tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2939016464019735302024-03-13T06:00:53.497-04:00LES/APT Web DesignSome helpful thoughts regarding Website development from the owner of a Website design company.APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-83505969626876057052017-11-13T11:21:00.001-05:002017-11-13T11:21:43.985-05:00Back Again...Watch out for On-Line Reviews<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 22.95pt; margin-bottom: 13.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.75pt; mso-outline-level: 2; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "&quot", serif;">Yes, I'm back. Here are some tips regarding a topic I've been concerned about for quite a while now:</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "&quot",serif; font-size: 15.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Don’t Let Fake Reviews Trick You<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There used to be a time
when product reviews and product comparison sites served a really useful
purpose in helping us make decisions about what to buy. Unfortunately, it’s no
longer that simple. More and more fake reviews are appearing on the Internet,
making it tough for consumers to tell genuine opinions from fake and paid-for
reviews.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">Two recent examples:</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When former presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton published a biographical account of her campaign,
almost overnight there were 500 reviews of the book on Amazon, half of them
praising it and the other half criticizing it.
To be genuine would have required these so-called reviewers to read the
book overnight and then compose their review. Clearly, these writers had a political
axe to grind, one way or the other. Informed opinion went out the window!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In a quite different
field and for totally different commercial reasons, a company that sold
trampolines was recently caught out using what the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) called “misleading review websites and deceptive endorsements.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The firm claimed its
product had been named Trampoline of the Year by “Trampoline Safety of
America.” This endorsement came complete with a logo for this supposed safety
organization and a link to a statement that they weren’t paid for product
reviews. Another supposed organization —
the Bureau of Trampoline Review, which claimed to be an independent research
outfit — also named products from the same company as being among the best. The only problem: the trampoline seller was
behind both organizations. They were also allegedly responsible for supportive
blog comments from someone calling themselves “Trampoline Mom.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Favorable buzz can give
a product a bounce, but advertisers can take a legal tumble by creating fake
review sites, using misleading third-party endorsements or seals, or touting
their products on independent sites without disclosing that the recommendation
came from someone connected to the company,” the FTC warned. But this is more than a problem about
trampoline safety or politically motivated book reviews.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The fact is individuals
and organizations have become adept at misleading the public using fake or
dubious reviews or comparisons. Healthy
skepticism is the key to avoiding this pitfall. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 16.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 16.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">Here are 7 actions you can
take.</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">1.</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> When reading star-scoring review sites like Amazon and other
retailers, don’t take much notice if there are only a couple of reviews. Even
if they’re genuine, they fail to give you a balanced view of the product you’re
considering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">2.</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> When there are plenty of reviews, focus your attention on the
mid-range scores (3 stars in Amazon’s case). Fake reviewers tend to score 5 or
1, depending on their viewpoint, whereas 3-star scorers usually don’t have an
axe to grind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">3.</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> If you’re searching for the “best” of a particular product,
especially software, using that particular word — say “best photo editing
software” — be extremely cautious. You
can generally trust comparisons by truly independent sources such as well-known
publications — say a camera magazine in the example we’ve just given. But comparison sites that label themselves as
“best” this or that often are either paid to rate certain products highly or
they get paid a commission for sales they generate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">4.</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Once you have a particular product brand or two in mind, look
for reviews from several different sources. Again, select those that come from
respected publications or well-known independent review sites.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">5.</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Don’t be taken in by logos and apparent endorsements. It’s easy
and perfectly legitimate to set up an organization with an independent-sounding
name. In the trampoline case mentioned,
the two organizations they apparently invented actually had their own websites
that seemed to imply they were genuine. Where
the trampoline firm fell down was in not disclosing their relationship with the
sites and making misleading claims about their membership and integrity. Logos mean little these days and many
scammers sprinkle them liberally on their websites.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">6.</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> There are several websites that actually check on and publicize
fake reviews. Check them out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We can’t vouch for its accuracy but these include </span><span style="color: #2f5597; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #2F5597; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: lumm=75000; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: accent1; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;"><a href="https://www.fakespot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #2f5597; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #2F5597; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: lumm=75000; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: accent1; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191; padding: 0in;">Fakespot.com</span></a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, which claims to have
analyzed more than 700 million Amazon reviews and 20,000 TripAdvisor reviews,
among others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It only works for a few
big sites, like Amazon and Yelp, but you simply paste in the address line of
the product from your browser, click “Analyze” and wait for a few seconds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the case of the
Clinton book, which had more than 1,400 Amazon reviews at the time of writing,
the analysis returned a result of 96.1% low quality reviews. By comparison, we checked out a random brand
of trampoline with 878 reviews and the Fakespot result was 80% high quality
reviews.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">7.</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "&quot",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Finally, if you are buying on the basis of reviews you’ve read,
check out the returns policy of the retailer. If they let you return the
product within a reasonable period, say 30 days, no questions asked, then you
might be able to take a chance, fake review or not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<i>Source: scambusters.org #778<o:p></o:p></i></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-5264560953446993132017-07-24T10:22:00.000-04:002017-07-24T10:22:03.527-04:00It's A MeWell, I thought I was back but have been tied up in so many sideline activities over the past year, I pretty much ignored much of my life on web. One of my earliest and longest clients passed away suddenly last July. At this point in my life, I consider myself semi-retired from the web design business and have not been actively marketing my services. I do have a few recurring clients whom I support and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. <br />
<br />
Any way, I do want to share this valuable info regarding "Prevention of Tech Fraud". This problem doesn't seem to go away; in fact, it seems to be getting worse. I've personally encountered this problem after having upgraded to Windows 10 on both desktop and laptops. Legitimate computer companies NEVER contact computer users via pop-up screens or telephone calls. "Any communication we have with you must be initiated by you," says Courtney Gregoire, assistant general counsel in Microsoft'd Digital Crimes Unit. If you get a pop-up warning:<br />
<br />
1. NEVER CALL the toll-free phone number provided.<br />
<br />
2. DO NOT CLICK anywhere in the pop-up window.<br />
<br />
3. CLOSE THE BROWSER from the task bar or the task manager.<br />
<br />
4. REBOOT YOUR COMPUTER by turning it off and back on.<br />
<br />
5. IF ALL ELSE FAILS, take the computer to an authorized computer store. <i style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Source: AARP.ORG</span></i><br />
<br />
<br />APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-37622610704518865902016-07-11T17:19:00.000-04:002016-07-11T17:19:14.809-04:00WOW! I'm Back...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been a while since I've posted anything. I've been totally consumed over the past few years by my roles in our newly developed community of 209 town houses on a 115 acre property with much open space, walking trails and many basins. A lot of that is now behind me and I'm getting back to focusing on web design and support for the few clients that have stuck with me for these many years. Actually, through a connection of my daughter, I have landed a new client this year out in Indianapolis. So, with a little more time available to me, I hope to get back to blogging time and again. Life is good --- life goes on!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Essentials of Password Safety</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but one can never be too careful about "password safety" these days. Hackers are always on the prowl looking for ways to snag someone's data or identity. Here are a few basic, common-sense tips to consider if you have not already. </span><br />
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. Don't use one password
for everything </span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is especially
important for things like your bank account, etc. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. Don't use predictable
passwords </span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Don't think personal information is
"something no one else could know" a</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">nd don't think that
sticking a number after common words and names makes them any more secure, either. Because
many sites require a number in passwords, people often put a 0 or 1 after a
word and think they've created a safe password. Hackers can easily guess this.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. Create a safe password </span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In fact, if you use any
dictionary word, there are hacking programs that can compromise your online safety
in a matter of minutes. So how do you practice password safety? Here are some
tips to help. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Use a combination of numbers, letters, and characters, as well as upper and lower case letters.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know it's a pain to
remember long strings of random letters and numbers. However, try choosing a
word and replacing letters. For example, if your daughter is Elizabeth, your
password could be 3l1zab3th. You can still remember it but numbers are always
safer, and it's no longer as easy to guess.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nothing really new, remember,
password safety makes a huge difference in your online security.</span></span><br />
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-29569244763680124452015-06-18T13:43:00.000-04:002015-06-18T13:43:16.809-04:00Microsoft Technician SCAM ALERT<h2 class="arrow">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">I know that this has been around for a while but but it seems to be growing and people are falling for it.</span></span></h2>
If you get a call from a "Microsoft technician" claiming that your computer has errors and he/she can fix it for you, don't you believe it. He/she may even offer to guide you through your computer so you can see these errors for yourself. <br />
<br />
The errors may be there, but they are common to nearly all PC's and are generally harmless errors caused by various software programs. Microsoft doesn't cold-call anyone offering to fix their computer. <br />
<br />
Her's what the caller will usually try to get you to do: <br />
<ul>
<li> Give them remote access to your computer. </li>
<li> Visit a website they specify. </li>
<li> Install a recommended software program. </li>
</ul>
The result of them successfully fooling you can be any, or any combination, of the following: <br />
<ul>
<li> You get billed for fake/unneeded services/repairs. </li>
<li> Your computer is compromised with a virus, trojan, or keylogger. </li>
<li> Your identity is stolen. </li>
</ul>
If this has already happened to you and you gave someone who called you first access to your computer, or you visitied a specified website or installed a specified software program, take your computer to the shop and tell them what happened and have them check it out. Then change all your important passwords and keep a close eye on your bank accounts and other vital accounts. <br />
It's important to change your passwords <i>after</i> you get your computer cleaned in case there's spyware installed that will pass the changes to the hacker. <br />
<br />
This actually happened to me many months ago and I asked some questions like what Microsoft office they worked out of, if they knew I had an error, what version of Windows I was runinin, and they danced around the questions and I hung up on them. I'm sure that my readers tend to have a lot of common sense, so I trust this "word to the wise" will be sufficient. If you'd like to learn more about this scam, <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/avoid-phone-scams.aspx" target="_blank">visit this Microsoft page</a>.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i>Based on personal experience and BoogieJack's ANN#291</i></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-152849725374967832015-02-03T13:24:00.001-05:002015-02-03T13:24:20.661-05:007 WAYS TO AVOID SCAMS
<br />
<h3 style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">7 Ways to Avoid Scams</span></h3>
<br />
Here are 7 things you can do to avoid getting caught:<br />
<br />
1. Never sending money using a cash transfer. Once you’re convinced a deal
is genuine, use a credit card.<br />
<br />
You may also use PayPal but may not have the same dispute rights that you get
with a credit card.<br />
<br />
2. If you’re a seller and receive a PayPal notification that money has been
received in your account, check the account independently online.<br />
<br />
3. When buying on sites like eBay, check the seller’s feedback.
SportsMemorabilia.com recommends giving a wide berth to anyone with less than
98% positive feedback or with strongly worded, negative comments.<br />
<br />
4. If an item is being sold with a Certificate of Authenticity (<st1:stockticker>COA</st1:stockticker>),
research the name and reputation of the <st1:stockticker>COA</st1:stockticker>
issuer.<br />
<br />
5. When buying an expensive item, ask the seller to provide an invoice
describing the condition in detail. Ask specific questions about things such as
the wear, fraying, damage and other well-known defects for the particular item
you’re interested in.<br />
<br />
6. Look for obvious signs that the item is not genuine, including a color
difference from the original (details of these are often available online),
wrong materials such as a letter written on a type of paper that didn’t exist
when it was supposed to have been produced, and signatures that appear to be
“flat” and part of the image.<br />
<br />
7. Always do a search on an item you are planning to buy to get an idea if
other people have been scammed when buying it, or if there seems to be a larger
number of the item available for sale than you might expect.<br />
<br />
The bottom line is that if you can’t verify the reliability and reputation
of a seller, or you can’t inspect the item first, you probably shouldn’t buy.<br />
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Source: scambusters.org</i></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
<em><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></em> </div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">PS -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to heavier that normal business and
pro-bono activity, I’ve been unable to produce a new posting every month. I
will however, make every attempt to post as frequently as I can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Les..<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
</div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-28912618578968545002014-12-19T14:44:00.000-05:002014-12-19T14:44:18.828-05:00Top 10 Scam Forecast for 2015 <br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Top
10 Scam Forecast for 2015</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> (2014 figures in parentheses):</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">1. (1) Phishing and ID theft.
