Tuesday Sweep: 21 November 2017
Your weekly reminder to back up your data, update software and otherwise pay attention to your digital environment. (Oh, and to go to the CRASH Space meeting…)
After calling my congress person to complain about Ajit Pai and the Dailtones over at the FCC, about NET NEUTRALITY AGAIN, I’m going to say Thank You to my reps for their hard work this year. We have some amazing representatives here in LA County on local, state and national levels. Calling or sending a card would provide some much needed support right about now. I know some of y’all, our SysAdmins types in the house, will likely be at work all week, grateful for the peace. Thank you, too. And to everyone who made even the tiniest gesture to be a better steward of their corner of the internet… I wish you all the Mashed Potatoes in the World!
Jump in Here
- Welcome. If you haven’t been following along, it’s okay. You’re not behind, you’re just where you are.
- I highly recommend the coach tool at the Crash Override Network has a great step by step break down for many of the same introductory steps we did here.
- Feeling more ambitious? Review the list of OneThing articles and pick one to catch up on.
Sweep
The basics.
- Updated software recently? Pick a new device to check on today.
- Backups still up and running? When was the last time you made a clean disk image? Here’s a new great article on how to design a backup system.
- App and Password Gardening: Delete a low quality app from your phone or delete an account that you don’t need that doesn’t make you happy. Digital cruft builds up. Delete it. If you’re keeping it, can you move the password to your password manager (delete it from everywhere else) and add two factor authentication?
- Move to offline archive & delete your histories where you can find them.
- Double check privacy settings on your phone, social media accounts. The folks running the companies can change the TOS and add “features” before you notice them.
- NEW: https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/protecting-yourself-social-networks
- NEW: https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/facebook-groups-reducing-risks
- Have you frozen your credit yet?
Learn
Where do you scan for news? Maybe don’t this week?
Reflect
Feeling dumb or stupid about how not-l33t you are? Angsting over some silly thing you “know better than to do.” Stop. That isn’t useful. Regret is only of use if it prompts an actual change in behavior. Maybe it’s NOT you that sucks. Could be it’s the technology and you could come up with a fix that would help lots of people. Look forward and make a plan.
Engage
We are a community. You are a welcome part of it.
