Universal Cellphone Automobile Mount

Driving with your cell phone in your hands is dangerous for obvious reasons.  I learned to drive watching my grand parents drive.  They drove with manners and attention to detail, both hands on the wheel most of the time.  The first thing you should think about when driving with that cell phone sitting in your lap is where it is going to go when your car stops suddenly in the event of an accident.  Go to the AAA of California website or Consumer Reports and watch some crash videos and imagine your device in a crash after it has bounced off another occupants head.

Even sitting on a seat or the dash is not good enough and will still become a projectile.  There are a lot of solutions that I feel provide a false sense of security, especially those with suction cup mounts.  The Factory OEM model from Samsung for the Galaxy S2 line was awesome, except for this particular issue.  The suction cup only worked when wet with water.  No, I didn’t like it and yes, I did think about it.  It would slowly loosen and pop off at the most random inopportune time while driving.  So, I stopped using it and even though I paid less then $20 for it shipped from AT&T, I felt like I wasted money because I did.  So when I upgraded to the Galaxy Note, I began looking for a universal mount so that I would not have to buy another one should I decide or need to upgrade to the Note 2.  Most Universal mounts are designed to stick to the windshield and or the vents.  It is illegal to attach anything to the window in California, technically.

Since I glued a plastic plate to my dash for the other mount, I decided to try and find a universal one with a way I could reuse this pad.  If the suction cup does not work on this one, I am going to silicone it to the plate, solving the problem.  The mount I chose is a unique design and I need to check and ensure it will grip the device even when stopped suddenly.  The idea of the airbag smacking me in the face scares me enough without think that the cell phone might decide to bounce off of something and clock me in the side of the head not protected by side curtain airbags.

The “Universal Clip-on Car Windshield Mount Holder” caught my eye when I found it being listed for another device.  I asked the seller if it would be able to hold the Note.  The seller confirmed by size how wide it would open, so I ordered it on November 11th.  On November 12th I got an email saying that my item had shipped and was on it’s way. 

         

The mount arrived on the morning of November 27th.  It arrived wraped in part of a plastic modeled protective package in a manila brown bubble-wrap padded envelope.  Although the packaging was a little less then I would have used, the item arrived in flawless condition.  The first thing I noticed was that the suction cup used for the mount is a different kind of material then all of the other unites I have encountered.

          
When I was a kid, there were these slimy, sticky insects that when thrown would stick to the surface and if the octopus one landed right it would walk down the window or surface.  It’s sort of like sticky Jello except that its solid and stronger then that.  All doubts about it sticking well went out the window the first time I affixed it to the disc on the dashboard.  I had no doubt about it falling off during the drive to pick my daughter up from school or the other appointment I drove to today.  It placed the device within reach and provided a perfect view of the screen for navigation when necessary.

Before I mounted it in the car, I held the base of the mount and shook it violently up and down with the front of the phone facing my lap.  I easily shook it harder then it would have received in the average accident and the phone did not wobble or fall loose.  Understanding how Physics works, this is very important to me since I already have a rational fear about any introductions between my face and the airbag but the common sense to realize that whatever the Airbag does will be far more preferably to being in the same situation without an airbag. 
      

The pictures above should be self-explanatory.  They are, of course, my N-7000 in the black soft Gel Case in the clamps of the mount.  It would also be large enough to hold my N-7000 in the External Battery Case that I have for it, so overall this is an awesome mount.  The second set of pictures are of my old Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4g Touch from Sprint.  I took those pictures so that you could be judge the size and dimensions of the mount.

New Facebook Attack

So, I was looking at my stream on Facebook and came across a post by someone I trust that looked like this:

The subject matter and the title by my friend was a clue, so I clicked the link.  The page that appears is this:

If you look closely, the Submit button is drawn over the original Facebook button that allows you to use your Facebook credentials to login to a website.  By clicking submit, the same link above will be posted to your wall and the ‘Hacker’ will have access to your Facebook account.  Every one of your friends who clicks and does the same thing will perpetuate this scenario.  Pass this around so that we can stop this from spreading.

