I read the post about keeping one's journal safe. I do not now and have never had a hotmail account. And yet I discovered today that someone has broken into my LJ account and... changed one of my userpics to something offensive. Random spam or personal attack? I have no idea.
Once upon a time...
It was a 2.5 hour drive to the airport. I always threw a pillow and a blanket in the back seat and would sleep for the first hour. My parents would argue the last hour on how to find the airport, my mother with the map and my father insisting that he knew the way.
We would park and walk inside the airport. Checking in my luggage always took forever. I never knew which of the massive stack of papers that came with my ticket in the mail that they actually wanted, so I would just hand them the whole stack. I do not think anyone ever asked me for ID... Which was good, because my driver's license was several years in the future.
Security lines were quick, though my mother's metal covered bones always seemed to fluster airline security. I would just put my two carry on bags on the conveyor belt with my purse, pull my pocket knives from my trench coat and drop them in a bucket. Sometimes a security person would hand me my small bucket of knives when I was through the scanner.
My carry on bags always dragged at my shoulders, but my father often carried them to the gate for me. My parents would wait with me until my row was called, then hug and wave me off. My mother often told me later that they would watch through the window as my plane took off.
Can you count what has changed?
1 I drive myself to the airport. 2 GPS? 3 No more parents. 4 No easy parking near the airport. 5 I do not check luggage if I can possibly help it. 6 I print out boarding passes in advance or print from a machine at the airport. No humans. 7 ID is checked at ticket counter and security. 8 Must take off coat at security. 9 No knives allowed through security. 10 Must take off shoes at security. 11 Security people are power mad and not helpful. 12 Must show boarding pass at security. 13 Only people with tickets get through security. 14 All of my carry on luggage has wheels. 15 Back then it was two carry ons and a personal item on the plane. 16 This doesn't even count the smoking on the plane then or lack of decent meals on planes now.
It was a 2.5 hour drive to the airport. I always threw a pillow and a blanket in the back seat and would sleep for the first hour. My parents would argue the last hour on how to find the airport, my mother with the map and my father insisting that he knew the way.
We would park and walk inside the airport. Checking in my luggage always took forever. I never knew which of the massive stack of papers that came with my ticket in the mail that they actually wanted, so I would just hand them the whole stack. I do not think anyone ever asked me for ID... Which was good, because my driver's license was several years in the future.
Security lines were quick, though my mother's metal covered bones always seemed to fluster airline security. I would just put my two carry on bags on the conveyor belt with my purse, pull my pocket knives from my trench coat and drop them in a bucket. Sometimes a security person would hand me my small bucket of knives when I was through the scanner.
My carry on bags always dragged at my shoulders, but my father often carried them to the gate for me. My parents would wait with me until my row was called, then hug and wave me off. My mother often told me later that they would watch through the window as my plane took off.
Can you count what has changed?
1 I drive myself to the airport. 2 GPS? 3 No more parents. 4 No easy parking near the airport. 5 I do not check luggage if I can possibly help it. 6 I print out boarding passes in advance or print from a machine at the airport. No humans. 7 ID is checked at ticket counter and security. 8 Must take off coat at security. 9 No knives allowed through security. 10 Must take off shoes at security. 11 Security people are power mad and not helpful. 12 Must show boarding pass at security. 13 Only people with tickets get through security. 14 All of my carry on luggage has wheels. 15 Back then it was two carry ons and a personal item on the plane. 16 This doesn't even count the smoking on the plane then or lack of decent meals on planes now.
Vista and AVG
Jun. 10th, 2008 08:58 amAmong my serious problems with my new laptop, I cannot attach any file larger than 16k to an email. Yahoo email, Gmail, Netscape mail, it doesn't seem to matter. Web posts on this topic seem to blame the security software (specifically MacAfee and Norton) and suggest the free copy of AVG as a solution. So, I contacted AVG (for which I have a paid license) several weeks ago, described my problem and everything I had tried. Slowest response time EVER. They asked for more information twice, with about two weeks between each request. They were very polite about it, but still...
Anyway, I finally got a response back from them with an answer. Well, for pretty loose definition of "answer." They have two suggestions:
Anyway, I finally got a response back from them with an answer. Well, for pretty loose definition of "answer." They have two suggestions:
- Install the beta copy of their next version of software. I'm dubious about this because... Hello? Beta? I'm sure it is going to have it's own problems and at this point I have zero reason to trust them as a company and as programmers.
