BWS Technologies - We don't just talk IT

New Facebook Pages Timeline: Covers, Content explained

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:20:00 +0000

Business Owners, Marketers and brand managers are you still digesting yesterday’s news about the launch of timeline for pages? Well here are some tips and food for thought to help avoid indigestion.

Target The News Feed With Interesting Posts
With a high percentage of user interaction occurring in the news feed, sharing fresh content and giving Facebook users reasons to engage with that content is vital.

Build Relationships Before Selling - You can’t just treat Facebook as a forum for pushing sales without having a conversation first. Connect with your current an potential customers, treating them as people, not ways to make money.

Embrace Your Past - Take advantage of the back-dating capabilities of timeline. Including company milestones such as founding year, milestone sales, product or service introductions, expansions, moves, and other key events.

Manage Private Conversations - The first key thing to know about brand messaging is that users must initiate the conversation. And, secondly, brands can only send two messages to users for every one message received from the user. This is to prevent spammers from overwhelming users with sales and marketing messages. In brief, keep it classy. When a user reaches out to you, that’s an authentic, personal experience that you should treat in the same way as a face-to-face conversation.

Cover Photos - Get creative! users will enjoy visiting your timeline. Your business surely has plenty of images ready to represent your brand on Facebook. But remember to follow the rules below.

Official Facebook rules - No purchase info: The cover photo is a place to demonstrate the brand’s personality, not to deliver a sales pitch. No contact info: The rules explicitly prohibit contact info in the cover photo. Not a big deal though the about section below the cover photo should this information. Also the pinned post is the ideal place for this kind of promotional content and advertising, see the section below on pinning. No Facebook actions: With the old Facebook pages, you might have created a landing page with an arrow pointing to the Like button. Now, with Facebook action requests banned from the cover photo, you can’t ask or instruct fans to like your page. No calls to action at all: You cannot ask them or instruct them to do anything: no purchase info, no contact info, no Facebook actions... no calls to action at all.. No lying: This should be a policy for every one when interacting with customers period, but Facebook has outlined it as a specific rule for cover photos. Don’t promise anything you shouldn’t be promising.

Pinning - By highlighting your post this way causes it to stay at the top of your timeline for exactly one week, whether there are new posts or not. Do you want a certain photo or promotion to be highly visible to visitors of your page? then pinning is the ideal way to do this.

Here are some examples of how to use pins:
1. Post a coupon for 25% off special items.
2. Display special office hours.
3. Share a special post.

Starring - By highlighting your post this way causes its width across the page, making it more visible as visitors view your timeline. Because this high visablity, you’ll definitely want to save this feature for your absolutely best posts, and the ones that you don’t want any of your customers and prospects to miss.

Here are some examples of how to use stars:
a. Post about a new product or service.
b. A milestone event.
c. Photos from a recent event.

7 things you need to know about new timeline feature for pages.

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:21:00 +0000

Facebook has opened its new profile design, Timeline, to business, brand and organization pages.

You can now Message fans directly - Now people can contact you privately using messages. Notifications about new messages will appear right in your admin panel
Pin your Favorite Post to the top - Hover over a story and click on the star icon to make the post wider. Click on the pencil icon to pin the item to the top of your page, hide it or delete it from the site altogether.
Change your Fan Page name - For those brands who have been stuck with the dreaded “misspelled” or “inaccurate” fan page name, you now have a way to request to change it.Be sure to make the fan page name your actual business name. As brands begin leveraging the open graph, insuring your name is accurate will be key.
Photos, Likes, and Apps moved - Photos, likes and apps are now at the top of your page. Photos show in the first spot, but you can change the order of everything else so people see what matters most. You can show a maximum number of 12 apps, so make sure to put your most important ones first.
New administrator panel - Keep track of your activity on your page from the admin panel. Respond when people write on your page timeline, and view your latest insights. Visit your activity log to review all your posts and activity.
Cover photo - The cover photo can be up to 850 pixels by 315 pixels but may not contain any of the following:
- Price or purchase information, such as “40 percent off” or “Download it at our website.”
- Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About section.
- References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features.
- Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends.”
Default landing tabs are gone - Facebook has removed the ability to create a default landing tab. Instead, the new tabs can be up to 760 pixels wide.

The new brand pages aren't compatible with mobile Facebook apps yet, but they will be soon. Businesses can begin converting their Facebook pages on Wednesday, Feb 29th 2011. The update is not optional: Those pages that have not switched will be forced to make the change on March 30.

Read more at Facebook.com

via AllFacebook.com

Latest Apple announcements with videos

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:53:00 +0000

Siri, voice control assistant, was the big Apple announcement. The iPhone 4S is, as the name implies, an speed boosting update to the iPhone 4, while the iPod lineup has seen only very modest updates.

