Personal Tech

Avoiding Tech Support Fraud

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Sun, 21 May 2017 20:59:00 +0000

Have you gotten a call or a pop-up message that says your computer has a virus? And then you're told you need to hand over remote access to your computer to fix it? You're not alone. Americans lost an estimated $1.5 billion to scammers posing as tech company employees. No matter what tactic they use, scammers have one purpose: to take your money.

Read more about this in the AARP Article: Learn how to protect yourself from scammers

Also download the booklet from Microsoft and the AARP Fraud Network: Avoiding Tech Support Scams

Article Share: Renting out your car, RV, boat, gear and photography/video equipment.

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 08:37:00 +0000

Sharing this article from Kim Komando on renting out your car, RV, boat, gear and photography/video equipment. For those who have an RV, or a boat or photography/video equipment that just sits around most of the time, you can rent it out and let it earn for you. Or for those who've always wanted to try out an RV but didn't really want to own one, there's a site that makes it easy to do this. Click on link to article below.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/komando/2016/08/26/5-ways-make-money-youve-probably-never-thought/89354286/

Security Software SCAM

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Sun, 10 Jul 2016 18:40:00 +0000

A lady left me a voicemail indicating that they found a security breach on my computer. Below is the text of her voicemail, and you can also click on this link to listen to her message.

Security breach on it. Please call 855-855-9833. I repeat 855-855-9833. Thank you. This call is in regards to the security software we installed on your computer last year. Now he see a red flag on our end stating there is a security breach on it. Please call 855-855-9833. I repeat 855-855-9833. Thank you.

They were very persistent, leaving me 8 voicemail messages in the past week, so I decided to call them and see what this was about. They also left me different phone numbers in their various messages. One was 855-855-9833, another one was 855-855-9611. The first time I called back, it just kept playing music on their end and after a few minutes the call ended. That probably meant they were busy working with other callers. But yesterday I was able to get through.

The person I spoke to knew who I was from the phone number I was calling from which suggests they use some kind of call center software to provide information on their callers and on their database they can track my call and enter notes about my call. I played like I didn't know much about computers and that I was using a very old computer running Windows XP.

The agent wanted to connect to my computer (he asked me to go to www.support.me) and I indicated that I had dialup so I'd have to get off the phone for them to connect to my computer. He then transferred me to another agent who suggested that it's OK that I have dialup as they can still connect to my computer when I get off the phone.

He sold me 2 plans, one was for 1 year of network security for $149.99 and another one for 3 years of network security protection for $249.99. I told him my computer is 13 years old and asked if there was a plan that was even longer than 3 years, and he put me on hold to ask his supervisor, and he came back with a lifetime plan for $499.99 ... the best deal he said as it would last me a lifetime and was transferable to a new computer if I ever decided to upgrade my 13 year old PC.

So I continued to play along and they said to keep my computer on and they will call me back after half an hour to confirm the software installation and proceed with billing. They called me back after 20 minutes and the agent said your network security software is complete so I can now transfer you to billing. I told him I had kept my computer off that whole time, and he said, it's OK, the software still installed that time ... so he probably thought at this point that I was really clueless.

I kept on playing along and they transferred me to billing and they asked me to send them a check paid to "Tech Chance LLC" for $499.99 to 2417 Jericho Turnpike, #362, Garden City NJ 11040. I decided to look up the address and there's a UPS store with mailbox services in that address but there are also other businesses including a few technology related businesses in that address. I asked if they also accepted credit card payments, and they said checks were the only payments they were receiving at this point --- probably because one can dispute a credit card payment once you know you fell for a scam.

So what is going on here? It's a shame that businesses like these continue to flourish and take advantage of people who fall for their messages indicating that your computer security has been breached. Not a week goes by without my seeing a client fall for this type of scam and after talking to them yesterday, I can see how convincing and professional they sound. When I played clueless about my computer, they were patient, and were technical enough to answer some of my questions about Internet Explorer.

