Technically Speaking

On Monday of this week I drove our little red truck (nicknamed Lassie) into work (thanks again Phil and Peggy), and as I was getting off the freeway I saw a funny sign.

If you get off I-15 at 600 South, the first light you come to is at 400 West. It is a one-way road, and I want to turn left on 400 West, so I always have to get over into the far left lane (I often think I’m driving in England, except my steering wheel is still on the right (meaning ‘correct’, or left) side). Well, if you look at one of the street signs on your left you will notice something that I found rather interesting. The sign reads “Left turn must turn left.”

Don’t left turns normally turn you left? I mean, when was the last time that you were making a left turn, and actually turned right? It seems somewhat obvious that left turns must turn left.

Hmm… I guess what the sign maker was trying to say was: “Left lane must turn left,” and I guess it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the word “lane” is implied in the sign, i.e. “Left turn lane must turn left.”

I still think it a funny image, to think of somebody dutifully turning left, but actually ending up going right.

Maybe I’m the only one who thinks its funny. Oh well. =Þ

Today I created IM accounts. A lot of the people here at work use IM to communicate throughout the day, so I’m joining the IM bandwagon.

If you want to add me to your buddy lists, you can. I don’t promise I’ll always respond, though, but I’ll try!

AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)

Screen name: papehrson

This was a hard one, because I had to come up with a unique name. I took “pa” from Paul and then added my last name (Like Christina did when she created “churie”). This is NOT an announcement of fatherhood. (I didn’t realize it sounded like that until later.)

MSN Messenger

Account: paulpehrson@gmail.com

So, if you want to stay in touch, add me to your lists.

Today I read an article at work about phishing scams, and I was amazed at what I read. I used to think that you could rely on the URL as an accurate indication of what website you were visiting. However, that is not the case. As you can see from the article, phishers can “spoof” the URL of the page you are viewing; just because the URL says you are at PayPal, doesn’t necessarily mean you are at PayPal’s website.

Currently it seems the only thing you really have to worry about is clicking on links (especially links in your email). When you want to go to PayPal, only do it by typing the address of the site directly into your address bar. Don’t click on links in your email to take you to PayPal’s site.

Also, when you are at a website, if the URL begins with “https://” (note the “s”) make sure your browser is displaying a lock icon in the Status Bar. (Internet Explorer users should click on View in the toolbar, and make sure there is a check mark next to Status Bar.)

When you are viewing a webpage, you can right click on the page and look at the properties of the page, and look at the URL listed in the box. If the URLs don’t match exactly, then the browser URL is being spoofed. This should be a MAJOR RED FLAG!

One last piece of advice: switch from Internet Explorer. I’m currently using FireFox. It is faster and more secure than Internet Explorer. It is also highly customizable, and can even be taught to block many banner ads. If you have questions about customizing FireFox, write me, and I’ll help.

So, in recap: check out the article, and be careful EVERY TIME you give out financial information or usernames and passwords on the web.