If this happened to you, change your password and look in your Facebook security settings and remove any unknown apps and websites that have access to your account.

FBI Virus

So, there is a new creative Malware circulating throughout the US and world.  It is called the FBI Virus and when it infects your computer it displays the following screen:

 

 

This screen prevents you from doing anything with your PC except entering payment information.  Since this is NOT a real message from the FBI or any law enforcement agency and there is a simple fix.  Download ComboFix, Install it.  Reboot the PC in to safe mode and run Combo Fix.  Allow it to scan and clean everything it finds.  Then update your antivirus and other malware software and allow them to perform a full system scan.  This is the easiest and most direct way of getting rid of this Nag Screen, which will not go away or allow you to do anything else until you do.  Also, there is no guarantee that paying the fee will get rid of the issue and that it wont just keep popping up randomly and demand money.

Refurbished Warranties

In my effort to get healthier and to lose more weight, I have experimented with substituting fresh vegetable juice for a regular meal.  To do this we used a low end Juicer that was purchased on sale at Target.  I wont mention the make or model, but will say that it worked really well for the price, but it was a chore to use because every few carrots or other vegetables, you had to disassemble the unit to clean it.  So in August, while still euphoric from the splendor of the Redwoods, I went to Fry's and purchased the Cuisinart CJE-1000FR juicer because it was listed on the shelf as being on sale for less then $100.  I realized by reading the box that it was Factory Refurbished and having dealt with this in Electronics I realized that most of the time they are as good as a new one.

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwnd5hJoxSY]

When I got home, I decided I wanted to get a rubber storage bin to put the unit in after I cleaned it. This way it would remain in pristine condition. Well, I got busy with work and other chores and did not get around to opening it this weekend. To my surprise the hinge that holds the top on to the body of the device was broken, thus making the device worthless. A call today to Cuisinart Customer service, the representative said that this part was not covered by warranty. I asked for a supervisor, and the floor supervisor again told me that this part was not covered by a warranty.

When I asked her for a supervisor, her initial response was that she was the supervisor.  When I pressed her and asked for a name or number for her supervisor she gave me a number for the corporate office, the parent company is Conair.  I called the number and eventually got the Voicemail for the person that I was referred to and left a message.

About an hour later he called me back and we discussed the situation.  I provided him the same information that I had provided previously and he explained to me that the reason that they told me that part was not covered was because the unit was refurbished in 2001 and must have sat in Fry's warehouse for years before being shipped to the store where it sat until the day I purchased it.  By the normal methodology used by the company the device was out of warranty.  I explained that I had just purchased the unit and the gentleman asked if I had a proof of purchase.  I explained that I did not but that I had paid with a Visa card and that I could contact Visa or Fry's and get a copy of the receipt.  He explained that in order to expedite the process he would ship me a new CJE-1000FR unit and also put in a request for UPS to collect the old unit.  He then asked if I still had the box, to which I replied "Of course I do, I haven't completely unpacked the unit since I saw the hinge was broken."

The morale of this story is simple, when dealing with any warranty related issues, make sure you either have proof of purchase or can get it and then do NOT take no for an answer.  Sometimes you have to hang up and call back multiple times or talk to multiple people in order to ensure that you get the company to do what it is supposed to do.  This is true with all Warranty packages from the default to any extended warranties that you might purchase.

Keeping Your Data Secure

Now, I do not do much with my phone that I am worried about.  I also am not paranoid about people invading my home to find what nefarious acts that I am doing on my computer or my phone.  That being said, I do not want someone to access the information on my phone without permission.  I have always had a pin code or now a pattern lock on my phone.  The new Atrix that I purchased for my wife so that we can switch from Sprint has a Fingerprint Reader and I have encouraged her to use it.  What does kind of make me nervous is the fact that the court has ruled that Police can take your cell phone during a routine traffic stop and look through it without a warrant.  Sure, right now it is only in Florida but the way our legal system works, it could easily be used as the basis for a ruling in other states.   This is even scarier when you add to it that Michigan Police have a device that can copy all of the information on your phone, including deleted information in less then a minute.  Why does this scare me?  Let’s say for instance, your child is in the bubble bath and just gave themselves a soapy Mohawk and are not showing anything but the minute before you snap the picture they stand up exposing themselves to you and the camera.  You delete the photo and think it is gone forever and they find it, technically in the eyes of the law it is child pornography.  The police will charge you with possession of child pornography and more then likely it will make it in to the news papers because it is sensational.  Even if you are later found innocent of the charges, that court decision will not receive the publicity or the front page status like your arrest and the damage will be done.  Not to mention those risqué pictures you took of the two girls in your ultimate fantasy threesome.

