if a window dosesn’t show up even though it is on the taskbar, then it’s hidden somewhere. You can press
control-shift and rightClick on the taskbar item.
Category: tip0
PLN[powerline network] devices
I find PLN more reliable than wifi, nearly as reliable as ethernet. If that’s true, then for some homes PLN is a superior solution in terms of complexity, wiring,,,, See https://tedium.co/2020/06/02/powerline-networking-history/
Whenever I need uninterrupted connectivity for telecommute, I avoid home wifi (including mesh)… too unstable. If I can’t run a long cable across rooms, then PLN is my default choice.
— frequent power-down rest
I have learnt from experience that PLN devices need ventilation and periodic power-down. I think some models can become hot quite easily. My current pair of devices are identical 🙂 and therefore interchangeable. One of them is easy to power-off, and gets more “rest”. So I devised a rotation plan, so each one periodically rotates to the light-duty position. Is this a burdensome or reccreational complexity? R
2smartphone lifestyle
The general problem — too many APPs in my primary phone. Many of them rarely used.
A specific problem — I need to maintain China mobanks for two persons, and I don’t want to “switch user” on (for example) icbc mobank.
The solution — host a number of APPs on a secondary smart phone
- China mobanks for “special” user account that I don’t need on the go.
- Alipay for wife
- Citi.sg
- AXS
- healthhub
- simplyGo
- mayb
- ^^^ done
- PNB digital?
- Singapss? Technically disallowed
- hsbc.cn .. secondary phone too LOW
- ChnM? would need it on primary phone while in China
- starhub? too slow in secondary phone … confirmed with 1633
- Grab? No
google drive #
k_gCloud
I feel good about the credibility/reliability, accessibility, convenient GUI,,,, partly driven by competition. We are riding the wave of advancing technology.
— task: move — To move one (or multiple) file.. click to select -> # filenames highlighted in blue -> right click -> context menu -> move
— task: rename .. easy on files and folders 🙂
— task: upload .. easy to upload a big folder 🙂
— task: attach a readme to a folder/file .. you can simply create a googleDoc. You can then click it to edit… saved automatically 🙂 I use the *.txt extension to indicate file type.
One of the easiest GUI for readme. Good alternative to tagging.
— versioned .. Files are usually versioned 🙂
— S$280/10Y for 100GB
— disk hogs? settings -> storage used -> culprits -> # quota page shows the biggest files, but they only add up to a few MB. Most of my google drive usage is actually gmail!
— trash .. files in trash are retained for 30D
— public littering .. The MyDrive frontpage sometimes shows a “quick access” list of recent files, a complete distraction. Settings -> general -> remove “quickAccess”
— html files .. in your google drive can’t be displayed as html. File URL doesn’t show file name. When you download you will see the file name.
spy-ware, free wifi eavesdropp
As a best practice, I don’t save my passwords in hints not clear text. This might be protective against spyware.
spyware can monitor your keystrokes and get your passwords.
Free wifi can be a honeypot to infect your devices. More often, the wifi owner can eavesdrop on the passwords you send out. So avoid log-in to any important site
##[24]delightful tech hav`+ve impact@%%personal life
k_X_focusing_illusion
This bpost is another example of focusing on the positive experiences. Appreciation day.
[v=vague, not specific enough]
— xx and self-improvement in personal tech # this list is more specific 🙂
- %% gmail archive management .. growing importance
- wpress database capacity mgmt
- fancy zone .. set up in cockpit4
- finger_hook@smartphone .. found better design online.
- learning the eavesdropping risks in free wifi
- learning WPS as basic replacement for MSff
— %% tech hacks (kudos), comparable to DIY kudos
- — half ranked by …
- home wifi security .. MAC filter, rather than password
- %% recoll system — notepad + wordpad, not MSWord
- [v] use github to edit the same file from multiple places including office
- [v] git-blogg on the go
- carrying fake finger on flight
- I bought 4+ cheap laptops, but total cost is below one expensive laptop!
- VGA switch in office
- header keywords
— delightful technologies having a +ve impact@my personal life… Be grateful for new technology.
- voice to text in wechat+whatsapp
- spreadsheet for assets.xlsx and other personal investment.
- — half ranked by noteworthiness and t$value
- free wifi in 快餐店 quietime-innovation since%%college
- touch screen .. sometimes proves highly effective when touchpad is inconvenient
- strawberry perl + git-bash as my c++ IDE for coding drill
- low-cost laptops + printer + copier. In Jun 2024 I had a budget of $1k+ for wife’s new laptop but paid $399. Thanks to globalization, manufacturers have adopted low-cost produciton technologies.
- [v] good use of 4 laptops and 2 cockpits
- blog as searchable tech reference
- [v] gmail draft .. git blogging
- multiple big monitors in office
- improving battery life in laptops
ransomware ^ dataLeak
k_X_remote_hacking ?
Q: for me, which risk is worse between LL) data leak but not banking passwords and RR) ransomware?
%%A: RR feels more severe even though rare so far. After some basic research, I have concluded that RR is so far a low-probability risk.
LL is more likely than RR.
* Gmail, yahoo mail… have full access to a lot of my data
* my employers have lots of my personal data
* when I give biodata to financial companies, clinics,,,, I accept the risk of Their data leak
Ransomware mostly targets enterprises. WannaCry ransomware — 230,000 computers infected across 150 countries.
My friend Edwin pointed out that for most regular home computers, if data becomes encrypted and inaccessible, owner can buy a replacement computer and accept the data loss.
If the ransom is small I would pay it and learn a lesson.
— ransomware protections, best practices
Immutable, password-protected offline backups are the best, though they increase LL risk.
