Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller provides an honest look at life as an expat in Latin America, contrasting it with the idealized versions often seen in travel media. He discusses the transition period for expats, often starting with the idea of escaping cold weather from their home countries. Johnny highlights the challenges expats and tourists face with computer keyboards in Latin America, particularly the difficulty in finding symbols like the at sign, which is crucial for sending emails. He uses a personal anecdote about a friend who is a part-time expat to illustrate the issue, emphasizing the frustration and confusion that can arise when trying to navigate these keyboards.
Johnny also explains the challenges of using a Spanish keyboard in Latin America, noting that the keyboard layout is standardized but the operating system is often set to Spanish, making it difficult to find common symbols like colons and apostrophes. He emphasizes that this setup is common in most computers purchased in the region and that switching the system to English requires a complete reinstallation of the operating system. Johnny mentions the difficulty of finding English manuals and the frustration of dealing with a Spanish interface, especially for someone with limited Spanish language skills. He concludes by suggesting a compromise: using alternative word processing programs available online in English instead of the default Spanish versions.
In another segment, Johnny discusses his experience with using a Spanish operating system on his computer while running English versions of certain programs. He explains how he switched his keyboard to English for personal use but encountered issues when using others' computers, which still had the Spanish keyboard layout. He provides a step-by-step guide on how to change the keyboard layout to English, including using Microsoft Word to switch the keyboard settings. He also mentions the inconvenience of having to restart computers at public places like cafes to switch the keyboard layout.
Johnny further shares his experience with using Spanish on his computer and offers advice to expats who are new to Spanish and may struggle with the Spanish keyboard and interface. He explains that while the transition was initially frustrating, it ultimately helped him learn technical and scientific terms in Spanish that are not typically covered in traditional language classes. He provides practical tips for navigating the Spanish keyboard, such as using search terms like 'Yahoo English' or 'Google English' to access English versions of websites, and suggests asking for help by saying 'donde esta arroba' (where is the at sign) to locate the '@' symbol on the keyboard. He also warns that asking for too much help might lead to unwanted social interactions, such as being invited for dinner.
In another segment, Johnny discusses the challenges of using a Spanish keyboard, especially for expats, and offers practical solutions. He emphasizes the importance of preparing in advance by practicing with a Spanish keyboard layout before moving to Latin America to avoid frustration. He suggests creating a word document with all the letters and symbols on the keyboard to copy and paste as needed and recommends using a reference to the Spanish keyboard layout while working in cafes or other public internet spaces. He also highlights the affordability and availability of internet cafes in Latin America but warns about potential issues like worn-out keyboards and the presence of children in these spaces.
Johnny also touches on the peculiarities of being a gringo in Latin America, particularly the behavior of young children towards expats. He notes that young kids often act in a way that is intrusive and physically close, which he considers one of the few annoying aspects of the gringo advantage. However, once children reach about five years old, they become respectful and polite towards adults, often showing fear or hesitation around gringos due to their size and unfamiliarity. Johnny highlights the issue of internet cafes, where users often forget to log out, potentially exposing personal information. He warns about the risks of leaving sensitive data on shared computers and suggests using programs like Window Washer or CC Cleaner to ensure privacy.
Finally, Johnny provides practical advice for expats living in Latin America on how to monitor online activity and protect personal data. He discusses methods to detect if family members or partners are visiting inappropriate websites, recommends using free software to erase browsing history, and emphasizes the importance of removing USB drives from public computers to prevent data theft. He also suggests using encryption tools like PGP to secure sensitive information stored on USB drives.
