"In a democracy (‘rule by mob’), those who refuse to learn from history will be the majority and will dictate that everyone else suffer for their ignorance."
As part of my own lil Jólabókaflóðið (“Christmas book flood”), I started an ebook that was supposedly 800+ pp in length. Opened it. Every line is double-spaced. Double that between paragraphs. Does NOT improve the reading experience, just fakes up a 400pp book into a supposed 800+pp. *smh* That doesn’t even count the times I caught the writer padding the word count in the first few pages. Setting aside. Not even written all that well.
Moving on. . .
No. In fact, this site is not “secure” in any real sense, and some PII about me can be gleaned via various means from this site. So? NO PII online is secure. There is no such thing as personal data security online. There is only the possibility of LESS insecurity. While one can improve one’s data security, absolute security is a chimera. Knowing this is the first step to better security practices, IMO, which includes whatever controls one can put on what data one allows online to begin with.
For example, while I use a password manager for low-value sites (sites where little PII accrues, for various reasons*), I use enhanced memory techniques and memorable pass phrases derived from hobbies not noted online or in emails or other such communications) for sites with more sensitive (or accurate *heh*) PII. (And yes, I know I won’t be around forever, so such passphrases are also secured on an encrypted flash drive and stored in a safe which only two people have access to besides me. Maybe it’s just me, though. . . ) That, plus two-factor authentication, are good things to do, but do not, of course, assure any real security, because once data is online, means of compromising the site storing it proliferate beyond one’s control.
And yes, I take a lot of other steps, and STILL my data is not secure. Never will be. Neither will yours be secure, because once it’s online anywhere, it’s really beyond your control. All one can do is–hopefully–limit access as much as possible.
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*There are a lot of diverse sites on the web that interest me that also require registration I view as intrusive and unnecessary, so I obfuscate and often outright lie in registering, as well as offering throwaway email addresses (also registered with obfuscated data). *shrugs* I’m not a good mark for con artists, either. 😉 For most such places, I also invoke a foreign IP address via one of several different VPNs. TOR helps, as well.
. . . with the loss of a loved one.
After her “sudden cardiac death” experiences, I used to wake up every night just checking to make sure my Wonder Woman was still breathing. I do so less often, now since, she has managed to live another 23 years, and thrive. This AM, I got a reminder of those “SCD” experiences and the aftermath was in my FarceBook feed (yeh, there are some folks I seem to only be able to stay in contact with that way. *shrugs*). A writer, former actual rocket scientist, whose books I have enjoyed and whose conversational abilities have lightened FarceBook, let folks know that she awoke this AM to find her husband’s body cold and lifeless beside her.
My sympathy for her loss was colored by a reawakening of those memories of nightly checks to make sure my Wonder Woman was still breathing. Those memories in no way lessen my sympathy for her circumstances. On the contrary, I feel the weight of her loss perhaps more greatly.
Processing. . .
So,