The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/836610
The Press-Dispatch Home Life Wednesday, June 14, 2017 D- 7 Katiedid vs... by Katiedid Langrock Call me Mama y daughter doesn't know my name. I don't mean that she is unable to say Katiedid Langrock. Most adults struggle with that one. I mean that she doesn't know "Mama." Or, more accu- rately, she doesn't seem to know that the name should belong to me. My 19 -month-old shocked me last week when she picked up one of our many Llama Llama books, flipped through the pages, pointed gleefully at the purse-carrying, advice-giving ma- ternal figure and screamed out, "Ma- ma! " Great, so the kid recognizes the walking winter sweater as a mommy but not the one who stayed up all night nursing her for 15 months. I'm not bitter. I'm not. OK, maybe a bit. My daughter has said "Dada" for nearly a year now. She says banana, Pig, ouch, yes, no, butterfly, broth- er, poop, up, thank you, please, sil- ly, dog and water, and one evening— when she was out to stampede over my self-worth—she pointed to the dino- saur cartoon my son was watching and screamed, "Pterodactyl! " I see where I stand. Under "poop." I try to get her to say my name. At dinnertime, we take turns going around the table, encouraging her to say our names. When we get to Ma- ma, she just throws back her head and laughs. It's possible she's an evil ge- nius. Or a psychopath. It's too early to get her tested at Gotham Psychiatric for Joker-esque tendencies, right? Unwilling to give up, I have moved from simply playing name games and using gentle encouragement to trying to outright trick her. Once she gleeful- ly shrieks the name of that arrogant al- paca, I stick my face under her pudgy pointer finger. My daugh- ter is not impressed. I've tried bribing her, insist- ing she say my name be- fore I give her a beloved banana. She said "bama- ma" once, and I took it as a win, though, let's be hon- est, 19 -month-olds aren't usually known for their stellar annunciation skills. She probably has no idea she accidentally slipped me a self-esteem upper. I needed my next fix. One of my daughter's favorite things to do is name the people in photos. Those people never include me, of course, the diaper-changing, lullaby-singing, midnight-rocking, temperature-taking, forehead-kiss- ing, endlessly cuddling creature who brought her into the world. Utterly de- termined, I lined up as many pictures as I could that prominently show me. We went down the line of framed pho- tos. For the first dozen or so pictures, she named the other person featured in the photo with me, with no mention of my existence whatsoever. No wor- ries. I wasn't concerned. I knew I had a trick up my sleeve. The very last pic- ture displayed me alone with my old dog. No way out of saying "Mama" this time, kid. When we finally got to the last photo, I grinned. I had her right where I wanted her. "And who's in this picture, baby? " I asked. She looked at me. She was going to say it. It was on the tip of her tongue. I could practically taste it. My daughter smiled and said, "Woof woof! " I tell myself she was talking about the dog. What is it, this need for nomenclature? It's silly, really. I know it is. I know she loves me. I know she understands, to the best of a 19 -month-old's ability to understand, that I am her mama. That I am her person. The boo-boo kiss- er. The monster chaser. The butt wiper. Not that I would prefer that my daughter call me any of those names instead. But the questions remains: If I'm not con- cerned about our level of attachment, why am I so attached to the name rec- ognition? I guess recognition is what it's all about. We do so much as parents, so much that is unnoticed and unappre- ciated and always will be. So much goes unrecognized and unrewarded except for the one medal of honor that sneaks through the cracks: We get to be a "dada" or "mama." That's the re- ward. That's the thanks. And it's oh so worth it. Yesterday my daughter was el- bow-deep in a complete meltdown be- cause I hadn't peeled her precious ba- nana perfectly. She is very particular about the peel. Unwilling to suffer the screams any longer, I brought her a new banana and said, "Here! Do you want a new one? " She clutched the fruit, choked back her tears, climbed into my lap and said, "Bamama." I'll take it. Tech Tips by T3 Residential Technical Services Taking back your privacy Technology and privacy go hand in hand. Just about any Internet brows- er or program that you use collects in- formation about you in some way and can be exploitable. Also, some organ- izations undergo a process called da- ta mining. They are essentially sort- ing through raw data and turning it into useful information. Google and Facebook for instance are some of the largest data miners in the world. They track your search history and throw specific advertisements toward you based on your search history. Let's say that I decide to research a specif- ic phone to purchase. Later, I may be scrolling through my Facebook or Ins- tagram feed and find several advertise- ments geared towards the exact phone I recently searched. If you aren't fully aware of what's going on, this could be a little nerve-wracking. Despite the surveillance from these organiza- tions, all hope is not lost for your pri- vacy. There are multiple measures you can take to make data collection much more difficult for them. SOLUTIONS Now there are many ways to go about securing your privacy. There is no single defined way. Many people believe that the go-to-solution to their privacy is simply to go to the incogni- to tab in your search engine. Little do they know, when you switch to the in- cognito tab, Google Chrome will even notify you that this measure won't hide what you are searching from employ- ers, Internet service providers, or the websites you are visiting. Incognito mode only tells your computer brows- er, whether Chrome or Internet Ex- plorer, not to record your activity on your computer. One of the most common ways to se- cure your data and activity is through encryption (the process of hiding da- ta). Many people utilize TOR (The On- ion Router). This application will en- crypt all network traffic through a se- ries of layers. This prevents any wan- dering eyes from learning about the sites you