Topics
Introduction to The Expat Files podcast, Transition period for expats in Latin America, Challenges with computer keyboards in Latin America, Personal anecdote about a friend's experience, Spanish keyboard layout, Operating system language settings, Challenges for expats in Latin America, Alternative software solutions, Operating system language, Keyboard layout, Language settings, Computer configuration
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:33 Transition Period for Expats in Latin America 00:01:44 Challenges with Computer Keyboards in Latin America 00:04:24 The Problem with Spanish Keyboards and Hunt and Peck Typing 00:05:17 The Standardization of Keyboards and the Spanish Operating System 00:06:00 The Difficulty of Switching to English and the Compromise of Alternative Software 00:08:34 Office versions that came with your computer. 00:08:37 And you know that's what I did for a long long time. 00:08:39 I ran some stand alone versions of the Office programs in English that I got as free or 00:08:44 almost free downloads from the internet and I also downloaded the latest version of Internet 00:08:48 Explorer in English. 00:08:50 So I'm running my operating system in Spanish because my computer came with Windows and 00:08:56 Spanish which of course is the way they all come down here. 00:08:59 And I also run some stand alone versions of certain programs in English which I loaded 00:13:55 The Positive Impact of Using Spanish on Windows 00:14:07 Advice for Expats Struggling with Spanish and Technology 00:16:20 How to Locate the '@' Symbol on a Spanish Keyboard 00:17:26 Emergency Situations with Spanish Keyboard Issues 00:17:28 Examples of Spanish Keyboard Challenges 00:17:32 The Importance of Knowing the Arroba Location 00:17:37 The Reality of Spanish Keyboard Issues 00:17:42 Using Google to Find Sample Emails 00:17:48 Finding Sample Emails with Arroba 00:17:49 Copying the Arroba Sign 00:17:53 Using the Arroba Sign in Spanish Emails 00:21:55 The Annoying Behavior of Young Kids Towards Gringos 00:22:07 The Respect and Politeness of Older Latin American Children 00:22:29 Internet Cafe Security and Privacy Concerns 00:26:16 Monitoring Online Activity and Data Security in Latin America
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:03] Hi everybody, I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America. The show that tells you what it's really like to live, work, play and or retire in Latin America. I tell it just like it is, not the version they give you in those glossy travel magazines or the picture they paint for you in those international traveler websites where they're only trying to sell you something. What's it really like for expats living in Latin America? Well if you stick around a while you'll find out. So let's get started. Now I'd like to bring up something that one of my friends brought up lately. A friend who's almost an expat and by that I mean he's got one foot in the first world and one foot down here in Latin America. And sometimes that transition period between jumping off the first world treadmill and landing down here permanently as an expat takes a few years while you get all your ducks
[00:51] lined up. And in fact that's what happens with most people who can't totally wrap their mind around the idea of leaving the first world completely and becoming a 100% expat. In fact a lot of expats I know came down here first to Latin America with this simple idea of just following the nice weather. That is when you're freezing your cajones off up in Cleveland you head down to your little Latin American paradise. But I'll tell you what happens after a few years of that. You start spending more and more of your vacation and free time down here in your little Latin paradise and on your trips back to Cleveland you get more and more disillusioned with the weather instead. And that really does happen to most people who start out thinking they're just going to be part time expats. Anyway, my friend who happens to be one of those part time expats right now. He gave me a very good topic to talk about on the show that simply didn't cross my mind
[01:38] until now. Because it only really affects first world tourists to come down here and new expats. And he's talking about the problem that first world people have when they get on a computer down here in Latin America and they find out that the keyboard seems like it's from another planet. It's all screwed up. I mean to say that down here the keyboards look exactly the same as what you're used to and when you type letters and numbers you get the same results on the computer screen or in the document that you're typing. But that's about it. When you try to type the pound sign or an asterisk question mark bracket and sign exclamation mark you can forget it. It's like some demon virus entered your computer and switched everything around on you. So you can imagine first time you're down here in Latin America and surely you were on vacation so you didn't bring your computer down. So you land in Cartagena, Colombia and you get to your hotel and the first thing you
[02:27] do is you run over to the little business center in the hotel because you've got websites to check and emails to write. And you get on Hotmail or Yahoo or whatever to send an email to your friends or family up north to tell them that you landed okay. And first things first you want to give them the good news. You want to reassure them all that you haven't been kidnapped by narcos and you're not blindfolded and calling from a hut in the jungle asking for a ransom. Because after all this is Colombia isn't it? I mean you have to calm down the folks back home. They were terribly against you going to Colombia from the get-go. They know all about Colombia. They've seen Scarface, some of them more than once. Anyway so you're at the hotel business center on the computer trying to write an email back home and you're not getting anywhere. You can't find the key for the question mark or the dash or the parenthesis which is okay for now because you just want to write a quick note. But you find out after writing a little message that you cannot send the email even though
[03:16] you have the correct email of the person you want to send it to up north. For example if you wanted to send an email to me you'd write the expat files at gmail.com, right? Well guess what? The computer keyboards down here in Latin America are all set up for Spanish and you could write the expat files but you're not going to be able to find the at. Which on an English keyboard is easy. You just press shift and then two. Because if you notice the at sign is on the same key as the two. But it's not in the same place on a Spanish language keyboard. Even though it looks like it is. And here's the other thing. Even if you're in a room full of people down here let's say at a cafe internet and you can't find that at symbol to send an email. If you're off the tourist track like I recommend you're going to have a bit of a time trying to get someone to explain to you where it is. Because guess what? It's not in the same place on every Spanish keyboard.
