I stopped using this account after I signed up for Gmail, and it had some really old contacts in it. At one point a while back, and after not logging in for over a year, Yahoo sent me an email saying that the account was going to be deactivated. So I logged back in, deleted old messages, contacts, etc, and moved on.

But apparently, those old contacts were not actually deleted. They must have remained somehow linked to the old account, and available to anyone that would be able to hijack it. When whoever or whatever hijacked the account, they were able to send an email to all the contacts linked to the account and make it appear that it was sent by me. The email contained a hyperlink to a program that could be harmful to your PC.

I’m still trying to contact the folks that may have received the malicious email and make sure they are OK, and so far it doesn’t look like anyone was hurt.

Here is a summary of what this episode teaches us. I think it applies to everyone.

• Just as in the real world, you are never 100% safe. You always need to be on guard.
• Old accounts that you no longer use may still contain data that could be useful to hackers.
• Make sure that the passwords you choose for ALL online email accounts are the strongest possible. They should contain at least 8 characters, have no dictionary words or other recognizable patterns and be a mix of alpha, numeric and symbol characters.
• Make sure your anti-virus and anti-spyware programs are working and contain the most recent updates.

For more information on good password selection, Thoughtpick.com has a very good article on creating strong passwords.

Recently, an anonymous user posted 10,000 usernames and passwords that had been lifted from Windows Live Hotmail accounts. An online internet security company analyzed these passwords and found some very distressing trends.

• The most common password was ’123456′
• The second most common password was ’123456789′
• Many passwords were people’s names
• Only 6% used strong passwords which contain a combination of alpha, numeric and other characters

With the requirement for so many passwords, how do you keep track of them?

Security experts say that passwords should use a combination of letters, numbers and other characters and shouldn’t include names, dates or dictionary words. They also say that you should change your password frequently. It’s no wonder that people feel they have to write them down.

Here are some simple rules and tips to help you with coming up with secure passwords and then remembering them when you do:

• Make Passwords Hard to Guess but Easy to Remember
  When establishing passwords, think of a short phrase that only you would remember and make an acronym. For example, “I Love The Rain” would yield ‘iltr’.  Now, capitalize one or more of the characters and you have ‘iLtr’.  Using this method, you will come up with virtually unguessable passwords.
• Develop Several ‘Core’ Passwords
  The previous tip will result is a ‘core’ password. Adding at least two numbers and a special character will result in a very strong password. The numbers you use can be from a phone number, address or date. Varying where you put the numbers and special characters will make the password even more secure.
• Never Compromise Your Password
  Make it hard for hackers and never write your password down. If you sign up for a service that sends you an email confirmation with your password printed in plain text, change it immediately. Never give your password away.  If your password is out of your control, so is your personal information.
• For Low Security Sites, Use the Same Password
  Sites that don’t store any personal information don’t pose much of a security risk. If you find that you may need to enter personal information later, change your password to make it more secure.
• Use Extra Security for Financial Passwords
  Each financial site should ALWAYS have its own password. These sites can result in the most risk if your account is compromised. Select the most secure password you can and change it monthly.

/Steve

But what’s the difference between a laptop PC and a notebook PC?  And what is a netbook?  There doesn’t appear to be any official descriptions, so I’ve come up with my own:

Laptop – A portable PC with all the capabilities and power of a desktop, but small enough to use while on your lap, weight doesn’t seem to be an issue.

Notebook – Similar to a Laptop PC, but thinner and lighter, generally less than 6 lbs.

Netbook – Smaller and less capable than a Notebook PC, optimized for Internet usage (hence the “Net” in Netbook). Netbooks usually do not have an optical drive and weigh in at 2-3 lbs.

Count me as a netbook fan.  I’ve got some great uses:

• they’re just the right size for taking into the kitchen for menu reference
• the exceptional battery life makes them perfect for travel when you might not be near AC power
• for connecting wirelessly to your desktop PC and acting as a remote desktop

GigaOM talks about Notebooks vs Netbooks

/Steve

Phishing is the act of illegally attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames and passwords by posing as an otherwise trustworthy entity through email or other electronic communication. I can’t verify for certain where the term came from, but there seems to be a consensus that it is derived from “Password Fishing”. Seems appropriate.

A Phishing attempt usually begins with an email that mentions some dire emergency that you must take care of. Recent examples are:

• Your PayPal account may be closed if you don’t visit the hyperlink that is provided…
• Your bank account may have been compromised and you need to enter some personal information for verification…

Chase Bank has some good examples of what some of these emails can look like. Click here to check them out.

There are many more, but in most cases there is a hyperlink that will take you to an official looking website that is really a fake site designed to resemble the site you think you are on. The Phishing scheme is to get you to enter information that they want into an online form.

