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From: Rosalie B. (no email)
Date: Thu Jul 14 2005 - 14:00:34 EDT
On Thu, 14 Jul 2005 11:33:35 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi Rick,
>
>The longest I've been away (out to sea) has been about 2 months. While away I always sign off all chat groups (they can live without me for a while :)
>
>During that time I would use an internet cafe to send/receive email. I use their machine. I use a seperate eddress while travelling.
>
>While I conduct electronic banking here at home, I never do so when travelling. All my bills go either to direct withdrawal or to my MasterCard. Sometimes I prepay my MasterCard more than what I estimate my bill might be (hey, they give me a month free use of their money, I can't begrudge them a month of mine once in a while).
>
>For cash, I use a local ATM machine. I have gone into a local branch of a Canadian bank in some locations to conduct business. At other times I've gone into a local bank to conduct business (exchange money, withdraw money against Mastercard/Visa).
>
>So far this has handled all my communications and financial requirements.
>
>I don't consider myself a liveaboard, more of a sailor/cruiser. While I spend inordinate amounts of time here at work on the computer ( and chatting with friends as I'm never very busy), I find that when out on the boat, I really don't want anything to do with electronic systems, including computers. Yes I use a GPS and an autopilot but that's about it. (I like paper charts).
>
>So while this works for me, others like to have the latest and greatest with respect to computers and associated communication and navigation devices. As long as it works for them.
>
>Good luck,
I do more or less the same, except that we can be gone for 6 months.
I turn off all the email groups except the CSY list which is pretty
low traffic, and the live-aboard list which has no convenient way to
turn it off. I have pocketmail pick up all my messages from my main
ISP and download them with a bag phone from the boat at least in the
US.
I do use my computer for banking. I would NEVER use a computer in an
internet cafe for that - for one thing their browser doesn't have the
encryptation that my bank requires. I always dump the cache and erase
the history of an internet computer in a cafe or the library before I
log off.
We don't use an ATM or cash advance on a credit card either - we just
visit military bases and cash checks in the PX.
We charge all expenses to one particular card which is issued by our
home bank. This card is automatically paid out of the checking
account. My phone and internet bills and DirectTV are automatically
paid by this credit card.
I have the electric and fuel oil bill for the house on level payment
so that is automatically paid from the bank without my accessing the
account to do it. The water bill (quarterly) is also on auto-pay. I
put the landline phone on the cheapest service where you pay for all
calls even local ones, and that can be paid automatically too. The
house is paid for, and the boat has the loan deducted from the account
automatically.
I do have someone to whom I have my mail forwarded who can open the
mail and if something comes up like annual property taxes or auto
insurance they can log onto my account and pay the bills from it -
usually one of my daughters will do this for us.
Where I can, I take my computer with me to log onto the internet in a
cafe or access point. Usually marinas have some method that you can
do that. Unlike Dwight, I do like to have electronic stuff when I'm
on the boat, but I'm more of a companion to a sailor cruiser than
anything else. And we have both paper and electronic charts.
original question>
>When you used an Internet cafe, did you use their machine or yours?
>Did you use them to contact or check on financial matters that
>included providing your account numbers and passwords? How did you
>ensure that there were no keystroke loggers and the like attached? I
>just had an instance here last night where I was unable to access my
>own wireless network after coming back. My wife had the same
>experience with a wired but wireless enabled tower. I immediately
>thought that someone had hacked through a longer than normal alpha
>numeric security code and changed the network code. Turned out this
>morning that I just needed to unplug the cable modem, network hub,
>and the Extreme Airport wireless unit, let it clear for a few
>seconds, and then plug them back in one at a time. The wireless
>network came back. Paranoid? I guess so but I had just come back off
>the road and then all the stuff started to hit the fan. How do you
>handle that in an Internet cafe or elsewhere outside your "normal,
>controllable" location?
I always turn off my wi-fi and DSL modem when I leave the house for
more than local shopping. I have occasionally had the modem lose it
and had to do as you did and turn it off and on again.
I don't quite understand with that guy in FL who saw someone in his
driveway with a laptop, why he called the police FIRST instead of just
unplugging his wi-fi network.
grandma Rosalie
S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id1.html
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