New Name in Town – Qwikster

 (aka Netflix DVD by mail)

Today I received an apology letter from Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix (you may have received one too..).

The letter included some interesting explanations of the recent rate hike, and also the news that the Internet streaming side, and the DVD-by-mail side of Netflix were going to split.

The DVD will get its own website — called “Qwikster”.

He posted a longer and more detailed explanation, and a video, here (get the 4-1-1).

A Heads Up: The Dark Side Of Skype

(+ Handy Windows 7 Productivity Features)

For three years now I have posted warnings about fake, scary warnings delivered by the “chat” part of Skype. That was the old (criminal) method. Now there’s a new ‘trick’.

Let me start with a reminder of the old..

Chat Message Scares Reader Into Installing Malware

Today a Skype chat window opened on my machine, and presented me with a dire warning from someone named “Software Update”, “Registry Scan Online®”, “OnlineUpdate.org”, “OnlineRegistry®” Today’s flavor (I think it was “Update Instructions”..).

It said that “WINDOWS SYSTEM REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION” and, it provided me with a solution… a “repair utility”.

Please, folks, tell me you have spotted this for what it is. Please tell me that you knew –instantly– that this is a cybercrime attempt; that it is Phraud-ulent. (I mean.. there are clues aplenty!) Read more..

Not too long ago, I started receiving Skype calls from similarly named entities..

This user has not shared their details with you

That’s the ‘new method’.

I am too old and too tired of criminal activities, and have not “answered” any of these calls to find out just what kind of attack or scam this is. Perhaps a RL person would try to get me to click a link they send.. perhaps a clever voice robot would.. Fact is, I simply don’t care – nothing good can come from answer this call.

Or any call from someone you don’t know. (You remember the Rule for email? Don’t open email from strangers? Same deal here.)

When we are online, surfing the vast and unpoliced Internet, we simply have to have our “paranoid hat” on, because – yes – people are trying to get us.

I have to keep my Skype profile “public”, for business reasons, but regular folks should set their privacy to “People on my Contact list only”, and reduce the chance of getting these vile interruptions.

1) Click the Tools menu, then Options.

2) Click Privacy settings (left column) and change the radio buttons to “people in my Contact list only“.

Today’s quote: “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

Today’s reading reco: Top Ten: Windows 7 Productivity Tips

“Windows 7 has been out for a while, and by all accounts has found its way into many people’s daily working lives. However, it’s easy to just keep doing things the old way instead of learning about new features that can help you work more efficiently. In this column, I’ll tell you about 10 handy Windows 7 productivity features that you might have overlooked.” Read more..

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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