The Digital World

Before the advent of smartphones, cellular service providers invoiced us on how much we talked and texted; we had to pick a plan, aka "guess," how many minutes we'll be yapping and how many text messages we'll be tapping out on our cell phones each month. When smartphones began to replace the traditional cell phones, yapping and tapping became free while providers still make us guess how much "mobile data" we think we'll use while the smartphone is connected to the internet on mobile data.

The amount of mobile data we use on our smartphones, while not connected to Wi-Fi, became the new yardstick for your monthly charge. That yardstick can be either a finite or unlimited allotment of mobile data.

It was March 23, 2020, when Tak, my husband and The Digital World columnist, said that he couldn’t hear.

“What do you mean by you can't hear?” I asked, puzzled and wondering if he was kidding. This was not the time to joke around. The COVID-19 pandemic had shut down many services. Schools even closed and conducted classes virtually. Libraries, recreation centers, churches, and colleges went remote.

As it turned out, getting an appointment was also a big ordeal as they cut down on unnecessary hospital visits. Unfortunately, hearing loss was not one to get an appointment right away either.

I've been feeling a bit nostalgic the past few weeks. The trigger may have been getting lost in the Flats. I never thought I'd have to pull aside and use Google Maps to get out of the maze; pretty embarrassing for 30+ years of being a Clevelander to be lost in the Flats!

That night, memories of how we spent our weekends while in college, circa late '80s, flooded back. Memories of dancing away to tunes like "Walk Like An Egyptian" by The Bangles at Club Coconuts on the West Bank. Guys dressed like Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson's character) of the era-defining iconic TV series "Miami Vice'' where pastel-colored baggy clothes and wearing shoes-sans-socks were their fashion trend "influences."

One of our favorite Sunday morning pastimes of the 1990s was to buy the Sunday newspaper and head out to the nursery-turned-cafe on Lake Road. I love coffee and I always prefer independent coffee houses if I had a choice; something about the ambiance I like instead of the cookie cutter architecture of a chain.

I would order a cuppa joe, my wife a cup of Mexican Hot Chocolate, and spend hours reading the Sunday newspaper. Sometimes I would treat myself to a second cup or even third – the latter giving me a buzz and jitters – what fun times! The Sunday paper was thick and fat back then because of the advertisements and the coupons we clipped religiously.

This question "what would you take out of a burning house?" has been asked many times over, in popular media and in private chatterings, with the answer often being "photos." Why? Because we all know that memories are priceless!

Hindsight is always 20/20 but I wish I had the foresight to use "archival" quality materials  – paper, ink, plastic – when printing photos, when arranging photos in the album pockets, and while scrapbooking (the memory preservation methodology of choice for my wife). Since we didn't use archival quality materials, we've found some photos fading, album pages falling apart, photo corners curling up, and pictures kept in shoeboxes showing wear-and-tear.

When I was visiting my family this past December, my wife suggested upgrading my mom's flip phone. Just like in the U.S., Japanese cellular service providers are sunsetting the "3G" (third generation mobile communication standard/protocol) in 2023.

Since she enjoys FaceTime (Apple's video chat app) with us every morning using a hand-me-down Apple iPad, finding a smartphone to replace her flip phone was rather trivial after all things considered. I followed the same methodologies/curriculum I had developed, born from my career experiences, for Center for Aging in the Digital World's "Digital Literacy Series" classes offered free to seniors since 2016, to teach my Mom the use of her new smartphone.

I was blessed to be given an opportunity to visit my family in Japan after a four-year hiatus. With my jetlag finally jettisoned, I want to share a "Top 5" list of observations I made while traveling that show the continued convergence of the real and digital worlds.

No. 5: Use the internet to check destination country entry requirements that can be fluid.

I spent two hours submitting my passport and vaccination information to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs before my trip. Upon approval, a QR code was issued which made entry into Japan one of the swiftest I remember.

No. 4: Install the airline's app for on-demand access to your trip information.

Not only will the airline's app give you on-demand access to your itinerary, many airlines let you track your baggage.

Earlier this summer, I wrote about using the "Find My Device" app for Android smartphones/tablets and "Find My iPhone" app for iPhones/iPads and Mac computers on a borrowed device to locate your missing smartphone/tablet.

