Staying Updated
Smart device care and maintenance.
TECH
Pop Pop
9/21/20244 min read
Well, Hello and welcome back! I pray God blessed you and your family this week.
I know there has been a lot of news on Israel and the Middle East conflicts over the past few days, and I wanted to take this week's post to help clear up some points on the tech side of things. I am by no means an expert on tech, and did my own share of research on the events that took place this week.
I like many others when I heard of the exploding pagers that all detonated all at the exact same time thought it must have been a cyber-attack that caused the lithium batteries to explode. I know that there have been several instances where this has happened spontaneously while what ever it was in was just sitting there at rest. After reflecting and research, I do not ever remember them exploding. Spontaneously combusting and burning up completely and maybe a house or just a room, but never exploding. Several others brought it to the forefront way before I came to that conclusion. It had to have explosive material planted in it. Then the next day several walkie-talkies ICOM brand. Now that hit a little closer to home. I am an amateur radio operator. So I have several similar radios like those that exploded. I have never had a rechargeable battery explode. So I believe we can confidently conclude that all equipment has been modified to do that.
Now we can argue about the justification of this for years. However, my point of this post is to ease anyone's mind on their personal devices. Most of the pagers if I am not mistaken were all analog, meaning non-digital that only received. Furthermore, they used older style batteries, like double or triple A alkaline. So no lithium batteries to explode. Rest assured, the chances of yours doing this are slim to none.
We do need to take some precautions with our devices. Remember, the internet was never meant to be secure.
First, always keep your devices updated along with all apps, firmware etc. This is the best way to assure you will not get hacked. This is at the top of every IT professionals list, even though they let their guard down from time to time, and usually that is how they get their selves into trouble. It is the same for us. I know my wife hates to update her phone. I take it upon myself to check it every so often to make sure it stays updated. I am lucky in one regard, as she does not download very many new apps, so my it takes very little time to check. I also stress, only get them from a trusted source. Even Google ensures that all apps in their store must stay maintained to a very high standard, or chance getting removed. It does no good if we choose not to update when updates are implemented. So please stay on top of that.
Second, never use free Wi-Fi. I have always paid for the highest data plan that was available. I loved it when all carriers came out with unlimited data plans and jump to join them as soon as I could. I know a lot may ask, what do you do when you do not have coverage? Those times are very rare nowadays. If, however, you do find your self in an area without coverage. Just put the phone away. We are on them way too much anyway. The point is you can never trust a Wi-Fi to be legitimate 100% of the time, and you are taking a big risk if you do decide to use one. You never know when it could be setup up by nefarious individuals. Once you connect to those type, you are hacked. I know of a lot of people that purchase their own personal hot-spot and setup their family's device to connect to it and only it when they go on vacations or travel anywhere. This is a fantastic idea in my humble opinion. A personal hot-spot allows unlimited data for your entire families connectivity needs and can be very reasonably priced along with the plans. The plans offered are more than adequate for a family and with adequate speeds as well, so everyone is happy. If you do a lot of traveling, you may want to look into this. I will try and post a link if I can find one on Amazon. I have recently team up with them to promote some products.
Third, never lend your devices to anyone you do not know, always offer to call for them etc. I know this is or should be a no brainier, but you would be surprised who is up to no good these days. Everyone has a phone these days, and I do mean everyone. They are literally giving them away for free. So no reason you should lend yours to anyone.
Fourth and probably my final point is charging! I am horrible about this one. Never overcharge your batteries or leave your device on charge for more than it needs to be. My wife is way better at this than I am. She rarely charges her phone, it seems. It is almost like she is punishing the poor thing or something. However, she never has battery issues with any phone she has owned. Other points I should mention is to never place them around heat or direct sunlight etc. Those are some important points that came to mind.
You do not need to worry that it is going to explode in your hand. These events over were very directly targeted attacks carried out by a highly trained group. I will not take sides or a stance on the morality of the events. I will do as I have since the start of the war for God to bring it to a peaceful end if it is his will. I have always and will always pray for the innocents that are caught up in it and usually lose their lives first. I pray for the little girl that was killed in one of the first pager explosions. I do not know how either side feels about her life being lost. I would hope that there is remorse on both sides. I pray ultimately one day there will be no more war and only peace. I know that day will only come when our Lord comes back for us all.
I hope this finds you well and gives a little relief, and that God will bless you all.
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