Medical History Becomes A New Kind of Credit Report

The Wall Street Journal reports how your medical history can affect your insurability. Finding and correcting errors in your medical history can save you a bunch of money. (H/T to The Consumerist for the link) Tags: ,

$70 Million Porn Filter Hacked in 30 Minutes

Bruce Schneier caught this story of an Austrailian kid who broke a $70 Million government supplied porn filter in under half an hour. The software was being given away free to schools, libraries and families. Schneier says it best:
Remember that the issue isn't that one smart kid can circumvent the censorship software, it's that one smart kid -- maybe this one, maybe another one -- can write a piece of shareware that allows everyone to circumvent the censorship software. It's the same with DRM; technical measures just aren't going to work.
Duh. Whoever sells DRM to big companies is a criminal. A very wealthy criminal.

Beware Google Apps – All Your Content Are Belong to Us!

I have always said that Google has the best search engine and I still believe that (for now). But when it comes to their other offerings, they've proven to be a bit dodgy. Now comes news from someone who's been paying attention that according to their terms of service, any content you produce with their Google Apps belongs to them! Write a love letter to your girl and find it on a greeting card later with no royalty fees or otherwise due to you. Tags: , ,

Microsoft to Release Vista Service Pack 1 and XP Service Pack 3 Soon.

Microsoft is announcing new service packs for both operating systems soon, but urges people not to wait and to "upgrade" to Vista now. Yeah right. Unless Vista SP1 addresses the DRM and spyware issues, I will continue to avoid it and recommend that other people do the same. As for XP service pack 3, I'll be watching to see if they try to add some of the bad "features" of Vista or some other thing that makes XP less attractive. In other words, beware any attempts to break XP in order to force people forward. Tags:

Walmart Launches Online Music Store with No DRM

To compete with the current market leading in online digital music downloads (Apple), Walmart will be offering music for less money and with NO DRM. That means you can copy the song to any device you want, as many times as you want with no tricky, annoying software blocking you. Finally, someone gets it.

Comcast Resets Bittorrent Shares

It turns out that Comcast thinks they have the right to control how someone uses the Internet. Bittorrents, often, but not always used to distribute copyrighted content is one of the types of filesharing that big nasty companies like the RIAA target. Whether in the spirit of cooperation with the RIAA or just to save a little money by preventing heavy Internet users from actually using the Internet, Comcast is throttling Bittorrent shares and actually blocking seeders (people who provide the content originally). If this disgusts you, now is a good time to become a supporter of net neutrality. Tags: , ,

Smoking Permenantly Damages Your Genes

I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me, but it did. Smoking damages your genes and some of the damage is irreversible. The article doesn’t say, but I wonder if that means you can pass the defects on to your kids or if that kind of stuff gets filtered out. Someone with more biology experience than me can clear that up.

Technology Captures Fleeting Expressions To Manipulate You

It’s well known that body language is very difficult to control and often gives away your true thoughts and feelings for those capable of looking for the signs. Now a German company is trying to make software that understands those slight signals in order to produce superior quality manipulative ads.

Tiny Generator Uses Vibrations for Power – Uh oh…

Here's something that will become a catalyst for a lot of bad things, a tiny generator that could be used to replace batteries in devices that are hard to reach. Why is this a problem? Think "hidden wireless camera". Think "active RFID tag that lasts forever". Oh man… Tags:

Absurdity? China Regulates Reincarnation

The new Chinese law specifies the rules and regulations for reincarnation including the need to seek government permission. What sounds insane at first turns out to have a legitimate reason… if you're a country like China.
But beyond the irony lies China's true motive: to cut off the influence of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual and political leader, and to quell the region's Buddhist religious establishment more than 50 years after China invaded the small Himalayan country. By barring any Buddhist monk living outside China from seeking reincarnation, the law effectively gives Chinese authorities the power to choose the next Dalai Lama, whose soul, by tradition, is reborn as a new human to continue the work of relieving suffering.

Loading...

If you want to learn more about my professional background, click here to learn more.

Check out one of my guides/tutorials:

email Tutorial
|INDEX|next: E-mail Viruses

E-mail Dangers

Until we find out who the people are who actually buy things from spammers and kick them off the Internet, you're going to have to learn how to deal with and prevent spam.
E-mail Viruses - Learn how viruses are spread through e-mail and how to stop them
Phishing - Spot and avoid lures that pull you into the dark side of the web
Don't be one of those people that loses thousands of dollars to the classic Nigerian Scam.

E-mail Etiquette

Use CC only when necessary and BCC the rest of the time.
Use Reply-All when you mean to and never when you don't.
Practice proper E-mail Forwarding to protect privacy and make e-mails more readable.
Always personalize your e-mails to make it obvious to your recipient that it's valid.

E-mail Tips and Tricks

Using E-Mail Aliases Properly - Be careful about using sensitive data (like your real name) in an e-mail account.
Remember to treat your e-mail account with the security it deserves.
Use a decoy e-mail account to keep your main e-mail account free of spam.
Avoid using any Internet provider's default e-mail.

... or check out any of my other guides and tutorials by clicking here!

Preventing Spam

Spam is annoying and worthless, but you still see it every single day. Here are some tips for preventing and reducing spam.

[Click for full description]

E-mail Viruses

Make sure that viruses don't sneak onto your computer through your e-mails. Read some simple tips to prevent that from happening.

[Click for full description]

Phishing

By far the most dangerous thing you'll find in e-mails is a lie. Sending a bogus e-mail to someone is generally called phishing, but can also be referred to as a Nigerian scam (depending on the goal of the e-mail). Learn to recognize and deal with phishing before it's too late.

[Click for full description]

Nigerian Scam

Many people have lost thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars to the classic Nigerian Scam. Don't fall for it!

[Click for full description]

How to Use "CC" Properly

Don't violate people's privacy and invite spam into their accounts by CC'ing all your contacts. Learn the proper way to send mass e-mails first.

[Click for full description]

Reply-All

It's easy to embarass yourself or harm your career when you don't know how to use Reply-All appropriately.

[Click for full description]

How to Forward E-mails Properly

Don't forward e-mails carelessly or you risk looking foolish as best and violating the privacy of all your contacts at worst.

[Click for full description]

Personalize E-mail

Follow this simple rule of e-mail etiquette to help prevent your friends and family from falling for phishing scams.

[Click for full description]

Using E-Mail Aliases Properly

It can be hard to find a good name to use in an e-mail account that hasn't been used and doesn't give away too much information about you.

[Click for full description]

Protecting E-mail Passwords

Your e-mail account is the most important online account you have. Remember to treat it as such!.

[Click for full description]

Using a Decoy E-Mail Account

Why it's very important to use a buffer e-mail account to shield your main account from people and companies that you don't trust.

[Click for full description]

The ISP E-mail Trap

Don't fall for the trap of using the free e-mail account provided to you by your Internet service!

[Click for full description]