[04:04] So what's true at one cafe internet is not necessarily true at another. In some places to get the at symbol you have to press alt Q. And on other Spanish keyboard layouts you might have to press alt and then the two letters six four at the same time. And believe me most expats and tourists whose Spanish sucks like mine did when I first came down here. We don't like to ask strangers for help when we're at a business center or a cafe internet. We figure if we hunt and peck long enough we're going to find it. But guess what? You're not going to find that symbol for and. It's not a simple hunt and a peck. Which is something you could do for all the other symbols that seem out of whack on a Spanish keyboard. Hunt and peck. I'm talking about symbols like the and sign and the parenthesis and the brackets. You can find those if you hunt and peck long enough.
[04:50] Which is also a big time waster by the way. I can't tell you how many hours in the last 20 years I've wasted hunting and pecking for colons and apostrophes. Because it's not obvious at all and I have a crappy memory to begin with. Because remember the keyboard is not in Spanish itself. Keyboards are all standardized at least they look like they are. It's just that somewhere along the line on the control panel in the computer the whole operating system and the keyboard were set up in Spanish. Not English. And you can check it out and see how the technician did it. Where it says keyboard or in Spanish teclado. That's Spanish for keyboard teclado. And that's located in the control panel in Microsoft Windows. If you want to switch the whole system back to English the way you're used to it. The way it is in your computer up in Cleveland you have to go to the control panel.
[05:35] Find where it says keyboard or teclado and it always says teclado if you have Microsoft Windows in Spanish. And just one word about Microsoft Windows in Spanish. That's a whole other can of worms. You'll find that every computer down here in Latin America is loaded that way at the store it was purchased at. Well maybe not every computer. Maybe 99% of them. And that other 1% is the Apple operating system which of course will be in Spanish down here too. And there's absolutely no easy way to switch those systems over to English unless you completely reinstall Windows or the Apple operating system again. The English version. Because as you know when you buy a new computer and you install the operating system whether it's Windows or Linux or Apple as you're installing it you select the language you want. And that's it. That's what you're stuck with.
[06:21] Unless you uninstall the whole operating system and reinstall it in a different language. And let me tell you the first couple of years I was down here in Latin America that was a huge headache for me and I'm an engineer. The headache of course being everything and I mean everything was in Spanish. And that includes all the operating manuals that no one reads anyway. And when they're in Spanish that's even worse. You might as well use them for kindling in your fireplace. And my Spanish was almost non-existent from day one. And there's no way someone down here in Latin America is going to let you switch over their Spanish operating system to English. Not if you're just a casual user and it's their computer. That would be asking way too much. And another thing when you buy a computer down here it's always installed with Windows, Apple or Linux operating systems in Spanish. So the moment you buy your computer you have to give them specific instructions to install
[07:06] it in English. And most technicians don't like to do that and I'll tell you why. Because when you're not in a high volume tourist area where there's a lot of gringos there are very few good English speakers including technicians. And you know when you load in a big program like an operating system it's going to prompt you along the way and ask you questions at least a dozen different times. Asking you for this and that information. Asking you to check and uncheck this and that box. You know what I'm talking about. And since these technicians are installing programs all day long in Spanish you tell them to switch over to English and some of them are lost. But I know of a pretty good compromise that makes everybody happy in the end. Now usually if you have the Windows operating system the program you use the most is Word for Windows. You know Word. The most common word processing program in the universe. And unfortunately you just can't uninstall Word for Windows in Spanish and reinstall
[07:56] Word for Windows in English. Not if you have the whole Windows operating system in Spanish. It won't let you do that. Although that would be mighty logical now wouldn't it. But whoever said Windows was logical. Anyway a good compromise is this. There are complete word processing programs that you can download from the internet in English of course that are as good if not better than Word for Windows and some of them are even free. You just download one of those word processing programs and use that one instead of using your word program that's in Spanish. In fact you could download a whole set of Office programs free or almost free versions of Excel and PowerPoint that you can run instead in English and forget about the Spanish language Office versions that came with your computer. And you know that's what I did for a long long time. I ran some stand alone versions of the Office programs in English that I got as free or
[08:44] almost free downloads from the internet and I also downloaded the latest version of Internet Explorer in English. So I'm running my operating system in Spanish because my computer came with Windows and Spanish which of course is the way they all come down here. And I also run some stand alone versions of certain programs in English which I loaded in myself. And by the way it doesn't matter what language your operating system is in you can run programs in English and Spanish. It doesn't care. Except when you load in the program all the instructions and prompts are going to be in Spanish. Even when you load in a program that's in English. Anyway, for certain reasons which I'll explain in a second, I recommend that you keep your operating system in Spanish. Like I did. Now one of the first things I did when I got my computer down here was I switched my keyboard over to standard English. So I'd never have to deal again with that really weird Spanish keyboard.
