i've got your number(s)

I don’t know about you, but I have too many numbers to remember. It’s finally gotten out of hand and I have to say something about it.

First of all, I read on Yahoo! this morning that they are considering adding a new domain name. The new suffix would be .tel, and it would give one a domain name to store all of their numbers. The domain would primarily be for saving phone numbers, e-mail addresses, websites, etc. Reading this story got me thinking about how many numbers we have and a number of other things, too.

People ask me, “Jimbo, what’s you cell phone number?”

I answer them, “I don’t know, but hang on. I’ve got it written down somewhere.”

Also, don’t ask me Jimbo’s girlfriend’s cell phone number, or my son’s or my mom’s. Fortunately, someone had the foresight to invent the address book for cell phones or computers. Otherwise I’d be lost in the ozone if I had to call anyone.

And what about my personal finances? I have IRAs, 401(k)s, a Roth, brokerage accounts and checking accounts, all of which have different user names and passwords to access. And I have a couple of credit cards I manage online. Every one of them has some unique requirement so I can’t use the same names and numbers to access them. I also visit several other password-protected websites, requiring several other unique numbers, like the website I go to publish this blog.

And then I go to work. When I sign on to my computer there, I have a master log in user name and password. Then, my e-mail and the manufacturing software have their own unique numbers.

And what’s the deal with manufacturing software packages and business software? Who was the genius who decided that the log ins all had be case sensitive and one has to log in lower case? But every manufacturing software system I’ve ever used requires that you be in upper case to operate it. I find myself typing numbers and words into the cells in the software, getting done the necessary keystrokes that keep this county working and make this country great. Then, I toggle back to my e-mail and see someone needs a reply, and when I reply to them, I realize that I am yelling, still in upper case.

And who was the genius who decided that we had to change our passwords at work every thirty days for “security” reasons? Is the purpose of doing this to bore potential hackers to death? If a hacker got hold of a list of my user names and passwords, he (or she) would have a long list to read. Presumably, sometime before the end of the list, their eyes would start to get heavy and they would drift off into a boredom-induced slumber.

I’m thinking the new .tel domain may be a good idea as a tool to help us remember all of those numbers, but won’t it be another login name and number we’ll have to remember?

At least that’s our concern here in Jimbo’s world.