"The Breach" ....The bastards!

[Hugo]

Why are YOU being such an ass?

Sorry...didn't mean that to sound so insulting. The words on the page so often come out so different than the sound in my head. 
But I am curious about what solution you are suggesting. 

Now, back to the ongoing conversation before I interrupted the flow of the Topic.

I didn't offer any solution but IMO logging practices that go after the most valuable trees first are why are forests are in the condition they are now.
It seems to me that logging should LEAVE most of the biggest trees.

"Poor Forestry Practices

Diameter limit cutting is a common practice that many landowners and even forestry professionals employ when harvesting timber. Trees at or above a certain diameter are selected for harvest, and the smaller trees are left behind with the expectation that they will grow into merchantable trees. Unfortunately, this “take the best and leave the rest” approach removes the best growing stock and leaves genetically inferior trees as a seed source. Often, the smaller trees that are left behind never mature into larger, valuable trees. This is known as “high-grading” and over time, destroys the diversity, quality and value of the forest."

Okay! That's what we are talking about. (Or should be).

Now...

How is "good practice" going to be enforced?

On a logging site trees that are not supposed to be cut are marked. So enforcing what needs to be cut and what doesn't is already done.
As far as the article above I just posted it to show that the large money trees are indeed the ones cut first.
But the part about leaving genetically inferior trees as a seed source may not apply because crews come in an plant trees and I'm fairly certain those trees are not genetically inferior.

But who knows. Years ago the BLM bought Douglas fir cones and white fir as well as others. I sold hundreds of pounds until they finally had enough and suspended the program.
Every since it was contracted out.
But when I sold cones for seed they only knew what areas they came from so how they could know if they were genetically inferior is beyond me.

Why did Kalmiopsis Wilderness burn so bad a few years ago?  (I know why it's burning now! )

Why are there huge fires in Crater Lake National Park, Rogue Umpqua Divide Wilderness, and Sky Lakes Wilderness RIGHT now?  According to you that "old growth" don't burn!

Are argument is invalid.

[Wonky3]

And still, more about "The Breach".
This, from todays (7/13) Mail Tribune. For those who may not subscribe I past the entire editorial below but want to highlight the small part of this I feel needs attention first. Below, the author describes problems with printing the pin number needed to unlock the account when necessary after freezing it for security reasons. He may not have paid close attention: When I got to this step I noticed a caution to NOT print this from the print function of the web page, but to use the PDF function (which prints not to paper but to a file on your machine). The PDF functions was gray and not obvious and I can see it would be easy to miss. I did print to PDF, found the file, and have it for safekeeping. (I also printed it out later on paper from the PDF to save) 



"I filled in the information to freeze my credit report, and up popped a document with the promised PIN, which I was told to print for safekeeping. When I tried to do that, I got an error screen saying my request couldn’t be processed and to please try again later. When I followed the same procedure with my wife’s information, it wouldn’t complete the process at all."





MY VIEW
Navigating the Equifax data breach fiasco 

I’ve taken the recommended steps to protect my personal information that may have been hacked in the Equifax credit bureau data breach, for all the good it may do. It wasn’t easy.
For those who have been offline for the past week or so, Equifax announced Thursday that hackers had gained access to the personal information of up to 143 million Americans, including Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers. With that data, the hackers could steal those identities and secure credit in other people’s names or file fraudulent tax returns seeking refunds.
So what should I and the other 142,999,999 affected people do now?
Simple, Equifax said. Go to our website, enter your name and the last six digits of your Social Security number and we’ll tell you whether your data is likely to have been compromised. Amazingly enough, it told me my data may have been compromised. Other journalists tried entering random names and numbers, and lo and behold, those fictitious people may have been hacked as well. You could probably skip that step.
The next step is to go to a different web address and freeze your credit information. This, they said, will prevent anyone but you from accessing your information. If you need to apply for credit in the future, you can unlock the file temporarily by using a secret PIN issued only to you. Oh, and we’ll give you a year’s free subscription to our credit monitoring service, which will alert you if anyone tries to use your information.
On Sunday, I decided to take these steps, and it seemed to work but it didn’t go smoothly. I filled in the information to freeze my credit report, and up popped a document with the promised PIN, which I was told to print for safekeeping. When I tried to do that, I got an error screen saying my request couldn’t be processed and to please try again later. When I followed the same procedure with my wife’s information, it wouldn’t complete the process at all.
On Monday, when I tried again, my information didn’t give me the “createa freeze” option, so apparently the first attempt had worked. I hope. I stillcouldn’t freeze my wife’s data. I did sign us both up for the free year ofcredit monitoring. Experts say the freeze may or may not work, and we’ll
likely be vulnerable for a lot longer than a year.
On Tuesday, I was able to complete the freeze process for my wife. Now we wait for a promised email to finish signing up for the monitoring service.
Some alarming glitches in all of this apparently have been fixed by Equifax after people complained: Signing up for the monitoring service no longer waives your right to join the class-action suit against Equifax, as the fine print initially suggested. The PIN generated with your credit freeze is now randomly generated. Initially, the PINs were the time and date you completed the freeze — 0911171030, for instance. Really secure. I have one of those PINs; my wife has a random one, but it’s still just numbers, no letters or special characters. Finally, Equifax is not charging the small fee it usually charges for the freeze. Big of them.
Meanwhile, Congress is asking hard questions, including why three top executives sold nearly $2 million in stock after the breach was discovered but before it was announced, which naturally caused the stock to tank.
What’s most infuriating about all this is the idea that a credit bureau, which collects information about you without your consent and then makes money by selling that information to people who want to issue you credit, can’t be bothered to keep your information safe from hackers who want to steal it. Then, when a huge breach occurs, they do only the bare minimum to make things right.

