Herb Lawson had been configuring software since he was eleven years\u00a0old.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d built gaming PCs, virtualized home labs, reverse-engineered bad installers, scripted deployment workflows, rebuilt operating systems from recovery environments, and once recovered his mother\u2019s tax records from a dying hard drive using tools she\u2019d described only as \u201csomething from the internet.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was twenty-eight years\u00a0old.<\/p>\n
He knew technology.<\/p>\n
He had never seen a\u00a0dongle.<\/p>\n
Not in\u00a0person.<\/p>\n
That changed at 10:16 Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
Barry set a small cardboard box on the conference table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need this for the licensing server.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb looked\u00a0inside.<\/p>\n
There was a USB device in a clear plastic\u00a0bag.<\/p>\n
He picked it\u00a0up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is\u00a0this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Barry looked at\u00a0him.<\/p>\n
\u201cA dongle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb stopped.<\/p>\n
Miles Carver slowly looked up from his\u00a0phone.<\/p>\n
Mary kept\u00a0typing.<\/p>\n
Sandesh continued studying a deployment diagram on his\u00a0laptop.<\/p>\n
Herb looked at Barry\u00a0again.<\/p>\n
\u201cA what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA dongle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb glanced around the\u00a0room.<\/p>\n
Nobody helped\u00a0him.<\/p>\n
Miles put his phone face\u00a0down.<\/p>\n
Herb examined the little\u00a0device.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is actually called a\u00a0dongle?\u201d<\/p>\n
Barry nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProfessionally?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike, that\u2019s the real technical term?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles leaned back in his\u00a0chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a safe space, Herb. Take your\u00a0time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary looked at\u00a0Miles.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt absolutely isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb turned the device over in his\u00a0hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what does the dongle\u00a0do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles inhaled\u00a0quietly.<\/p>\n
Barry pointed at\u00a0him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t say anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou made a\u00a0sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI breathed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou breathed suggestively.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s medically possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary looked\u00a0up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith you, I\u2019m not ruling it\u00a0out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandesh glanced\u00a0over.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe dongle contains the license key required by the application.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay. So the software won\u2019t run without the dongle inserted?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Herb closed his\u00a0eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere it\u00a0is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI hate this already.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou asked a legitimate question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re enjoying my discomfort.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cImmensely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barry pushed the box toward\u00a0Herb.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou insert it into the licensing server. The software checks for it. If it\u2019s present, the application runs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb looked relieved to have something technical to\u00a0discuss.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the dongle has to stay inserted?\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles folded his\u00a0hands.<\/p>\n
Barry looked at the\u00a0ceiling.<\/p>\n
Mary stopped\u00a0typing.<\/p>\n
Herb stared at all three of\u00a0them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles shook his\u00a0head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, say\u00a0it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have nothing to\u00a0add.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really\u00a0not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt absolutely is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandesh pointed at the deployment diagram.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are also network dongles, video adapters, wireless adapters, security keys, and other devices people sometimes call dongles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the term can refer to different things?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles nodded thoughtfully.<\/p>\n
\u201cDifferent sizes. Different purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary looked at\u00a0him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiles.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m talking about hardware.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re never just talking about hardware.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat feels judgmental.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s based on historical evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb set the device\u00a0down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy is it even called a\u00a0dongle?\u201d<\/p>\n
Barry shrugged.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody really\u00a0agrees.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles leaned\u00a0forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve wondered that\u00a0myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb immediately regretted looking at\u00a0him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what one\u00a0is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve used\u00a0them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMany times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb\u2019s eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did you let me stand here sounding like I\u2019d discovered some forbidden piece of technology?\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause this is your first consulting engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that have to do with anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProfessional development.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe stole that from\u00a0me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI adapted\u00a0it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s theft with PowerPoint.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb picked up the dongle\u00a0again.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo these used to be\u00a0common?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVery,\u201d Miles\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
Herb looked surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou used these when you were younger?\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow young?\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles paused.<\/p>\n
Barry shifted in his\u00a0chair.<\/p>\n
Mary looked over the top of her\u00a0laptop.<\/p>\n
Herb noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles looked almost nostalgic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI encountered dongles fairly early in\u00a0life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barry quietly said,\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that\u00a0mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means licensing technology has been around for a long\u00a0time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not what you\u00a0meant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exactly what I\u00a0meant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary tilted her\u00a0head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiles.\u201d<\/p>\n
He raised both\u00a0hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m being factual.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb looked down at the USB\u00a0device.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you\u2019ve been dealing with dongles since, what, the nineties?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb looked\u00a0up.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles nodded solemnly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI even got vaccinated for them\u00a0once.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barry folded forward onto the\u00a0table.<\/p>\n
Mary stared at\u00a0Miles.<\/p>\n
Sandesh looked genuinely concerned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a vaccine?\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb froze.<\/p>\n
Miles held the expression for two full\u00a0seconds.<\/p>\n
Then Barry started laughing.<\/p>\n
Herb pointed at\u00a0Miles.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles lost\u00a0it.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Absolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary rubbed her forehead.<\/p>\n
Sandesh looked\u00a0around.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo there isn\u2019t a vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Herb\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCorrect,\u201d Barry\u00a0managed.<\/p>\n