- Turn off two of their features (Linkscanner and Webshield) to allow me to attach files to emails. Then wait for their next version to come out. They do not indicate if I will get a free upgrade to the next version. I'm going to be pretty sour if I bought a security software license they admit does not work properly, and they make me pay for the upgrade! Bleh.
Change is bad
May. 9th, 2008 11:40 pmSo we bought new laptops with Vista. Many of the bugs have been ironed out or I have just adjusted. Reluctantly. But one of the bugs is persistent and we could use some ideas.
Anything you can think of would be really helpful. This is driving me slightly batty. And having to boot up two computers to send the simplest email is... annoying now. But what if this problem follows me on the road?
Yes, I do need to test this with someone else's wireless. Will do.
Update: Changing wireless and router had no impact. Contacted AVG directly (since we have paid licenses). They suggested we turn off a variety of things within AVG. Turning off the AVG Linkscanner and AVG Web Shield seems to work. Turning off each by themselves had no impact. Not sure what the long-term AVG suggestion will be.
Anything you can think of would be really helpful. This is driving me slightly batty. And having to boot up two computers to send the simplest email is... annoying now. But what if this problem follows me on the road?
Yes, I do need to test this with someone else's wireless. Will do.
Update: Changing wireless and router had no impact. Contacted AVG directly (since we have paid licenses). They suggested we turn off a variety of things within AVG. Turning off the AVG Linkscanner and AVG Web Shield seems to work. Turning off each by themselves had no impact. Not sure what the long-term AVG suggestion will be.
Shannon, Ireland airport silliness
Mar. 2nd, 2007 10:35 amI've been through this airport a lot. The basic steps are:
(1) Get boarding pass & customs form.
(2) Fill out customs form.
(3) Show boarding pass to pre-security guy.
(4) Go through security.
(5) Go through the tax-free shopping, often buying alcohol for T.
(6) With bottle of alcohol, wait in lounge.
(7) When flight is called, go through Customs. Show filled-out customs form.
(8) After Customs, walk to gate.
(9) When flight and seat is called, board plane. Show boarding pass and sometimes passport.
After the whole liquid craziness, the steps became:
(1) Get boarding pass & customs form.
(2) Fill out customs form.
(2a) Chug last of water from water bottle. Throw away bottle.
(3) Show boarding pass to pre-security guy.
(4) Go through security. Take off shoes, take out laptop, take off jacket. Carry all of the above, briefcase, and trays for each to the security line. There is no table to slide them. There is only one security line open, and it is very... sloooooooooooooooooooow...
(5) Go through the tax-free shopping area. Buy alcohol for T.
(6) With bottle of alcohol, wait in lounge.
(6a) Buy new bottle of water. Keep receipt in case they ask for proof that bottle is from inside security.
(7) When flight is called, go through Customs. Show filled-out customs form.
(8) After Customs, walk to gate.
(9) When flight and seat is called, board plane. Show boarding pass and sometimes passport.
And now, as of today, the steps are...
(1) Get boarding pass & customs form.
(2) Fill out customs form.
(2a) Chug last of water from water bottle. Throw away bottle.
(3) Show boarding pass to pre-security guy.
(4) Go through security. Take off shoes, take out laptop, take off jacket. Carry all of the above, briefcase, and trays for each to the security line. There is no table to slide them. There is only one security line open, and it is still very... sloooooooooooooooooooow... Zero improvement since I was last here 3 months ago.
(5) Go through the tax-free shopping area. Buy alcohol for T. Got a yellow slip of paper instead of a bottle. They claim that (in spite of TSA website to the contrary), they will take my bottle through for me. In a sealed packet. "But aren't we past security?" I asked. "There is another security line after Customs."
(6) Wait in lounge.
(6a) Buy new bottle of water. There is a sign in front of the bottles of water. "All US-bound passengers are not allowed to take 500ml bottles of water or soda on the plane." I check the bottle. Yep, 500ml.
(7) When flight is called, go through Customs. Show filled-out customs form.
(8) After Customs, walk to gate.
