Using Protection
This is not about what you think it is about
Get your mind out of the gutter!
As my nonprofit grows—and wow it is doing great (want to help? donate here — it’s tax deductible!)—the bureaucracies of the planet make assumptions that I have a huge staff. Paid consultants frequently suggest I give tasks to my development team. How-to “help” webinars about the tech products I use (because they are free and are supposed to help fill in the gaps of staffing) invariably suggest I call my tech team for guidance.
Entrepreneurs wear all the hats at once. But this week I’m just talking about protection.
Can someone please explain to me why we are putting in passwords to verify our biometrics? And then the password isn’t enough, we have to check our EMAIL to get a code to verify the password. And more frequently than not, we can’t log into our email provider without a second password which we have to verify with biometrics, and then a code from our phones. We don’t need an implant. We need a personal assistant who logs us in and then passes the keyboard to us.
Technology is an assistant like Mrs. Wiggins....
Our data is all spread out over the place - we willingly give it up each time we type it to be allowed to create a password. The whole point of passwords used to be to bypass repetitive data collection. The whole point of biometrics was to replace passwords. It’s like putting sixty double bolts on the front door and then deciding you also need to change the locks. If you can get in past the deadbolts, the locks aren’t going to do a thing. Any bad guy worth his salt is going to get through a window. Or through the drywall. Or walk in unseen with a delivery person.
Thank you for listening. Carry on at your favorite level of fear. I’m off to breakfast at a diner.
WRITING NEWS:
Save the date! I have two readings in January and both of them are in person and awesome. One is in Queens - Richard Jeffrey Newman runs a terrific series called First Tuesdays. I will be a featured reader on January 7, 2025. The reading will be at the Espresso 77 Cafe in Jackson Heights. There’s an open mic that starts around 7:00 PM—signup is at 6:30—and I expect to go on around 8:00 and read from A FLASH OF DARKNESS and other things for 20-25 minutes.
The second reading is January 25th at the Lithuanian American Alliance - the event will be held in English and you’re invited! Both of us were born in Texas of Lithuanian heritage and worked in Baltimore - it’s kind of crazy that we only first discovered each other in Vilnius at a writing conference!
While you’re reading this, I’m going to a Lithuanian one-man show. It’s called “I love that for you” and it’s about death.
It’s a heartwarming comedy.
Random Final Thought:
The play about Death is called "I love that for you" and it is playing at la Mama Experimental Theater Club on East 4th street - and it's lovely. Directed & performed by Paul Budraitis Dec 12-22nd - 55 minutes no intermission, thoughtful & recommended.
Can't wait to see you in my hood on January 7th! I live literally TWO blocks from the cafe. Also what is the name of the play about death, because I think I gotta go.