Less than 1/2 hour ago, I received a mess in my inbox. Someone sent an email out to an unknown quantity of email recipients with no subject and the message body stating “Who are you”. To me, this screams phishing. Well, to (currently) 11 people, it didn’t. There were silly responses (“I contain mutitudes”) to “Take me off this email”. One person did reply stating “you are all replying to a fraud email…stop replying…” Which is the most useful message on there. But, really, not that helpful. So, just mark them as spam and move along. Replying lets the scammers know that a) this email is valid and b) you are somewhat gullible and, therefore, more susceptible to phishing scams. And, of course, replying all to these sorts of things floods other people’s inboxes.
So, please, just don’t. I guess if you feel called to troll scammers, just reply to the original sender. I’ve got other things to do than manage this junk in my inbox.
Cassidy Williams is a tech blogger I’ve followed for years. Recently, she wrote about her views on AI Usage, which I find exceptionally relevant right now. She references the “AI Manifesto” by Damola Morenikeji. Damola suggests creating an /AI section on your page, which I think I’ll do soon. But I’m just starting the exploration now.
I believe the transparency around our respective use of AI is critical. Being able to trust what you see is becoming harder.
Me? I’ve used AI as something of an editor for this site, and have explored using it to create pages. I’ve never been 100% satisfied with what Gemini or ChatGPT has created, but I will say it’s carved my workflows significantly. I don’t envision ever wholly turning things over to AI, and see the possibility of adopting Cassidy’s attitude of “Everything on this website is written by me, personally, not an AI.” This quote she shared really gives me pause: “If you couldn’t be bothered to write something, I won’t be bothered to read it”. Yeah, I feel that. I know there’s a reason it’s called “AI slop” and the last thing I want to do is contribute to the enshittification of the internet.
So, have you created a “Slash AI” page? If so, have you shared it to this list (https://slashai.page/)? If not, but you want to, submit it here. Are you planning on it? Let me know! I’m intensely curious.
On my friend Bill’s most recent blog post, one of the comments made me think. In particular, the notion of handwritten notes being the antithesis of digital. When I first read it, I was reminded of plotters. So, I jumped headfirst into this rabbit hole. That’s how I came across this project:
I found this whole thing fascinating. However, I’m left to wonder where the lines are between what’s truly, exclusively human, and the robot. What do you think of this?
Anyway, this looks like a fun project. Maybe someday I’ll have time enough to explore it in more depth than just watching the video.
Ok, on the whole, I like Phone Link. Being able to send texts from my computer, with my keyboard, is something I deeply appreciate. I used to use a tool called MightyText, but then Microsoft launched Phone Link, and it’s hard to beat free. But Phone Link has a glaring weakness, one that’s been getting on my nerves the past few weeks.
Somehow, I got on the Republicans’ spam list. I assume one of their tactics is to annoy folks like me. Which, I guess, means they’re successful. I’m annoyed. They’re averaging about 10-15 texts per day! Now, my phone’s spam filters are working pretty darn well, and somewhere around 90% of spam messages are caught. On My Phone! For some daft reason, Microsoft opted for ALL messages on the phone to be synced. Why did they think that syncing spam messages was a good idea? Ugh!
Rubbing salt in the wound, as I was researching if there was any way to fix this (some setting I’d missed, perhaps?), I found several complaints about this issue…going back to 2023! So, it’s been a known issue, but not a priority to fix? Sigh…
Google opted to win this battle. I discovered that Google has their own app, Google Messages for Web. Google was able to build their app so that spam caught by their filters stays filtered. Huzzah! So, this pleases me greatly. Now if Google’s app let me delete these messages from the computer, it would be perfect. Oh well…
I’m lobbying for spammers to be deported. Not likely, in this case. But one can hope.
I have a fondness for YouTube music videos and often play them in the background while I’m working. Lately, I’ve been feeling island vibes, so that’s what I’ve been choosing. Today, this one rolled into my algorithm and, well, AI is struggling.
The music is fine, pretty much spot on for my mood. But the video, though…oh my! We have cliffs that move into each other, and then fade away, boats just appearing in bays, a speed boat zipping across the sky, and my favorite: two party boats, one of which is speeding backwards with another boat, right off the stern, moving at the same speed but sideways. Ah, physics!
So, AI is pretty amazing and has a lot to offer, but it’s not quite ready to take over the world.
I just got this email a few minutes ago, ostensibly from RyanAir:
Man, this one looks pretty legitimate. The things that caught my attention? #1, I haven’t booked any travel with RyanAir.
#2, the email is one I haven’t used in ages, but it is set to auto-forward to me main one. But it’s not one I would’ve used. Perhaps I used it in the past with RyanAir? Nope. Never flown with them.
But what if, maybe, just maybe, it was someone else, some other Carl Setzer, who accidently used this email that was off in some weird capacity. Hmmm…
Oh, well if someone made a mistake, I should click on this link, right? Be nice and help a chap out, right? Knowing how many people want to be nice, I opt to hover over this link, which leads me to the big ol’ red flag
Check out THIS url:
Yep, my friends: classic phishing!