Now that I'm on their database, they will probably call me back and sell me more services ... not sure what else they can sell me though since I had opted for their lifetime service, but maybe they'll ask if I had mailed them the $499.99 check yet ...

2015 Wish List

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 14:52:00 +0000

Here's my tech wish list for 2015

Parental controls on the youtube iPad app (and better parental controls in general on youtube content on the web)
Multi-user login on iOS (specifically on iPads)
Sony RX100 IV with a longer zoom (I love the 24mm wide angle but would love the range to go back to 100mm)
Native Outlook synch with iCloud and Google contacts and calendar
Google chromecast 2 with a remote control (to stop and pause) --- similar to the Amazon fire TV stick remote control
Digital photo frames that are Android based
Hybrid Touchscreen Macbook (with a mode that converts to an iOS screen --- similar to how the Microsoft Surface Pro can switch from the windows 8 Metro screen to the classic windows Desktop screen)
iPhone mini
Blackberry Classic on Verizon (and one that can also run most of the popular Android apps like Uber, Instagram and Google Maps)
Apple watch that's not tied to an iPhone

Raffle Tickets still available for the iPad Mini 3, Google Nexus 9 tablet and Kindle Fire HDX!

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 15:10:00 +0000

We still have raffle tickets available! 3 great prizes --- iPad Mini 3, Google Nexus 9 tablet and Kindle Fire HDX. We're only selling 150 tickets @ $25/ticket!

Purchase Raffle Tickets

The drawing is tomorrow (November 15) at the Building Hope benefit at the Howard County Conservancy. If you are unable to attend the event, we will notify you if you are the winner by mail, email or phone.

The Building Hope benefit is for the Educational Scholarships and Healthcare Programs of Tapulanga Foundation in the Philippines. For more information about Tapulanga Foundation, visit www.tapulanga.org.

Scam Alert: Phone calls from Microsoft, Companies who pretend to be Microsoft, HP, Dell, Apple, etc..

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Sat, 23 Aug 2014 00:12:00 +0000

In the last few months, many of my dear clients have been lured to give control of their computer to people who pose to be Microsoft technicians (or HP, Dell, or Apple support) and they pretend to find something wrong with your computer and try to sell you their services to clean your computer. Please be very wary when someone on the phone wants to take control of your computer. The modus operandi is they will ask to take control of your computer and they'll plant a virus or some kind of software that will show you fake messages indicating that your computer has hundreds of infected files, and then they'll ask you to purchase their services. If you refuse to purchase their services, they will insist that the problem is very serious and the price they're giving you is even lower than it would normally cost you.

The typical traps are as follows:

You'll receive a phone call from someone pretending to be from Microsoft and they'll say they've detected some viruses coming from your computer.
You go online to Google, and search for "Microsoft Support" or "HP help" or "Dell Support" or "Apple Help" and you get search results with ads for companies that are pretending to be official representatives of these companies.
Below are the search results and NONE of the phone numbers listed are for the companies they're pretending to be. These companies are only out to victimize you and their only intention is to sell you their harmful software and services.

So how do you protect yourself?

If someone from Microsoft calls you, just hang up unless you actually have a friend from Microsoft who calls you once in a while.

If you need to contact Microsoft, HP, Dell, Apple or some other computer company, go to their website and find their phone number there. Or if you prefer to search on Google, go further down the list and the correct phone number for these companies are usually listed further down on the search results.

The key information is the website being listed. Look at the actual website URL and you'll notice that microsoft.myphonesupport.com is really from a company called myphonesupport.com. When looking at a website URL, take note of the last section of a URL before the "/". For Microsoft, the address before the "/" should end in microsoft.com. Be conscious of the "/" because some sites could use an address like "www.iyogi.com/apple.com" and that is still not an apple site as the last section before the "/" is really iyogi.com.

Ads on Google

These search results are really ads on Google. You'll notice in the list above that there is a yellow label that spells "Ad" right before the website URL of these companies. Unfortunately many users don't really notice that these are ads and Google places these ads at the top of the search results page for the sole purpose of giving these companies a higher chance to be noticed. Google makes money when someone clicks on those ads, so the better the ad placement on the search results page, the more likely Google will make money.

