MasterCard, VISA Warn of Processor Breach

Here we go again. Be sure to check your accounts online daily!

 

"VISA and MasterCard are alerting banks across the country about a recent major breach at a U.S.-based credit card processor. Sources in the financial sector are calling the breach “massive,” and say it may involve more than 10 million compromised card numbers.

In separate non-public alerts sent late last week, VISA and MasterCard began warning banks about specific cards that may have been compromised. The card associations stated that the breached credit card processor was compromised between Jan. 21, 2012 and Feb. 25, 2012. The alerts also said that full Track 1 and Track 2 data was taken – meaning that the information could be used to counterfeit new cards."

Read more here or on your favorite news site.

Why Tablets in the Classroom Could Save Schools $3 Billion a Year

Hmmm. Very interesting indeed. It seems we are headed down this road at warp speed. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens.

"A group of publishers and tech companies gathered in Washington today to talk about getting digital textbooks into U.S. classrooms. The gathering, convened by the FCC and the Department of Education, included everyone from Apple to Intel to McGraw-Hill, and it was premised on the idea that digitizing classrooms is a good thing."

This was in the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital, and the article can be found at  Why Tablets in the Classroom Could Save Schools $3 Billion a Year

7 Great All-in-One Desktop PCs

The modern desktop doesn't have a tower. What? Yes, that's right. Everything is located within the display case. Apple has been doing this for a while now with their iMacs, and now the PC makers are doing the same thing. The best thing to come along, I think, is that the displays are touch screens. The nicely-configured ones are still quite pricey, and I view buying one as something of a risk. Upgrading options are not too many since everything is contained within the display case. I think I'd miss all of the extra slots that one finds on a desktop tower, but then you can get most everything you'd want on one of these all-in-ones. However, until/unless my old IBM desktop dies, I won't be faced with having to make this decision: all-in-one or traditional tower.

7 Great All-in-One Desktop PCs

Facebook strips 'privacy' from new 'data use' policy

It is a non-ending story and here is the latest saga!

"NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A Facebook privacy policy revision intended to make the site's methods more transparent is instead kicking up a fresh firestorm.

Facebook posted a draft version of its revised terms on March 15 and gave the site's users a one-week comment period to weigh in with questions and suggestions. The changes include many semantic tweaks, like stripping the word "privacy" out of Facebook's "privacy policy," which is now called a "data use policy."

That sounds scary, but Facebook says the changes to its policy documents don't reflect any actual changes in how the site operates. Instead, what it calls "clarifications" are aimed at more clearly describing to users what Facebook does.

That clarity is freaking some members out. Many responded on Facebook's comment page with a wholesale rejection of the new terms. On the German-language version of the proposal, more than 32,000 Facebook members issued the same one-sentence protest: "Ich lehne die Änderungen ab."

That roughly translates to: "I reject the changes.""

Read more here

2012 Password Management Software Product Comparisons

This is an excellent web site. It lists the top 10 password management programs and all of their features. I am seriously considering PAYING (yes me, that's right!) for one of these programs. Kaspersky is the only name I recognize and they are known to be a leader in security systems for PCs. The price for all of these seems right, but it is not clear to me yet, without doing a little more research, if these are one-time or recurring prices. In any case, do take a look at the chart on this site. It is amazingly comprehensive! 

2012 Password Management Software Product Comparisons

"How I divorced Google"

This one really caught my eye. It's not about me, but one Tom Henderson

He writes for ITWorld.com.

With all of the bad press Google has been getting lately because of their privacy policy, I found this article very interesting. He has laid out a 7 day calendar for divorcing himself from Google's products. It is worth a look to see some of his reasoning and how he went about it. I don't think this is for me, at least not yet, but maybe some of you will want to consider it.
   

How I divorced Google

Time to change your passwords!

This is always good advice. Changing your passwords regularly can help you avoid some real problems - like your bank account or credit cards being compromised. This blog post came from the Call That Girl web site.

"With spring here and the changeover for daylight savings time, I thought right now would be a good time to remind everyone to change their passwords  for most of their online accounts. Most people do not ever change their passwords unless forced by the online sites. Really? Yep. I see it all the time. Nobody likes changing their passwords and usually when they do it, it’s a very similar password that they just used. Is that ok? Yes, but I do recommend on occasion to change it completely.

What are good passwords? Uppercase/lowercase letter, numbers and special characters, 6-8 is the golden rule!

If you have a simple password, such as “password”, you definitely need to change your password! 

