Tag: New York Times

Twitter Security Breach…A Reminder About Keeping Passwords Secure

Yesterday it was announced that a Twitter employees e-mail account was hacked into.

The person who hacked into it was able to get a lot of information about the company, including its long range plans and estimated revenue growth.

This brings up a few things that I always like to remind those I teach…

1. Install  anti-virus and anti-spyware software on your computer. Make sure that it’s being updated on a daily basis and is running a full system scan at least once a week. Yes, even if you have a MAC…they’re not 100% secure. Spend that $19-$30 a year for the update subscriptions, it’s chump change compared to the time and money you’ll spend getting your  computer made virus free.

2. Your data is not 100% secure on the internet, or even on your computer. If there’s something you would never want the whole world to see, then don’t keep it on your computer.

3. Use unique passwords that include numbers and varying characters.

4. Don’t use the same password for online shopping, as you would for financial accounts such as e-trade, online banking, online credit card account. While I know that the online merchants have a good deal of security they’re not required to be as secure as the online sites for financial institutions. The financial institutions have to implement more security thanks to the many regulations imposed by the federal government. Although that hasn’t kept them from being hit either.

5. If you’re not sure about something that was sent to you, don’t click or open it. Check with the person its supposed to be from to make sure they sent it. Most of the viruses and re-directs to websites that will infect your computer with a virus have language that is often misspelled or just sounds odd. This goes for text messages you get on your phone as well. Remember…your phone is a mini-computer.

You can read articles on the incident:

Here – http://technologizer.com/2009/07/15/with-online-passwords-dishonesty-can-be-the-best-policy/

and here – http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/technology/internet/16twitter.html

Let’s be safe out there folks!

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Travelling With Technology

I really enjoy David Pogue’s articles and if you don’t subscribe to them I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you do.

He presents tech in a way that’s easy to understand and often does so with a great sense of humor.

His latest…okay this was last Friday…I was busy finishing my classes so I didn’t have time to post this earlier…. Anyways….

His latest covers what he carries around with him in his travel bag, and this guy travels A LOT!

Some really basic stuff, but definitely worth a read and potential adds to your travel bag.

You can read his article by clicking right HERE.

The Blackberry Storm – A Review Worth Reading

David Pogue who writes for the New York Times does a really great job in his product reviews. Of all of the product reviewers out there he is one of the few I actually trust. He’s consistently had fair, non-biased reviews that address the good and the bad of all the products he’s looked at. He’s even gone so far as to point out the potential good for a moderately bad product.

Knowing that I’ve got many people out there that I talk to or read this blog that like to get the latest and greatest technology, I wanted to alert everyone to it.

This section alone would scare me away from the device…

“When I try to enter my Gmail address, the Storm?s camera starts up unexpectedly, turning the screen into a viewfinder ? even though the keyboard still fills half the screen. (R.I.M. executives steadfastly refused to acknowledge any bugs. I even sent them videos of the Storm?s goofball glitches, but they offered only stony phone silence.)
give a review like this…it’s gotta be a pretty bad product.”

Granted many 1st generation products have their share of bugs and issues…but this sounds a bit excessive. For the execs to not even offer so much as a “Thanks for bringing this to our attention…”. YIKES!

So for those of you thinking about getting the Blackberry Storm I would highly recommend that you read the review HERE, before you go out and spend your hard earned cash.

For those of you who might think that it was just the units David used…check out his follow up article HERE.

In his follow-up he gives quotes like this one…

“I want to thank you for validating the experiences I’ve had with my new BlackBerry Storm. It has been an absolute nightmare. As soon as I return to New York, I will take advantage of Verizon’s 30-day return policy and get rid of this monstrosity.”

Proof that he wasn’t alone in his frustration or points of view.

Although I don’t know what’s more shocking the bad performance of the Storm or some of the incredibly hateful replies he got from some people.

I’d be curious to hear about other people’s experiences with the Storm. Good? Bad? Not sure yet?

Chime in!

A Really Expensive (but cool) Stocking Stuffer!

I am continually impressed with how small they have gotten things.

I remember the days when cell phone batteries alone were bigger then my entire Blackberry.

I remember the days when my Gameboy had a monochrome screen and was as big as a video tape.

I remember the days when mobile computers were the size of briefcases.

Soon I’ll be saying I remember the days when a projector was a device almost the size of a car battery.

Just as I was getting over the incredibly small size of my iPod nano, Optoma releases their brand new “Pico” projector.

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The specs are unbelievable:
Projection Type – DLP (The same technology behind digital projection in movie theaters)

Light Source – LED

Light Source Life – Estimated at 20,000 Hours

Weight – 4 oz with Battery (with the battery it’s 4oz??????)

Dimensions (W x H x D) –
1.97″ x 0.59″ x 4.06″ (50 x 15 x 103 mm) (An inch taller than the current iPod nano)

Battery – Li-ion Rechargeable (3.7V, 1100 mAh)

Battery Life – Up to 1.5 Hours

Image Size – 6″ to 60″ (0.15 to 1.5m)

Audio – One 0.5-Watt Speaker

Standard Accessories:
Power Adaptor
USB Cable
Tripod Adaptor
(2) Batteries
Standard A/V Cable (RCA to Mini-Jack)
iPod Kit with Dock Connector (US only)
Bag

This thing is impressive and at only $430 it’s a steal. Full size projectors cost 2 to 3 times that.

So for those of you looking for a great gift for that traveling presenter look no further. Or maybe a gift for your favorite blogger????

You can check out the Pico at the Optoma website:
http://www.optomausa.com/pico.asp

and

David Pogue at the New York Times has a great review on it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/technology/personaltech/05pogue.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink