Computer Cookies

Leave a Comment

Cookies. Oh yes! Those golden buttery ones with the big ol’ chunks of dark chocolate—those are my favorite. I like them thin with crispy edges and a little gooey still in the middle.

Computer cookies are another variety altogether. While not the topic of conversation they once were, every so often I get asked about cookies. Or, someone will bring them up to me: “It’s been a while since I cleaned my cookies.”

In computer terms, a cookie is a small file that a website leaves in your web browser. (Your web browser is the program you use to “browse” the “web.” Aptly named, no?) Websites will leave these tiny files to identify your computer and your browsing habits.

Have you ever been looking at a product on Amazon (let us say a new calculator), and then you log into Facebook and suddenly there is an ad for that same calculator you were just looking at? Amazon placed a cookie on your computer identifying you as a possible calculator purchaser. Then, when you log into Facebook, they will serve you an ad from Amazon with that same product, based on the cookie that was stored earlier.

In general, cookies are beneficial. Automatic logins to web sites can be stored by cookies. The contents of your shopping card can be saved via cookies. A website showing you the current temperature based on your location? Could be a cookie generating that content based on your location.

Some people who are especially sensitive to privacy might have an issue with cookies. Generally, businesses are not going to single you out personally based on cookies. Amazon “knows” they have a customer named Bill Batty in Spruce Head Maine. Their servers know this “Bill Batty” guy uses a Mac laptop and likes to look at drums. I do not believe Amazon employees are looking at their web server logs, adding up all the various bits, and will be wondering “Who is this guy?” It is far more impersonal than that. Based on all the time cookies save me, I do not worry about them.

Some people might worry that all these cookies are slowing their computer down, so they clean them out periodically. Cookies are very small files, and take almost no space. Your hard drive is not going to fill up because of cookies. The presence of cookies on your computer is not going to make it slow down. If you want to block cookies or erase them for privacy reasons, go ahead. Otherwise, don’t worry about them. They do more good than harm.

Reducing Junk Email

Leave a Comment

Many people are concerned about the amount of junk mail they receive in their email box. Like your post office mailbox, you cannot control who sends you an email; you can only throw it away after you receive it.

Some emails will offer you an “unsubscribe” function. If the junk email you are receiving is from a “legitimate” business, feel free to unsubscribe. The WalMarts and LL Beans and Dunkin’ Dounuts of the business world will honor your request and remove you from their marketing list.

Other emailers—those who send nasty and persistent emails—do not function in the same way. DO NOT “unsubscribe” from those emails. Clicking the unsubscribe link in the “Camp Lejeune bad water” emails (or those like it) will not get you off the spammer’s list, and will probably increase the amount of junk you receive. Why? When you “unsubscribe” from those illegitimate business emails, you tell the spammer 1) The email address they used to reach you is still valid, and 2) Someone at that address is actively reading the email. Once they know they have a good address with a live person on the other end, they will sell that address to other spam emailers, and the bulk junk mail you receive will increase!To sum up: There is very little you can do to reduce junk email. A legitimate business will honor their unsubscribe link. Don’t bother “unsubscribing” from the really gross stuff—you’ll probably make matters worse.

Don’t fall for the “1-800” scam!

Leave a Comment

A very “popular” scam on the Internet is known colloquially as the “1-800” scam. It works something like this…

You’re browsing the Internet, and everything is going fine, when all of a sudden a quacking siren and a voice tell you “Your computer has been hacked! Don’t turn it off or you will lose all of your important data!” Or, you may see something that looks like a Microsoft “blue screen” error, with the text telling you to call a 1-800 number to let a “Microsoft technician” fix the issue. Don’t fall for it–it’s a scam!

Should you call those 800 numbers, you’ll be connected–not to Microsoft–but to a con man! They will sound convincing. They will be urgent that you MUST let them log into your computer remotely, and then they’ll “fix it” for you. They will show you all kinds of “errors” or “IP addresses from all over the world of people who are spying on you.” These tactics are very misleading. They will try to get you to give them a credit card number, and offer you a yearly maintenance plan–usually costing several hundred dollars.

