Tips To Enhance Your Security And Privacy When Online

Folks, after hearing – yet again – another sad story, I feel compelled to remind you of some advice for a safer and more secure “online experience”, and – yet again – provide you the How To steps for being a ‘safer surfer’.

First up is a known ratings killer, but perhaps the second most important piece of tech advice I can share with you — passwords. (The first being: if it connects to the Internet, it needs an up-to-date antivirus. Period.) If my storyteller had followed this simple advice, they wouldn’t be so sad.
It’s that simple.

Create strong passwords, and use a different one for each website. These two links will help.

• Check your password
• Create strong passwords

Okay, okay, okay. Tech – for Everyone readers don’t need to be told that. They already know. But perhaps you may want to send those to some of your less-savvy friends and family. Below are some very good items for review.

Protect myself from scams

• Email and web scams
• Avoid the fake Microsoft Lottery scam
• Avoid phishing scams

Protect my personal information

• Protect your privacy on the Internet
• Your information on the Internet
• Take charge of your online reputation

I hate to say it, but the Internet is so dangerous (and has been for several years now) that those who do not know the information provided above have practically no chance of not getting nailed and becoming a victim of crime.. if they haven’t been already.
None, as in “zero”.

Bonus reading (unrelated): Use Your Google Drive As A Fax Machine

“Take advantage of your Google Drive and use HelloFax to sign and send faxes online. With Google Drive being a new service provided by Google I am starting to see third party developers coming out with apps that integrate and take advantage of Google Drive. HelloFax is a prime example and is one of […] Read more..

Today’s quote: “For a gallant spirit there can never be defeat.” ~ Wallis Simpson

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Sunday Beauty #86

Today’s image was one of several that caught my eye, but when I saw it was taken with a cellphone, well, that earned it a spot in my Sunday Beauty feature.

Click on image to see more by this artist

“Untitled” by hijadesastre, courtesy of Flickr Commons

Quotable quote for the day: “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

CYA

Sometimes, the essence of an article of “good advice” boils down to “CYA”.

Loyal readers will remember my earlier posting of this. Of them, I ask, did you follow through? This item of advice (and How To) could save you thousands of dollars; received many “comments”; and is worth repeating. (Scroll down for newer stuff.)

Photographic Proof For Insurance (Included: a good “general tip”)

A picture is worth a thousand words, they say; but if you had a catastrophe and your insurance company refuted, or undervalued, your claim – a picture could be worth thousands of dollars.

If your house burned to the ground, and your insurance company disagreed with you about the contents of your home, or severely undervalued them, or both, how would you respond? I would open my email.

What did he say?

Step 1) (Takes an hour, or two, or so) Get a hold of a digital camera, or use your cell phone’s camera if you have no other option, and photograph all your rooms in a “panorama” type perspective. Also be sure to take good pictures of all your key (valuable) possessions – furniture, electronics, appliances, jewelry, artwork, vehicles, power tools, silverware, etc. Open your closets and snap some pics of their contents (your wardrobe); and also your cabinets with all your pots and pans and popcorn poppers. Create a “visual tour” of your home/garage/tool shed.

Step 2) Transfer the images to your PC into a folder you create named “Insurance” (or.. something similar). Then apply a “batch resizer” to the JPEGs (the pictures) you just took. Digital images from cameras usually are quite large (file size, I mean) and to complete the next step, you need to ‘shrink’ them down to a smaller (file) size — say, under 500 KB each. It is easy, don’t worry; scroll down for my reco on a free “resizer” tool.

Step 3) Now import (or attach) the (smaller) images to an email and send the email to yourself.
This may be easiest if you use a “zip” utility (such as Windows’ Send to compressed folder).
Now, no matter what happens to your camera or computer, a copy of those photos will be stored on your email server – ready to show to your insurance claims adjuster should you ever need them. It may take more than one email to send yourself them all..
(Or “upload” them to your [SkyDrive] online storage service, or online “backup”.)

(And naturally, I hope we never do need them..!)

