Always Learning. . .

I am always learning something new.  I read all the time; magazines, blogs, books, news feeds, tech websites, even Facebook.  I have found I am always learning something new, especially when it comes to the ever changing world of technology.   My classes have finally finished up for this semester but my education never ends.   Technology is ever changing and we, as consumers of technology, need to stay up to date so we can stay ahead of the bad guys.  

One very simple thing to remember is, if you are shopping and you are going to be entering your credit card information, look for the https:// in your browser window before the web address.  If the https:// is not there you are not on a secure site and your credit card information is not safe.    

Here is another gem I would like to pass along to you.  If you work for a company that supplies you with a computer, phone, or other mobile device you should know that company is well within their rights to know every website you visit and they may even read your emails.   I would also wager they have gps on them so they know where they are at all times.  You may say that is an invasion of privacy and it may very well be but, the company has every right to protect their investment and their proprietary information.   

Shopping Online. . .

On this Techno Tuesday I am going to talk about shopping online and share some cool sites for tech research and shopping.
All of the sites I share with you are sites that have been shared with me by my instructors and or are sites I frequent myself.  What I am trying to say is that they are safe to shop and use as research tools.  I am not getting any kickbacks from any of these sites. 
The first one is called NewEgg.com, this site sells all sorts of tech equipment, computer parts, and whole computers.  It is good to research parts for your computer and compare prices from other places. 
Download.com is another neat site.  They offer all sorts of downloads, some are free and some come with a fee.  They offer a lot of open source software for free. 

Some of these I may have posted before but they are worth posting again.  digikam.org is an open source program that helps keep your photos organized.  I have not used this one but one of my instructors swears by it.  This one is on my list to try because I have so many pictures and need to get them put in some sort of order.

I have not linked these sites in my post but, all you need to do is type them in your browser.   This is another shopping site, tigerdirect.com.  This site has everything from computer and tech equipment to office supplies. 

Email Scams and other Technology Scams

Have you ever gotten a friend request from someone that you are already friends with?  If you have, it was probably a scam.  Let's face it the Internet and all of our wonderful technology has opened up a whole new world for devious, scamming, and underhanded low lifes'.   Today that is what I would like to talk about.
With our great new technology, it is time for us to be just a bit more careful about everything.    There are some that will take the pictures of your friends and then use them to set up fake profiles as that friend on Facebook.  They will send out friend requests and some people will just accept whomever sends them friend requests whether they know the person or not.  Some will not think twice about the fact that they are already friends with that person.  We really need to be more diligent about who we accept friend requests from especially those we think we may have already accepted once before.  
There are always notices out there about the next virus or email scam.   There is a great website you can go to and check these out.  You can also use this website to check out other things too, like urban legends and hoaxes.  Check out www.snopes.com if you think something is a little fishy before you just fall for it.   Remember, not everything you read or hear on the Internet is true.
While I was writing this I went to snopes and they had listed the very Facebook scam I mentioned above.  They listed it as part true and part false.  I will tell you it happened to me with one of my friends from home and I did not friend her a second time and I shot her a private message to check it out.  It was not her that was sending me the second friend request.
Young people want to have the most friends on Facebook so they will friend just about anyone that sends them a request.   They do not look at things they way many older people do.  I am old school, if I do not have a face to face relationship with you I will not friend you on Facebook.  It is nothing personal but I am cautious about my private information.   I want you all to be safe as you enjoy our fabulous technology.   Be diligent about whom your kids are talking to on Facebook too, if they have a Facebook account.  My boys do not have an account and I do not plan on letting them anytime soon.  I just finished one of my criminal law classes and in our text it detailed how pedophiles attract their victims by using Facebook and other social media.  Please be aware of what your kids are doing, after all I have read with my law classes, there are a lot of sick people out there just waiting for their next victim.  It is important as a parent to stay up to date on the latest technology, you need to know at least as much as your kids.
I will be talking more about protecting the kiddos on computers and the Internet next week, so stay tuned.  If you have any questions please post them below, if I do not know the answer I will find it for you.   I do not know everything but I know where to go to get the answers.