(8a) Wait outside of gate. Watch them build a security checkpoint.
(8b) Finally they call my zone for loading. No 100+ml liquids outside of the ziploc bag. Absolutely no liquids allowed on the plane. This was mostly a really thorough bag check. He went through each and every zipper on my bag. ...But not my pockets.
(9) Board plane. Show boarding pass.
(9a) Survive 8 hours with almost no water at all. See how![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
raaga123's plan of pushing the airline person button and ask for water frequently works out.
(1) Get boarding pass & customs form.
(2) Fill out customs form.
(3) Show boarding pass to pre-security guy.
(4) Go through security.
(5) Go through the tax-free shopping, often buying alcohol for T.
(6) With bottle of alcohol, wait in lounge.
(7) When flight is called, go through Customs. Show filled-out customs form.
(8) After Customs, walk to gate.
(9) When flight and seat is called, board plane. Show boarding pass and sometimes passport.
After the whole liquid craziness, the steps became:
(1) Get boarding pass & customs form.
(2) Fill out customs form.
(2a) Chug last of water from water bottle. Throw away bottle.
(3) Show boarding pass to pre-security guy.
(4) Go through security. Take off shoes, take out laptop, take off jacket. Carry all of the above, briefcase, and trays for each to the security line. There is no table to slide them. There is only one security line open, and it is very... sloooooooooooooooooooow...
(5) Go through the tax-free shopping area. Buy alcohol for T.
(6) With bottle of alcohol, wait in lounge.
(6a) Buy new bottle of water. Keep receipt in case they ask for proof that bottle is from inside security.
(7) When flight is called, go through Customs. Show filled-out customs form.
(8) After Customs, walk to gate.
(9) When flight and seat is called, board plane. Show boarding pass and sometimes passport.
And now, as of today, the steps are...
(1) Get boarding pass & customs form.
(2) Fill out customs form.
(2a) Chug last of water from water bottle. Throw away bottle.
(3) Show boarding pass to pre-security guy.
(4) Go through security. Take off shoes, take out laptop, take off jacket. Carry all of the above, briefcase, and trays for each to the security line. There is no table to slide them. There is only one security line open, and it is still very... sloooooooooooooooooooow... Zero improvement since I was last here 3 months ago.
(5) Go through the tax-free shopping area. Buy alcohol for T. Got a yellow slip of paper instead of a bottle. They claim that (in spite of TSA website to the contrary), they will take my bottle through for me. In a sealed packet. "But aren't we past security?" I asked. "There is another security line after Customs."
(6) Wait in lounge.
(6a) Buy new bottle of water. There is a sign in front of the bottles of water. "All US-bound passengers are not allowed to take 500ml bottles of water or soda on the plane." I check the bottle. Yep, 500ml.
(7) When flight is called, go through Customs. Show filled-out customs form.
(8) After Customs, walk to gate.
(8a) Wait outside of gate. Watch them build a security checkpoint.
(8b) Finally they call my zone for loading. No 100+ml liquids outside of the ziploc bag. Absolutely no liquids allowed on the plane. This was mostly a really thorough bag check. He went through each and every zipper on my bag. ...But not my pockets.
(9) Board plane. Show boarding pass.
(9a) Survive 8 hours with almost no water at all. See how
raaga123's plan of pushing the airline person button and ask for water frequently works out. Not together yet
Dec. 10th, 2006 02:05 pmThose Europeans have not got security logistics figured out yet. At least, in Shannon, Ireland they have not.
Like on US flights, they want us to take off shoes and coats or shirts. They want us to declare all liquids over a certain size, take out our bag of liquids, and take out our laptops.
Now imagine you are a business traveler (which means you have a laptop) and it is Winter. One tray for coats, one for shoes & liquids, one for the laptop (and it is too small to actually HOLD the laptop, the laptop is balanced kinda sideways). You must maneuver your bag, the 3 trays, and hand carry your boarding pass through security. Now imagine that there is no table leading up to the screening machine, but instead there is a long line of people. You must actually hand CARRY it all to put it in the screening machine. Yes, all of it. You can't leave some on a table and run back and forth.