The other reason you should worry about this is if you use those free charging stations in airports, ever because they can do pretty much the same thing as that device mentioned above or worse because there are ways to potentially put information on your device without your knowledge like viruses and hidden applications.  People may say it is not possible, and I used to think it was impossible to infect a Windows PC just by connecting to the Internet and then someone figured out how to do it.   So just because it seems impossible does not mean that it really is or will always be so.  We used to think that our government didn’t kidnap random people from around the world, regardless of reason, take them to a not so secret, secret military base in Cuba to torture them with enhanced interrogation techniques.  Then we found out that they did it quite regularly and also wanted to be able to do it to citizens too.  But I digress.

So how do you prevent this from happening?  Android devices have the ability to disable the USB port for anything other then charging.  I am going to show you how to do it with the two most popular brands of Cell Phones, Samsung and HTC.  HTC is easy, this screenshot is from the HTC Sensation, go to Settings and USB and the screen looks like this:

So uncheck the Ask me option and set the Default connection to charge only.  You will have to change this each time you wish to copy things to or from the phone.  If you want you can check the Ask Me and the default to Charge Only, this will let you change it on the fly when you connect it to your computer.

Next you will want to go to the Security settings and enable a screen lock.  The most secure is a pin code, but the pattern lock is secure enough that the FBI asked Google for a back door, which they said was not possible, publically.  In that regard it does not matter which you use if there is a back door around it.  Once this is done, your device is pretty safe from the scanners listed above.  This screen shot is from my Samsung Galaxy Note:

As you can see I have enabled the Pattern Lock and the pattern is visible.  As I said, I know that nothing will stop everyone so I am primarily concerned about deterring the less determined people.  I usually turn it off to be honest and have just left it on since I only use it as a tablet right now until I port my number from Sprint.  This should be very similar to the HTC or other Android devices in how this functions.  I know it works on my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4g Touch, and yes that is a mouth full.

Right now it is configured to be connected to the PC, I am running Ice Cream Sandwich and if you notice in the top Status Bar, the USB icon on the left side.  If you pull down the ‘curtain’ it will say “Connected As Media Device” or something else if you have uncheck this.  If you then click on that it will bring up this page so that you can change it on the fly.  When the first option is unchecked, the USB port only functions as a charging port.

Finally, under Settings, Development make sure that USB Debugging is not checked.  Once this is done, your device is impervious to the device mentioned above.  There is always more you can do to secure your device and this is only the first  step.  I will add more in future articles.  Just because you have nothing to hide, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t or do not need to secure your device because in this day and age you never know what could be misinterpreted or used against you so securing your digital device is the smart thing to do.

Loss or Theft of a Smart Device

When I started using a Smart Phone they were not called such, they were referred to as a PDA Phone in the beginning and then Microsoft needed to refresh their mobile operating system and coined the term Smart Phone.  I wasn’t particularly worried about loss or theft because I pin protected the device and I had insurance from my carrier, Sprint, that would replace the device after a modest deductible.  I also did not worry about my data because I had everything synced with Outlook, even text messages and call history.  This worked well for me because when a device failed or was replaced all I had to do was plug it in the USB port and away I went.

When I got my Android tablet, I set it up so my important personal data was kept in a secure, encrypted container with a complex passcode.  So I was not worried about people accessing my data and my device was insured.  I never thought about theft because I always kept the device secure or on my person.  A couple of weeks ago, it was in my car, in my driveway and someone took it out of my car.  Needless to say I was devastated and posted on Facebook about it.  Within minutes one of my friends suggested a piece of software called Plan B  that I could install in the hopes that it would help me retrieve my missing device.  The awesome thing about Google Play is that you can login to the website and install applications on your device through the website.  So I chose to install Plan B and thus far it has not worked for me but this could mean the device has just not been connected to the internet or that someone wiped the device.  If it does connect to the internet it is supposed to email me the location when it does. 

