How to Make Peace With This Digital World
Is it Really Possible in the Midst of all the Frustrations?
image from Lifehacker.com, “Is the Multiple-Monitor Productivity Boost a Myth?”
This week - a comparison of the simple life of olden days with the frustrations of pc board failures, software glitches, internet hacks, and online accounts and passwords and user names for everything - are we really any better off? Why doesn’t somebody build a car that has no digital stuff or pc boards, so we could at least have a choice?
10 ways to hold on to inner peace.
How to Really secure your crypto currencies from hackers
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” John 14:27
The challenge is how to hold on to inner peace in the midst of all these daily frustrations? More on that later...
Newer isn’t always better
I used to have a parts and service business for restaurant equipment. One customer that always called us when they needed repairs had a two-door dishwasher that was supposedly the best quality, latest model commercial dishwasher available. It had a printed circuit (pc) board that controlled the wash and rinse cycles. The board also turned on a little pump to inject soap during the wash and another for drying agent during the rinse. It also controlled the big 1 HP 220 volt wash pump and the solenoid valve to turn the 180 degree rinse water on and off. In other words, this printed circuit board was the brains of the machine. The only trouble was that it failed on a regular basis. We would replace the board. That wasn’t too bad while it was new, under warranty. But after the warranty ran out, we were still replacing boards about every 4 months. The boards cost over $300, plus about $100 labor and travel each time.
The restaurant owner desperately wanted a solution. I had called the factory about the problem but all I got was excuses. They thought, rightly or wrongly, that the steam from the machine must be shorting out the boards, but there was a standard venting system in the kitchen, so we didn’t see any more steam there than any other kitchen.
going back in time for a solution
Eltime - Electromechanical Cam Timers
Finally I told the restaurant owner there was one way I could fix his machine – replace the pc board with an electro-mechanical timer. The timer had a tiny clock motor that rotated a set of 8 plastic cams that could be adjusted to trip micro electric switches. I had to connect the right wires to the microswitches and adjust the cams to throw the switches in just the right timing and sequence. He asked how much it would cost, and I told him the little electro-mechanical timer and switches would only be about $90, (this was a long time ago) and my labor would be about $200, but I was pretty sure the fix would be permanent for the life of the machine. He said “Go for it.” I did, and had a very happy customer. I never got a callback – the old fashioned timer worked for the life of the machine.
Pc boards everywhere, but with problems
How many hours are spent dealing with modern equipment problems? Problems that can’t be fixed because they’re controlled by a pc board – the board just has to be replaced. If there is more than one pc board, as in a car, the problem can’t even be diagnosed without special equipment. When there’s something wrong, the engine light comes on. In Oregon, we can’t get our cars through DEQ inspection if the engine light is on, even if the car runs ok otherwise. The cost to fix whatever the engine light is responding to is usually hundreds of dollars, plus another trip to DEQ.
Here are 5 things I currently need to get fixed, but don’t seem to have the time to deal with them:
1. I have an automatic driveway gate. It started acting up and making an alarm sound and irritating our neighbor. I got the manual out and determined that it was the pc board. Outdoor weather is hard on pc boards. It had lasted about a year.
2. I also have a driveway alarm that sends a signal to a receiver in our house to give us a beep when someone is driving down our long driveway. It works in good weather, but it doesn’t work if it’s raining. It’s the 3rd system I’ve tried.
3. We installed Mitsubishi mini-split heat pumps. They worked ok for about 3 years. Now none of the 3 units are working, so the problem must be in the central unit.
4. We installed solar panels for a grid-tied system about 10 years ago. It has dual micro-inverters to convert the DC current from the solar panels to AC for our house. It’s only producing a small fraction of the power that we were getting the first year. I called a solar engineering firm. When they heard we have dual micro-inverters, the design engineer said “Oh- they have a high failure rate. We’ll need to replace all the inverters with new and better ones.”
5. We also have an alarm system. It worked well for about a year and a half. Now it’s not working, and I keep procrastinating calling the company because I know the call, the wait, and the fix is going to be frustrating.
We have cell phones. The signal, of course is wireless, but our reception is iffy. So to call for complicated instructions on how to fix something is in itself frustrating. I tried to get the land line re-installed, but they’re no longer available!! At least not in our area…
The only things that always work
My shovel, my saw, and my hammer.
This raises the question – are we really better off than we were before pc boards?
I guess you know what I’m going to say: No! - at least, not emotionally. I really did like it better when I could tinker with the problem, get the part, and fix it myself. Even if it took just as much time, depending on the nature of the repair, it was more satisfying – almost therapeutic, in comparison.
On the plus side
I have to admit, there are some new inventions that I really do like. I like credit cards that charge no interest if I pay them off every month. They’re convenient, and they send me statements to help me keep track of what I did. (Except sometimes I embarrass myself by calling to dispute a charge because I didn’t remember ordering that, and then finding out I really did order it.)
I really like word processors and copy machines. My dad had an old typewriter and used carbon paper. If I used a typewriter, I’d have to do about 6 drafts before getting it right, if then.