In a nutshell, when the "Find My Device" switch (found under the "Security" subcategory in the "Settings" app) or when the "Find My iPhone" switch (selectable once you click your name at the top of the screen in the Settings app of the Apple device) is enabled before your smartphone/tablet goes missing, your chances of locating your missing device increases. I can't stress this enough: please do not practice vigilantism if you were a victim of theft; hand over the location information to the authorities and let them handle it.

Do you keep a household budget? I do and I see my actuals creeping up. My family has been frugal but the current economic environment tests the definition of frugality for us. Probably many are in a similar boat so hang in there as this can't continue forever!

Although this is not a financial advice column, the digital world has been helping me save money, both literally and figuratively. Latter because "time is money" where efficiency or convenience brought forth by the services in the cloud, aka internet, gives me more time for the important things in life.

My readers know how much I appreciate the digital library services that our Westlake Porter Public Library and Bay Village branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library provide. For this article, I thought why not tabulate how much I'm saving each year by using those services.

Last year, it started much later than normal. This year I even surveyed a week prior to make sure it hadn't peaked yet. I decided the following Wednesday to be the peak. Well, the following Monday was a gorgeous day – temps in the high 60s to low 70s – for late October. My wife said I shouldn't wait until midweek. After I dropped her off at work, I headed down to the Metroparks with my mom. In retrospect, if I stuck to my original plan, we would've missed the foliage as it rained on Wednesday and some trees were almost naked!

Although the winters can be a little milder, I love Cleveland for the four seasons because Yokohama, Japan, where I grew up, has four seasons. When I got off the boat more than three decades ago, my new friends introduced me to the Metroparks and it sure was a culture shock. Coming from a country where land is at premium, I marveled at how expansive the Metroparks system was, yet meticulously taken care of.

My mom has visited Cleveland before during different seasons but she hasn't been back for a while to enjoy the fall foliage or brave the frigid winter temps in-person. Thanks to technology, though, I can offer her the next best thing: put my phone in the smartphone holder suctioned onto the windshield, start FaceTime, set FaceTime to see out the phone's rear camera, and drive from Rocky River Marina to Berea Falls on the winding Valley Parkway. Video chat apps like Apple's FaceTime, Google's Meet, Zoom, and Meta's WhatsApp to name a few, are the next best thing when in-person is unattainable.

Last week I was reminded of a joke which goes: "A printer consists of three main parts: the case, the jammed paper tray and the blinking red light." I first heard this 30 years ago and it is still pertinent in 2022.

Recently, many seniors have sought my recommendation for printer procurement/replacement candidates as inventory improved. I answer them with a question: How much do they print and how often?

I explain to them that printer ownership is like car ownership thus comes with recurring costs. Purchasing consumables, like toner/ink cartridges and paper, needs to be budgeted. It's similar to changing the oil and buying gasoline to drive a car. To top it off, the blinking yellow light on a printer is akin to the check engine light glowing on your dashboard.

During the pandemic, the availability of technology products became scarce. It also affected inventory of products that rely on electronic components, such as cars and household appliances.

I'm sure you'll remember dealership lots being empty for more than a year. I also remember a couple of our nonprofit's alumni telling us that they had to wait six months or more for parts to become available so the repair service could fix their washer, dryer, and the garage door opener.

With the WFH (Work From Home) mandate for office workers, participation in virtual meetings through services like Zoom and WebEx in lieu of in-person collaboration became the norm. During this transition, available webcams went like hotcakes, often at premium prices, while no new stock of webcams were coming once inventory was depleted. Selling price easily doubled the manufacturer's suggested retail price or more!

As many of my readers know – of course I'm being presumptive that I have "many readers" LOL – I love using analogies when explaining anything technology. For example, I've often used the analogy "streaming is just like broadcasting" where one streams content onto their Smart TV, smartphone, tablet, or computer connected to the internet wirelessly or by wire; one receives broadcasts of TV programming onto their Smart or Dumb TV through the cable TV box, satellite dish, or thin air.

Most of the analogies I use, if not all, I come up with by thinking, "How would I explain 'xyz' to my aging parents?" But "streaming is just like broadcasting," which by the way is beautifully succinct, is borrowed from my oldest alumni of our nonprofit's "Discover Digital Literacy!" program who offered his take on what streaming was; the alumni is also a Westlake resident.

When I start writing my column for the upcoming issue of WBVO, I do so in the cloud. No, it's not that my mind is in the clouds – although my wife may disagree, LOL – but my article starts as a blank Google "Doc" document that is saved in Google "Drive," my own secure storage space, again in the cloud (aka internet).