If I had not of cancelled the wireless internet on the device, it would have installed instantly and notified me of the location.  I could then use text messages to control the device.  Unfortunately when Sprint screwed over all their HTC View owners I eventually decided that $20 a month for 1gb was just too much money.  Even if I did not get ahold of the device, I carried the $15 dollar insurance package which would have replaced the device by now for a small modest fee.  Unfortunately the insurance went along with the service.  I know, sucks to be me and I just hope that all the fleas from all the camels in Saudi Arabia infest the person who took it’s underwear so that it gives new meaning to Jock Itch.  While I know anyone could have done it, I am leaning more towards a male as this was a very bold theft.  But I digress.

For my Cell Phone I have installed a program from Google Play called Prey and this program will allow you to do some awesome things with your device remotely should it become misplaced or misappropriated.  I will let you know after I have had some time to play with it if it is a viable option or not.  There are quite a few applications like this on the market and I always try and use the open source products first since this allows others to fix the bugs or take over development should the current developers decide against further development or they get a real life.

So I recommend installing something and making sure that if you have a high end smart device that you also carry theft and damage insurance from your carrier.  A new smart device can run as high as $800 without a carrier discount and they only give them every two years so if you lose the device it will cover it.  Most carriers have it for $10-15 and a $100 deductible which over the course of a two year contract with no deductibles will set you back about $300 but isn’t that worth it knowing that if you drop it or lose it that it will be replaced?

Securing Your Digital Life–Introduction

I decided to write this series to help a friend of mine better understand how to secure herself against creepy ex-boyfriends who knew everything about her.  Since I am a network security expert, she asked me my advice and I realized that I should probably write a blog about it and never did.  While none of this is female specific, it is something that single females should do to secure themselves and their lives in the modern age.  Ever since I got involved with computers, I have always been interested in security and this probably stemmed from running a BBS at 300 baud.  As computers progressed and I moved in to the corporate IT World the focus on Data availability, integrity and security all became a focal point.  Emphasis was put on ensuring that users stored all data and documents on the server so that it could be secured and backed up.  While I was focusing on security the consumer world was introduced to windows without any security at all.  Users relished the freedom and ridiculed the lack of security.

Most people are of the misguided belief that there is nothing of value on their computer and that they have nothing to worry about on their computers.  I am telling you to not be so sure about that and you really do not have to give up any freedom to make things a little more secure.  I am going to explain why you should adopt these practices and then how to implement them and get used to using them.  The idea is to keep you safe online and safe if someone steals your computer or smart phone.  I will use real language and terms and try and explain them in everyday terms so that you can understand what the goal is and exactly how it is accomplished.

Around 2004 I got to see the seedier side of computer based crime that dealt with identity theft and fake documents.  Someone who had been shown the basics by someone showed them to me.  Using Photoshop he showed me the template for the new California Drivers License that would take effect in January, this being December.  He then used the webcam on the notebook to take my picture and using Photoshop placed it in the correct places and onscreen it looked like it came from the DMV.  We used all of my real information and he showed me the process to make an ID. First he printed the main layer on white paper.  Then he printed another layer on clear transparency film and then another and finally the back layer.  Each layer was cut to the precise size and then a clear epoxy was used to glue the back to the back of the base layer.  Then each subsequent layer was glued on the top.  When everything was complete it looked just like the real ID minus the gold printing.  He then took this foil paper, placed it on the top and ironed it with an iron.  When he removed the foil even the gold printing was there.  The only thing that didn’t work was the magnetic strip.

