RECOMMENDED: CLAUDE as Artificial Intelligence

Thursday, April 9, 2026

​https://claude.ai

I’ve been playing with my new little friend “ClaudeAI”. Free of course. I’ve had several surprising results. Just today I saved myself a lot of time.

I input “extract all emails to or from Austrian Airlines in 2026” and “export to document” and got this in about 3 minutes “All 10 emails are exported to the Word document. It includes a cover page with a summary, then each email in chronological order with a color-coded header (blue for inbound from Austrian Airlines, green for your outbound replies) showing date, from, to, and subject — followed by the full message body.”

Used up all my “free time” until later in the afternoon, but it was great. I would have had to find all those emails — hoping I didn’t miss any one of them — and then print each individually. I figure that would take at least an hour.

If you haven’t tried it, then you should. Of course, don’t use it for anything you don’t want to share publicly. Who knows where it goes?

I have used it to recover a spreadsheet, find my Father’s military info, and summarized a few (long boring TL;DR) articles. It flubbed a few times on complicated jargon or slang.

But all in all, it seems like a great tool.

YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary!) FWIW (For What It’s worth) FAIWWYPFI (Free Advice Is Worth What You Pay For It! ?zero?)

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Presidio Digital Vault aka AARP Digital Vault

Thursday, March 19, 2026

2026-03Mar-12

NOTRECOMMENDED: Prisidio Digiital Vault aka AARP Digital Vault

It all started when I was at ‘McD’s and started an upload to the Digital Vault.

NG!

No VPN. 

Sigh! Argh!

Then I started to investigate what exactly was securing my documents.  I was expecting that my User Id / Password combination was being used at a key.

WRONG!

When I dug into it deeper I referred to ₿itcoin; “Not your keys, not your coins” is a popular cryptocurrency mantra meaning that if you do not hold the private keys (or seed phrase) to your wallet, you do not truly own or control your digital assets.

It turns out, I assume, that Presidio has only one set of keys.

Hence, when it gets hacked, all my data is at risk.

Note I said “WHEN” because I can’t imagine more of a motherlode of data.  They suggest putting everything in “your vault”.   When I hears images of credit cards, that’s when I went FULL STOP.

*** begin quote ***

Hello Ferdinand,

I hope you’re doing well!

One of our support reps asked that I review a support case he has open with you. I wanted to personally address your concerns about VPN access and encryption.

On the VPN question: I totally understand why blocking VPNs seems counterintuitive from a security standpoint. While VPNs are great for legitimate, personal privacy, they’re also heavily used by attackers to hide their tracks and mask where attacks are coming from. It’s unfortunately become one of the most common ways bad actors try to access accounts. So yes, it’s a trade-off – we’re blocking VPNs to protect against credential stuffing and other attacks that exploit that anonymity. Unfortunately for those of us that use personal VPNs, we’re out of luck.

Regarding your encryption concerns: While I cannot disclose the specific technical details of our encryption implementation for security reasons, I can assure you that:

  1. Your data is encrypted both in transit and at rest using industry-standard encryption protocols
  2. We follow security best practices designed to protect against the exact scenario you’re concerned about – ensuring that a breach doesn’t result in compromising customer data
  3. Our security architecture is built with multiple layers of protection

That said, we recognize that different customers have different security requirements and risk tolerances. If our current security model doesn’t align with what you feel comfortable with – we completely understand.

I will definitely share your thoughts and concerns with our security team. Feedback like this is important – it helps us understand what matters most to our users and where we might need to evolve our security model.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or feedback and I will address them to the best of my abilities. I’ll ask our support rep to close your support case as you are welcome to reach out to me directly should you have any other concerns to share.

Thanks Ferdinand – have a great day!

 

 

Mark Wilkins
Director Support Services, Prisidio

*** end quote ***

MY CANCELLATION FOLLOWED

YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary!)

I don’t understand why all the TECH BLOGS are not “jumping” all over this?

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Memowrite 

Friday, December 26, 2025

Memowrite’s PostMemowrite · Memories fade, but your story can last forever.With Memowrite, sharing your journey is easier than ever.Thoughtful prompts spark reflectionFree your creativityA beautifully designed memoir, delivered to your door Sale ends soon! Save up to 64% today.

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There’s a hidden 14 “return policy” and their logon process doesn’t work reliably. When you complain their tech support stalls until your “14 days” expires. Argh!

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Any KINDLE or ebook “purchased” from AMAZON

Monday, October 6, 2025

https://www.androidauthority.com/amazon-kindle-e-books-drm-harder-to-backup-3601341/

Your Kindle e-books just got locked down even tighter
With stricter DRM in place, your Kindle library is now even harder to back up.
By Matt Horne aka @SalvaCash
September 25, 2025

*** begin quote ***

For Kindle owners, this continues a pattern of losing personal control over purchased books. Earlier this year, Amazon removed the ability to download titles for local transfer via USB. Old versions of the Kindle Android app also no longer support downloads, which cut off another method people used for saving e-books. With this latest move, the company has tightened its grip on Kindle e-books even further.

*** end quote ***

As much as I linked my old Kindle, which I have misplaced, I can’t understand why AMAZON has locked it down even more.

Until the Gooferment cracks down on AMAZON for its FRAUDULENT practice of “SELLING” books when it’s really just delivering a “LICENSE” to you, we’re stuck with a BIG BROTHER “librarian”.

I’m tired of what I call “CONTENT FRAUD”.  I don’t know how many times in the past I’ve had to rebuy content.  Paper books, books on cassette tapes, books on CDs, and “audio” books are all the same content that we’re stuck buying and rebuying,

Never mind that Disney and Amazon do a big business in “SELLING” streaming content that you don’t have control over.

