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Rick is the web developer at InterceptEFT and a self-proclaimed closet tree-hugger.
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Rick Steinwand's blog archive
Rick is the web developer at InterceptEFT and a self-proclaimed closet tree-hugger.
Contact Rick
Are you secured?
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Feb 1, 2012 A few years ago, our quarterly security scan showed a missing setting on login pages allowing our customer's web browser to save passwords. We quickly fixed it and started to get calls from people that didn't like having to have to type a password each time they logged in. A year or so later, we issued multifactor cards and people called complaining about having to enter card coordinates at login. These were just two of the many security features we have done that allows us to pass our rigorous quarterly security testing for processing credit card and ACH transactions.
Many of you probably saw that Zappos, an online shoes/clothing merchant, had a recent security breach and email addresses, account passwords (often the same as the email account password) and other personal information was compromised. I was a Zappos customer affected by this breach. Although they say credit card information wasn't stolen, I had used that email user name in several online forums and it was also associated with my Google account, which means my Gmail information, used by 3 Android devices, was also at risk. Needless to say I wasn't pleased at having to change passwords for 3 email accounts on computers, 3 Android devices and all online accounts that also used any of those email addresses or my email user name.
Bottom line? We don't put these measures in place to make doing business with us cumbersome, but to help assure your information is safe and doesn't get compromised. No one wants their personal information leaked, even if it isn't sensitive financial information. These security features as well as many others allows InterceptEFT to pass our PCI and ACH audits year after year.
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Feb 1, 2012 A few years ago, our quarterly security scan showed a missing setting on login pages allowing our customer's web browser to save passwords. We quickly fixed it and started to get calls from people that didn't like having to have to type a password each time they logged in. A year or so later, we issued multifactor cards and people called complaining about having to enter card coordinates at login. These were just two of the many security features we have done that allows us to pass our rigorous quarterly security testing for processing credit card and ACH transactions.
Many of you probably saw that Zappos, an online shoes/clothing merchant, had a recent security breach and email addresses, account passwords (often the same as the email account password) and other personal information was compromised. I was a Zappos customer affected by this breach. Although they say credit card information wasn't stolen, I had used that email user name in several online forums and it was also associated with my Google account, which means my Gmail information, used by 3 Android devices, was also at risk. Needless to say I wasn't pleased at having to change passwords for 3 email accounts on computers, 3 Android devices and all online accounts that also used any of those email addresses or my email user name.
Bottom line? We don't put these measures in place to make doing business with us cumbersome, but to help assure your information is safe and doesn't get compromised. No one wants their personal information leaked, even if it isn't sensitive financial information. These security features as well as many others allows InterceptEFT to pass our PCI and ACH audits year after year.
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New report feature - Instant report summaries
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Jan 25, 2011
Another new report feature is something you could easily miss, an inconspicuous little button on the right side of your report (circled). You probably have seen similar buttons in many windows apps. A plus sign usually expands content and the minus sign collapses it. This button works in a similar fashion. Again, this example is a returns report, using the "Returns code" group.
When I click the "collapse" (minus) button, my report collapses to just record counts and subtotals. If you have a large report, this often will reduce the number of pages considerably and you can easily have a one or two page summary.
Now if I click the "expand" (plus) button by Account frozen, the report expands to the page where Account frozen group starts and if my report is large, this might be page 14. This is much easier than using the search button.
Look for this feature today with the other report updates.
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Jan 25, 2011
When I click the "collapse" (minus) button, my report collapses to just record counts and subtotals. If you have a large report, this often will reduce the number of pages considerably and you can easily have a one or two page summary.
Look for this feature today with the other report updates.
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New report feature - Group-by's
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Jan 18, 2012 A few weeks ago, I mentioned that charts had been added to the Returns report. We've added more features to help navigate large reports and to help summarize your data.
If your reports are large (more than a couple pages), you've probably noticed it's awkward to find what you're looking for. Sure you can click on the search button (magnifying glass icon), but that isn't always what you want.
Grouping your data, means re-organizing it so it meets a certain criteria. For example, the groups you'll find in the Returns report allow you to organize the report by Company ID, Applications or Returns code. That hasn't changed, but what has changed is that we've moved group changing to the left edge of the report, listed all the groups (links) below it and added a new section on the bottom (when a group is active) to show the members of that group.
In the Returns report example on the left, the current group is "Company" and links to the 2 companies with returns, are listed below. You can click on either link to go straight to the page where that item starts. If there are more items than can be listed on one page (about 20 items), the 4 arrow icons will be active to take you to the first, previous, next and last pages, just like the main tool bar in the report. If you click on the "Application" group, the report will reorganize, the "Application" group will be highlighted and you'll have links to your applications listed, as seen in the second example (below):
Now you can see the links to the two applications with returns below the current groups. The number in parenthesis behind the application, is the number of records for that application.