I have no problem with Google trying to make money from their search pages, but when misleading ads can cause harm and damage to consumers, they should take some responsibility and block these kinds of ads.

HocoBlogs Elections Page 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Fri, 13 Jun 2014 17:58:00 +0000

Check out the elections page on HocoBlogs --- http://www.hocoblogs.com/elections2014. This has been a really fun project and we're hoping it will help generate interest in the coming local elections. We're hoping to do more with HocoBlogs this year as a venue for community journalism to flourish in Howard County.

Windows XP end of life --- What happens now?

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 16:27:00 +0000

Happy Spring!

This post is primarily for those who are still running Windows XP. I know some of you have personally talked to me about this and I had meant to email everyone before today. What's going to happen to your XP computers now that Microsoft has officially ended XP support as of today? Well, here's the real deal --- your computer will continue to work today, and beyond today. However, there will no longer be any new Microsoft updates which means any future security holes found in windows will no longer be fixed by Microsoft for windows XP. This may also apply to security holes found on software applications that run on windows XP as the manufacturer of the software may also choose to no longer update their windows XP versions.

My general advice is you don't necessarily have to rush out and purchase a new PC today, but if you're still running Windows XP, chances are your computer is due for an upgrade only because your hardware is probably at least 5 years old.

A few of you have asked me if you can upgrade your operating system to windows 7 or 8. The answer is YES, but I generally don't advice upgrading the operating system on a computer older than 5 years old only because it will be more cost effective for you to just purchase a new computer with a new operating system and new hardware that will likely be much faster than your older computer (even if we upgraded the operating system to windows 7 or 8).

I hope this assures those of you who are still running Windows XP and have been getting warnings from Microsoft. Your computer will still run today, and beyond today ... but start thinking of getting an upgrade in the future.

If you have any follow-up questions, please let me know. Thanks!

Robin

Cryptolocker Ransomware: Another reason to backup on the Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 20:36:00 +0000

In the last few weeks, I've had 2 clients who got infected with the Cryptolocker Ransomware. A ransomware is technically not a computer virus because it doesn't spread itself to other computers, but it's effects can be worse. Ransomware in general asks you to pay money in return for getting your computer's functionality back. The Cryptolocker Ransomware is the worst malicious program I've encountered because it encrypts your files including any backup files you have on an external drive (if you had the external drive connected when the computer got infected). And there is no way around getting your files back unless you pay their $300 ransom (you have either 72 hours / 3 days or 96 hours / 4 days to pay the ransom or it will delete your encryption key and you will not have any way to decrypt your files). The ransom must be paid by MoneyPak or Bitcoins. Once your payment is sent and verified, it will decrypt the files that have been encrypted.

To protect yourself from this ransomware (and others like it that is sure to come in the future), use an online (cloud) backup service. Up until this time, I never strongly advocated for an online backup service because an external drive backup is suitable for many, especially for those who are still wary of storing their data on the cloud (which I can assure you is really safe these days and if you have an email account, you're already storing your data on the cloud anyway).

Other than protecting your files from this Ransomware, the main reason I recommend backing up on the cloud is convenience. You install the software once and forget about it. The service I recommend most is Carbonite because of their flat rate pricing ($59.99/year). Although one caveat is Carbonite will not backup your video files unless you explicitly tell it to do so --- and you have to do this every time you upload a video file. If you want automatic backups of video files, you can subscribe to Mozy which automatically backups your video files, but they don't offer flat rate pricing, so it could cost considerably more if you have a lot of pictures, music and video files ($5.99/month for 50 GB or $9.99/month for 125 GB). Another option to consider is a cloud file sharing service like dropbox ($99/year for 100 GB) and put all the files you want to backup in your dropbox folder.

Another great benefit of an online backup service is they keep previous copies of your files (usually 30 days worth), so if you accidentally delete a file, or make the wrong changes, you can restore to an older copy.

For more information about the Cryptolocker Ransomware, see http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/cryptolocker-ransomware-information.

