PG’s smart phone up and died without giving advance notice yesterday. PG attempted resuscitation to no avail. Various smart phone experts were consulted, but none of their interventions could revive Old Phaithful.
PG currently has a loaner that one of his offspring promptly delivered. However, a different operating system plus the lack of a zillion favorite apps plus PG’s locked-in auto-thumbs combine to make the substitute feel like a creation from alternate reality.
But none of this is of interest.
What may be of interest is that PG has used Two-Factor-Authentication to increase the security of several of his online accounts, including the boiler room of TPV.
There are a variety of different TFA systems with which PG is familiar, but the most common is one that sends an unlock code via text message when a user enters a correct ID/PW combination. PG hasn’t seen a TFA that offers the option of sending text messages to two phones, sending a text message plus an email, etc.
The absence of an operating phone to receive text messages made TPV even more secure than usual yesterday.
The fact that PG is making this post means that his loaner phone can receive text message from TPV just fine.
PG is pondering whether to turn off TFA for TPV until he gets a new phone that works wonderfully or not. He’s also considering the possibility of a TFA or alternate belt-and-suspenders security option that won’t lock up instantly if his phone dies or is misplaced.
But that’s not anyone’s problem but PG’s.
He apologizes for commenters whose comments were held for moderation for much longer than normal, questions that went unanswered, etc.
You were missed.
I thought you probably had tech problems though (but I didn’t think of the phone), because you are so organized that you probably already have a way for readers to be informed if something happens to you. Which I fervently hope will not, for a very long time.