Combining services to create synergy

Using services like cloud storage can add many benefits to you or your company. It allows you to store a number of files on another server, where you can access those files at any given time and from any computer or device that can connect to the Internet. Services such as Amazon Cloud Storage and SugarSync, offer a free starting storage of 5 GB. For most people, this is more than enough to hold their documents, but pictures and music may be another story. What I have found, is that cloud storage such as Google Drive (5 GB) and Microsoft SkyDrive (7 GB) are the best place to hold my Google Docs and Office documents, respectively. Cloud storage such as DropBox (2 GB) and SugarSync (5 GB) can be used to hold other files such as music and pictures. You could even go as far as keeping only pictures on DropBox, while music is located on SugarSync's cloud storage servers. These services can also be expanded for free, DropBox offers a max of 18 GB for free, for referring additional friends to use the service (500 MB per referral). You can also gain additional storage by signing up for other offers, such as Netflix. Below is a table that shows popular cloud services, the amount of free storage they offer, and the minimum/maximum data available for users who would like to pay for more space.

The biggest concern with cloud storage is security. It may have you wondering "who can see my data that is on the cloud?" DropBox has claimed that they do encrypt your data, but they are also able to decrypt, or review, the data at any time. This has created a lot of concern by consumers for services, like cloud storage. One way to combat this, however, is to use a product that was not meant for use on the cloud, but certainly can be; that product is TrueCrypt. TrueCrypt is defined, via their website, as "free open-source on-the-fly disk encryption." It is a tool that allows the user to create encrypted files or container/folders of files. It is similar to creating a password protected .zip file, but offers more than just that. TrueCrypt allows you to create a folder (within a cloud storage service, such as DropBox) so that only those with the password, can view what the volume contains in your cloud folder. TrueCrypt also allows for customization of your encryption, meaning you can use different algorithms like AES, Serpent, Twofish and 5 combinations of these algorithms. You can also use TrueCrypt on your personal computer to encrypt the entire hard disk, so that a password is required to boot.

CR

Sources: http://lifehacker.com/5794486/how-to-add-a-second-layer-of-encryption-to-dropbox
All table data was taken directly from websites on 10/10/2012.

There's an app for that!

As an iPhone user, I'm always looking fot that cool new app. I've come to realize there are apps for just about anything you could imagine. I anticipate that with the creation of passbook on iOS 6, that more and more companies are going to develop apps for their customers that have coupons stored in passbook, tickets for concerts or sporting events, or  customer loyalty programs. This is yet another convenient way to use your iPhone (and stop carrying around papers). While looking online for new app reviews, I can across a list for the "The New Top 100 iPhone apps" on a site called http://www.blogtrepreneur.com. I was highly skeptical that any of the apps that were listed would be all that great. However, what I found surprised me. I would just like to highlight a few of the apps that I have found off the list and give a few features of each.

1. CamCard

With the CamCard app, all you have to do is take a picture of a business card with your iPhone, and the app will sort all of the information on the business card into a contact on your phone. Pretty cool, huh? Good bye to the days of the Roll-A-Dex and business cards cluttering up your wallet.This app could get a lot of use after a long day at the career fair.  This app does cost $2.99 for the full version, however, a lite version is available for free.
CamCard

2. Expensify

This app is aimed at eliminating paper receipts to keep track of. Expensify can be synced up with your credit cards and provide you with an e-receipt and track your purchases. Receipts from cash sales can also be tracked as well. This can be done by taking a picture of the receipt (the same method as in CamCard) and the app will document your receipt. You no longer have to spend countless hours looking for that all important receipt! This app is free from the Apple App Store.
Expensify

3. Flight Track

This app might only apply to those that travel often, however, it could end up being pretty useful. This app will provide you with real-time updates on departure times, arrival times and even show the progress of your flight while you're in the air. Flight Track also has international coverage so you can use it in your travels abroad. This app sells for $6.49 from the Apple App Store.
Flight Track

4. Aroundme

Aroundme will help you find restaurants, gas stations, hotels, places of entertainment, and supermarkets that are around your current location. This could be very useful if you ever find yourself on a business trip and are looking for places to eat or catch a movie without traveling too far. Aroundme is free from the app store.
Aroundme

5. Find Your Car

If you're like me, sometimes you forget where you parked your car. This app will solve that problem. Just open the app once you park your car and save the location. Now if you can't remember where you parked, just open the app and it will show you where it is. Just remember, this app does not use the GPS in your car, so if it gets towed or stolen, you're out of luck. This app is also free in the app store.
Find Your Car

These are just a few of the apps that I found interesting from this list. There are 95 more that may interest you. You can see at 100 at Top 100 iPhone apps.