Sadly, we think the gap may widen even further between ID theft and other
scams.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">The outlook for data protection
is not good with the residue of past breaches, new ones, and hack attacks on
newly digitized health records all adding to the woes.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">2. (3). Hit-and-run scams. This
makes quick and easy money for the scammers with little or no risk. Don’t be
surprised if a phone caller demands a wire payment from you — just hang up!</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">3. (2) Lottery and sweepstakes.
Here’s hoping the message finally starts to get through to the public,
especially seniors, about this trick. But progress will be slow.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">4. (4) Malware. This will remain a
persistent threat but we expect to see a further switch in emphasis to malware
downloads on smartphones, notably those using the Android operating system. </span><span style="font-size: small;">If you’re an Android user, install
a reputable security app and don’t install downloads from unofficial sources.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">5. (6) Bogus online sites and
telesales. This year we’re adding in telesales to this category. The worrying
feature is the growth of illegal robocalls by scammers who don’t care a bit
about the Do Not Call Registry.Look out for more free air ticket scams (usually
an advance fee trick) and bogus “survey” calls (usually a disguised sales
call).</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">6. (5) Grandparent/imposter scams.
As with lottery scams, we think further, increased publicity could help reduce
the level of this scam.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">7. (7) Advance fee scams. Don’t
expect to see any easing in the incidence of advance fee scams. In fact, we may
see some growth in double-scams where people are asked to pay upfront to
supposedly recover money they lost in an earlier scam.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">8. (-) Healthcare and Affordable
Care Act (ACA) scams. This is our newcomer for the year. In 2014 we reported on
the “free medical alert” scam.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">Now
there’s evidence of con artists trying a whole new range of tricks by claiming
either they’re working on behalf of Medicare or offering cheap ACA insurance,
which turns out to be non-existent.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">9. (8) Economy-related scams. Even
if the economy picks up, the huge expansion in self-employment and small
businesses has created a stack of potential victims for the crooks, so this
category is not ready to drop out of the charts just yet.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">10. (9) Investment scams. Interest
rates could start to rise in the coming months, which could make some phony
investments less attractive. But if inflation begins to rise, expect to see
more gold and bullion scams. Meanwhile, any turbulence in currency markets
could lead to more scams in this category.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div align="right" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Source: scambusters.org<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div align="center" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;">Merry</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="font-size: small;">Christmas</span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"> and</span> </span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;">Happy New Year</span> </span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;">to all!<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span>APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-28957428493912396672014-11-13T14:14:00.001-05:002014-11-13T14:14:08.554-05:00IS CONTROL OVER PERSONAL INFO DEAD?
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">More than 90 percent of Americans feel
they've lost control over how their personal information is collected and used
by companies, particularly for advertising purposes, according to the results
of a </span><a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/11/12/public-privacy-perceptions/"><span style="color: #a31e22; font-family: Helvetica;">survey</span></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">
recently published by the </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><st1:place><st1:placename><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Pew</span></st1:placename><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><st1:placename><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Research</span></st1:placename><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><st1:placetype><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Center</span></st1:placetype></st1:place><span style="font-size: 11pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Eighty percent expressed concern over how
third parties like advertisers accessed the data they share on social media
sites. Pew did not gather the names of which sites specifically respondents
meant. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">The survey, which polled 607 adults online,
was the Washington, D.C.-based think tank's first in a series to tackle
Americans' views toward privacy after the leaks around government surveillance
made by Edward Snowden last year. The majority of respondents said people
should be concerned about whether the government is listening in on their phone
calls or viewing their online communications and other sensitive data. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">But beyond government surveillance, the
findings also reflect people's attitudes amid the increasing sophistication by
which Internet companies leverage people's data for advertising. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Some respondents said they have taken actions
to protect their privacy, such as using a pseudonym, but a majority of
respondents agreed that achieving anonymity online is not possible. People's
concerns around privacy might be part of the trade-off in using a free service.
Some 55 percent of respondents said they were willing to share "some
information about myself with companies in order to use online services for
free." <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Fewer people might be willing to make that
trade-off, however, if they understood how bits of information about them is
pulled together and sold to companies through complex processes, said Joseph
Turow, a professor of communication at the </span><st1:place><st1:placetype><span style="font-size: 11pt;">University</span></st1:placetype><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> of </span><st1:placename><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Pennsylvania</span></st1:placename></st1:place><span style="font-size: 11pt;">, who studies digital marketing and online privacy. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">"These findings reflect a major tension
at the core of people's relationship with the Internet," he said in an
interview. It's a tension that goes back many years. In a 1999 survey conducted
by Turow, parents characterized the Internet as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, he
said, because they were both afraid of it, and considered it an important and
useful service. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">But companies are now getting smarter in
tracking people's online behavior across devices. Google and Facebook are
refining their techniques for connecting the ads people see online to whether
they bought items in a physical store. Facebook's recently relaunched </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica;">Atlas</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: black;">
system</span> lets partnered advertisers leverage Facebook members' data across the
wider Internet. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">To preserve privacy, the recommendation to
delete cookie files doesn't really apply anymore, because more tracking is
being done on mobile where cookies don't work. Perhaps instead people should
contact companies like Google and Facebook, and ask them to be more transparent
about exactly what data they sell, and to whom, Turow said. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Government agencies like the U.S. Federal
Trade Commission can help to preserve privacy too, or at least help companies
become more transparent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Snapchat entered
into an agreement earlier this year with the FTC to settle charges that it
deceived users about the amount of personal data it collects. Pew's Rainie said
the nonprofit would explore more of the responses people say they can take in
the group's upcoming surveys. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div align="right" style="text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Based on article by</span></span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Z. Miners, </span></em></span><st1:stockticker><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10pt;">IDG</span></em></st1:stockticker><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10pt;"> News Service, 11.12.14</span></em><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-91508724726385283662014-10-24T11:39:00.000-04:002014-10-24T11:39:17.121-04:00Money Wiring Fraud Prevention Tips<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Money wiring services and
reloadable debit cards are still criminals’ payment method of choice when it
comes to raking in their ill-gotten gains from scam victims.</div>
So much so, in fact, that a couple of the big money wiring companies
themselves have agreed to pay compensation of $200 million to reimburse
victims, and one of the leading debit card firms has announced that it will
abandon its main reloadable card in 2015.<br />
The attraction to the crooks is simple: Both payment methods are
untraceable. Law enforcement is usually unable to track down where the money
went.<br />
Wiring and reloadable cards are, of course, perfectly legal and play a very
useful role in legitimate money transfers and payments.<br />
But they’re also perfect for scams, like:<br />
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal">Advance payment (where
victims get a dud check and are asked to wire part of the value to a
scammer-in-disguise, before the check “bounces”).</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Distress scams (where victims
receive a bogus message from a relative, friend or colleague who is supposedly
in trouble and urgently needs cash).</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Lottery scams (where victims
are told they must pay tax and processing fees before they can collect
their — non-existent — winnings).</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Phony fines and overdue bill
demands, most recently the widespread <st1:stockticker>IRS</st1:stockticker>
unpaid-tax-bill scam.</li>
</ul>
You’d think that the people who provide these payment methods would be able
to spot a scam when a victim comes up to them and tries to transfer money —
especially to someone in countries where the crooks operate.<br />
Actually, they sometimes do manage to stop people, mostly in their 80s and
beyond, before they pay up.<br />
But consumer organizations, notably the Federal Trade Commission, have been
critical in the past, suggesting they could do more, which is why some of them
have agreed both to hand money back to victims and to be monitored by the FTC.<br />
Today, all the big money wiring companies provide guidance on their sites to
try to steer customers clear of potential scams. We covered the broad details
of these guidelines in an earlier issue, <a href="http://www.scambusters.org/moneywiring.html">The Golden Rule that Halts
Money Wiring Scams</a>.<br />
The biggest wirer, <st1:place>Western Union</st1:place>, now offers these 8
simple rules on their site to prevent fraud:<br />
<br />
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">Never send money to people
you haven’t met in person.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Never send money to pay for
taxes or fees on lottery or prize winnings.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Never use a test question as
an additional security measure to protect your transaction.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Never provide your banking
information to people or businesses you don’t know.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Never send money in advance
to obtain a loan or credit card.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Never send money for an
emergency situation without verifying that it’s a real emergency.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Never send funds from a check
in your account until it officially clears, which can take weeks.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Never send a money transfer
for online purchases. <i style="text-align: right;">from Scambusters.org <st1:date day="22" month="10" year="2014">10/22/14</st1:date></i></li>
</ol>
<ol start="1" type="1">
</ol>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-49382084740324100922014-09-20T16:25:00.002-04:002014-09-20T16:25:29.315-04:00THE FIGHT FOR INTERNET NEUTRALITY<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11pt;">Recent court rulings and a proposal from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have called into question the future of net neutrality—something that could have seismic repercussions for small business owners and their websites. Giving service providers the ability to control the speed at which specific content and content providers can be sent to you over your connection allows them to control the flow of data and information from both ends. This lowers your overall performance and can create monopolies, forcing you to purchase from specific providers in order to have high quality services. The end result will be a reduction in competition and innovation as these firms create an unfair advantage in the marketplace, forcing out smaller providers that cannot afford the pay-to-play system.</span> <span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11pt;">The Battle for the Net is calling for those in support of net neutrality to take action by telling lawmakers: “Protect Internet Freedom. Defend Net Neutrality.” You can join the battle by signing the letter on <a href="https://www.battleforthenet.com/" target="_blank">battleforthenet.com</a> and spreading the word on your own website and social media channels.</span></span></h3>
<b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Century Gothic';"><span style="font-size: small;">What is net </span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Century Gothic";"><span style="font-size: small;">neutrality?</span></span></b><br />
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Century Gothic";"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></b>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The idea behind net neutrality is
fairly simple. Most of us buy broadband service from a small number of large
providers, such as Comcast, AT&T or Charter. For years, the expectation has
been that these providers will allow Web traffic to flow unimpeded. In other
words, the providers won’t manipulate the data as it flows across the network.
