Chris Wellens

I am a retired tech entrepreneur, now a musician and avid hiker, enjoying the wonderful trails in Santa Cruz County, CA.

Last Notes

2026-07-12 16:17:44 UTC

Upwork’s new security process asked me to verify my identity by providing the first six digits of the credit card I used on their site. Most companies ask for the last four, which is far safer.
A credit card has 16 digits. If the last four are commonly known and Upwork reveals the first six, that leaves only six unknown digits — and their exact positions are known. With 10 possible values per digit, that’s 10 to the 6th = 1,000,000 possible combinations.
A simple program could generate all one million possibilities, and with additional social‑engineering (e.g., obtaining ZIP code), an attacker could reconstruct the full card number.
In trying to improve security, Upwork may have actually reduced it — for both itself and its customers.
Thoughts?
#security #cybersecurity #infosec

2025-10-06 18:17:20 UTC

I came across this fascinating article quoting #inequality expert Chuck Collins:
"To understand how wealth at the billionaire level works, Collins breaks it down into four parts: getting the wealth, defending the wealth, political capture and hyper-extraction."
Collins' explanation of "hyper-extraction":
Wealthy individuals invest in private equity companies that figure out "... corners of the economy where they can squeeze things a little bit harder,” Collins said.... ‘Where else can we squeeze money out of the economy?’ Healthcare? Great. Mobile home parks? These people can’t go anywhere, [so] you can raise their rents.”
So, not content with their #billionaire status, they wring more money out of poor people.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/oct/06/billionaire-class-us-inequality?CMP=share_btn_url

2025-09-13 17:46:24 UTC

After I retired last year, I joined a social support program. Once a week I talk to a woman who works as a waitress in Appalachia, who is really struggling. She lives in a cheap apartment with mold that the landlord won't fix; she cannot find a place she can afford. She needs new tires on her car, but cannot afford them. Then I read about Larry Ellison's net worth of $367 Billion. This woman's life would be completely transformed if she had $5,000 more. Ellison would not miss it.
I think everyone who is comfortably well off should get to know a member of the #workingpoor It is really eye-opening how stressful their lives are.
#Billionaires #IncomeInequality

2025-07-26 21:23:16 UTC

On the "Shrinking Trump" podcast yesterday, a psychologist stated that he drove around the neighborhood and jotted down the addresses of houses with Trump signs in their front yards. He then wrote them this anonymous letter: "I am really concerned about your support for a pedophile, and I really hope you can clarify for the sake of the safety of the women and children in the neighborhood." All the signs came down. In two instances, he sent a follow up letter, and then signs came down. #pedophile #psychology

2024-12-11 01:01:50 UTC

- reply

I predict that Luigi will not be going to prison. He will be charged. There will be a trial. The result will be a hung jury. The case will be dismissed.

2024-11-19 16:15:01 UTC

Thinking about how to make it an easy decision to get off "X" and move to Mastodon and assure Mastodon viability for the future.
Three key ideas:
1-easy to understand comparison of BlueSky and Mastodon (see image -- this has the wrong focus, but the right layout)
2-one key concept that makes Mastodon the obvious choice. I would say either "commercial free" or "algorithm free". This should be repeated in all discussions with potential users.
3-a button/link in the top right of the web page that says "Donate". This is the standard location for non-profits to solicit contributions. It means the users do not have to put any effort in figuring out how/where to donate.
#MastodonPR #Mastodon
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/113/510/499/216/958/269/original/61c373c762575864.png

2024-05-11 22:19:08 UTC

@npub1hw6…gked @npub10nj…fkdv [@bert_hubert](https://fosstodon.org/@bert_hubert )
I believe it is because, in the past, it was difficult to get something published as a book, a newspaper or magazine article. Now, anyone can write something, post it on a website that looks "official", and it has the gravitas of the ages. There's an assumption that the article was "vetted".