Great blogging seminar! Thank you David Hobby (Strobist)!

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 00:29:00 +0000

It took me a few days to digest what David Hobby (Strobist) shared at the blogging and social media seminar last Monday. I went to the event mostly to support Jessie Newburn who is my partner at Hocoblogs and to support David for who he is in the community and how he supports some of us on a personal basis (he has supported the foundation I work with over in the Philippines --- Tapulanga Foundation). I commend Jessie for putting this event together and all the work she does in promoting (and supporting) the blogging community in Howard County. Her commitment and passion is unparalleled and Hocoblogs is what it is today because of her.

For those of you who have never read David's blog (and I don't blame you if you don't as its target market are photographers so my Mom is not likely to read David's blog), he is simply an excellent writer. He has a great writing style in that he can explain technical stuff (about his flash photography techniques) in a way that is understandable to most of us. And he's funny and witty and not afraid to say what's on his mind. In fact the 3 take aways he shared to the group included "Sing like you're in the shower", which he meant for us to just write what's on our minds and not be afraid of what others might think ... don't hold back.

The other 2 take aways were "Have a Destination" and "Build an Ecosytem". The ecosystem part was very interesting to me as a business-person because David has truly built a way to give and take from the community at large. He does a lot of probono (or deeply discounted) work for many non-profit organizations. He does this because he truly wants to help these non-profits in their mission, and because the photography work that he does is so good, people who see his work (including some on the boards of these non-profits) eventually seek him out for commercial work, so it all flows back to his ecosystem somehow. If you have an account at Lynda.com, look for David's lessons on photography where he has a video course titled "Insights on Building a Photography Business" and the final chapter is about David's business ecosystem.

It was truly a great event ... and if you haven't seen David's photography work, you should check it out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidhobby/sets/ ... see photography genius.

Raffle Tickets still available for the iPad Mini, Google Nexus 7 tablet and Lenovo Thinkpad Laptop!

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 21:17:00 +0000

We still have a few more raffle tickets available! 3 great prizes --- iPad Mini, Google Nexus 7 tablet and Lenovo Thinkpad Laptop. We're only selling 150 tickets @ $25/ticket!

Purchase Raffle Tickets

The drawing is this coming Sunday (October 6) at the Food and Film benefit at the Howard County Conservancy in Woodstock. If you are unable to attend the event, we will notify you if you are the winner by mail, email or phone.

Warning: Adobe Flash Player Installer is a Malware Trap

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 00:45:00 +0000

I've been seeing this go around a lot the last few weeks. The screenshots below shows a variation of this flash player installer.

And here's another variation (notice it doesn't say Flash Player):

The reason why this is an easy trap to fall into is we are all used to getting adobe flash updates on a regular basis. Flash, Adobe Reader and Java updates have become so common in our weekly routines that sometimes we can easily assume they're safe. So how can you tell they're not safe? The URL to the update will usually indicate if it's a valid file. For the one above, the URL actually points to some obscure address (see Address URL in pic below).

Unfortunately it's not that straightforward to even check the URL of the download or install link, so my advice is to go to the adobe site directly and download the latest flash player there if you really want to do an update. Here's the link --- http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer

Flexible Screens : Next Wave of Innovation

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 03:09:00 +0000

Thanks to Apple's iPhone, the operating system and UI of mobile phones took a giant leap from the clunky, hard to use and crowded-screen UIs we had in the past (prior to the iPhone). In the last few years, the question has been how else can we improve these phones. Better cameras? Faster processors? Bigger sound? Sharper / Larger screens? Slimmer / Thinner devices? I think maybe we have to imagine the entire phone factor now ... take a look at this video from Samsung that shows us the next wave of innovation with flexible screens ... just imagine the possibilities.

HocoBlogs party on the 26th (Tuesday) at Union Jack's

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:03:00 +0000

Friends in Howard County, please join us at the HocoBlogs party next week (26th), Tuesday, at Union Jack's.

Visit the Event Page to register for your free ticket.