visit, interests, hobbies, or affiliations. The mobile application for your smart phone or your tablet is available on Android-devices under the name of "Orbot." The desktop ver- sion for your personal computer can be found at www.torproject.com. A more extreme approach to pro- tecting your privacy is utilized by more advanced users, who may use a Linux-based operating system that goes by the name of "Tails," which will not store personal information. Noth- ing will be saved to your computer and all traffic will be encrypted and route through TOR. Another solution would be to set up a Virtual Private Network ( VPN) with a trusted Internet service provid- er (ISP). VPN's set up a secure, en- crypted connection between your de- vice and the server operated by the ISP. They may have servers set up across the globe, similar to TOR. For example, if you are in a country with a government regulating and blocking web traffic and can't access Netflix, running a VPN to a server in a coun- try without those regulations would allow you to stream movies on Netf- lix at your own discretion. Important side note: Never trust free VPN servic- es unless they outline specifically how they are making their profit. Some free providers could be giving their servic- es and selling your data for revenue. There will always be a cost whether it's significant or not. Just make sure that your free venue isn't detrimental to your end goal. Now I've listed a few of many solu- tions to better protect your informa- tion online, however I have not yet touched on communications such as emails, texts, and calling. Typically, the go-to solution is not to copy Wal- ter White from Breaking Bad and car- ry a burner phone that you'll destroy after a few uses. There are more prac- tical ways of protecting your commu- nications. By default, the communi- cation applications on your phone are typically not encrypted. You can in- stall a bunch of different applications that will have end to end encryption be- tween you and your contacts. Signal, WhatsApp, and Telegram are some of the most popular. Users can create se- cret groups, set messages to self-de- struct after a specified time frame, and even disable the ability to take screen shots. As for emails, the same concept of encryption applies. There are plen- ty of sites that offer encrypted email accounts. Tutanota is my personal fa- vorite. These emails can be set to re- quire a pass code to view an email. By doing this, you can ensure that only in- tended users are receiving your mes- sages. All these methods will help you take your privacy back if you so choose. Just remember, no method is foolproof aside from completely disconnecting and going off-grid (which may sound appealing). The purpose is to allow you to take back the long-lost idea of priva- cy without completely cutting yourself off from the world. If you are interested in any of these methods, want information, and need help setting these protections up on your computer. Please give us a call at 812-724-7061 or stop by our office at 113 S. Main St. in Owensville. FARM Down on the Volunteers needed for important nationwide Weather Observing Network By Hans Schmitz Extension Educator Gibson County Purdue Extension The Com- munity Collab- orative Rain, Hail & Snow Network (Co- CoRaHS) is expanding across Indi- ana and new volunteers are needed. Gibson County is down to one real-time report daily on average, meaning those in Haub - stadt and Hazleton don't have access to reliable on- line rainfall data. This na- tionwide project, located online at www.cocorahs. org, offers an opportunity for anyone, young or old, to become a volunteer ob- server of rain, snow, and hail. Data collected by vol- unteer observers will help many local, state, and na- tional organizations im- prove weather forecasts and warnings, ultimately helping save lives. CoCoRaHS is a volun- teer, grass-roots network dedicated to the monitor- ing of precious water re- sources across the coun- try. Organizations in- volved in agriculture, public safety, and natu- ral resources manage- ment will find great ben- efit from this data, availa- ble free of charge to all on the network website. Co- CoRaHS also represents an important new portion of nationwide drought monitoring and warn- ing networks for flood monitoring and predic- tion services. Sam Lash- ley, Northern Indiana net- work coordinator and Sen- ior Meteorologist with the National Weather Service Northern Indiana Office, says that the project will help forecasters pin point areas of drought, heavy rain and potential flood- ing. "Flooding kills more people each year than tornadoes. CoCoRaHS observers have provided valuable rainfall obser- vations in the past which have helped forecasters determine how high rivers would crest and where flood- ing would oc- cur," said Lash- ley. Observ- ers can also re- port hail size, which the Na- tional Weather Service direct- ly receives and can use to help issue or verify storm warnings. This is a huge help in the mission to pro- tect life and property. CoCoRaHS spread to Indiana in February of 2006 and now has about 600 active observers of all ages across the Hoos- ier State. According to Lashley, "Volunteers have included senior cit- izens, children with an interest in science, adult weather enthusiasts, and even schools and home schooled children." Indi- ana was one of the first states in the Midwest to join this nationwide net- work of over 10,000 vol- unteers. Interested volunteers can join by going to the website (www.cocorahs. org) and selecting "Join CoCoRaHS" to fill out an online application. The only requirements to get started are that the volun- teer has an official 4-inch diameter gauge (availa- ble for purchase online) and has received some form of training – either from the available on - line slide shows and vid- eos or from attending a live training session with a local coordinator. Any questions about the pro- gram can be directed to your local county coordi- nator, Hans Schmitz, who can be contacted by email at hschmitz@purdue.edu or phone (812-385 -3491). His information may also be found at the "Volunteer Coordinators" link on the left side menu of the main website. Life Milestones made free CALL: 812-354-8500 Put a free photo with write up on your Family and Class Reunions.