Much Ado about Nothing

 

With all the paraphernalia at hand that I might possibly need, including my new ID card, I sat down at my computer again to make a new attempt to renew my digital "Bank ID". My first impression was that my bank had decided to cut me off completely. I tried my card-reading usb-device first (for a special kind of card from the bank only); but could not log in. I tried my old mobile bank ID (which should still be valid for another 12 days), but could not log in. I tried the bank's other little code device, and could not log in. Now What??  

Then my eyes fell on a small text below the various login choices on the bank website: "Login not possible at the moment." ... A message directed at all customers - not just me... (If that had just then popped up on my screen, or if it had been there all morning without me noticing it, I don't know.)  

So I put off further attempts until after lunch. By then the message was gone, and my first login attempt var successful. I looked up the information about how to renew my Bank ID from the bank website - but still failed to understand from where I was supposed to scan my physical ID card, if asked to do so... 

With a sigh I gave up my resistance to having a bank app on my phone. Installing the banking app  on my phone took only a few seconds, and no trouble to log in with the Bank ID app on the same device. I then just had to press another online button or two - and my digital ID was promptly renewed (for three years) - without any request to see the national ID card that I had recently gone through the trouble of getting... 

So I still don't know how the photo ID scanning part is supposed to work. But just now I don't feel up for further research on that front; as for all I know, it may well change again before I (possibly) find myself needing it. 

For some reason, the song in the video below came to mind (especially the intro), so I looked that up on YouTube instead... ;)

Operator . . . give me . . . information.
Information . . . give me . . . long distance.
Long distance . . . give me . . . Hea. . . ven. 

    

 

Identity Crisis

 

noun: identity crisis; plural noun: identity crises

"a period of uncertainty and confusion in which a person's sense of identity becomes insecure, typically due to a change in their expected aims or role in society"

 

I logged into my bank to pay some bills. I do this from my computer, which allows me three alternative ways to log in. Normally I use a special bank card that I put into a card-reading thingy that I connect to my laptop by a cord. I also have a smaller cordless bank thingy that I'm not sure how it works, but somehow codes get sent back and forth by pushing the right buttons, and if I do it right, that works too. (I haven't been using the little fiddly thingy much lately though, as I find the card-thingy easier to handle.)The third alternative is Mobile Bank ID, which involves an app on my smartphone, and scanning of QR codes. The Mobile Bank ID is nowadays also used to access an increasing amount of other apps and websites where one needs to prove that one is who one claims to be. (I'm still a bit sceptical of the general idea of using my phone for Absolutely Everything, though, so have so far avoided using bank apps on the phone.)

 

Anyway. A week or so ago I received a message from my bank "reminding" me (I had no idea!!) that my current Mobile Bank ID will expire in a few weeks. However, the message also said I could renew it by logging into my bank. They made that sound easy, so I thought I'd just do that today in connection with paying my bills... 

 

Of course I should know by now that there's no "just" about these kinds of things - but sometimes I still let optimism take over...

 

It did seem simple enough to start with - until I was suddenly asked to now prove my identity by taking a photo (via an app) of a valid physical ID. And then learned that in this particular context, my driving licence, which in the Real World has served me as allround ID for around 50 years by now (renewed without much ado every 10 years), no longer counts as valid ID in this particular context. To prove my identity to the new Mobile Bank ID, I now need either a physical Passport or a physical National ID card (valid within the EU). And as I haven't travelled abroad for a very long time, and for all other purposes so far have got along fine with my driving license, I don't have either of those... 

 

So I had no alternative but to interrupt my application for the new Bank ID by clicking on the alternative "I don't have the right ID" ... 

 

For a while I feared that this might leave me without any identity at all within in digital world... But luckily it seems that the system reverted to letting the old bank ID tick on until the automatic expiration date. (Phew.)

 

So I hurried on in search of What To Do and Where To Go; and managed to book an appointment at our police station next week - to be photographed and fingerprinted and whatever else it takes to get the required National ID... 

 

To my relief, it seems that the physical police will still accept my driving license to prove that I Am Who I Am. (Because if not, it seems the only alternative would be to ask my brother to drive down here to confirm it in person. And I'm not actually sure if he has any ID besides his driving license to prove his identity either...)

