Blood Vs Oil

Both are necessary to do some work.
by Chris Demas

Photo from photoXpress

When it comes right down to it, part of the reason we invent new devices is to avoid having to do extra work. The phone is a tool used to connect two people together without having to make them travel to one another. If they need to travel we have the car that can move them long distances without making them walk or exert themselves. Are we making ourselves obsolete? Is that notion a bad thing?

After all, we created machines to help us with everyday tasks. And while sometimes this knocks a person out of a job it makes the people using the machine quite happy. Let’s look at the automatic teller machine or atm. It’s convenient and in many cases harder to rob. The atm is also capable of taking care of strings of people with their financial needs and doesn’t get tired. Also, while you may no have a personal emotional experience with it, the machine  will give you the same service it gave the last person.

On the other hand, machines make awful mistakes sometimes that a human could probably fix on the spot. Machines can’t give you that interaction that a friendly employee can. And having to deal with a machine when it comes to returns is the worst kind of hassle. Obviously machines aren’t perfect and can malfunction at the strangest times. But do occasional glitches matter when the machine for the most part is handling your light work?

I love human interaction and I’m sure you do too. There is a pleasant feeling when you go to the mall and can be directed around by the help desk and don’t have to memorize a map. It feels good in those rare times when you return a product and the staff is friendly with you while offering good service. It can be incredibly satisfying to hear “have a nice day” after purchasing!

Does human interaction outweigh the idea of mechanical convenience? Do I go to the cashier or the self-checkout? Will the people inside Bank of America be jealous that I gave their atm machine more attention than the human employees inside the bank? What do you think? Are we ourselves becoming more obsolete or do we just use machines for our light work?

More from Chris in ChrisDemas.com

What if.. Your Account Got Hacked

What if..

..your account got hacked

Photo from photoXpress

@Momentmattters in Twitter has been hacked recently. The most that hackers did was tweet some bar soaps they’re selling. They do it repetitively and I know it’s annoying so I took care of it.

There is nearly infinite possible combination of characters to be used as a password, but some people have sheer luck in guessing your password. The prior month as well, politician Mitt Romney’s private email was hacked by just guessing his favorite pet’s name. We should respond to the security questions with utter seriousness because that’s one way people get through your account.

It’s worth the time to think of a strong password, isn’t it? These passwords should be loads more perplexing than SplashData’s list of worst passwords on the internet. Topping it all was “password” as password, which I would love to buy that person a dictionary because clearly he needs more vocabulary. Next to it was “123456” – how lazy can you be? And then there are those who are just fixated to their nursery days by making “12345678” as their password. But, I won’t recommend an overly inert password like “j7%4s(=z@,a+6qz” because it’s also a hassle if you keep forgetting your password.

At the least of it, we have invested time in our accounts; but there are also valuable data at risk. When Linkedin was hacked, the hackers may control the users’s accounts and contacts. Allegedly, millions of data are shed when Sony’s PlayStation Network was hacked in 2011. It halted PlayStation Network’s operation for a month. And for most people, they can be hospitalized when they found out their daily updates are all gone.

I guess there’s money in hacking? Or does it only feed the pride of the geeks that they can breach the multinationals? I don’t know what they’ll do with the account of other people but mess it up; and that would only mean something if you knew the person you’re hacking. However, screwing up an enemy’s account is a great revenge venture.

What if your account got hacked (wordpress, facebook, email, any account), what will be risked?