[09:32] With its accents and tildes and enneas. However when I use someone else's computer down here, like when I'm at my accountant or lawyer's office or I'm at a cafe internet and I have to check my email, then I'm back to that old screwed up Spanish version of the keyboard again which still screws me up after all these years. And you know it's really easy to switch from the standard Spanish keyboard to the English one. You just go to your computer's control panel where it says configuration and idioma. And idiomas means languages in Spanish. Anyway you go to configuration and idioma and Spanish will be highlighted there. So you just select from the drop down list what kind of English you want. English American, English British, English Canadian, English Australian, whatever. But normally that's not enough to switch your keyboard over to the English version that
[10:19] you're used to. I found that sometimes it works perfectly fine but other times you have to turn your computer off and restart it. And of course you're not going to be able to do that at a cafe internet. The people who run those things get awful pissed off when you shut down their computer completely because they have to go through some rigmarole and enter some sequence of codes and passwords to get it back online once it's restarted. So try it if you like. I mean change the control panel keyboard configuration to English then turn the computer off. But expect some hard looks from the person in charge. Unless you play no hablo español I'm a dumb gringo. Which really does work most of the time. And like I said before Latins are glad to help gringos in distress. But the problem I've found is once they start helping you you can never get rid of them. Because every Latin wants a gringo as a friend too.
[11:04] And personally that's not my style. I don't like people hanging over me when I'm at the cafe internet or working on a computer. Anyway like I said you can change the keyboard to English by going to control panel where it says configuration and idiomas. But that might not be enough. Sometimes in order to get that keyboard the way you want it in English you have to open up the Microsoft Word program. And down here of course all the words and letters in that program are going to be in Spanish. And if you were like me when I first came down here I was completely lost. The first time I tried to write a letter with Microsoft Word in Spanish. I just couldn't get out of a starting gate on that. But here's what you do. Once you've opened up the Microsoft Word program in Spanish. Down at the very bottom of the screen where it says what page you're on. Pajina which means page. And right next to that it says palabras. The number of words in your document.
