Topic: Making Life Better

So, Let's consider: Guarding Against Identity Theft 0

Posted by on in Credit Cards, Family, Identity Theft, Let's Consider..., Making Life Better, Security, Technology Trends And Directions





So, Let’s consider: Guarding Against Identity Theft

Identity Theft. We’ve all heard it. Some of us have be the victims of it. It’s a royal pain in the ass when it happens to you. It’s not going away any time soon.
So, let’s consider a few things we can do to help protect ourselves in this war against identity thieves.

Memorize your Social Security Number (SSN) and leave the card at home!

Frankly, unless you’re applying for a job or have to show proof of citizenship, etc., there’s no real reason to be carrying your SSN card around with you at all. Leave it at home in a secure place. Perhaps the same place you leave your passport, birth certificate, etc.
Your SSN is THE biggest piece of identity information that a thief would want. Once they have it, there’s very little about you that they can get, find and use against you. It IS the key to your identity.

PROTECT YOUR SSN

We’ve already said that it’s the single most useful key to you that anyone would want. So, don’t give it out to anyone that doesn’t have a REAL need for it.
Real needs to NOT include: Credit card application, “we need it for ID”, or my favorite: “we need it for our computer…” Trust me, their computer won’t die of malnutrition if it doesn’t have your SSN and if they want your business they’ll find another way.
One of the biggest issues I run into with SSN’s is things like doctor’s offices that think they need it to “verify your insurance.” Uh, that’s what your insurance card is for. Period, end of story. Ask them how they treat patients that aren’t US citizens and you’ll find that they generally assign them some arbitrary number – tell them to do the same for you. Having been in IT for over 35 years I’ve seen how your SSN can be used and abused against you and trust me you don’t want it out in some medical history database for any other insurance companies or vendors to be able to paw through at will.
Further if your student ID or driver’s license is your SSN, ask that it be removed and that another number be issued to you immediately.

Get a good shredder and USE IT

In getting a shredder you want one of those models that makes total confetti out of what you feed into it. The ones that just make strips of paper out of your documents are basically useless. Here what you’re doing is making the other guy’s data easier to use than yours. Thieves are generally looking for quick access to information and if you make yours hard to get then they’ll most likely go on to someone else that’s not as smart.
If you have a fireplace or a fire pit handy, use it. In my office I have 2 trash cans by my desk. One is for non-burnables (empty coke cans, etc) and the other is a paper bag for burnables…I call it my “burn bag”. When it gets full, I take it over to the fire place and strike a match to it. Problem solved.

Shed or burn anything sensitive

My personal policy is that if it has “names or numbers” on it, it gets shredded or burned. This includes credit card statements, bank statements, anything from any government agency, tax office, business associates, etc. If it’s not something I wouldn’t mind reading on the front page of the Washington Post, it gets shredded.

Use public Wi-Fi hot spots with care

Connecting to Wi-Fi in the coffee shop can be really convenient, but don’t use it to pay your phone bill. Same thing with any other public Wi-Fi connection be it at the airport, school, shopping center, etc. Presume that someone is monitoring what you’re sending across the internet, and trust me it’s not hard to do.
Further, if you don’t see “HTTPS” at the start of your web url line, DO NOT EVER trust the connection for any financial transaction security or any other connection security that you’re going to be sending someone private data to. Connections without the httpS at the front of them are presumed to be unsecure by definition.

Use common sense with your mail

OK, this may sound redundant, but don’t leave your outgoing mail in a pile somewhere. Put it IN the US Mailbox. Also give serious consideration to getting a post office box for your mail. They’re not cheap but they’re not that expensive either and they can buy you a lot of peace of mind when it comes to reducing the risk of someone pilfering through your stuff.

Treat your personal information as “need to know”

To many this is obvious but you’d really be surprised how stupid some people can be. If it’s your private information and someone doesn’t have a need to know it, don’t tell them! When filling out forms that want your whole life history and all the information they can get about you, THINK! If they don’t need it to provide the services that you’re negotiating for, then don’t give it to them! You can’t control what other people do with your information but you can damn sure prevent them from getting it in the first place!
This also extends to what you share on social media. Presume that if you post it to your page that the whole world can find out about it. It never ceases to amaze me how stupid people can be when I read “we’re going to Aruba next Sunday for 2 weeks!”….if I’m looking for a house to hit I now know I have 2 weeks to hit theirs! Wait until AFTER you come back to post your pictures from your vacation and share your good times with others. And avoid the “check in” options on social media where restaurants and other sites use the “check in at Charley’s bar and grill” feature while you’re there. You’re just telling the world where you are and making yourself a target. THINK!

