Old people and technology!

**mrdude** · 01-11-2017, 09:20 PM

So I went up to visit my mum yesterday as she was putting a new heater into her fish pond and she was asking if I had a spare 1 amp fuse. I thought that was a bit low for a heater but the box for the heater confirmed it was indeed a 1 amp that was required. I checked her outside sockets as well, and they were OK and she had an RCD fitted so thought it was safe enough to plug in.

Yep, I was wrong, after tripping the fuses/RCD - I checked the plug wiring, and she had wired the ground and neutral wires the wrong way around (no she's not colour blind), the worst part was my step dad had 'checked' her wiring before-hand and said it was correct.

Anyway I rewired and tested and everything worked fine.

So the old dear gets chatting away about her Ipad and telling me she's been storing her stuff in 'the cloud', I asked her if she knew what the cloud was - she thinks it's 'somewhere in space - near where the satellites are!', I was trying not too laugh, but trying to explain what it was just wasn't sinking in so I ended up just saying it was somewhere near heaven - lol.

I'm sure there are probably many more on here that have heard something similar, but it makes me chuckle sometimes what goes on in peoples minds.

**jallen01** · 01-11-2017, 10:08 PM

That sort of thing just "worries" me - as is "old people" (I am one!) using Facebook etc., - they (we/me?) just don't realise to what risks they are exposing themselves. FWIW, I'm not on Facebook (etc.) for that reason, and, until I know a LOT more about security measure on such sites, I won't use them :(
PS: I am on LinkedIn, but rather regret sharing my Outlook address book with them a few years ago. Unfortunately I don't think I can do much about that now :(

**Tomzak** · 08-11-2017, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by jallern01

That sort of thing just "worries" me - as is "old people" (I am one!) using Facebook etc., - they (we/me?) just don't realise to what risks they are exposing themselves. FWIW, I'm not on Facebook (etc.) for that reason, and, until I know a LOT more about security measure on such sites, I won't use them :(
PS: I am on LinkedIn, but rather regret sharing my Outlook address book with them a few years ago. Unfortunately I don't think I can do much about that now :(

What worries you about Facebook's security?

**mrdude** · 08-11-2017, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by Tomzak

What worries you about Facebook's security?

Facebook is a hackers/thief's dream come true.

Scenario:
Someone uploads a photo of themselves on Facebook - someone then know's what you look like and the rough area where you live.

They then upload another post about some sort of club/bar/restaurant they are going to - now someone knows the town you live in.

Next they post a photo with their house number/street visible in the background - now someone knows your address.

2 weeks later they post they are going on holiday to Disneyland for 2 weeks - so a thief now has a two week window to break into that house/steal the car or whatever.

Now I'm not saying everyone that uses Facebook is a crook, but there are a lot of crooks in this world and the chances you know a few are quite high.

It's not just Facebook, people use Google Earth as a tool for stealing lead from churches and old buildings roofs, or for looking for easy targets to steal from.

Let's face it - people are to free to share their data or personal info, and that info can be combined to look for a "big picture" about someone, such as their lifestyle, rough idea of their finances, where they live, who they are friends with, what they are doing, when they are going on holiday, who their kids are........the list is endless.

The point i'm trying to make is, make sure you don't post anything personal and that you have your security set up properly, choose who your share your information with wisely.