- Delete any texts asking you to confirm or provide personal information. Legitimate companies don’t ask for information like account numbers or passwords by text or email.
- Don’t reply, and don’t click on links provided in the message. Links can install malware and take you to spoof sites that look real but whose purpose is to steal your information.
- Don’t give out any personal information in response to a text. A spammer wants access to your Social Security number, credit card numbers, and bank and utility account numbers to open new accounts in your name.
- Report spam texts to your carrier. AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint or Bell subscribers can copy the original text and forward it to 7726 (SPAM), free of charge.
- Review your cell phone bill for unauthorized charges.Report them to your carrier.
Monday, July 7, 2014
What To Do When You Get a SPAM Text Message
Posted by Gordon F Snyder Jr at 3:50 PM 2 comments
Labels: cell, communications, Education, message, phone, scam, spam, Technology, text
Monday, March 24, 2014
Storage Tiering
- SSD’s look like a mechanical hard drive and the server operating system uses standard BIOS calls to access.
- SSA’s are a little different and use a PCI Express (PCIe) interface. The operating system must use a unique set of software drivers specific to the SSA device being used.
Posted by Gordon F Snyder Jr at 2:52 PM 0 comments
Labels: backup, Big, Cloud, communications, Data, Education, Information, Storage, technician, Technology
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Calculating Wavelength If Frequency Is Known
Posted by Gordon F Snyder Jr at 3:22 PM 0 comments
Labels: communications, Education, Engineering, frequency, technician, wavelength, WIFi, Wireless
Monday, March 10, 2014
Cloud Computing Closer Look - Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas)
- Billing.
- Automation of administrative tasks.
- Dynamic scaling.
- Desktop virtualization.
- Policy-based services.
- Internet connectivity.
Posted by Gordon F Snyder Jr at 10:24 AM 0 comments
Labels: Business, commerce, communications, Education, Information, technician, Technology
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
The Rise Of The HetNet
Posted by Gordon F Snyder Jr at 11:07 AM 0 comments
Labels: Cellular, communications, Data, Education, Information, technician, Technology, Voice, Wireless
Friday, December 13, 2013
On The Road With A Powerocks Magicstick Extended Battery
Highly Recommended |
I’ve been reading Leander Kahney latest book on Jonathan Ive, the head of Industrial Design at Apple. It’s really opened my eyes to intuitive design, simplicity and absence in clutter. The Magicstick has that Jony Ive / Apple feel. It comes in a bunch of different colors (mine is black) and includes a micro-USB-to-USB cable for charging up the Magicstick and a nice little bag to keep it in.
It’s a small (sort of reminds me of a BIC cigarette lighter at 3.5” long, and 7/8” in diameter) 2800mAh portable battery that you pre-charge using an included micro-USB-to-USB cable. When it comes time to charging the Magicstick you just plug the charging cable in and charge it up. When you want to charge your phone or other portable device you just plug the cable that came with the phone or other device into the Magicstick standard USB port. On the opposite end of the Magicstick there is a smart push-button LED that shows charge status. Blue light = 70% - 100% full, Green light = 30% - 70% full, Red light = 1% - 30% full.
I was able to get two charges on my old iPhone 3GS (from approx. 20% to 100% and yes I still have an old iPhone) with one fully charged up Magicstick. It will charge Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, Blackberry, etc, etc, etc devices - basically anything that will charge using a USB connection. Simple.
A nice little stocking stuffer, grab bag, office swap gift, birthday present, etc - The Captain and I give it our highest rating of 5 out of 5 Gordoccinos.
You can get more info on the Powerocks website.
Posted by Gordon F Snyder Jr at 8:38 AM 0 comments
Labels: backup, battery, Education, extended, mobile, Power, Technology
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Online Tracking, Consumer Profiling, Data Collection and You
Well - it's the holidays when we're using the web along with those credit cards a lot more frequently. Ever wondered who's watching you online? And who the heck you are giving your personal card info to when making online purchases? Ever also wondered if there was anything you could do to protect yourself a little more? Well, others have too.
Abine, a Massachusetts company spun out of MIT in 2008, has developed some pretty nice tools that allow web users more control over their personal data. These accessible tools allow you to choose when you want to share your information, control your personal data, and provide the ability to protect your online privacy. Before we get to the products - here's some interesting tidbits from an Abine fact sheet:
Online tracking, consumer profiling, and data collection are happening wherever consumers go on the web, usually without their knowledge or approval. Consumers are the product being sold. Social networks, ad networks, and e-commerce sites collect every last byte of personal information they can, combining consumers’ online activity with their offline lives. The consequences of all this data collection are growing and real: lost job opportunities, higher prices, more spam, lower credit scores, identity theft, and more. Let's look at some tracking info and stats:
A tracker is a connection that your browser makes when it loads a webpage that’s intended to record, profile, or share your online activity. Usually these connections are made to entirely different companies than the website you’re actually visiting. The most common types of trackers are:So... how do you protect yourself?
- Javascript: 43%
- Images, such as 1-pixels: 14%
- iFrames: 14%
Abine collaborates with the UC Berkeley Center for Law and Technology on a recurring Web Privacy Census. The most recent Census found:
- Flash cookies: 5%
If present trends continue, the amount of online tracking will double on about 2.5 years.
- The use of third-party tracking cookies on the 100 most popular websites increased by 11% from May to October 2012.
- Google has a presence on 712 of the top 1,000 websites
- 26.3% of what your browser does when you load a website is respond to requests for your personal information, leaving the remaining 73.7% for things you actually want your browser doing, like loading videos, articles, and photos.
- Google makes 20.28% of all tracking requests on the web
5% of the top 1,000 websites use social networking code that can match users’ online identities with their web browsing activities, and nearly 25% of the web’s 70 most popular sites shared personal data, like name and email address, with third-party companies (Wall Street Journal, 12/2012).
- Facebook makes 18.84% of all tracking requests on the web
Abine has just rolled out DoNotTrackMe 3.0, a browser extension that stops online trackers from finding your contact and credit card info. Here's a DoNotTrackMe sample screen shot.
In addition, the company is giving out unlimited Masked Cards through December 26. The Masked Cards work with any credit or debit cards you have, allowing you to create disposable credit card numbers for each online purchase you make, preventing having to give out your real card info.
The company also makes a product called MaskMe which keeps you private as you browse and shop the web, and creates and manages secure passwords and DeleteMe which removes your public profile, contact and personal info, and photos of you from leading data sites.
Cool stuff. Check them all out.
Posted by Gordon F Snyder Jr at 11:43 AM 0 comments
Labels: communications, cybercrime, Education, Information, Online, Privacy, shopping, Technology