I'm going to request a new SS number. If they don't give me one, I'll just make one up.

Good luck with that. You can get a new SS#. It's expensive and takes lot of time. You can't make one up, but if you have hacked by the sites being discussed here, you can take another persons SS#, create some fake ID and use it for all kinds of sinister things. 
I suspect the time is coming when SS#'s, passwords, user names, etc., will be obsolete. We will have a chip implanted someplace that makes it impossible (or at least difficult) for bad guys to cut it out and use it. 
Hello Big Brother.

[tvguy]

Sorry...didn't mean that to sound so insulting. The words on the page so often come out so different than the sound in my head. 
But I am curious about what solution you are suggesting. 

Now, back to the ongoing conversation before I interrupted the flow of the Topic.

I didn't offer any solution but IMO logging practices that go after the most valuable trees first are why are forests are in the condition they are now.
It seems to me that logging should LEAVE most of the biggest trees.

"Poor Forestry Practices

Diameter limit cutting is a common practice that many landowners and even forestry professionals employ when harvesting timber. Trees at or above a certain diameter are selected for harvest, and the smaller trees are left behind with the expectation that they will grow into merchantable trees. Unfortunately, this “take the best and leave the rest” approach removes the best growing stock and leaves genetically inferior trees as a seed source. Often, the smaller trees that are left behind never mature into larger, valuable trees. This is known as “high-grading” and over time, destroys the diversity, quality and value of the forest."

Okay! That's what we are talking about. (Or should be).

Now...

How is "good practice" going to be enforced?

On a logging site trees that are not supposed to be cut are marked. So enforcing what needs to be cut and what doesn't is already done.
As far as the article above I just posted it to show that the large money trees are indeed the ones cut first.
But the part about leaving genetically inferior trees as a seed source may not apply because crews come in an plant trees and I'm fairly certain those trees are not genetically inferior.

But who knows. Years ago the BLM bought Douglas fir cones and white fir as well as others. I sold hundreds of pounds until they finally had enough and suspended the program.
Every since it was contracted out.
But when I sold cones for seed they only knew what areas they came from so how they could know if they were genetically inferior is beyond me.

Why did Kalmiopsis Wilderness burn so bad a few years ago?  (I know why it's burning now! )

Why are there huge fires in Crater Lake National Park, Rogue Umpqua Divide Wilderness, and Sky Lakes Wilderness RIGHT now?  According to you that "old growth" don't burn!

Are argument is invalid.

I said it doesn't burn as easily. Why don't you answer MY question I have asked several times.

Why were there so many huge ancient trees here BEFORE white men with saws arrived?

[tvguy]

And still, more about "The Breach".
This, from todays (7/13) Mail Tribune. For those who may not subscribe I past the entire editorial below but want to highlight the small part of this I feel needs attention first. Below, the author describes problems with printing the pin number needed to unlock the account when necessary after freezing it for security reasons. He may not have paid close attention: When I got to this step I noticed a caution to NOT print this from the print function of the web page, but to use the PDF function (which prints not to paper but to a file on your machine). The PDF functions was gray and not obvious and I can see it would be easy to miss. I did print to PDF, found the file, and have it for safekeeping. (I also printed it out later on paper from the PDF to save) 



"I filled in the information to freeze my credit report, and up popped a document with the promised PIN, which I was told to print for safekeeping. When I tried to do that, I got an error screen saying my request couldn’t be processed and to please try again later. When I followed the same procedure with my wife’s information, it wouldn’t complete the process at all."





MY VIEW
Navigating the Equifax data breach fiasco 

I’ve taken the recommended steps to protect my personal information that may have been hacked in the Equifax credit bureau data breach, for all the good it may do. It wasn’t easy.
For those who have been offline for the past week or so, Equifax announced Thursday that hackers had gained access to the personal information of up to 143 million Americans, including Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers. With that data, the hackers could steal those identities and secure credit in other people’s names or file fraudulent tax returns seeking refunds.
So what should I and the other 142,999,999 affected people do now?
Simple, Equifax said. Go to our website, enter your name and the last six digits of your Social Security number and we’ll tell you whether your data is likely to have been compromised. Amazingly enough, it told me my data may have been compromised. Other journalists tried entering random names and numbers, and lo and behold, those fictitious people may have been hacked as well. You could probably skip that step.
The next step is to go to a different web address and freeze your credit information. This, they said, will prevent anyone but you from accessing your information. If you need to apply for credit in the future, you can unlock the file temporarily by using a secret PIN issued only to you. Oh, and we’ll give you a year’s free subscription to our credit monitoring service, which will alert you if anyone tries to use your information.
On Sunday, I decided to take these steps, and it seemed to work but it didn’t go smoothly. I filled in the information to freeze my credit report, and up popped a document with the promised PIN, which I was told to print for safekeeping. When I tried to do that, I got an error screen saying my request couldn’t be processed and to please try again later. When I followed the same procedure with my wife’s information, it wouldn’t complete the process at all.
On Monday, when I tried again, my information didn’t give me the “createa freeze” option, so apparently the first attempt had worked. I hope. I stillcouldn’t freeze my wife’s data. I did sign us both up for the free year ofcredit monitoring. Experts say the freeze may or may not work, and we’ll
likely be vulnerable for a lot longer than a year.
On Tuesday, I was able to complete the freeze process for my wife. Now we wait for a promised email to finish signing up for the monitoring service.
Some alarming glitches in all of this apparently have been fixed by Equifax after people complained: Signing up for the monitoring service no longer waives your right to join the class-action suit against Equifax, as the fine print initially suggested. The PIN generated with your credit freeze is now randomly generated. Initially, the PINs were the time and date you completed the freeze — 0911171030, for instance. Really secure. I have one of those PINs; my wife has a random one, but it’s still just numbers, no letters or special characters. Finally, Equifax is not charging the small fee it usually charges for the freeze. Big of them.
Meanwhile, Congress is asking hard questions, including why three top executives sold nearly $2 million in stock after the breach was discovered but before it was announced, which naturally caused the stock to tank.
What’s most infuriating about all this is the idea that a credit bureau, which collects information about you without your consent and then makes money by selling that information to people who want to issue you credit, can’t be bothered to keep your information safe from hackers who want to steal it. Then, when a huge breach occurs, they do only the bare minimum to make things right.

I'm going to request a new SS number. If they don't give me one, I'll just make one up.

Good luck with that. You can get a new SS#. It's expensive and takes lot of time. You can't make one up, but if you have hacked by the sites being discussed here, you can take another persons SS#, create some fake ID and use it for all kinds of sinister things. 
I suspect the time is coming when SS#'s, passwords, user names, etc., will be obsolete. We will have a chip implanted someplace that makes it impossible (or at least difficult) for bad guys to cut it out and use it. 
Hello Big Brother.

Chuck, like almost always, was joking.

[Wonky3]

And still, more about "The Breach".
This, from todays (7/13) Mail Tribune. For those who may not subscribe I past the entire editorial below but want to highlight the small part of this I feel needs attention first. Below, the author describes problems with printing the pin number needed to unlock the account when necessary after freezing it for security reasons. He may not have paid close attention: When I got to this step I noticed a caution to NOT print this from the print function of the web page, but to use the PDF function (which prints not to paper but to a file on your machine). The PDF functions was gray and not obvious and I can see it would be easy to miss. I did print to PDF, found the file, and have it for safekeeping. (I also printed it out later on paper from the PDF to save) 



"I filled in the information to freeze my credit report, and up popped a document with the promised PIN, which I was told to print for safekeeping. When I tried to do that, I got an error screen saying my request couldn’t be processed and to please try again later. When I followed the same procedure with my wife’s information, it wouldn’t complete the process at all."





MY VIEW
Navigating the Equifax data breach fiasco 

I’ve taken the recommended steps to protect my personal information that may have been hacked in the Equifax credit bureau data breach, for all the good it may do. It wasn’t easy.
For those who have been offline for the past week or so, Equifax announced Thursday that hackers had gained access to the personal information of up to 143 million Americans, including Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers. With that data, the hackers could steal those identities and secure credit in other people’s names or file fraudulent tax returns seeking refunds.
So what should I and the other 142,999,999 affected people do now?
Simple, Equifax said. Go to our website, enter your name and the last six digits of your Social Security number and we’ll tell you whether your data is likely to have been compromised. Amazingly enough, it told me my data may have been compromised. Other journalists tried entering random names and numbers, and lo and behold, those fictitious people may have been hacked as well. You could probably skip that step.
The next step is to go to a different web address and freeze your credit information. This, they said, will prevent anyone but you from accessing your information. If you need to apply for credit in the future, you can unlock the file temporarily by using a secret PIN issued only to you. Oh, and we’ll give you a year’s free subscription to our credit monitoring service, which will alert you if anyone tries to use your information.
On Sunday, I decided to take these steps, and it seemed to work but it didn’t go smoothly. I filled in the information to freeze my credit report, and up popped a document with the promised PIN, which I was told to print for safekeeping. When I tried to do that, I got an error screen saying my request couldn’t be processed and to please try again later. When I followed the same procedure with my wife’s information, it wouldn’t complete the process at all.
On Monday, when I tried again, my information didn’t give me the “createa freeze” option, so apparently the first attempt had worked. I hope. I stillcouldn’t freeze my wife’s data. I did sign us both up for the free year ofcredit monitoring. Experts say the freeze may or may not work, and we’ll
likely be vulnerable for a lot longer than a year.
On Tuesday, I was able to complete the freeze process for my wife. Now we wait for a promised email to finish signing up for the monitoring service.
Some alarming glitches in all of this apparently have been fixed by Equifax after people complained: Signing up for the monitoring service no longer waives your right to join the class-action suit against Equifax, as the fine print initially suggested. The PIN generated with your credit freeze is now randomly generated. Initially, the PINs were the time and date you completed the freeze — 0911171030, for instance. Really secure. I have one of those PINs; my wife has a random one, but it’s still just numbers, no letters or special characters. Finally, Equifax is not charging the small fee it usually charges for the freeze. Big of them.
Meanwhile, Congress is asking hard questions, including why three top executives sold nearly $2 million in stock after the breach was discovered but before it was announced, which naturally caused the stock to tank.
What’s most infuriating about all this is the idea that a credit bureau, which collects information about you without your consent and then makes money by selling that information to people who want to issue you credit, can’t be bothered to keep your information safe from hackers who want to steal it. Then, when a huge breach occurs, they do only the bare minimum to make things right.

I'm going to request a new SS number. If they don't give me one, I'll just make one up.

Good luck with that. You can get a new SS#. It's expensive and takes lot of time. You can't make one up, but if you have hacked by the sites being discussed here, you can take another persons SS#, create some fake ID and use it for all kinds of sinister things. 
I suspect the time is coming when SS#'s, passwords, user names, etc., will be obsolete. We will have a chip implanted someplace that makes it impossible (or at least difficult) for bad guys to cut it out and use it. 
Hello Big Brother.

Chuck, like almost always, was joking.

You sure? 
I once took Chuck on a Snipe hunt. 

[tvguy]

Wonky....

Humans have made forest fires worse. By removing the old-growth, planting dense stands of young trees, and suppressing natural fires, we have created unnaturally flammable conditions in many forests over the last hundred years. Old-growth trees, with their thick bark and tall trunks that keep the forest canopy safely above the flames, are much more fire-resistant than smaller, younger trees with thin bark and canopies close to the ground. We also make matters worse by suppressing natural fires, which causes fuel loads to build up and increase the risk of an unnaturally severe fire.

https://www.oregonwild.org/about/blog/ni...st-fires-1

[Hugo]

Wonky....

Humans have made forest fires worse. By removing the old-growth, planting dense stands of young trees, and suppressing natural fires, we have created unnaturally flammable conditions in many forests over the last hundred years. Old-growth trees, with their thick bark and tall trunks that keep the forest canopy safely above the flames, are much more fire-resistant than smaller, younger trees with thin bark and canopies close to the ground. We also make matters worse by suppressing natural fires, which causes fuel loads to build up and increase the risk of an unnaturally severe fire.

https://www.oregonwild.org/about/blog/ni...st-fires-1

SOURCE!!!

[tvguy]

Wonky....

Humans have made forest fires worse. By removing the old-growth, planting dense stands of young trees, and suppressing natural fires, we have created unnaturally flammable conditions in many forests over the last hundred years. Old-growth trees, with their thick bark and tall trunks that keep the forest canopy safely above the flames, are much more fire-resistant than smaller, younger trees with thin bark and canopies close to the ground. We also make matters worse by suppressing natural fires, which causes fuel loads to build up and increase the risk of an unnaturally severe fire.

https://www.oregonwild.org/about/blog/ni...st-fires-1

SOURCE!!!

I provided a link to the source for that comment. If you actually want to learn something look up this guy...


http://www.geosinstitute.org/staff/8-dominick-dellasala




 .  I notice you can't explain why the forests were chock full of ancient trees until white men arrived.
How did those trees get to be so old if fires back then were as destructive as now?

[Cuzz]

Why are YOU being such an ass?

Sorry...didn't mean that to sound so insulting. The words on the page so often come out so different than the sound in my head. 
But I am curious about what solution you are suggesting. 

Now, back to the ongoing conversation before I interrupted the flow of the Topic.

I didn't offer any solution but IMO logging practices that go after the most valuable trees first are why are forests are in the condition they are now.
It seems to me that logging should LEAVE most of the biggest trees.