Let’s face it; if we had to sit down and write out a list from memory.. how many things would we forget without that visual reminder?

(Optional Step 4) “Burn” a copy of the original “Insurance” folder to a CD/DVD (the large size images) and put the disc in your safety deposit box (or give it to a friend to keep for you.)

Walking through with a video camera is a great thing to do too. But be sure to store the ‘tape’ somewhere else – a safe deposit box, your office at work, or a friend’s house.

And YES, folks: you have to do this before the tornado (or hurricane, or earthquake, or flood, or..) strikes.

Today’s free download: Batch Image resizing made easy. Fotosizer is a free batch photo/image resizer tool. It lets you resize hundreds of photos in a matter of minutes in a quick and easy way.

(The tip here can be good to know just for “GP”. You never know when you might want to email a large number of photos..)

Related: Home Inventory: How to Document Your Personal Property (there is also a link to two videos at the bottom..)

Bonus: An Online Full-Featured Audio Workstation

“If you are into music composition, then there is an online solution called AudioSauna that you have to check out. If your gift to life is not music, you still need to check out AudioSauna… It is an awesome display and example of what we can now do in our web browsers. AudioSauna is a […]” Read more..

Today’s quote: “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” ~ Albert Einstein

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Friday Fun?

Before I do anything else today, I would like to recommend this read.

* CISPA: more heinous than SOPA, and it just passed

“There’s still time to take this bill down. Read, learn, and then let your Congress-Critters know that, once again, We The Internet will not stand for these assaults on our rights.” Read more..

Despite the outbreak of sunshine here, I have to confess that the reading I do – to keep my finger on the pulse of tech – has been quite discouraging. And that has been true for several years now. Just from what landed in my Inbox today, I could post two dozen articles that (I am pretty sure) would discourage you, too. Such as:

Thanks to weak passwords, Conficker worm still rampant

“Detection numbers continue to rise for the infamous Conficker worm within enterprises, even though there is a patch available and no new variants have appeared in two years.” (I ask you to think about that. It might change your definition of “IT Professional”..)

US Makes No Progress on Cybersecurity

Featured News: Russian cyber crime market more organized, lucrative

“Traditional mafia groups are entering the cyber crime scene in Russia, which is leading to more centralization and professionalization — and bigger profits.“

Like, I said, that is just a few headlines.
Just today.

We live in interesting times.

Your antivirus is up-to-date, and you use good passwords.. right? (And.. not the same one for everything???)

So. Fersher I need some Friday Fun. And I need to get outside and into the sunshine.

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Today’s quote: “You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yeah. Sure. Uh Huh:

quick-easy.net

‘Cuz that’s how we like it, quick & easy.

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Quick Post — Games!

I only have a moment today, but I will use it to post a ‘heads up’ for a very popular category — free games (and timewasters).

Today’s free link: Thinks.com offers free puzzles of all sorts (crosswords, sudoku, jigsaw, codebreaker, etc.) and games like checkers and chess. Fit for the whole family.

Now, I’ll admit two things: these kinds of games are kind of “old school”, and I cannot do Sudoku.. But Thinks.com is a Bookmark in all my browsers on all my machines. Check it out.

Bonus: FREE Today Only – Audubon Birds: A Field Guide to North American Birds

“I visit daily the Amazon daily FREE paid (Android) app giveaway and today I noticed they have available Audubon Birds: A Field Guide to North American Birds. This app typically goes for $9.99 and is available today for FREE. Audubon Birds: A Field Guide to North American Birds includes over 770 species and contains the […]” Read more…

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Changes Coming To SkyDrive – Act Now.

Those of you who are using the Microsoft “Live” online file storage service (called “SkyDrive”) should be aware that important changes are being made due to general service improvements — changes that will effect you, unless you act soon.

Up to now, SkyDrive gave you 25 Gigabytes of free storage — but that is being cut down to 7 GB’s, unless you “claim” more. You can keep getting 25 GB’s for free, or purchase even more space. Here’s what you need to do:

First, sign into your “Live” account (such as, Hotmail), and go to your SkyDrive (or, click here and sign in).

