Another Clean Up Entry

Hi All,

Periodically I graze through my Firefox bookmarks and decide to generate a 'clean up blog entry' wherein I list sites that are interesting, but probably don't warrant a whole blog entry devoted to the particular site.  Today is another one of those entries...enjoy the links.  Its a bakers dozen list - there are 13 sites...

National Geographic Photo of the Day - great nature sites

Five Websites That Turn Your Used Electronics Into Money - courtesy of CNET.com

National Security Archive - from George Washington University

Financial Calculators  

Total Number of Websites - Internet Live Stats

Rantings of a Civil War Historican - My Top 12 Civil War Books

The Scientific 7 Minutes Workout - New York Times link from 2013...

WannaLearn.com

Population Clock - from the US Census

Symptom Checker from the Mayo Clinic

6 Links That Will Show You What Google Knows About You - privacy?  what privacy.

The Daily Meal: #1 for Restaurants, Recipes, and Drinks

The Quest to Unlock and Ancient Library - article from the New Yorker in 2015

Regards,
Stu

Gizmo's Freeware

Hi All,

If users want to review and rate the best free software a good site to visit would be Gizmo's Freeware. 

Click on this 'About' link to learn more about Gizmo's Freeware....note that the site is composed of a non-commercial community of users and the site is staffed by volunteers.

The site has links for freeware on a multitude of topics including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Online Apps, eBooks and Resources.

For example, when a user chooses the Windows option listed above another page of options appears.  All Windows desktop freeware is listed by category.  Some of the more relevant categories include Audio & Video, Cleanup & Tuning, Disk & File, Games, Photos & Graphics and Security & Privacy.

Another click on the topic that is needed brings the user to another page.  This page has a narrative about the specific freeware in question.  Note that a time stamp is included in the article.  In addition, the author of the article is listed. The site gives users the ability to track particular author's articles - and view them.

The site is much different than PCWorld or Cnet since its focuses completely on freeware.  The other sites deal with news, video, How-To and have software downloads...

Enjoy the links!

Regards,
Stu

Have I Been Pwned?

Hi All,

Yet another computer/technology/internet related blog entry. A short one to be sure...but its valuable and helpful.

Have you been pwned?  Check to see if you have an account that has been compromised in a data breach. 

Just enter your email address or your username and a new page comes up telling you whether or not you're email has been compromised. 

Users can get notified with updates about future pwnings...

The site has a list of the top 10 breaches.  The first three on the list (MySpace, LinkedIn and Adobe) have a total of over 676 million accounts compromised.  That's more than twice the population of the United States!!!

In any event, click on this link which explains the 'background on the who, the what and the why of Have I been pwned?  Basically its a very helpful FAQ for the site.

Okay...so now that you know you've been pwned...how do you protect yourself?  Click on the next several links that will help you after you've been pwned.

10 Steps to Protect Yourself From Data Breaches - CreditCards.com

How to Deal with a Security Breach? - Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

Worried About Data Breaches? 7 Steps to Protect Yourself - Forbes.com

More About How to Protect Yourself From Data Breaches - FDIC.gov
 
5 Ways to Protect Yourself From Data Breaches - USAToday.com

Enjoy the site - and I hope you don't have to use the other 5 links to fix a data breach problem!

Regards,

Stu

Scams, Fraud and Scheme's: A How-To Avoid Them

Hi All,

I just found a very helpful site on the web from the Federal Trade Commission.  The previous link is for the Consumer Information section of the site - which is tremendously valuable to consumers - trust me...you'll see why in a minute.

There are other links on the site with information on Money & Credit, Homes & Mortgages, Health & Fitness, Jobs & Making Money, Privacy & Identity, Blog, and Video & Media.

The FTC homepage has a rotating set of highly relevant consumer videos and links when you visit the site: topics include: Hijacked Computer? What To Do, IRS Imposter Scams, Checking Your Credit Report and Cobradores De Dueda (Scams Targeting the Latino Community information).
 