This means content is treated equally—download speeds don’t vary depending on
the source. This is important because some content providers—Netflix, for
example—consume massive chunks of bandwidth due to their popularity. Without
net neutrality, Internet access providers would face no restrictions on
charging major content providers more money to route their traffic.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Thanks to FCC rules, net neutrality has
been the standard to which we’ve become accustomed. That could soon change.
A January ruling by a U.S. Appeals Court effectively dismantled the FCC’s
existing net neutrality regulations. The ruling opened the door for broadband
providers to start charging content providers more money for faster service.
This could have adverse effects for consumers, as some movies, videos or
websites may load slower if the owners elect not to pay for faster service.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">In response to the court ruling, the FCC
announced it would consider a plan to allow large firms like Comcast and AT&T
to build so-called “fast lanes” that allow for faster connection speeds for
high-bandwidth companies like Google or Netflix. The rules would also restrict
the ability of Internet access providers to throttle data for customers who
don’t pay for faster speeds.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<h3>
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Century Gothic";"><span style="font-size: small;">How could a
change in net neutrality affect small business websites?</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></h3>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The absence of net neutrality could have
significant and wide-ranging consequences for small business owners. Internet
service providers may charge businesses more money for “optimized” speeds. If a
business declines to pay, website performance may suffer relative to websites
with optimized speeds. This means businesses that don’t pay will be at a
competitive disadvantage against businesses with faster speeds and performance.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">This kind of two-tiered setup could be a
major problem for businesses competing against better funded competitors who
can more easily assume additional costs. Businesses that pay for high-end speed
will be able to do things like process orders and send e-mails faster and more
efficiently—a devastating scenario for smaller businesses.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Customer acquisition could be affected as
well. Slower websites could mean fewer visitors spending less time on the
site—subsequently generating far less online revenue. Because of its low
barrier to entry and massive reach, the Internet has long offered start-ups and
small businesses a chance to compete against bigger firms—without net
neutrality, that opportunity may be dramatically diminished.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The end of net neutrality could also allow
Internet service providers to enter into partnerships and contracts with
preferred entities. In essence, they could pick and choose who they do business
with and which content is privileged. For businesses on the outside looking in,
this arrangement could be extremely problematic.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Finally, the loss of net neutrality could
have a crippling effect on innovation. Without access to a free and open
Internet, the environment for start-ups and smaller businesses will become much
less hospitable. It’s hard to imagine small and modestly funded businesses
competing against industry giants while using second-tier Internet
access—regardless of how disruptive or innovative they may be.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<h3>
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Century Gothic";"><span style="font-size: small;">What can we
do?</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></h3>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">We at Bluehost have always been a proponent of using open source
technologies and feel that net neutrality is vital to the health of the
Internet as a whole. Please join us in this fight by contacting your
local legislative leaders and let them know that you support net
neutrality and are against the two-tier slow lane system.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">You can also digitally sign the Battle for the Net letter that will be sent
to Congress, the FCC and the White House on behalf of Internet users joining in
the battle. You can learn more about the Battle for the Net and sign the letter
at <a href="https://www.battleforthenet.com/" target="_blank">battleforthenet.com</a>.
<a href="https://www.battleforthenet.com/" target="_blank"></a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: #666666;">Adapted from 9/10/14 BlueHost.com/blog - Thank you
BlueHost for providing this valuable insight into the potential problem facing
small businesses on the Internet - Join the Battle for the Net in support of
Internet freedom and against Internet slow down.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-28516715515998582712014-07-17T11:28:00.000-04:002014-07-17T11:28:15.760-04:00FRAUD TEST<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
Online, have you ever:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Clicked
on a pop-up ad?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Played
solitaire or other games?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Opened
an email from someone unknown?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Read
a newspaper?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Signed
up for a free trial offer?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->6.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Kept
in touch with someone in Facebook or Twitter?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->7.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Sold
some merchandise in an auction?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->8.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Checked
the weather report?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Sent
funds through an Internet money transfer service?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->10.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Watched
a TV show?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->11.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Posted
your address, phone number, vacation plans, etc. on social media?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you checked only even-numbered activities, you’re among
Internet users least likely to duped by fraudsters. If you checked any of the
odd-numbered choices, you may be putting yourself in harms way, i.e. in a
scammer’s sights. An AARP directed Fraud watch Network survey of about 12,000
Internet users was studied to figure out the differences between online fraud
victims and nonvictims. A surprising discovery: age doesn’t matter. Nonvictims
rarely engage in certain online activities (such as the above odd-numbered
examples). Victims often have had recent experiences of a stressful event such
as illness, job loss, or relationship difficulties. Scammers tend to target
those who are emotionally vulnerable because they tend to be more easily forced
into making poor decisions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">Based on AARP article 03/2014<o:p></o:p></span></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-2769629661325244172014-06-13T00:04:00.000-04:002014-06-13T00:04:47.869-04:00Hackers Target Home Devices<span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Come home to a hot iron and
smoldering clothes this afternoon? Soon, it may not be a sign of forgetfulness,
but rather evidence that you’ve been hacked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In coming years, your smartphone will be able to lock your house, turn
on the air conditioning, check whether the milk is out of date, or even heat up
your iron. Great news, except that all that convenience could also let
criminals open your doors, spy on your family or drive your connected car to
their lair. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="NormalWeb8" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="NormalWeb8" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">As these technologies become more
sophisticated, it opens up a broader spectrum of threats. A world of connected
devices makes it possible for bad guys to have a permanent entry into ones
household. By 2020, some 26 billion such devices may be connected to the
Internet, up from 3 billion today, researcher </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Gartner Inc. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>estimates. That’s almost four times the number
of smartphones, tablets and PCs that will be in use. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb8" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="NormalWeb8" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The vision is to connect almost
everything -- from cars to fridges, lamps, even toilets. Forget to flush?
There’s an app for that. Problem is, data security isn’t typically a big focus
for toilet, refrigerator or baby monitor manufacturers. Security lapses on such
devices could allow bad guys to disrupt home life, gather valuable personal
data, or even use stolen information to extort money from victims, Ollmann
said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Hijacked Robotoilet <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="NormalWeb8" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Trustwave, a Chicago company that
helps corporate clients fight cybercrime, hijacked a Bluetooth connection that
controls toilets made </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">by <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/japan/"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Japan</span></a>’s
<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/5938:JP" title="Get Quote"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Lixil Group.</span></a><span style="color: #2d2b2c;"> That
could allow hackers to open or close the lid and even squirt a stream of water
at the user’s behind, Trustwave said. Lixil said it’s difficult to commandeer
its toilets as hackers would need to connect their smartphone to the loo using
a special remote that comes with the device, making abuse “a very rare case.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb8" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb8" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Even some tech companies have created
devices lacking sufficient protection. The Ollmann Group broke into a home
automation system from Belkin International Inc., a company that makes mobile
phone accessories and Wi-Fi routers. Belkin’s WeMo box fits over electrical
outlets to control lamps, fans, coffee makers and other appliances via a
smartphone app. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Interactive Countertop <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="NormalWeb8" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/066570:KS" title="Get Quote"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">LG Electronics Inc.</span></a> <span style="color: #2d2b2c;">has Smart ThinQ technology that lets smartphone users
monitor and diagnose problems in washers, refrigerators and ovens. The
applications requires buyers to create a username and password. LG declined to
comment. Sweden’s Electrolux SA is developing an interactive countertop, a white
surface with hidden elements for cooking food and charging devices such as
mobile phones without plugging them in. </span>The <a href="http://www.electrolux.co.uk/Innovation/Inside/Innovation-News-Articles/From-Insight-to-Innovation/Rendez-Vous/" title="Open Web Site"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">countertop</span></a><span style="color: #2d2b2c;"> even comes with a virtual chef to walk you through
recipes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb8" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="NormalWeb8" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Though not many criminal hackers are
targeting such devices today, that will change once there’s a reliable way to
make money from exploiting them, said Sebastian Zimmerman, a member of the
Chaos Computer Club, a German hacker collective campaigning to raise awareness
of security and privacy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="right" class="NormalWeb8" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Based on an article by </span></i><span class="author2"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #444444;">By Amy Thomson</span></span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #444444; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></i><span style="color: #444444;"><span class="date2"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Jun 10, 2014</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb8" style="margin: 0in 0in 21pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2d2b2c; font-family: akzidenz-grotesk-std-bloom; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-42499663761400587402014-05-16T10:25:00.000-04:002014-05-16T10:25:13.793-04:00Anti-Virus Virus<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">It's easy to believe that once you </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">have Internet security software installed, your PC is protected and safe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">The truth is that no anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">spam or
anti-anything-else program is 100% safe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">And, since scammers and hackers are producing new malware every day, even
today's most effective security program may become vulnerable tomorrow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">To add to the risks, the FBI has issued a warning about malware that
actually disables security software, rendering it useless and leaving PCs wide
open to potential attack. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">It's a new kind of malware, known as Beta Bot, and is mostly used to
target </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">businesses. But it can find its way onto any Windows-based PC via
infected websites and even USB drives.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">One of the clever techniques it exploits is the genuine Windows User
Account Control (UAC), which notifies users of attempts to modify the
computer's settings. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">A window that looks exactly like the UAC pop up and asks for permission
to run something called "Windows Command Processor," which, it says,
is published by Microsoft.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">But if you click the "Yes" button to allow the program to run,
it makes alterations to the computer and disables security software. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">If this happens to you, you may need professional technical help to get
things back to normal -- unless you have a recent system backup you can
reinstate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">But you can avoid this scam by closing the pop-up if you haven't
initiated any actions to make changes to your PC. Then run your </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">full Internet security program. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Also, a recent came from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) who issued a
warning about what they're calling "last dollar scams" -- the
techniques that heartless crooks use to relieve people who are already
struggling financially of what little money they have. It's cruel and you can
learn more about what the FTC is doing to tackle it in their article, <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/media-resources/consumer-finance/last-dollar-scams" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Last Dollar Scams</span></a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">-=#=-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Sourced from scambusters.org<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-67037566844778923332014-04-05T11:52:00.000-04:002014-04-05T11:52:21.894-04:00IBM S/360 TURNS 50 WHILE WINDOWS XP EXITS<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This month the IBM System 360 turns 50 while Microsoft discontinues support for it's Windows XP operating system.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/mainframe/mainframe_PR360.html">Fifty
years ago on April 7</a>, <st1:stockticker w:st="on">IBM</st1:stockticker>
announced the computer that the task force had designed, the System/360. </b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: center;">[ </span><a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9247444/Mainframe_turns_50_IBM_System_360_launch_was_dawn_of_enterprise_IT?taxonomyId=232&pageNumber=1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: center;">See Video</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: center;"> ]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The system
eventually became a huge success for the company -- and a good thing too. <st1:stockticker w:st="on">IBM</st1:stockticker>'s president at the time, Tom Watson, Jr.,
killed off other <st1:stockticker w:st="on">IBM</st1:stockticker> computer
lines and put the company's full force behind the System/360. <st1:stockticker w:st="on">IBM</st1:stockticker>'s revenue swelled to $8.3 billion by 1971, up
from $3.6 billion in 1965. Through the 1970s, more than 70 percent of
mainframes sold were <st1:stockticker w:st="on">IBM</st1:stockticker>'s. By
1982, more than half of <st1:stockticker w:st="on">IBM</st1:stockticker>'s
revenue came from descendants of the System/360.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But its impact can
be measured by more than just the success it brought to <st1:stockticker w:st="on">IBM</st1:stockticker>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When an organization bought a new
computer in the early 1960s it "generally had to throw out all of its
software, or at least rejigger it to work on the new hardware," Spicer
said. "There was no idea of having computers that could run compatible
software over the generations."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Amazingly, IBM has steadfastly
maintained backward compatibility in the decades since. Programs for the
original System/360s can still run, sometimes with only slight modification, on
IBM mainframes today (which is not to say IBM hasn't aggressively urged
customers to upgrade to the latest models for performance improvements).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Compare that longevity to one of
IBM's largest competitors in the software market. This month, Microsoft ends
support for its Windows XP OS after a mere decade since its release. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[<a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9247444/Mainframe_turns_50_IBM_System_360_launch_was_dawn_of_enterprise_IT?taxonomyId=232&pageNumber=1">ComputerWorld full article</a>]</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 15pt;"><b>And speaking of Windows XP,</b> here is an Alert - </span></span>If you're one of the tens or even hundreds of
millions using the Windows XP operating system on your computer, you may
already know that Microsoft announced it would no longer support the product
after April 8. If you want to understand more, read Microsoft's <a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-support-help" target="_blank">Support is ending soon</a> article.</span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You should also be aware of two important potential scam issues. First,
the end of support will likely mean no further security updates for the XP
operating system from Microsoft. It's possible that your existing Internet <span class="klink"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: windowtext; padding: 0in;">security
software</span></span><span style="color: windowtext;"> may be sufficient to
protect you if you keep it up to date. But then again, it may not. You
shouldn’t take a chance, if crooks look to exploit new vulnerabilities in the
software. Microsoft has said its own <span class="klink"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">security suite</span></span></span> (Microsoft Security
Essentials) will continue to be updated "for a limited time." If you use another <span class="klink"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">security product</span></span>, check with the producers about
their plans for continuing coverage. </span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Secondly, crooks may also try to use this event as
an opportunity to send out a whole host of malware-laden attacks, from pop-ups
and phone calls to email attachments and infected websites, claiming you're at
risk -- when really they're trying to trick you into installing their malware.
