Category: Fourre-tout

A little bit of everything

Cyber security

Everybody craves security but security can be a fickle mistress, sometimes abruptly changing loyalty.

It is supposed to keep criminals from entering your castle, but it occasionally seems to change its mind and prevents you (the owner) from having access to your goods.
It feels like Jeeves refusing you entry to your own estate.

You naturally want to protect your belongings, so you put everything valuable under locked key.
But what if you lose the key to your vault? How are you going to retrieve your valuables? Who is going to help you?
This is the $64,000 question.

IMG_7372Yesterday I installed Windows 10 on a desktop computer running Windows 7.

It was a rather lengthy process and It took me about two hours to complete the operation. Let me point out that it was not a “clean install” but an upgrade.

Everything went tediously well, and after repeated messages like “This won’t take long”, “Taking care of a few things”, “Just a few more tweaks”, the Window 10 interface finally appeared on the screen.
Kookaburra! Good golly, miss Molly!

I experimented with the interface for a little while, especially with Cortana (Microsoft’s answer to Siri) and I then turned the machine off and rebooted it it to make sure that everything worked properly.

The computer burped and sneezed and finally asked for an “ausweis” (password), and that’s when everything came to an abrupt halt.
The cyber doorman rejected every password that I offered. And the following message appeared tauntingly each time:

“You can’t sign in you account right now. Go to account.live.com to fix the problem or try the last password you used on this PC.”

No matter what was entered, the Cerberus would not accept anything.

It is comforting and at the same time extremely annoying.
Comforting because it shows that the system is very picky about who can have access to you data, and annoying because it is basically protecting you from yourself.
Prove to me that you are who you pretend to be, it says.

I suspect that the mix-up occurred while I initially entered the required password.

The problem could have had something to do with the computer’s keyboard.
Any decent keyboard should have a visual indicator signaling that the “caps lock” key is activated or not, and this keyboard didn’t have this feature.

When you enter a password into a system, the machine often doesn’t show the actual letters being entered, but black dots. So you are never sure that what you entered is correct.

Since a decent password is supposed to have a mix of lowercase and uppercase characters, it could be a problem.
And it turned out to be a problem. A real pain in the wazoo.

Taking care of a computer that refuses access to its operating system can be a daunting task.
It is a never ending Catch 22.

In desperation I finally called Microsoft support. The last thing that I wanted to do!
After being transferred from department to department, I was finally put in touch with an Eastern gentleman.
Let me say right away that I love Bollywood movies and that I harbor no ill will towards Indian gentleman; but when it comes to technical support I would definitely prefer talking to somebody who speaks the King’s English.

After a few minutes of a difficult to decipher conversation, I regretfully had to end our technical powwow.
Strangely enough, as a foreign-born person I find it always difficult to understand foreign accents.

Then trying to retrieve the password online also proved very frustrating.
After different unsuccessful attempts I was told to cool my jets and not to bother Microsoft for at least 24 hours.

The computer is now mockingly inoperative. It knows that I know that everything is working properly, but it refuses to do anything until given proper identification.
It is aware that I am not a hacker, but it still declines to let me inside the club.

But I have not said my last word… I have lost a battle but I have not lost the war… yet.

Alain

To be continued…

PS: View some of my best shots.
To look at these photos and listen to the accompanying background music, turn your computer’s sound on, and click on the link “My Photos” located on the right side of this page. For best viewing, go “Full Screen”.

The murder of Cecil

In 1637 French dramatist Pierre Corneille wrote a play called Le Cid.
One of his most famous lines known to all French schoolchildren goes:

« A vaincre sans péril l’on triomphe sans gloire ».
To conquer without risk is to triumph without glory.

Almost 400 years later this line is still relevant.
For where is the risk in killing an animal from a safe distance?

Cecil the LionThe world reacted with outrage and disgust when it became known that a vain imbecile called Walter Palmer killed Cecil, a beloved lion in Zimbabwe.
Not only did he kill him but he also bragged about it, smiling broadly behind the carcass of his victim.
This to me reeks of Nazi barbarism when some degenerates made “trophy” lampshades out of human skin.

