May 8, 2020

Passwords

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Find Obituaries

Rather than trying to find individual obituaries for local cities or individual funeral homes, use Google. Type name in quotes followed by the word obit into Google.

Obsessive vs. Compulsive

The easiest way is to use an example. An OCD patient who is a germaphobe. The O represents a fear of germs and the C is the action of constantly washing one's hands.

Think of obsessive is thoughts and compulsive is actions. A compulsion is what we do to quell an obsession.

Robo Call Relief

The FCC tried to get phone companies to voluntarily enact technology to reduce or eliminate robo calls and many did, but some did not. The new action is to require all phone companies to deploy technology that prevents spoofing of Caller ID under a plan by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai.

The original requirement on the FCC was part of the TRACED Act that was signed into law in December 2019. Pai previously hoped that all carriers would deploy the technology voluntarily.

The STIR and SHAKEN protocols use digital certificates, based on public-key cryptography, to verify the accuracy of Caller ID. STIR/SHAKEN would work best if all phone companies adopt it because it can only verify Caller ID when both the sending carrier and receiving carrier have deployed the technology. Depending on how each carrier implements it, flagged calls could be passed on to consumers with a warning or be blocked entirely.

The requirement would apply to big carriers by June 30, 2021 and to small and rural providers one year later. In addition to mobile providers, companies that offer IP-based phone service over cable or fiber lines would have to comply.


While STIR/SHAKEN might help reduce robocalls or slow their growth, it is not enough on its own to solve the large and complicated robocall problem. For one thing, a lot of robocalls originate from overseas. Robocalls from outside US, are a major problem.

Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda

When baking powder is mixed with salt and coated on chicken it dries out the skin, leaving it crisp and crunchy. It happens because the addition of the baking powder raises the pH level in the chicken, allowing the peptide bonds in the skin to break down, thus letting the skin get more crisp and brown.

Meat is treated with baking soda dissolved in water to keep it tender. Briefly soaking meat in a solution of baking soda and water raises the pH on the meat's surface, making it more difficult for the proteins to bond excessively, which keeps the meat tender and moist when it is cooked. Tenderizing with a baking soda solution is faster than using a saltwater brine. Meat only has to sit in a baking soda solution for 15 to 20 minutes.

Wordology, Quarantine

You have probably heard the word quarantine too often in the recent COVID-19 coverage. It derives from the Latin word for forty.

The word was coined in Venice to describe the forty day period ships had to be isolated before they would be allowed to dock. The Venetian word for forty is quaranta, which has a Latin root.

Mar 9, 2020

Happy Friday

A smile is happiness you will find right under your nose. ~Tom Wilson

Wow, happiness to wear, especially on a Happy Friday!