Hello All. This post unfortunately has nothing to do with discipline, unless you count the fact that I want to whack the heck out of Google, and not in a fun way. 😦
I do use the search engine all the time, and think it’s one of the best out there. But recently my email client (Outlook 2010) stopped working with all of my Gmail accounts (I have 3 of them), and it’s pissing me off.
Yes, it’s an ancient email program, by internet standards. But I strongly believe in the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mode of living, especially when it comes to expensive software programs. (The only reason I have Outlook is I won a copy of Office 2010 a decade ago, probably the most valuable prize I’ve ever gotten.)
The problem is that Google is supposedly increasing their security and has stopped working with less secure apps. I say “supposedly” because I’m suspicious of Google’s motives. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but it doesn’t take a genius to understand that data is power/money, and the more data Google can collect on you, the better it is for them.
Any app that works with Google’s new standards is required to accept all cookies. Alternatively, there is a workaround which requires me to turn on 2-factor authentication and get an app password to use in my Outlook. The issue I have with that is they want me to give them my phone number so they can give me that password, and I refuse to have my personal number linked with all of my Gmail accounts in their database.
I’ve thought of going in to work and using my office phone number, then getting the app password via a phone call rather than via text. But that’s not an ideal solution because whenever I use that phone number (which I only do when required to fill in one on the internet and I don’t want to use my cell), there is an increase in spam calls to the office….big surprise. (And I’m not even going to dodgy sites or giving it out indiscriminately.)
Anyway, does anyone have any advice on this topic? What about a burner phone? That might be useful for other instances too. 🤔
Alyxfic 
Have you looked into alternatives to Google voice where you could set up a fake second number that links back to your phone? You could make sure the service you choose is secure to the level you are comfortable and then they’d have your real number but Google would only have the fake one.
Hey Cras, long time no see! 🙂 Thanks for the input. What I ended up doing was buying a security key, then setting up 2-step authentication, which allowed me to generate a code specifically for an app (in this case my Outlook email accounts). Once I got the codes, I could input those in place of my regular passwords. It was a bit of a hassle, but it ended up working and I didn’t have to put down my phone number anywhere. 😝
The drawback is that I think I will have that 2-step authentication pop up whenever I try to access my accounts on any other device — like my iPad or laptop. 😦 *sigh* I know I wouldn’t be having this problem if I had a more current operating system, but not everyone can afford to buy new computers (as long as the old ones still work!). But that’s a whole ‘nother rant. 😖
How’s you doin? Sorry I missed your birthday! Hope it was happy. 🤗
I completely understand not buying a new electronic device while the one you have still works. One of those “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” scenarios that makes us frustrating to the corporations who want us to spend more money for their benefit.
I’m doing alright. Most of my time these days is taken up with work, but I’m doing some reorganization to hopefully adjust the work/life balance a bit more to the life side of things. My birthday was pretty awesome. I was at a kink convention and was able to get many spankings that weekend.
How are you doing? Aside from your electronic security woes, how’s life?
Sorry to take so long to reply! Life has been full-on for me too (though nothing as exciting as a kink convention! Good for you! 😀 ). Mil was here for a few months and that was lovely. Then she had to go back to Oz, so it’s a lot quieter around here now! However she’ll be back next month, fingers crossed.
(Btw, I was able to solve that email problem by getting a security key and enabling 2-factor authentication. It’s more of a hassle whenever there’s a new app to connect to, but in the meantime, I can use my Outlook with my existing accounts.)