Here's the blurb from the party organizers:

Hello Hoco Lovelies,

It's been a while since we've had a HoCoBlogs party. Close to a year! I'm hoping your missing some face-to-face time with your blogging friends and their readers, and that you'll join us for the upcoming party at Union Jack's. New to Hoco blogger, Claire Bolden McGill of UK Desperate Housewife, and Bill Woodcock of The 53 are the evening's co-hosts. Fittingly, we'll be at Union Jacks in Downtown Columbia.

Please join us on Tuesday, Feb 26th, from 5:30 - 7:30 at Union Jack's Columbia.

It's a cash bar event. Even if you aren't drinking alcohol, I hope you'll support this local business that supports our community by providing free space by purchasing some food (and/or drink) and tipping their staff well.

Jessie

I'm very excited to be a part of the blog community in Howard County and look forward to putting faces to blogs! Union Jack's is a fittingly British themed pub for my first outing, but no doubt I will be quizzing you all on American culture!

Let's eat, drink and be merry!

Claire

Big tablet --- Table PC

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 12:45:00 +0000

Check out this preview of the Table PC from Lenovo --- essentially a big tablet (27 inches) that you can set on your table, or on the floor. Check out the video from the news article --- http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2013/01/08/baig-lenovo-ideacenter-table-pc/1817547/.

It's yet a different take on tablets, from the smart phones to the 6 or 7 inch readers (or mini iPad) to the 10 inch Nexus and iPads, now we have these big tablets. Seeing them play air hockey just gives you a glimpse of what's possible. Imagine a much larger tablet, maybe in a few years we'll see them as large as a table, and people can play all kinds of games, even card games (with the dealer right in the middle). The possibilities are amazing!

2013 Wish List

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:56:00 +0000

My 2013 tech wish list:

Facetime talks to Skype
More native mobile OS hooks for mobile web apps
Solid state drives become even more affordable (closer to $100 for 256 GB drives)
Microsoft natively brings back the Start Menu on Windows 8
User accounts for iOS (specifically on the iPad)
Touchscreen Macbook Air (with flip screen)
Larger sensor super zoom camera (in the order of 30x or more) that is still small and portable
iPhone 5s/6 (better flash, zoom in video mode)
iPhone back plate in rubber or some hard plastic shell so we won't need a case anymore
Capable mobile web browser for the Blackberry (this is probably coming in BB10)
Time Machine-like backup for Windows

Happy New Year!

Wind Map for Storm Sandy

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 13:11:00 +0000

For everyone on the East Coast in Sandy's path, here's a interesting way to visualize the wind pattern and speed being generated by the storm. The link to the wind map is at http://hint.fm/wind.

A project by artists Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg .. you can also check out their other visualizations of other kinds of data --- http://hint.fm.

Raffle Tickets still available for the iPad 3, Microsoft Surface tablet, and Google Nexus tablet!

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:44:00 +0000

We still have a few more raffle tickets available! 3 great prizes --- iPad 3, Microsoft Surface tablet, and Google Nexus tablet. We're only selling 150 tickets @ $25/ticket!

Purchase Raffle Tickets

The drawing is this coming Sunday (30th) at the Sharing Hope benefit at Kahler Hall in Columbia. If you are unable to attend the event, we will notify you if you are the winner by mail, email or phone.

Choosing the Best Digital Camera for Your Use

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 10:51:00 +0000

Most of us probably already have a digital camera, so my thrust in this article is to help you choose the best digital camera for your use.

The 3 criterion I consider in choosing a digital camera is image quality, lens range and physical size.

Image Quality

If image quality is your number one criteria, get a digital SLR because they have larger sensors than smaller digital cameras. This is the most important factor affecting image quality because the size of the sensor dictates the size of the pixels captured by the camera. So a 12 megapixel point & shoot with a 1/2.5" sensor is going to give you poorer quality images than a 12 megapixel digital SLR with an APS-C sensor.