Sites where you should change your password:

• Banking sites
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Email
• Paypal
• Email marketing"

Link to this post on Call That Girl

New iPad: A Polishing of the Old - All I need to know about the new iPad

I have said many times - on this blog - how much I like, admire, and respect David Pogue's opinions on technical matters. Today he has a very succinct statement that is used as the intro to his article on the new iPad. It is this:

"The new iPad’s technical improvements keep it at the forefront of desirability — just ahead of the snapping jaws of its Android competition — but don’t take it in any new directions."

Hmm, That settles it for me. Save my money for maybe a new Android competitor - if for a tablet at all!

If you'd like to read David's article on the NY Times website, you will find it here,

gasbuddy.com

I suppose I could assume that you all know about gasbuddy.com, but then even if I enlighten only one or two of you I think it's worthwhile to post this info.

I am not really sure how large their database is, but I can tell you that for my area it is quite large (number of gas stations) and amazingly current - largely because of their technique of deleting items after something like only 24 or 48 hours.

So I encourage you to try it out and, if so inclined, sign up and do some reporting of gas prices in your local area. The more people who do this, the better the chance that, at least at a local level, we can make the providers more competitive. Go to gasbuddy.com and key in your zip code to see what kind of database they have for your local area.

Windows XP Updates

Last night I downloaded and installed 4 Windows XP updates from Microsoft. Now that's a slow month! One of these was Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool. As I write this, I have that tool running a full scan in the background. It's just a little, no-cost insurance against invasion by the bad guys. It sure does take a long time to do the full scan!

As a reminder if you need it, make sure your machine has all updates applied, and then click on START/RUN key in MRT and click OK. That is it!

Security Troubleshooting Techniques

From pcmag.com:

"The humor site GraphJam.com offers a chart showing the likelihood a computer issue will be solved by "Reconfiguring something, reimaging, antivirus-software…" or by "Turning it off and on again." Naturally the first bar is tiny, the second huge.

Joking aside, when your computer is acting weird and you can't find any reason for it, turning it off and on again really is the first thing you should try. Here are a few other techniques for tracking down problems that may or may not represent malware activity."

Read the rest of the story here

Take the Wheel, Somebody

Not my typical blog post, but one that does indeed have a lot to do with technology advances, and one that will affect many of you out there, although I doubt I'll be around to see it. However, this is about driverless cars, and this is something that is happening right now, so people get ready and enjoy this article from, of all places, The National Review. I enjoyed it top to bottom.

By Jonah Goldberg

"There’s a great scene in the movie The Right Stuff where the original Mercury astronauts are checking out the capsule for their first trips to space. They’re horrified to discover that the German scientists in charge of the program see the astronauts as nothing more than living props.

There is no window, the scientists explain. There’s no emergency hatch or even controls for the astronauts to use. It’s all automated. “We want a window,” the astronauts demand.

The white-frocked experts reluctantly agree to give the astronauts a window and piloting controls because they know the American people would hate to see the nation’s greatest pilots treated like lab monkeys with no say in their fate.

I can’t help but wonder whether in 20 years the American people will have the right stuff to demand a steering wheel in their cars."

Take the Wheel, Somebody 

Apple's new iPad: Hands-on

You can't go anywhere on the web without running into the new iPad announcement, but I found this review, including videos, among the best coverage on the web. It's from cnet.com. I still say I would love to have one to play with, but it is a pretty expensive toy. If I were to buy one, I'd buy only the WiFi model. I just don't see the need for the 4G model that also includes a rather large ongoing monthly fee in addition to its high purchase price.

"Apple announces the new iPad at an event in San Francisco, and CNET gets some hands-on time with the third-generation device.

The iPad's new screen is a stunner. That's really all you need to know about the new iPad (yes, that's the name). That, and a reminder that pricing still starts at $499 for a 16GB Wi-Fi model, with 4G starting at $629."

Read much more if you are so inclined here.

Wipe your data without removing Windows

This is a really good tip I found on the Kim Komando web site. As noted many times before, I take a look at Kim's site every day, and mostly I am looking for what her Tip of the Day is. This is today's, and I found it very useful. It contains information on some programs I know but also some I hadn't heard of before. Even if the subject doesn't interest you, you may still find some useful information contained within the tip. This will be especially useful to those of you who may be transferring ownership of your computer to someone else, be it a charity or a friend or a family member. I actually get the question quite frequently about the best way to clean up your system before the transfer. This one tip of Kim's seems to cover all of the bases.

Wipe your data without removing Windows

World's Most Wanted Hacker

This is good news for us all! This comes from foxnews.com.

From foxnews.com

"His name is Hector Xavier Monsegur, aka 'Sabu,' described as a 'lazy,' jobless 28-year-old computer genius living on welfare with two young wards in a New York City housing project that served as the nerve center for the infamous hacking group LulzSec — and with his help, law enforcement on two continents this morning swooped in and took them down."

See story here