Apple announces the iPhone 4S. Apple's newest iPhone is an all-internal upgrade that looks identical on the outside to the iPhone 4. The device will be available for pre-order on October 7, and it is released in the US on October 14. As almost everyone expected, the iPhone 4S will also launch on Sprint in addition to AT&T and Verizon. Apple's site suggests unlocked models will be available, but pricing info for contract-free handsets isn't available yet. The iPhone 4S has a faster dual core processor with much-improved graphics performance, improved battery and wireless performance, and a vastly improved 8 megapixel camera. Exclusive to the iPhone 4S is Siri, a new and powerful voice interface.

iPhone 4s Video

Apple introduces Siri as iPhone voice control assistant for iPhone 4S. Siri looks like it will revolutionize voice control on the iPhone. Siri is able to understand natural language inquiries and quickly look up information, generate appointments and text messages, and even take dictation. You may never need to type on your iPhone again. Reportedly the existing Siri app will go dark on October 15, so the service will definitely be exclusive to Apple's newest iPhone after that.

Siri Video

iOS 5 available October 12. Available to everyone else on October 12. iOS 5 will be a free download that will run on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S; all models of iPad; and the third- and fourth-generation iPod touch. Apple's free replacement for MobileMe, iCloud, is also going live to everyone on October 12. Meanwhile, the App Store is now officially welcoming apps compatible with iOS 5.

iOS 5 Video

Also

Apple refreshes iPod touch lineup with new colors: With the only apparent changes being a new white model and a price drop for the entry-level model, the iPod touch received only a very modest update today. No mention was made of the iPod touch being updated with the A5 processor, which marks the first time the line hasn't kept pace with the iPhone's processor.

Apple refreshes iPod nano, lowers price: The iPod nano also received a very modest update; aside from new clock faces, integrated fitness functions, a slightly revamped UI, and a price drop, the nano is largely the same as last year's model. The new UI and clock faces appear to be available to 2010 model iPod nanos via a software update, so if you have last year's model already there doesn't appear to be any reason to upgrade.

8 GB iPhone 3GS now free with contract, iPhone 4 price dropped: You can now pick up Apple's two-year-old iPhone 3GS for free if you sign up for a two-year contract. That may sound like a great deal, but by 2013 the iPhone 3GS is probably going to seem like it's a UNIVAC. You're better off spending the extra $99 to get an iPhone 4 instead; it's the same capacity, but with a much-improved processor, Retina Display, and a far better camera. Sure, the iPhone 3GS is free, but in our opinion you get what you pay for with that model.

You can check out Apple's keynote for yourself here.

via TUAW

Unannounced Facebook Changes

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Facebook has changed more of the site than what it announced, adding to unhappiness with the site.

The unannounced features include:

Posts can now be as long as 5,000 characters, ten times the previous maximum length.

You can no longer accompany a friend request with a message.

Part or all of the navigation bar can remain on the screen even when you scroll down the page.

You can create bookmarks, labeled favorites, in the left-hand column.

Birthday reminders appear in the upper right side well-wishes now show up as notifications on the upper-right-hand corner of the screen, near where you see poke notifications.

Friend lists that existed before the new smart list prompts have an entirely new management interface.

The poke button has become a link tucked into a pull-down to the right of the add friend button.

A thumbnail image of the user, and his or her name, appears int the right corner of the top blue navigation bar; when one surfs the site using a page alias, the name and main image appears in the same place.

via Inside Facebook: Facebook Increases Character Limit on Posts to 5000, Rolls Out Floating Navigation Bar and More Amid Unrest

Get 20GB of online storage for 70 cents

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:42:00 +0000

Amazon Cloud Drive is a hard drive in the cloud (on the web). Store your music, videos, photos, and documents on Amazon's secure servers. All you need is a web browser to upload, download, and access your files from any computer.

How to:

First sign up for Amazon Cloud Online - 5GB Storage Drive for Free. Please carefully read full term & conditions for more info and privacy use. Click the link. http://bws.us/gRwxDl

Second purchase MP3 Album $0.69 get 20GB of Space for free . Follow the link and purchase the album
http://bws.us/eB9dQY

More Information

Unlimited, secure access from any computer
Use your Amazon Cloud Drive as the go-to location for all your important files. At work, at home, during your commute or while on vacation—you'll always have access to everything you've uploaded to your Cloud Drive through your Amazon account.

Never worry about losing your files again
Store files in your Cloud Drive and never worry about losing them if your computer crashes, or is lost or stolen.

Songs purchased from Amazon MP3 are stored in your Cloud Drive for free
When you purchase songs or albums from the Amazon MP3 Store, you can now save your purchases to your Cloud Drive. All your purchases are backed up and available for you to download at any time. Even better, you can listen to your music from any web-connected computer with Amazon Cloud Player.

Differences: AT&T iPhone vs Verizon iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:18:00 +0000

With the Verizon iPhone a reality, there is one question of current iPhone owners: should I switch carriers?

The primary difference between the AT&T iPhone and the Verizon iPhone is the technology each uses for 3G connectivity.

In the end, your phone is going to work essentially the same on both networks, and the truth is that the vast majority of users won’t notice any difference. Here are some key points to remember, though:

Calls: In general, Verizon will drop less calls. It’s unclear what impact the iPhone will have on its network, but we don’t expect it to be as bad as AT&T was in its early years. Verizon’s network has proven itself to be more robust.
Speed: In general, AT&T has the faster 3G network, and in some cases it’s a great deal faster than Verizon. This of course only work if you cab get a signal.
Simultaneous voice and data: Only AT&T is capable of talking on the phone and surfing the web at the same time, but Verizon is working on a solution, saying the fix might be implemented by the end of this year.