This was an entry level setup and the IDs it made would pass all rudimentary inspection if the maker paid attention to all of the details and took their time to ensure each step was perfect.  I can only imagine what an artist with even more tools could accomplish in the same time.  That being said, this made me realize how easy identity theft really is and  that is the first area I will focus on.  Ironically the same methodology used for this can also help ensure that an overly possessive boyfriend cannot snoop on you as easily either.  A girl has to have her secrets.  I have also been asked multiple times by clients over the years for assistance in personal matters that involved computer security and forensics.   A friend contacted me today and explained the situation his friend was in, she was evidently somehow involved with someone or friends with someone who first tech-raped her and is now holding her tech-hostage.  What I mean by this is he helped her setup her iPhone to sync with her ISP email and in doing so, he gained access to her passwords.  He allegedly has hijacked her Facebook page and made inappropriate posts.  So in the middle of the first draft of this blog, I began discussing this with him and offering advice.

I set my cell phone as a cell phone and only point of contact with the people that I do business with.  I use a Patelco, a credit union, instead of a bank.  I keep the address on most of my financially related information at an address other then my home address.  This buffers and protects my identity because the only one with this other address are my creditors.  I try and opt for online billing as often as possible.  I download and save or print a PDF version of the bill and save it in a folder on my hard drive named yyyymmdd-accountname.pdf and then at the end of the year I zip all of the previous years up and leave the zip folder named yyyy–accountname.zip. I use this kind of archiving for everything.  I save my camera phone photos by year and separated by decade.  But I am lazy about backups, and continue to be so even though I have lost so much data to hardware failure.

Let’s get some things on the table:  I do not trust the cloud for many reasons the most important of which is that it is for profit and that means they will change the terms and conditions at anytime and you have to agree to them and the second is most of them indemnify themselves from liability regardless of their culpability.  They also often have weird clauses about who actually owns the information being stored on their cloud.  But that is another story and blog.

Most online services and websites require a password although now it seems like there are two major providers and two minor providers of cross site logins:  Twitter and Facebook followed by Microsoft and Google.  I have personal and professional accounts at AOL/AIM, ICQ, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and have Facebook, My Space and Linked In.  All of these require passwords.  To add to that complexity, I have my main email address: sgoldfein@gmail.com as valid addresses for AIM, MSN, and Google.  Yahoo uses sgoldfein@yahoo.com and I also have an MSN for sgoldfein@hotmail.com.   These all require unique secure passwords and a way to remember them securely and that’s just the beginning.

There is this myth that there is a need to constantly change your password for security and integrity reasons although I am not sure where this ideology came from but Microsoft did a massive study over a several year period of time and realized that forced password changes on a random basis provided absolutely no more security then using the same password for the entire period of time.  They also found that the help desk spent far more time resetting passwords soon after the change then at any other time and that there were little to no password resets necessary when the users were not required to change their passwords.  So in conclusion: requiring random password changes doesn’t increase security but it does reduce productivity and increase help desk costs.

The one thing there is no myth about is choosing passwords and securing them after we choose them.  When I first started life online, I used one password or a derivative of it on every BBS I joined.  I quickly learned that this was a stupid move and an asshole sysop could find out your password and logon as you somewhere else.  About 10 years ago I found a program called Roboform and it revolutionized how I did passwords because it allowed me to carry my list of passwords with me on a Flash Drive or my Cell Phone encrypted from prying eyes.  Roboform has come a long way and there are versions available for Windows, Macintosh, Cloud Based, Android, and IPod/IPad.  Roboform integrates with most browsers, although right now it does not work with Maxthon like it is supposed to but that’s not a show stopper.

Download the installer from the website above and save it to the Downloads folder on your computer and then navigate to that folder using My Computer or Windows Explorer.  Select and double click on the installer file and it will display the following screen:

Now before we proceed you need to be thinking about your ‘Master Password’ as this is the most important password on your system because it is the one that will be used to secure your other passwords and data.  I recommend taking your favorite verse from the bible, or a song or first paragraph of a book you know by heart or any passage of text you know by heart.  Recite it in your head memorizing the first letter of each word until you can just say the letters without thinking about it.  That is your private master password and you should never tell anyone what it is.  I usually add some random number for letter substitutions within as well.  Use this password in Roboform to secure your passwords.