 

The whole circus now makes me think I should probably also make sure to both renew my driving license next year (in spite of doubting that I'll ever actually take up driving again), and get a passport as well (even if I have no travel plans). On second thought, probably better to wait a year or two with the passport, though - or else the ID card and the passport will keep expiring at the same time...

 

I'm not going to ask everyone to describe your own country's ID systems in detail - but I do feel curious to know if you too are feeling the increased pressure/requirement to use your phone for Everything... As much as I love my smartphone, for the most part I still mostly use it as a combination of camera, audio book player, handy encyclopedia, and to receive text message notifications. For other online things, I usually prefer either my laptop or my tablet... But these days, it seems the goal is a separate App for "every purpose under heaven" * (but one Bank ID to join them all)...

 

* "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..." 
(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

 

Making Progress...

Getting acquainted with my new phone is still taking up a lot of my time - and I keep oscillating between frustration and revelations... ;-)

Out on a short chilly walk on Sunday (just my usual turn around the cemetery for exercise) I had my first attempt at shooting some outdoor photos. Or so I thought. Turned out when I got home that what I had actually done was shoot some very short, shaky and blurry videos (of things not supposed to move!). 

Being used to actually pressing a physical button to take photos (even on my old phone), I guess I probably pressed the "screen button" on the new phone too hard...

Yesterday was sunny (even if still rather chilly), and a better day for outdoor photography. I managed a few shots in and near the park downtown; and then at home also experimented with creating collages. Some crocuses had shown their face again after the snow-shock that must have buried them the other day; and I spotted a couple of more unusual ducks among the usual mallards in the river.

I think they must be goosanders (Lat. Mergus merganser, Swedish: storskrake)

The white ones, bottom right, are snowdrops with snow dropped on top of them... (The crocuses were in a sunny spot, the snowdrops in a shady spot.)

- - -

Some of my other experiments have been related to sound rather than images. The new phone turned out to have no headphone jack; so the day after I bought the phone, I decided to also invest in a couple of new wireless (Bluetooth) earbuds. They don't even have a cord between them to keep the pair together... So far I haven't dared use them outside the flat! ;) They're surprisingly comfortable, though.

The photo on the left is a shot from my TV screen today (watching an episode of Foyle's War). Just as a reminder how far technology has come in the past 80 years or so...!

You turn them on/off and change volume etc by tapping on the earbuds themselves. I've still not quite mastered that art... Sometimes if I want to increase or decrease the volume, I manage to turn them off instead. Or suddenly an automatic voice cries "GAMING MODE" in my ear...  It seems I'm also supposed to be able to answer a phone call by a tap, if I happen to be wearing them when the phone rings. (That still remains to be tested.)

Getting the earbuds also inspired me to look into how to transfer music to the phone from my laptop (where I have pretty much all my old vinyls and CDs saved as mp3-files). Grasping how to do that turned out another headache. I'll just sum it up by saying I tried things more than one way without success... Finally, yesterday, I somehow managed to transfer two (2) albums, though - still hadn't got a clue why only those two (out of several more attempts) were successful!

Somewhere in between, it also occurred to me to explore Spotify (music streaming app). Wow... Somehow I've been under the impression that the free version of this app would also involve lots of unwanted ads and interruptions. (Perhaps in the beginning it did?) But I find now that it does not! And so easy to find old favourites... And once I started marking those, the app started making automatic playlists for me, and bringing up even more suggestions that I hadn't thought of... But you can also listen to full albums. (I bet some of you are laughing at me now. You probably knew all this since like forever.) Anyway, I got spellbound for hours yesterday afternoon, just exploring this whole world of old/new  music... Conclusion at the end of the day: No need to have tons of music files downloaded now - only perhaps a few, if I also want to be able to listen offline sometimes.

Still... Always unsatisfied with unsolved mysteries, today I returned to the problem of how to transfer music from the computer - and think I managed to figure it out. Somehow, after the two successful downloads yesterday, I must have broken off the procedure and failed to start over correctly. Like it seems essential that I turn on the phone first, before connecting it (by cord) to the computer... Never mind the rest of the steps, as it probably varies between devices anyway (which apps are involved etc). Suffice it to say that I have now also downloaded a limited number of my own albums for "offline" listening. 

However, in the process, I've probably also developed an addiction to continue exploring Spotify...