The latter point may become a non-issue soon, though. According to The Wall Street Journal, a solution to carry voice and data simultaneously on CDMA networks is coming later this year.

Technical details:

AT&T employs the UMTS, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, in its network. UMTS is built upon concepts from the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard, the basis for EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution). Because of this shared architecture, most UMTS devices support GSM and EDGE, including the AT&T iPhone. GSM/UMTS technology is widely used worldwide. UMTS phones can be easily moved from one UMTS network to another, making them ideal for international use.

Verizon, uses CDMA, code division multiples access, a form of spread-spectrum signaling that utilizes bandwidth more effectively than most other solutions; it’s often considered more spectrally efficient. CDMA also utilizes soft handovers of phone calls, so instead of switching directly from one tower to the next (hard handover), CDMA devices can receive a signal from multiple towers simultaneously. That makes the shift between towers less detectable, and it decreases the rate of dropped calls. On the other hand, AT&T UMTS devices aren’t as efficient at soft handovers. Verizon's CDMA can’t use a SIM card, making it far more difficult to switch phones.

This argument between CDMA and UMTS may become a moot point in the next few years, though, as 4G networks overtake 3G technology. WiMax and LTE are the primary 4G standards. Both AT&T and Verizon are utilizing LTE as a standard for their 4G networks.

adapted via Mashable

Verizon announces iPhone 4

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:14:00 +0000

Verizon will offer a CDMA EVDO version of the iPhone 4 starting February 10.
Existing Verizon Wireless customers will be able to start pre-ordering the device on February 3. The 16GB version with a two-year contract will cost $199.99, while the 32GB version will cost $299.99. The device will be available at more than 2,000 Verizon stores, via Verizon's Web site, at Apple Retail stores, and via Apple's Web site.

25% of PC users disable antivirus software

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 13:54:00 +0000

A new survey from antivirus and computer security firm finds that about one in four PC users admit to turning off virus protection on their PCs because they thought the programs were slowing down their computers.

That’s not a good idea because such a practice leaves the computer totally exposed to the even simplest of viruses, allowing the bad guys to include it in a botnet used to distribute malware and phishing.

Furthermore, more than three out of five (62.8 percent) have tried multiple computer security products in the span of a year on the same computer, hoping to find one they like, and nearly one in eight (12 percent) have considered getting off the Internet altogether for safety reasons.

Adapted via Yahoo News

Cell Phone Users Are Gullible

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:41:00 +0000

Cell phone users are making really bad decisions compared to their desktop computing counterparts.

The study's data is reveals the harsh truth. Cell phone users are three times more likely than users of desktop computers to offer up confidential login details to a phishing site, and they are also quicker to respond to phishing scams.

Rather controversially, Trusteer, the research company, claims iPhone users are the most foolish of all, accessing phishing Websites more than BlackBerry users by a factor of eight. This is especially galling bearing in mind BlackBerry is still a market leader in the US, with 36 percent of the smarphone market in October 2010 compared to the iPhone's 25 percent. In other words, iPhone users appear to be making extra special efforts to be dumb.

Adapted via Yahoo News

Amazon - Android App Store

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:22:00 +0000

Amazon is preparing to open an Android app store, and is currently accepting applications from developers for Android-based smartphones, according to a Amazon blog post.

The applications will be sold on the Amazon Appstore for Android, which the company expects to launch later in 2011. At launch, the Appstore will be available for customers in the U.S., and it will be compatible with Android 1.6 and higher. Users will be able to shop for applications from their PCs, which isn't possible with the existing version of Android Market, or from their smartphones, and pay with their existing Amazon account. The store will carry free and paid applications.

Adapted via Yahoo News

Voila! AT&T's 3G Network Is Now 4G!

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 02:46:00 +0000

"AT&T Inc. flipped a switch and turned on its 4G wireless network Wednesday," reports the WSJ. "The switch, however, was in the company's marketing department." Taking advantage of loose definitions for what qualifies as 4G, AT&T has simply relabeled its existing, and much-maligned, 3G network as 4G.

The International Telecommunications Union hasn't set a hard definition on 4G, so carriers are going right ahead and calling their networks 4G. AT&T told WSJ that it was okay to do it because consumers won't notice the difference between their HSP-plus and the new LTE network.

AT&T isn't the only one, T-mobile did the same last year and then went on an anti-AT&T advertising spree.

Adapted via WSJ

The new Mac App Store is online

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:24:00 +0000

It's simple way to find, install, and manage your favorite software. To see the Mac App Store at all, you'll need to run your Software Updates (under the Apple menu) and get Mac OS X 10.6.6 System Update, or run the combo update you can download here.

After you reboot, you'll see a new icon in your dock, right after the Finder icon. Click that to launch the app store. Most apps cost less than you may have seen them at retail, but some, like Things, are priced higher than we've seen them in bundles.

What You Should Know About History Sniffing

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 02:22:00 +0000

History Sniffing is a term used for Web sites that run simple Javascript tricks to snoop into visitors’ Web browsing history. These tricks are nothing new, but they are in the news again, so it’s a good time to remind you about ways to combat this sneaky behavior.

The recent news is based on a study released by University of California, San Diego researchers who found that a number of sites were “sniffing” the browsing history of visitors to record where they’d been.