My passport and boarding pass in my teeth, thousands of dollars of electronics teetering precariously in my arms, trying to painfully reach down a single finger to snag the handle of my briefcase to bring it with me to the security machine... I think I should get a large amount of credit for only growling at the woman who kept poking me impatiently in the back.
Like on US flights, they want us to take off shoes and coats or shirts. They want us to declare all liquids over a certain size, take out our bag of liquids, and take out our laptops.
Now imagine you are a business traveler (which means you have a laptop) and it is Winter. One tray for coats, one for shoes & liquids, one for the laptop (and it is too small to actually HOLD the laptop, the laptop is balanced kinda sideways). You must maneuver your bag, the 3 trays, and hand carry your boarding pass through security. Now imagine that there is no table leading up to the screening machine, but instead there is a long line of people. You must actually hand CARRY it all to put it in the screening machine. Yes, all of it. You can't leave some on a table and run back and forth.
My passport and boarding pass in my teeth, thousands of dollars of electronics teetering precariously in my arms, trying to painfully reach down a single finger to snag the handle of my briefcase to bring it with me to the security machine... I think I should get a large amount of credit for only growling at the woman who kept poking me impatiently in the back.
UK to US travel, circa early Oct 2006
Oct. 8th, 2006 01:10 pmFrom scanning websites in advance, we packed all our liquids in our checked luggage. As is usual in the UK, there was a security person checking our passports and asking security questions before we checked in and got our boarding passes. He explained that we could just buy liquids inside security and take them aboard the plane -- just keep the receipt and be prepared to show it when boarding. Yay! I was expecting a very dry 8 hours.
The security line was long, but we came early. We took off our shoes, and I took off my warm travel shirt (new since I lost the last one on a China flight). Oddly, the Scottish put their luggage on the roller bars (before the conveyor belt through the security scan) and then would just leave them and walk through! Weird. I, trained as I am by paranoia, waited until I saw all of our carry-on luggage onto the actual conveyor before walking through... And proceeded to find myself patted down in ways... Let's just say that places on my body were touched that only my husband touches. She was very professional, but quite thorough.
I didn't think anything of it, until I asked T how his went.... And he had not gotten patted down. At all. Am I special?
But wait! So, when we are at the boarding gate, we walk through the doorway to go down to the plane and are faced with an array of tables and security personnel who ask me to put my bag on the table and take off my shoes. Again. *sigh* I do. Another woman got very close to me. She even had me show her the bottom of my (shoe-less) feet. A second woman went through my carry-on. She seemed at first dismayed and then fascinated by my portable keyboard for my PDA. Neither of them asked for the receipt for my water.
T had gone ahead and when I met him on the plane at our seats, I asked him how his pat-down had gone. ...He didn't get one. Seriously. My inner thighs are clearly free from bombs and they just wave him through!?!?!
Perhaps this is profiling of suspiciously dressed women? I am wearing cargo pants and a plaid men's button-down shirt (the previously mentioned traveling shirt). To check and see if makeup and high heels would get me passed over would take repeated sampling I am personally unwilling to undergo. But perhaps you can....?
The security line was long, but we came early. We took off our shoes, and I took off my warm travel shirt (new since I lost the last one on a China flight). Oddly, the Scottish put their luggage on the roller bars (before the conveyor belt through the security scan) and then would just leave them and walk through! Weird. I, trained as I am by paranoia, waited until I saw all of our carry-on luggage onto the actual conveyor before walking through... And proceeded to find myself patted down in ways... Let's just say that places on my body were touched that only my husband touches. She was very professional, but quite thorough.
I didn't think anything of it, until I asked T how his went.... And he had not gotten patted down. At all. Am I special?
But wait! So, when we are at the boarding gate, we walk through the doorway to go down to the plane and are faced with an array of tables and security personnel who ask me to put my bag on the table and take off my shoes. Again. *sigh* I do. Another woman got very close to me. She even had me show her the bottom of my (shoe-less) feet. A second woman went through my carry-on. She seemed at first dismayed and then fascinated by my portable keyboard for my PDA. Neither of them asked for the receipt for my water.
T had gone ahead and when I met him on the plane at our seats, I asked him how his pat-down had gone. ...He didn't get one. Seriously. My inner thighs are clearly free from bombs and they just wave him through!?!?!
