We've all done it. We've signed up for this forum or any other website which wants us to verify our address. Or maybe we do not want to communicate with the site, but it needs an address anyways. Whatever the reason, why must we keep giving our information away? Giving away our information, even as little as an email address, opens people up for spam and junk mail. Ok, so this may not be a miracle solution but it is a step towards fighting spam.
If you are stuck in one of the aforementioned situations, go to a website such as mailinator.This is a free disposable email. when you need a quick email that is ot dependent on your regular email so you do not have to give out information, go to this site and pick out a name on the fly. The website generates a email inbox for you so you can use this email address you created for the form on the website requesting your address. Then on the main screen in mailinator where it says check your inbox, type in the temporary email and click go. That takes you to a temporary inbox where you can click on the email and verify your email address so you can have access to the site.
This way, you do not have to give our an email address to a site that may possible sell or give it to someone else to spam you. But do not use these temporary email addresses as your real email address. Obviously after a certain time, the temporary inboxes are deleted rfor someone else to use. After all, I wonder how many people have used johndoe@mailinator.com as an email?
Friday, December 23, 2011
I Just Made Love app reveals a bit too much information
As if Facebook and other social networking sites were not enough of a security breach for loose lips, there's another app that tells where you just had sex. It also shows people around you who have had sex in the same location. Gee, who needs the locker room? Just get the I Just Made Love app and you can tell everyone within seconds and not even have to take the time to go to the locker room or update your Facebook status for that matter.
However, I think they should change the name of this app. If one makes love to someone else, it is unlikely that he would post it for all to see as making love is more serious. Now having sex, the f word, scoring, getting laid, and other colorful expressions would be a more appropriate title for this app.
Also you have been warned. If your partner is on his phone the minute after you have done the deed, chances are, he might be on this app. After all, I doubt he would be texting his mother.
Also, of all the things that SOPA wants to make illegal, why not apps like this? Apps like this could actually cause more harm than good in society. But I guess that is in a perfect world. And believe me, the world is not perfect. If it was, apps like this would not exist.
Further reading on the I Just Made Love app
However, I think they should change the name of this app. If one makes love to someone else, it is unlikely that he would post it for all to see as making love is more serious. Now having sex, the f word, scoring, getting laid, and other colorful expressions would be a more appropriate title for this app.
Also you have been warned. If your partner is on his phone the minute after you have done the deed, chances are, he might be on this app. After all, I doubt he would be texting his mother.
Also, of all the things that SOPA wants to make illegal, why not apps like this? Apps like this could actually cause more harm than good in society. But I guess that is in a perfect world. And believe me, the world is not perfect. If it was, apps like this would not exist.
Further reading on the I Just Made Love app
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving and a security lesson
Happy Thanksgiving and have a safe Black Friday. I don't want to hear on the news about how people are shooting each other for the latest toy. It happens every year....
Much safer to shop online on Cyber Monday....or is it?
You will not get beat up or shot at online. But the thing that shoppers must be aware of is what sights they give their credit number to. Sites like Amazon, Ebay, Best Buy, etc are big names so they have paid for their servers to be secure. They have their reputation to protect after all. But that's a different story. The easiest thing fro anyone shopping online is they should look at the website address before they give their credit card online to anyone, whether it is a big name company's site or not. Just get into the habit of looking at the web address to keep yourself safe. The website address that asks for a customer's credit card information should always begin with HTTPS. If it begins with only HTTP, the site is not secure and should not be trusted with your credit card information. The HTTPS is more secure because the session that you have with the website is encrypted, or scrambled, so it is not as likely that prying eyes will see your private information.
So if you are shopping online during the holidays, do not forget to look at the web address when you are looking at the sale price of things. If you go to an unsecured site, then it may be that the price of your shopping list contents is irrelevant if someone gets a hold of your credit card information by shopping on unsecured sites.
Much safer to shop online on Cyber Monday....or is it?
You will not get beat up or shot at online. But the thing that shoppers must be aware of is what sights they give their credit number to. Sites like Amazon, Ebay, Best Buy, etc are big names so they have paid for their servers to be secure. They have their reputation to protect after all. But that's a different story. The easiest thing fro anyone shopping online is they should look at the website address before they give their credit card online to anyone, whether it is a big name company's site or not. Just get into the habit of looking at the web address to keep yourself safe. The website address that asks for a customer's credit card information should always begin with HTTPS. If it begins with only HTTP, the site is not secure and should not be trusted with your credit card information. The HTTPS is more secure because the session that you have with the website is encrypted, or scrambled, so it is not as likely that prying eyes will see your private information.
