24 thoughts on “October 28, 2017: Can’t rake the leaves today”

  1. And a hearty breakfast -- bacon, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, toast with jelly. Coffee and tomato juice. My stomach cheered, my coronary arteries cowered in trepidation. Then, Frisbee with the dog because relentless.

  2. Actually chilly weather in the Crescent City today. May even need a light jacket when I leave the house later today.

  3. So, I bought a new laptop and was going to do some setup this morning while the wife is out.

    Except. Except I do not know the wifi password for the home network. I know how to look it up on my desktop. But I am stuck upstairs, immobile, and it is downstairs. And, to see a wifi password on my phone I have to ... install an app with root access and superuser privs? Seriously?

    Luckily the Mrs is now home. And I get to try to talk her through how to find the password on the desktop. Wish me luck.

      1. yea, well, i am on crutches and my modem is downstairs in the home office. I am upstairs in the bedroom.

        as it turns out, the mrs had the password squirreled away in her nightstand. So I am up and running. Got the most important thing done -- access to the Basement!

    1. Ours is on the side of the router and on a paper underneath it. Plus I've memorized it by this point.

      30s here, so hot cider, and chili chillin' in the crockpot. Gas fireplace has been restored for the season - bring it on

      1. what do you recommend for a password manager?

        my current "manager" is, uh, a plain text file. [hangs head]

        1. I've been using 1Password for years. They're very serious about encryption & security, to the point that they've created a travel mode to prevent access to user-designated passwords by border guards & customs agents.

        2. A plain text file itself isn't a terrible idea. You have to consider your threat model. For most people's personal things, they don't really have to worry about targeted hacks. Likewise, writing down your passwords is fine too. It's a good backup. Most people have a good idea how to keep physical items secure and this is no different. The reason it's been discouraged is because it's not a good idea at work.

          The number one downside to having only a plain text file or writing down the passwords is complexity. People are terrible at it. A password manager provides convenient abilities to create complex passwords. This goes to what most people's problem really is: mass hacks of services that dump passwords. Your concern then is foremost password reuse and secondarily simple passwords. Having them stored somewhere can combat the first but not the second. A password manager solves both.

          My preferred one right now is KeePassXC. It's cross-platform, but doesn't have any ability to sync passwords online. 1Password and LastPass are fine. I used LastPass a little bit but there were a few security issues so I stopped.

          Edit: The best one is the one you use.

          1. My biggest gripe about passwords are the mandatory character requirements – or character prohibitions – that admins demand*, only to cap passwords at 12 or 16 characters.

            * You must include one capital letter, one number, and one special character that is not , ' " ; : / - – — @ € £ ₽ ¢ ₩ ¿ or ¡.

          2. An ethical hacker once told me the most important thing in a password is length. He said a password 30 characters long that is dictionary words is hard to hack.

  4. What does it say about a team when their best 9th inning pitching option is the guy that has already thrown 3 innings? I like the Astros but I don't know that they have the bullpen depth we're used to seeing in the playoffs.

    1. I don't know the Astros' bullpen situation that well, but maybe it just says they have a manager who isn't afraid to leave a guy in there who's pitching well, ninth inning or not.

      1. I'm not saying it wasn't his best option. I just think it says a lot about his other options.

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