"Poor Forestry Practices

Diameter limit cutting is a common practice that many landowners and even forestry professionals employ when harvesting timber. Trees at or above a certain diameter are selected for harvest, and the smaller trees are left behind with the expectation that they will grow into merchantable trees. Unfortunately, this “take the best and leave the rest” approach removes the best growing stock and leaves genetically inferior trees as a seed source. Often, the smaller trees that are left behind never mature into larger, valuable trees. This is known as “high-grading” and over time, destroys the diversity, quality and value of the forest."

Okay! That's what we are talking about. (Or should be).

Now...

How is "good practice" going to be enforced?

On a logging site trees that are not supposed to be cut are marked. So enforcing what needs to be cut and what doesn't is already done.
As far as the article above I just posted it to show that the large money trees are indeed the ones cut first.
But the part about leaving genetically inferior trees as a seed source may not apply because crews come in an plant trees and I'm fairly certain those trees are not genetically inferior.

But who knows. Years ago the BLM bought Douglas fir cones and white fir as well as others. I sold hundreds of pounds until they finally had enough and suspended the program.
Every since it was contracted out.
But when I sold cones for seed they only knew what areas they came from so how they could know if they were genetically inferior is beyond me.

Some years back a friend and I were talking to a logging crew cutting near my friends property near the coast. When my friend pointed out that they had strayed outside the marked cut boundaries they kind of sheepishly admitted that "those trees were just to big to pass up." So, I guess those marks are really just a guide line not so much a rule.

[Valuesize]

SOURCE!!!

I provided a link to the source for that comment. If you actually want to learn something look up this guy...


http://www.geosinstitute.org/staff/8-dominick-dellasala




 .  I notice you can't explain why the forests were chock full of ancient trees until white men arrived.
How did those trees get to be so old if fires back then were as destructive as now?

I'm pretty sure he is claiming your source is a hippity-dippity, liberal fake news source. 

[Wonky3]

Somehow we did "a pivot" form "The Breach" and started debating the forest fire (causes, effects, consequences, etc.).

We do have a Topic (thread?) titled "FIRES,FIRES,FIRES". We could have posted those remarks there. Whatever. 

The reason I mention it, is that I'm curious about the ongoing issues with this "Breach" and the experiences we (RFV members) have had. 

I went online to "Freeze" my accounts with all three of the major credit reporting companies. I was able to complete all the requests online, have "frozen" all the accounts and and am now waiting for Equifax to send an email to allow me to enroll without charge to have a period when I can check my credit reports frequently. 

But, my daughter (very computer literate, aware, and attentive) was unable to do all this online. She now must make copies of all kinds of personal documents (Birth certificates, drivers licenses, etc) and mail all that to an address at Equifax. I mentioned this at a group I have coffee with and two of that small group had the same problem. Strange stuff. No explanation: Just "can't complete this online". 

I'm curious too, how many of us feel the need to freeze these accounts, while others don't. Maybe there is a good reason it's unnecessary? It would be interesting to hear the various points of view about this. Anyone here have a problem with getting it done online? 

And aside: I wanted to email our state Attorney General to suggest she file suit against the people at Equifax (as a couple of other states have) and could find no email address for her office. Anyone else find it? (I sent the email to  governor Brown' office only to get a return email giving me several email address depending on "the issue" that concerned me. Seems like unnecessary steps to me, but so it goes.   ) 

I've heard little (nothing, really) about the head guys at Equifax who delayed in reporting the breach until they had sold their stock in their own company. Seems criminal to me and I hope they face charges of some kind.

From NPR: 
Regulatory filings show the three Equifax executives — Chief Financial Officer John Gamble, U.S. Information Solutions President Joseph Loughran and Workforce Solutions President Rodolfo Ploder — completed stock sales on Aug. 1 and 2.

[Hugo]

Somehow we did "a pivot" form "The Breach" and started debating the forest fire (causes, effects, consequences, etc.).

  Somehow?  Read Wonky post #9 and Wonky post #19........

[GPnative]

Somehow we did "a pivot" form "The Breach" and started debating the forest fire (causes, effects, consequences, etc.).

We do have a Topic (thread?) titled "FIRES,FIRES,FIRES". We could have posted those remarks there. Whatever. 

The reason I mention it, is that I'm curious about the ongoing issues with this "Breach" and the experiences we (RFV members) have had. 

I went online to "Freeze" my accounts with all three of the major credit reporting companies. I was able to complete all the requests online, have "frozen" all the accounts and and am now waiting for Equifax to send an email to allow me to enroll without charge to have a period when I can check my credit reports frequently. 

But, my daughter (very computer literate, aware, and attentive) was unable to do all this online. She now must make copies of all kinds of personal documents (Birth certificates, drivers licenses, etc) and mail all that to an address at Equifax. I mentioned this at a group I have coffee with and two of that small group had the same problem. Strange stuff. No explanation: Just "can't complete this online". 

I'm curious too, how many of us feel the need to freeze these accounts, while others don't. Maybe there is a good reason it's unnecessary? It would be interesting to hear the various points of view about this. Anyone here have a problem with getting it done online? 