Should you get one of these blue screens or other screens requesting you call an 800 number, don’t do it! At that point, you haven’t opened yourself up to trouble. Restart your web browser, or restart your computer. ONLY AFTER you’ve called the number and let the scammer take remote control of your computer are you in danger. Once they’ve logged in, they have access to everything on your computer. At that point, you are best served contacting your computer pro and asking them to do a clean up. If you go deeper, and give the scammer your credit card or bank account info, then you need to take bigger steps, and cancel the card and/or alert the bank. It’s better to not get in too deep to begin with. Don’t fall for the scam. Don’t call. Just reboot and start again.

Town Tech Tips

Leave a Comment

Last August 8th I started a new position as a town clerk for St. George. As part of those duties I contribute to the town’s newsletter. I offer the “Town Tech Tip” every month. The way our town website works, however, means the articles are only posted for a month. Once the new newsletter is posted the old ones go into the archives where no one can get at it. I’m going to archive them here in case they may be useful to someone.

Jesus in Revelation

Leave a Comment

I recently posted on Facebook about my daily Bible reading, and how I was about to start the book of Revelation. I mentioned how #RCSproul said Revelation was a picture book about Jesus, not a puzzle book that needed code breaking. My friend William R Allison Jr. said “It’s Jesus doing the revealing. And it’s Jesus being revealed. Don’t miss Jesus looking for black hawk helicopters…” That inspired me. I’m going to keep track of how #Jesus reveals Himself in Revelation. Who does HE say that He is in His prophecy? I’ve decided to post my findings here. These are not ALL the ways that Jesus is described in the Revelation to John, but the ones that spoke most to me in my daily reading.

  • “…Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.” ~Revelation 1:5
  • “…one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” ~Rev. 1:12-16
    • What was John’s response to seeing this Jesus? “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead.” Note also that from His mouth comes a sharp two edged sword. I think that’s some important imagery and will come up again.
  • “…I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” ~Rev. 1:17-18
  • Jesus said that He is “…the first and the last, who died and came to life.”~Rev. 2:8
  • He is “…the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.” ~Rev. 3:7
    • Jesus speaks to the church of Philadelphia, and in the very next verse He says “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.” We know who the door is, right? If not, see one of John’s other writings, namely his gospel, chapter 10 verse 7.
  • “…the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.” ~Rev. 3:14
    • “The only other place in the Bible where ‘Amen’ is used as a name is Isaiah 65:16.”#rcsproul study note.
    • Most Bibles translate Is. 65:16 as “God of truth. The underlying Hebrew words are “Elohim amen.”
    • I’m not much into tattoos. If I were, “Faithful and True” would be on the “to get” list.
  • “…the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David …a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” ~Rev. 5:5-6
  • “And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.” ~ Rev. 6:2
    • There is some question as to the identity of the rider on the white horse. Some people think this is #Jesus, and the opening of the first seal initiates the rapture of the church before the great tribulation. Some people think this the antichrist, the beast, who comes into the world to destroy. Still others think this is a symbolic rider (like the other three) representing political power and the might needed to make war. I am not certain of the identity of this rider. But, if your theology leads you to believe this is Jesus, I offer it up as a #jesusinrevelation moment.
  • #Jesus is meek, and lowly, come not to be served but to serve. All true. But! When He returns again, He will set things right, renew His creation, and punish the wicked. He will be “…one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron…” ~Rev. 12:5
  • “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.” ~Rev. 14:14
    • #RCSproul made an interesting observation on this passage. There could be TWO harvests occurring. In one harvest, #Jesus is harvesting grain, and right after that an angel harvests grapes. The grapes are then thrown into the winepress of God’s wrath. Luke 3:17 records John the Baptist saying “His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Thanks RC! I had never noticed that before.
  • “…He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are called and chosen and faithful.” ~Rev. 17:14
  • “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.” ~Rev 19:11-16
  • “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”~Rev. 22:13
    • The title “Alpha and Omega” is also used by God the Father in Rev. 1:8 and 21:6.
  • “I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”~ Rev 22:16
  • We’ve come to the end… “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”~ Rev. 22: 20