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Showing posts from 2021

How hackable is your router?

Nine WiFi Routers Used by Millions Were Vulnerable to 226 Flaws

Write-Protect error on USB flash drive?

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-fix-write-protection-errors-on-a-usb-stick/

Just Not In Time

Not only does Oregon have the least number of hospital beds per capita, now we find Portland's running too lean on housing . The infatuation with 'Just In Time' in supply chains hurts us , just like it hurt the UK .

Sell China short. Why?

Sell China short. Why? Read this: "Large organisations have their own oligarchic logic, and the bigger they are, the worse it gets. As (China's) Supreme Leader, Xi can't know everything. He has to rely on reports from underlings, and every underling has his (its almost always "his") agenda, which is not necessarily aligned with the national interest. And at the scale of the Chinese state, even the best-motivated of Xi's underlings are also having to rely on summary reports from underlings to know what is going on in their area. One big effect of this is that the Supreme Leader is often the last person to hear bad news. At every level the problems get hidden, because nobody wants to go to the boss and say "this problem is getting away from me: help!". This is why so many big company projects "suddenly" go off the rails: all the problems were there and known to the people on the ground, but the VIPs were living in blissful ignorance until t

Make online security work

https://pluralistic.net/2021/11/13/opsec-soup-to-nuts/#secured

Medigap

https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/medigap-enrollment-and-consumer-protections-vary-across-states/

SimpliSafe? SimplyBad

SimpliSafe? Simply Bad. A support call completely disabled their alarm system. I originally called support for a sensor failure; four calls later, the alarm system is completely disabled.  The first agent had a very bad connection, with squealing and flanging badly distorting the call when it didn't drop out completely. She insisted there was nothing wrong with her phone line (don't they know that each side of an IP-mediated phone line is independent of the other?) and also repeatedly referred to system components and models of the control panel I did not have. She put me in a mode of the system which completely keeps the system from working. After 19 minutes of bad support, I hung up and dialed back. The second agent put me on hold for 17 minutes, and when I asked for a supervisor, hung up on me. The third agent told me it was impossible to speak to a supervisor, and hung up on me after only 99 seconds.  Now, I am again awaiting for a supervisor; waiting over an hour and a hal

Best Hospitals ratings for Portland Metro

Healthgrades.com has released its 2022 Best Hospitals ratings. When it comes to surgery, pick the hospital first, then pick the surgeon, because hospitals limit who can practice surgery in their facility. St Vincent had the most Top 100 series ratings; each highly rated hospital will get its own comment below. There are two "A" level trauma centers in the Portland Metro; Legacy Emanuel, and OHSU. Kaiser Permanente Westside won:     Gastrointestinal Care Excellence Award™ (2022, 2020) 2875 NW Stucki Ave, Hillsboro, OR 97124 Kaiser Sunnyside won:     America's 50 Best Cardiac Surgery™ (2022, 2021, 2020)     America's 100 Best Cardiac Care™ (2022, 2021, 2020)     Pulmonary Care Excellence Award™ (2022, 2021, 2020) 10180 SE Sunnyside Rd, Clackamas, OR 97015 Legacy Emanuel won:     Pulmonary Care Excellence Award™ (2022) 2801 N Gantenbein Ave, Portland, OR 97227 OHSU Hospital won:     Cranial Neurosurgery Excellence Award™ (2022)     Stroke Care Excellence Award™ (202

Winter is coming...

Stuck out nowhere after a breakdown? Is your cellphone battery low?  1. Text your friends. Texting uses little power, and often connects even if the signal's too weak to talk.  2. Tell them where you are, what's wrong, and what you're going to do (stay vs walk).  3. Staying is almost always safer. Your car keeps you dry and warmer, and protects you against getting run over. Search and rescue experts find live people in cars, dead people in the wilderness.  4. Send a text to 911. Some 911 call centers take text messages .  5. Change the phone's voicemail, if you can, to a message with your approximate location, the time, the date, your situation (lost, out of gas, car broken down, injured, etc) and any special instructions such as you are staying with the car, you are walking toward a town, etc. Even if your cell phone stops, voicemail still works, so people calling hear your message and know where to find you or where to send help. Before this happens:  A. Get a

Realtek hackability security problem

Do you have one of these wifi routers, adapters, or devices? If so, it's open as a barn door to hackers; your PCs, smartphones, and other devices are hackable, as are your bank and web accounts. If your ISP provided one of them, insist they replace it with one not on this list ! Why? Read https://www.zdnet.com/article/realtek-hardware-bugs-expose-dozens-of-brands-to-supply-chain-cyber-attack/ A-Link Europe Ltd: A-Link WNAP WNAP(b) ARRIS Group, Inc: VAP4402_CALA Airlive Corp.: WN-250R, WN-350R Abocom System Inc: Wireless Routerd AIgital: Wifi Range Extenders Amped Wireless: AP20000G Askey: AP5100W ASUSTek Computer: RT-Nxx models, WL330-NUL; Wireless WPS Routers RT-N10E, RT-N10LX, RT-N12E, RT-N12LX BEST ONE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.: AP-BNC-800 Beeline: Smart Box v1 Belkin: F9K1015; AC1200DB Wireless Router F9K1113 v4 and F9K1123; AC750 Wireless Router F9K1116; N300WRX, N600DB Buffalo: WEX-1166DHP2, WEX-1166DHPS, WEX-300HPS, WEX-733DHPS, WMR-433, WSR-1166DHP3, WSR-1166DHP

If no other read this year, read this book

Mostly free, only two chapters paywalled: THE PREMONITION, A Pandemic Story It's important for you to read this book. Really important. Every chapter has multiple amazing insights like... 'when you closed schools and put social distance between kids, the flu-like disease fell off a cliff. (The model defined “social distance” not as zero contact but as a 60 percent reduction in kids’ social interaction.) “I said, ‘Holy shit!’ ” said Carter. “Nothing big happens until you close the schools. It’s not like anything else. It’s like a phase change. It’s nonlinear. It’s like when water temperature goes from thirty-three to thirty-two. When it goes from thirty-four to thirty-three, it’s no big deal; one degree colder and it turns to ice.”'... “I couldn’t design a system better for transmitting disease than our school system,” he said after his visit. “There is nowhere, anywhere, as socially dense as school classrooms, school hallways, school buses... " - “They reall