Notice I have checked the Show Advanced Options checkbox.  I will explain each of the options as we proceed with the installations so you will understand what effect they have on the overall program.  I am doing an upgrade and not a new install so there might be a slight variance in the process from what you see here.

The installed and active browsers will have the Roboform Toolbar connectors installed.  This allows Roboform to display a toolbar in the browser that let’s you click a button on it to fill in the username and password.  It doesn’t appear in screenshots of Chrome for some reason either, so I can’t post a screenshot.  If the browser is installed the option to install the add-on becomes active.

I started using Chrome for one reason and one reason only, it was fast, stable and it was NOT IE or Firefox.  I would have used Opera but it did not have Roboform support.  As soon as Maxthon and Roboform work together, it will be my browser of choice.

Notice there is also an option to Fill and save forms in Windows Applications and this is a hit or miss.  IBM / Lenovo used to have a password manager that they bundled in their security apps that hit this like no other.  It could fill the passwords in any windows app.  It is hit or miss with this and it does not work with games like Lord Of The Rings Online.  I select it anyway in the hopes hey slowly improve upon it like they have everything else.

This is an annoyance because you really cannot utilize Roboform without purchasing it and as such I do not want it to hijack my start page.  Other’s might feel differently and I might change my mind in the future should I accidentally forget to uncheck it.

 

Since I have already installed and Roboform is running, I cannot change these options and there isn’t really a reason I can foresee to want to.

It wants me to close all my browser and windows explorer windows.

Do you have Android or an I pad or an IPhone?  If so then  you will want to make a temporary account this one time before you add any new passcards.

Fill in the information above and create your user account.  If it offers to make a passcard, do so.  Then follow instructions to finish the install and perform the first sync.

Then load the Roboform options by right clicking the little green RoboForm icon in the tray next to the clock and selection options.

Select User Data and click the Settings Button.

 

Choose Desktop and follow the prompts to finish.  Now just go and login to your favorite sites like Facebook and Yahoo.  I would use the toolbar option to generate random passwords to generate new random passwords and use a different one for each site. 

If this were the first time I visited Facebook it would wait for me to fill the username and password and then it would ask if I wanted to save it.  Make sure the Keep Me Logged In checkbox is checked and remains that way when saving the passcard.  Finally I would make sure you use a Windows Password that no one knows, you can change your password by pressing Control + Alt and the Delete key all at the same time.  Then select Change Password and follow the prompts.

Finally, change Windows to ask for a password on Resume.  This will make Windows ask for a password when the screensaver comes on.  This means if you walk away or get distracted that someone can’t get access to your computer.  By force of habit I lock my computer.  Another Tech pranked me and I decided to never let it happen again.  He basically took a screen shot of my desktop with all the applications minimized.  He then used the control panel to hide the desktop icons and hid the start menu.  This was back with Windows NT and random lockups before SP3.  Change your passwords and use Roboform.  I will cover the android and portable versions in the future.  In Windows Vista and 7 you can hit Control+Alt+Delete and select Lock Computer or just press the Windows Key and L at the same time to do it.  I usually forget and just let the screen saver take over.

Repositioning, Refocusing and Repurposing Of Blogs

I originally created this blog on Microsoft Windows Live Blogs 7 years ago to host the How To’s I created on my own time for my employer’s clients.  Since it was on my own time, I wanted to get credit for it.  I could just as easily just searched for someone else’s canned review and install guide.  I learned very early on that most people hate being instructed on how to do things but they love being taught how to do things.  Most people approaching teaching as instructional demonstration.  Show them what to do and tell them what it is you are doing at the same time.  Nothing to link what the answers or responses to the dialog boxes means or does.  No, they do not need this to use it, but if you present the information the right way in the documentation, they absorb enough of it through osmosis.  This is why the dummies guides and idiot books are so popular.  It is not that they dumb it down it is that they present it passively, conversationally and less like an instruction.

I then created a Blogger Blog to post pictures of my kids and so that I could use Google’s services to supplement the blog.  Picasso albums, etc. But I never got around to doing it.  Now I am going to try and do it over the summer, blogging about the daily activities with my kids this summer.  They are at an awesome age where we can hopefully make it to some of the amazing summer events around California.  So I am going to move my personal stuff to the Musings Of A Technonerd website and use this CyberSquire website to begin blogging about technology.  The changes are going to happen as soon as I can figure out how to easily move the posts around.