Let's Clean up those extra files

Have you ever really looked at your files?  I looked at mine the other day and I realized I had some duplicate files.  I actually had quite a few duplicate files.  Guess what?  There is help to clean that up.  Check out www.auslogics.com  look at their "duplicate file finder."   Remember if I suggest it, that it is safe and more than likely Free.  
Sorry I was late posting today.  Like everyone else I am trying to get all my shopping and wrapping done.  As Christmas is fast approaching my posts may slow down but, please stay tuned because I will get back on track as soon as I can.   

Tech Tuesday. . . Donating Computers. . .

It is great to donate your tech equipment if you are no longer using it.  Donating helps others but do be careful when donating computers and anything that contains your personal information.   The best thing to do is to wipe your hard drive clean.  This merely keeps an honest man honest.  You would not leave your house without locking your doors so, do not donate with out wiping that hard drive. Now when I say wipe I mean electronically wipe it not with a swifter.  There are lots of products that claim to erase files and erase your hard drive, do be careful some do not do all that they claim.
Here is a site to check out,  www.dban.org    This offers a FREE program to delete your hard drive, you know I am all about FREE when it comes to computer programs.  I am also very skeptical too.  The sites that I will recommend here are sites that my instructors have recommended and  I deem safe to use.
 I am always looking for used or old computers to work on so if you have one and would like to get rid of it and are local let me know.   I had one friend donate her old desktop to me to work on and I appreciate it so much.  I need the experience of taking them apart and putting them back together and I might also use them for parts.  Here is a picture of me with a motherboard I was working on in class.  Who knew I was a geek at heart?

Summer School. . .

I am taking one class this summer, a security concepts class.  I got my book and have been looking over it.  Lots of good information.  I have a feeling this summer you may be getting a lot of posts about computer security.  I ended up with 2 A's in my first session.  So very excited, and the more I hear on the news and read in the paper the more I am sure I have picked a great curriculum to study.  
Here is my first tip for my readers;  according to the security gurus, soon any password with fewer than 12 characters will be vulnerable to attacks.  Oh, and for those that like to frequent the coffee shops and use their WiFi, you are opening yourself up for identity theft, viruses, malware, and spyware.  If everyone can access it and use it then everyone can also gain access to your computer too, if they want to.

Classes winding down. . .

I am almost through my first semester in school after almost twenty years.   I have to finish my term paper on pornography for Ethics and take a big test  in both classes.  I wasn't the oldest in my classes but I was darn close.   I have signed up for one online class over the summer in security concepts.  I am only taking a couple of classes per session because I still want to be here for my kiddos.  I know it will take me longer to finish my degree but, that is ok with me.  I am not in a race to finish and I think I might want to do an internship with the police department before I finish.  I am enjoying the challenge of school and learning something new.  There is a lot that I did not know about computers and now I am a little more comfortable working in different aspects of the software and hardware I use.  When I have to upgrade my computer I think I will be smarter about what I need and don't need.  

Back to school . . . cont. . .

I told you earlier that I was going back to school.  I have been taking a basic computer class on campus and an ethics class online.  I am enjoying them both.  The computer class makes me feel old.  I am one of the oldest in the class and feel so in the dark when it comes to technology.  I am embracing that technology though, and learning so much.  Since the ethics class is online, it doesn't make me feel old.  
The past couple of weeks we have been talking about censorship in my ethics class.  I did not realize how much censorship there is around the world.  Some countries completely censor their citizens, and others selectively censor.   As US citizens, we really do have more freedom than any other country in the world.  We should really be more thankful for our freedom and those that fought and died for it.  
I am not only learning about the world in these classes but I am learning a great deal about my self.  I am excited looking forward to what classes I might take next session.  So far I have an A in both my classes this session.  I have written three papers in Ethics and completed four projects in my basic PC class.   Who knew I had that in me?