How Secure is YOUR Online Banking

Recently, an organization I’m a part of moved their bank account to a new bank because of some issues they had with a former member. Soon afterwards, they got a notice from Old Bank that someone had attempted to log in. After 3 failed password attempts, the bank disabled the password and notified the organization.

As the online bookkeeper for the organization, I received that email. When I called the bank their response was “Well, since you’ve closed the account, now that the password has been disabled you have nothing to worry about. It was probably just someone w/ a similar user name who typed in the wrong information.”

WHAT? Even in spite of telling Old Bank that there had been recent trouble, they seemed unconcerned. No big deal. I would bet money that my bank would not have had such a cavalier attitude. (And no one that knows me would take a bet with me!)

What would your bank do?

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On My Reading List

After reading MamaGrizzly’s 2008 Reading List, I was inspired to post my own list.

And, it is quite a varied list. I’ve always had at least one book that I was reading. I read for many reasons. Used to be, I read almost exclusively for entertainment. It helps me relax. Puts something between the real world and dream land at night. Helps with boredom while waiting. I don’t wait well, but if I have a good book, I can wait for quite a while. Now I also read as part of my work. I’m pretty much self taught in web design. A lot of that reading occurs each morning while riding my stationary bicycle. Without books, riding that bike would seem too much like waiting. Here’s my list:

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson - Found it at my dad’s house and am currently reading it.

The Art of War for Women by Chin-Ning Chu - It’s not really about war at all. The subtitle explains: “Sun Tzu’s Ancient Strategies and Wisdom for Winning at Work.” This is another book I’m currently reading. I anticipate two readings on this one.

The Search Engine Marketing Kit By Dan Thies - This is a book that will actually require a good bit of work to make it worthwhile. I was working on this book last fall, but unfortunately it was pre-empted by this one: The Executor’s Guide - Settling a Loved One’s Estate or Trust by Mary Randolph. I’ve finished reading that one, so I can more on to Search Engines.

Lyrics by Sting - This is more like reading poetry. I like what I’ve read so far b/c I’m always asking what people were really thinking when they wrote a song.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis - Years ago, someone I knew told me that these books weren’t for me. He implied that they were too deep for me. That is reason enough for me to want to read them. Recently, I found a volume with all of the books - at a really decent price. Oh, and by the way, that guy really didn’t know me very well at all.

Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3 by Scott Kelby - This one requires reading and work. You can’t just read this book by itself.

Adobe Camera Raw For Digital Photographers Only by Rob Sheppard - Another book that will require work.

Pillars of the Earth and World Without End - both by Ken Follett. World Without End (2007) is the sequel to Pillars of the Earth (1989). This will be rough as it’s a commitment to 2,000 pages! Will probably take me forever. (My hubby is reading the first one now and is nearly finished. He’s a fast reader and can abandon pretty near everything when he’s reading a book!)

Homes That Heal ( and Those That Don’t ) by Athena Thompson - This is the only one on my list that I don’t own. I’m still kind of debating it.

And here’s a couple I’m considering, after perusing them in the local book store:

Purple Cow by Seth Godin

What the Customer Wants You To Know by Ram Charan

That isn’t actually all of my list, just the top books.

So many books, so little time…

What’s on your list?

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How E-mail Has Changed Us

Have you ever thought about the subtle ways in which e-mail, chat, and texting have changed our lives? In some ways, it can actually bring us closer. Here’s an example.

I have a friend who has no e-mail. Well, she has work e-mail but her school district is very strict and they promise to fire her if she uses it for personal use. So she may have e-mail, but I can’t use it to contact her. Don’t even know what it is. And in today’s world, we’re all busy. Seems like making a phone call doesn’t always work well.

In early October, this friend, Cathy, told me about a Fiber Artist display at a local gallery. She suggested I go and especially look at an item on display titled “Self Image”. I looked up the gallery and found that the display would be there through October 31st. I carried a piece of paper around for more than 3 weeks with the address on it.

Alas, October was an incredibly busy month. I often passed by the freeway exit that would take me to the gallery and said - “I need to do that, just a few days left.” Finally, it was October 31st and things had eased up just a tad. I decided I would go. I didn’t have tons of time, but wanted to find “Self Image”. Cathy had told me it would be well worth going just to see that.

As luck would have it, the gallery didn’t put things on their web site quite accurately. They said the Fiber Artists’ work would be there through the 31st, but they really meant the 30th. So when I got there, the gallery was much in disarray. They were taking down the displays. I told an employee what I was there to see and she pointed me to it. It was still on display.

And Cathy was right, it was well worth the trouble. The correct title is “Self Imagined.” It was a statue, if you will, made out of white fabric. I suppose you would say it was nude, although there were not body features at all - just the form. To put it nicely, she had a voluptuous figure. She was seated in a position much like “The Thinker”. On her back was a zipper. The zipper was open and coming out of the back zipper was another figure. She was made of a red fabric, was slender and appeared to be dancing.

And I saw Cathy’s point and the piece’s meaning. It was well worth having gone there to see it. I left right away.

Had it been any friend other than Cathy, I would have shot her an email as soon as I got home to tell her about my experience. I suppose I could have called her cell phone and left a voice mail (I knew she was working) but it wouldn’t have been the same.

Thinking about this made me realize the subtle ways that our communication has changed. There’s an immediacy to being able to shoot an email to someone. Sometimes it wouldn’t be something you would call about. Yet you can send an email without feeling intrusive. I think we all know each other a little better b/c of it.

As for Cathy, I thought that I would tell her about the incident the next time I saw her. But I forgot. I may just have to print out this post and give it to her the next time I see her. A lot of people would criticize her for not having a computer and email. But I figure it’s her decision to make. Geek that I am, I respect the non-geek’s right to be computer free.

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21st Century Banking

(subtitle: “The Times They Are A’Changin”)

I can recall, years ago, getting paid on payday and then driving to the bank and waiting in line to deposit my check. (I can actually remember further back to a time when my part-time check wasn’t worth enough to have a checking account - but that’s ancient history!)

How I hated that part of payday - making the deposit - I liked getting paid! Especially when I worked for the state and everyone used the same credit union. Then, just over 20 years ago, I went to work for a company that had direct deposit. That was the best thing ever, at that point. One gal I worked with wanted to get her check because she liked the thrill of seeing the actual check. That was in Michigan. I told her to be sure and let me know how much fun it was when there was a foot of snow to drive through.

Fast forward to 2007. This year my bank started offering something called “Deposit@Home”. All you need is a computer, a scanner, and a check. You sign the check, scan both sides and then upload. The upload process lets you crop the page and rotate the check. In under 5 minutes, your money is deposited! Now that is cool.

The only hard part is really an adjustment issue. After your check is successfully deposited, you then write void on it and destroy it. Makes sense, but it takes some getting used to.

Now you know why you don’t get real canceled checks from your bank anymore. They don’t exist. I’m quite sure the banks have been doing the same thing for years!

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