--Steve

Nerdiness & Customer Service

Growing up, I got lucky in that I knew someone who knew Steve Geppi founder od Diamond Comics and they got me readdicted to comic books.  Geppi’s Comic World by Security Mall was like a candy store and a house of worship.  I was a nerd, what can I say.  The manager new my by name and he was the single most awesome comic book manager to ever run a store.  I say that because I mentioned at one time that I loved Batman and then every time Batman was in something, he made sure I knew about it.  When the Killing Joke came out and I called to tell him I wouldn’t be in on Friday, he stuck 6 extra copies in my box.  Over the weekend it sold out and when I bought mine on Monday I paid regular price, while people were selling them for $20.  So, I learned to expect a lot from my comic shop.  I expected the other employees to be nerdy comic book readers and even if they didn’t read something, they would know it.  Their staff did, most spending most of their part-time salaries on comic books.

My friend Kevin introduced me to the Big Bang Theory and reintroduced me to Wil Wheaton aka Wesley Crusher.  Wil does a webcast called Geek and Sundry where he teaches people to play nerdy games. 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMtlQxJeWvc]

I know my wife and I decided to get her something cool for mother’s day and decided on Zombie Dice because my wife would think it was hilarious.  So I searched online and then remembered that a local comic shop would have them and I could maybe get a guild comic.  So we set off to A1-Comics in Roseville on Mother’s day as a family to see if they had them, I had already told my wife about the quest.  We do things like this all the time.  Let me give you some background, A1-Comics also has an area for card gaming and it seems that on Sundays the primary crowd are Card Gamers.  I have never been able to find someone there who wanted to help me spend money on comic books.  I’d enquire and they would point me in that direction.  I guess I am just about the sale?  I take people to the item, and hand it to them and usually say something positive about it.  Force of habit.So after being told they didn’t have them, I asked if they could call the other location only to be informed that the other store didn’t open for half an hour.  While waiting I noticed that they had the expansion pack for zombie dice and asked about it. 

Meanwhile the other store did have the original in stock.  No one said anything about the expansion.  Really?  So I asked waiting for someone to pickup on it and had to ask if the other store had both.  It didn’t.  Even though I didn’t buy the item, my years of retail training are strong in this one.  I was trying to lead them to sales.  I wanted my comic shop to have guys like the one on The Big Bang Theory.

The problem only got worse when we got to the other store.  When we walked in they were having a POS issue and could not tender any sales.  So I stood there waiting and chit chatting with the employee behind the counter.  He new why I was there and that I was spending money.  I asked about The Guild spinoff comics and which ones had come out, I had forgotten to look online prior.  I was going to spend more money.  He said a few and indicated they would be over there somewhere.  I had indicated prior that the wife and kids were in the car, we had come from far away to get it.  He didn’t take the bait, so I rephrased it again and again. He would not engage me in conversation about it.  WTF?  Seriously?  This is what is wrong with shows like Big Bang Theory mainstreaming Nerdom and Comicon selling out to the trendy.  Every nerd at comicon recognized Pedobear for what it was and only the trendy who learned about it after the fact took offense and created a scene.  In that instant everything that was comicon ceased to exist.  It was either that or when Entourage did Comicon.

There was no reason to make that kind of fuss, as seen above, the nerds took pictures with him.  But I digress.  This is not the only time this has happened.  The end of Kindergarten for my son, I took him there on the first day out of school, there were a bunch of card gamers there.  I asked the guy behind the counter about comic books, something appropriate for his age.  The kid behind the counter told me he did not read comic books.  I tried to stop it, honestly I did.  Maybe this is why they treat me this way, but this little voice in my head, it took control of voice box and said ‘How the hell can you work in a fracking comic shop and not read comic books?  That’s like a vegetarian butcher.  A kosher bacon cheese burger.  It makes me wonder if it is a small business or a corporation where they can afford to leave money on the table.