Sandesh looked at\u00a0Miles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would you say\u00a0that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles wiped his\u00a0eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Herb asked about my early dongle exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb stared at\u00a0him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sentence is your\u00a0fault.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI only answered the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou fabricated a vaccination.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI improvised.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary looked at\u00a0Herb.<\/p>\n
\u201cWelcome to consulting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb sat\u00a0down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what consulting is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Mary said. \u201cThis is what consulting is\u00a0here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barry straightened up.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we please install the software?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Herb said quickly. \u201cThank\u00a0you.\u201d<\/p>\n
He inserted the device into the\u00a0server.<\/p>\n
Nothing happened.<\/p>\n
Barry frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cTry the other USB\u00a0port.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb removed it and inserted it into the next\u00a0port.<\/p>\n
Still nothing.<\/p>\n
Sandesh leaned\u00a0closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs the indicator light\u00a0on?\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb examined\u00a0it.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles rested his chin on his\u00a0hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe you\u2019re not inserting it correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb didn\u2019t look at\u00a0him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not participating.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m troubleshooting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are absolutely not troubleshooting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barry pointed at the back of the\u00a0server.<\/p>\n
\u201cMake sure it\u2019s seated all the\u00a0way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb stopped\u00a0moving.<\/p>\n
Miles turned toward\u00a0Barry.<\/p>\n
Barry realized what he\u2019d\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
Mary lowered her laptop\u00a0lid.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barry lifted both\u00a0hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was legitimate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou still enjoyed saying\u00a0it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barry looked at\u00a0him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb pushed the dongle firmly into the\u00a0port.<\/p>\n
A small green light came\u00a0on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandesh nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow the service should detect\u00a0it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb checked the licensing console.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barry looked relieved.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb leaned\u00a0back.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s\u00a0it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe application just needs the dongle inserted?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if someone removes\u00a0it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe license check\u00a0fails.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb looked at\u00a0Miles.<\/p>\n
Miles looked\u00a0back.<\/p>\n
Neither spoke.<\/p>\n
Mary watched both of\u00a0them.<\/p>\n
Barry waited.<\/p>\n
Sandesh continued typing.<\/p>\n
Five seconds\u00a0passed.<\/p>\n
Herb finally said, \u201cI\u2019m not\u00a0asking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles nodded\u00a0slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood instincts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb folded his\u00a0arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, for someone who claims to be mentoring me, you spend a lot of time trying to destroy my ability to speak professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s part of the mentoring.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can explain hardware licensing in this room without losing composure, you can survive any\u00a0client.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary opened her laptop\u00a0again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hate that there\u2019s logic in\u00a0that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles pointed at\u00a0her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t\u00a0praise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m taking\u00a0it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb looked at the glowing\u00a0dongle.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo how long do these things usually\u00a0last?\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles stared at\u00a0him.<\/p>\n
Barry stared at\u00a0him.<\/p>\n
Mary stared at\u00a0him.<\/p>\n
Herb stared\u00a0back.<\/p>\n
Then his expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles grinned.<\/p>\n
Herb shook his\u00a0head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no, no. I know what you\u2019re doing\u00a0now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t done anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have\u00a0to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barry smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandesh looked up from his\u00a0screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can research the expected lifespan if that would\u00a0help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone turned toward\u00a0him.<\/p>\n
Sandesh paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Miles stood, picked up his coffee, and headed for the\u00a0door.<\/p>\n
\u201cNever change, Sandesh.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandesh looked at\u00a0Herb.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still don\u2019t understand why that keeps happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb watched Miles\u00a0leave.<\/p>\n
Then he looked down at the tiny green light blinking from the back of the\u00a0server.<\/p>\n
He sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u00a0do.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the hallway, Miles called\u00a0back:<\/p>\n
\u201cProud of you,\u00a0kid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herb closed his\u00a0eyes.<\/p>\n
Mary nodded\u00a0once.<\/p>\n
\u201cTemporary growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rick Gregson is an enterprise IT consultant specializing in complex infrastructure transformations, mergers and acquisitions, and enterprise identity modernization. He writes about biohacking, the paranormal, technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and systems quietly shaping our\u00a0world.<\/em><\/p>\n THANK YOU so much for your\u00a0time!<\/em><\/strong>If you enjoyed the article, please feel welcome to clap, share, or drop in some comments\u200a\u2014\u200aWe welcome all and besides, engagement really helps with the algorithm.<\/em><\/strong>We also invite you to consider subscribing to the channel. Medium members join for free and, email notifications on or off, the subs really help to grow the readership.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \ud83c\udfaf For more Giggity Bytes<\/strong>, click here<\/a> \ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffc\u26a1<\/em>YouTube: Rick Gregson<\/a> Giggity Bytes: The Dongle<\/a> was originally published in Coinmonks<\/a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Where technology, business, and perfectly legitimate terminology go horribly\u00a0wrong. Herb Lawson had been configuring software since he was eleven years\u00a0old. He\u2019d built gaming PCs, virtualized home labs, reverse-engineered bad installers, scripted deployment workflows, rebuilt operating systems from recovery environments, and once recovered his mother\u2019s tax records from a dying hard drive using tools she\u2019d described […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":230687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-230686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230686"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=230686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/230687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=230686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=230686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=230686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\ud83d\udcda Additional Reading<\/h3>\n
\ud83c\udfaf For content related to Technology<\/strong>, click here<\/a>
\ud83c\udfaf For content related to Entrepreneurship<\/strong>, click here<\/a>
\ud83c\udfaf For content related to Health<\/strong>, click here<\/a>
\ud83c\udfaf For content related to Biohacking<\/strong>, click here<\/a>
\ud83c\udfaf For content from the MyNotes<\/strong> series, click here<\/a>
\ud83c\udfaf Explore all articles by Rick Gregson<\/strong>, click\u00a0here<\/a><\/p>\nBe sure to follow me\u00a0on..<\/h3>\n
\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffc\u26a1<\/em>LinkedIn: Rick Gregson<\/a>
\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffc\u26a1<\/em>IG: Rick Gregson (@therickgregson)<\/a>
\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffc\u26a1<\/em>X \/ Twitter: Rick Gregson (@therickgregson)<\/a><\/p>\n