This morning I wake up to a phishing email.<\/p>\n
No, I didn\u2019t lick on any of the links contained in the email.<\/p>\n
It was a good try though and arriving as it did early in the morning I almost fell for it.<\/p>\n
The email was talking about one of my domain names and told me that the domain was suspended. This didn\u2019t seem right. It was at this point that I discovered I wasn\u2019t able to log into the hosting system. Which led me to discover that they\u2019d moved all their support functions to the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Additionally they\u2019d restructured the login and access to the hosting site, and oh by the way you\u2019re no longer able to look up past invoices. \u00a0It was that last bit that made me ask the representative if they\u2019d moved to India. She paused a moment and told me the Philippines. I laughed and told her it figured because there\u2019s a certain way Indian and Asian designed websites are laid out, the policies and procedures are different from the US, and the also have a certain \u201cFeel\u201d that I\u2019ll sometimes pick up on.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not racist! It\u2019s what happens when you have 40 years of dealing with software from programmers the world over. It\u2019s hard to describe, but software seems to reflect the culture of the programmer in subtle ways. It\u2019s something about the way logical and critical thinking skills are built. I\u2019ve theorized that those skills are colored entirely by cultural influences, not where someone went to college.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes 2+2=4 but the logic to derive that answer is a little different.<\/p>\n
On Twitter there are videos of Asian folk showing how to multiply really large numbers using a graphical system of vertical and horizontal lines. It works, but is unlike anything I was taught in school. We were taught about carrying a number. This Asian method doesn\u2019t require carrying a number at all.<\/p>\n
Same results, different method to get there. I wonder if this system is something derived from the abacus.<\/p>\n
We typically never think about math being done differently. As Americans we think 3 x 3 = 9. We know it, most of us were taught to memorize addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division tables up to 12.<\/p>\n
Apparently, not all cultures do that, instead they present a system that may be scalable, that always works, and is simple to use. Maybe that\u2019s why Asian kids are so good at math. I cringe at the poor Asian kids being told to show their work, or dealing with math concepts that look like set theory these days. Their parents are going to teach them \u201cThe Way\u201d that they were taught and that method probably goes back a thousand years. This new American set theory crap that American parents have so much trouble with, must drive traditional Asian households to the brink of insanity.<\/p>\n
After having seen these different problem solving systems demonstrated, I\u2019m more convinced than ever, the subtle nuances I notice about web sites & software is really an artifact of culture. Specifically problem solving and language.<\/p>\n
Some of the best HAM radios in the world are designed, manufactured, and programmed in Japan. Their instructions for use and access to features is often very complex and counter intuitive to the American mind. There are things I still can\u2019t do with my HAM Rig. The Rig can do stuff, but getting to the settings to enable this stuff is so counter to my thought process it simply doesn\u2019t program into my brain. It\u2019s something about the way hierarchies are built in my brain versus how they\u2019re built in a Japanese person\u2019s brain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not right or wrong either way, it\u2019s just a different structure to navigate. For me, all related settings should be on the same branch of a menu. For a Japanese engineer, that may not be a true or even a logical statement to make,\u00a0<\/p>\n
I say all of this because at 7 am this morning my brain was processing these issues and while I was trying not to be annoyed, I was getting annoyed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are several things that annoyed me.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t recall being informed that the hosting company was moving offshore. One of the reasons that I chose, and stuck with them was because they were based in America. So much for that idea!<\/p>\n
They insisted that I create a 6 digit PIN number to be used when I was speaking with one of their representatives on the phone. \u201cFor my safety and security\u2026\u201d Don\u2019t ya know. Oh and that PIN couldn\u2019t have more than 2 numbers that repeated so Sorry anybody that wants to use their birthdate and was born Aug 8 1980. NO! You can\u2019t have the PIN 080880 BAD PERSON!!!!!<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t see past invoices nor can I see what the renewal pricing is on a service without starting the renewal process. Uhhh that\u2019s really annoying because I can\u2019t do any comparison shopping.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those are just the first things I was confronted with after getting an actual live human being on the phone. Getting past the dubiously \u201cHelpful\u201d Genuine People Personality (Thank You Douglas Adams) robotic phone system was a challenge!<\/p>\n
The human navigated me through all their \u201cImprovements\u201d so she was very helpful.<\/p>\n
All of this led me to wonder if I wanted to maintain the domain hosting plan that I have at all. It\u2019s an expense that I\u2019m not sure is useful anymore. It\u2019s never been profitable. It was useful for Jerry, I\u2019ve hosted other websites for clients here and it\u2019s provided me a place to have this blog. But now\u2026 Perhaps the utility has passed.<\/p>\n
I created the blog back when Yahoo? Blogging was free and not censored up the ass. My blogs are mostly words, other blogs \u00a0on that blog hosting site were mostly nude pictures. My language, and the occasional nude picture got me in trouble with the censorship squad. That and I often spoke ill of their favored politicians. This was back in the days before Obama even thought of running for President. \u00a0After Obama took office for his second term, I was really in trouble. By then I felt pretty betrayed and Hope and Change had become for me, \u201cChange and like it but there\u2019s no Hope to be found here.\u201d I also was saying unkind things about the Taliban so that caught the attention of censors too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Doing my own hosting became the only way to say what I wanted to say. Even then, Google and other main search engines made sure my articles never appeared near the top of any search.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Do I need to keep speaking my mind? Does it matter at all? Is anyone interested in what an old codger like myself might have to say?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Probably not. If I really need to continue with this blog vanity, there are cheaper methods & providers.<\/p>\n
Maybe it\u2019s just time for a lot of changes in my life…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This morning I wake up to a phishing email. No, I didn\u2019t lick on any of the links contained in the email. It was a good try though and arriving as it did early in the morning I almost fell for it. The email was talking about one of my domain names and told me … <\/p>\n