Did this just happen? What an ordeal! I noticed you weren't as involved on here (at least not as much in my corner of it), so I was thinking you were off having some fun somewhere.
Taxes are a pain to begin with, but then to get a notification of a WiFi hack in the middle of it—dude.
As far as a writing exercise goes, wow. I wish it had been just coming from your imagination.
Since you haven't exactly mentioned it, I'm hoping this means that you're certain no data was taken off of your phone and that everything is secure and back to normal.
I'm not a big fan of Norton or other companies, and I agree to an extent with another comment about security hackers working with them. It would be all too convenient for them to try such tactics, although I can't believe there wouldn't be a law against it on the federal level that some major officials would have to be looking the other way in order for Norton or McAfee or whoever else to blatantly use hacks as a sales ploy.
So, what are you going to do? Is there a way to beef up security on your WiFi? It kind of sounds like an over the air deal. I have my own WiFi set up, but I'm somewhat aware of other setups.
Of course, if the same company that's supposed to be keeping your network safe is the one faking or making an actual hack...
I hope that everything is good now and that you can restore piece of mind very soon.
Yeah, that was earlier this week. I've been fighting through a number of things. It seems like things are slowly looking up.
I would have liked for it to come from my imagination as well. I'm having a bit of trouble getting things out of there.
I believe that everything is good. Norton said it was all just a bug. I didn't notice anything happening, all my files seem to be there, and I never had any issues on my computer. I think I'm good to go.
I think it could probably fall under racketeering or other collusion statutes. I'm not a lawyer though, and I got turned down to play one on tv. Just kidding. I was never in the running.
I don't think there's danger right now. Could be, but I doubt there's a heightened danger from last week. I'm not planning on doing anything more. Earlier if I had considered getting VPN software, Norton would have been in the running, but now I doubt I'll look at their other products at all.
I've got a piece of my mind. I'm not sure where the rest of it went, but I can't find it right now, so I'll just let it be. Maybe it will wander back and find me instead. :)
Well, all brain or just a piece, I'm glad to see you made it through. I'd noticed you were gone, at least from my neck of the woods, but didn't necessarily find you making a lot of comments elsewhere either, so anyway. Glad you were able to get through it with your stuff intact at least.
As for the imagination, wasn't the last installment The Horse With No Name, or did I miss something after that. From my recollection, The Man With No Name was shot, had blacked out, and he and the horse were starting to wander about.
So, that means our hero has to get out of the predicament somehow. Any peaceful Indian tribes around he could blunder upon? What about tying the gun that got stolen in with a former girlfriend? Wait. Is that already a plot line. Can't remember now.
Point is, The Man With No Name is in trouble, and he needs a way out of it. That would seem to be a next step to take.
Really just spit ballin' from memory here, hoping to jump start something and hoping more that you already got your own ideas percolating. :)
Hey, surviving is winning! If life can't break you and you don't give up, then you win! The same thing applies to brains. ;)
I was wondering if you were stalking my comments. Ha ha. At least I'm consistent, so I don't have to worry about the comments I leave in different places.
Yes, The Horse with No Name was the last installment that got released. I have two sections that are part way completed, but I need to sit with them a while. Each post takes around 3 hours to write... assuming things are flowing fairly well in the old cranium. I do a write, re-write, edit, revise, and then have been having my wife proof read it, then I re-read, then I publish. I add the pics as I go. It takes a while, but I really like the story. Maybe I'll get inspired tonight.
Yeah, I have a number of nuggets that I've left along the way that I'm planning on trying to pick back up as I go. I'm excited for the potential in it, but I haven't done this before so I'm not sure when I'm supposed to "push through" the blocks and when I'm supposed to wait and let it marinate. I'll open one and see if I can get it to move.
I had been working on another assignment, but it started turning into something too big for the assignment. I'll have to do something smaller. That is almost a whole chapter of a book so far. And it's not even close to done. And there are no stopping points. Not yet at least. Maybe as it gets fleshed out it will make more sense and I'll be able to put a few dividers in there.
In my years of wanting to be an author, I've read all kinds of tips and hints and tricks, and after all of that, what it boils down to is find your own system when it comes to writing.
Generally, you're told to write every day (that's novel writing), but that wouldn't necessarily hold here. Marinating might be the best way, really.
I've literally marinated on over a dozen ideas for 20 years. Then, the novels I ended up writing were ones I'd just barely thought about doing a few months prior. But by the time I got around to getting them out of my brain, it took all of 2.5 months to write both of them. So, in my case, they just started to download.
Of course, then they took six months each to get edited. :) Okay, that wasn't done by an editor who had nothing better to do but work on my book, but it was an eye opening experience for me. I wasn't nearly as consistent as I thought I was, and you really need to be a stickler with continuity. You can't be too fast and free with that, because the reader will pick up on the errors quickly.
In your case, you don't have to worry about deadlines, and you can take your time. I would just suggest that you set a reasonable, doable deadline goal (taking in account everything you have and might have going on), and then work on it as inspiration strikes. Maybe that's not the best idea, because my inspiration tends to come when my mind is trying to shut down and go to sleep.
Not very convenient Mr. Brain, since my laptop is nowhere near my bed. Maybe I should move it in.
Nah. Wife would freak! :)
Ha ha, I'll start with the last part. I'm very disciplined about not having my laptop or phone in the bedroom. I go there to sleep and I don't want to lose sleep because I'm thinking about what's happening on Steemit, or with friends, or whatever. I've read a number of articles that support this type of habit, so I'm sticking with it.
As far as writing the story, yes, I think it would help to be a little more consistent. I have a few things that are changing in real life and once they shake out and I'm able to see what time I'll have available, I'll be able to schedule a little better and have time set aside for writing. Then I won't be free to just wander around Steemit as much, but at least I'll be more productive.
Thanks for the encouragement! Hey, 20 years is a long time. I wonder if they're ready for writing yet? :D
I need to finish the third book so I have a proper trilogy. Then, maybe I could get the other ones out.
With some of them, it will require some extensive research since they will be period pieces, and I don't have the knowledge on my own. Cool thing is, the internet is an awesome and fast research tool. It helped a lot with the two books I've already self-published.
What's not helping is, I'm caught up in a few comic book series story lines now. Then, there's Steemit, and trying to get it going. So, I don't know what's going to shake out. I'd love to get back to the novel writing, though.
That'd be cool if you had a whole trilogy to sell. You could sell it on Amazon!
Yeah, period pieces are touch because if you don't have the knowledge already, you have to the aforementioned research. The internet is awesome for research. You can look up all kinds of different topics.
Steemit really is a time-sucker. You can get lost in it for hours if you're not careful. ;)