This reconnaissance works because browsers display links to sites you’ve visited differently than ones you haven’t: By default, visited links are purple and unvisited links are blue. History-sniffing code running on a Web page simply checks to see if your browser displays links to specific URLs as purple or blue.

These are not new discoveries, but the fact that sites are using this technique to gather information from visitors seems to have caught many by surprise.

As has been broadly reported for months, Web analytics companies are starting to market products that directly take advantage of this hack. Eric Peterson reported on an Israeli firm named Beencounter that openly sells a tool to Web site developers to query whether site visitors had previously visited up to 50 specific URLs.

Fortunately, the browser makers (most of them) have responded. These sniffing attacks do not appear to work against the latest versions of Chrome and Safari. Within Mozilla Firefox, these script attacks can be blocked quite easily using a script-blocking browser plugin, such as the Noscript add-on.

Mozilla addressed this history-sniffing weakness in a bug report that persisted for eight years and was only recently corrected, but the changes won’t be rolled into Firefox until version 4 is released. As a result, current Firefox users still need to rely on script blocking to stop this.

Internet Explorer currently does not have a simple way to block scripts from within the browser (yes, users can block Javascript across the board and add sites to a whitelist, but that whitelist lives several clicks inside of the IE options panel).

So the safest browsers to guard you against History sniffing would be Chrome and Safari.

adapted via krebsonsecurity.com

Top Malware for November - Drive-by downloads and fake archives list

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 02:07:00 +0000

By far the biggest threat to users in November was drive-by downloads, attacks that result in malware being downloaded to users’ computers when they visit infected sites.

Below is a brief overview of how these attacks infect computers:

First of all, a user visits an infected site that contains a redirect script. The redirect leads to a script downloader which in turn is used to launch exploits. These breaches allow malicious executable files to penetrate the computer. They are primarily backdoors and Trojans that, if successfully launched, give cybercriminals full control over the infected system. In most cases, users will not be aware of the danger, as all drive-by attacks happen without their knowledge. Redirects are not restricted to sites belonging to cybercriminals but also appear on legitimate sites that have been compromised. This means that regularly installing patches and updates for operating systems and software is the only guarantee of avoiding infection.

Another significant threat in November was the spread of fake archives, an online scam that remains as popular as ever. A user is asked to send premium-rate SMSs so they can access the contents of an archive. Instead of receiving the information they wanted, users normally find that the archive is empty, “corrupt” or, worse, contains a malicious program.

The method for spreading fake archives is highly effective – when users look for something via a search engine, a page is automatically generated with a banner offering the desired information.

Facebook: False Rumors Spread About Cartoon Characters

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 22:03:00 +0000

There are a number of rumors spreading about the purpose of the new cartoon character meme on Facebook, including rumors that the trend was started by a “group of pedophiles” which used the technique to “get children to accept their friend requests faster”. This rumor and others are false.

We also received emails this morning that the new meme was in support of “violence against children”. None of these rumors are true. In November the cartoon character meme began spreading around Facebook and there was no knowledge of the source. While Cartoon Network jumped on board and began promoting the activity via their Facebook page, it isn’t quite sure that they are the original source. Since then, a number of organizations have tried to take advantage of the meme and suggest users switch their profile pic.

The most recent organization was the “Campaign to end violence against children“, although it’s not confirmed that any official organization created this page. In the meantime, the following status update has been spreading around Facebook:

ATTENTION! JUST HEARD THIS on 60MINUTES: if you have a cartoon character set as your default, please romove it. This “support to stop Child Abuse” is a scam. The idea was started by a group of pedophiles to get children to accept their friend requests faster. It was just on TV and will be on the news tonight! Please post this as your status to spread the word and warn others!

The bottom line is that the rumors are false, however that isn’t stopping thousands of users from spreading false information about the cartoon character facebook meme.

Adapted via All FaceBoook

Thanksgiving: History and Tradition

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 22:05:00 +0000

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag tribe shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn't until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.

Thanksgiving at Plymouth
In September 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers—an assortment of religious separatists seeking a new home where they could freely practice their faith and other individuals lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership in the New World. After a treacherous and uncomfortable crossing that lasted 66 days, they dropped anchor near Cape Cod. One month later, the Mayflower crossed Massachusetts Bay, where the Pilgrims, as they are now commonly known, began the work of establishing a village at Plymouth.

Throughout that first brutal winter, most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the Mayflower’s original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring. In March, the remaining settlers moved ashore, where they received an astonishing visit from an man from the Abenaki tribe who greeted them in English. Several days later, he returned with Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery before escaping to London and returning to his homeland on an exploratory expedition. Squanto taught the Pilgrims, weakened by malnutrition and illness, how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants. He also helped the settlers forge an alliance with the Wampanoag tribe, which would endure for more than 50 years and tragically remains one of the sole examples of harmony between European colonists and Native Americans.

In November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and invited a group of the fledgling colony’s Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. Now remembered as American’s “first Thanksgiving”—although the Pilgrims themselves may not have used the term at the time—the festival lasted for three days. While no record exists of the historic banquet’s exact menu, the Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow wrote in his journal that Governor Bradford sent four men on a “fowling” mission in preparation for the event, and that the Wampanoag guests arrived bearing five deer. Historians have suggested that many of the dishes were likely prepared using traditional Native American spices and cooking methods. Because the Pilgrims had no oven and the Mayflower’s sugar supply had dwindled by the fall of 1621, the meal did not feature pies, cakes or other desserts, which have become a hallmark of contemporary celebrations.