Click on the blue “claim your free 25GB”..

And click one of the “upgrade” option buttons. The top button “upgrades” you back to the free 25GB level.

(I believe you want to click these things soon.. like, now. Particularly if you are going to be “sharing” movies and/or music files.)

I like SkyDrive, and the recent improvements, and coming improvements, make this a hard service to beat for easy file sharing, syncing, and online access across devices.

“Think about all of the different devices you use every day. Wouldn’t it be nice if your files came with you, whether you’re on your phone, Mac, or PC?

When you use SkyDrive, you’ll never be without the documents, notes, photos, and videos that matter to you. Store anything on your SkyDrive and it’s automatically available from your trusted devices—no syncing or cables needed.” Read more..

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Related: I hope you didn’t think Google was going to sit still …

* Free storage for you! Google Drive to arrive today

“Google’s new cloud-storage service has arrived. It comes with 5GBs of free storage and up to 1 Terabyte of storage for paying customers.“ Read more..

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Today’s quote: “The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Bravo, Maryland! + Troubleshooting USB + More

Today’s reading includes a download for help in fixing troublesome USB ports.

Big, big news: Maryland Lawmakers Ban Employers from Requesting Facebook Credentials from Employees or Interviewees

“Last week, Maryland’s House and Senate passed legislation prohibiting employers from asking for a current or prospective employee’s logins to Facebook and other social media sites. Once Governor Martin O’Malley signs the bill into law, Maryland will become the first state in the nation to pass legislation protecting employees from having employers access their social media accounts.” Read more..

(I think this absolutely should be Federal Law, and I wonder why they (Congress) voted down similar legislation. Oh. Wait. I don’t wonder at all actually. But if we have to gain this “protection” state-by-state, let’s do so. If your state doesn’t have at least one politician looking out for their constituents and smart enough to propose this — start a Proposition.)(Unbelievable there’s been no public outrage on this..)

* Map and troubleshoot your USB ports with Microsoft USB View

“After some deep investigation, Greg Shultz came across a Windows 7 compatible version of the old Windows utility USB View.” Read more..

These next two might be a little too corporate for most readers, but..

* Five ways companies use social media and look like jerks

“Let’s take a look at five ways companies use social media and end up making themselves look like complete and utter fools.” Read more..

(I enjoyed this one.. even though I don’t use “social media”, or work for the man.)

* Connect your iPhone to Microsoft Office 365

“Office 365, the cloud-based collaboration platform from Microsoft, can actually be iPhone-friendly. Will Kelly shows you how to connect your iPhone to Office 365.” Read more..

And.. this can’t be good..

* Seventeen years worth of Emory patient data missing

“Emory Healthcare in Atlanta lost the personal information of surgery patients treated at its three hospitals when 10 backup discs went missing.

How many victims? 315,000 patients treated from September 1990 to April 2007.

What type of personal information? Names, Social Security numbers (on 228,000 patients), surgery dates, diagnoses, and other information about the procedures, such as whom performed them and what types of devices were used” Read more..

More news on the Apple botnet..

* Russian security firm says Flashback infection rates still high

“Last week’s reports of a sharp decline in infections by the Flashback malware may have been premature. A new report by Dr. Web says 566,000 Macs are still infected, with new infections appearing.” Read more..

* New Flashback variant silently infects Macs

“A new Flashback Trojan has been discovered that infects Macs without prompting the user for a password. If you haven’t updated Java on your Mac, or disabled it entirely, you could be a victim.” Read more..

And in the News From Around The World Department..

* In China, plagiarization is an established business model

“Copying business ideas from both foreign and domestic firms has been standard operating procedure for Chinese Internet companies. But these borrowing practices could be losing their momentum.” Read more..

Well, I’m out of time for today. See you next time.

Today’s quote: “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” ~ Booker T. Washington

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.