Don’t share PIN’s or passwords – and don’t write them down!

You’d be surprised how obvious this is and how frequently it’s what compromises a persons security. Never tell anyone security access information unless you not only trust them BUT that they also have need to know. And, NEVER WRITE THEM DOWN in a public place – like posting them to your fridge door, under your keyboard, post it pads on your computer screen, etc. This is just asking for problems and they will find you.
These tips are not intended to be totally foolproof or to provide 100% security. Nothing can do that, but they’ll go a long way to making someone else a much easier target for someone that wants to do harm. Don’t make life easy for criminals. They’re unforgiving once they find a way to get what they want and that can be really expensive and painful for you to recover from
Finally, some companies offer what they call “identity theft insurance”. If you look at this kind of a policy, use a strong reputable firm and make sure you read all the details before you sign up. Caveat emptor.
If you feel that your privacy has been compromised, contact the appropriate agency, vendor, credit card company, law enforcement agency, etc., and get things resolved quickly. The sooner you’re aware and act the sooner things can get fixed. Be proactive at all times. Read and review all your financial statements watching for any anomalies and transactions that you didn’t incur.
Here’s hoping that you’ve gained a few items you can use from this list and that the crooks find someone else more interesting than you.

I’m Don Rima and that’s the view From Where I Stand.



Why is it snowflakes and liberals can't do math??? 0

Posted by on in Family, IMHO, Making Life Better, Self Respect, Socialism








Why is it snowflakes and liberals can’t do math???
OK, I’ve had enough of this left wing BS. I was recently more or less accused of supporting the “blood sport of killing children” because to me clearly the publix food chain totally, and wrongly, capitulated to the socialist demands of Soros’s pet pigg. Frankly, I think they should have hauled out all those “die in” idiots, provided they didn’t get stomped on by justifiably irate customers, and thrown their sorry asses in jail! Sorry, the first amendment doesn’t allow you to disrupt business at Publix or anywhere else! Frankly, Publix you WIMPED OUT!
NOBODY supports the “blood sport of killing children”. But only a small vocal segment are using it to push their socialist agenda.
I just do not understand why liberals can’t do math. Look at the facts:
Yes, a small number of kids have been killed in unfortunate school related incidents. Let’s say that the number in recent history is 200 +/-…
Yet, DURING THAT SAME TIME, TENS OF THOUSANDS HAVE BEEN KILLED OR SERIOUSLY INJURED DUE TO:
– Texting while driving
– Drunk driving and/or drunk drivers
– Drugs
– NON-GUN related homicides…
– Gang violence
– The FBI publishes a list every year – GO READ IT!
Whereas the 200 or so are a definite concern issue, WHY ARE THE TENS OF THOUSANDS BEING TOTALLY IGNORED????
You’ll tell me there’s laws for drunk drivers, YES! And there’s laws for gun use….etc! So, WHY are the tens of thousands being ignored?
Best reason so far, is that drunk driving, cell phone use, school kids being butchered by other means, etc., just don’t matter to socialists who have an anti gun agenda. To them using the 200 to get rid of your 2nd amendment rights is the only things that matter and the tens of thousands…well, they’re just ignored…to them just collateral damage…just not part of the socialist and liberal media current politically correct agenda…
WAKE UP LEFTIES! DEAD IS DEAD! If you think that a parent that loses a kid to a stabbing, drunk driver or another means hurts any less than one killed in school, you’re WRONG! If you think a cop likes telling parents in their home that their kid was stabbed by some gang, YOU’RE WRONG.
Once again, wake up call for socialists and liberals – It’s NOT A GUN ISSUE – IT’S A VIOLENCE ISSUE! Criminals don’t care about laws. Criminals will do ANYTHING they can to do their deeds! That’s the facts. YOU need to wake up, understand and accept the reality.
As for me, I’d love to see a solution for the violence that killed the 200 just as much as I would the tens of thousands killed by other means of violence… It’s just unfortunate that the socialist left wing media and the anti-gun movement is more intent in inflicting a version of their politically correct panacea on America than dealing with the disease at the causes of the violence.
I’m Don Rima, and that’s the view From Where I Stand….