Thanksgiving Becomes an Official Holiday
Pilgrims held their second Thanksgiving celebration in 1623 to mark the end of a long drought that had threatened the year’s harvest and prompted Governor Bradford to call for a religious fast. Days of fasting and thanksgiving on an annual or occasional basis became common practice in other New England settlements as well. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress designated one or more days of thanksgiving a year, and in 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United States; in it, he called upon Americans to express their gratitude for the happy conclusion to the country’s war of independence and the successful ratification of the U.S. Constitution. His successors John Adams and James Madison also designated days of thanks during their presidencies.

In 1817, New York became the first of several states to officially adopt an annual Thanksgiving holiday; each celebrated it on a different day, however, and the American South remained largely unfamiliar with the tradition. In 1827, the noted magazine editor and prolific writer Sarah Josepha Hale—author, among countless other things, of the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb”—launched a campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. For 36 years, she published numerous editorials and sent scores of letters to governors, senators, presidents and other politicians. Abraham Lincoln finally heeded her request in 1863, at the height of the Civil War, in a proclamation entreating all Americans to ask God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.” He scheduled Thanksgiving for the final Thursday in November, and it was celebrated on that day every year until 1939, when Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday up a week in an attempt to spur retail sales during the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s plan, known derisively as Franksgiving, was met with passionate opposition, and in 1941 the president reluctantly signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in Novem

Thanksgiving Traditions
For many American households, the Thanksgiving celebration has lost much of its original religious significance; instead, it now centers on cooking and sharing a bountiful meal with family and friends. Turkey, a Thanksgiving staple so ubiquitous it has become all but synonymous with the holiday, may or may not have been on offer when the Pilgrims hosted the inaugural feast in 1621. Today, however, nearly 90 percent of Americans eat the bird—whether roasted, baked or deep-fried—on Thanksgiving, according to the National Turkey Federation. Other traditional foods include stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Volunteering is a common Thanksgiving Day activity, and communities often hold food drives and host free dinners for the less fortunate.

Parades have also become an integral part of the holiday in cities and towns across the United States. Presented by Macy’s department store since 1924, New York City’s Thanksgiving Day parade is the largest and most famous, attracting some 2 to 3 million spectators along its 2.5-mile route and drawing an enormous television audience. It typically features marching bands, performers, elaborate floats conveying various celebrities and giant balloons shaped like cartoon characters.

Beginning in the mid-20th century and perhaps even earlier, the president of the United States has “pardoned” one or two Thanksgiving turkeys each year, sparing the birds from slaughter and sending them to a farm for retirement. A number of U.S. governors also perform the annual turkey pardoning ritual.

adapted via history.com

How cookies work in your browser.

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 15:05:00 +0000

Cookies may sound like they have something to do with delicious baked goods, but in terms of the Internet, they are simply small text files that allow a website to store information related to the user of the computer. These files are contained on the user’s computer, usually in the web browser’s folder.

The web browser itself will look for cookies in the computer folder specified for storing cookies. The browser will then open the file that is requested from a certain website, if one exists. If no cookie file exists, a new one will be created.

In addition, browsers regularly maintain cookies. Cookies also specify expiration dates. When these dates are reached, the browser will automatically delete the file from the computer.

Websites can also use cookies for statistical information, like tracking how many users visit the site, how many return, and which pages they visit. This is possible because websites can assign user IDs to computers, which are tracked using cookies. A counter in the cookie file can be set to increase every time the website is accessed by a computer with the same ID.

Cookies provide an easy way to customize and maintain the look of webpages to a user’s need, and it streamlines the services they provide. However, many people believe cookies may be a threat to personal security. While it is true that cookies collect a user’s information, they are not programs that can be run on the computer. Therefore, they are not viruses or any malicious programs that can read or erase information from a hard drive, and they will not cause pop-ups.

There are still drawbacks. Cookies can be intercepted as they are being relayed from website to computer. Recently a cookie exploitation called Firesheep, and allowed people to log on other users’ Facebook and Twitter accounts.

While people still debate whether the benefits of cookies outweigh the threats that they may pose, in the long run, cookies make the Internet more convenient and dynamic.

adapted via thetartan.org

Ten Myths of "Safe" Web Browsing

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:00:00 +0000

A sense is growing that defenses have gotten stiffer and bad guys are too busy phishing for suckers on Twitter, so what’s the worry? It actually gets more dangerous online every day. That’s the reality.

1. The enemy is kids. The enemy comes in all ages and most of them are in it to make money. A proof was the late September round-up of around 100 hackers in the U.S., UK, and the Ukraine. The ring bilked businesses of up to $100 million using the Zeus Trojan (a slick key logger). Thrill seeking hackers are out there, but the real danger is the mounting number of for-profit criminals who are intent on looting your money or identity.

2. Updated anti-virus software will keep computers safe. It neutralizes at best 25 to 50 percent of threats... Meaning it misses 50% or more.

