Don't Take The Bait

Do to the recent activity with companies being breached and email databases being stolen I thought it would be a good time to remind email users to be careful when reading email.

For those that may not know there have been security breaches at multiple marketing companies.  These include Play.com, Silverpop and more recently Epsilon.  One of the services that these marketing companies provide is email distribution for their customers.  The customers of these companies include but are not limited to McDonalds, US Bank, JPMorgan Chase, TiVo, Capital One, the Home Shopping Network, LL Bean Visa Card, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, Best Buy, Disney Destinations, Walgreens, Citi, College Board and many more.  If you have ever signed up with one of the above companies you may receive an email from them stating that your information may have been exposed to unauthorized access.  It is being reported by some of the companies that only names and email addresses were compromised and no personally identifiable information was released.

Because of the recent breaches you may receive more spam and phishing emails.  Click here to see a short guide that will help you to identify email scams.

As a precaution, I also recommend taking this time to review all of your online accounts to make sure that complex passwords are in use.

Google Chrome Cr-48 Notebook Piolt Program

I signed up for the Chrome OS Pilot program a couple of months ago and was blessed with receiving a Cr-48 notebook from Google. Google has this idea that computing is moving to the cloud (online hosts) and that most of what typical users do is online anyways. Think about how much you use youtube, facebook, web based email clients, online docs, online file storage, online banking, etc. The benefits are things like always having your data and apps saved online so that each time you log on to any Google Chrome OS machine your experience is exactly the same. Chrome OS is basically a Chrome browser on steroids. If you are familiar with the Chrome browser you would do just find on Chrome OS. You get the same themes, tabbed browsing, and apps from the Google App store. What you will not find on the Cr-48 is a local file browser (or at least one that is more powerful than the downloads menu) any or any local computing like a cache of your Gmail.

Over all I am really pleased with the hard ware. If is finished in a matte black rubberized finish, includes a MAC like touch pad, and a built in webcam. What i find odd is the SD card port that I can not access without using a web based photo app like Picasa web.

The full specs include:

Intel Atom Processor N455 1.66Ghz 512K Cacke

Tripod Motherboard MARIO

Hynix 2GB DDR3 PC3 RAM

ITE IT8500 Flash ROM

SanDisk sdsa4dh-016 16GB SATA SSD

Qualcomm GObi2000 PCI Express Mini Card

AsureWave 802.11 a/b/g/n/ PCI-E Half Mini Card

Atheros AR5BBU12 Bluetooth V 2.1 EDR (it is listed as hardware, but no software support has been found

So far using the notebook as an "always with me browser" has worked fine for what it is for. If users expect to use this for ONLINE ONLY Activities then this may be a success. My worry is that since it is a "laptop" people will expect it to perform like a standard laptop running Windows/OS X/Linux it will fail. Google has put a lot of effort into making this work out like the Google Cloud Print which allows you to print to your network printer from anywhere including the Chrome OS.

I would like to see some type of local dashboard that you log into before starting the Chrome browser which can give you basic local access to files, cached email, and shortcuts to apps (local or online). Also I would expect to see a real file browser, it does not have to be super complicated, just copy, paste, move, etc. would be needed. Configuration is also not something that is easily done...if at all. I do enjoy what they are getting at and I can see the purpose, but I am left feeling trapped inside of my browser, heh I keep trying to minimize it for Pete's sake. I hope that Google uses this Beta program well and makes some of the changes that its users are surely coming up with. I am not against cloud computing, I just do not want to be trapped in it.

BTW: This post was written on the Cr-48.

EDIT: I attempted to watch Netflix videos. Currently Netflix is not supported on Chrome OS however the Netflix website says the following:

Watching instantly on your computer

Dear Chrome Pilot user,

Streaming is not currently supported on your device. We're working with Google to ensure that Chrome Notebook users can instantly watch TV shows and movies from Netflix. More details will be announced in the coming months.

Note that your current Internet browser is fully compatible with adding titles to the Instant Queue for later watching on compatible devices.

Complete System Requirements

To watch instantly, you'll need a computer that meets the following minimum requirements:

• Windows
  • Windows XP with Service Pack 2, Vista or Windows 7
  • Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher; or Firefox 3 or higher; or Chrome 7 or higher
  • 1.2 GHz processor
  • 512 MB RAM
• Mac
  • An Intel-based Mac with OS 10.4.11 or later
  • Safari 3 or higher; or Firefox 3 or higher
  • 1 GB RAM

This had to be shown to the World!!

I do not know what else to say but bravo. bravo good sir.

Bing Caught Looking Over Google's Shoulder

Google set up a sting operation to verify some suspicions that Bing was cheating off of them. According to an article at Search Engine Land, Google noticed that Bing's search results started to become very similar to their own when misspelled words were entered. Google devised a way to create synthetic results to test their theory. Using highly misspelled words, Google engineers ran test searches from their homes using Internet Explorer and the Bing Toolbar. By the end of December some of the results started to show up in Bing search results.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself "Who cares" but the search engine wars are still going on. This shows that the information that people put into a search engine is valuable and companies are willing to fight for it. With only two major search engines in the US, since Yahoo uses Bing's results, these kind of tactics are not going to go away. Is this right or wrong or are you indifferent as long as you get the results that get you where you want to be? After reading the article let us know what you think.