Image Sensor	Size	Camera types
Medium format	50.7 x 39 mm	High-end Pro digital medium format
Full frame	36 x 24 mm	High-end Pro DSLRs
APS-C	24 x 16 mm	Prosumer-based DSLRs
4/3"	17.3 x 13 mm	Four Thirds System
1/1.8"	7.2 x 5.3 mm	High-end compact cameras
1/2.5"	5.3 x 4.0 mm	Consumer-based compact cameras and high-end cellphone cameras

Table (from http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/engadget-primed-why-your-cameras-sensor-size-matters)

In conjunction with the larger sensor, the image processor also matters. This is more of a factor for smaller sensors because typically large sensor cameras will already have very good digital processing. So if you're considering a camera with a small sensor, look for one that also offers better digital processing to improve the image quality from that smaller sensor. If you need to find the sensor size and image processor for a camera you're considering, go to DPReview's camera database where they provide the specs of cameras including the sensor size and image processor.

Lens Range

Getting a good lens range allows you to capture images near and far. Wide lenses allow you to capture group pictures from within short distances and telephoto lenses allow you to capture intimate pictures from long distances. My recommendation is to look for a zoom lens that starts at 24mm (or lower) on the wide size and goes up to 200mm (or higher) on the telephoto side. You can get this range from many point & shoots and from digital SLR lenses today.

But if you want the widest and farthest lens range, the superzoom cameras are the ones that deliver. The longest superzoom on the market today (Nikon P510) delivers a lens equivalent of 24 -1000mm.

Physical Size

With the advent of smart phones, portability of cameras has become a primary factor. I know many people who have nice DSLRs yet leave them home when they go on vacation in favor of their point & shoot or their iPhone. The most portable cameras are still the point & shoots and some are thin and small enough (e.g. Canon Elph 300) to easily fit in your pocket.

Putting it all together --- Combination of Factors

So given the 3 criterion, what if you want a combination of all of these factors? Well for one, you cannot have a digital SLR and have portability. They are just too big for comfort. One option to consider is a bridge camera (e.g. Fuji Finepix HS30). These are cameras that look and feel like digital SLRs but are smaller and don't have removable lenses. Or get a high-end compact camera (e.g. Canon PowerShot G1 X) that combines a large sensor in a portable camera body. And there are also the mirror-less cameras from Sony (NEX-7) and Nikon (1 V1) that are smaller but give you the option of removable lenses.

Ultimately the key question to consider is will a camera allow you to capture the images you want?

Portability is great because you can take the camera anywhere, but there's a reason why sports photographers still use digital SLRs and that is because the design and speed of a digital SLR will allow you to capture moments in a way not possible with a point & shoot. But again, if size and weight is an issue, some bridge cameras will give you the design and speed of a digital SLR so capturing those moments will be possible, but because bridge cameras will likely not have the large sensors that digital SLRs have, you will sacrifice on image quality.

There's also a reason why studio photographers use high-end digital SLRs and that is because the large sensors give them the ultimate flexibility they need in capturing images at the quality their clients expect and need. But these studio photographers also don't need to carry around their camera all day at Disneyworld.

In this Engadget Primed article on sensors, Sean Arababi describes an interview with Annie Leibovitz:

Annie Leibovitz when asked what kind of camera one should buy, remarked the iPhone – “that is the snapshot camera of today… it’s the wallet with the family pictures in it.” Although I truly dig the iPhone 4S’ new 8 megapixel camera and all the revolutionary technology crammed into the smartphone, the Sony-made image sensor is just not large enough to rival images captured with a DSLR – and that’s expected. Apple describes its A5 chip, designed with an image signal processor, as “just as good as the ones found in DSLR cameras” and this might be true, but the image sensor is not – big difference between a signal processor and a sensor. It might allow you to shoot faster, or capture nice color and tonal range, or to use when you don’t have a camera handy, but it can’t match the quality of a larger image sensor that’s comes with a higher-quality lens. Simply put, you can’t squeeze a V8 engine into a moped. Then again, I can’t make a call, text, tweet, Google Map a route, or play Fruit Ninja with my DSLR camera, either.