-Curt R

Spam vs Your Inbox: The Battle Continues

A friend of mine just let me in on two great tricks that can assist in creating a "spam-free" environment for your inbox.

~ Find the culprit:

When giving out your email address to a company for promotional purposes, there is a way to find out whether that company is selling your information resulting in spam mail. When you give the email to the company, add a plus symbol and something that will remind you of who the company is. For example, if you fill out a promotional card for Pita Pit, you would give them the following email:

JohnDoe+famous@gmail.com      

(original email: JohnDoe@gmail.com)

Adding the plus sign does not affect the sending capabilities, it just creates a flag for you. Now, if you receive spam to your email, and the sender has the adjusted email address as the recipient, you know who sold or handed out your information.

~ Find out if a spam bot is sending emails (from "you") to your contacts list:

Create a dummy contact (SomeFakeEmail@whatever.com) and send them an email. You will receive an email from your email provider saying the message was undeliverable. (If you are using a gmail account, you may receive the undeliverable notification up to three times because they will try to send out the email once a day for three days.) 

Make sure the fake email is added as a contact on your email's address book. Now, if you receive an undeliverable email in the future you will know that something someone has sent an email to ALL of your contacts, including the contact that you have already established is an undeliverable address.

DN

Internet Hoaxes on the Rise

We've all seen them. The innocent reference to the newest current event posted on your friend's Facebook feed or in a tweet from a co-worker. Sometimes it's faster to find out the latest news tidbit via the dynamic, ever-changing social networking web. In fact, news related posts have a way of going completely viral on the internet. Unfortunately, it spreads so quickly that they aren't always thoroughly filtered and researched by the individuals re-posting the story, if any scrutiny is given at all. These fabricated stories are internet hoaxes, and although they have been around for a while, I noticed they seem to become more predominant as social networking sites gain credibility as a viable news source.

An internet hoax is a lie that has been fabricated by someone who knows it is untrue when they decide to spread the false information. The technical definition of an internet hoax is “to deceive or trick people into believing or accepting something which the hoaxer (the person or group creating the hoax) knows is false.” 

Here are a few that you may have seen in your latest feeds:

• Samsung paid Apple $1 billion dollar fine in coins

This hoax originated on August 27th, where is was posted on Spanish site, El Deforma. The story was was soon re-published in English on various other humor satirical websites, before finally escaping its satirical origins and making its way around the Internet via blogs and various social media. 
 

• Morgan Freeman is dead

He is indeed alive and well. Although the latest death hoax for Morgan started in August of 2012, this isn’t the first time he has been a victim. In December 2010, he was said to have died in his Burbank home. Other actors death hoaxes: Robert Duvall has died after falling from a cliff while filming in New Zealand, Adam Sandler dies in snowboarding accident, Bill Nye “Science Guy”, WWE Wrestling star The Undertaker, Tom Kenny Voice of Sponge Bob, Bill Cosby, Tony Danza, Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Eddie Murphy and others. I'd like to note that many of these individuals allegedly "died" on the same New Zealand cliff. Climbers beware!

 

• Heineken supports dog fighting

The photo that has been circulated on Facebook has been taken out of context. The signs were left at a club location in Mongolia from a previous event and the club was not open for public business when the dog fighting was taking place. Furthermore, Heineken has now ceased its relationship with the club entirely and taken steps to ensure that its products will never be sold there again.

• The Tree Octopus

This brings us full circle to one of the original internet hoaxes: The Tree Octopus. This hypothetical creature was invented by Lyle Zapato, a Washington-based author and Web publisher, in 1998. He created an Internet hoax website to draw people's attention and is often used by instructors for students to learn to think more objectively and not believe all that they find on the web.

 

After reading these, you may be asking yourself the same question: Why?

Unlike a scammer, whose efforts may be rewarded in the form of stolen funds or stolen identities, a hoax writer does not stand to reap a tangible reward. Hoaxsters have motives that are less transparent. These people may attract a sense of power or cheap thrill when they see how many times their hoax has been forwarded or “liked” by viewers. By making up a celebrity death, the hoaxer may suddenly use the celebrities’ popularity to attract people to their malicious attack pages. They may also feel "successful" by their own twisted standards by how many people they are able to trick into believing the story they have woven. Many hoaxers use it as a venting of anger against a society they resent.

 How can you help?

The best step we can take as responsible internet users is to not further agitate the situation or enable the internet hoaxer by refusing to feed into the hype and spread the lies. Overall, the main lesson to gain from the deliberate deception is that you should never re-post, share or display information that has not been proven to be true. As we learn in school, research the information, know your sources and be prepared to cite them. 

DN


Images and hoax details were obtained from the following sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_hoax
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/celebritydeaths.asp
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/latest-information.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/tree-octopus-facts.html
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/