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  Geebo 12:51 pm on December 12, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: apps ( 15 ), banking ( 3 ), finance, spending   

  How traffic light colors helped people from overspending 

  

  An east coast based bank reportedly installed a simple feature on their app to keep their customers from overspending. The bank simply put in different colored notifications that would indicate how your spending compared to the previous month. Using the simple red, yellow and green combinations the app has allowed hundreds of thousands of customers to reduce their overall spending.

  This is something that more banks should probably look into, not just for protection of their customers but for better business as well. The less that customers spend from their bank accounts the more assets banks have to lend with the potential of greater profits.

  Whoever thought that all it would take were three simple colors that we’ve recognized since a young age that mean go, caution and stop?

   

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  Geebo 10:51 am on December 9, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Facebook ( 182 ), pyramid scheme ( 13 ), Scams ( 1,656 ), wine   

  ‘Tis the season to get scammed on Facebook 

  

  With Christmas fast approaching the scam artists have come out in full force, and where better to scam someone then where fake news rules supreme. In case you’re wondering, I mean Facebook.

  Reports are coming in about secret gift exchanges, such as the ‘Secret Wine Bottle Exchange’. In this particular Facebook post the poster asks for 6 to 36 wine lovers to buy a bottle of wine and send it to someone on the gift exchange list. Then your guaranteed to receive 6 to 36 bottles of wine yourself. While not quite on the level of Bernie Madoff, this is nothing more than a pyramid scheme. Once the person at the top of the pyramid receives their 6 to 36 bottles of wine, they have their ill-gotten booty and the rest of the pyramid is left holding the wineskin. For pyramid schemes to work you have to keep recruiting more and more participants. Eventually it becomes increasingly difficult to recruit more people and the lower tiers of the pyramid are left empty-handed while the top levels have already abandoned this set of marks and have moved on to something new.

  It’s not just wine exchanged though. These scams could appear with a myriad of titles, most referring to some type of ‘secret’ gift exchange promising you unreal returns. If you see someone on your Facebook feed sharing these posts you may want to politely let them know that they’re being scammed.

  While Christmas is a time for sharing and giving, it’s also the most wonderful time of the year for scammers and con artists as they love to prey on people’s spirit of generosity during this season.
   
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  Geebo 1:07 pm on December 8, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: car theft ( 4 ), cars ( 13 ), grand theft auto, security ( 46 ), technology ( 7 )   

  New device could make anyone a car thief 

  

  Before cars became mostly electronic and computerized it took a skilled thief to steal or break into a locked car. Only a select few had the talent to be able to pick the lock or use a slim jim to gain access to the inside of a car without breaking the window. Then if they wanted to steal the car, in most case they had a tool that would pull off the ignition and they’d be able to start the car with a screwdriver. Now, the more electronic a car becomes the more points of failure it has when it comes to auto theft.

  If you have a car that either opens the car or can be started remotely there’s a pretty big chance that it could be stolen by just about anybody. Investigative reports have determined that there is a device used among thieves that relies heavily on your cars wireless remote features. For example if you lock your car using the wireless key fob that came with it, this new device can clone the wireless frequency your car uses then replicate it to gain access to your car’s doors and ignition.

  So outside of buying a car that predates these electronics what can you do to protect your car from being stolen this way? While many of these cars use sophisticated electronics many of them still use old-fashioned keys. Rely more on the physical keys themselves when locking or unlocking the car and the criminals have a less of a chance of cloning your signal.

  The odds that this device will be used around your car are slim but it’s better to be prepared than to have to deal with an insurance company over stolen car.
   
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  Geebo 11:04 am on December 7, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Broxu, internet explorer, malware ( 28 ), Stegano   

  New malware attacks millions of Internet Explorer users 

  

  A new form of malware has infected millions of users of the Internet Explorer browser. The malware uses flaws in Explorer along with Adobe Flash in order to gain access to the user’s email passwords through keylogging and taking screen shots.

  The malware, called Stegano, infects users through an ad for something called ‘Browser Defense’ of ‘Broxu’. You don’t even have to click on the ad for your computer to become infected if you are using Explorer.

  In case you were wondering this story is actually from 2016 and not 2002. So in this day and age why are people still using Internet Explorer? Microsoft doesn’t even want you to use Explorer anymore as they have replaced it with the Edge browser as of Windows 10. Explorer has been notorious for being insecure for many years.