The Future of Manufacturing

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:00:00 +0000

The promise of converging hardware and software. This completely changes where manufacturing is headed. It will shift the focus away from mass-design/mass-production to custom-design/one-off manufacturing, possibly right in your own communities, or even in your own homes.

Warning to Yahoo email users! Don't fall into this trap!

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 13:38:00 +0000

A client sent me this the other day and fortunately he suspected it was not a legitimate email. If you ever get emails like these be very careful not to fall into their trap. This is how they can get your login password to your email account. It used to be that looking closely at the web address (URL) was enough to determine that it's not a legitimate address but now they're actually displaying what looks to be a legitimate web address (URL) but if you put your mouse on top of the web address it will reveal a different address that will go to the site that will either ask you to login (and thus compromise your login info), OR it will be a site that leads to a virus to infect your computer.

Here's the letter (note that I changed the links to images so they are not active links):

-----
Dear Customer,

Due to congestion in all Yahoo! Mail user accounts, there shall be a removal exercise of all used and unused Yahoo! Accounts. Yahoo! Inc would be shutting down several accounts.

You will have to confirm your Yahoo! account. So you are required to logon to your Online Yahoo! Account with the provided link below.

NB: Failure to to update your Yahoo! account will result to a permanent closure.

Thank you for being a loyal Yahoo! Mail user.

We hope you enjoy the newest version of Yahoo! Mail.

David McDowell
Senior Director
Yahoo! Mail Product Management
------

Looks legitimate, right? Well, if you put your mouse on top of that link, your browser will tell you where the link actually goes. On most browsers, the actual link destination will appear on the lower-left corner of your browser window when you put your mouse on top of the link. In this case here is the actual destination address behind this seemingly valid link:

Now if you were to actually click on the link and go to that website, here is the page you will get to:

You'll see that they took enough effort to really try and make it look like the Yahoo mail site but if you look closely and take a look at the browser address bar (at the top of your browser page), it will show that you are not on the Yahoo page at all.

So next time you get a notice from your email provider, or your credit card company, or your bank, or any other online place you have accounts with, be extra careful that you're not falling into a trap.

Choosing a SmartPhone Wisely!

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:33:00 +0000

Almost 50% of mobile phone users in the US already have smartphones (more than 100 million users), so this article may be a little too late. But then again, most smartphone users also change their phones every 2 years, or if it was up to Apple or the Android makers, it will be every year, so maybe I can still impart my thoughts on how to choose a smartphone wisely. Mind you, I have not tried out all the smart phones in the market ... that would be almost impossible given the number of Android models to choose from, so I will just share my thoughts on how to choose among the various platforms namely the Apple iPhone, Google Android, RIM Blackberry and Microsoft Windows.

iPhone - Currently at 30% market share in the US. Still the gold standard for overall functionality and features. The size is just right, not too small, not too big. The latest model (iPhone4s) is beautiful, fast and easy to use. Available on Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. The ecosystem especially the apps store is the best in the world. And iCloud makes your life easier in terms of transferring photos to your computer (all done automatically in the background), backups (I've had to recently restore an iPhone that was locked and frozen and thankfully there was an iCloud backup) and synchronizing between various Apple devices (e.g. iPad, iPod) and computers (Macs and even PCs --- if you're running Windows 7). If this all sounds perfect, why not buy an iPhone then? ... read about the next platform, Android.

Android - The market leader, at 50% of smart phones in the US. Lots of varieties from various manufacturers. Today there are almost 20 models to choose from on both T-Mobile and Verizon. And even among manufacturers, Samsung also has almost 20 models available. And if you think Apple releases new models just when you've gotten used to their latest one, there are tons of new Android models coming out every month, so it's difficult to keep up with the latest and greatest ... which is why if you want a specific best feature like the best camera on your phone, the largest screen, the most thin and light model, or the fastest processor, then the Android platform is for you. The innovation happening on the Android platform is happening from all fronts, from various manufacturers so it's not far-fetched to consider that at some point they will come out with a phone that you will fall in love with. The ecosystem is not as unified as the Apple ecosystem, but it's improving everyday and will most likely be just as good as Apple's in the near future. And the price is right ... with so many models available, there's always an Android phone that fits any budget.

