Steve Speak

You probably are aware of this scam concerning wifi, as it is not new. But for OSX users, I just wanted to post a visual of it. I took this screen-shot on a recent trip while I was at the airport. As you can see, you should be looking for a network to join up where it says TELUS. If you look under ‘Computer-to-Computer Networks’ you will see ‘Free Public WiFi’ and ‘tmobile’. Both of these are scams. They are probably people sitting in the airport with their personal sharing turned on, waiting for someone to connect to the Internet through them. They can then capture packets of data, and look for people logging into services. Many services an average user might connect to are not all that secure (ie: properly encrypted passwords, etc.). They snag this info and then can use it.

Even if you connect to an actual router… such as ‘TELUS’, it could still be a scam. However, it is certainly more complicated to to setup that scam. Also, if you are somewhere such as an airport, there are usually advertisements as to what the name of the service is you should be seeing.

Also, just to be safe, whenever you are in a place using a Internet connection other than your own, be aware of what kind of services and things you sign into. The big problem is that many people check their e-mail, which is not a super-secure thing to do. While you can’t ever make yourself totally safe, you can prevent a lot of problems with just a bit of care.

Thought I’d do a quick post to fill in a few details I missed on part one. We really had a lot of fun in the Vancouver area. The suspension bridge and forest hiking was at the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It was a cool place, but a bit pricey. I suppose I would recommend it to first time visitors, however the locals say that there is a place almost like it not too far away that is free and non-commercialized. But, it was a nice place with food, entertainment, and a gift shop. I also liked that it was generally accessible to people not quite as mobile as my wife and I.

We also did a bit of hiking in Stanley Park. I was just such a cool park, I can’t quite explain unless you go there. Here are a few more photos from the park. One is on the south side taken towards the downtown. The other is on the north side of the park, and includes North / Northwest Vancouver and the Lion’s Gate Bridge.

The B&B that I mentioned in my ‘part one’ is the Beachview Retreat Bed and Breakfast. It is near Deep Cove on the Indian Arm waterway in North Vancouver. It was a GREAT location. You can still get to Vancouver in about 30 minutes or less, but you are also out in the beautiful nature of the Vancouver area… almost on the water. We found it was quite quick to get around the Vancouver area.
Beachview Retreat B and B

Well, that’s it for part two. I’ll try and get a part three up soon with our journey back home through the Olympic mountain area of Washington. Stay tuned…

We’re taking in a nice vacation and tour of the Pacific Northwest. I thought I’d post a few pics for those who might be tuning in. We have hit some rain along the way, which is not really out of character for this time of the year. But, we have been very fortunate to also have some great weather and great times with friends along the way.

We started out on highway 101 north out of the Bay area, and stayed our first night in Crescent City, CA. It was a bit hot, but we had some nice top down driving. Parts of 101 are really pretty up through the redwoods, and also a section that follows a rocky river through the mountains.

We then followed highway 199 up I-5. This was a great Miata road through the redwoods and along a river. Just spectacular. The only problem…. I was having so much fun driving, I didn’t stop to take pictures. Sorry gang.

We made it into Portland in time to settle in and meet friends Mary and Phil for dinner. We had a great time catching up and enjoying some nice views of the city from their condo. The next day it was raining, but we still took in a bit of the downtown. We had some awesome food for breakfast and lunch, and spent some time staying dry in Powell’s Books. Man, I could probably spend days there. We bought some books, and they shipped them to our home. That was really nice, as we didn’t have all that much spare room in the Miata.

We then headed out for Seattle, WA. We arrived in the evening and met with our friends Doug and Sam. We had a nice dinner and some time to catch up. The next day, they took us to the Space Needle area. We did some tourist things in the area, and then made our way down to Pike’s Place Market. That was just totally cool.

We brought all kinds of goodies from the market, and all cooked a excellent dinner that night. What a fun time. The next morning we headed out for Vancouver, B.C. Again with the rain…. but my new tires braved it well. When we got to Vancouver, it was still raining a bit now and then, but more of a light mist. When we got to our destination in North Vancouver, it was raining a bit again, but still really pretty. The visibility was just not far enough to see the mountains well.

Today, we had a full day. When we woke up, the SUN WAS OUT!!! Whoo hoo! How could you have a bad day when it starts with a view like this from your bedroom?

We first headed up to this place in the deep forest with a suspension bridge over the river 200 some feet below. OK, that was a bit scary, but we had some nice hiking around the area. It was very pretty. Can’t remember the name right now. We then headed into the city and checked out the Chinatown area, and had lunch. Then it was off to Stanley Park for some more hiking and photos. It is such a beautiful city park.

After our hiking around, we were pretty beat. We headed back to our B&B for the evening. We came back to a another nice view…

It has been a really fun trip so far. I’ll have to post some info about this B&B in a another blog, as I don’t have it handy right now. I would highly recommend it. The rate is not bad, and it is probably the nicest B&B (or for that matter any place I have stayed). The owner makes awesome organic full breakfasts (many courses) tuned to the guests likings. They know tons about what to do in the area and provide lots of helpful information (including some stellar restaurant tips) for the area.

Well, stay tuned to see where we go next. We’re going to hang out in the city some tomorrow and maybe take in a hike up in the mountains before we head on towards the Olympic Mountains in Washington.