Be alert to these risks if you plan to stick with XP. </span></div>
<div align="right" style="background: white; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Scambusters.org Apr’14</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-18561182225560123132014-03-15T11:34:00.000-04:002014-03-15T11:34:28.125-04:00Microsoft OneDrive – formerly SkyDrive<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 10.5pt;">SkyDrive is now <b>OneDrive</b>: It's largely the same
as its predecessor, with a few new tricks and new mobile apps. Microsoft's
online backup and syncing service is the most flexible and all-encompassing of
its ilk, with syncing and access apps not only for PCs, but also for Macs,
Androids, iOS, and Windows Phones. It integrates with Office apps, both
installed and on the Web, and it can share to Facebook as well. By comparison,
Apple's competing iCloud is only available for Apple devices (though there is a
decent Windows syncing utility). And unlike iCloud's backup, everything on
OneDrive is accessible from a Web browser—even PC files that you didn't
specifically upload to OneDrive. For all this power and flexibility—not to
mention eminently attractive and usable interface, OneDrive is a clear PCMag
Editors' Choice.</span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Like iCloud from Apple, OneDrive serves a lot
of functions. If you just want access to documents or media files, it offers
simple online storage accessible from the Web. If you want the same set of
files replicated on multiple PCs it provides folder syncing. For users of
Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone, it backs up settings. Because of this diversity
of function, there are several different cross-sections from which you can view
the service—by type of data, client, or function. The data types include
documents, photos, video, music, or settings. The clients include computer,
mobile, and Web, and the functions are things like syncing, viewing, playing,
and simple storage. Let's take a look at the service from these various angles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span class="Strong4"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span class="Strong4"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b>Your OneDrive Account</b></span></span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
Anyone can get a free OneDrive account—well, anyone who's created a Microsoft
account, which includes everyone who's ever signed up for a Hotmail, Live, or
Outlook.com account. All users get 7GB free storage space, and, if you're a
longtime OneDrive account holder (since before </span><st1:date day="22" month="4" year="2012"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">April
22, 2012</span></st1:date><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">), you've got 25GB free. If you enable photo syncing on any mobile
OneDrive app, you get another 3GB for a total of 10GB. This compares with 5GB
free for iCloud and </span><st1:street><st1:address><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Google Drive</span></st1:address></st1:street><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> (though if you convert
docs to Google format, storage is free), and 2GB for Dropbox. Office 365 users
get an extra 20GB, and anyone can add 20GB to OneDrive for $10 a year.
Purchasers </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">of Microsoft Surface at %seller% tablets get 200GB for two years.
Here's how the pricing compares with that of the other services:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in; width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span class="Strong44"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">OneDrive</span></span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span class="Strong44"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">iCloud</span></span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><st1:street><st1:address><span class="Strong44"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Google Drive</span></span></st1:address></st1:street><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<st1:street><st1:address><span class="Strong44"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><b>Amazon Cloud Drive</b></span></span></st1:address></st1:street><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Free storage<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">7GB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">5GB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">15GB*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">5GB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Add 20 GB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">$10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">$40<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">N/A<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">$10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Add 50 GB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">$25<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">$100<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">N/A<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">$25<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Add 100 GB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">$50<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">N/A<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">$60<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 15.0pt 0in 0in 0in;" valign="top">
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">$50<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">*<em><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">All email
attachments are counted against this.</span></em><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="background: white;">
<span class="Strong44"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b>Device Syncing</b></span></span><b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Microsoft
likes to refer to OneDrive as a "device cloud" and with Windows 8.1
PCs and Windows Phones, the moniker makes sense. The service can sync settings
and apps on those types of devices, while clients for iOS, Android, and Mac OS
X give users of those devices access to the files stored in OneDrive's online
folders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Like iCloud for iPhones and iPads, OneDrive
lets Windows Phone users automatically upload photos (and videos) taken
with the phone's camera to OneDrive's camera roll, so that the photos are
quickly available for viewing online, in a OneDrive folder on a PC, in a
Windows 8 PC's Photos app, or in any other OneDrive app you have installed. (As
we'll see in a moment, this is now also true of the iPhone and Android OneDrive
apps.) And in the OneDrive Web interface, you can view the photos as a
slideshow, and even see a map of where they were taken along with EXIF camera
info. A similar Web interface of this type is completely lacking in Apple's
iCloud.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Another service in the realm of device syncing
is the ability to sign into your account and magically reproduce a previous
machine you've set up—color and background themes, social accounts, user photo,
browser favorites and history, and even apps. OneDrive accomplishes this for
both Windows 8 PCs and Windows Phones. In Windows 8, the service goes even
further, by allowing third-party apps to take advantage of your cloud storage.
Apps and sites can even use the service for single sign-on with your
permission.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="background: white;">
<span class="Strong44"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="background: white;">
<span class="Strong44"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b>OneDrive Clients</b></span></span><b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">OneDrive
is built into Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone, as long as you've signed into a
Microsoft account. But what if you use other technology platforms? OneDrive
includes apps for not only Windows 7 and 8, but for Mac OS X, iOS, and Android.
For other mobile platforms such as Blackberry, a mobile Web interface is
available, and for desktop access when you're not at your own computer, a full
feature Web app is available. The last is particularly important, and one thing
that's long disappointed me about Apple's iCloud: Why can't I access photos in
my iCloud Photo Stream from a Web browser, if the stuff is actually in the
"cloud?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb31" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Another OneDrive option for mobile users is </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">the OneNote
app. It's</span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">
available for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone, and on the Web. This lets you
create notes that will be automatically synced to all your OneDrive access
points.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span class="Strong4"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span class="Strong4"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b>Folder and File Syncing
</b></span></span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
Forgetting about "devices" for a moment, OneDrive offers another
desktop computer-centric function—file and folder syncing. This convenience is
similar to what you get with Dropbox ($9.99 a month, 4 stars).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">In the past, Microsoft had separated its
syncing service with names like Live Mesh and Live Sync, and (way back)
FolderShare. I for one, find the joining of online storage and syncing into one
cloud service a refreshing simplification of a previously somewhat confusing
set of systems. OneDrive syncing on computers differs from the earlier Mesh in
that you can't designate any old folder you want to be synced, only those under
the OneDrive main folder. But Microsoft has made it possible for these synced
folders to look less sequestered in the OneDrive world, by using Windows'
Libraries. It also adds a truly cool feature called Fetch—more about that in a
moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">The desktop clients for OneDrive syncing run on
Windows Vista through Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.7.3 or later. They're quick to
install, with a setup wizard that lets you create an account if you don't
already have one. It then shows how your OneDrive folder will appear in Windows
Explorer (or Finder), with its little blue cloud icon instead of the
traditional yellow folder icon. Setup also places a cloud icon in your system
tray, from which you can open your synced folder or change settings. You can
change the folder's location from the default top level under your user folder.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 17.25pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">When you place a photo, document, or other item
in the created OneDrive folder, it magically appears in any of your other
OneDrive clients on any of your other computers. You can even share a
whole folder, but to co-edit documents in the online versions of Office
applications you have to share individual files.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">For a quick test, I went over to my Windows 8.1
PC and created a new folder in the OneDrive app, which appeared seconds later
in a Windows 7 machine's OneDrive folder that I had set up. Including OneDrive
in Windows Explorer is incredibly helpful because you can save work from any
application to your cloud storage directly, without having to go to a website.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Happily, Windows 8.1 rectifies an inconvenience
of Windows 8: OneDrive syncing is built into the desktop and the File Explorer.
With 8, you had to install a utility just as if the desktop were Windows 7
itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span class="Strong4"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span class="Strong4"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b>OneDrive on the Web and
Fetch</b></span></span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
Web access to all your cloud data is one thing you don't get in Apple's iCloud.