  Instead of using Explorer, try using one of the many alternate browsers like Firefox and Chrome. Both of these browsers have plugins that can not only block ads, which is where a lot of malware comes from, they can also block Flash, whose security flaws are also well-known.

  And if it’s your parents or grandma who are still using Explorer use this little trick to make them think they’re still using Explorer while keeping them safe.

   
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  Geebo 10:56 am on December 6, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon ( 114 ), Amazon Go ( 8 ), retail ( 49 ), shoplifting ( 2 ), shrinkage ( 2 ), theft ( 6 )   

  Amazon to unveil store without cashiers 

  

  Recently, online retail monolith Amazon announced that they were opening a new brick and mortar store that would have no cashiers or check out lines. The store, called Amazon Go, touts itself as a high-tech store that uses several different technologies in order to determine what you’ve purchased and how to charge your Amazon account for it.

  Amazon’s announcement made quite a splash in the recent news cycle, but with all the articles that have been written about it there’s one problem that has yet to be addressed, theft, or as they call it in the retail space, shrinkage. When someone develops a new and innovative system of commerce at anytime there are always going to be people looking to beat the system. Amazon Go sounds like it relies heavily on the honor system but as the saying goes there is no honor among thieves.

  With this new proposed concept by Amazon, cashiers may be seen as the proverbial buggy whip manufacturers, however they do serve a purpose beyond just checking and bagging our groceries. Just by their presence they act as a line of defense to discourage many people from just walking out of the store with a cart full of groceries that they didn’t pay for.

  Maybe Amazon has already addressed this issue internally, but by not discussing it publicly it seems that they are almost daring a battalion of five-finger discount practitioners to make Amazon Go a target.

  Amazon’s store without people will have people | Greg's Corner is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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  Geebo 10:51 am on December 5, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: downloads, Netflix ( 15 ), streaming ( 10 )   

  Netflix now allows offline viewing. What this means for you. 

  

  Content streaming behemoth Netflix recently announced that they were allowing the downloading of videos for offline viewing. This is great for people who have long public transportation commutes or who or about to take a long trip. However, and there’s always a however, this is not an option for all devices.

  So far, Netflix is only allowing downloading on mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets. When you log into Netflix on these devices you should see an option for downloading select videos to your device. I personally tried this on my mid-range Android phone and it worked like a charm. Apple’s iOS is also supported as well.

  Unfortunately, laptops are not considered a mobile device by Netflix. When I logged in to both the Netflix website and the Windows Store Netflix app there were no download options. While this would be a great feature for users with less than optimal vision, it’s an understandable step to combat online piracy.

  Another minor drawback is that the downloaded video can not be viewed in 4K resolution. While this is negligible for most users there is a hardcore base of fans who want to view all content in 4K.

  Who this feature will be a huge boon too will be parents, especially with the holidays approaching. This will allow parents to load a plethora of content to their mobile device and allow their kids to watch as much content to keep them occupied for the entire trip without having to drain their data connection limits.

  While Amazon Video has had this feature for a while, it’s Netflix that everyone flocks to.

   
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  Geebo 12:58 pm on December 2, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Archive.Org, Canada ( 3 ), Donald Trump ( 13 ), Internet Archive, surveillance ( 2 )   

  Archive.org heading to Canada over Trump concerns 

  

  (Disclaimer: This post is not intended to espouse one political party over the other)

  A number of us are familiar with the Internet Archive at Archive.Org. It’s where we go to see what websites looked like in the early days of the internet thanks to their Wayback Machine.The Archive is so much more than that though as according to Wikipedia, “It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including web sites, software applications/games, music, movies/videos, moving images, and nearly three million public-domain books.” It can almost be considered a public service to the whole of the internet.

  Recently, the curators of the Archive made their intentions known that they plan to create a new backup center in Canada. Normally this is just good security to have all their data backed up in off site storage, however that’s not the main reason as to why they’re backing up north of the border. According to reports, the digital library said they were using a Canadian site for backup over fears of surveillance during the upcoming Donald Trump presidency.

  “On November 9 in America, we woke up to a new administration promising radical change. It was a firm reminder that institutions like ours, built for the long term, need to design for change,” said a blog post from Brewster Kahle, founder and digital librarian at the organization.