So if you are shopping online during the holidays, do not forget to look at the web address when you are looking at the sale price of things. If you go to an unsecured site, then it may be that the price of your shopping list contents is irrelevant if someone gets a hold of your credit card information by shopping on unsecured sites.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
SOPA: Internet Censorship the wrong way
Although, I am pro censorship, it is within reason. The SOPA bill is not within reason.
It is more important to go after people who engage in such acts as child pornography than those who pirate software and movies. (no matter what one might think of doing that to begin with. To each their own).
Google can remove sites from being picked up by its search engine. It is rare, but this is one of the things that the lawmakers want is to have Google remove sites deemed to have copyrighted information there. But they will not stop there. They want DNS services to block access to the sites. Why isn't this much energy being given to bigger issues? I'll tell you why.
It's all about the benjamins, baby! Take a look here to see who is for the SOPA bill and internet censorship and which politicians get their pockets full from donors.
While much of the entertainment industry is for the SOPA bill, much of the tech world is not.
Under the SOPA act, I wonder how many videos will be illegal? Many bands put covers on Youtube, and many people love making videos as a hobby. It is not out of disrespect for the artists. In fact, many artists like seeing their fans' creativity as much as their own as seen on a 20/20 episode in September.
By allowing the SOPA bill to pass, many people will be affected. Much creativity will be lost and companies like Google or Yahoo will be sued just for having an illegal site in their search engine. By having them spend all their money fighting lawsuits from the US government, they will not be able to spend their money on creating jobs or having the best businesses. As a result, the government will further hurt its own people that will deepen the wound already created by the economic crisis of the past few years.
It is more important to go after people who engage in such acts as child pornography than those who pirate software and movies. (no matter what one might think of doing that to begin with. To each their own).
Google can remove sites from being picked up by its search engine. It is rare, but this is one of the things that the lawmakers want is to have Google remove sites deemed to have copyrighted information there. But they will not stop there. They want DNS services to block access to the sites. Why isn't this much energy being given to bigger issues? I'll tell you why.
It's all about the benjamins, baby! Take a look here to see who is for the SOPA bill and internet censorship and which politicians get their pockets full from donors.
While much of the entertainment industry is for the SOPA bill, much of the tech world is not.
Under the SOPA act, I wonder how many videos will be illegal? Many bands put covers on Youtube, and many people love making videos as a hobby. It is not out of disrespect for the artists. In fact, many artists like seeing their fans' creativity as much as their own as seen on a 20/20 episode in September.
By allowing the SOPA bill to pass, many people will be affected. Much creativity will be lost and companies like Google or Yahoo will be sued just for having an illegal site in their search engine. By having them spend all their money fighting lawsuits from the US government, they will not be able to spend their money on creating jobs or having the best businesses. As a result, the government will further hurt its own people that will deepen the wound already created by the economic crisis of the past few years.
Friday, October 28, 2011
A Brand New Internet
Well, not for the everyday person like you and me perhaps. But apparently the NSA wants to build a secondary internet so they can put government activity separate from all the civilian activity. While they think it will keep government sites more secure from attacks, they are gravely mistaken.
One of the reasons hackers hack is for the challenge and bragging rights. The mentality could be similar to the compulsive shoplifter who steals and steals and never gets caught. Then one day BOOM. She is caught and does not understand why she got away wit hit all along. Despite security measures taken by many stores to hinder shoplifting attempts, people are dishonest enough to find ways to get around security measures. So doesn't the NSA think that a mischievous hacker will have this same mentality? Or even worse, what about the devious foreigner?
It has recently been disclosed that China is suspected of hacking two satellites a few years ago. Most people do not think about hacking satellites, but now that it is being thought about, a little bit of it is fumy. When satellites are being considered, most people think only paranoid thoughts about the US government spying. Most people, unless you are a US government official perhaps, do not think about foreign intelligence getting the satellites to spy. Whether they will be interested in the everyday person is another story. It is more likely that they only care about what the US government is doing. Phew, we are safe!