I really like email and online search engines. Now that my hearing is bad, I get most of my information by reading; not by listening to podcasts or videos. And if an article or email newsletter is really good, I can archive it or print it out and reference it again later. And I really like this substack platform, not only forf writing these little musings, but also because I’ve found so many other writers who are taking the opportunity to write whatever they want without fear of woke cancellation. It’s a free press.
it was prophesied
“But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.” Dan.12:4
Daniel prophesied over 500 years before Christ. Airplanes and the internet and artificial intelligence (AI) weren’t around, but his prediction certainly rings true today. We might be pretty close to the “end of time”. Better get right with God before it’s too late. The bible is true!
Software black boxes
A “black box” is a closed system that is obscure. Pc boards are physical ‘black boxes’ – you can’t know what’s inside, so you can’t fix it. Software programs aren’t even physical. They’re internet linked, wireless ‘black boxes’ – you can’t know, unless you’re the programmer, how in the world to fix the program when something goes wrong. And something will go wrong – it’s just a matter of time. Or it may become obsolete so quickly that it didn’t have time to break down first.
Internet
Everything is online now. Bev and I live out in the country, so our internet is not what you’d call high speed. As a result, we don’t ‘stream’ anything, because our internet spends more time ‘buffering’ than actually communicating or displaying. Our internet is received by satellite, so in really rough weather or heavy snowfall, we’re completely incommunicado.
User names and passwords and hacks
I have so many passwords I need a password manager. Internet security is a huge problem today. So most accounts are double or triple or quadruple protected. My bank, and my credit cards, for example. User name and password isn’t enough. So they have to make sure it’s really me. I can have them send me a call, or a text, or an email, which I have to answer in a few minutes to confirm it’s me. If I try from another computer or phone, I have to answer 5 questions to verify it’s me. Silly things like “What was the name if your first pet?” I’m 81 years old. It’s a wonder I can even remember the name of my 1st pet.
Google authenticator
Some of my accounts use this “authenticator” to be sure it’s me. The authenticator comes up with a new 6 digit code about every 60 seconds. If you’re too slow entering it, you get the “wrong code” message.
Terms and conditions and subscription agreements
Every time you open an account, there are “terms and conditions”. They are always several pages long and written in the densest legalese possible, making them close to incomprehensible. Does anyone actually take the time to read these things? But you have to check a little box that says you’ve read it and understand it, if you want to continue to set up the account! To keep us from being liars, they should have another checkbox for “I haven’t read it, and if I did, I’m sure I wouldn’t understand it, but I’ll go along with it anyway, at my own risk”. That would be the honest answer.
Bitcoin
Here we really have to be careful, because crypto currencies are like the wild west frontier. Crypto exchanges are not banks, although they will soon be more regulated. Since it’s all in the ‘cloud’, or in cyberspace, it can be hacked. So there are even more precautions for security. To set up an account, I needed to provide all the routine personal info like for a bank account, but that was just the beginning. Next they wanted me to produce a video of me (a ‘selfie’) holding a photo ID, like a driver’s license or passport, and speaking my name, the date, and that I am authorizing such and such company to blah, blah, etc. So I did that. Then I had to do it 3 more times before I talked fast enough to get it all in less than 20 megabites so the email could send it. But I had to do it over again anyway because they said my photo ID was “too blurry”.
Password phrases
We’re not through here. There are 2 more levels of security for crypto. Crypto exchanges don’t record your password. So if you lose it, you lose your crypto, unless you have your “recovery phrase”. They do record the “recovery phrase” which is generated randomly. You write down the 12 words, and you better spell them right, and get them in the right sequence, and you better not have it on your phone or pc – write it down on a piece of paper (!) and stash it in your safe deposit box at the bank, or if you don’t have a safe deposit box, or don’t trust banks, maybe you could just bury it about 5 feet deep.
The final security level is a “hardware wallet”. That’s a little physical device which holds your crypto. If you plug it in to a phone or pc and connect it to the internet, you can buy, sell, or transfer crypto to or from your hardware wallet. When it’s not plugged in, it’s not connected to the internet, so there’s no way it could be hacked. If it’s lost or stolen, no one else could use it unless they knew both the pin number and another 12 word recovery phrase.
What do you think? Wasn’t the simple life of the past a lot less stressful?
You didn’t have to worry about your money being hacked – you just had to hang on to your wallet and try not to get mugged. But in case you might get mugged, you didn’t carry too much cash.
So, how do we hold on to inner peace?
1. Trust the Lord
2. Pray every day; turn your problems over to the Lord.
3. Read the precious Word of God regularly, and meditate on it.
4. Don’t worry about money. Do the best you can with it, but remember, it all belongs to God anyway.
5. Give generously.
6. Love friends and family and spend real face-to-face time with them.
7. Visit someone who needs encouragement.
8. Get out in the garden.
9. Go for a walk or a hike or a bicycle ride.
10. Relax. Today’s problems are temporary. Heaven is eternal. (and it’s looking better every day!)
next week - how tech engineers get their ideas from nature, because God is the greatest Designer