3. Apple computers are safe. Lack of a large Mac market share is why they have been ignored. If Apple sells more computers, hacker interest will necessarily rise because they follow the money.

4. Some websites are trustworthy. Security experts pinpoint this as perhaps the prime problem of the moment. Threats increasingly have shifted out of email and onto “trusted” websites. Facebook frequently is cited. Because users’ guards are down their vulnerability rises and if they are using the corporate network, hold on, troubles are brewing.

5. Gaming consoles are safe. Problems are acute with Xbox 360s, but other devices also pose risks.

6. Unmanaged smartphones represent minor risks. Don’t believe it, as the phones get smarter, with more memory and more processing power, users are indeed browsing with them.

7. Outside hackers are your prime threat. Data has shown 48 percent of all security incidents involve insiders.

8. Strong passwords are a cure. A strong password is just as phishable or keyloggable as a weak one, and if the one strong password applies to many of your accounts, you might find that more than just your Facebook account has been hijacked.

9. Tablets are inconsequential security risks. Apple alone has sold some 3.3 million iPads and BlackBerry, Samsung and more are piling on this form factor. As more users begin to use this devices the hackers will seek them out.

10. Just learn what to look for. The biggest myth of safe web browsing is the myth of training. Some threats are so sophisticated and so camouflaged that they now often fool even sophisticated computer users.

adapted via cioupdate.com

Halloween - History and Tradition

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Halloween is an annual holiday observed on October 31, primarily in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even ("evening"), that is, the night before All Hallows Day. Up through the early 20th century, the spelling "Hallowe'en" was frequently used, eliding the "v" and shortening the word. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints' Day, but is today largely a secular celebration. Common Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, committing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and watching horror films.

Symbols associated with Halloween formed over time encompassing customs of medieval holy days as well as contemporary cultures. Images of Halloween are derived from many sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula), and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy). Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween. The souling practice of commemorating the souls in purgatory with candle lanterns carved from turnips, became adapted into the making of jack-o'-lanterns. In traditional Celtic Halloween festivals, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces, and placed in windows to ward off evil spirits. The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their doorstep after dark. Black and orange are the traditional Halloween colors and represent the darkness of night and the color of bonfires, autumn leaves, and jack-o'-lanterns.

Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy. Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of "puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas." The custom of wearing costumes and masks at Halloween goes back to Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits or placate them, in Scotland for instance where the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white.

adapted from wikipedia.org

Seven Ways to fight Scare-Ware

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Have you encountered this before: a pop-up pops and it looks like a window on your computer. Next thing a scan begins. It often grabs a screenshot of your “My Computer” window mimicking your computers characteristics then tricking you into clicking on links. The scan tells you that a virus has infected your computer. And for low price of "$49.95" you can download software that magically appears just in time to save the day. If you not to download and install the software, your computer goes crazy and pop-ups will invade you like bedbugs in New York City hotel.

Information Week reports those behind a new fake antivirus software have added a new social engineering element — live support agents. The rogue software comes equipped with a customer support link leading to a live session with the bad guy. Real scammers on the other end of chat have the ability to offer live remote access support instructed by support to click a link initiating remote access to their computer. Once connected remotely, the scammer can potentially retrieve documents to steal your identity.

Another new twist on the scam involves a popup in the form of a browser with a warning that looks like what your browser may present to you when you visit a page that might have an expired security certificate, malware warning or be a potential phishing site. The page is usually red with a warning: “Visiting This Site May Harm Your Computer” then it provides you with a link, button or pop-up that gives you the option of downloading security software or to update your browsers security.

The software is sometimes known as “AntiVirus2010” “WinFixer,” “WinAntivirus,” “DriveCleaner,” “WinAntispyware,” “AntivirusXP” and “XP Antivirus 2010” or something like “Security Toolkit”. These are actually viruses or spyware that infect your computer, or just junk software that does nothing of value.

What makes the scam so believable is there is actual follow through of the purchasing of software that is supposed to protect you. There is a shopping cart, an order form, credit card processing and a download, just like any online software purchase.

Protect yourself:

1. Use the most updated browser: Internet Explorer 8, Chrome or Firefox, download the latest and greatest. At least download whatever security updates there are for your exiting browser. Also keep Flash and Adobe Reader (Acrobat) up to date.

2. Usually by default, a pop-up blocker is turned on in new browsers. Keep it on. No pop-ups, no scare-ware.

3. If you are using another browser and a pop-up –pops-up, shut down your browser. If the pop-up won’t let you shut it down, do a Ctrl-Alt-Delete and shut down the browser that way.

4. Never click links in pop-ups. If the pop-ups are out of your control, do a hard shutdown before you start clicking links.

5. Persistence counts. Shutting off this pop-up is often difficult and any buttons you press within this pop-up could mean downloading the exact virus they warned you of.

6. Install the most recent versions of anti-virus and keep it set to automatically update your virus definitions.

7. Never click on links in the body of a “WARNING” webpage that is suggesting to download updates for your browser or suggesting to download security software. Don't click the little red X in the upper right corner. Alt-F4 should close the pop-up window, and if it does not, then Ctrl-Alt-Del and use the Task Manager to kill the whole IE/FF browser etc (including any other running copies)

adapted via finextra.com.