[11:51] Palabras are words. Right next to those two things there's a little tiny icon that looks like an open book. And right next to that little book will be the words español Colombia or español Mexico or español Guatemala or español whatever Latin country the Windows program and keyboard were originally configured in. Well you just click on that little depiction of a book and you'll get a drop down list and you select United States English and you press acceptar which means accept and now your keyboard is in 100% US English. And you'll never be hunting and pecking again. Except once that computer is turned off often times because Microsoft Windows in Spanish is the version of Windows that you have installed. Sometimes depending what Windows version you have whether it's XP, Windows 2000 or Windows
[12:39] Vista everything will once again revert back to Spanish as soon as you start your computer up again. But that's okay. It takes just a minute or two to go into that Word program and switch that keyboard back to English. But believe me like anything there's a learning curve on doing that stuff. And after a while maybe even a year or two like me you'll eventually figure things out in Spanish and you'll learn enough so that you never have to switch back and forth again. You just use the Spanish version all the time. And as you've probably figured out I'm kind of thick with languages. So believe me there was a lot of frustration involved and it did take me a couple of years but now I use exclusively Spanish. And though I'd prefer the keyboard in English the Spanish keyboard is okay and now I guess I'm actually used to the Spanish version of Windows. Which in the end I have to admit was a pretty good Spanish lesson for me and it's been
[13:25] a long time since I've been bent out of shape on that subject. And actually since 99% of all the computers down here are loaded with Windows the Spanish version. Turns out that the more time you spend on your computer down here the faster you pick up on the technical and scientific terms in Spanish. And that kind of stuff they don't teach in Spanish classes nor do you get that kind of work out from a Spanish immersion course. Like when you hook up as a boarder in a Spanish family for a couple of months. The fact is when you do immersion with a family they almost never have a computer at home. They're too broke. So actually in the end having my Windows operating system in Spanish was a very positive thing though I did pull my hair out at the beginning. So what can I offer it as advice to people first coming down who don't know much Spanish at all. Who surely are going to end up down here using people's computers and cafe internets and
[14:13] they're going to be hit not only with Windows in Spanish but they're going to be hit with a Spanish keyboard. And every time you get on you'll be wasting your time haunting and pecking. And what about that at sign which is not at all obvious on a Spanish version of the keyboard like it is on the English one. How do you find that thing if you don't know where it is. Well here's a couple of tips that'll get you through a few of those frustrating moments. When you first get on a computer whether it's in a business center at the hotel you're staying in your lawyer's office or at a cafe internet the desktop and everything is going to be in Spanish. And you're definitely going to get weirded out by the keyboard though it looks just like your keyboard at home but it seems crazy. If you hit any keys but the letters or the numbers nothing matches what it says on the keys but try not to let that bother you. When you first get on a computer down here the screen will either show you the desktop or you'll be on an internet page like Yahoo or Google and of course they'll be in Spanish.
[15:03] And your best bet is just to go to the search box whether it's Google or Yahoo or Hotmail and search for your email provider let's say it's Yahoo. You put in Yahoo English in the search box or Google English if you're in the search box. Then at least you'll get your email site in English otherwise it'll come up in Spanish every time. Or you can click the idioma or language box on Google or Yahoo or whatever and switch everything to English there too. The problem again is your keyboard is still going to be in Spanish and if you don't know anything about a Spanish keyboard you can't write an email or even get to your own email address if you don't have that and symbol. And like I said before you have to usually press Alt Q but sometimes it's not like that either. Sometimes you have to press Ctrl 6 4 or something else entirely different.
[15:51] Well here's another trick. One of the very first phrases you'll learn in Spanish is where is. For example where is the bathroom, donde esta el bano. Okay those first two words donde esta means where is. Now that little symbol for at the symbol that's used in every email address. For example the expat files at gmail.com. Well in Spanish it's not called at it's called arroba. So here's the trick. You say to anyone that's around you because everybody speaks Spanish, donde esta arroba. You're asking where is the at sign on the computer keyboard. And you know what like I said everyone wants to help a gringo in distress. So if you say donde esta arroba but don't say it like that.
[16:36] Say it a bit nicer, donde esta arroba. And by the way that's not exactly the perfect way to ask the question in Spanish but it gets the job done. Everyone around you will know exactly what you're talking about. It's as if you asked where is bathroom, donde esta bano. People around you are going to know you're asking where the bathroom is. But you didn't ask it in perfect Spanish. You forgot the article the el bano. But who cares it works right? In fact if you're in a cafe internet and you look at someone and say arroba with a puzzled look on your face. They're going to know exactly what you mean. They know you're looking for the at sign and they're going to come over and help you. But like I said beware of asking for too much help because then you'll never get rid of these guys. More often than not you'll find yourself getting invited home for dinner. Which might not be such a bad deal depending if you're single or not.
