Like most people, young and old, the internet has become an increasingly larger part of my life. I resisted an online presence for a long time. For many years after my friends, family and colleagues were using online services to pay their bills, I was still mailing checks every month. I continued to buy compact discs long after everyone else was buying digital music and I still buy books instead of e-books.
As my online presence has grown so has the number of usernames and passwords that I’m required to create and maintain. Like many, I rarely can remember the unique passwords for the dozens of sites I visit so I end up using the same one over and over. Unfortunately, this practice, and ever-growing computer power, makes us increasingly vulnerable to hackers who can find the passwords for our bank accounts and email by breaking into other, less secure sites. Essentially, using the same password all the time defeats the purpose of having a password.
Fortunately, a group of tech companies, including PayPal and Google, believe that the future will have no passwords at all.
“Passwords are just not working terribly well any more. And they’re starting to impede the development of the Internet ecosystem” – Michael Barrett, Chief Information Security Officer – PayPal
The technology already exists for several other methods of authenticating a user’s identity. For instance, the camera resolution on laptops and Smartphones is advanced enough that your computer could verify who you are by scanning your face or eyes. Smartphones with fingerprint scanners could hit the market soon. Other methods might include touch screens that can read your signature and voice-recognition software.
In addition to what the industry calls “biometric methods”, physical objects like a USB plug-in combination with a password are a possibility. A token that creates a randomly generated code, for example, is already required in addition to a username and password when accessing many banking websites.
Experts say that, even though much of the technology required to move away from passwords already exists, it could take a period of many years for a noticeable transition to take place. Organizing the many website and devices involved will require a lot of cooperation.
I, for one, am far more likely to remember my face, eyeballs and fingerprints than an ever-increasing number of usernames and passwords.
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Copyright © 2013 www.DiatribesAndOvations.com
I’ve always loved amusement parks. I particularly enjoyed roller coasters and, because the lines of people waiting for their turn on the big roller coasters are always the longest, every trip to a theme park required quite a bit of advanced preparation. Before the internet, we had to rely on advertisements, word of mouth, and pamphlets containing maps that were distributed at rest areas and welcome centers along the highways to plan our day. (My rule was always “stay to the right and we won’t miss anything”.)
Waiting in the long lines was part of the adventure. We expected to wait and we prepared to wait. There was no such thing as “cutting in line” and everyone waited patiently for their turn.
The lines these days at Disney World are apparently longer than ever. According to the New York Post, some wealthy mothers have, allegedly, figured out a way to get around the long waits. According to the article, they hire disabled people to pose as family members in order to jump to the front of the lines. One woman in particular said she hired someone to escort her family through the park in a scooter labeled with a handicapped sign that allowed the group to enter through a special entrance at the front of each attraction.
Handicapped Floridians are being pimped out for as much as one thousand dollars per day and the people hiring the “guides” often think they’re doing them a favor. I’ve heard rumors that some of the handicapped people aren’t even handicapped at all … they’ve simply borrowed a wheelchair so they don’t have to wait in lines.
My blood boils when I see a perfectly capable person walk away from a vehicle that they’ve just parked in a space designated for handicapped drivers (I’d like to sit these lazy fools in a wheelchair, or hand them crutches, for just one day and see if they ever take a spot from a truly handicapped person again), so it’s no surprise that I find this practice despicable.
Apparently, Disney is investigating. But what can they really do? Hopefully, people with legitimate handicaps won’t be seen in a poor light as a result of this foolishness. Of course, the New York Post doesn’t have the best reputation either.
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Copyright © 2013 www.DiatribesAndOvations.com
Earlier this week, retail giant Abercrombie & Fitch made headlines nationwide when an article from Business Insider indicating that any girl who doesn’t fit into a size large isn’t welcome at the company’s clothing stores became trending news. The brouhaha resulted in the resurfacing of a statement that the company’s CEO, Mike Jeffries made in an interview with Salon magazine in 2006:
“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” Jeffries told the magazine. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong (in our clothes), and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny.” – Mike Jeffries, CEO, Abercrombie & Fitch
In response, filmmaker Greg Karber has come up with a funny and creative way to react … by giving their clothes to the homeless.
I wish I’d thought of this. Apparently, Jeffries would choose to burn the clothes that the company can’t sell rather than donate them to the needy. I understand the importance of marketing to a target audience but the message this sends is offensive.
Ever since last summer’s Chick-Fil-A fiasco, it seems that “outrageous statements from management” is becoming a marketing tool like none before. National headlines, trending news stories, tweets and Facebook posts can get a message to a large audience in record time … good or bad. And, as the saying goes, there’s “no such thing as bad publicity”. I believe Karber’s plan, however, is different from a boycott and could be even more effective.
What do you think? Would you give Abercrombie & Fitch clothes to the homeless?
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Copyright © 2013 www.DiatribesAndOvations.com
I don’t like Karaoke. I never have and I never will. It’s one of those things that seem to only happen to people who have been drinking. It’s as if a few drinks magically turn each one of us into a country star, an opera diva or a teen idol. Unfortunately, those same few drinks somehow change the function of these singers’ ears and they think they sound good. If I can think of anything worse than karaoke in a crowded bar it would have to be karaoke on a crowded airplane.