Facebook is Up to Some Naughty Shenanigans

All i can say is that this is bad. Datronacon brought this to my attention a short while ago, I then read it, and am passing it on to you. Just think about what you "like" on websites or on Facebook. This is a new ad feature that appears to remove alot of privacy and freedom from the user to pad the pockets of companies that would use this "service." They call these sponsored stories. Basically if you were to "like" something from a vendor the example in the article was Starbucks then an ad shows up as a sponsored story and on your wall as if you typed it yourself. You can say ADS CAN SUCK IT and the post will say Omnivox says ADS CAN SUCK IT at Starbucks. To add insult to injury if someone wrote something negative about a product (as it is free to do) the vendor can delete that "sponsored"story so they don't look bad. The user has NO control and this simply will not do.

Irina states, "The unit will give brand-related action such as a "like" or a check-in a lot more visibility on Facebook by adding them to an ad unit in addition to users' news feeds.

For example, if Starbucks buys a "sponsored story" ad, the status of a user's friends who check into or "like" Starbucks will run twice: once in the user's news feed, and again as a paid ad for Starbucks. Though clearly marked with the words "sponsored story," the ad -- which will includes a user's name, just like the news feed -- is not optional for Facebook users."

and

"The way that the product is today, a check-in post will show up in the ad feed exactly as the user wrote it. So if a user checks into Starbucks with a "I hate this place, but it's the only coffee around" then that's exactly what the "ad" turns out to be.

Facebook is aware of this possibility, because people will be people, and it has left a "flag" button for "inappropriate content." Advertisers that don't want to take the chance of having negative sponsored stories pop up about them can limit their buys to likes. "As a marketer, you can say that I'm only going to do 'like' stories, since there is no way to change that," said Facebook marketing lead Jim Squire. "So you can figure out which is the best option for your organization.""

Please follow the link to adage.com to read more. I feel this is important for everyone to see and understand.

Even an Android Needs Protection

You may not realize it but even mobile phones can become infected with malware. Smart phones run on an actual OS that is very similar to a desktop computer or laptop which makes them vulnerable to the same type of attacks. One such attack is currently happening in China with Android powered phones. There is a sophisticated Trojan that has botnet-like capabilities that is being called "Geinimi".

This Trojan is being grafted into legitimate applications and then distributed in a third-party Chinese app market for Androids. According to the mobile security company Lookout, this trojan has not been found in any applications in the official Google Android Market. Below are some tips from Lookout on how to stay safe.

• Only download applications from trusted sources, such as reputable application markets. Remember to look at the developer name, reviews, and star ratings.
• Always check the permissions an app requests. Use common sense to ensure that the permissions an app requests match the features the app provides.
• Be aware that unusual behavior on your phone could be a sign that your phone is infected. Unusual behaviors include: unknown applications being installed without your knowledge, SMS messages being automatically sent to unknown recipients, or phone calls automatically being placed without you initiating them.
• Download a mobile security app for your phone that scans every app you download. Lookout users automatically receive protection against this Trojan.

Trendnet AP Ups the Ante with 450Mbp/s Hotness

A couple of days ago I ran into this little gem at Engadget.com. They got their hands on a press release from Trendnet regarding the TEW-690AP. I believe the below quote speaks for itself.

TRENDnet® Launches First to Market 450Mbps Wireless Access Point

Trendnet (12/20/2010)

TORRANCE, Calif. –December 20, 2011–TRENDnet, a best-in-class wired and wireless networking hardware brand today announces the launch of the first to market 450Mbps Wireless N Access Point, model TEW-690AP, which supports Access Point, Wireless Distribution System (WDS), and Repeater mode functionality.

Advanced Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna technology with three spatial streams per antenna, generates a maximum theoretical wireless throughput of 450Mbps and exceptional wireless coverage.

A Gigabit Ethernet port maintains high performance wired connections. Advanced features include 4 SSIDs per wireless band, unique encryption for each SSID, WMM Quality of Service (QoS) data prioritization, WPA2-RADIUS encryption, and a convenient on/off power switch.

Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) integrates other WPS supported wireless adapters at the touch of a button. Gone are the days of entering complicated encryption codes; simply press the WPS button on the TEW-690AP, and then press the WPS button on a compatible wireless adapter-the devices automatically exchange information and connect.

"TRENDnet will be the first brand to bring a full portfolio of 450Mbps solutions to market," stated Zak Wood, Director of Global Marketing for TRENDnet. "Expect more first to market announcements in the coming New Year at CES."

The 450Mbps Wireless N Access Point, model TEW-690AP, comes with a three year limited warranty and is currently shipping to TRENDnet's online and retail partners.

The MSRP for the TEW-690AP is U.S. $ 199.99.