[17:21] But that's another story. So anyway if you know that word arroba you're in like Flynn. But if it's an emergency and no one's around. Like for example if you're in your lawyer's office and they've all gone out for lunch. And as usual you don't know where the arroba is or it's not in the same place as the arroba on the last computer you used and don't think this is trivial because it really happens. Anyway all you have to do is google the words email example and a ton of sample emails will come up. And of course each one will have an and sign in it which is an arroba in Spanish. So you just highlight that little and sign click right on your mouse and copy it. Now you're all set. You've got that and sign and you don't care where it's located on that Spanish keyboard because you've got it copied now and you can paste it anywhere. And here's another trick if you're stuck with a Spanish keyboard down here and you will
[18:09] be believe me. It's happened to me a thousand times. Anyway before you even get started on the computer work you've got to do here's what you should do to sidestep a lot of frustration. You open up a brand new word document or open up the word notepad program which is usually listed on your start menu. Anyway once you've opened a new word or a wordpad document just start typing in every single letter and symbol on your keyboard then hold down the shift button and repeat the process. And now you'll have every hidden letter and symbol that you'll need if you're going to write a letter email or document and you just copy and paste those symbols and letters as needed. For example if you need parentheses or a dollar sign or a pound sign or brackets just copy and paste it into the body of your work from that word document.
[18:55] Then who cares about the Spanish keyboard right? Sure admittedly copying and pasting is going to slow you down a little bit but you'll get your work done eventually and the final product won't look like it was done by a cross eyed fourth grader. But obviously the best way of all to conquer the Spanish keyboard problem. Well maybe it's not a big problem but it's quite an annoyance and you'll find that out when you first get down here. Anyway the best way to conquer that problem besides bringing your own laptop down and I don't recommend that not the first few times you come down because it is a lot of baggage to carry along with you. And just one more thing to worry about when you're in a strange land so you can skip it till you get a little bit more settled. Anyway the very best way to conquer that Spanish keyboard problem is to practice up in Cleveland before you come down. Up there go to your control panel and switch your keyboard over to Spanish and play around
[19:42] with it for a while and you'll see how frustrating it can be. And here's another cool trick just google Spanish keyboard layout and copy that keyboard onto a word document and save it and leave it in the background as a reference every time you have to use a computer down here in Latin America or just leave that website that you google the Spanish keyboard layout website in the background while you're working on any computer down here in Latin America and you'll have that as a reference to which will help you beat the frustration. And while I'm talking about keyboards computers and internet let me say just a bit about internet cafes. Now most hotels down here that are a bit on the higher end let's say from $40 a night and up. And believe it or not $40 a night is the beginning of the higher end in hotel pricing. Anyway hotels like that usually offer a business office room and even a computer or two that
[20:29] you can use for free. But strangely enough some of the international hotels like the Hilton and the Cladion, the Barcelona and the Marriott they actually charge residents for internet. And I've seen places like that charge up to $5 an hour. And funny enough within a few blocks of all those big hotel chains there's always a little cafe internet or two that charge 50 cents to a dollar an hour. Though it could be double that or more in a tourist saturated zone like Costa Rica. So what I'm getting at is those cafe internets are all over the place and they're dirt cheap. But there are a few things that you have to remember if you use one of those. First of all down here people use the cafe internet so much because more than three quarters of the population don't have internet at home. And because these cafe internet places get so much traffic many times the most commonly used letters are worn right off the keyboard. And for guys like me who are hunting peckers who never took a typing class at school we
[21:18] really depend on the fact that we can see the letters on the keyboard. And if just two or three of those letters are erased that really slows us down. Okay so that's one problem. The next problem is mothers are always bringing their little kids into these cafe internets and those kids are always walking around and crawling under tables, running back and forth, talking in loud bursts and sometimes even crying. And I still don't get why kids talk in such high volumes to their parents. Mommy look at me mommy look at me. You get the picture but even if you can handle that it could be if you're off the tourist track that you're the only gringo that kid has ever seen and now you've become the object of his or her attention. And they'll hover around you, lean on your chair, ask your questions, touch you and sometimes even drool on you. And that folks is one of the few annoying things about the gringo advantage.
[22:05] But that only happens with the very young kids. Once a Latin American kid reaches about five years old they're just full of respect and politeness towards adults. And they'll not only keep away from you but they actually seem a bit afraid to get too close to you. And I can see why. Because most of the time they've never seen a gringo in person. Not to mention you're almost always the biggest and tallest guy in the room by far. In fact you're probably the biggest and tallest guy in the whole neighborhood. Anyway another surprising thing I've noticed at cafe internets is that the person who is on the computer before you often forgets to log out. So when for example I go into Gmail or Hotmail sometimes it'll open right into the previous person's email site. Which gives me access to their whole account. Now I'm not a bad or devious guy, at least I don't think I am. But if I was I could really screw up some guy or gal's life.