Last Thursday, an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York City made an emergency landing to remove a woman who would not stop singing I Will Always Love You.
Shortly after the flight began, the woman’s solo performance quickly became too much for passengers and airplane staff. The pilot was forced to change course halfway through the six hour flight to make an unscheduled stop at Kansas City where officer escorted the woman from the plane.
“The woman was being disruptive and was removed from the plane for interfering with the flight crew. There was a federal air marshal on the aircraft that subdued the woman and put her in cuffs and removed her from the plane.” – Airport Spokesman Joe McBride
Remarkably, the woman continued to sing as she was handcuffed and taken from the airplane. During her interview with local police, she allegedly claimed to be a diabetic in need of medication. The cops released her without charges but the airline refused to allow her to board another flight.
It seems to me that the difference between a drunken singer in a bar and a diabetic singer in need of medication on an airplane is a very small difference indeed.
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Copyright © 2013 www.DiatribesAndOvations.com
There’s something to be said for consistency. Those who are consistent build and maintain a reputation. If poor choices are consistently made, the reputation that results will not be a good one. When positive personality traits are consistently displayed the resulting reputation will usually be successful.
Barbara Walters, for example, is an individual whose success in the field of television journalism could be related to her consistent approach to her work. Walters, who has been on television consistently since 1961, has announced that she will retire next summer.
For decades, Walters has entertained and informed viewers with her extraordinary interviewing skills featured on programs including The Today Show, ABC News, 20/20, The View and many special programs like “Most Fascinating People” and her popular pre-Oscars specials.
“No one was more surprised than I. I wasn’t beautiful, like many of the women on the program before me, [and] I had trouble pronouncing my R’s. I still do!” – Barbara Walters on her initial success.
In 1976, Walters became the first female anchor on an evening news program and, three years later, became a co-host of 20/20. Her interviewing style was consistent regardless of her subject. Over the years, because they knew what to expect from her, she was granted interviews with some of the most high-profile public figures – Fidel Castro, Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, Vladimir Putin, etc. – as well as more light-hearted, celebrity-focused discussions with the likes of Angelina Jolie and Tom Cruise.
“I am very happy with my decision and look forward to a wonderful and special year ahead both on The View and with ABC News. I created The View and am delighted it will last beyond my leaving it.” – Barbara Walters on her retirement
Until next summer, Walters will appear on The View, the show she created in 1997, and will continue to anchor and report for ABC News. I imagine her work will remain as consistent as it has for more than fifty years.
I think it will be interesting to see who can take her place.
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Copyright © 2013 www.DiatribesAndOvations.com
I don’t start my car until I fasten my seat belt In fact, I generally won’t set the vehicle in motion until all of my passengers are “buckled in”, too. Sure, I have airbags and tons of safety features that weren’t available in cars that my parents drove, but in my opinion the biggest lifesaver on the road is the seat belt.
The U.S. Department of Transportation reported in its 2012 National Occupant Protection Use Survey, the only survey that provides nationwide probability-based observed data on seatbelt use in the United States, that seatbelt use reached eighty-six percent. Yet, despite laws requiring that they be worn by all drivers, there are many people who still don’t wear them for some rather silly reasons. Here are six examples:
- “It’s a short trip and I’ll be going slow.” – Apparently, some people choose not to wear their seat belts when they’re driving close to home thinking that, because they’ll be driving at relatively slow speeds they won’t need their seat belts. The National Transportation Safety Board has noted that eighty percent of all crashes happen at speeds less than 40 mph and seventy-five percent of those are within twenty-five miles of home. Statistics indicate that seat belts dramatically reduce the risk of death and serious injury.
- “Wearing a seat belt is uncomfortable.” – Many people believe the combination of a lap and shoulder belt is uncomfortable so they either don’t wear a seatbelt or they put the shoulder belt under their arm which can cause internal injuries in the event of an accident. I imagine that smashing one’s head into a windshield is also uncomfortable.
- “Nobody’s going to tell me what to do in my own car!” – Some drivers refuse to wear seatbelts because the resent being told what to do in their own car. Perhaps they view their vehicle as their castle and they want to rule as they see fit without being told what to do. Of course this is ridiculous as all traffic laws regarding speed limits and stop signs are examples of drivers being told how to behave.
- “If I’m thrown from the car I’m more likely to be saved.” – Baloney … people who get thrown from their cars are far more likely to get killed than those wearing seat belts.
- “I want to be able to get out if the car catches fire or sinks in deep water.” – Sure, unfastening a seat belt might take a few seconds in either of these circumstances but wearing a seat belt could mean the different between being conscious or unconscious throughout the ordeal. (An insignificant percentage of all accidents involve submersion or fire.)
- “I don’t want my clothes to get wrinkled.” – Yeah … we want to look our best for the paramedics.
Seriously, seat belts save thousands of lives each year, and increasing their use could save thousands more. It is widely believed that well-enforced seat belt laws work because most people would rather buckle up than pay a fine. Unfortunately in many states, fines for violating seat belt laws are so small that they don’t really motivate people to wear them. While increased fines might make a difference, I believe the technology exists to prevent a car from starting until the driver buckles up. After all, we can’t start our lawnmowers unless we’re sitting on their seats and it doesn’t seem to cause a problem.
Do you think cars that don’t start until the driver buckles up is a good idea?
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