If I'm in my home office, I just sit in front of my desktop computer and work on it. If it's not too humid or frigging freezing outside, I take my Chromebook and type while lounging on our deck. If I'm teaching for the Center for Aging in the Digital World at Advent Church, I use my laptop between classes as my laptop is already up and running and is being used to mirror my devices' screens to the big screen for seniors to follow in the classes.

Our nonprofit just held our second annual "Gathering in the Park" where attendees spanned from our first graduating class in 2016 to current students graduating in two weeks. What I realized was that the physical distance mandates of the past two years really made me miss "seeing" and talking to some of the alums who couldn't attend our "standing by the watercooler" Zoom meetings. 

Although I truly believe that COVID-19 is entering the endemic stage, unlike the flu whose season recurs only once a year, the COVID-19 endemic seems to have multiple flare-ups during the year. To avoid postponing or having to cancel our 16-class "Discover Digital Literacy!" program in progress when public health officials declare physical distancing mandates again, last fall I adjusted our program's curriculum to cover "How to Zoom" earlier than later.

This is part of the series on privacy in the digital world.

An old friend of mine, who has a type B personality, was anything but calm when he called me one sweltering day last summer. So much so that I thought he was involved in an accident … or worse. I could guess only every other word he was rattling off at the speed of sound.

When I could finally interject, I told him to call me back on the Duo app I had taught him to use (instead of FaceTime) since I have an Android phone. I figured the added "visuals" of a video meeting app will help calm him down faster than just audio. But he couldn't call me back using the Duo app. The reason for his panic, and the reason he couldn't call me back using Duo, was because he had lost/misplaced his new $1,000+ iPhone while vacationing abroad!

This is part of the series on privacy in the digital world.

More often than not, the popular-culture idiom "what you don't know won't hurt you" still rings true with your real world adventures but the same idiom is debatable at best when it comes to your digital world dealings.

I use the word "debatable" because on one hand the internet-based services, aka the cloud services, have and continue to provide benefits to our everyday life. On the other hand the business processes in place, i.e. data collection and related processes, fuel privacy debates.

This is part of the series on privacy in the digital world.

While trekking on the information superhighway, I recently stumbled upon a definition at dictionary.com that was very appropriate to this series: "On the internet, a rabbit hole frequently refers to an extremely engrossing and time-consuming topic." It sure feels like I'm going down a rabbit hole when researching the current state of "privacy," or lack of, in the digital world!

When I pull up a website in my browser, or get links to websites after googling, I want to get to the content in the shortest time. What's akin to speed bumps in parking lots of the real world, are the "pop-ups" in the digital world that you get when pulling up a website.

This is part of the series on privacy in the digital world.

You've probably heard/read these words in the same sentence: browsers, cookies, and your privacy. Most geeks and Klingons alike, aka technologists, will say there are multiple types of browser cookies but we'll condense them into first-party and third-party cookie categories.

For more than a decade, through my work, I observed "convenience" to be the number one reason for browser cookies to exist from a user's perspective. Conveniences such as being able to open a browser to check your email without having to remember the password to log into your account. First-party cookies enable you to do just that. They also enable you to have a personalized browsing experience based on what you have done while on that website. These first-party cookies are fed to your browser by the website you are visiting.

Margaret (*not her real name) recently shared her story with me of how she was scammed out of almost $12,000. She said even if her story helps only one Westlake/Bay senior, it would be worth retelling. We'll continue the series on privacy in the digital world in the next issue.

It started out as a text message from a friend: "My friend Margaret got her computer hacked and I need to talk to you."

When I called my friend, I found out that her friend Margaret actually reacted to a message that suddenly appeared on her computer screen while she was browsing. The message, purportedly from Microsoft, told her to call the number on the screen because her computer was infected. When she did, they eventually directed her to call another number, also given to her, which she was told is for the fraud department of a local bank in Cleveland.

This is the second in a series of articles on privacy in the digital world.

Having a specific app on your smartphone/tablet that caters to a digital world service, for example the "Giant Eagle" app to shop online, "Spotify" app to stream music, "Westlake Porter Public Library" app to reserve a Wi-Fi hotspot before a road trip, "Libby" app to find eBooks at Cuyahoga County Public Library – and the list goes on and on – is foolproof as there is an unique icon you tap for each service you want to use. 