And aside: I wanted to email our state Attorney General to suggest she file suit against the people at Equifax (as a couple of other states have) and could find no email address for her office. Anyone else find it? (I sent the email to  governor Brown' office only to get a return email giving me several email address depending on "the issue" that concerned me. Seems like unnecessary steps to me, but so it goes.   ) 

I've heard little (nothing, really) about the head guys at Equifax who delayed in reporting the breach until they had sold their stock in their own company. Seems criminal to me and I hope they face charges of some kind.

From NPR: 
Regulatory filings show the three Equifax executives — Chief Financial Officer John Gamble, U.S. Information Solutions President Joseph Loughran and Workforce Solutions President Rodolfo Ploder — completed stock sales on Aug. 1 and 2.

I said my piece previously. I'm not worried. You are protected by the sheer numbers, even identity thieves couldn't use 145 million identities up in 3 lifetimes.
I certainly wouldn't take or trust anything offered from Equifax.  And I'm not going to pay each of these asshole corporations who have taken ownership of my identity w/out my permission and give them $$ to "freeze" a service I didn't want from them in the first place. We as consumers, when we turn 18 should have the option of contracting with one single credit agency of our choice. If we apply for credit we let the company know who our agency is and we give the agency permission to release the data to the requesting party. Trusting and having multiple agencies control our credit life w/out our consent is nonsense.

[chuck white]

And still, more about "The Breach".
This, from todays (7/13) Mail Tribune. For those who may not subscribe I past the entire editorial below but want to highlight the small part of this I feel needs attention first. Below, the author describes problems with printing the pin number needed to unlock the account when necessary after freezing it for security reasons. He may not have paid close attention: When I got to this step I noticed a caution to NOT print this from the print function of the web page, but to use the PDF function (which prints not to paper but to a file on your machine). The PDF functions was gray and not obvious and I can see it would be easy to miss. I did print to PDF, found the file, and have it for safekeeping. (I also printed it out later on paper from the PDF to save) 



"I filled in the information to freeze my credit report, and up popped a document with the promised PIN, which I was told to print for safekeeping. When I tried to do that, I got an error screen saying my request couldn’t be processed and to please try again later. When I followed the same procedure with my wife’s information, it wouldn’t complete the process at all."





MY VIEW
Navigating the Equifax data breach fiasco 

I’ve taken the recommended steps to protect my personal information that may have been hacked in the Equifax credit bureau data breach, for all the good it may do. It wasn’t easy.
For those who have been offline for the past week or so, Equifax announced Thursday that hackers had gained access to the personal information of up to 143 million Americans, including Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers. With that data, the hackers could steal those identities and secure credit in other people’s names or file fraudulent tax returns seeking refunds.
So what should I and the other 142,999,999 affected people do now?
Simple, Equifax said. Go to our website, enter your name and the last six digits of your Social Security number and we’ll tell you whether your data is likely to have been compromised. Amazingly enough, it told me my data may have been compromised. Other journalists tried entering random names and numbers, and lo and behold, those fictitious people may have been hacked as well. You could probably skip that step.
The next step is to go to a different web address and freeze your credit information. This, they said, will prevent anyone but you from accessing your information. If you need to apply for credit in the future, you can unlock the file temporarily by using a secret PIN issued only to you. Oh, and we’ll give you a year’s free subscription to our credit monitoring service, which will alert you if anyone tries to use your information.
On Sunday, I decided to take these steps, and it seemed to work but it didn’t go smoothly. I filled in the information to freeze my credit report, and up popped a document with the promised PIN, which I was told to print for safekeeping. When I tried to do that, I got an error screen saying my request couldn’t be processed and to please try again later. When I followed the same procedure with my wife’s information, it wouldn’t complete the process at all.
On Monday, when I tried again, my information didn’t give me the “createa freeze” option, so apparently the first attempt had worked. I hope. I stillcouldn’t freeze my wife’s data. I did sign us both up for the free year ofcredit monitoring. Experts say the freeze may or may not work, and we’ll
likely be vulnerable for a lot longer than a year.
On Tuesday, I was able to complete the freeze process for my wife. Now we wait for a promised email to finish signing up for the monitoring service.
Some alarming glitches in all of this apparently have been fixed by Equifax after people complained: Signing up for the monitoring service no longer waives your right to join the class-action suit against Equifax, as the fine print initially suggested. The PIN generated with your credit freeze is now randomly generated. Initially, the PINs were the time and date you completed the freeze — 0911171030, for instance. Really secure. I have one of those PINs; my wife has a random one, but it’s still just numbers, no letters or special characters. Finally, Equifax is not charging the small fee it usually charges for the freeze. Big of them.
Meanwhile, Congress is asking hard questions, including why three top executives sold nearly $2 million in stock after the breach was discovered but before it was announced, which naturally caused the stock to tank.
What’s most infuriating about all this is the idea that a credit bureau, which collects information about you without your consent and then makes money by selling that information to people who want to issue you credit, can’t be bothered to keep your information safe from hackers who want to steal it. Then, when a huge breach occurs, they do only the bare minimum to make things right.

