Acronyms and words

 

This past week I was at a conference and during a lunch break we had a very interesting conversation with regard to acronyms and words in general. We were talking about how one word or acronym can have several meanings. This conversation also leads into how IT people seem to have their own language and a lot of other people have no idea what they are saying.

It was a lot of fun just sitting and listening to some of the conversation because even IT people have a hard time understanding other IT individuals because of the words that they use. We were talking about how you explain something to senior management in terms that they understand and move it away from the technical terms. This conversation was a lot of fun, as I am one of those that doesn’t understand the technical terms very often and need it in simpler terms. It was nice to have this conversation with a bunch of technical people because they agreed with me. Technical people must understand that they have their own language and not everyone will understand what they are saying.

The conversation also went into the messages that IT individuals write for the end-users and how confusing they can be. Most end-users don’t understand the technical terms, but some IT individuals write their messages as if everyone should understand what they are saying and if they don’t that end-user must be stupid. Yes, I have heard someone in IT say that if an end-user doesn’t understand the message, they are just stupid and don’t understand anything. I read a message from this IT person, and even I had a hard time figuring out what they were saying, and I understood the product they were talking about.

I know that this doesn’t just apply to the IT field because most other fields have their own language and terms and if you are not part of that field, it’s hard to follow a discussion. So, when you are talking to someone that is not in your specific expertise remember to try and remove some of the terms that are unique and put in some different words, and it might help everyone.

 

Creativity behind a zoom meeting

The last four years have seen a big change in how meetings are held. Before, everyone was in the same room, and you were able to talk to everyone before and even after the meetings. Now, a lot of meetings for businesses are help via the internet and through some meeting platform. Most people are in their own locations, so there isn’t the talking before and after and even during the meetings. Meetings are probably a lot more focused because there aren’t the side conversations that normally happened when the meetings were in person.

One thing that I have heard is that people are enjoying meetings a little more now because they are either shorter or everyone doesn’t have to be on camera all the time or even have their microphones on. The one advantage of not having to be on camera is you can do something else while attending the meeting, especially if your job is to just listen to it. I know that a lot of the webinars that I attend we aren’t on camera, so I normally have something else that I am doing with my hands.

For individuals that are crafters, the virtual meetings are a great time to pick up a simple project and work on it. I know that for me, it helps keep my hands away from the keyboard, but it helps me focus on what is being discussed. The other thing that virtual meetings are good for is getting things organized that you have been trying to do. Yes, you are there and listening to the conversation or presentation, but you can get something else done at the same time.

Creativity can happen during a meeting when it’s virtual. Sure, if you are key to the meeting, you won’t be doing the crafting but at least other’s that are just there to listen they can be doing something to help keep them focused. I don’t know how many things that I have worked on during all the different webinars and meetings that I have been part of, but I know that I have been able to focus a lot better on what is being said. Yes, I am careful with what I select to work on so that I don’t lose the focus, but at least I can avoid getting lost on the internet because my hands are away from the mouse, and I am a lot happier.

If someone says that they were crafting during a meeting, and it helped them focus on the conversation, it can be true. A simple project that you don’t need to focus your attention on can mean that meetings are a lot easier to attend, and you get more out of the meeting as well. Creativity is happening behind a virtual meeting and as long as it doesn’t impact the meeting who can complain.

Scams, scams, and more scams

There seems to be more and more scams out there, and probably because people are falling for them. I recently heard that a student lost quite a bit of money from their bank account as they fell for one of these scams. Nowadays, it just seems that every day you either get a phone call, email or text message that doesn’t look like. Even businesses get the scam emails, so don’t think you are alone. Below are some of the scams that we have received in the last little while, that is not including our favourite “Duct Cleaning” phone calls.

Scams:

Netflix: Your payment cannot be completed. To keep access to the service, please visit (factious website)

• If you don’t have Netflix never click on the link and even if you do have Netflix DO NOT click on this lick. To see if there is an issue with your Netflix account, go to where you would normally log in into your account and check the status of it.
  

RBC Your client card starting with 4519** has been flagged due to unusual activity. To reactivate your online access, please visit: (Factitious website)

• All RBC credit cards start with this, so that isn’t any information that is helpful. Also, most banks have other means of letting you know that there is an issue with your card. I know that when our card had some unusual activity, we received a phone call. If you think there might be something wrong with your card, DO NOT click on the link. You can sign in to your account the normal way and check your account.

[Canada-post]Your package has been put on hold because the street number is missing from the package. Please check and submit the correct address. (Factitious website)

• If you aren’t expecting a package to be delivered, just ignore this text message. If you are, contact the sender to see if they may have missed addressing it correctly. DO NOT click on the link no matter what.

Amazon: This is to inform you that today your account will be charged for Amazon Prime (funny the phone number you are calling isn’t linked to an Amazon account)

• This is a phone scam that they want you to click a number on your phone and provide them with your credit card and other personal information. DO NOT click on that number.

Email: your e-mail account has been disabled and some features might be restricted or may not work. It seems there has been a violation of the terms and conditions with your email account xx@xx.ca. If the account has been already access from unusual or suspicious locations or devices, Google might have disabled it to prevent potential unauthorized access. (now the interesting thing about this one is the account that they showed had nothing to do with Google at all and the website in the form also had nothing to do with Google)

• If you receive an email like this from a company that has nothing to do with where your email is hosted, DO NOT click on the link. Now, the other thing about this message is it contradicts itself. First it says the account has been disabled, and then it says some features might be restricted or not working. Well, if the account has been disabled, all the features won’t work.

Invoice email: Good afternoon! I am quite disappointed! Obtained the complaint from our contractor, and I have a large amount of questions. Please resolve this problem, or I shall apply legal penalties! It is very important! Copy of the complaint you’ll find via the Invoice Link lower (well we don’t do business with the company that is sending the complaint and when you read the actually working it doesn’t make sense)

•  
• This is something that some accounts payables or receivables may receive. Again, DO NOT click on the link that is provided. Check with others to make sure that this company is real and if not block the sending.

Summary

What I have been trying to show you is there are a lot of different methods of text, phone, and email scams that are out there. I have left the messages just as I received them to show you some of the things you can see when you take the time to really read a message. We all must be extremely careful and try and black as many of these accounts as we can. I know that it is hard to control all these scams because when one is caught, at least one more starts up, so we just must be as careful as we can.

It is very important that we start educating our kids and family members about what not to click on when they are on social media or on their email. Being able to increase the awareness of SCAMS may help fewer people become victims of them. My biggest piece of advice is if the text, or email doesn’t make sense, it’s best to ignore it.