Expect to see this feature in mid-January and possibly more groups (and charts) added as well.
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Jan 18, 2012 A few weeks ago, I mentioned that charts had been added to the Returns report. We've added more features to help navigate large reports and to help summarize your data.
If your reports are large (more than a couple pages), you've probably noticed it's awkward to find what you're looking for. Sure you can click on the search button (magnifying glass icon), but that isn't always what you want.
Grouping your data, means re-organizing it so it meets a certain criteria. For example, the groups you'll find in the Returns report allow you to organize the report by Company ID, Applications or Returns code. That hasn't changed, but what has changed is that we've moved group changing to the left edge of the report, listed all the groups (links) below it and added a new section on the bottom (when a group is active) to show the members of that group.
Expect to see this feature in mid-January and possibly more groups (and charts) added as well.
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Editing dates when uploading files will be easier
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Dec 29, 2011 I would think (hope?) most people that upload ACH files via their software, don't have to mess with changing dates. On the other hand, some people upload the same file every time and just change the dates, maybe removing a batch, as needed. For those of you who need to change dates, hopefully you'll like this change.
For some time, I've grown disillusioned with our review dates page. As new features were added, I felt it had become clunky and wasn't keeping up with the latest web trends and needed an overhaul. Gone is the second page for changing dates and the page refreshing when changing multiple dates. Now the page updates in the background when changes are made. The "Options to change several dates at once" section has been replaced by a "Change dates" button, leaving more room to see your file.
It wouldn't be right to remove features without adding something new. When you click the "Change dates" button, the "Option to change dates" dialog will drop down from the top and disappear when you apply date changes. This dialog is also used if you click the date button to change a date.
We hope you enjoy the new changes. Watch for them in early January.
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Dec 29, 2011 I would think (hope?) most people that upload ACH files via their software, don't have to mess with changing dates. On the other hand, some people upload the same file every time and just change the dates, maybe removing a batch, as needed. For those of you who need to change dates, hopefully you'll like this change.
For some time, I've grown disillusioned with our review dates page. As new features were added, I felt it had become clunky and wasn't keeping up with the latest web trends and needed an overhaul. Gone is the second page for changing dates and the page refreshing when changing multiple dates. Now the page updates in the background when changes are made. The "Options to change several dates at once" section has been replaced by a "Change dates" button, leaving more room to see your file.
It wouldn't be right to remove features without adding something new. When you click the "Change dates" button, the "Option to change dates" dialog will drop down from the top and disappear when you apply date changes. This dialog is also used if you click the date button to change a date.
We hope you enjoy the new changes. Watch for them in early January.
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Results
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Dec 12, 2011 You've probably read blogs by Renee and Steven about some of the wellness activities and incentives here at InterceptEFT, but I don't recall reading much about results.
It's no secret that Renee has dropped weight since starting here, and at least 4 people I know now run on a regular basis and are quite trim. I just noticed the other day a co-worker, who is usually sitting when I talk to, had also dropped 20 pounds from diet modification. He's an excellent cook and I've always enjoyed his meat snacks so I don't know how he does it.
I noticed a drop in my cholesterol during last summer's fitness challenge. I donate blood on a monthly basis and one of the perks is my total cholesterol is checked and available as a chart for any time period. Although my cholesterol at it's worst, has always been in the normal range, it's nice to see it drop to the middle of the range.
I think it's great when a company takes interest in the health/welfare of it's employees. Research shows that wellness programs increase productivity, morale and loyalty and reduce health care costs. Cudos to the InterceptEFT wellness committee.
To quote Paul Harvey, "... and that's the rest of the story...."
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Dec 12, 2011 You've probably read blogs by Renee and Steven about some of the wellness activities and incentives here at InterceptEFT, but I don't recall reading much about results.
It's no secret that Renee has dropped weight since starting here, and at least 4 people I know now run on a regular basis and are quite trim. I just noticed the other day a co-worker, who is usually sitting when I talk to, had also dropped 20 pounds from diet modification. He's an excellent cook and I've always enjoyed his meat snacks so I don't know how he does it.
I noticed a drop in my cholesterol during last summer's fitness challenge. I donate blood on a monthly basis and one of the perks is my total cholesterol is checked and available as a chart for any time period. Although my cholesterol at it's worst, has always been in the normal range, it's nice to see it drop to the middle of the range.
