Category: Digital Assets

My stuff

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Penalties, traps and cancellation exploits

Consumers are overwhelmed with choices nowadays, so companies routinely use penalties, fees and traps to lock you in.  Backed up by long wait times to customer services, hidden addresses and a “you must call us to cancel” approach, the average customer just gives up and pays the ransom.

So how to avoid the traps?

  1. Before signing up for anything ask how
    1. do I cancel?
    2. How much does it cost to cancel?
    3. What is the postal address? Old school letters are still binding and more effectively than 20 mins waiting on the phone or arguing with 1st line customer services.
  2. Use a dedicated email address for subscriptions to you can ghost (delete the email account) them if things get tricky.
    1. Give only mandotory info about yourself.
  3. Ask for a list of penalty charges.  These are probably published in the terms and conditions that you never read.  So, ask them which clause to look for.

Sounds easy but many “busy” consumers never do this and end up paying over 2000 GBP for a mobile phone.

Exploit successfully executed

Next time you sign a contract
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28 Years ago, I should have known better

On reflection, I now crave the simplicity of my life in the 90’s.  The flow of data was slower, less widespread and simpler to secure as not many people knew it was there in the first place.

Today, we are swimming in data flows and everyone is their own system administrator.  iOS Beta 3 is now available, I can’t see the differences but no doubt the vendor is crunching an exabyte of test device data.  I’m still hooked on the Screen Time application.

I’m part of the generation that didn’t realise what it actually meant to push all end-users to be Network-centric and eventually dependent.  Now, turn off the Network and all hell breaks loose.  The option to live an offline digital life is now cumbersome, awkward and attracts suspicion as to why you are “not online”.

Data availability

28 years ago I knew users would have to be on the network to make data availability work, now I realise that helping to create that dependency was a mistake.  And like South Londoner, Michelle Wallen sang so wonderfully as Pica Paris “I Should’ve Known Better”.

Back in days of the BootLeg

Of course, it creates a nice arena for Data Privacy specialist like me.

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Leave the Party

Like so many tech trends, once something becomes mainstream it simply loses its appeal.  I started DIY mining years ago but quickly figured out that the cost of the hardware, maintenance and most importantly my electricity bill made it a potentially high overhead experiment.

With some many active serious investors hunting for crypto currency, the energy costs are ramping up.

BitCoin costs too much energy (report May 2018)

This report suggests that in a few short months it will no longer be feasible to mine cryptocurrency.  Hopefully, the masses will get the heads-up and go back to what they were doing before the media hype.

Cryptocurrency cost on the rise

 

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Crypto Fool

My Omnia Cloud mining has yielded disappointing results so far but this is not surprising considering the massive drop in values.

After an initial investment of 500 USD
Current mining Earnings 0.72 USD per day
Means it will take a whopping 694 Days to break even,
...that's just under 2 years.

It seems Omnia makes more money from the Multi-Level Marketing aspect than the actual mining at the moment.  The Pay-out procedure is very rigid, ridiculously slow and non-transparent only allowing me to withdrawal my cryptocurrency once (1) a week on Thursdays.

With this scenario, it’s easy to see why Newbie Crypto investors would be sceptical but it all depends on your reasons for getting into Crypto.  For me, the opportunity to remain unseen by central banking is attractive.  Also,  sidestepping the technical hassle and cost of setting up mining servers is excellent.

Today’s Lesson: Define your Crypto goals whether it’s short-term profit to be transferred back to Central banks or leveraging the ability to buy or sell using Cryptocurrencies.

After all, Money is just one big Game anyway

Where’s my Hash Power? – Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

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Trophy grinding

My first gym session of the year felt great last night and is the perfect antidote to my PS4 Withdrawal. Grinding my way every night through FallOut4 will have to wait for now.

One pretty bad side effect is my tendency to trigger real-world arguments to feed my Amygdala.  There is nothing better than a “good” argument to say the things you normally keep to yourself.  Of course, for me, arguments have an even worst side effect of sparking MG symptoms of sleepiness and chronic fatigue.

Leaving my PS4 in another country is pretty much the only way I could whine myself off my trophy hunting addiction.

So, the extra 20+ hours I week I’ll gain from no gameplay will be spent on watching Twitch, research study, Movies and exercise.  Most of all I need to work on my Cryptocurrency portfolio.  After the last quarters rise in Coin values, the average business person is acutely aware of the potential and looking for stables ways to make a big buck.

I came across a new breed of company a few weeks ago.  Hash Power Service provider meets Network marketing is an interesting blend that makes it easy for anyone to buy-in but it seems these hybrid business models for Cryptocurrency try to paint too much of a pretty picture for the consumer.  In the meantime,  the Meltdown vulnerability makes it clear that hardware Wallets are probably the way to go in the long-term.

30 mins cardio yesterday…no meds

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Enjoy your orange juice

Lack of investment makes you vulnerable to Cyber attacks.

Poor digital hygiene - 
   Lazy system admin, default settings, 
   Poor system patching or updates.

Lack of training or poor user awareness.

No strategy 
  Poor alignment with business strategy.

Poor monitoring - 
  What happened, when did it happen and why.

Improve this, enjoy an easier online presence and enjoy your orange juice.