Hard Rocking Toronto Blue Jays 0

Posted by on in Baseball, Making Life Better, Sports Events, Travel






Hard Rocking Toronto Blue Jays
I was in Toronto recently for a trip and waiting for my dinner reservation up on the CN Tower, when I realized that the Blue Jays were playing a home game.
Now not having been to a Jays game before and it being late in the game, was very surprised when I wandered into the Hard Rock Cafe there at the stadium and realized that their wall was an open window in deep left/center field! This was totally cool!
After picking up my usual HRC t-shirts and coffee mug I wandered over to the window and enjoyed a couple of innings of baseball, while sipping on a cold one and waiting for the time to pass before heading up the tower for dinner.
This was a really nice and relaxing interlude in the middle of the day and something folks traveling to downtown Toronto may want to checkout while there.
Enjoy the game and lift a cold one for me.
I’m Don Rima and that’s the way I saw it, From Where I Stand.


Great Mills, Maryland High School – A good gun taking out a bad gun and saving lives! Yes, it actually works that way! 0

Posted by on in Family, Friends, guns, Law, Law Enforcement, Making Life Better, Media, Security, Socialism





Great Mills, Maryland High School – A good gun taking out a bad gun and saving lives! Yes, it actually works that way!

OK folks, so here we go again. Someone in a school thinks that the way to solve their problems is through VIOLENCE, VIOLENT ACTS and, yes, once again they used a gun. However, as everyone with half a brain has been saying for a long time, to take out a bad guy with a gun, you need a good guy with a gun. Unlike recent events in Florida where the local sheriff’s department decided to go on coffee break during the shooting, the school safety officer at Great Mills actually decided to DO THEIR JOB and took out this murderous thug! At the same time probably saving many from injury and death! This guy deserves a hero’s welcome.

However, I kinda doubt this officer wants to be considered a hero. Every GOOD cop I know of sends up a prayer every time they strap on their sidearm that they won’t be faced with a situation where they would have to use it. That they won’t be faced with a situation where they would have to take another life to save themselves or others. That’s the sign of a good cop…and yes, there are a few of them out there!
Interestingly enough, I’ve yet to see CNN and their corp of crisis actors crowing about gun violence and how all guns need to be removed.

I’m really happy that I DON’T see the likes of idiots like David Hogg or his skin headed gal pal, running their mouths and claiming to be students here, there, and everywhere, and pushing CNN and the socialist media’s anti-gun agenda. What amazes me even more is that the likes of ilk like CNN’s gun carrying Anderson Cooper haven’t called it an “assault gun” yet….but to them, anything that doesn’t fit their socialist, anti-2nd amendment, anti-American view, is called an “assault weapon”. Makes you wonder if CNN didn’t have enough time to plan for this one(pardon the sarcasm!).

We still are no closer, thanks to the liberal lame stream media and all the socialist sycophants in congress, to finding out the root causes of all this recent violence of the past weeks, months and years… And, until we find out WHY THE VIOLENCE EXISTS, it will continue.
People think they can point to countries like Australia and the UK that banned guns…but they don’t tell you the rest of the picture that the major crimes, armed robberies, assaults, etc., ACTUALLY INCREASED DRAMATICALLY…until people bought guns on the black market and were actually able to defend themselves once again. The UK actually had a “turn in your knives” campaign for a while as violence with knives was so high! Yeah, it failed.

It’s interesting to realize that in a city like Kennessaw Georgia, where the local law is you MUST have a gun in your home, major crimes are substancially lower than in cities that ban guns…with I think only one murder…in like 6 years…Hmmm…wonder why?

The socialist lame stream media like to point to statistics of how guns are used in murders in the US and at a much higher rate than the rest of the civilized world…but if you remove just five cities (which also have the strongest gun laws) of DC, New Orleans, Detroit, Chicago and NYC, all cities that have been run by liberal management for a long time, the US finds itself at almost the BOTTOM of the same statistical report. Anyone wonder why?

Clearly the left wing lame stream media are more interested in pushing their socialist agenda, hyping up unfortunate events and in short, not giving a damn about anything but their own agenda.

So, it’s up to us to figure this out on our own…clearly CNN, The FBI, et al, are to busy attacking Trump to care….

I’m Don Rima and that’s the view From Where I Stand.



Don’t Quit 0

Posted by on in Friends, Making Life Better, Self Respect

 
 




Don’t Quit

I don’t usually go for sappy stuff like poetry, but I ran into this little parcel of writing this week after reading one too many postings from people that were clearly in need, one way or another. So, I pass it along. Perhaps you know someone you could or should pass it along to as well.
 

Don’t Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will;
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low and the debts are high;
And you want to smile but you have to sigh.
When all is pressing you down a bit –
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit!
Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint on the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are;
It may be near when it seems far;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit –
It’s when things go wrong that you must not quit.

– John Greenleaf Whittier
 

I’m Don Rima and that’s the way I see it, from where I stand.