I think it's great when a company takes interest in the health/welfare of it's employees. Research shows that wellness programs increase productivity, morale and loyalty and reduce health care costs. Cudos to the InterceptEFT wellness committee.
To quote Paul Harvey, "... and that's the rest of the story...."
Charts!
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Dec 05, 2011 As a kid, I was always getting into trouble when I'd take my toys apart to see how they worked. Granted, they'd usually work when I re-assembled them, but I'd get into trouble none the less. As a web developer, it's still fun to see something cool online, view the source and figure out how it works and adapt it for our web site.
One thing I thought we could use more of was "charts". Sure, we've had one on our Risk report for years, but it was awkward to set up and the chart page had to be built from scratch with that in mind... a lot of work on my end.
I've been working with our reporting software company for several months to fine-tune their new charting engine. Actually, they've been doing most of the work, I just want charts to be simple to create and tweak and that's a reality with their new chart wizard. We implemented our first second-generation chart on the Returns report about a month ago, but unless you changed the report group-by to one of the "Returns code" groups, you probably missed it.
Look for more charts (and other exciting report features) coming soon.
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Dec 05, 2011 As a kid, I was always getting into trouble when I'd take my toys apart to see how they worked. Granted, they'd usually work when I re-assembled them, but I'd get into trouble none the less. As a web developer, it's still fun to see something cool online, view the source and figure out how it works and adapt it for our web site.
I've been working with our reporting software company for several months to fine-tune their new charting engine. Actually, they've been doing most of the work, I just want charts to be simple to create and tweak and that's a reality with their new chart wizard. We implemented our first second-generation chart on the Returns report about a month ago, but unless you changed the report group-by to one of the "Returns code" groups, you probably missed it.
Look for more charts (and other exciting report features) coming soon.
Yup, I'm an old-timer
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Oct 19, 2011 One sign of old age is the "I remember when..." stories. Well, you don't have to be old to have been with a growing company for a number of years. I started with Intercept in March of 2002, almost 10 years, not a long time unless you use dog (or hamster) years, but longer than everyone in my department, except one, so I always have stories to tell.
When I first started, I was amazed that we had a modem room (for you kids: that's dial-up using land-lines) with 3 modems and if you walked by and heard a modem hung, you'd reset it. The website was a static info-type page that wasn't updated often and the only server we had was a file server. Our e-mail and website was hosted by other companies. Security was much more lax then, everyone knew everyone's password, but we didn't have much more than a dozen employees either.
About 6 months after I started, Chad, from our sister-company Barrington (downstairs), was promoted from a software programmer to CIO, and soon purchased enough servers, routers, firewalls and switches to fill our first rack in our first server room. Soon we had our own in-house web and e-mail servers and since I had one html class in college, I became responsible for the website.
In those days, when a monthly transactions milestone was reached, pizza would be ordered and we'd meet in the conference room, eat pizza and play hang-man on the chalk board.
We've come a long way since then. We moved from an old building with 3 floors and public parking in downtown Fargo to a newer (and MUCH nicer) building near West Acres shopping center. We now have a state-of-the-art server room with virtual machines, an emergency generator, a disaster site (with more servers), and so many automated services that we had to create a master tech doc to describe them all. I love this company!
by Rick Steinwand (Web Developer), Oct 19, 2011 One sign of old age is the "I remember when..." stories. Well, you don't have to be old to have been with a growing company for a number of years. I started with Intercept in March of 2002, almost 10 years, not a long time unless you use dog (or hamster) years, but longer than everyone in my department, except one, so I always have stories to tell.
When I first started, I was amazed that we had a modem room (for you kids: that's dial-up using land-lines) with 3 modems and if you walked by and heard a modem hung, you'd reset it. The website was a static info-type page that wasn't updated often and the only server we had was a file server. Our e-mail and website was hosted by other companies. Security was much more lax then, everyone knew everyone's password, but we didn't have much more than a dozen employees either.
About 6 months after I started, Chad, from our sister-company Barrington (downstairs), was promoted from a software programmer to CIO, and soon purchased enough servers, routers, firewalls and switches to fill our first rack in our first server room. Soon we had our own in-house web and e-mail servers and since I had one html class in college, I became responsible for the website.
In those days, when a monthly transactions milestone was reached, pizza would be ordered and we'd meet in the conference room, eat pizza and play hang-man on the chalk board.
We've come a long way since then. We moved from an old building with 3 floors and public parking in downtown Fargo to a newer (and MUCH nicer) building near West Acres shopping center. We now have a state-of-the-art server room with virtual machines, an emergency generator, a disaster site (with more servers), and so many automated services that we had to create a master tech doc to describe them all. I love this company!