# Chistina's Five Questions for January

1) What do you do when someone you don't know on a social or business
   network site tries to become a "friend" or otherwise connected to you?
   
.. This is not a thing that happens with me. I am not a part of any site
   that offers this sort of interaction. I do not participate in networking
   sites at all. I also do not use a smartphone. That was a big help with
   breaking myself from these sorts of networks. When I quit that and went
   back to mostly using calls and voicemail (I text, but only if I have to).

   

2) Do you worry about the data being collected by websites and search engines
   and what do you do to protect yourself? What do you advise to those who are
   not as technically skilled yet concerned nonetheless to do?
   
.. I _do_ worry about this. I do a few things, though it is hard to really get
   a sense of just how effective they are:
   
      1. I use a VPN and I change up my access points (and, thus, my IP) often
      2. I use Privacy Badger (EFF browser plugin)
      3. I block a _huge_ list of advertising and other bad actor IP addresses
         in my hosts file. I update this list a few times a year.
      4. I use firefox privacy settings to block: all cross-site cookies, trackers,
         cryptominers, known fingerprinters, and suspected fingerprinters. I also
         have it set to clear all data every time firefox closes. These settings
         break a lot of websites.
   
   I do not know that all of this benefits me too much. Maybe a little? I also
   browse in netsurf a bit, so no JS. In the end, this is an arms race and I will
   lose it. Much like wargames: the only way to win is to not play (ie. to not
   browse); to that, my internet usage has dropped a ton in recent years. I go to
   maybe five websites with any regularity (and two of those are my own).



3) How do you reward yourself for completing a difficult task?

.. I don't, usually. I move on to the next task. I suppose sometimes I might
   put a record on and sit for a bit and enjoy the feeling of having finished
   something hard.



4) Have you or your family been affected by a natural disaster?

.. Yes. In the past few years we have been evacuated from our home twice for
   fires (evacuating home with a small child and a cat is... a lot). We also
   had the national guard brought in and a state of emergency called due to
   a really intense (for our area/infrastructure) snow storm. I actually really
   liked that storm and felt strangely relaxed. It was quiet and I was with
   my wife and child in our home. We had plenty of wood for our fire and the
   power managed to stay on, so the heater worked anyway. It was a nice time.
   My wife did not find it to be as relaxing. But my daughter and I kept a path
   shoveled from door to street each day. Eventually the walls were 10-13ft.
   high on either side. She and I had a good time working on that.



5) Have you ever called in a request or a dedication on a radio show or
   online radio stream?

.. I do not believe I have. However, I have called my local college radio
   station on a number of occasions to get the name of something they had
   played while I was driving to work. I would note the time in my head and
   then call and ask what was playing at that time. They were always really
   nice and usually we were able to figure out which song I was seeking info
   about. Some long term favorites were found that way.