But even so, it is scary to think that a satellite can be hacked into just as easily as a personal computer if someone has loose security. Now with the secondary internet put in place, will the security get better or is this more or less just a band aid that the NSA wants to have? If there will be no change in security, it is better that they stay on the same internet and improve security. Hacking is inevitable, especially when there are juicy secrets to be found. So swallow the truth and just improve security in what is in place now. Don't isolate yourself and make yourself more vulnerable. Remember that the Stuxnet attacked technology that was not even attached to an internet.
One of the reasons hackers hack is for the challenge and bragging rights. The mentality could be similar to the compulsive shoplifter who steals and steals and never gets caught. Then one day BOOM. She is caught and does not understand why she got away wit hit all along. Despite security measures taken by many stores to hinder shoplifting attempts, people are dishonest enough to find ways to get around security measures. So doesn't the NSA think that a mischievous hacker will have this same mentality? Or even worse, what about the devious foreigner?
It has recently been disclosed that China is suspected of hacking two satellites a few years ago. Most people do not think about hacking satellites, but now that it is being thought about, a little bit of it is fumy. When satellites are being considered, most people think only paranoid thoughts about the US government spying. Most people, unless you are a US government official perhaps, do not think about foreign intelligence getting the satellites to spy. Whether they will be interested in the everyday person is another story. It is more likely that they only care about what the US government is doing. Phew, we are safe!
But even so, it is scary to think that a satellite can be hacked into just as easily as a personal computer if someone has loose security. Now with the secondary internet put in place, will the security get better or is this more or less just a band aid that the NSA wants to have? If there will be no change in security, it is better that they stay on the same internet and improve security. Hacking is inevitable, especially when there are juicy secrets to be found. So swallow the truth and just improve security in what is in place now. Don't isolate yourself and make yourself more vulnerable. Remember that the Stuxnet attacked technology that was not even attached to an internet.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Help! My Twitter account has been hacked!
Well, not my Twitter account. But many people have been saying this today. It is not the first time people's accounts have been hacked into as most of us know. Unfortunately for innocent, unsuspecting people out there, it certainly won't be the last.
Usually an application (you know those third party apps that want your username and password) has gotten access to a user's Twitter account. While some of these applications or websites use the account for good, such as finding certain statistics on a Twitter account, there are those third party sites that are made for bad things such as spamming people with direct messages. Today's direct message came in the form of "You might want to click on this site! People are saying bad things about you here" or something to that effect. When a user clicks on the link, he is prompted to enter his username and password for access to what the user is lead to believe is juicy gossip about him online. Unfortunately, by entering in his Twitter username and password, he has just given access to this site to use his account to spread other similar direct messages to all his followers.
Sites like this are similar to the email messages that one might get with an attachment from someone you know with a message of "Look at the program I made for you!" When a user clicks on it, the file opens, scans the address book, and now all of his address book receives this same email.
Some people have no life. I know.
Here are some steps to fix your Twitter account if you suspect it's been hacked. The most common way to know if your account has ben hacked is if you get someone asking you "Did you send me a DM?" If you know you did not send the DM (assuming you did not drunk DM someone....in that case, there is no security for drunk behavior. Sorry about your luck.)then your account is likely hacked.
Do no despair. The fix is easy. Remember how you gave someone (in this case a site) your login id and password? So just change your password. The site will not be able to authenticate on your account again and the spam messages will stop.
If using Twitter from a smart phone, every client is different. RTFM:)
Otherwise if you are using Twitter off of the website itself, just click on your profile name on the upper right hand corner of the screen. When the popup menu comes up, click on settings. Click on the password tab. This is where you change your password in Twitter. Don't forget to save your changes!
THe losers who create sites that get login information for bad purposes are getting smarter. But the users can get smarter too by at least knowing what to do if they are attacked in this way.
Usually an application (you know those third party apps that want your username and password) has gotten access to a user's Twitter account. While some of these applications or websites use the account for good, such as finding certain statistics on a Twitter account, there are those third party sites that are made for bad things such as spamming people with direct messages. Today's direct message came in the form of "You might want to click on this site! People are saying bad things about you here" or something to that effect. When a user clicks on the link, he is prompted to enter his username and password for access to what the user is lead to believe is juicy gossip about him online. Unfortunately, by entering in his Twitter username and password, he has just given access to this site to use his account to spread other similar direct messages to all his followers.
Sites like this are similar to the email messages that one might get with an attachment from someone you know with a message of "Look at the program I made for you!" When a user clicks on it, the file opens, scans the address book, and now all of his address book receives this same email.
Some people have no life. I know.