But what if you could have only one app/aplication on your smartphone, tablet, or computer? For me that one app would be a "browser." In this always-connected-to-the-digital-world (aka internet or the cloud) lifestyle, a single browser can connect to the aforementioned services and more, although the process is a little more tedious because you have to enter the address of each service's website unless you google it.

This is the first in a series of articles on privacy in the digital world.

When it comes to the digital world – aka the internet or the cloud – your "right to privacy" is a hot-button subject that will always be highly debated.

I ponder if the same principles of the right to privacy in the real world are even applicable to the digital world. To be honest, I don't have a real good answer to that question and may never will. At least not definitively, not like it is guaranteed that the sun will rise from the east every morning.

My opinion has always been that our "information" is highly valued by the companies that offer products and services through the digital world. This information I speak of can be anything and everything from what we are "googling" to where we have been in the real world. Many make their bottom line by brokering our information to the highest bidder or sell other products

In the last issue of 2021, to lessen the chance of becoming a "phishing" or "smishing" victim (email or text respectively), I suggested a New Year's resolution: to continue building good habits by ignoring unsolicited emails and text messages. I also wrote about a way to help you smoke out a phishing email after opening an unsolicited message. As always you can read that article and more at wbvobserver.com.

We're only one month into 2022 and I've already been asked several times for my opinion on whether a particular email is legit or not. To empower more people, I'm going to share an additional method I use, in conjunction with the first method, to try to smoke out a phishing attempt.

We're only halfway through January, or about 3.8% of 2022 as I pen this, but I have already read several articles about the likelihood of the COVID-19 pandemic becoming an endemic – i.e. a disease that we live alongside like a flu – this year. I can't wait for the pandemic to be over!

In the last column of 2021, I wrote: "Frequent use of video chat apps like Duo and FaceTime, or attending Zoom events, stimulates our sense of 'seeing' and combined with 'hearing' can help isolation and loneliness from setting in." When isolation and loneliness are kept at bay even with the current physical distancing recommendations, I believe we also maintain "connectedness" to our family, friends, and the community.

The pandemic, once thought to be nearing control this past summer, continues to make us stand six feet apart in grocery checkout lines and wear masks and other PPE (personal protective equipment).

It has also underscored the many benefits provided by the digital world. Online grocery shopping affords you to be "physically" distant from crowds by ordering online and picking up your groceries curbside. Frequent use of video chat apps like Duo and FaceTime, or attending Zoom events, stimulates our sense of "seeing" and combined with "hearing" can help isolation and loneliness from setting in. In this case, loneliness is the unwanted side effect of continued physical distancing from family and friends during the pandemic.

Living in the duality of the real world and the digital world means one thing is guaranteed: running into technical difficulties. Throughout the years helping to demystify technology, I've heard people repeatedly say things like, "I'm not technically savvy" or "technology hates me" when bitten by "tech snafu." If you are one of them, here's news for you: electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers are far from perfect.

One thing to accept, or more precisely "retrain" your thought process, is that the tech snafu you experience may have nothing to do with what you did or didn't do. So adopt the 1930s British slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On" – which was repopularized in the 2000s and variations of the phrase are still used to this day. I do!

As we head into Thanksgiving, I have a lot of things to be thankful for this year. I regained my hearing after being deaf for almost 18 months, thanks to the University Hospitals team led by Dr. Rivas who handled my cochlear implant surgery.

Our non-profit, Center for Aging in the Digital World, after five years has a permanent home to offer the "Discover Digital Literacy!" programs, thanks to the in-kind gift from Advent Episcopal Church in Westlake. By having the use of their facilities, the organization will continue to help seniors in our communities discover the 21st-century life skill of digital literacy in 2022 without worrying about finding a teaching space every quarter.

Despite getting ready to finish 2021 strongly, I have a personal conundrum that I probably should consult fellow WBVO columnist Mr. Jeff Bing as it pertains to professional sports. My buddy Dave already tried to help me with my quest to find an "affordable" streaming service that will enable me to stream one thing, and one thing only, at a reasonable price: Cleveland Cavaliers games.

As promised, this week's column gives you more information on the brand new Windows 11 operating system that became officially available on Oct. 5 to many, but not all, PC users whose computer hardware meets the prerequisites. I use the word "many" as it has become a common industry practice to release new operating systems to users in waves rather than everyone eligible at once. 

First, a recap:

• Microsoft will support computers running Windows 8.1 until Jan. 10, 2023, and until Oct. 14, 2025, for computers running Windows 10.

• As you may have realized, your computer running Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 did not cease to work when Windows 11 became available a couple weeks ago.

• When Microsoft ends support – i.e. stops providing monthly security updates – any unsupported version of Windows will still continue to work but it is strongly recommended that you move to a supported operating system version before that happens to minimize the risk of being victimized.

In the previous issue, we talked about putting a PIN (Personal Identification Number) on your smartphone/tablet. A PIN that only you know is akin to a deadbolt on your front door. If your smartphone/tablet is lost or stolen, the person who finds it, or the nefarious person who stole it, will not be able to get into the device without knowing your PIN. 

I also wrote that both Apple and Google, creators of "iOS" and "Android" operating systems for their smartphones/tablets respectively, have a way to "hide" photos from appearing in their Photos (aka photo album) app. For example, if you take a digital photo of your vaccination card, moving it to the hidden album or locked folder will prevent that photo from appearing in the Photos app alongside pictures of your grandkids!

Just last week I helped an alumni of our Discover Digital Literacy! program store her vaccination card on her smartphone. Before we started, she already knew that taking a picture was the easiest option. She can keep the picture on the smartphone's digital photo album app.

Basically, she didn't want to carry around her original vaccine card and lamination wasn't a viable option either since it may make it difficult to update the card with newer information (like when she gets the booster shot). Some restaurants, for example, are requiring proof of vaccination, she said.

I always reckon smartphones as having powers akin to the color-shifting chameleons that blend into their environment. Crystals in the photonic skin of the chameleon are responsible for its color-shifting superpowers, much like smartphone "apps" change the smartphone's utility into different gadgets on the fly.

Out of the box, a smartphone is a mobile phone (Dialer app), address book (Contacts), calendar (Calendar), digital camera (Camera), video camera ("flip a switch" in the Camera), tool to use the services on the internet (type of an app known as "browsers" such as Safari on Apple iPhones or Chrome on Android smartphones), and a turn-by-turn navigation gadget (Google Maps or Apple Maps apps).

Apps such as Maps utilize the GPS (Global Positioning System) chip in your smartphone to know exactly where it is relative to earth by receiving information (i.e. coordinates) from the satellites in the sky. I rely on the Maps app while I drive to give me turn-by-turn directions.

I often talk about the "appropriateness" of the technology you purchase within your budget. You don't want to overspend with bells and whistles you'll never use, or underspend on a device that turns out to be underwhelming and raise your blood pressure instead.

It is important to determine your "use case," or the activities you anticipate using a device for, when determining what is appropriate for you. An analogy of said appropriateness is buying everything and the kitchen sink when you only heat up frozen dinners for your meals.

Have you heard the news that Windows 11 is coming this October? I don't blame you if you think "why so soon?" because Windows 10 is only six years old. Some of you may have just upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 in January 2020.

The good news is that the impending arrival of Windows 11 will not immediately invalidate your Windows 10 personal computer (PC) by turning it into a pumpkin like Cinderella's carriage after the stroke of midnight. Rather, Windows 10 is slated to lose Microsoft's extended support on Oct. 14, 2025, which is a good four years away.

Back when I had more free-time to watch the "tube," (that'd be more than two decades ago – LOL), a show I enjoyed watching was "Cops." These days, though, thanks to the ubiquity of the internet, content similar to "Cops" is bountiful for instant enjoyment. My internet-connected smartphone that goes everywhere I go is akin to my "personal tube," providing bottomless content to stream from the digital world that can be enjoyed anywhere/anytime!

But I still enjoy reading the "Police Blotter" sent out by our local departments. Other than the entertainment value provided by the criminal minds [sarcasm intended], they often reveal tactics employed by the nefarious for online fraud.

One particular tactic disclosed in a highlighted incident from a recent Police Blotter report correlates with what I have been observing personally. Through analyzing the messages left on our answering machine and voicemails, plus reading the unsolicited text messages and emails, there sure seems to be an uptick in scammers trying to get their potential victims to send cash or gift cards.

As this issue hits the newsstands, Father's Day is only five days away! Unlike last year, many will have the opportunity to hug them in-person again and celebrate together. To honor the fathers who went to heaven during the past year and a half when the physical distancing mandate made it ever more difficult to put closure, I've asked my wife, Mely, to share her story. This is her telling her story ...