Fake Browser Warning Pages Distribute Malware

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Security researchers warn that a new malware distribution campaign uses fake versions of the malicious site warnings commonly displayed by Firefox and Google Chrome.

Both Chrome and Firefox tap into Google's Safe Browsing service in order to check if the accessed URLs are known attack sites.

If such malicious pages are detected, both browsers block them and display warning messages.

In such circumstances users are normally given the option to either leave the site or override the block and continue to load the page.

The pages look exactly the same as the real thing, except for a button that reads "Download Updates," suggesting that security patches are available for the browsers.

The executable files served when these buttons are pressed install rogue antivirus programs, which try to scare users into paying a license fee.

Such attacks target vulnerabilities in outdated versions of popular software like Java, Flash Player, Adobe Reader or even the browsers themselves.

Successful exploitation results in malware being installed on the target computer in a way that is completely transparent to the victim.

Users are advised to keep their antivirus programs up to date and if possible to use script-blocking technologies available to their browsers, such as the NoScript extension for Firefox.

adapted via news.softpedia.com

Guard yourself from Firesheep and Wi-Fi snooping

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:04:00 +0000

The abundance of free/cheap and open Wi-Fi networks in restaurants, airports, offices and hotels is a great perk to the traveling user; it makes connectivity and remote access much easier than it used to be. But you need to be informed and understand the risks.

Unfortunately, most of those "Open" networks don't employ WEP or WPA passwords to secure the connection between device and hotspot, every byte and packet that's transmitted back and forth is visible to all the computers on the wireless LAN, all the time. While certain sites and services use full-time browser encryption (the ones that have URLs beginning with https:// and that show a lock in the browser status bar), many only encrypt the login session to hide your username and password from prying eyes. This, as it turns out, is the digital equivalent of locking the door but leaving the windows wide open.

Firesheep is a Firefox extension which makes it trivially easy to impersonate someone to the websites they log in to while on the same open Wi-Fi network. It kicks in when you login to a website (usually in a secure fashion, via HTTPS) and then the site redirects you to a non-secured page after login. Most sites that operate this way will save your login information in a browser cookie, which can be 'sniffed' by someone on the same network segment; that's what Firesheep does automatically. With the cookie in hand, it's simple to present it to the remote site and proceed to do bad things with the logged-in account. Bad things could range from sending fake Twitter or Facebook messages all the way up to, potentially, buying things on ecommerce sites.

The solution

USE SSL/HTTPS only if the website supports it -- is quite simple: after you connect, the site should keep your session secure using SSL or https. Some sites, including most banking sites, already do this. However, encryption requires more overhead and more server muscle, so many sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) only use it for the actual login. Gmail has an option to require https and has made it the default setting, but you should make sure that it's enabled if you use Gmail (Google Apps has a similar feature). This also doesn't necessarily help if you're using an embedded browser in an iPhone or iPad app, where the URL is hard-coded.

Protecting yourself from Firesheep if you use Firefox or Chrome is possible with extensions like the EFF's HTTPS Everywhere, Secure Sites or Force-TLS. These work by forcing a redirect to the secure version of a site, if it exists. The obvious problems with these solutions are: a) you have to install one for each browser (and we have not yet found one for Safari), and b) it only works if a secure version of the site exists.

Even better.

A) Don't use open networks.
B) Use a SOCKS proxy and SSH tunnel.
C) Use a VPN.

adapted via tuaw.com

Labor Day - History and Tradition

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:31:00 +0000

Labor Day is a U.S. federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September. The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City, it became a federal holiday in 1894, and all 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday in the years following.

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer. The holiday is often regarded as a day of rest and parties. In U.S. sports, Labor Day marks the beginning of the NFL and college football seasons. NCAA teams usually play their first games the week before Labor Day, with the NFL traditionally playing their first game the Thursday following Labor Day.

The enactment of the federal holiday in 1894, followed the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with the labor movement as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike. The September date was chosen as Cleveland was concerned that aligning an American labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair.

The form for the celebration of Labor Day was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday: A street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations," followed by a festival for the workers and their families. This became the pattern for Labor Day celebrations. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civil significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

adapted via Wikipedia

Top 10 Facebook Fixes

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Facebook may be the de facto social network of, frankly, almost everyone, but that doesn't mean you have to use Facebook exactly the way its creators, or your Farmville-addicted friends, want you to. Here are 10 tweaks to make Facebook better.

10. Access Facebook Chat Through Your Preferred Client
Feel free to set that little box in the lower-right hand corner of the Facebook page, the chat box, to "Go Offline." If you really want to have even more up-to-the-second chats with your Facebook contacts, you can do so through your own favorite client: Pidgin, Adium, iChat, Trillian, Digsby, whatever you'd like.

9. Back Up Your Account with SocialSafe
There's a whole lot of data, and photos, in your Facebook account, and getting them all out is no small feat. SocialSafe, which costs just $3, lets you save all your photos, friends, photo albums, and even friends' photos that you're tagged in, along with your status updates. It doesn't grab everything in and around your account, but enough to liberate you from feeling chained to the service.