The section of the site that I want to discuss in detail is the Privacy and Identity section.  When you click on the Privacy and Identity section you have a bunch of options: Limiting Unwanted Calls and Emails, Computer Security, Kids' Online Safety, Protecting Your Identity and Repairing Identity Theft.  Click on any of the prior links to go to that particular subject.

The section on Protecting You Identity discusses Active Duty Alerts, Credit Freezes, Financial Readiness,  Keeping Your Personal Information Secure, Identity Theft Protection Services and a link to Signs of Identity Theft.

As is usual for many federal government websites, there is a search box at the top right side of the page on all pages on the website.  The site is available in Spanish as well.

There are also links on the page for Related Items, the FTC Privacy Policy, About the FTC and links to Contact the FTC. Users can stay connected with the FTC by getting email updates, viewing the FTC blog feed, using Facebook, YouTube and/or Twitter.

Hopefully you won't need to use the resources on the site - but if you do...I hope they are helpful and easy to use.

Regards,
Stu

What the Sony Corp Hack Means to You?

Hi All,

You might have heard the the Sony Corporation's computers were hacked before November 24th...click here for a brief overview of the event.

Eventually, U.S. officials figured out that North Korea was behind the Sony hack....click here for more information about that part of this event. 

The New York Times also wrote an article about North Korea and how they were behind the Sony computer hack...

Now, besides for reading all the gory, scandalous, behind-the-scenes stories of the hack and the various executives' emails that were strewn across the internet  (for example, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Amy Pascal), there are a bunch of lessons for computer users - both as employees and as regular folk who use computers on a daily basis...

For example,  an article titled, '4 Things Every Single Person Can Learn From the Sony Hack'. Simply put, don't email your passwords, don't open suspicious links in your email, don't email your passwords,, and encrypt your most sensitive data....

Here are some other excellent links to help you protect your privacy, data, email and search history while you use the internet.

Privacy Rights.org - Online Privacy: Using the Internet Safely
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: Children's Online Privacy - A Resource Guide For Parents
PC Magazine - Computer Security Reviews and Prices
Stay Safe Online.org -  Tips and Advice - Stop-Think-Connect on the Web
Palo Alto Medical Foundation - Safety on the Internet
WikiHow - How to Be Safe on the Internet
Hubbard Township - Stay Safe Online

Enjoy your time on the web!

Regards,
Stu

Electronic Medical Records - What You Should Know About Them...

Hi All,

Today I’m going to talk about something you might have heard about in the news, but didn’t quite understand.  Or you might not have heard of the topic – it might just be new to you.  But….if you go for your annual checkup in the next few years, you might be faced with this at that point.  What am I talking about, you ask?

Electronic Medical/Health Records…Click here for a link to Wikipedia.which discusses what Electronic Health Records are – and what they are NOT. This extensive Wikipedia article covers terminology, patient considerations when Electronic Medical/Health Records are implemented, unintended consequences of using EHR, privacy and confidentiality issues and much more.  Click on this link for an article from the New York Times in October 2012. Finally, for a more mainstream explanation of EMR's, click on this link from HealthIT.gov

CNN and Money combined resources a few years back to create a website called CNNMoney. On this website readers can find an insightful article (from 9/16/13)  entitled ‘5 Things To Know About Electronic Health Records’.  

One of the important issues the article discusses is privacy and security with respect to EMR's.  Click on this link from the US Department of Health and Human Services  for an article on 'The Privacy and Security Risks of Electronic vs. Paper Health Records.'  

The other main point of the article '5 Things To Know About Electronic Health Records' is that they can save money. Click on this link from the New York Times for an OpEd piece from March 2012 entitled 'Do Electronic Medical Records Save Money?' 

Finally, readers can follow this link to IHealthBeat.org to read May 2013 article entitled, 'Don't Forget: Electronic Health Records Are Benefiting Patients'. 

So there you have it.  A very quick primer on EMR's and how they will affect you as a consumer and as a patient in the coming years.  Hope this helps - enjoy the links.  And if you have any questions about the post or the links, you can send me email by clicking on this link. 

Regards

Stu