Online Home of Derek Meister
I had a chance to speak to WTKR News in Virgina about how to protect yourself from phone scams from people claiming to work for big-name tech companies, like Microsoft, Dell or McAfee.
For more information on protecting yourself from cyber scams, check out my article on the Geek Squad Blog.
Looks like the Katie Humprey’s article on “password sanity” is making syndication rounds in newspapers (including our local Plain Dealer). I had the opportunity to help give the writer our take on password security and provided the end quote for the article:
Derek Meister, a Geek Squad agent, said it’s important not to make security so complex that people get overwhelmed and default to insecure habits, like repeating simple passwords. He suggests thinking about digital security much like home security. It’s not perfect, but it can be a deterrent to those aiming to make trouble.
“You’re not looking to make your house into Fort Knox. You’re looking to make your house hard enough to get into that somebody will say, ‘I’m going to go elsewhere,’?” Meister said. “It’s the same with passwords.”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXxW57PI46k
We love Halloween at the Meister House, and this year was no exception.
Our display takes roughly a week to put up, and when the weather is as bad as it was this year, there’s always work to be done fixing things blown down or complete soaked. But it’s always worth it once the trick-or-treat visitors start coming in to see all we have for them.
Looking to create your own holiday light show? For more information about the technology behind the setup, check out my holiday light show series on the Geek Squad Blog.
The background music is “Netherworld Shanty” Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons.
You may have noticed that the extended warranty, insurance or protection plan offered with your new smartphone likely has a drastically higher deductible than the last time you bought one. Why is that? Because the way we use (and abuse) our phones has changed over the last 5 years.
In the days of regular feature phones, many owners stuck with their same phone for much longer. Keeping a mobile phone for 2 to 4 years wasn’t uncommon. Feature phones were simple, bulky devices that we often kept using even after their plastic cases were badly worn, dented and cracked.
As smartphones arrived, owners started upgrading their phones in shorter periods to get the latest hardware features. Upgrading your phone every 2 years is common, and many upgrade every 12 to 18 months. Phones became lighter, thinner, and more complex.
Over the last few years, those extra plans started getting used more than ever before for a few different reasons. One of the most common replacement issues isn’t hardware, but software.
Smartphones are portable computers, and just like your computer, the software can flake out. In many cases, the same fixes that work for your computer work for the phone, like restarting it or reloading the software.
To add to the complexity are the tens of thousands of 3rd party apps available. I’ve seen individual apps on every platform cause battery issues, lock up a phone and generally cause issues that make an owner think their phone’s hardware is “broken”.
Many owners will insist on an immediate replacement for their phone, even when it’s clearly not the hardware at fault. Issues with the phone’s OS, a poorly written 3rd party app, problems with the carrier, or even just a new owner that doesn’t fully understand the function and limitations of their phone’s platform can create the desire to replace the phone’s hardware.
It also doesn’t help that people seem to be more clumsy with what is a $500 to $900 (unsubsidized) device. And now that many companies are offering to buy your old smartphone, many owners look to replacement plans to get a “fresh” phone free of cracks, dents and general wear and tear to get the most money back.
That’s not to mention the increase in theft of smartphones due to the growing black-market opportunities for the hardware.
Over the last few years, this has driven the number of replacement phones requested through all the different retail and carrier stores exponentially.
This exponential increase in the number of smartphone replacement requests drastically increases the costs of the plans for retailers and carriers, and quite often decreases replacement inventory to the point where certain highly-replaced model phones can have 2 to 6 week wait times for new inventory.
In what’s likely an attempt to reduce the number of replacements made, I’ve seen that nearly every retail and carrier that offers these plans has increased the “deductible” per replacement incident. Most companies will charge $150 to $200 for an accidentally damaged phone replacement. Even Apple’s generous AppleCare program has increased their incident fees.
So keep that in mind when complaining about any one company’s plans and threatening to go to another. The grass is equally expensive on the other side.
This week marks the 2nd anniversary of my getting a motorcycle license.
It’s funny how time passes when you look back. Some days, it seems like only yesterday that I was on the learning course at the MSF, practicing this strange new counter-steering deal. Other days, it seems like a lifetime ago that I nervously got onto the highway for the first time, feeling like I was going warp speed at 55mph.
I’ve learned a number of things over those two years …
THERE ARE NO MASTERS, ONLY MORE ADVANCED STUDENTS.
I have learned that you can never really stop learning when it comes to riding. The best riders I know are not only willing to teach you what they know, but willing to admit they still have plenty of training and learning to do on their own.
Whether it’s re-learning basic skills after getting the bike out of Winter storage, or practicing emergency breaking when a safe opportunity presents itself, there’s always more room to learn and grow.
LEARN TO FIX YOUR STUFF, BUT KNOW WHEN TO GET HELP WHEN YOU CAN’T.
There’s a wide range of motorcycle riding skills, but an even wider variation in motorcycle mechanical skills. Just about any rider can, and should, learn how to do routine maintenance on their ride. Start with T-CLOCK, then move on to changing your own oil and checking your other fluids routinely. Doing basic maintenance work yourself not only saves you money, it’s a great way to get to know your bike and help watch for mechanical problems before they get serious.
Of course, you don’t have to be a mechanical genius to help your ride. Take the time to look for online sites and web forums dedicated to your class or model of motorcycle. They will make for a great starting point for questions and are often a good resource for finding hard to find parts.
RIDE YOUR OWN RIDE.
If you haven’t read The Pace by Nick Lenatsch, please do. It’s an excellent article about approaching a ride on your own terms. Many excellent riders I have learned from have explained a similar lesson as “don’t worry about others, just ride your own ride”.
Sometimes it is tempting to push yourself to keep up with hot dog riders you encounter, sometimes it is tempting to ignore the signs of exhaustion to get a few more miles in on a ride, but in nearly all cases, it’s best to ride in a way that is both safe and comfortable.
LET OTHERS RIDE THEIRS.
This is one of the lessons I sometimes still struggle with. Motorcycles and riders come in an amazing number of variations. Riding styles, types of bike, amount of gear, and when and where they like to ride. Like much of human nature, it is sometimes easy to fall into the trap of stereotyping other riders. Cruiser riders as “pirate-costume wearing fair weather riders”. Sportsbike riders as “squidly anti-gear speed demons with a death wish” and adventure bike owners as “latte-sipping rich boys with off-road bikes that never see anything other than highway”.
The truth is that these differences are what make the motorcycle community so lively and interesting. You can learn a lot when you take the time to chat with other riders you come across, especially when they ride a different ride than you. That cruiser rider may have been riding for 40 years and willing to tell you tales of some of the best hidden twisty roads you’d never find otherwise.
That old dirtbike rider can likely give you tips on how to best handle a rain-slicked road causing your rear to step out. That sportbike rider may know everything there is to know about how to keep the fiddly carbs on your bike running at top performance. There’s a story to be heard, and a lesson learned, from every rider at some point.
… BUT THERE’S ALWAYS MORE TO COME.
Two years passes before you know it, but I am hoping it is just a brief start to a much longer riding career. Looking back at all I’ve learned, I look forward to all that I will learn. It is a two-wheeled adventure, and I am going to love every minute of it, including the bits that involve some swearing and possibly a few tears (like syncing carbs).
Let’s ride!