The Web app is linked with other Microsoft online services through a top
switcher menu that includes Mail (either Outlook.com or Hotmail), People (the
social network-aggregator app), and Calendar. It's a very fast and clean
interface, with a left panel of menu choices including Files, Recent docs,
Shared, Groups, and PCs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">This last item may be the most interesting: For
PCs you've installed the desktop client on and authorized, you can pull any
files using Fetch, even if the files aren't in the OneDrive folder. When I
chose the PCs option from the Web interface's left rail, I was greeted by a
message saying "Security check! To connect to this PC we need you to enter
a security code. This extra step only takes a minute and will help protect your
computer from unauthorized access." When I clicked the "Sign in with
security code" link, I was told to sign in on a computer that's connected
to my account. Of course, for this to work, the PC your fetching files from has
to be on and running the OneDrive client.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span class="Strong4"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb7" style="background: white;">
<span class="Strong4"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b>One Place in the Cloud
for Your Digital Life</b></span></span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
With FolderShare, Sync, Mesh, and SkyDrive behind it, Microsoft's cloud
solution has come together nicely in OneDrive, combining file syncing with
online backup, and cloud storage. Cross-platform support for Macs, iOS devices,
and Android devices is a smart move on Microsoft's part, too. Microsoft is
anything but a latecomer to the cloud: OneDrive in Windows 8.1 shows this and
that the service has moved in the right direction. With the most free online
storage, the only cloud service that lets you fetch any file from a PC you've
set up, integration with Office and third-party apps, folder syncing, and the
most platform options including mobile devices and Web interface, OneDrive is our
Editors' Choice for consumer cloud services.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-left: -.25in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">Based on
article by M. Muchmore in PCmagazine 3/14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-left: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 12.75pt;">
<br /></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-29159299658344143962014-02-15T14:02:00.001-05:002014-02-15T14:02:22.034-05:00Twitter Your Way to Instant Traffic<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.75pt; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">As you likely know, Twitter is something of a blend
between blogging and social networking. Technically it's a micro-blogging
medium because you're limited to just 140 characters per post.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">With such
a limitation, can Twitter actually be used for driving traffic to your website?
Let's take a look... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Obviously
with just 140 characters to work with you have to make the most of every word.
You have to capture attention quickly in each “tweet” (the name for a post on
Twitter). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Starting
out is a slow process. You won't have any followers so you'll have few readers.
You can promote your Twitter feed in various ways, such as encouraging people
to follow you on your site, linking it up with your blog, linking it up in
forums you belong to, and by following other people with similar interests or a
similar purpose and hope they follow you back. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Once you
do start getting some followers, their friends see your posts and profile on
your followers feed. If your tweets are useful, or interesting, or
entertaining, they may start following you, too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Every
time you post a new tweet, each of your followers receives it in their Twitter
feed, and they could see it on their computers and/or their cell phone if
they've set it up that way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Sending
regular tweets can help build a connection with your followers. Don't just send
any old thing though, make each post count. If you write reviews on new
software, for example, then you want to let your followers know when you have a
new review for them. For me, a tweet goes out automatically when a new issue of
this newsletter is posted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">You can
send a tweet each time you add a new blog post or web page to your site.
Remember to save room at the end to add the URL. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">A lot of
people search Twitter to find items of interest. If you word your tweets
wisely, using a relevant keyword, your posts might be found searchers, enabling
you to gain followers for very little effort. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Used
wisely, Twitter can help create interest in your site and help further your
brand. Even with these short posts you can set up your identity in a way that
draws more followers to your niche. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Twitter
is a delight to some and baffling to others. You really have to get into it to
understand what’s happening. Look at other Twitterers and see how many ways
they're using tweets to set their brand, establish a persona, show expertise or
drive traffic to their sites. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The
instant gratification of Twitter is part of its attraction. There is also a
viral potential. Retweets, when someone tweets a tweet someone else made, can
grow exponentially, creating a viral storm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Retweeting
is another way to gain followers. When you retweet someone else's tweet, it
shows up in the original Twitterer's feed. If hey see it they may check out
your Twitter feed and follow you. If the original tweet came from a users with
a lot of followers, you could gain many new followers at once, and even more
over time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">These are
just some of the ways to use Twitter to drive traffic to your site, 140
characters at a time. And now, Here is an
ebook with 101 Twitter tips . . . for free </span><a href="http://www.i-webmaster.org/commons/101TwitterTips.zip" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: right;"><span style="color: blue; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Download 101
Twitter Tips</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: right;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: right;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Source: Boogie Jack Newsletter #274
2/1/14 </span></i></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-73963627759239175482014-01-07T12:22:00.000-05:002014-01-07T12:22:22.338-05:00Top 10 Scams for 2014<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><u>Top 10 Scams for 2014</u></strong></span><br />
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It can say with near certainty that, despite the
best efforts of law enforcement and the software security industry, the growth
of Internet usage will drive the number of scams ever higher. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though there will likely not be any significant
change in the components of the Top 10 Scams for 2013 chart, there may be some
repositioning and changes of emphasis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Here's the 2014 forecast: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">1. Phishing and ID theft. The bad news is that the
gap between this and other scams will widen, with newly digitized medical
databases as well as corporate systems being key hacking targets, alongside
continuing growth of social networking scams. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">2. Lottery and sweepstakes, probably no change here
either. Seniors, often the most difficult to educate about this crime, are the
prime target. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">3. Malware - this crime will grow in 2014, moving
up a place in the chart because of the increased use of smartphones and
tablets. Security specialists suggest that half of all Android mobile devices
have no security installed. This is such a threat it could even dislodge
lotteries from the Number 2 slot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">4. Bogus Internet sites and fraudulent online sales
- don't expect to see any drop-off in this crime. It has however moved down in the
chart because of the growing malware category. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">5. Hit-and-run scams. This category moves up a slot
too because of the sudden surge seen towards the end of 2013 in bogus <st1:stockticker w:st="on">IRS</st1:stockticker> and utility company payment demands. Also, as
more people wise up to the risks of wiring cash, crooks have switched to
demanding their money on prepaid debit cards, giving themselves some extra
cash-gathering time before awareness of this new trick spreads. As always, this
category can also be affected by any major natural disaster, which drives up
charity scams. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">6. Grandparent/imposter scams. It's the simplicity
of this one that makes it such a big earner for the crooks. Although phone
calls remain a popular technique, crooks are switching to spamming millions of
people using email address lists harvested from circulating messages, like
jokes and pass-it-on requests. Delete those address lists before you forward! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">7. Economy-related scams. Expect to see a surge in
reverse mortgage scams when older homeowners try to unlock some of the equity
in their property as prices start to recover. Also, the trend towards
self-employment, a big feature of the past few years, could spark a new round
of work-from-home scams. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">8. Advance fee scams. Scammers never seem to run
out of ideas for new ways of fooling people into sending them "overpayment"
refunds or paying upfront for dubious services. There's no reason to think
they'll run out of crooked inspiration in 2014. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">9. Investment scams. There seems to be little
prospect of better interest rates for savers either, so they'll continue to
hunt for higher returns -- especially in precious metals and currency
speculation. You can also anticipate a surge in crowd-funding investment scams
as crowd-funding becomes a more popular way to raise money for small
businesses, causes and creative projects, especially with recent changes in
equity crowd-funding laws. Towards the end of 2013, also noted was a new surge
in "pump-and-dump" schemes, in which victims are fooled or pressured
into buying worthless stock, pushing up prices and enabling the scammers to
sell their holdings before the price falls again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">10. Dating and sweetheart scams. This is a
contender for moving up a place in the charts but it stays here for now. The
driver is the growth in dating site usage by older age groups, including those
whose judgment may not be as sound as it used to be. Also seen is a growth in
bogus dating sites as well as crooked "sweethearts." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Not a pretty picture is it? Not just this item but
our entire Top 10 chart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As always,
though, there are plenty of actions you can take to increase your security and
reduce your vulnerability to those top scams -- starting with commonsense,
skepticism and regular reading of Scambusters! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Based on article in scambusters.org,
issue #575<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-582303059124908682013-12-04T10:30:00.002-05:002013-12-04T10:30:36.467-05:00SOME WAYS TO AVOID MISTAKES DURING PROJECT MANAGEMENT<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>SOME WAYS TO AVOID MISTAKES DURING PROJECT MANAGEMENT</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You may have heard the saying ”Be proactive, not
reactive.” This is very appropriate when
considering how best to deal with mistakes.
The idea being to prevent mistakes before they occur. But how exactly do
you do that? Here are a few ways in
which to prevent mistakes during project development.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b>Learn from other’s mistakes.</b> Find
experienced peers who are willing to share their experiences, and
mistakes, and learn from them.</li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b>Do your research first.</b> No matter how much you know, you will
encounter new challenges on almost a daily basis. Each challenge usually
requires you to learn something new. Before you tackle a problem or task,
do your homework! The trial and
error way of learning is way to costly and time consuming. Today, with the
resources of the Internet, there is little excuse for not doing proper
research in advance.</li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="3" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b>Have a plan.</b> You can not know how to get to your
destination without a road map. A
project plan is the road map for a development project – you need to know
how you are going to get where you are going. Days or weeks can be lost if you go down
the wrong path. When done the right way, a project plan will keep one fron
straying off course.</li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="4" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b>Follow standards and use templates.</b>
There is a good reason why
experienced professionals took the time to create and publish industry and
company standards. Standards detail best practices and procedures learned
over the years from trial and error. Templates such as professional forms
can be useful since most of the work has already been done in a standard
format.</li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="5" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b>Communicate and coordinate with
others.</b> If you are part of a team it is essential to communicate with
other team members in order to avoid redundancies and to coordinate your
work with the others. There are any number of methods to facilitate team communication,
none of which are perfect and all of which are time consuming. However,
communication is a critical part of the development process.</li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These are but a few ways in which to be proactive with the
development of your project. These tips, if applied properly, will definitely
help to prevent mistakes that could otherwise occur during your project
development.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Good luck with your project!</div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-41493516429087856002013-11-04T13:28:00.000-05:002013-11-04T13:28:37.464-05:00HAS YOUR EMAIL BEEN HACKED? WHAT TO DO!<h2 align="center" style="background: white; text-align: center;">
</h2>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt;">
</span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
More and more these days, we're hearing reports
about hacked email accounts -- in which individuals' accounts are hijacked by
crooks and used to spam their victims' contacts. An email goes out to your
contacts seemingly from you often containing a link that leads either to a
sales site or, worse, a malware download. Or they may be one of those spoof
distress emails claiming the supposed sender is in trouble and needs money. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
So how can you tell if your email account has been
hacked and what can you do about it? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has
recently issued guidance, which has been posted on the government's OnGuardOnline
website. </div>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></h2>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: small;">How to Tell If You've Been Hacked</span></h2>
<div style="background: white;">
Usually, the first clue you get that someone is
using your email address is when you get emails from your contacts about
messages they say they've received from you and which you know for sure you
didn't send. You might also check your "Sent" folder if you use an
online email account and see messages there that you didn't send. Similarly,
you may find your Facebook or other social network account has posts that you
didn't write. You may not even be able to sign in to your social media or email
accounts. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
It's also possible, says the FTC, that people may
be receiving emails that seem to come from you when your account hasn't been
hacked at all. In that case, the crooks are spoofing your email address --
using their tech skills to "overlay" their real address with yours.
But even then, you'll still want to take action to put things right. </div>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></h2>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: small;">How Did You Get Hacked?</span></h2>
<div style="background: white;">
There are several ways crooks can get hold of your
email account info but the simplest way is that you gave it to them. They
already know your email address. It'll be on hundreds or thousands of messages
you sent out (including those on jokes you circulated or someone sent to you)
or on other sites where you have accounts. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
In fact, it's not hard to guess your address if,
like most people, you use your first and last name followed by the mail service
provider -- like JohnDoe@somemailservice.com. Now, all they have to do is guess
your password, which, depending on how wary you are, could take just seconds.