Blackberry - Currently at 16% (half of their market share last year) in the US. Still the best overall for email. The ecosystem is the least desirable among all the other ecosystems. But if you're just looking for a smart phone that can do email really well, and can do a few apps here and there, then the Blackberry is for you. People who have stayed with their Blackberry tell me they just want a phone that works well for email and means business. They are not looking for a toy that their kids can play with when they come home ... which is probably a good thing. In fact, I've met some folks who work for organizations that restrict their business phones to strictly business use and they have their Blackberry for work, and they have an iPhone or an Android phone for personal use. And just as a bonus, the new Blackberry models now have decent cameras in them ... so if you really needed to take an occasional snapshot (or a video), your business phone / Blackberry will not disappoint. And the price is right ... fits any budget with some models being deeply discounted by the phone companies.

Windows Phone (7 series) - Currently last at about 4% ... this is partly due to their late arrival in the scene with a decent operating system to begin with. The manufacturers have just started shipping their models with Window 7 series and the carriers have only recently started promoting them. But, this is the one platform that will surprise you if you ever get to try it out, because it is actually a good platform. Having used all the platforms mentioned above on an almost daily basis, using the Windows 7 platform for the first time was a joy to use, maybe because it was a fresh design. For the most part the phones are very similar in build to the Android phones but the operating system brings with it a fresh design that is unlike the iPhone, the Android or even the Blackberry. Everyone I've spoken to who have taken the road less traveled by and chose to get a Windows 7 series phone has loved it. This is almost like how Mac users felt 10-15 years ago when so few were buying them and yet they were really great machines that people just didn't want to buy because everyone else was on PCs ... maybe Microsoft can borrow from Apple's ad ... Think Different ... buy a Windows phone. So if you want to be different, get the Windows phone. The ecosystem is a work in progress and should only get better as Windows 8 rolls out later this year. The price is right ... fits any budget as some models are deeply discounted by the phone companies. Look for the new phones from Nokia that are winning rave reviews (their Lumia 900 model won CES 2012 best choice award for smartphones).

Video: making an iPad in China

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:42:00 +0000

Curious to see how an iPad is made? See this video from Marketplace.

If you're wondering if it's possible to make these iPads in the US, here's an excerpt from Walter Isaacson's book on Steve Jobs:

Apple had 700,000 factory workers employed in China, he said, and that was because it needed 30,000 engineers on-site to support those workers. ‘You can’t find that many in America to hire,’ he said. These factory engineers did not have to be PhDs or geniuses; they simply needed to have basic engineering skills for manufacturing. Tech schools, community colleges, or trade schools could train them. ‘If you could educate those engineers,’ he said, ‘we could move more manufacturing plants here.’

“The argument made a strong impression on the president. Two or three times over the next month he told his aides, ‘We’ve got to find ways to train those 30,000 manufacturing engineers that Jobs told us about.’

Hocoblogs party on Wednesday at Second Chance Saloon

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:35:00 +0000

The next hocoblogs party is on Wednesday, April 11th, 6-8 pm at the Second Chance Saloon.

Julia McCready of Village Green/Town Squared and Sarah Husain of Sarah Says are the evening's host.

The Second Chance Saloon hosted one of our parties about a year and a half ago, and we're happy to return to their sweet spot in Columbia's Oakland Mills Village Center.

Everyone is invited (bloggers and readers)! Hope to see you there!

Register today and see you soon!

Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson speaking in Baltimore

noreply@blogger.com (Robin) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:30:00 +0000

If you happen to be free at 3pm on Saturday (April 14), Walter Isaacson, the author of Steve Job's biography will be speaking at the Enoch Pratt Library (Wheeler Auditorium, 3rd Floor) in Baltimore. This is part of the CityLit Festival, a day-long celebration of literature ... check out the other speakers for the day --- http://www.prattlibrary.org/calendar/atpratt.aspx?id=63414