I feel my online blog is “better” than local storage in many ways including ransomware protection. I’m usulaly careful about sensitive data, so the blogging LL risk is well-understood.
How ransomware infects your devices is identical to other malware. Mostly you are tricked into installing an innocent-looking software.
netflix access control
Netflix emailed me many NetflixHelpCenter articles.
— 6-digit service code .. If you don’t know your email address used to register the account, then you may use the service code.
— password.. Hotline told me I can change password any time. There is only one password and one email address for the entire family. When I change password, I have the option to sign-out all devices.
IFF a device is not signed in, then I need to sign in for that device. This sign-in process uses THE email address + THE password
— profiles
The first profile listed is the main profile. All other profiles are regular profiles.
Each profile can have a profile lock. I don’t like such extra complexity, so I removed profile lock on the main profile.
A95: issues #all-green
k_all_green_dashboard
— current issues are all minor. Re the all-green blogpost, we don’t need to aim at all-green on this laptop.
- calculator .. disappear after 1 sec. I have many alternatives like excel, simple applications
- Brother printer driver ..
- slow-start .. as boy complained.. tolerable for more than a year now.
See bpost on “all-green is unhealthy idealism”.
— J4 S$ 950, the highest price paid since the Prestigio linux laptop. My budget was SGD700
- big touch screen (1920×1080) for wfh
- brand new
- 1Y warranty. No super-short runway to get all issues fixed
- new battery
- — minor advantages, not really J4
- boy is able to use this laptop…
- fingerprint for frequent login .. highly appreciated at home where auto-lock is required. However, after 2 years I don’t rely on it so much. Wet fingers are too frequent.
- speaker louder
- lit-up keyboard — useful in dark settings
- volume buttons .. dedicated, easily accessible
- I could remote into office PC for blogging — combine faster network + touch screen + 15.6″ screen.
- old charger (barely) usable
- light weight
i have reason to feel lucky to get this acer$950. I wanted a big-screen touch-screen that works with my external monitors. I get what I want at a reasonable price. The 14″ version would cost me $700-$900.
However, beware of attachment and poisonous expectations. The new device may present various “issues”. If it meets my main goal, then let’s accept it with all the imperfections.
— Q: (introspective) among all the expectations/surprises, limitations,, what are the top 3 factors to my /satisfaction/?
- tcost including the problem investigation, phone support. If this laptop falls below my basic expectation, then all the tcost (and mental energy spent) goes down the drain
- some examples are windowsUpdate, sleep, screen-saver …
- in contrast, $cost is a much smaller factor as SGD 1k is a small amount
- big touch screen usability for remote working — including hdmi-vga converter. See T1.
- screen protector
- phone support, available only to new devices.
— other details: bought after circuit breaker on 2 Jun 2020, from Dean of Laptops.sg 6252 6471
SNID 8340 134 2266
name: Acer950, *Acer95 Acer156
##passwd: site traits #bank++
k_passwd
See also
- ##passwd: special sites
- https://tanbinvest.dreamhosters.com/11453/noway2protect-against-remote-brute-force-hacker/
This is a loose guide on how to characterize various sites.. No perfectionist please. “Enum” style classification is time-consuming, unnecessary, impermanent,,,.
“Site” := any authentication system, including smartphone.
xp [citi.sg,,,]: If you have already come up with a unique password for a site and use it long enough to build an “association”, then you can stick to that forever. However, there’s a risk of leak.
Considering the site_trait list, here are the most vulnerable sites, half ranked by AUM
- maybank khm .. has kill counter
- PNB.. has kill counter, and is set up on single device only. No 12H cooling off.
- BofA .. has kill counter + 2FA / 3FA [emailOTP, 6-digit ATM PIN]
- citi.NA .. has kill counter
— site_trait::restriction 🙂 2FA .. less dangerous (but still dangerous) to have a stock/shared password.
* Most banking sites use 2FA-on-logon.
* Many banking sites use 2FA-on-unrecognized-device .. Citi.NA, Robinhood,,,
— site_trait::restriction 🙂 kill counter .. a G2 crucial server-side protection. Financial sites are /trigger-happy/ and vigilant — would lock you out after a few failures. If a financial site lacks this feature, then it is inadequate, a sitting duck.
Smartphone has it.
— site_trait::restriction 🙂 12H cooling off after adding payee, account contact changes, transfer limit increase,,,
— site_trait::restriction 🙂 daily quota .. ATM card
— site_trait 🙂 passwd Dram-refresh #Can help us remember other sites’ passwords 🙂
LAN passwd; Singpass; Poems;;;
— site_trait 🙂 easy passwd reset, with local /in-person/ support
eg: banks with local branches
.. in contrast, Many overseas webank/mobank are hard to reset 👎, like PNB, Maybank.khm. See ##special sites’ pw/userid
eg: UChicago is better .. had received huge school fees from me, and has a decent IT department to service alumni network.
— site_trait: some require complex 👎 passwords, but luckily inaccessible from open internet[3] 🙂
tip: Use explicit hints
tip: Save more explicit hints in blog and recoll
— site_trait::restriction 🙂 [3] inaccessible from open internet
eg: ATM
eg: http://192.168.18.1 … eng xxxxxxxx !1
eg: mlphone
eg: mlp RSA pin
eg: personal or company computers
===== security traits /beyond/ password authentication
— site_trait::restriction 🙂 money lock
— site_trait::restriction 🙂 transfer to 3rdParty unsupported .. Poems (better double-confirm)
— site_trait 🙂 kill switch by self-service or 24h hotline
— site_trait: essential .. I tend to feel a large number (like 30) of sites are essential, but I had better pick no more than 10 as really critical, and think carefully about them.
* github: access; tampering
* overseas banks: access
* Rbh .. access;