Maybe I’m just an old curmudgeon, but I’m now at the point where I’m not BUYING content where I don’t control the MEDIA that I’ve purchased.

I want my CONTENT without DRM so I can put it in CALIBRE and enjoy it anywhere anytime.  I want to burn that into a MEDIA that is virtually eternal and that I control.

Sorry, but I’m not LICENSING anything anymore.

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P.S.: While on the topic of really free “BOOKS” I use:

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RECOMMENDED: I am moving from LASTPASS to BITWARDEN

Monday, August 25, 2025

https://www.androidauthority.com/lastpass-password-manager-alternatives-3587020/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyauthority&utm_term=Daily%20Authority

5 password managers you should use instead of LastPass

  • Tired of security scares? Ditch LastPass and switch to a password manager you can actually trust.

By Karandeep Singh  —  August 17, 2025

*** begin quote ***

Bitwarden is my default recommendation to anyone looking for a reliable password manager. It has everything you’d expect from an app built to handle your most sensitive data. Its free tier is one of the most generous out there, it’s available across platforms, and it even offers self-hosting if you’re feeling adventurous. The premium individual plan costs just $10 a year — an easy recommendation for the extras it brings.

Even if you stick with Bitwarden’s own servers for storage, you know your data is safe because it’s open source and independently audited. Plus, migrating your data from LastPass is a breeze using the included tools. The interface might not be as slick as its pricier alternatives, but it’s perfectly functional, and its safety upsides far outweigh any minor aesthetic caveats.

 *** end quote ***

I agree.

What more needs to be said?

One “feature” that’s a negative is that if you rerun an import, then you’ll gt duplicates.  With no easy way to delete except one at a time.

Argh!

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Don’t buy “gift cards” throught zillionsgift offers on gift card racks in Walgreens

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Don’t buy “gift cards” throught zillionsgift offers on gift card racks in Walgreens.

They are counting on you to become frustrated trying to transform them into a useable gift card for so site you like.

My experience:

  • The fine print says the card can only be redeemed at their website
  • Took several tries to get to the website “zillionsgift.com”; the fine print isn’t easy to read; mistakes take you to cyber squatters waiting for you to fall into their trap
  • Getting the card info in and verifying your humanity took three tries
  • After getting thru that hurdle, you need to select values for your favorite destination site that work (i.e., 40$ gift card must be taken as two 20$ Amazon gift cards)
  • Then it says “tilt” and an obscure error message
  • Try that twice, then give up at call their 1-833 (?) number
  • After a brief hold, you get a call center fellow (Philippines?) who makes your repeat all your info and then tells you to try a mobile or another browser (Hey, I’m an IT pro. Already did that!  Argh!)
  • Then he graciously agrees to send you a paper check to your home address in 3 or 4 weeks
  • Argh!  I’m saving all the papers and card in an envelope with 8/15/25 on it

Feel free to check back for my update.  Argh!

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Liberty Mutual Insurance — tech support

Monday, June 30, 2025

Couldn’t logon for several days.

First call into them; they changed UserIds to emails. Argh!

Second call into them; send us a screen shot.

Sent it in and then they said: “three to five business days”.

Argh!

I fail to understand how they are going to diagnose and fix this. And, five days, someone must be INSANE!

Nevermind that no one is interested in WHY I need to get on their website.

Argh! Argh!

Maybe I need to change?

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RECOMMENDED: Netflix Siege of Jadotville or why politicians leave soldiers out to die

Thursday, June 12, 2025

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3922798/

Siege of Jadotville

1961 Irish UN troops defend against attack by Belgian and Kanganese soldiers

The siege of Jadotville was a major battle during the Congo Crisis, that began on 13 September 1961, lasting for five days, where a small contingent of the Irish Army’s 35th Battalion serving under the United Nations Operation in the Congo, designated “A” Company, were besieged at the UN base near the mining town of Jadotville by Katangese forces loyal to the secessionist State of Katanga. The siege took place during the seven-day escalation of hostilities between ONUC and Katangese forces during Operation Morthor. Wikipedia

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Amazing that the Irish took no casualties.  

IF THE MOVIE IS TRUE … … and that’s a big if … … the (French mercenaries) were poor strategists.  They must have studied the tactics of the Napoleanic period, the British during the American Revolution, the Union / Southern Armies, during the War of Northern Aggression, or WWI.  Lining troops up and having them advance and attack against modern weapons and machine guns is suicidal.  I’m surprised that they only suffered 1300 KIAs.

The lesson for soldiers is that the politicians and bureaucrats will always betray you and leave you to die.

So sad.

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RECOMMENDED: MOSUL on NETFLIX

Saturday, May 3, 2025

https://www.netflix.com/search?q=mosul&jbv=81041495

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“War movie” with violence, language, and heave forbid smoking!

Gives one a feel for the trauma of all these wars.  If you weren’t just a plain old hippie anti-war type after this, then you have no empathy for those poor unfortunates in the middle. 

Note the scene of the child just sitting along side the alley.  Or the final conclusion!

Dona Nobis Pacem

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RECOMMENDED: Write In Private: Free Online Diary And Personal Journal | Penzu

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Write In Private: Free Online Diary And Personal Journal | Penzu

https://penzu.com/journals/3256620/107022325

Remember Star Trek and “Ship’s Log”?

I do the same thing, sort of in Penzu.

I find it pretty robust and useful.  Since 12/2021!

YMMV FWIW faiwwypfi (Free Advice Is Worth What You Pay For It! ?zero?)

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