I already have several working. I've got one that I use as my primary machine, one that I use as a phone server, one that hosts an ipcop firewall, one that runs Ubuntu Linux and a couple of laptops, one of the laptops is for use when I travel and the other one runs an OBII automobile diagnostics programs. Now some of you may be asking yourself what in the hell does he need so many computers for and how could he possibly need another. Well I need them cause I need them, so there. As for needing another, really I don't, but sometimes it seems like pretty soon I might, just to keep up with passwords.
Thats right, passwords. I've got a spreadsheet that grows everyday that does nothing but track passwords. Mind you, I don't enter the exact password, just some mnemonic device or clue to help me remember the real password. It is rapidly becoming too long to print on a single sheet and now many of the websites are throwing additional stuff in there like passphrase, secret question, secret image, pin, secret handshake or crap like that. Used to be things like your mother's maiden name. That won't do any more. Now you have to choose a picture and a phrase and a pin. Or some question like what was the name of your first pet's veterinarian's receptionist?
A while back I tried to get into my account on a site and it asked me where I would like to go on vacation. I answered, it balked, I answered again, it balked again. One more failure and I was dead in the water. I called customer service. The lady asked me for every thing except my underwear size and finally she gave me the correct response to where I wanted to go on vacation. It was neither one of my original answers, I suppose I was in a different mood when I had provided the original answer some time back and optimistically thought I would recall it. On top of that, I had used an abbreviation. Listen, if you tell the computer you want to go to NYC, don't expect it to understand and accept New York City.
Does all this increased security work? I doubt it. Back in September, I was visiting in Florida and I got an email from a credit card company. They had noticed some suspicious activity on my credit card and wanted to know if it was me. Turns out it wasn't. The credit card company in question is one of the ones with the multiple level security to get into their online system. That was no problem for the gang of thieves that was using my card illegally. In fact I'm sure they did not have access to my online account and I know they did not have the card. They just spoofed a number and got it to work. Thank goodness the credit card company had a full time unit looking out for strange activity.Then again, maybe the online security does work. Maybe it made it too hard to get account numbers that way so the crooks found another soft spot. Either way it looks like increased security is the wave of the future. I've not set up a password, passphrase, secret santa sever yet, but I do have an old Dell machine sitting in the corner of my bedroom just in case.
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