Hack Highlights a Lack and a Knack

 

It was a pleasant surprise to receive an email from an acquaintance containing a "Punchbowl" invitation - a very legitimate platform by which to beckon one's guests to a planned gathering.

Eager to learn more about the event, I clicked on the friendly summons, which instructed me to log in via Facebook or one of my email accounts.

Entering the password for my first account, the login failed. So I tried the second one, then the third one, then I knew...

I'd been hacked!

Attacked at the innermost "tech-NO-LOGICAL", unprotected underbelly of my limited digital footprint!

After spending the better part of a morning googling the ramifications of such a breach, researching what to do if one falls victim to this type of invasion, then taking the necessary steps to minimize the damage, I allowed my mind to re-visit a single word from my ever-growing list of blog-topics:

"Tech-KNOWLDGE-y"

I manufactured this word long ago with the intention of writing about about how technology is supposed to make our lives easier (and it can), yet lacking adeptness on the subject, it often becomes a lesson in frustration.

"Tech-KNOWLEDGE-y".....led to "Tech-NO-logy", which morphed into "Tech-NO-Logic", and so on (You see where this is going.) through a list of termin-KNOWLEDGE-y, that were all, somehow, related to computers.

While stewing over the fact that my accounts had been compromised, I had some serious fun "cre8ing" alternate spellings and definitions for these new versions of familiar words.

Read on for my glossary of "tech-KNOW-LOGICAL" "NO-MEN-clature", which does employ the use of a female pronoun in 2 instances, based on my own experiences and imagination.

COMPUTE-HER: When the device has gleefully calculated my lack of tech savviness.

COMP-YOU-TER: When the above referenced device offers you "free" advice on what to do when you are hacked. (Be careful where you click! Those "comped"/cost-free solutions could be scammers!)

Com-P.U.-ter: It stinks to feel so inept at a skill that most gradeschoolers have long ago mastered. #digitalnatives

Com-PEWTER: Pewter casting dates back to the Bronze Age, an era in which I must be stuck when it comes to "com-P.U.-ters".

COMPUTE-HER-EYES: The calculation of the level in which one's seeing organs are strained, crossed, or otherwise impaired due to the increased screen time required to figure out damage control when you realize that you've been hacked.

Comp-YOU-TEAR-EYES: A level of frustration that brings a person to tears when they are trying to solve their "comp-P.U.-ter" woes.

Tech-KNOWLEDGE-y: The proficiency one must acquire in order to function in the world today...

Tech-NO-logy: ...however, I have not.

Tech-KNOW-LOGICAL: Knowing, logically, that you are competent and have the skills to live in the digital world...

Tech-NO-LOGICAL: ...but the "COMPUTE-HER" disagrees.

Electron-ICK!!: The distasteful, yet necessary engagement of devices that utilize cords and outlets - in particular, "com-P.U.-ters"...

ELECT-ronic: ...so I often elect to avoid them.

Electron-NIX: Not today! I'm 86-ing (aka "nixxing") anything with cords, mice (mouses?), screens, and/or keyboards. (Or anything that "bytes"!)

INTER-net: The desire to "off" and bury this cyber tool when one is hacked.

INTERN-et: The need to hire a child or student for a given period of time to assist with "tech-NO-logy".

Inter-NET: Beware! This "NET-work" can trap you for hours at a time, impeding productivity of other "electron-ICK!" or "com-P.U.-ter" tasks.

Though this whole hacking incident caused me great consternation, something of relative importance came to light as I "cre8ted" my lexicon of words that are commonly associated with the digital world:

There's a name for people like me! (I am not referring to my admitted weakness in the "tech-NO-LOGICAL" sphere.)

My name is Sheri Glantz and I am a....

Logophile.

There! I said it. Now everyone knows.

I have logophilia.

Before you hasten to your "COMP-YOU-ter" and consult with that know-it-all, Google, I'll just explain.

A logophile is a lover of words. Quite appropos, right? (I mean, "Write?")

It took being hacked, investigating the remedy for this unwelcome seizure of my data, and acting on the information that I collected to propel my agitation into operation.

The results? My mind was quieted by engaging in an activity I loved doing, thus removing the focus of a potentially problematic situation, re-directing it to something positive, stress-free, and relatively entertaining (at least for me!).

Not only that, but I unearthed the fact that "term-in-KNOWLEDGE-y" exists to describe part of who I am. What a circuit of self-discovery!

Before "The Big Hack", my knack for writing kept me busy, amused, and offered a healthy outlet for my feelings. Following this most unpleasant encounter with the "COMPUTE-HER", what emerged is the awareness that it is about much more than that. I simply love words, plays on words, word puzzles, restructuring words and their meanings, and immersing myself in terms, expressions, and phrases.

Yes, My Friends! I am, indeed, a logophile, quite proud to admit it, and grateful for this part of me that was able to turn a negative (hack) into a positive. (fun, felicitous, glossary).

I might not be highly skilled when it comes to "tech-KNOWLEDGE-y", but I wield a mean pen and can tap out some wickedly wild words on the keyboard that is connected to my COMPUTER!

© Cre8ive Writes, LLC 2024