My father passed away in October of last year in the Philippines. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, I was unable to travel and be by his side. It was not easy, but something I had accepted, not being there to see him before he died. Like the rest of this country and the world, I could not attend his funeral to say goodbye. I still seek closure.

One of the fondest memories I cherish came when I gifted my parents a tablet for their 50th anniversary. When my dad saw my husband, who remained stateside, and I communicating via FaceTime, his eyes lit up. He asked me, "You mean I will be able to see you from thousands of miles away if I learn how to use this gift?" I said "yes" and knew I had his interest! He was determined to learn how to use it. Everyday during my visit, I would practice with him – how to turn it on, start FaceTime, and to accept video calls or make video calls.

Part two of a two-part series on how technology can help the hard-of-hearing community.

Whether you are: checking email, shopping online, googling (yes, it's a word in the Oxford Dictionary) for a widget, watching YouTube videos, paying bills, registering for a COVID-19 vaccine, or streaming a movie from Westlake Porter Public Library or Cuyahoga County Public Library in Bay Village, one ubiquitous tool that you will need is a "web browser." Firefox from Mozilla Foundation, Chrome from Google, Edge from Microsoft, or Safari from Apple all do the same thing: pull up a website so you can benefit from all of the above and other things in the cloud, aka the internet.

Previously, we discussed an app and a feature that fall under the "accessibility" category. Accessibility settings make handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets more comfortable to use while compensating for physical disabilities. Through personal experience, I've been relying on the above every day for over a year.

Part one of a two-part series on how technology can help the hard-of-hearing community.

My better half believes that I suffer from "selective hearing syndrome." Luckily, I possess a "get out of jail" card as I'm temporarily hard-of-hearing (HoH) for real. Honey, I "really" didn't hear you well enough that you wanted me to take out the garbage – LOL!

As an old geek teaching digital literacy to seniors for free through our nonprofit, my life after succumbing to acute HoH has been helped by none other than … technology. My smartphone, one of the Pixel models from Google, is basically a reference model for smartphones from other brands running the Android hand-held operating system from other brands. Manufacturers like Samsung, LG, and Motorola license Android, and customize and sell smartphones under their own model names like Galaxy, Velvet, and Moto G respectively.

During our daily Google Meet session on April 1, I was telling my mom that I woke up to snow that morning. It reminded me of a late snowfall on March 30, 1987. It was sunny when I walked into the Richfield Coliseum for a Bon Jovi concert (yes, my son would say "Bon who?") and I came out to a snowy parking lot. God won April Fools' Day this year … he gets to have all the fun!

I do reminisce about the early-1990s digital world where computer viruses were more about pulling pranks than ill-gotten gains and racketeering. I often talk about Internet Street Smarts and how good "habits'' are important in minimizing the risk of being victimized on the internet, aka the cloud, while reaping the many benefits of the digital world. This is analogous to how we were practicing good habits in 2020 to thwart COVID-19 by staying home for non-essentials, physically distancing, and wearing a mask.

However, unlike the COVID-19 vaccine that will hopefully lead to herd immunity, there is no silver bullet against the nefarious actors of the digital world. Hence the importance of building good habits.

Although still early in the game, year 2021 has been off to a good start and should be a year of healing. I've always been a geek with a "glass half full" mentality. My optimism for 2021 is based on "data" and "trends" found both in the real and digital worlds so my sixth sense can't be that off either!

While the digital world is engulfed in flames, figuratively, from the disclosure of security breaches at an alarming clip, I also continue to discover new digital-world gems. Like the "PressReader" service that our neighborhood libraries added to their digital service offerings recently, which I covered in the last issue, I'm going to introduce you to another beneficial service today.

If it was anyone else, phrases like "the smartest card on the planet" or "the smartest card you'll ever own," would sound like an overused marketing pitch by a credit card issuer. However, it wasn't just "anyone" as this was a library proclaiming this on their website and in their mobile app and I couldn't agree more. A library card is the most beneficial card to have while the price of becoming a patron is free!

I fondly recall my wife taking our just celebrated 1-year-old son to storytimes at the different area libraries. Our son is a quintessential "library kid" where the area of the library he visited could easily show his approximate age, just like the etched markings on the inner door frame that parents record their children's growth throughout the years.