Or they may get hold of it from company computers where you have an account,
which they have previously also hacked. If you use the same password on
multiple accounts, you're in big trouble. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
Alternatively, you may have inadvertently installed
malware on your PC, perhaps from the very same trick that's now being passed on
to your contacts -- you clicked on a link you thought was sent to you by
someone you know. The malware then goes through your PC, collects your password
details, raids your contacts list and begins the whole process again. </div>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></h2>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: small;">What to Do If You've Been Hacked</span></h2>
<div style="background: white;">
You should take five key actions if you believe
your email account has been hacked: </div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-left: 0.5in;">
<b>></b> First, check for and get rid of any malware on your PC. Update and run your internet security software for this. If nothing is found, visit the software company's website or search the Internet for more malware-scanning tools from reputable companies.<br /><br />If you haven't found any malware, download the free scanner form <a href="http://www.malwarebytes.org/">Malwarebytes</a>. Although this is NOT a substitute for full-blown Internet security (as the company will tell you), it does have a good reputation for tracking down and removing installed malware that other tools miss.<br /><br /><b>></b> Second, change you passwords. Again, check out our earlier reports on how to create strong passwords. And follow the two golden rules: Don't use the same password for different sites, and change all of your passwords regularly. Use a <a href="http://www.scambusters.org/">password manager</a>.<br /><br /><b>></b> Third, check with your email provider or social networking site for guidance on restoring or resetting your account. You may find, for example, that the crooks have already changed your password and you can't log on to your own account. You'll find links from most of the big providers on StaySafeOnline.org's Hacked Accounts page.<br /><br /><b>></b> Next, check your account settings. Says the FTC: "Once you're back in your account, make sure your signature and 'away' message don't contain unfamiliar links, and that messages aren't being forwarded to someone else's address. On your social networking service, look for changes to the account since you last logged in -- say, a new 'friend'."<br /><br /><b>></b> <span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;">Finally, make sure you tell all your contacts
about what has happened, as soon as possible. If you email them, use the
"bcc" address field so all their details remain hidden to the others.</span><!--[if !supportLists]--></div>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></h2>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<span style="font-size: small;">How to Avoid Being Hacked</span></h2>
<div style="background: white;">
It would be better, of course, if you didn't get
hacked in the first place. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
You can reduce the risks by following our password
guidance and keeping your passwords secret; using a difficult to identify
address or at least adding numbers to your address name and keeping your
security software up to date. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
For more information on this FTC guidance, visit
OnGuardOnline's <a href="http://www.onguardonline.gov/articles/0376-hacked-email" target="_blank">Hacked
Email</a> page. </div>
<div align="right" style="background: white; text-align: right;">
<i>Based on article from Scambusters.org </i><st1:date day="13" month="9" year="2013"><i>9/13/13</i></st1:date><i>. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-60127246398835298472013-10-05T14:24:00.002-04:002013-10-05T14:24:46.632-04:00TIPS for Keeping Your Information and System Secure<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Keep
a Clean Machine.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; font-size: 10.0pt;">></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Keep
security software current: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Having the latest security software, web
browser, and operating system </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">are
the best defenses against viruses, malware, and other online threats.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; font-size: 10.0pt;">></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Automate
software updates: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Many software programs will automatically connect
and update to defend </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">against
known risks. Turn on automatic updates if that’s an available option..</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; font-size: 10.0pt;">></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Protect all
devices that connect to the Internet: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Along with computers, smart
phones, gaming systems, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">and
other web‐enabled devices also need protection from viruses and malware.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">></span></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Plug &
scan: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">“USBs” and other external devices can be infected by viruses and
malware. Use your security </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">software
to scan them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Protect
Your Personal Information.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">></span></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Secure your
accounts: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Ask for protection beyond passwords. Many account
providers now offer </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">additional
ways for you verify who you are before you conduct business on that site.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">></span></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Make
passwords long and strong: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Combine capital and lowercase letters
with numbers and symbols to </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">create
a more secure password.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">></span></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Unique
account, unique password: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Separate passwords for every account
helps to thwart cybercriminals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">></span></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Write it
down and keep it safe: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Everyone can forget a password. Keep a
list that’s stored in a safe, secure </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">place
away from your computer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">></span></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Own your
online presence: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">When available, set the privacy and security
settings on websites to your </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">comfort
level for information sharing. It’s ok to limit how and with whom you share
information.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Connect
with Care.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">></span></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">When in
doubt, throw it out: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Links in email, tweets, posts, and online
advertising are often the way </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">cybercriminals
compromise your computer. If it looks suspicious, even if you know the source,
it’s best to </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">delete
or if appropriate, mark as junk email.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">></span></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Get savvy
about Wi</span></b><b><span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";">‐</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Fi hotspots: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Limit
the type of business you conduct and adjust the security settings </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">on
your device to limit who can access your machine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">></span></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Protect your
$$: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">When banking and shopping, check to be sure the sites is security
enabled. Look for web </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">addresses
with “https://” or “shttp://”, which means the site takes extra measures to
help secure your </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">information.
“Http://” is not secure.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Be
Web Wise.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">></span></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Stay
current. Keep pace with new ways to stay safe online. </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Check
trusted websites for the latest </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">information,
and share with friends, family, and colleagues and encourage them to be web
wise.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">></span></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Think before
you act: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Be wary of communications that implores you to
act immediately, offers something </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">that
sounds too good to be true, or asks for personal information.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">></span></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Back it up: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Protect
your valuable work, music, photos, and other digital information by making an </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">electronic
copy and storing it safely.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Be
a Good Online Citizen.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">></span></span><span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SymbolMT; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">Safer for me
more secure for all: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">What you do online has the potential to affect
everyone – at home, at </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">work
and </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">around the world. Practicing good online habits
benefits the global digital community.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10pt;">> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10pt;">Post only about others as you have them post about you.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="JA" style="font-family: SymbolMT; font-size: 10pt;">> </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 10pt;">Help the authorities fight cybercrime: </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">Report stolen finances or identities and other cybercrime to<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">http://www.ic3.gov </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">(</span><st1:place><st1:placename><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">Internet</span></st1:placename><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><st1:placename><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">Crime</span></st1:placename><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><st1:placename><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">Complaint</span></st1:placename><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><st1:placetype><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">Center</span></st1:placetype></st1:place><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">), the
Federal Trade Commission at<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">http://www.onguardonline.gov/file‐complaint</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 11pt;">Visit </span></b><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri-Bold;">http://www.stopthinkconnect.org </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold; font-size: 11pt;">for more information.</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-45843917635323099792013-09-10T19:10:00.002-04:002013-09-10T19:10:50.030-04:00LET US NEVER FORGET 9-11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Let us never forget! </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7snsU1jJWs9kCiRJtjimJdTvbfjSNUfcEPDhLkk10TigWL0uhKGmwqL27FcrG0NT9k5hL6erwJX8hCnuo-8wKcHZ8wqo87pzxKZ0FRn-lfvkm7mI32wOcF1vKHW-g_7uPfztgzn-bIz4/s1600/remember911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7snsU1jJWs9kCiRJtjimJdTvbfjSNUfcEPDhLkk10TigWL0uhKGmwqL27FcrG0NT9k5hL6erwJX8hCnuo-8wKcHZ8wqo87pzxKZ0FRn-lfvkm7mI32wOcF1vKHW-g_7uPfztgzn-bIz4/s320/remember911.jpg" width="148" /></a></div>
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Twelve years ago the United States was attacked by a band of radical Islamists. Thousands of innocent people died as a result of this viscous attack. To this day, the world has not been the same. Over the past twelve years, these animals have threatened and attacked people in many other countries. People all over the world will continue to live in fear until these radical, so-called religious fanatics are eliminated.</span>APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-49752709054076816912013-09-03T15:54:00.003-04:002013-09-03T15:54:58.152-04:00LAPTOPS VS TABLETS<div style="background: white; border-top: solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid #CCCCCC .75pt; padding: 5.0pt 0in 0in 0in;">
<div class="Heading11" style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">Ever
since the emergence of the iPad, the question has been asked: laptop or </span><a href="http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,2358246,00.asp" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black;">tablet</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">? Is a laptop necessary when tablets can
perform so many of the same functions? Are we heading to or living in the
post-PC era?</span><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">The answer is, it depends.