Here are some steps to fix your Twitter account if you suspect it's been hacked. The most common way to know if your account has ben hacked is if you get someone asking you "Did you send me a DM?" If you know you did not send the DM (assuming you did not drunk DM someone....in that case, there is no security for drunk behavior. Sorry about your luck.)then your account is likely hacked.
Do no despair. The fix is easy. Remember how you gave someone (in this case a site) your login id and password? So just change your password. The site will not be able to authenticate on your account again and the spam messages will stop.
If using Twitter from a smart phone, every client is different. RTFM:)
Otherwise if you are using Twitter off of the website itself, just click on your profile name on the upper right hand corner of the screen. When the popup menu comes up, click on settings. Click on the password tab. This is where you change your password in Twitter. Don't forget to save your changes!
THe losers who create sites that get login information for bad purposes are getting smarter. But the users can get smarter too by at least knowing what to do if they are attacked in this way.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Social Media: Making Protests Heard Around the World
Social media has been such an important part of all the protests that have taken place around the world. One of the first was all the protesting done during and after the Iran election. Since then, all the revolutionary movements that have taken place around the world have been caught on social media sites such as Twitter and Youtube for all to see.
The growth of social media has enabled anyone with a smart phone, digital camera, or just a computer and an internet connection to become a journalist. (for better or worse) Some of the footage that the amateurs have caught has then been picked up by mainstream media. Such footage picked up by bigger media outlets include a woman being shot at a protest in Iran and police brutality around the world.
Much mainstream media has given much attention to the protests in other countries. Yet, when it comes to the Occupy America protests, they are barely being acknowledged. CNN, for example, did not have any front page coverage on their website at the time of this writing. This is no problem for the amateur journalists, however, who are determined to get their word out.
Since before it was created, the Occupy movement has advertised and gained likes on Facebook. They also have their own Twitter streams with constant updates and retweets. Videos are always being uploaded on video sharing sites such as Youtube and pictures are being taken all over the place.
Looking at the impact of social media has shown a different perspective since the protests are more local than the overseas protests. Not only has social media been a media outlet for the people, it has also come into the rescue to keep the events going as intended. There have been tweets requesting food donations for the demonstrators, ponchos for when it began to pour rain all over them, and even external hard drives so they can keep live coverage of the Occupy Boston event going so the world can see. Apparently social media is doing the work those tweets were hoping for. There is still live streaming video, one man showed up today with a pickup truck full of bottled water, and restaurants answered the call for food by donating food.
Every time there is a huge event where social media is used to impact it, a new benefit of social media is seen. In the Occupy America protests as well as the revolutions in the Middle East, people are of different cultures and backgrounds. But one thing that everyone has in common is a need for the average person not to be taken advantage of by a select few. THe voice of individualism is speaking out. Thanks to social media, it is no longer being ignored.
The growth of social media has enabled anyone with a smart phone, digital camera, or just a computer and an internet connection to become a journalist. (for better or worse) Some of the footage that the amateurs have caught has then been picked up by mainstream media. Such footage picked up by bigger media outlets include a woman being shot at a protest in Iran and police brutality around the world.
Much mainstream media has given much attention to the protests in other countries. Yet, when it comes to the Occupy America protests, they are barely being acknowledged. CNN, for example, did not have any front page coverage on their website at the time of this writing. This is no problem for the amateur journalists, however, who are determined to get their word out.
Since before it was created, the Occupy movement has advertised and gained likes on Facebook. They also have their own Twitter streams with constant updates and retweets. Videos are always being uploaded on video sharing sites such as Youtube and pictures are being taken all over the place.
Looking at the impact of social media has shown a different perspective since the protests are more local than the overseas protests. Not only has social media been a media outlet for the people, it has also come into the rescue to keep the events going as intended. There have been tweets requesting food donations for the demonstrators, ponchos for when it began to pour rain all over them, and even external hard drives so they can keep live coverage of the Occupy Boston event going so the world can see. Apparently social media is doing the work those tweets were hoping for. There is still live streaming video, one man showed up today with a pickup truck full of bottled water, and restaurants answered the call for food by donating food.
Every time there is a huge event where social media is used to impact it, a new benefit of social media is seen. In the Occupy America protests as well as the revolutions in the Middle East, people are of different cultures and backgrounds. But one thing that everyone has in common is a need for the average person not to be taken advantage of by a select few. THe voice of individualism is speaking out. Thanks to social media, it is no longer being ignored.
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