More Computer Security - Why? Because It's Important!

Hi All,

I just came across an interesting New York Times article on the web titled, 'How Many Times Has Your Personal Information Been Exposed To Hackers?'

Indeed...using the interactive features on the site, readers can find out how many times your information has been exposed to hackers in categories like:

address information,
birthday,
credit/debit card,
email,
employment history,
financial history,
fingerprints,
health history,
password,
phone number,
social security number

Users are asked to answer basic questions and check off which of the various services they used - then the numbers in the various categories change based on which the user checks off.

The United States Government, AOL, Ebay, Twitter, Anthem, Kmart, Home Depot, Target and UPS are among the larger companies listed in the article as to whether or no users had any affiliation to the organization.

The article goes on to explain what readers should do now, why this keeps happening to websites and how you can protect yourself in the future....

Click on these links to learn more about how you can protect yourself online so you are less likely to become hacked, spoofed or have your identity compromised.

Online Safety - USA.gov
Tips For Online Safety
Secure Your Computer
FCC - How to Protect Yourself Online
FBI - How to Protect Your Computer
US Department of Justice - Protecting Yourself While Using the Internet

Hope the links help protect you while you are online!

Regards,
Stu

Thoughts on Websites

Hi All,

What do Yahoo!, Google, Amazon.com, About.com, Bartleby.com, Google Groups, Google News, CNN, Ebay and Download.com have in common?

And you can't even use the title of this blog post to help you since I purposely tried to make it vague and 'confusing'.  Give up? 


Well, these are the 'Top 10 Best Websites' according to a website called 100bestwebsites.org. Click on the link to visit the site. Some of the sites on the list you might be familiar with and others you might not have heard of, but one thing you'll realize: this is a very eclectic and varied list!  Happy searching!

And while the top 10 on the list aren't much of a surprise, 11-20 include the following: Craigslist, Reference.com, Wikipedia, Beliefnet. Anywho, Weather, Search.com, Hotmail, NIH and CNET round out the top 20.  Personally I was surprised to see Beliefnet and NIH in the top 20.

What about the bottom 10 you ask? Interesting question and the bottom tenth of the list is filled with sites as varied as Classical.net, Blogger, NYTimes.com, Earthcam,com, BBB.org, Intelihealth, LiveJournal, BBC Faith, ArtsJournal, TicketMaster and Gutenberg.net.  Surprises?  You bet.  Have I visited all of these sites? Nope - but the list is definitely interesting for those who want to visit popular sites that they haven't visited before. 

BTW, 1-2 sentence summaries of each site is included on the list.  Neat way to learn about sites you've never heard of before. 

100BestWebsites.org is updated frequently and there is no registration required.  The site is free and they don't accept compensation from any of the sites listed.  Click on this link to learn about their 21 criteria to judge website quality.  Again, interesting stuff, but you'll probaby want to to explore various websites first...like #35 Sciam.com (Scientific American), or #56 ArtForum or #77 (Pogo - games)...

One beef I have with the site...no pictures and the sites should be organized by subject.

Enjoy and go forth and search, search, search!

Regards,
Stu

Buying Stuff Online - and Saving Money

Hi All,

Back again trying to save you some money (aka cash, moolah, greenbacks, dinero!)

Click here for a site called Ben's Bargains - its basically like Groupon - but different.  These are internet deals - often short-lived - on merchandise like computer equipment, cameras, small appliances, apparel and other items. Users have the option to 'Watch This Deal', share the information about the product to other folks using email, Facebook or Twitter. 

Users can also find a price history of the item in question.  Price history can go as far back as mid 2011 in some cases.  Your 'mileage' may vary based on the product that you are looking at.  Very interesting feature on the site.

Ben's Bargains also has a link to specific merchants like Amazon, Dell, Ebay, OfficeMax and Sony.  Their forum section has more subjects like Hot Deals, Freebies and of course, Reviews. Users have the option to create an account with a username/password as well.

Another good site for saving money on 'stuff' is Froogle. Site is also known as Google Product Search and you can find product categories DVD's, computer games, furniture (indoor and outdoor), household goods, cleaning supplies, tools, sewing machines, refrigerators and much, much more...

