone of the message, and it is often a message, not a real person on the line.

Just today, I received a call from a DC phone number. I saw 202-241-7215 was calling me, so I picked up the phone and said hello. Immediately, I heard the recording. It said the following.

“This is Julie Smith from the Internal Revenue Service. You need to call us back before we take action against you. Call us back at this number.”

Immediately, alarm bells went off in my head.

  1. I had received nothing in the mail and no prior communication from the IRS about anything.
  2. This was a recording, not a live person. This seemed really suspicious.
  3. There was no mention of a case number or reference number to note when I call back.

I typed the number into Google and the results were what I expected.

Google results for IRS scammer phone number

I read the first result and it notes no answer or someone with a middle eastern accent.

Looking further down the page, I see a link for the FTC about Fake IRS collectors calling. Bingo! They’ve been at this for a while.

if you receive a call that sounds suspicious, it probably is. Remember, if the IRS is calling you they will know the following information about you:

  • Your name
  • Your address

Do not give this information away. The scammer will often ask you to verify it. But instead, tell them if they’re the IRS, they will already have this information and they need to verify it with you. At this point they will often hang up, or continue to try to talk you into giving up your information.

The FTC lists some good tips too.

  • don’t provide any account or other personal information. Hang up the phone.

  • never wire money to a person or company you don’t know. Once you wire money, you can’t get it back.

  • if you owe – or think you owe – federal taxes, call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS workers can help you with your payment questions. You also can visit the IRS website at irs.gov.

  • if you’ve already paid your taxes, call and report the incident to TIGTA at 800-366-4484.
    forward emails from the IRS to phishing@irs.gov. Don’t open any attachments or click on any links in those emails.

  • file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/complaint. Include “IRS Telephone Scam” in your complaint.

The best defense against scams is your own common sense. If something sounds suspicious, it probably is. If you ever have a question about a call, type the number into Google and read the results.

Before you ever send anyone money, lookup the agency’s phone number and call them directly. They will be able to tell you if the call was legit or not.

old, dusty store front

My Rusty Tool Shed

By

On October 5, 2014

In Introspection

Writing is a rusty tool shed. I go inside and it all looks so familiar. I remember when I wrote that piece. I fondly thumb through decades old notebooks. I remember where I was and where I was when I first cracked the spine on the unwritten tome.

Look at my tools and my failures as one. I look for my successes. But they’re grown up and moved out of the house long ago. They left me and we talk. Sure, we talk every few months.

They call at Christmas and on my birthday. They’re dutiful children. But they’re gone now. Living their own lives with their own problems.

The failures still live with me. Malformed and demented they lounge around. They’ve not inspiration to better themselves. They feel their time has passed. They and I lock eyes, only for a moment. We don’t speak. There’s nothing left to say.

This familiar ritual taxes us. The missed opportunities are remembered along with piles of what ifs and we almosts.

As I stand to leave, there’s a shudder as the shed settles. The words rearranged slightly. The tools cleaned and put back in their places. All neat and tidy. A hand-crafted monument to disappointment.

Rarely, I will remove a tool from the shed. I will clean it off and prepare it for use. I use that tool or I lend it out. If I can’t use it, someone else might. If my rusty old tools can get new life in another shed, then it was worth it. It’s worth keeping all these old tools around.

It’s worth the ritual. The cleaning and organizing let me see them in a new light and reminds me of when they were new. It reminds me of when I first got them, so full of expectation and excitement. I was ready to use them. I was prepared to make great things with them. But now they sit, rusting away in my shed. Hoping for new life.

Their day may come. But they see the new tools join the shed. Even if only briefly before they’re used or shared. The new tools are always the exciting ones. The old tools are just that. They’ve lost their shine and purpose.

Feature photo from Gratisography

Dispatch from the Trenches #11

By

On October 4, 2014

In Links and Quotes

POST – Dispatch 11

Thanks for your honesty, Captain Travis

“Folks, this is Captain Travis speaking. One of our crew members had a family emergency, so we decided to get her on a Newark-bound non-stop. We’re waiting for another crew member to arrive before we can get up in the air. Should be about 10-15 minutes. We apologize for the delay.”
…
The sighs stopped. Naps begun in earnest. Watches went unchecked.
We sat another 35 minutes, completely peaceful, before Captain Travis pushed back.

People hate to wait. Some waits are necessary. If you’re truthful and tell people what they’re waiting for, it will put them at ease. A lack of information makes people crazy. Inform them. Set their expectations and you’ll have a far better experience.

Communities

There’s a word that you encounter a lot on the internet and it always makes me want to beat myself on the head with a hot poker. That word is “community”. I’ve got nothing against it — it’s a fine word, I’m just sick of how misused it is.

Having an interest in common doesn’t make a community. I like Nine Inch Nails, video games and Mountain Dew. I would not consider myself a member of any of these communities.

Jacket and Tie

My outfit gives me super powers. Dressed up, I have the powers of confidence, of dependability and trust, of good first impressions. Plus, I look great. As long as I wear my jacket and tie, I feel like I can accomplish any task, surmount any hurdle, and deal with any unforeseen circumstance. Put a cup of hot coffee in my hand, and I become invincible. A set of clothes that look good and feel good have the power to change how you feel about yourself. Whatever misfortune, whatever woe has befallen you, you can look in any mirror and say, “at least I still look like I have it together.” For a lot of people out there, looking like you have it together is enough to make them think you really do.

There is certainly something to this. I feel great when I dress up. But I still dislike wearing a suit and tie. Give me comfortable over formal any day.

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