Despite losing a small house in the recent market turmoil I have been looking for ways to spend some money. I retired from a computer job in 2016. I was a programmer since 1980 but in the later years had gotten sucked in to corporate BS after the little company i started was bought by mega-corp, although I never actually managed people.
After retiring I stopped computer programming completely and only used computers for Excel or browsing. Lately I have needed to replace a few older computers and started trying to learn some newer stuff. This week I was involved with setting up some more advanced network security.
I have also been playing with CoPilot and Grok3. It seems to be able to generate at least a starting point for some code. I downloaded a free version of Microsoft Visual Studio. Despite having been pretty technical, I have forgotten a lot or Microsoft has moved or hidden a lot of the features I used to work with. Grok has been excellent in jogging my memory or explaining how to do things.
This week I want to secure my banking computer and have been discussing how to do that with Grok. It has suggested getting a Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro firewall router for $400. I bought a couple USB SSD Samsung T7 drives and ordered a new laptop for $500. Being a tightwad who, aside for a new Tesla after 21 years with Acura TSX and some organic food has hardly spent an extra penny this seems like a huge BTD operation.
I used to like programming and dipping my toe back in the water has bee enjoyable. My co-worker is still in the workforce and has been taking training in computer security so he can find a new employer. I seem to be headed down the same path, expanding on my previous computer security background. Except for that one tiny detail. There will be no new employer in the picture. Not even that dangerous "consulting" word.
After retiring I stopped computer programming completely and only used computers for Excel or browsing. Lately I have needed to replace a few older computers and started trying to learn some newer stuff. This week I was involved with setting up some more advanced network security.
I have also been playing with CoPilot and Grok3. It seems to be able to generate at least a starting point for some code. I downloaded a free version of Microsoft Visual Studio. Despite having been pretty technical, I have forgotten a lot or Microsoft has moved or hidden a lot of the features I used to work with. Grok has been excellent in jogging my memory or explaining how to do things.
This week I want to secure my banking computer and have been discussing how to do that with Grok. It has suggested getting a Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro firewall router for $400. I bought a couple USB SSD Samsung T7 drives and ordered a new laptop for $500. Being a tightwad who, aside for a new Tesla after 21 years with Acura TSX and some organic food has hardly spent an extra penny this seems like a huge BTD operation.
I used to like programming and dipping my toe back in the water has bee enjoyable. My co-worker is still in the workforce and has been taking training in computer security so he can find a new employer. I seem to be headed down the same path, expanding on my previous computer security background. Except for that one tiny detail. There will be no new employer in the picture. Not even that dangerous "consulting" word.