  While the Internet Archive is a private entity and are free to back up their data anywhere they see fit , to some this may seem like a sour grapes move after the election didn’t go the way they may have wished. For example, one of the biggest and most sweeping surveillance programs in US history, PRISM, took place under the Obama administration, yet there were no massive tech runs to the border at that time. Sadly, this sounds an awful lot like all those people who claimed that they were moving to Canada if Trump won the election, but again there are no massive rushes to the northern border.

  While President-Elect Trump may want to put some surveillance program in place that are reminiscent of the McCarthy era, he still has an uphill battle as far as enacting any of his supposed Bond Villain-like plans. Not only will the Democrats in Congress oppose him at every turn but he has also disenfranchised many within the GOP. While the outlook may indeed appear bleak to many, there is no guarantee of dystopia.

   
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  Geebo 10:56 am on December 1, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Facebook ( 182 ), fake news ( 12 ), politics ( 16 )   

  Fake news is a problem, but is it Facebook’s problem? 

  

  A lot has been made about Facebook and its problem with fake news articles appearing on its social network. We even started discussing this back in August. Ever since Facebook eliminated its human curation staff the site seems to have flooded over night with fake or misleading headlines.

  In a blog post on Quartz, they discuss a study that shows that a majority of traffic to these fake, or what they call hyperpartisan news sites, comes from Facebook. As you may have surmised, hyperpartisan news sites are specifically designed to garner traffic from members of whatever political party they tend to represent For example, a site called ‘Occupy Democrats’ gets almost 80% of traffic from Facebook alone while the New York times only gets 11%.

  While Facebook’s former curation team would have prevented stories like this from ending up in their trending topics, it’s ultimately up to the Facebook user who shares and spreads this disinformation or hyperbole. Again, there are too many people on Facebook and the internet in general, who are too eager to share articles that reinforce their confirmation bias no matter how outlandish the premise of the story may be.

  While Facebook’s fake news quandary is indeed a problem, ultimately it’s not really Facebook’s problem. As a wise man once said “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
   
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  Geebo 11:11 am on November 30, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Cable ( 5 ), cord cutting ( 4 ), government ( 2 ), Netflix ( 15 ), taxes ( 9 )   

  Some towns considering a Netflix tax 

  

  Did you ever notice that when it comes to cable options you’re pretty limited to one cable company in your area? That’s because municipalities usually enter into exclusivity arrangements with cable companies. This is why one town can have Comcast while the next town over could have Time Warner or Cox. Of course these agreements can be financial boons for many cities.

  These exclusivity agreements have been going on since the advent of cable TV. This lack of competition is also why cable companies feel they can charge outrageous monthly fees for a ton of channels that you will hardly ever use. Fast forward to today and the landscape of paid entertainment content has vastly changed. Services like Netflix have led many former cable customers to cut the cord. This means that many cities and towns aren’t getting the same financial benefit since cable subscriptions are down. In order to make up the lost revenue many municipalities are considering a ‘Netflix tax’.

  Glendale, Santa Barbara, Stockton, and Sacramento are among the more than 40 California cities who are currently seeking guidance from municipal consultants as to how they might implement a Netflix tax.

  Unfortunately it’s the regional monopolies that these cities have created for the cable companies that has led to the cord cutting movement. Monopolies breed complacency while competition breeds innovation and lower prices. Basically these cities are considering taxing the solution to the problem they caused. If that’s not governmental bureaucracy in a nutshell I don’t know what is.

   
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  Geebo 11:57 am on November 29, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Black Friday ( 8 ), consumers ( 5 ), Cyber Monday ( 2 ), online shopping ( 41 ), shopping ( 4 )   

  More consumers sat out Black Friday this year, opting for online shopping 

  

  It seems that a number people took our advice, as a record number of people decided to sit out the Black Friday drama in brick and mortar stores this year. According to several financial indicators, more people decided to shop online during Black Friday than years past, with a record amount being spent just from mobile devices alone.

  Just purely based on anecdotal evidence it sure did feel like a different Black Friday from years past. As near as we can tell there weren’t the same number of soul crushing stories about consumerism turned violent as there have been in years past. Let’s not forget than when the term Black Friday was first coined it was not meant as a compliment but as a harbinger of doom.

  This isn’t to say that brick and mortar stores don’t have their uses. I’m sure most of us have been in that situation where we needed an emergency item at 3 in the morning. Until automated online retailers can teleport orders to consumers instantly, the brick and mortar stores will still be needed, however there are options now available to keep people from committing heinous acts in the name of holiday savings.