From: The Department of Technology, Buttercupland

Thankfully, this was the most exciting sight after Hurricane/Tropical Storm Henri. The neighborhood came out unscathed, 

and we've had two hot end-of-summer days to enjoy.  

 A memo from the Department of Technology, Buttercupland

To: Citizens of Buttercupland

Re: Fake Buttercups

If you get a friend request here, on Instagram or Facebook and there are no posts, it's a fake Buttercup. Last week a fake Buttercup (Buttercup3) "borrowed" my photograph and list of Instagram friends and sent out messages to all of them. The fake Buttercup was looking for people to send direct messages and engage with in a "passive income" aka money-making scheme.

I'm not looking to create a new Facebook or Instagram page and for now, I'm busy enough with Buttercupland and my sadly neglected Coffee Light and Mysteries Noir. I may post about a product or two on Instagram, but I will never message you about new income opportunities. Never.

This is the real Buttercup https://www.instagram.com/buttercupnyc/, and sadly, despite asking Instagram to take down the usurper, it's still there. The Department of Technology asks you to delete and report all hackers, not just this one impersonating me. It can happen to any of us and it's an unfortunate fact of technology life. The one positive thing that has come out of this episode is the number of friends that have been in touch, and it's been fun to catch up.

I haven't done everything on my to-do list, but got done more than I expected. My accomplishments include a trip to Lower Manhattan and lots of picture taking, including some fun ones for this week's Pink Saturday.

Please stop by tomorrow for a trip out west. We'll be celebrating the 105th anniversary of the National Park Service.

As ever, thanks for visiting and have a wonderful Wednesday.

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Content

 

Breaking News from the Buttercupland Department of Technology

 

In a triumph of customer service, Microsoft scrubbed clean my email account and restored my access. Thursday was a day of tears of joy and smiles when I opened the email from my contact at Microsoft, Chris, with the miraculous news. For the last forty-eight hours I have spent my computer time deleting and reading and there is still a boatload of email to go through. 

 

Lessons learned:

 

Print out anything that you absolutely don't want to lose. I know that we are supposedly in a paperless society, but actually we aren't.  

 

Have a second email account.

 

Update your information for your accounts. If you find yourself in this situation, in order to restore access your company will need to verify that you are the owner of the account. Make sure your cell phone number is up to date and the second email address is also current.

 

 

But there's always time for coffee and today's Blogging from A to Z Journey takes us to Gregorys, a chain of coffee shops in New York City, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. I discovered it during my first coffee A to Z, and in the last few years additional sites have been added in New York City. My favorite Gregory's is on the Upper East Side and I'm always happy to find myself close by.

I'm pleased to report that the coffee remains top-notch and the pastry collection even more enticing than I remembered. I chose a simple, but very tasty biscotti, which was just right for dunking in my iced coffee. However, there's a maple doughnut that has captured my imagination. I know one day it will call me like the Sirens of old and I will make a return trip to Gregory's.

Again, thanks to Microsoft, the week ends happily in Buttercupland. What made you happy this week?

As ever, thanks for visiting. Please join us tomorrow for a visit to Austin, TX and until then, enjoy your coffee and your weekend!  

An Important Message from the Buttercupland Department of Technology

You see before you what appears to be an average iPhone...

But any second it could descend into the Twilight Zone!

 

Dear Citizens of Buttercupland:

 

This is an important message from the Buttercupland Department of Technology. Yesterday at approximately 12:30 p.m. I was contentedly sitting in the waiting room at a major Manhattan medical center, where I had accompanied a friend to outpatient surgery. Suddenly my iPhone -- very similar to the phone pictured above -- went berserk. Unbeknownst to me some bug/hack had started sending protected messages to everyone in my address book. First I got notices that came from out of office responses and then people I knew wrote to me asking if I had sent a protected message. 

 

After I got home last night -- my friend's surgery happily went well -- I started to change passwords. I kept changing passwords and deleting and reporting anything that looked odd this morning. The crisis seemed over and I was no longer receiving email about the problem. 

 

But, as the Grateful Dead remind us, "When life looks like easy street there is danger at the door." A short while ago I decided to check my email. I find I'm locked out due to "suspicious activity." I've sent an appeal and received a cordial response letting me know it will take time to evaluate my appeal. The customer assistance phone lines are closed until tomorrow morning. I have officially fallen into the email Twilight Zone. 

 

Lessons learned from this incident/mess:

 

1) Never attempt to open a "protected" email that you are not expecting. I have received one protected email in my twenty years of email, and it was from my orthopedic surgeon. It was clearly marked and I knew the sender. The only exception may be if you are part of an undercover network, but I am making that assumption based on my extensive reading of mystery novels and spy thrillers.

 

2) Change your passwords regularly. I actually do this, but will be as conscientious as I was during my working years, when we had to change our password every month. It's easy to be forgetful about the need to do this.

 

3) Don't click on a faux link. If you're unsure whether it's a "real" email from a bank, for example, go to the website and check for messages.

 

4) Have several email accounts. In the future I will be forwarding anything I want to make sure to access to my second account. I hope this doesn't happen again any time soon, but I want to be prepared for email Twilight Zone.

 

I'm not sure how this mess occurred. I do change my passwords often. I don't click on anything I'm unfamiliar with and I report anything suspicious. I have virus protection software which runs scans on a regular schedule. 

 

I'm optimistic that I will be permitted to access my account soon.  I'm eager to return from the Twilight Zone.

 

Stay safe and be prudent where you click!