I'm going to request a new SS number. If they don't give me one, I'll just make one up.

Good luck with that. You can get a new SS#. It's expensive and takes lot of time. You can't make one up, but if you have hacked by the sites being discussed here, you can take another persons SS#, create some fake ID and use it for all kinds of sinister things. 
I suspect the time is coming when SS#'s, passwords, user names, etc., will be obsolete. We will have a chip implanted someplace that makes it impossible (or at least difficult) for bad guys to cut it out and use it. 
Hello Big Brother.

Chuck, like almost always, was joking.

You sure? 
I once took Chuck on a Snipe hunt. 

What pissed Wonky off was, I got more snipes then he did.

[Wonky3]

Somehow we did "a pivot" form "The Breach" and started debating the forest fire (causes, effects, consequences, etc.).

  Somehow?  Read Wonky post #9 and Wonky post #19........

You are one picky cowboy! In both of those posts my "side" comments were related to information we get from news sources and didn't "pivot" from the Topic.

[Wonky3]

Somehow we did "a pivot" form "The Breach" and started debating the forest fire (causes, effects, consequences, etc.).

We do have a Topic (thread?) titled "FIRES,FIRES,FIRES". We could have posted those remarks there. Whatever. 

The reason I mention it, is that I'm curious about the ongoing issues with this "Breach" and the experiences we (RFV members) have had. 

I went online to "Freeze" my accounts with all three of the major credit reporting companies. I was able to complete all the requests online, have "frozen" all the accounts and and am now waiting for Equifax to send an email to allow me to enroll without charge to have a period when I can check my credit reports frequently. 

But, my daughter (very computer literate, aware, and attentive) was unable to do all this online. She now must make copies of all kinds of personal documents (Birth certificates, drivers licenses, etc) and mail all that to an address at Equifax. I mentioned this at a group I have coffee with and two of that small group had the same problem. Strange stuff. No explanation: Just "can't complete this online". 

I'm curious too, how many of us feel the need to freeze these accounts, while others don't. Maybe there is a good reason it's unnecessary? It would be interesting to hear the various points of view about this. Anyone here have a problem with getting it done online? 

And aside: I wanted to email our state Attorney General to suggest she file suit against the people at Equifax (as a couple of other states have) and could find no email address for her office. Anyone else find it? (I sent the email to  governor Brown' office only to get a return email giving me several email address depending on "the issue" that concerned me. Seems like unnecessary steps to me, but so it goes.   ) 

I've heard little (nothing, really) about the head guys at Equifax who delayed in reporting the breach until they had sold their stock in their own company. Seems criminal to me and I hope they face charges of some kind.

From NPR: 
Regulatory filings show the three Equifax executives — Chief Financial Officer John Gamble, U.S. Information Solutions President Joseph Loughran and Workforce Solutions President Rodolfo Ploder — completed stock sales on Aug. 1 and 2.

I said my piece previously. I'm not worried. You are protected by the sheer numbers, even identity thieves couldn't use 145 million identities up in 3 lifetimes.
I certainly wouldn't take or trust anything offered from Equifax.  And I'm not going to pay each of these asshole corporations who have taken ownership of my identity w/out my permission and give them $$ to "freeze" a service I didn't want from them in the first place. We as consumers, when we turn 18 should have the option of contracting with one single credit agency of our choice. If we apply for credit we let the company know who our agency is and we give the agency permission to release the data to the requesting party. Trusting and having multiple agencies control our credit life w/out our consent  is nonsense.

And you may be dead right. I choose to freeze the credit information for my own reasons hoping that if I happen to not beat the odds some jerk-off won't ruin my life. 
To each his own. Thanks for the feedback.

[tvguy]

I will NEVER understand why it's a big deal if a thread goes of topic. Wonky do you think when someone posts off topic that it hides what you said and then no one will respond to you?

Most of us and maybe all of us read ALL the new posts when we log on. So no one is missing anything.

[Wonky3]

I will NEVER understand why it's a big deal if a thread goes of topic. Wonky do you think when someone posts off topic that it hides what you said and then no one will respond to you?

Most of us and maybe all of us read ALL the new posts when we log on. So no one is missing anything.

No you don't!
You don't open the site, start at post #1 and read in order to the last. And when is a post "new"? 
And I NEVER understand why it's necessary to change topics midstream...we DO have Topic titles. Your forest fire conversation was interesting and timely. It was just in the wrong place. You could have posted it in in FIRES. You could even have made a note in THE BREACH that you wanted to shift the conversation so switch to FIRES to follow along. 
My point is simple: Glaring deviations of subject mess the continuity of dialog. 
Still..
No money comes out of my account so do as you will. 
I gotta wonder though: Do you do this in social conversation face to face? Wow! Must be fun when you are included as a dinner guest. 