Reviews are included as are prices from multiple stores  that have the item. Seller ratings are also available as are maps and distance to the store.

Enjoy the sites and I hope you save money!

Regards,
Stu

Antiques - There is Much More Than Ebay....

Hi all,

Just wanted to remind everybody that with regard to antiques and collectibles...there is much more to the world of antiques and collectibles than just Ebay!

For example, if you click on this link from 'The Open Directory', you'll find dozens of categories and subjects for antiques and collectibles. Some of the more popular links are bicycles, books, coins, dolls, glassware, photography, radio, stamps and toys among many others.

Click here for the Open Directory link to the generic (and not in a negative way) term 'auctions'. You'll find many, many links to auction websites and/or auction related businesses....

Finally, click on this link and you'll find a Google search for 'auction bidding sites'. Notice that the first auction site discusses basic bidding strategy - from Auctus Development.

Click on this link for a discussion of Live Auction Bidding Strategies from ehow's Money section.

Click on this link for some auction bidding strategies - interesting article - but it isn't very reader friendly.

So there you have it - some auction information that should make our future auctions more enjoyable and result in more successful bids for you!

Regards,
Stu

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Ebay - Sniping

Hi All,


Looking back at a few of the more read posted led me to this fact: my readers are really interested in Ebay and auctions.


As a result...here is another blog entry regarding auctions - and not just Ebay since I don't want to seem biased toward it.


I suspect that many readers who have used Ebay and other auction sites have lost out on a particular item by seconds.


One way around this is to use a 'snipe' service which literally waits until the last second or two to send a bid to the auction house. By sending a bid at the 'last possible' moment, the user is preventing another, higher, bid from coming in and causing the first bidder to lose the auction.


There are a few free online services that are available for this type of bidding. One of which is called Gixen. Click here to visit the site. Gixen users don't have to download any software and the service is good for an unlimited number of snipes...


Another auction bidding site is called AuctionSniper and can be visited by clicking on this link. AuctionSniper has a link for users so they can see a video of how the service actually works. Click here for that link.


Finally, click on this link from wikiHow to see an article on 'How To Snipe on Ebay'. Why this site and not another auction bidding site? Because I didn't want to be redundant and make the blog post just a list of auction bidding sites. Besides, users can just click on this link to see the search 'ebay sniping' that I did to generate the results for the first two bidding sites I mentioned.


So, good luck bidding and I hope all your auctions are winners!


Regards,

Stu



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Auction Info 101 - Not Just Ebay

Hi All,

Lots of home owners have attics. And lots of folks use these attics as well, storage and for 'stuff' that doesn't fit in all the closets of the house proper. Imagine all that 'stuff' up in the attic - baby furniture, old suitcases, lamps, tools, wedding dresses perhaps or old pet toys...

But if you click on this link, you'll see how looking in an attic just made two siblings in London quite wealthy - to the tune of $60+ million. Now, I'm not saying that everybody will find something like this rare antique in their attic, but you might just find something that you can get rid of - and sell on Ebay or at an auction house.

Click here for the most important online auction site in the world - Ebay.com. Click on this Help link to find more information on the bidding/buying process, payment/shipping, selling/seller fees at Ebay. The site is very, very easy to use and the explanations are clear and concise.

For those Ebay users who seem to lose auctions by the millisecond, click on this link to AuctionSniper which lets users bid at the last second of an auction - automatically. Presumably by bidding at the last second, users will win more auctions! Note that there is a free trial available but eventually you'll have to pay for the service. I am not endorsing this service however...

Click here to see some of the wonderful auctions at a world renowned auctioneer: Christie's

Click here to view another fantastic auction house: Sotheby's

Click on the following link if you are interested in a brief history of auctions . The link came from the Bay Area Auction Realty.

For more about the history of auctions, click here for the Wikipedia entry for auctions - which is pretty comprehensive and totally interesting.

Finally, I can't help but promote the library, but we have many, many books on antiques and collecting. Anybody who is interested in this hobby would be wise to learn about it before they start collecting seriously. Click here for a link to the card catalog 0n the topic of antiques at the Farmingdale Public Library.

Happy antiquing and collecting.
Stu

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