What kind of a man (or woman for that matter) would do that?
A boastful, insecure “ersatz” of a man, that’s who.

“Hunting is not a sport. In a sport, both sides should know they’re in the game.”
Paul Rodriguez

Hunting is not a sport indeed. Killing is never a sport.

“Sport” killing is never acceptable, even if it is (regrettably) legal.
I will never condone any animal killing, but if hunting you absolutely must, make the execution quick and merciful.
An arrow might not kill immediately (as it was the case in Cecil’s killing) and the animal suffered a long agony before being finally shot in the head.

The only possible exception for killing an animal is if your life is in danger.
Either the animal is going to kill you, or you will to starve to death.

I will reluctantly agree to hunting when animals are as equally armed as hunters and I support our right to arm bears.

Walter Palmer is now hounded on Social Media, and rightly so.
A lot of people hope that due to negative publicity, his business will fail and that he won’t have $50,000 to spend anymore for the very dubious privilege of collecting another “trophy”.

Shame, shame on you Walter Palmer, and on all the “glory” seeking animal killers.

Alain

San Rafael Farmers’ Market

While reading this little piece, you can listen (by clicking on the link above) to Gilbert Becaud’s “Markets of Provence”.

Les marchés de Provence

Voici pour cent francs du thym de la garrigue
Un peu de safran et un kilo de figues
Voulez-vous, pas vrai, un beau plateau de pêches
Ou bien d’abricots ?
Voici l’estragon et la belle échalote
Le joli poisson de la Marie-Charlotte
Voulez-vous, pas vrai, un bouquet de lavande
Ou bien quelques œillets ? 

Here is for one hundred francs, thyme from the scrubland
A little saffron and a kilo of figs
Do you want, right, a beautiful platter of peaches?
Or apricots?
Here is tarragon and the beautiful shallot
The pretty fish of Marie-Charlotte
Do you want, isn’t true, a lavender bouquet
Or some carnations?

********************

Everything done outdoors is more fun, don’t you agree?
And shopping at an open-air market is one of those things.

IMG_7198Last Sunday my wife (a seasoned shopper) and I (a klutzy customer) journeyed to the Marin Civic Center Farmers’ Market (to do a little shopping.
It is one of the largest farmers’ market in California and that’s where around 200 local farmers and artisans come to display and sell their products, especially fruits and vegetables.
It is the closest thing in our area to a European open-air market.

Visitors come to such a place for different reasons.
Some come to do some shopping of course, but many go there to soak in the festive atmosphere or to strut their stuff.
Because on sunny days women like to show-off in their “Casual California Chic”. Short shorts, flowery shirts and tight-fitting stretch pants are almost “de rigueur.”
As Hemingway would say “it is a moveable feast”.

I go there to take pictures and to buy a difficult to find French specialty called “rillettes”.
Rillettes are made variably of pork, goose, duck or rabbit meat and they are used to make sandwiches as well as spreads for toasts.IMG_7203
These rillettes by the way are manufactured locally by Fabrique Délices a French outfit specializing in “charcuterie”.
It is extremely tasty and probably a little fattening, but heck, you only live once.

Taking pictures in a crowded area on the other hand is not for neophytes.
You have to aim and shoot from the hip. But you also have to be fast and discreet because some people don’t like to be photographed.
It might be because just like Australian Aborigines they believe that I am trying to steal their soul.
Goodness gracious! I would not do that. My own weary soul is cumbersome enough without being burdened by another restless spirit.
So be reassured my fellow Homo sapiens, I might have a Rubber Soul, but I am no soul robber.

Even if you don’t need anything, go and experience the atmosphere of the Marin Civic Center Farmers’ Market. I bet you that you won’t resist buying something.
Savvy shoppers show up around closing time (1:00 p.m.) to get the best deals, but they are really missing what makes shopping there such an exhilarating experience.

Alain

Watch this cool video:

https://youtu.be/ttjhOZjL59w