Everyone uses technology a bit differently, and some can likely get by with a
tablet alone. But don't assume that the days of the laptop are numbered. While
some can make do with a tablet, there are some compromises required for the
tablet-only lifestyle that some users can't make. Here are a few of the best
features of both to help you figure out which device is right for you.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<br /></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 14pt;"><b>Laptops</b></span><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">, like desktop PCs before them, have a built-in benefit over
tablets, and that benefit is power. As a rule, laptops have more powerful
processing hardware, allowing for a wider range of uses, faster performance and
better multitasking. Laptops can easily handle common tablet uses—like Web
browsing and media streaming—and then go much further, with uses ranging from
simple data entry to complex tasks like photo and video editing. Serious PC gaming relyies on faster
processors and discrete graphics processing to crank out complex rendered
environments at resolutions and frame rates that tablets can't touch. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">Joining
the processing hardware is storage. Where tablets may boast anywhere from 16 to
128GB of storage space, the average laptop offers 500GB or more. Even the
slimmest laptops featuring smaller SSDs—like the Apple MacBook Air
11-inch—offer at least 128GB, starting where tablets top out. Add in features
like optical drives for </span><st1:stockticker><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">DVD</span></st1:stockticker><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"> or Blu-ray discs, card slots for full-size SD cards, and </span><st1:stockticker><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">USB</span></st1:stockticker><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">-connected flash drives and portable drives, and
you can have mountains of data at your fingertips. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">There's
also the question of form factor. Laptops have the benefit of having a keyboard
and mouse built-in, allowing you to do all of the typing and mouse-related work
you would do on a desktop. Touch screens don't offer the same level of granular
control that a mouse and cursor does, while on screen keyboards are really only
fit for entering short bursts of text, such as a status update or a tweet. A
physical keyboard is a must for entering long blocks of text, and a mouse is
far more efficient than a touch-screen for frequent swapping of windows,
clicking of links, and general mousing around. This is even more important in
the workplace, where those very tasks may make up the bulk of your day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">There's
also the question of ports and peripherals. While both laptops and tablets have
an ecosystem of accessories and devices around them, laptops—with their broadly
compatible </span><st1:stockticker><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">USB</span></st1:stockticker><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"> ports, HDMI outputs, and other features—work
with a universe of accessories that don't need to be tailored to a specific
device, but will work with most any properly equipped PC. From mice and
keyboards to webcams and storage devices, laptops are the easy choice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">Bottom
line: If you need to do serious work, need powerful processing or multitasking,
or need compatibility with a specific accessory or storage device, there's no
good alternative to the laptop. Tablets can fulfill some of these needs some of
the time, but when it's time to get things done, the laptop still reigns. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<b><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<b><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 14pt;">Tablets</span></b><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">
on the other hand, considering that most laptops start at $500 and go up from
there, tablets are, with few exceptions, more affordable. The Apple iPad (4th
Generation, Wi-Fi) might start at $500, but there are dozens of competitors
like the Google Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HD (7", Wi-Fi) that cut
that price in half, making tablets one of the most affordable options around
when it comes to media, games and the Web. The exception to this pricing is the
Windows tablet, which attempts to merge the PC operating system with the
form-factor and touch screen of a tablet. Where tablets running on Android and
iOS can be had for less than $300, the latest Windows 8 tablets start at $400
and many sell for over $1,000. Whether or not the tablet market will support
laptop pricing is a question that's largely unanswered, but if price is a
consideration, you may want to steer clear of Windows tablets. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">The
design of the modern tablet—all touch screen—is also extremely intuitive,
especially when paired with touch-friendly operating systems, be it Windows 8,
Android, or iOS. The icon-heavy designs are very easy for tech-newcomers to
figure out, and gestures like swiping from one screen to the next are far
easier to grasp than tapping Windows keys or navigating a file tree. Many tablets
support some level of multitasking, allowing you to run one or more apps in the
background while working in another, but the full-screen focus of most tablets
is also seen as a distraction-free alternative to the multitasking of Windows. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">The
small size of tablets also make them more mobile. While laptops maybe be
portable, easily packed along in a laptop bag, tablets are truly mobile,
tailored for use while in motion instead of sitting stationary. The smaller
form factor also makes it more comfortable to use the device casually. A tablet
can be used at the library, but also on the subway, in the kitchen, on the
couch, in bed, and everywhere in between. The small screens are also
well-suited to personal media consumption, whether it's watching shows and movies
or reading an ebook or website. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">Tablets
also offer excellent battery life. This efficiency is the flipside of the
processing issue--smaller, less powerful mobile processors are also more
battery efficient, sipping at a battery for hours longer than even a long-lived
laptop. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">Where
laptop PCs deal in software, tablets are all about apps, providing a user
experience tailored to the use of a touch screen, and blending always-on data
connectivity with the unique capabilities of a mobile device, taking advantage
of touch input, motion sensors, </span><st1:stockticker><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">GPS</span></st1:stockticker><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"> data, and built-in cameras. Apps are also generally less
expensive than PC software, with a large selection available completely free. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb27" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">While
laptops offer all sorts of options for file support and available programs, the
process of buying and consuming digital media is often simpler on a tablet than
anywhere else. Broadcasters and movie studios are bending over backwards with
apps and services that put their content into the hands of iOS and Android
users, and digital distribution through iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play have
supplanted many of the traditional outlets as the go to source for media. If your daily computer use revolves around the
internet and social media, streaming services like Spotify and Netflix, and
only light productivity, then you may be able to make do with a tablet alone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 14pt;">Hybrids</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"> are being
looked by some manufacturers as the best of both worlds. Intel has spent a lot
of money promoting an array of two-in-one devices, with small laptops with detachable
tablets, like the HP Envy X2 (11-g012nr) around <span style="color: black;">$740 </span>or
the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix around <span style="color: black;">$1,560</span>, and convertible designs that flip and
fold between the two, like the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S <span style="color: black;">$999</span>
or the Dell XPS 12 <span style="color: black;">$1,1</span>00. These laptop/tablet hybrids are made to
close the gap between laptop capabilities and tablet convenience, and the new
hybrid category will only get better over time as technologies improve and
designs are refined. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">And yes, maybe we All
Just Get Along! </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">Though there are clear reasons to favor one device over the other for
certain specific uses, the laptop versus tablet debate is a false one. In
today's connected world, there isn't really an either-or decision to be
made—laptops and tablets may be best used together, as companion devices. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">The ideal
setup will vary from one person to the next, but many shoppers who make the
decision to forgo a laptop or skip the whole tablet thing find themselves
butting up against the simple reality that there is no one device that is best
for everything. Tablets and laptops are really designed to be companion devices,
sharing files via cloud storage and allowing you to take your Web-connected
life everywhere. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: right; text-indent: .25in;">
<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic';">Adapted from
Brian Westover’s PC-Mag article, </span><st1:date day="22" month="8" year="2013"><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic';">8/22/13</span></st1:date></span></i><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-8456040823168166302013-08-12T16:53:00.000-04:002013-08-12T16:53:19.440-04:00Scam Words Crooks Use to Trick You<h2 style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">One
of the biggest challenges cyber crooks face -- not that we have any sympathy
for them! -- is coming up with words that'll most likely convince you to click
on their troublesome links or attachments. But there's a catch. Security
software that most of us have on our PCs is set up to look for suspicious
words, so the crooks need to use words that will evade this first line of
defense.</span></h2>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">One
of the main tricks they use is to create fake shipping notifications,
especially if they're targeting businesses. Experience suggests we're more likely to click
on these than anything else. More than a
quarter of all words featured in malicious emails monitored by one security
firm, FireEye, concerned shipments or postage. FireEye actually compiled a table of those
words; they include the names of all the
big shippers and mail organizations because, when we see those names, we're
inclined to trust them. </span><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">FireEye's
Top 10 shipping scam words is as follows:</span></div>
<pre style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Century Gothic";">
</span></pre>
<pre style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Century Gothic";">1. dhl<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Century Gothic";">2. notification<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Century Gothic";">3. delivery<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Century Gothic";">4. express<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Century Gothic";">5. (the date year)<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Century Gothic";">6. label<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Century Gothic";">7. shipment<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Century Gothic";">8. ups<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Century Gothic";">9. international<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<pre style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Century Gothic";">10. parcel<o:p></o:p></span></pre>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Also
in the full charts are words like "alert," "urgent,"
"confirmation" and "usps." Many of these shipping-related messages are
used for spear phishing -- emails targeted at specific individuals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">When
the messages have attachments, the most common form -- shown in the letters
after the dot in the attachment name -- is ".zip," a compressed file
that is difficult to inspect without opening it. This accounts for three quarters of
attachments in what FireEye calls "advanced malicious attacks." In
second place is ".pdf" -- commonly used for documents readable on
most PCs with the right software. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">"Cybercriminals
continue to evolve and refine their attack tactics to evade detection and use
techniques that work. Spear phishing emails are on the rise because they
work," says Ashar Aziz, founder and CEO, FireEye. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">After
shipping terms, the next most common word category used by cyber criminals is
finance. They often use the name of a
bank, refer to transactions and have official-looking forms attached.
Tax-related words are also popular, especially when they include
"refund"! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Attachments
named for things like airline tickets or invoices are another common feature of
spear phishing. The Internet Crime
Complaint Center (IC3) says spear phishing emails are particularly effective
because cybercriminals use information from social networking sites to
personalize emails and make them look more authentic. However, there are lots of other giveaways in
scammers' choice of words that you can be on the lookout for. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">As
frequently reported, bogus messages from Nigeria or other countries where
English is not the first language often give themselves away just by the use of
wrong words and grammar. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sometimes,
they use quaint words and phrases no longer in use, seem over-polite or tell
you they're "temporarily out of the country," or similar wording. On dating sites, crooks also over-use
abbreviations, some of them seemingly obscure even to seasoned surfers, and
other just repeated too often -- like "cos." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></h2>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">More
Scam Words Categories</span></h2>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">Here
are six word categories that suggest you could be on the receiving end of a
scam attempt: </span><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">Unlikely
words: For example, an email with "business proposal" or another
opportunity-related term as an attachment or subject heading would almost
certainly be a scam. After all, who
initiates a business idea with you in this way?</span></h2>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Out
of character: An email purports to come from someone you know but the words it
uses just don't sound like they'd come from that person. Claims of secrecy: Messages that claim to be
"confidential," "for your eyes only" or based on
"inside information," especially from someone you don't know, should
arouse your suspicions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">If
it's from someone you don't know, it's a scam. Who in their right mind would
send a genuinely confidential item this way? If it's from someone you do know, be really
wary. Contact them first, if you can, to check that they sent it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Promises
of wealth: As in the aforementioned Nigerian scams. But let's not forget
lottery wins (e.g., "claim," "prize," "awards
office") and investment emails that use words like "guaranteed,"
"opportunity," "risk-free" and "fortune." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">If
it's not a scam, it's at least likely to be spam.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sensation:
Words like "shock," "sensation" and personalized phrases
like "you gotta see this" or even "is this you?" are
designed to make you want to click a link or an attachment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Never
do that without checking the source. It's
easy: Be cautious of words that suggest something you had imagined would be
quite tough, is easy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">For
job hunters, "no experience necessary" should be a red flag. So
should things like "I earned $xxx in just xx hours" -- you fill in
the amount and time -- but we guarantee they'll be amazing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Similarly,
money plans that offer "instant loans" may turn out to be too good to
be true. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">So
now that you have "inside information" on the scammers' dictionary,
you should have a better idea of what to be on the lookout for. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Few
of us might claim to be true students of language, but paying attention to scam
words could at least give you a degree of security. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" style="background: white; text-align: right;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Source: scambusters.com #551, <st1:date day="1" month="7" year="2013">7/1/13</st1:date></span></i></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-25330237139535873782013-07-03T23:27:00.000-04:002013-07-03T23:27:38.554-04:00How to Beat Ransomware Crooks<h2 align="center" style="background: white; text-align: center;">
</h2>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt;">
</span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
For no identifiable reason, other than it's an easy
and effective way of making money, 2013 has seen a huge surge in ransomware --
the malicious programs that seize control of your computer and then demand
payment to unfreeze it. Its simplicity and the alarming implications of not
being able to get at the valuable data in your computer triggers a panic
reaction that still works extremely well for the crooks. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
Although there are no overall official figures, in
one instance alone, 700,000 machines in <st1:country-region>Spain</st1:country-region>
were hijacked, so it's likely that tens of millions have been targeted
worldwide. And in another incident, one gang was estimated to have netted $5
million from a single extortion racket. </div>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<br /></h2>
<h2 style="background: white;">
How Ransomware Works</h2>
<div style="background: white;">
You're happily working away or surfing when a
warning pops up on your machine. The most common current one claims to be from
the FBI, the Department of Justice or other law enforcement agency, saying your
machine has been locked because of illegal activity. Usually, it suggests
you've been downloading "adult" images and, in recent instances, it
even flashes up supposed examples of what it claims you've been viewing. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
Or it may suggest you've violated copyright laws by
downloading pirated videos or music. The ransomware may even activate your
webcam, showing your image and implying that you're being watched. The warning
says you've been fined -- usually $200 -- and tells you to send a money-wire
for the charges to be dropped and for a password to unlock your machine. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
In other cases, the warning simply says you have a
virus on your machine and that, for safety's sake, it has been locked. In this case, paying a "fee" is
supposed to enable a piece of software to clean up your PC and then get it
going again. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
But there are many other variations. The bottom
line is that if the machine freezes and you're asked to pay to unlock it,
you've been hijacked. No legitimate software or law enforcement agency works
this way. </div>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<br /></h2>
<h2 style="background: white;">
How to Avoid or Deal with Ransomware</h2>
<div style="background: white;">
The most obvious way of beating the ransomware
crooks is by avoiding getting the malware on your PC in the first place. Here's
our 10-point defense formula. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
1. Using reputable anti-virus software and keeping
it up to date will stop it dead in its tracks in most cases. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
2. Don't click on links and attachments that come
from people you don't know. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
3. Even if you do know the sender, be wary about
clicking. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
Is the wording of the message unusual, vague or
impersonal? Is the subject line or message text dramatic or does it claim to be
a bill or receipt of some sort? These
are red flags. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
4. Don't visit dubious websites, including
"adult" sites or any flagged up by your Internet security software as
being questionable. That's where the malware most often lurks. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
5. Keep your data (documents, photos etc.) on a
separate disc or partition from your operating system (e.g. Windows), so that
if your system is hijacked your data will remain intact no matter what you have
to do next to get back in business. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
6. Back up both your system and your data regularly
-- at least daily for your data and weekly for your operating system. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
7. Create an emergency boot disk or <st1:stockticker>USB</st1:stockticker>
drive that will allow you to restart your PC if the machine has been hijacked. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
How you do that depends on your operating system
and is beyond the scope of this article, but most operating systems and backup
software will enable you to do that. You'll need to check your software
documentation or search on-line for information on how to do it. </div>
<h2 style="background: white;">
<br /></h2>
<h2 style="background: white;">
If You're Hijacked...</h2>
<div style="background: white;">
If you get a ransomware message, switch off your
machine. If your computer won't let you, hold down the power
button until it goes off.</div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
8. If you know how to do it, restart your machine
and go to "safe" mode, and then try to use system restore or system
refresh to turn back your machine to an earlier date. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
From safe mode, you might also be able to download
a ransomware removal tool (search online for it) and use that. But be very
careful it's not more malware! Or use someone else's machine to search for and
download a ransomware removal program onto a flash drive that you can boot
from. Check your computer documentation on how to start your machine from an
external device. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
9. If these options are not available, use your
emergency boot disk (Point #7) to restart your machine (again, you'll need to
check your documentation on how to do this), and reinstate your system backup. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
10. If that doesn't work, you may need to reinstall
your operating system and rebuild your setup. But if you've followed our
earlier advice, all your data will be unaffected and intact. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white;">
If all of this is too tough for you, get
professional help. Above all, don't pay the ransom or provide any personal
information! There's no guarantee the crook or the software will provide the
password to unlock it. Even if it does, it won't remove the ransomware from
your PC; it could easily spring to life again. </div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<i>Based on an article from <a href="http://www.scambusters.com/">scambusters.com</a><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-7447164263765614882013-06-05T12:42:00.004-04:002013-06-05T12:42:53.449-04:007 Tips to Help Reduce or Stop Spam<h2 style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">Many
of us get thousands of spam messages a day. So, it's not surprising that people
need relief -- they want to do whatever they can to </span><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">stop spam</span><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt;">.
