PRIVACY: Remove your data from public directories

This comes to us from the Kim Komando web site, a site worth checking daily for tips.

"Whether you like it or not, your information is available publicly. And this information is freely available online. Marketers and advertisers have teams dedicated to finding this information. They use it so they can sell you thing you likely don’t want.

There are many online directories. Some of these compile listed phone numbers. Others might also include your address. And still others serve up more personal information as sales leads. They scour public records for your information.

Public information can include records from courts, real estate registrations and voter registration. It can also include hunting permits and marriage or driver's licenses.

However, online directories aren't out to get you. In fact, they typically offer a way to opt out of their listings. But you have to find the exit.

I've already done some searching for you. Here are the opt-out pages for a few major directory sites:

555-1212.com
www.555-1212.com
Look near the bottom of the list on this page. Click on Opt-out or Change Request Policy for further instructions.

Anywho
www.anywho.com
Remove your phone number online or by mail.

Acxiom.com
www.acxiom.com
You can opt out of both ad tracking and the online directory from this page. Opting out of the directory requires that you fill out and mail in a form.

Network Advertising Initiative
www.networkadvertising.org
This site lets you opt out of a long list of advertising databases and trackers. Simply select all the sites you wish to opt out from. Then click Submit.

Intelius
www.intelius.com
You must fax documents proving your identity to remove listings. Detailed instructions are in the section labeled, "How to Remove your Information."


US Search
www.ussearch.comYou'll have to mail in a form to turn on PrivacyLock and block your listing."

Today Show January 1994...What is the Internet?!

How far we have come in just 17 years!

Blue screen of death and what it means

Today's blog post comes from the "Call That Girl" blog.

"So you get the “blue screen” or “blue screen of death”…what do you do now?

If you call someone, you may get this answer, “It’s your hard drive”

Or is it…???

I’ve troubleshooted many of these errors. Sometimes simple troubleshooting is all you need to do. Sometimes it’s a bad Windows update or a software glitch that caused the blue screen to happen. 2 calls this week in the shop proved that it was a Windows problem and we quickly resolved it by doing some magic in the shop, cost to the client? An easy $40 fix. Didn’t take much more than 30 minutes for us to repair it.

Here are a few tips for you to try yourself at home before bringing it into our shop.

• Start by turning off your computer
• Then unplug all your cords including monitor
• Let the computer sit for 20 minutes
• After 20 minutes, only plug in the power for the computer and monitor and turn it back on
• If it turns on and goes to the Windows start up screen, you may have a bad keyboard, mouse or USB external port issue
• Once it comes back on, if all seems ok…turn it back off
• Plug back in the keyboard and mouse. Turn it on again

If it blue screens, it’s more than likely your mouse or USB port. If the end of your mouse has a circular end, it’s probably not the issue. If it has a 1/2″ thin metal end, it’s a USB mouse and could be the issue. Try another mouse if you have one.

If your computer turns on fine again, then test your USB plug-ins. (camera, webcam, printer, etc) If then all seems ok, go in and back up your information/data right away.

Again….if anything at this point fails, it could be a hard drive or a software issue. I don’t always think it’s a bad drive if it blue screens. Sometimes your computer just has a bump in the road and needs to be “reset”.

The troubleshooting tricks above often help figure out what may be causing the issue."