You never know what is going to break where.

[papaof2]

Checked my email in the afternoon using the author laptop and got "Server error". Checked it on the smartphone and got a similar error. Checked it on the Kindle and got another error. The last message the author laptop had was at 11:25AM. I had taken a long midday nap so I didn't do anything to any device - any problems are someone else's doing.

Checked the better half's laptop and it's not gotten any email since about the same time. I think it's reasonable to say that AT&T/Yahoo made some changes in their very convoluted email system and they broke something (all the "baby bells" had internet service and email under that company's name: bellsouth, southwestern bell, etc). Now all those emails go to the same server (provided by Yahoo) and AT&T/Yahoo sometimes can't keep things working ("sometimes" translates to "at least once a year").

Log in to att.com and go to the Profile area to get a "secure email" key for each device - a 16 character, all-lower-case key that includes the ports for secure email (SSL) and various other bits of ID. Open up the email program. Delete the password. Kill and restart the email program and then respond to the "Password?" prompt with the secure key and click "Save password". Just need to do that for five laptops, two phones and two Kindles. I spent at least 30 minutes on the "Profile" pages creating new secure mail keys - and giving them nicknames that tell me which device they're for - you need a unique secure mail key for each device.

[feralferret]

I'm glad I don't use AT&T email. That is a bit complicated and convoluted. I'll stick to GMX. It's free and works well either through my browser, or through Thunderbird.

[papaof2]

That was something they instituted about a year or so back. I just added the link and the steps to the secure password file.

Sorry, corporate America, but I'd rather have the option of my old Palm device - one search program that can search everything on the device - unless it's encrypted. I wrote my own encrypted password storage for the Palm so that info was secure. No internet access on that Palm so no email security needed. And then I wrote a Visual Basic program to read that Palm database on a PC so I'd have that info wherever I needed it - and it was VERY fast. Much better than the current kludge with all the "secure" bits in a passworded Word file so I can copy it to each PC when anything is changed. My reader for the Palm data could also copy data to the PC as needed.

How do you access the medical insurance to file a claim online? It's in that document, along with member number, group number, etc., etc. so you don't have to dig up the insurance company card and your Medicare card & etc., & etc., & etc., & etc., & etc.
Yes, I'm lazy - enter data once into a secure document and copy that to a thumb drive so it can be kept current on all the PCs.
The adult kids know where to look and they will have access to everything they might need if we both go out in a vehicle accident.
One is also a signatory on the bank accounts. No safe deposit box because a decent fireproof safe (mechanical combination lock) about 4 or 5 times as big as the safe deposit box we had was paid for in three years of safe deposit rental fees.