How Communications has Revolutionized Society- Communications Technology Shifts

Before the early 1900s, sending letters was the main way people stayed in touch across long distances. Even though the telegraph was invented in the 1800s, it still needed human operators and wasn’t exactly something you had in your living room. Newspapers were around, but they didn’t really take off until the early 1900s. By 1928, things started to shift in a big way with three major radio networks in the U.S. Suddenly, instead of waiting for the mail, people could tune in and get breaking news instantly. Around this time, the telephone was also becoming popular, allowing people to talk to loved ones in real-time—no more waiting for days on letters or using a telegraph. Then came TV, giving people a peek into the lives of others in faraway places. But the real game changer? The Internet.

For people in the early 1900s, the rise of communication tech must have seemed like pure magic. Little did they know what was coming next. Fast forward to the 1960s: ARPANET was developed, which laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the Internet. By the 1990s, the Internet exploded, connecting about a third of the world. Suddenly, online communities were forming, people could chat in real-time, and online services started to pop up. Remember those early chat rooms and forums?

Today, the Internet has completely taken over, making older forms of communication almost obsolete. Think about it: humans spent thousands of years in small villages, only knowing what was happening locally. Now, we can send an email, join social media, or browse a forum and instantly connect with people from all over the world. We can make global calls for free, watch live streams of events halfway across the planet, and even share injustices instantly, reaching millions of people with a single post. It’s been amazing for spreading empathy and understanding—but it also leaves us with new challenges, like dealing with information overload.

Telegraph, newspapers, radio, phones, and TV were all groundbreaking in their time. But the Internet? It’s completely changed how we live, learn, and connect in ways that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. Now, we chat with friends instantly on social media, get news alerts within seconds, debate hot topics on forums, and find answers to complex questions with just a quick search. We even stream our TV and radio, on-demand, right to our devices. The world has never been more connected. How will these changes in communication over the last hundred years change humanity? 

When good can turn bad, when bad can turn good - how to balance them. People-pleasing and Narcissistic traits

Is it bad to have narcissistic qualities? Not really. These qualities can contribute positively to society, especially in competitive environments. Let's face it: everything is competitive to some degree. People who serve non-profits- working hard to raise money. People who are successful in their jobs. A bit of narcissism can come across as confident, successful, ambitious, or even visionary. They could also be viewed as arrogant, manipulative, or controlling. These traits are very common and exist on a spectrum that rarely meets the criteria for any kind of formal diagnosis. That's where self-awareness comes into play. Reflecting on and being willing to improve is a sign of a desire for personal growth. People with these traits don't necessarily experience any significant issues and often have strong self-esteem and ambition.

On the flip side, there are folks with more codependent traits- people pleasers, nurturers, etc. Is it bad to have these traits? Most people wouldn't think so, these are the people who would 'give you the shirt off their back' as they say. But, they can also get taken advantage of and tend to attract those with narcissistic traits.

The thing is, people like to look for someone to blame. It's easier to be a victim. It's easier to blame your boss or your company for your unhappiness or problems at work, to rage at another driver on the road. Blaming others for your own actions. But, what about your role in the situation? We can't change what's beyond our control. Yet, we are responsible for ourselves and our responses. If you choose to remain in your employment situation, what can you do to stop perpetuating the problem instead of continuing to be a victim of the situation you find yourself in? Instead of complaining about your boss 'ruining your day', consider who is really responsible for ruining your day and *LET* other people ruin it? People can reflect, understand themselves, set boundaries, and control their actions. They can also take responsibility if they chose to be a victim of their circumstances.

But how?

I work hard to avoid situations that negatively affect my mental health and affect the people I interact with negatively. I know when someone aggravates me on the road, getting angry, honking, flipping them off is going to increase my anger and contribute to my ability to handle more important things to my day. I imagine them finding out that their loved one is in the hospital or they are having another personal crisis. I wonder if something else in their life has happened to take their mind off the road. Maybe they just made an honest mistake, we've all been there, right? Or, maybe they are just an asshole? How would I know. Will my horn or middle finger have any positive impact in the situation? Probably not, and I'll find myself in a better place by avoiding that natural response. This is an attitude that can be used in many other areas in life. I can't control my boss being on my ass, but I can imagine other factors contributing to their behavior. I can also ponder how my contributions have contributed or will contribute to perpetuating the situation. When my colleagues complain about the same issues, how can I help providing this perspective rather than joining in on the complaining?

The person with narcissistic traits can own how they use these traits, how they treat others, and how their treatment of others will affect themselves and those around them. The people-pleaser can recognize that their tendency to sacrifice their own needs for others' happiness can be seen as cooperative and nurturing. But, they may also have resentment if their efforts aren't recognized, suppress their true emotions, and enable others to take advantage of them.