[22:51] Because think for a minute if some complete stranger had access to your email account or accounts. What if they just wiped out everything or just changed your password. Or used your site to do some devious stuff. Now these days you know that's more than possible. And I don't know what it's like up in the first world. But I know that on the internet and up north they're always talking about passwords being ripped off. How you should use encryption and change your password to a more sophisticated one. Watch who you give your email to and look out for trojan viruses and other warnings like that. Well I'm here to tell you that down here that message hasn't sunk in yet. And if you're wondering what I do when that happens. I don't snoop. I just log the guy out. And you should be cautiously aware of this too. And it has to do with the fact that a huge majority of people don't have internet at home. And if they do happen to have it.
[23:36] It's running on a very old obsolete computer. They don't have the money for an upgrade. And they never have a good anti virus. And there's probably a ton of family members using it. And again because of the money it's running at the lowest connection speed. So everyone goes to the cafe internet. In fact even business men go to the cafe internet because it's a nice fast connection. But here's the thing I have to warn you about. Any kind of resumes, business emails or reports or banking or transactions that you do on the internet. If you don't wipe that stuff off the computers hard drive at the internet cafe before you leave. Guess what? Many times it's still available for the next guy. Like me. I've seen stuff left on computers that could really upset a person's life. Stuff that easily could get a person divorced, fired or even worse. Like confidential memoirs, business propositions, job interview resumes, sensitive legal papers
[24:26] and court documents, wills and testaments and divorce papers, even wide open internet banking accounts and wire transfer information. And I've seen all that stuff left on computers at cafe internets. And of course all those idiots that left that stuff there must have certainly thought they'd logged off. Except for one important thing. There happens to be a special little icon on the windows start menu that says recent documents. In Spanish, documentos recientes. Sounds the same doesn't it? Anyway anyone who sits down at a computer and clicks that button can see every document the last guy on that computer pulled up or created and probably documents created by the guy before him too etc etc. Go ahead and try it on your computer. Check recent documents on the start menu and you'll see what I mean. So if the last guy was writing a love letter to his mistress or checking out transvestite
[25:15] porno. If he didn't clean up his hard drive, well the next guy on board that computer is going to be able to see what he did. So my suggestion is this. Google a program called Window Washer or CC Cleaner. That's CC, the letter CC, cleaner. And both of those programs have free demos to download. So before you leave the cafe internet, you download one of those programs and run it. And it'll wipe every trace of what you did as well as any documents you may have created or any passwords that you used, anything you downloaded. And it'll even eliminate your search history on the internet. Because I don't know if you know this or not but if you click the little box right next to the internet address line at the top of the page, you'll see at the end of the drop down list it'll say history. And if you click on that you can find out every single internet search from today,
[26:01] yesterday and even weeks past. And ladies, that's how you can tell if your kids or husbands are hitting the porno sites. Just click on that history tab. And all you not so happily married couples out there, that's how you can tell if your other half is checking out those mating and dating sites. But if you download one of those free programs CC Cleaner or Window Washer, all your recent activity gets wiped. And by the way, one of the most important things that you can remember about going to one of these cafe internet sites down here in Latin America is always to remember to remove your little flash USB drive and put it back in your pocket before you leave. Seems way too obvious right? Well I can tell you that in the last three or four years I've collected at least six or seven of those little USB drives that some dummy who used that computer before me forgot
[26:46] to take out of the USB port. And if you're like me you have a lot of valuable stuff on your USB drive so it's always smart to have a backup or two. And I do. But I'll ask you the question, how good would you feel if your USB drive or drives got into the hands of someone you didn't even know? I mean you could have bank data in there, ID documents, or scanned credit cards, so always remember to take it with you before you leave that cafe internet. And I've found that it's not a bad idea at all to have a little encryption program on your USB drive. So if you did forget it, lose it, or it got stolen, whoever finds it will never be able to get into it. And yes, I use encryption, PGP encryption, which stands for pretty good privacy, and nearly impossible to crack. Not that I have any transvestite porn on my USB, but you know what they say about an ounce
[27:31] of prevention. You've been listening to The Expat Files, living in Latin America, coming to you each week from somewhere south of the border. And don't forget you can email me on anything at all about Latin America. The Expat Files at gmail.com. Once again, The Expat Files at gmail.com. See you next time. Nos vemos.