You need to use the same caution online as you do in the physical world. Be aware of your surroundings, don’t talk to (or trust) strangers, and keep a low profile.

Be suspicious of any online communication that tells you that something big (good or bad) will happen if you don’t click on the supplied link and take care of it. If you’re not sure, instead of using the link that is provided, go to the site using its official address and attempt to ascertain if there is really a problem. Many times, the institution will have information about the scam on their home page.

• Here are a couple more good articles on Phishing

/doc

Slave may be too strong a word, but we may be so reliant on our digital devices that our basic behaviors has been permanently changed. We text, we tweet, we chat incessantly on our cellphones in grocery store check-out lines, our kids use calculators for basic math, we eschew libraries for Google, and finally, when was the last time you “looked that up in your Funk and Wagnalls?”

The desire to perform tasks faster, better and more efficiently is pretty basic, and has resulted in some pretty amazing technologies. It’s all good, right?

Technology enables us to be more productive and it can help us focus our talents. But it also allows us to become detached from the world around us – the world where real things live.

Consider the cellphone and its impact on our lives, it goes with you everywhere and you would feel naked without it. This little guy allows you to be a press of a button away from everywhere that you’re not. I love my cellphone, but I don’t want it to rule my life, so I rely on two little bits of technology: Caller ID and Voice Messaging.

Technology to fight technology. Maybe I’m still a slave.

/doc

Some of its features are on display in a recently released video that show its usefulness as an electronic organizer. I have to say that it has a very Apple look to it. The two displays appear as book pages with the spine of the book acting as sort of a clipboard. If this is its primary purpose, I can’t say how I would put it to use.  As a PC, even with advances in handwriting recognition technology, I’m a much faster typist, and would feel burdened without a tactile keyboard.

The code name for this new product is Courier, and understand that it is still in development so nothing is certain, but it still looks extremely appetizing. Further discussion and the just released video clip can be seen at gizmodo.com and crunchgear.com.

/doc

I didn’t originally intend to do this, but after I loaded the OpenOffice suite, I thought what the heck, lets see how far I can take it.

I ended up with the following free applications:

• OpenOffice.org 3 – Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Database, Drawing
• Smooth Draw 3 – Image editing
• PhotoScape – Photo Retouching
• IrfanView – Image viewing and batch processor
• Notepad+ – Text Editor
• Thunderbird 2 – Email Client
• Avast – Antivirus
• PDF Creator – Creates .PDF files
• Nvu 1 – HTML Editor
• BlogDesk – Desktop Blogging Client

Combine this with all the online Web 2.0 applications, and I’ve got everything I need to take care of business.

How much did this save? Considering comparable off-the-shelf (OTS) applicaitions, you’re looking at a minimum savings of $1000 (USD) with no loss in productivity.

Check out Gizmo’s Freeware at www.techsupportalert.com for listings and reviews of the best freeware offerings. For example, here is a comparison of free paint programs:

• Best Free Paint Programs

So, before you head out to purchase any OTS retail applications, check to see if there are any comparable freeware versions. Download and try them, you may be quite pleased.

• You can see it here

Google has created a suite of online applications that allow users to create and edit documents that are compatible with the core offerings of the Microsoft Office suite.  In practical usage, Google Documents will allow you to access your Excel, Word and Powerpoint applications from a web browser anywhere there is Internet access.

• Here is a good article about Google’s Web Applications

As the internet is constantly evolving, I believe that this is still  just the beginning.

/doc

It used to be that you had to subscribe to many trade publications to keep current, but now you can use technology to stay abreast of technology. By using a relatively simple method, you can have the latest articles and opinions delivered to you for free. The method I’m referring to is called RSS which stands for Real Simple Syndication. In its basic form, RSS allows a user to subscribe to a website’s “feed” which makes the content available to a RSS reader. Many national news sites, mainstream online journals and most Blogs have RSS feeds available that anyone can subscribe to. The hardest part for you is to pick a reader and the feeds you want.

• Here is a list of 10 of the best web-based readers

I have tried all of them. I use Google Reader because it is very simple and integrates into my other Google online applications. When I fire up my browser, it automatically loads in a tab as part of my Home Page Tab settings in Internet Explorer 8, so all I have to do is click on the tab and I have new content ready to read.

The best technology-related feeds are:

• EETimes at http://www.eetimes.com/rss/rss-all.jhtml
• CNET at http://news.com.com/2547-1_3-0-5.xml
• MajorGeeks.com at http://www.majorgeeks.com/news.xml
• The How-To Geek at http://feeds.feedburner.com/HowToGeek
• And of course, The PC User Clinic at http://pcuserclinic.com/feed/rss2/

Once you get up and running with a RSS reader, you can search out feeds in your other interest area. You will be surprised at how much content is available.

/doc