It's hard to improve things that are naturally difficult for us, change is hard. It's much easier to use our tenancies as an excuse for our actions. With the ability to reflect, improve, and the desire for personal growth, we shouldn't view these traits as inherently negative. They are positive in many ways, but we are responsible for how we use them in negative ways.

Adam Cushing
www.adamcushing.com

Make it make sense, people saying 'ok' between numbers on the phone...

Ever had this happen?

"Alright, what's your phone number?" "303-5..." "Okay?"

Like, seriously? If you need to say "okay" after typing just the first THREE numbers, maybe computers aren't your thing.

And don't even get me started on credit cards—it’s even more ridiculous when that happens with those!

 - Adam Cushing
www.adamcushing.com

How to SSH into devices with Insecure Algorithms in Linux

Sometimes I need to connect to an older router, firewall, etc. but get an error like- 

ssh admin@123.123.123.123

Unable to negotiate with 123.123.123.123 port 22: no matching key exchange method found. Their offer: diffie-hellman-group1-sha1

You can allow the insecure algorithms and ciphers. Obvious warnings, you're connecting insecurely, etc.

cd /etc/ssh
cp ssh_config ssh_config.bak
sudo nano ssh_config

Add-
HostKeyAlgorithms +ssh-rsa

PubkeyAcceptedAlgorithms +ssh-rsa

Ciphers aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,aes128-cbc,3des-cb>

MACs hmac-md5,hmac-sha1,umac-64@openssh.com

KexAlgorithms +diffie-hellman-group14-sha1

You can just throw those in the beginning.

Good luck!

Adam Cushing

www.adamcushing.com

Keep a program running at all times - if a program closes, have it restart automatically in Windows

First, create a batch file to monitor the program and restart it-

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

set EXE_PATH="C:\path\to\MyProgram.exe"
set EXE_NAME=MyProgram.exe

:start_program
start "" %EXE_PATH%
echo Program started. Monitoring...

:monitor
REM Check if the program is running
tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq %EXE_NAME%" 2>NUL | find /I "%EXE_NAME%" >NUL
if "%ERRORLEVEL%"=="0" (
    REM Program is running, wait and check again
    timeout /t 1 >nul
    goto monitor
)

REM Program is not running, restart it
echo Program closed. Restarting...
goto start_program

Next, create a VBS script to run the batch file-

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.Run "cmd.exe /c C:\path\to\monitor.bat", 0, False  

Finally, set the vbs script to run at windows startup-

Press Win + R to open the Run dialog.
Type shell:startup and press Enter. This opens the Startup folder.
Create a shortcut to the VBS script in the Startup folder.

Adam Cushing
www.adamcushing.com

ScreenConnect / ConnectWise Control not working on RHEL/Oracle Linux- service runs but doesn't work or garbled screen.

I recently had a problem where I loaded ScreenConnect for remote access to a RHEL server. I imagine this is similar for other distros, Centos, Rocky. It has happened on Oracle Linux.




First thing you need is Java. The stupid thing is, it will install without it. But it won't work.
sudo yum install java-1.8.0-openjdk

Then you'll need to disable  Wayland-
sudo nano /etc/gdm/custom.conf

Uncomment this-

WaylandEnable=false

Check the service-

systemctl --type=service

Start or Restart the 'Connectwisexxx"

systemctl status ConnectWisexxx

systemctl start/stop/restart ConnectWisexxx

If you still have issues, check the logs-

/var/logs/messages

/var/logs/connectwise***

Adam Cushing

www.adamcushing.com

Veeam- Your service provider has implemented backup files protection against deletion by an insider for this cloud repository. To protect against advanced attack vectors, we recommend that you configure your cloud backup jobs to keep multiple full backups on disk (as opposed to forever-incremental chain with a single full backup).

You may get this error. My provider does air gap behind the scenes. You can disable this with the below registry change-

Your service provider has implemented backup files protection against deletion by an insider for this cloud repository. To protect against advanced attack vectors, we recommend that you configure your cloud backup jobs to keep multiple full backups on disk (as opposed to forever-incremental chain with a single full backup).  

Key Location: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Veeam\Veeam Backup and Replication\ 

Value Name: CloudConnectBinGfsNotificationSeverity

Value Type: DWORD (32-Bit) Value

Value Data (Default): 2


New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Veeam\Veeam Backup and Replication\' -Name 'CloudConnectBinGfsNotificationSeverity' -Value "1" -PropertyType DWORD -Force