When I was working, I sometimes got behind on my computer maintenance. Even updates labeled "critical" sometimes got postponed a week, and if it wasn't labeled critical it probably got postponed indefinitely.
So it is nice that retirement allows me the time to keep my computer safer. I will admit, however, that when Google started posting notices about its new privacy policy and added in bold letters, "This is important," I always pushed on past to the page I wanted. Then on Feb. 29, truly last-minute, Twitter and Facebook and e-mail lit up with messages letting people know they should pay attention NOW!
The instructions said that after changing Google account settings to prevent further gathering of my computer usage, I should also delete the "history" files in each browser. I changed the Google setting promptly but I haven't deleted my Firefox history yet because it's been too interesting to prowl through. Have you scrolled through yours lately? If I don't have time for a diary posting on a given day, I should just copy and paste the history from Firefox because it will tell what I was interested in on that day.
My files for February show that I was researching maps and weather and points of interest in south Louisiana and east Texas for a three-day trip we just returned from. I knew I had looked at a lot of options, but the history file told me I had actually viewed hundreds of pages, about restaurants and points of interest I chose, and just as important, ones I didn't choose. I learned where to look to find bluebonnets blooming in Texas now (best spots are on the roadsides between Navasota and Conroe); I learned the history of the Galveston seawall; and I learned which coastal highways had been reopened and which had not, since Hurricane Ike struck in 2008. I also learned about the fires last year that devastated the Lost Pines in Bastrop State Park; and that you have to buy your tickets to the Blue Bell Creamery tours by the day before. Interspersed with the travel sites were recipe sites with "cilantro" in their name, because I had just bought a cilantro plant and wanted to know how to cook with it. I had followed some of our alums through their Facebook pages, looking at photos of their weddings and birthday parties and kids. And every day there were news stories, making it easy to connect all of this with what was going on in the world at the same time.
If you're retired and have time, take a walk down your memory lane and look up the things that were on your mind a month ago, or six or nine months ago. Back in September I was looking up how to adopt a baby African elephant as a birthday gift for our granddaughter, with a Harry Potter LEGO set as a real and present gift. At the same time I was viewing news items about Supreme Court cases and the Republican presidential race.
Since I don't want to cancel my Google account -- I'd have to cancel this blog, among other things -- I suppose I will have to clear my history at some point. But I'm going to finish the reminiscing before I do.
So it is nice that retirement allows me the time to keep my computer safer. I will admit, however, that when Google started posting notices about its new privacy policy and added in bold letters, "This is important," I always pushed on past to the page I wanted. Then on Feb. 29, truly last-minute, Twitter and Facebook and e-mail lit up with messages letting people know they should pay attention NOW!
The instructions said that after changing Google account settings to prevent further gathering of my computer usage, I should also delete the "history" files in each browser. I changed the Google setting promptly but I haven't deleted my Firefox history yet because it's been too interesting to prowl through. Have you scrolled through yours lately? If I don't have time for a diary posting on a given day, I should just copy and paste the history from Firefox because it will tell what I was interested in on that day.
My files for February show that I was researching maps and weather and points of interest in south Louisiana and east Texas for a three-day trip we just returned from. I knew I had looked at a lot of options, but the history file told me I had actually viewed hundreds of pages, about restaurants and points of interest I chose, and just as important, ones I didn't choose. I learned where to look to find bluebonnets blooming in Texas now (best spots are on the roadsides between Navasota and Conroe); I learned the history of the Galveston seawall; and I learned which coastal highways had been reopened and which had not, since Hurricane Ike struck in 2008. I also learned about the fires last year that devastated the Lost Pines in Bastrop State Park; and that you have to buy your tickets to the Blue Bell Creamery tours by the day before. Interspersed with the travel sites were recipe sites with "cilantro" in their name, because I had just bought a cilantro plant and wanted to know how to cook with it. I had followed some of our alums through their Facebook pages, looking at photos of their weddings and birthday parties and kids. And every day there were news stories, making it easy to connect all of this with what was going on in the world at the same time.
If you're retired and have time, take a walk down your memory lane and look up the things that were on your mind a month ago, or six or nine months ago. Back in September I was looking up how to adopt a baby African elephant as a birthday gift for our granddaughter, with a Harry Potter LEGO set as a real and present gift. At the same time I was viewing news items about Supreme Court cases and the Republican presidential race.
Since I don't want to cancel my Google account -- I'd have to cancel this blog, among other things -- I suppose I will have to clear my history at some point. But I'm going to finish the reminiscing before I do.
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