* * * * *
                                        
  I thought computers exist to appease us, not for us to appease the computers
                                        
I got an email from the Corporation's Corporate Overlords' IT (Information
Technology) department about making sure my Windows laptop [1] was on and
logged into the Corporate Overlords' VPN (Virtual Private Network) so that
mumble techspeak mumble technobable blah blah whatever. Even if it's a
phishing email that our Corporate Overlords so love to send us, it didn't
have any links to click or ask for my credentials. I also need to turn on the
computer at least once every three weeks to prevent the Corporate Overlords
from thinking its been stolen, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to turn it on,
log in and reply to the email.

I turn it on, but I find I'm unable to get connected to the Corporation's
wifi network which I need to do if I'm to log onto the Corporate Overlords'
VPN. After many minutes of futzing around, I end up telling Windows to forget
the Corporation's wifi network, re-select it from a list and re-enter my
credentials (which have changed since the last time I logged in due to the
outdated password practices still in use at The Corporation [2]). Then I
could log into the Corporate Overlords' VPN and reply to the email saying “go
ahead mumble technospeak mumble technobabble blah blabh whatever.”

Of course, the Corporation “change your password” period (which was triggered
last week) is different from that of the Corporation's Corporate Overlords'
“change your password” period (which was triggered today) so there was that
nonsense to deal with [3].

Over the course of the next few hours, I had to restart the Windows laptop no
less than five times to appease the Microsoft Gods, and twice more I had to
tell the computer to forget the Corporation's wifi netowrk before it got the
hint and remember my credentials.

Seriously, people actually use Windows? I'm lucky in that I had the Mac book
to keep working.

[1] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2019/08/22.1
[2] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/techftc/2016/03/time-rethink-mandatory-password-changes
[3] https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2017/10/changes_in_pass.html

Email author at sean@conman.org

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