Perhaps this is profiling of suspiciously dressed women? I am wearing cargo pants and a plaid men's button-down shirt (the previously mentioned traveling shirt). To check and see if makeup and high heels would get me passed over would take repeated sampling I am personally unwilling to undergo. But perhaps you can....?
The Price of Security
Sep. 17th, 2006 03:26 pmI recently watched Ted Koppel's The Price of Security documentary on Discovery. It was very informative. He started with the topic I was most interested -- the changes in security at the airports. But that was the smallest piece of what he covered. And really, all he said about it is that we have adjusted. No hints on changes or flexibility or hope for my traveling future.
That wasn't the part of his show that caught my attention. Really, the whole thing gave me a bigger picture in what has happened. Parts were comforting -- we are no longer torturing. Guantanamo Bay looks much better than it used to. But in the week since I saw the show, two things have been haunting me. They come out of his interview with Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice.
(1) She said that after September 11, many of the major decisions and pushes by the White House and our government came out of a strong and immediate fear that another attack was coming. She said that fear still haunts the White House today. She even indicated several of the decisions that fear sparked.
(2) She said that before September 11, our attitude as a government and a nation was that a person in custody was innocent until proven guilty. We would rather let a few guilty people go free than imprison or punish an innocent person. She said that Sept 11 and the fear of another, much worse attack has completely reversed that attitude. This is why the White House has spent so much energy avoiding allowing suspected terrorists in custody to be released into any form of our justice system. They fear that we cannot prove our suspicions beyond a shadow of a doubt. Therefore these people will go free, to potentially work toward another attack against us.
These two statements and attitudes scare the bejeezus out of me. I do not want a government ruled by fear. I want a government who allows our justice system to work. And if that means that people who intend us harm are free to walk the street... Then that is what many of the other information-gathering pushes our government is working on implementing is all about. I want to live in a country where I do not fear to make the slightest error, or I will be thrown in prison without recourse for the rest of my life. Don't say it won't happen to me. I want to live in a country that I can be proud of the government and justice system, even if we sometimes do things the hard way. I would rather live in a country that I can be proud of, and take the very small risk of being the victim of another attack.
I have been ashamed to be a US citizen as I travel overseas for some time now. If all I can do right now is vote in the next election... That is what I will do. Show me the candidates that are going to do what I believe is the difficult, right thing.
That wasn't the part of his show that caught my attention. Really, the whole thing gave me a bigger picture in what has happened. Parts were comforting -- we are no longer torturing. Guantanamo Bay looks much better than it used to. But in the week since I saw the show, two things have been haunting me. They come out of his interview with Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice.
(1) She said that after September 11, many of the major decisions and pushes by the White House and our government came out of a strong and immediate fear that another attack was coming. She said that fear still haunts the White House today. She even indicated several of the decisions that fear sparked.
(2) She said that before September 11, our attitude as a government and a nation was that a person in custody was innocent until proven guilty. We would rather let a few guilty people go free than imprison or punish an innocent person. She said that Sept 11 and the fear of another, much worse attack has completely reversed that attitude. This is why the White House has spent so much energy avoiding allowing suspected terrorists in custody to be released into any form of our justice system. They fear that we cannot prove our suspicions beyond a shadow of a doubt. Therefore these people will go free, to potentially work toward another attack against us.
These two statements and attitudes scare the bejeezus out of me. I do not want a government ruled by fear. I want a government who allows our justice system to work. And if that means that people who intend us harm are free to walk the street... Then that is what many of the other information-gathering pushes our government is working on implementing is all about. I want to live in a country where I do not fear to make the slightest error, or I will be thrown in prison without recourse for the rest of my life. Don't say it won't happen to me. I want to live in a country that I can be proud of the government and justice system, even if we sometimes do things the hard way. I would rather live in a country that I can be proud of, and take the very small risk of being the victim of another attack.
I have been ashamed to be a US citizen as I travel overseas for some time now. If all I can do right now is vote in the next election... That is what I will do. Show me the candidates that are going to do what I believe is the difficult, right thing.
Security: traveling to and within the US
Aug. 12th, 2006 04:45 pmCombining my pre- flight online research with reading airline-provided newspapers and my in-airport experiences with security, I am left with a feeling of... confusion. Not mine. Theirs.( Read more... )