And now I've contributed to it. This post has nothing to do with THE BREACH.   

Nothing more to say about this.

[tvguy]

I will NEVER understand why it's a big deal if a thread goes of topic. Wonky do you think when someone posts off topic that it hides what you said and then no one will respond to you?

Most of us and maybe all of us read ALL the new posts when we log on. So no one is missing anything.

No you don't!
You don't open the site, start at post #1 and read in order to the last. And when is a post "new"? 
And I NEVER understand why it's necessary to change topics midstream...we DO have Topic titles. Your forest fire conversation was interesting and timely. It was just in the wrong place. You could have posted it in in FIRES. You could even have made a note in THE BREACH that you wanted to shift the conversation so switch to FIRES to follow along. 
My point is simple: Glaring deviations of subject mess the continuity of dialog. 
Still..
No money comes out of my account so do as you will. 
I gotta wonder though: Do you do this in social conversation face to face? Wow! Must be fun when you are included as a dinner guest. 

And now I've contributed to it. This post has nothing to do with THE BREACH.   

Nothing more to say about this.

Who does that? Who stays away for so long that they "opens the site" and then read the entire thread?


 My point is simple: Glaring deviations of subject mess the continuity of dialog.


 I know it's YOUR point. I just don't think anyone other than you gives a shit. Anyone with half a brain who actually wants to stay on the topic can do so VERY easily.
 And comparing a thread on this site to a social conversation at dinner is ridiculous because that have ZERO in common with a discussion forum.
 How many social conversations have you had where you speak and no one responds for an hour or until the next day?

And when is a post "new"?

 When you log on and it's a post you had not previously seen it's a NEW post.

And I NEVER understand why it's necessary to change topics midstream.

Well you are the one who compared this to a social conversation. So if you are sitting around talking about something and another person brings up something else... What do you do? Scold them?


I was not trying to start an argument. I REALLY wondered why staying on a topic is so important.
Because if others cared as much as you they wouldn't follow someone who was off topic.


 "I gotta wonder though: Do you do this in social conversation face to face? Wow! Must be fun when you are included as a dinner guest.  "
 
Must be fun to see you tell people when and what they are allowed to talk about.

[Wonky3]

I will NEVER understand why it's a big deal if a thread goes of topic. Wonky do you think when someone posts off topic that it hides what you said and then no one will respond to you?

Most of us and maybe all of us read ALL the new posts when we log on. So no one is missing anything.

No you don't!
You don't open the site, start at post #1 and read in order to the last. And when is a post "new"? 
And I NEVER understand why it's necessary to change topics midstream...we DO have Topic titles. Your forest fire conversation was interesting and timely. It was just in the wrong place. You could have posted it in in FIRES. You could even have made a note in THE BREACH that you wanted to shift the conversation so switch to FIRES to follow along. 
My point is simple: Glaring deviations of subject mess the continuity of dialog. 
Still..
No money comes out of my account so do as you will. 
I gotta wonder though: Do you do this in social conversation face to face? Wow! Must be fun when you are included as a dinner guest. 

And now I've contributed to it. This post has nothing to do with THE BREACH.   

Nothing more to say about this.

Who does that? Who stays away for so long that they "opens the site" and then read the entire thread?


 My point is simple: Glaring deviations of subject mess the continuity of dialog.


 I know it's YOUR point. I just don't think anyone other than you gives a shit. Anyone with half a brain who actually wants to stay on the topic can do so VERY easily.
 And comparing a thread on this site to a social conversation at dinner is ridiculous because that have ZERO in common with a discussion forum.
 How many social conversations have you had where you speak and no one responds for an hour or until the next day?

And when is a post "new"?

 When you log on and it's a post you had not previously seen it's a NEW post.

And I NEVER understand why it's necessary to change topics midstream.

Well you are the one who compared this to a social conversation. So if you are sitting around talking about something and another person brings up something else... What do you do? Scold them?


I was not trying to start an argument. I REALLY wondered why staying on a topic is so important.
Because if others cared as much as you they wouldn't follow someone who was off topic.


 "I gotta wonder though: Do you do this in social conversation face to face? Wow! Must be fun when you are included as a dinner guest.  "
 
Must be fun to see you tell people when and what they are allowed to talk about.

 Don't have that problem. In social settings where conversation is the primary interaction, subjects tend to flow in directions, then change as the group senses the shift. Here its, "Pass the fucking butter" and change the subject anytime you feel you need to prove someone wrong. 

Still...you do have a point. A little one, but a point nevertheless. So ramble on, turn the horse in the middle of the creek, and let fly that need to say what's on YOUR mind. 

I'll just return to the Topic as I see fit. Or not. 

Now, about this problem with millions of stolen ID's...Something we CAN do at least a little about.