Now, you don’t need to dig around like I did. I did so mostly for the academic exercise. My first impulse was to mark this as phishing immediately, but I just was too curious.
For most folks, just mark as spam and ignore these things. Do NOT click on any of the links!
So, the world of spams & scams is evolving. Be aware and be safe, my friends!
Last June I wrote about a scam running through my Facebook accounts. Well, I’ve now seen this a few times over the months. However, starting overnight last night, several of the pages I managed have been inundated with the message. I think I’m up to 7 or 8 on one page alone.
Here’s a screenshot of the message:
Ultimately, it’s a phishing scam. If you click on the link, it’ll either ask you for your credentials or download malware…or both. Dear friends, DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK!!!!
Part of me takes delight in reporting these…people…for spam and getting their accounts blocked. However, in the end, it’s just a game of whack-a-mole. Clearly, they are able to create new accounts as fast as they get deleted. A part of me wants to kick these folks in the gonads.
Anyway, I wanted share this ASAP and I’m sure there are some people alarmed and, thus, more likely to click on the link. Please be safe out there in cyberspace!
I’m a bit behind on my 2025 planning. This “bug” I’ve been fighting has sapped away SO much energy. As I’m FINALLY feeling my energy return (at least more of it) this week, I’m starting to map out what my career direction and focus looks like in 2025 and forward.
Quick summary: I spent the pandemic working on a degree in Information Systems with its main focus on Web Development. In a weird twist of fate, I finished it right as the tech sector meltdown was hitting hardest. Competing with 500k+ tech workers has made the transition challenging. But I did land an IT role. Currently, I work 1/2 time as an IT/Systems Analyst for the Edmonds Waterfront Center, and 1/2 as a “tech savvy” Administrative Assistant. I feel like I’m straddling both my past and my future. My vision of my future, though, is to move full-time into IT/Information Systems. And that’s the plan I’m building.
However, that’s not a narrow enough focus. Within this umbrella is a huge array of roles. Network administrator, help desk analyst, web developer, systems analyst, information security, and data analyst….and there’s plenty more! First world problems, a plethora of riches….you know.
Anyway, focus, right?
After looking over my notes, exploring all the projects I’ve worked on the past few years, reviewed the classes I’ve taken, exploring what I’ve found the most fulfilling, most valuable, and even what I thought was the most fun, I have pretty much narrowed things down to what I’ll call “data systems”.
I’ve worked with data in many settings, and have spend many hours with Excel. And I like this stuff! While studying for my ATA, I got to work with a LOT of database systems and tools. Besides extensive projects in Access, I got to do a lot of work with SQL. Not just MySQL, but also SQL Server, and even a few variants of Oracle. I find this stuff endlessly fascinating. And I see that “data” is a huge growth area in our economy. Between data analytics, data security, data warehouses, and data lakes, there’s a huge need for people who both understand these systems and structures, but also, well, enjoy it! My experience with data is pretty extensive as well. From budget tracking for my teams at both Starbucks and Microsoft, creating dashboards for real estate teams, and tracking projects and feasibility for construction companies, I’ve done a lot.
Looking towards the future, I want to dive deeper into key skills. First, Data Visualization. I have studied design and worked extensively with PowerPoint. Power BI and Tableau are a logical next step. Thus, I’ve started the Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst course on Coursera. I also want to build my skills in Python/R and Statistics. Perhaps via the IBM Data Analyst Cert or Google’s Data Analytics Cert. I’ll evaluate that as I move forward.
I recognize the place of privilege I’m in, where I have all these options that I struggle to choose amongst. For that, I’m grateful.
So, I know some of you have experience in this area. I’d love your thoughts on my framework/vision (I’m still turning it into a plan). And if you have any advice, I’d deeply appreciate your thoughts.
This article prompted me to Google RSS readers. The first article was the Verge’s “Top 5 RSS Readers“. And the first on that list is Feedly. Well, I remember Feedly, as I set up an account ages ago…and then forgot about it. But I was able to log in and off I went. I have some curating to do, but it’s not really that bad. And I see several sites that I’d stopped tracking in all the mess of email updates. So, that’s a win.
I intend on unsubscribing to gobs of email blog updates, cleaning up my inbox quite a bit. Also, I need to use the “feeds” feature, where I can segment my different feeds.
Do you use an RSS reader? Have a favorite one? Let me know!
Some time ago, I created a list of alternatives to Adobe’s and Microsoft’s key software offerings. A filmmaker by the name of Joris Hermans created a video featuring a nice list of Adobe alternatives.
I’ve explored a few of these, but most are unfamiliar to me. I want to explore them, but it will be challenging to do so in the near future.
Have any of you explored any of these tools? Oh, and Joris closes with a request for Acrobat alternatives. Do you have any suggestions? I’d love to hear them, and I’m sure Joris would, too.