Unfortunately, many of us now spend so much time filtering and deleting spam
that our biggest concern has become that we not lose messages we really want. </span></span></h2>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Many double opt-in email newsletters are being incorrectly filtered, so
recipients who sign up never know they've been sent. And even personal
communication and one-on-one email is now regularly being filtered at the
server level.<br />
<br />
In fact, according to an article in <em>Time Magazine,</em> <strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">between</span></strong><strong> </strong><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">40% to 70% of all email is currently getting</span></strong><strong> </strong><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">blocked by</span></strong><strong> </strong></span><span class="klink"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: windowtext; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">spam filters</span></span><strong><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">!</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> That means recipients
never have a chance to read it.<br />
<br />
So, the cure has become as bad as the disease. This is especially true of some
filtering solutions with over-zealous criteria. Nevertheless, here are 7 good
tips that will help you dramatically reduce the amount of spam you receive.
Using these tips and resources, <strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">have
in some cases to reduced the amount of spam by over 55%.</span></strong></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></strong></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<strong><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">1. Use a separate email address</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> when you post messages
to any public forum, such as newsgroups and mailing lists. Never use </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">your <span class="klink"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">personal email</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> address for this purpose -- or you'll be flooded
with spam. Then, you can quickly go through the email in this account to see
what's spam and what isn't. And your main personal email address won't be as
clogged with spam.<br />
<br />
For example, </span><st1:stockticker><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">AOL</span></st1:stockticker><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> users can set up a special user name for free,
and use that for their postings. Then, they can just discontinue that account
if they start to get too much spam.<br />
<br />
<strong>2.
Consider acquiring </strong></span><span class="klink"><b><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: windowtext; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0in;">multiple email</span></b></span><strong><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">
addresses for different purposes. </span></strong><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This helps you to identify different sources and
senders, and lets you filter more effectively.<br />
<br />
For instance, you may have one for personal use only by friends, family or
colleagues that is never used to request information or to subscribe to
newsletters, discussion lists, etc. <br />
<br />
Another might be used just for sales inquiries or orders, or for making online
purchases. This can be arranged through </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">your </span><st1:stockticker><span class="klink"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: windowtext; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0in;">ISP</span></span></st1:stockticker><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> web host or through any
number of </span><span class="klink"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: windowtext; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0in;">online email</span></span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> service providers. <br />
<br />
Even free </span><span class="klink"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: windowtext; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0in;">mail</span></span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> services like Yahoo!
Mail and GMail can be used for this purpose. <br />
<br />
<strong>3.
You can subscribe to services online that provide you with disposable addresses</strong>
that can be deleted if they begin to attract spam messages. <br />
<br />
You can create a unique address for each email newsletter or forum you
subscribe to. Then, when an email address begins getting spam, you 'throw it
away' and start using another email address. <br />
<br />
This works because the disposable email addresses actually forward to a real
email address of yours. The software lets you track which addresses are getting
spam, and you can just resubscribe using a new, spam-free address.<br />
<br />
For information on what you need to know about disposable addresses, visit:<br />
</span><span class="tlink1"><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">http://email.about.com/library/weekly/aa072002a.htm</span></span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> <br />
<br />
Our favorite company that offers disposable </span><span class="klink"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: windowtext; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0in;">email accounts</span></span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> is Sneakemail. It even has a free version:<br />
</span><span class="tlink1"><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">http://sneakemail.com</span></span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> <br />
<br />
<strong>4.
Remove your email address from your website.</strong> If you list or
link to your email address, you can expect to be spammed. <br />
<br />
Address-harvesting robots will spider your site and extract them. So remove
them wherever possible and use web-based forms instead. This will drastically
cut down the amount of spam you receive if you have a website.<br />
<br />
<strong>5.
NEVER buy anything from a company that spams.</strong> Don't visit their
sites or ask for more information. (If you respond to their spams, you're
encouraging them to continue spamming -- they only need a tiny fraction of
responses to be profitable.) <br />
<br />
There's another reason not to buy anything from a company that spams: <strong>over 95% of
spam offers are scams!</strong> In fact, not responding to spam is the
single most effective way to not get scammed on the Internet. <br />
<br />
<strong>6.
Filter your email.</strong> Using filters is key to managing your email
effectively. It may take a short time to figure out how to do this, but it's
definitely worthwhile. <br />
<br />
For more anti</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">-<span class="klink"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">spam filtering</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> information, visit: </span><span class="tlink1"><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">http://email.about.com/cs/spamfiltering/</span></span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br />
<strong>7.
Consider subscribing to a spam prevention service. </strong>We're not
enthusiastic about these services, but many people find them invaluable. They
range from the good to the bad to the downright ugly, and from free to
fee-based. <br />
<br />
Many of these services are "challenge response" services. This means
they require that people who send you email to respond by clicking, visiting a
website, and/or typing in a code that only a human (not a spam bot) could do
correctly. <br />
<br />
Unfortunately, many people -- and most newsletter publishers -- simply refuse
to participate. That's because it requires people who are sending you
legitimate email to take THEIR time to ensure YOU </span><span class="klink"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: windowtext; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0in;">get email</span></span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">. <br />
<br />
In fact, many of us consider it rude for you to even ask. <br />
<br />
Imagine a newsletter publisher like ScamBusters with 100,000+ subscribers. If
even 20% installed this kind of system, that would mean the publisher would
have 20,000 challenge/response requests. If each took only half a minute, that
would be 167 hours -- or more than four weeks to reply! <br />
<br />
<strong>Tip:</strong>
Make sure that any software or system you select gives YOU control of which
email you get (and doesn't automatically erase messages). <br />
<br />
On a related note, safeguard your newsletter and discussion list subscriptions.
If you, your </span><st1:stockticker><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">ISP</span></st1:stockticker><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> or </span><span class="klink"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: windowtext; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0in;">web host</span></span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> use spam filters or white lists, be sure to let
them know that you want to receive messages from any newsletters or discussion
lists that you subscribe to. <br />
<br />
Do it as soon as you sign up... otherwise, it's very easy not to notice that
you're not receiving them. <br />
<br />
While these 7 tips may not actually stop spam, they will certainly help you
drastically reduce the amount of spam you get.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 10.0pt;">From
ScamBusters.com<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293901646401973530.post-82218631006781115022013-05-02T11:23:00.000-04:002013-05-02T11:23:05.331-04:00Inspiring Quotes From Zig Ziglar<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 13.75pt;">Zig Ziglar, one of the
world's most famous salesmen, who inspired millions with his message of
positivity and personal achievement, passed away in late November, 2012 at the
age of 86.</span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb1" style="background: white; line-height: 13.75pt;">
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">He was known around
the world as a performance trainer for major corporations, motivational
speaker, and author of best-selling books such as <em>See You at the Top</em> and <em>Secrets
of Closing the Sale</em>. In his autobiography <em>Zig</em>, published 10 years ago, he wrote,
"If my life has had a theme, I suppose it has been a typical American
theme in that, for most of it, I have been looking for happiness and
success." But his life was remarkable in his dedication to helping others
find the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb1" style="background: white; line-height: 13.75pt;">
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NormalWeb1" style="background: white; line-height: 13.75pt;">
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">The following are a
dozen of Ziglar's most inspirational quotes for achieving personal and
professional success.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">If you can dream it, you can
achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other
people get what they want.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Building a better you is the
first step to building a better </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">America</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">People often say that
motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we
recommend it daily.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">An optimist is someone who goes
after Moby Dick in a row boat and takes the tartar sauce with him.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Remember that failure is an
event, not a person.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">For every sale you miss because
you are too enthusiastic, you will miss a hundred because you’re not
enthusiastic enough.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Success is dependent on the
glands – sweat glands.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Honesty and integrity are
absolutely essential to be successful in life – all areas of life.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">The really good news is that anyone can
develop honesty and integrity.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Timid salesmen have skinny
kids.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">The most important persuasion
tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Money isn’t the most important
thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the ‘gotta have it’
scale.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Stop selling. Start helping.</span></li>
</ol>
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<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.0pt;">Source:
entrepreneur.com, Nov.,2012<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
APT Web Designhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10225722823441937179noreply@blogger.com0