Comcast Tries to Use Patriot Act to Take Customer’s SSN
When this guy tried to sign up for Comcast cable without providing his Social Security Number, they harassed him saying that they were required to ask for it under the Patriot Act.
Deal with this by first finding out what they're going to do with it and how they're going to protect it. I would most likely use the .... [Click here to read the rest of this post]
Tags: Big Business, Comcast, Data Abuse, Data Brokering, Fraud Waste and Abuse, SSNSarah Palin’s Private E-mail Account Hacked
Sarah Palin's Yahoo account has been broken into and e-mails found there posted to Wikileaks. I would say this was a pretty rotten thing to do, but the perpetrators claim they did it to prove that Palin has been using her private e-mail to circumvent recordkeeping laws about government business. If that's true, then perhaps this needed to happen.
.... [Click here to read the rest of this post]Tags: Account Security, Congress, Hacking, Onstar, Sarah PalinNew York Second State Dumb Enough to Put RFID In Licenses
The optional license will include a picture and radio frequency identification tag that can be scanned to verify a person's identity. The tag will not contain any personal information - only an assigned number, authorities said. How reassuring. So they .... [Click here to read the rest of this post]
Tags: Driver's License, New York, RFIDChild Predators Shifting to Blackmail
It seems that online predators are getting tired of savvy kids that know better than to be lured (or they're just getting lazy/impatient). Either way, one police group is warning that predators are shifting to a strategy of blackmail instead.
As always, be aware of what your kids are doing online and know who their friends are. Make sure .... [Click here to read the rest of this post]
Tags: Families, Internet, Kids, PoliceFBI Using Fuzzy Math to Promote DNA Accuracy?
DNA might not be as strong evidence as you've been led to believe.
.... [Click here to read the rest of this post]Tags: Consequences, DNA, If You Only KnewHow to Watch TV Shows For Free Legally
Here's an article listing (and rating) the various ways to watch download/watch TV legally.
.... [Click here to read the rest of this post]Tags: Streaming TVSimple Fruit Fly Deathtrap
On Lifehacker today: the fruitfly deathtrap! This is brilliant. Using only a cup, some vinegar, and a folded piece of paper, you can lure and destroy all the fruit flies in your house.
.... [Click here to read the rest of this post]Tags: Fruit FliesInsult to Injury: Countrywide Data Breach Affects Millions
It isn't bad enough that Countrywide was engaging in questionable loan practices , but now they've lost the data on millions of customers as well.
And, as usual, the completely worthless response:
The company nevertheless promised to provide two years of free credit monitoring to affected individuals through the ConsumerInfo.com division of the Experian credit bureau. NSA Cryptokids Get a Taste of Privacy Invasion
The NSA has been working on their public image and trying to market itself as a cool place to work partially with their "Cryptokids" campaign. Their goal is to teach kids about what the NSA does in a fun, kid-friendly way.
But that's not what I'm posting about.
I ran across this interesting comic about the unpopular little-know .... [Click here to read the rest of this post]
Tags: Big Brother, Cryptokids, NSAHow to use Paypal Safely
This isn't going to be an exhaustive write-up about Paypal and the various trouble you can get into with it. Instead, I'm going to talk about one very important part of the system that most people should know how to deal with.
Specifically, the direct bank access.
When you sign up for Paypal, they ask for your bank .... [Click here to read the rest of this post]
Tags: PayPal