8. Have a Plan for Your Account After Death
It could be more than a little awkward for friends, distant relatives, and others to leave you messages on your Facebook account, then find out you passed away. Even more awkward for those around you when people go digging through your account, or when your account can't be deactivated. All pause for thought, and a motivator to set up a post-mortem plan for Facebook. There are services that offer professional account-after-death services, like Entrustet and Legacy Locker, but really, just thinking through a system where somebody you trust has the keys to your account and instructions on what you want done with it. Officially, Facebook offers a "memorialized" account for relatives that can prove their loved one is deceased, but won't hand over the keys to anyone on their own part.

7. Prevent Sites from Auto-Customizing Content with Your Facebook Login
You can turn off Facebook's "Instant Personalization" service in your settings, but the reality of your Facebook login status following around the web, and occasionally allowing less scrupulous sites to glom on, is still there. Shut down access to your Facebook credentials from anyone except Facebook using Adblock Plus and custom filters.

6. Filter and Compress Your Activity Alerts
If you let Facebook dictate how it emails you about status updates, replies, "Likes," and other changes, it will overwhelm you. If you leave it to yourself to check, you can just as easily overwhelm your willpower to avoid distraction. Compress all your Facebook notifications into one or two emails per day with NutshellMail, a social media aggregator that we recommended for filtering and managing your online social life and never missing important events—that last one set up so that event invitations come through right away, but friends tagging you in old college photos waits for your end-of-day web checks.

5. Find Out When Anyone Else Logs into Your Account
Maybe you left yourself signed in at a friend's house. Perhaps you found out too late that you should have given your old cellphone a better wiping clean. However it is that you're concerned about other people getting access to your account, you can wipe the slate clean and pin it down from your Facebook settings. As the Trouble Fixers blog explains, there are settings to get email or SMS notices whenever your account is accessed from a "new" device, be it a browser, phone, or other gizmo, once you wipe the slate clean and register your computers and phones as authorized.

4. Get Back the Basic Privacy You Signed Up For
If you'd wanted everything you posted to be public, you'd use Twitter. If you wanted all your co-workers to see it, you'd send it over email. You signed up for Facebook to give a select group of friends access to the more private side of your life and thoughts, and you can get back to that kind of small-circle feeling. We've previously posted guides to Facebook's simpler privacy controls, as well as getting back to what you first signed up for. Even with Facebook's latest round of comprehension improvements, it's still worth looking at what you might not know you're sharing.

3. "Quit" Facebook While Still Staying in Touch
Facebook can be more trouble than it's worth, especially for those who have anything approaching privacy concerns. Still, it's becoming the world's phonebook replacement, and some people still want to get messages and sign in for events when necessary. So go ahead and quit Facebook without actually quitting Facebook, by wiping out one account and building another with very limited access to prying eyes.

2. Strip Out Annoying Facebook "Games," Quizzes, and Other Cruft
Sure, you can click on every single one of your friends' indulgences to hide them, but there will always be another questionnaire, turn-based addiction machine, or other viral thing right around the corner. Wipe them all clean from your account with F.B. Purity (technically "Fluff Busting Purity"), a user script that installs on nearly every major browser and cleans away all those status updates you never want to see again.

1. Stop Your Friends from Revealing Your Location
Facebook's new Places feature? Yeah, it's a lot like Foursquare, Gowalla, and other I'm-here-right-now apps. The big difference is that your Facebook friends can, by default, check you in somewhere without your knowledge. To prevent letting everyone else publish your social calendar, you can disable Facebook Places, or just disable your friends' ability to geo-tag you.

adapted via lifehacker.com

Apple announces OS fixes and new features

noreply@blogger.com (BWS Technologies) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:41:00 +0000

Apple announced iOS 4.1, addressing many bugs (like iPhone 3G performance) as well as bringing new features like HDR photography, HD video upload and TV show rentals. Additionally, Apple previewed iOS 4.2, bringing this and more to the iPad.

iOS 4.1 - focuses on photos, videos, and games.

HDR Photos - Creating high dynamic range photos has been a popular photographic technique that combines three exposures to create a single image with a greater amount of detail in the highlights and shadows. Apple's added HDR photography to the iPhone's camera in 4.1, letting you create HDR images automatically without any of the hard work in post.
HD Video Upload Over Wi-Fi - Previously, apps were required to upload HD video from the iPhone. Apple's made the change in iOS 4.1 to allow HD video uploading over Wi-Fi, removing the annoying cap that required sending your HD video in standard definition.
TV Show Rentals - TV shows have always been available for purchase in iOS devices, but now you can rent them to save a little money and storage space on your device.
Game Center - Like the XBOX Live of iOS, Game Center provides APIs for developers but is also a new app on the iPhone (available soon via the App Store). You can play with friends, inviting them with a push notification, or be randomly assigned to other players when your friends aren't available.

iOS 4.2 - brings the features of iOS 4 to the iPad. Multitasking, app folders, and other features will be available in November.

Wireless Printing - While there are a few third-party apps that bring printing functionality to iOS devices, Apple's building printing functionality into iOS itself. Print Center will live in the multitasking drawer and let you choose printers and manage print jobs wirelessly from your iPad.
AirPlay - Formerly AirTunes, AirPlay is taking over wireless streaming on iDevices and will let you stream audio, video, and photos over Wi-Fi. Along with the new Apple TV, you'll also be able to shift streams between your devices so you can, for example, finish watching a TV show or movie on the go.