Archive for the ‘Social Networking’ Category
Friday, April 27th, 2012
RePost: It’s been over a year since this article was first published here on JumpstartMyPC, but the subject matter is still as relevant (if not more) as it was the day it was first posted. If you EVER use public WiFi, you need to read on and take action.
Take a look around you and count the number of portable, WiFi enabled devices that you currently own. Of course, there are obvious choices like your laptop, iPod touch and iPad, but there are a few you might be forgetting. Chances are that your cell phone, portable game system, e-reader (Kindle, Nook, etc.) and netbook are also capable of using WiFi when you need it.
Now ask yourself how many times you have connected to a free WiFi hotspot at a coffee shop, fast food restaurant, book store or other establishment. That number is also the number of times that you have opened yourself up to identity theft. That’s right, using free WiFi could very well be an open door for hackers to spy on your internet activity and steal personal information or even take over your Facebook account.
(more…)
Tags: cyber security, Free WiFi, Hackers, hotspot, https, internet connection, login, Password, personal hotspots, public WiFi, sharing, vpn network, WiFi
Posted in Security, Social Networking | 4 Comments »
Monday, March 5th, 2012
The new social media phenomenon Pinterest has seen an unprecedented rise over the last few months and, based on the numbers, 1 in 5 of the women reading this article are already using the service to collect photos and link to some of their favorite products. Daily users have increased by more than 145% since the start of 2012 and Pinterest is generating more referral traffic to websites than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined (taken from this infographic).
Impressive numbers indeed, but there is one number that you’ll need to prepare yourself for if you plan on using Pinterest any further, one! That’s the number of uninvited guests that it takes to spoil the party and in the case of Pinterest, those uninvited guests are spammers. That’s right, your beloved Pinterest (well, mine too) is starting to deal with it’s first real challenge (other than growing so fast).
Tags: coach, harmful, malicious, photos, Pinterest, scam, scams, Social Media, spam, spammers, starbucks, web of trust
Posted in Security, Social Networking | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Do you feel trapped by your place of work? Is the computer you use every day locked down tighter than the doors on a submarine? Are Facebook and Twitter considered “colorful metaphors” to the IT staff? Well, there may be some relief and a way to get back to the social networking world you desire. Firefox Add-Ons!
I recently went back to work, this time for a very large company with an IT staff dedicated to keeping things on total lock-down so we (the employees) can’t waste time or share corporate secrets via the internet or installed programs. What this meant for me was a return to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer as my one and only browser choice. My first thought was “how bad could it be?”
(more…)
Tags: add-ons, AIM, AMO, computer, Facebook, Firefox, Google Talk, internet access, Internet Explorer, LinkedIn, lock-down, mozamo, Mozilla, Thunderbird, Twitter, work, Yoono, YouTube
Posted in Firefox, Free Programs, Social Networking, Tips and Tricks | No Comments »
Monday, June 28th, 2010
There have been very few game-changers in phones and phone calls since the invention of the cellular phone. Sure, we have more sophisticated devices that rival the PCs of just a few years ago and those devices are capable of storing the phone numbers of our friends and family, but the way two people connect hasn’t been improved by much. If you want to call your friend (let’s call him Troy), you need his number and he needs to be there to answer the call. If Troy isn’t answering, you can leave him a voice mail (which he can check when he gets a chance) or you can send him a text and see if he responds to that message.
In a world where most everyone we communicate with has a cell phone, a work phone, a home phone, an email address, a Facebook page and (sometimes) a Twitter account, “getting in touch” with someone should be easier than ever. Instead, you have to play the guessing game of where to start “looking” for Troy. I think that must have been the issue that Google focused on when they decided to start Google Voice. I was lucky enough to participate in the BETA of Google Voice (for about a year now) and the application/tool is now available for everyone to use.
(more…)
Tags: application, Contacts, FREE, Google, Google Voice, Mobile App, Personalize Greetings, phone number, Screen Callers, SMS to Email, texting, Transcribe, Voice, voice mail
Posted in Free Programs, Social Networking | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
A recent survey by Norton revealed that 44% of people have been “victim of a cybercrime perpetrated via a social network – viruses, online credit fraud, unsolicited pornography, receiving excessive spam and ‘phishing’ e-mails (bogus messages sent by fraudsters posing as banks and other retail companies).” This number is increasing and the users of Facebook are growing more and more vulnerable to attacks from cyber-terrorists. So, as a user of the largest social networking site on the planet, how do you protect yourself? Norton is here to help answer that question with a FREE application called Norton Safe Web (BETA).
“The truth is that the security team at Facebook works hard to counter threats on their site — it’s just that policing 350 million users can’t be an easy job for anyone…” said Graham Cluley (Sophos) in a recent CNET article. That is where Norton Safe Web steps in. The new tool works much like Web of Trust (WOT) and has already been available as an online service for some time. The folks over at Norton have just integrated it into Facebook for the specific purpose of testing your feed for links to unsafe/malicious content. There are some limitations to this new application, but it is a step in the right direction for Facebook users and their computers.
(more…)
Tags: bookmarks, cnet, Facebook, feed, FREE, links, malicious, Norton, pre-scan, pre-scanning, safe, safe web, shortened, test, unsafe, URL, warning
Posted in Free Programs, Social Networking, Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
“Sharing” has to be one of the biggest buzz words of the internet over the last few years. With the introduction of services like email, instant messaging, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and now Google Buzz, people have been provided with the tools for staying in contact with friends and family continuously. These services are used mostly for staying in touch, catching up on recent personal events and chatting but they have also introduced one of the most used functions of our day, sharing. People share photos, videos, links to web sites, links to music, favorite articles… the list goes on forever. “Sharing is the center of the social web.”1
In the beginning, digital sharing was done via email. Attachments were sent and frustrations elevated when emails were not received or “kicked back” because the attachments were too large. Sharing methods have evolved and changed over time and we are now inundated with hundreds of ways to share information with one another. Facebook and Twitter are by far the most popular, but many others have great feature sets and large followings. Only one service pulls them all together seamlessly, ShareThis. That little green button (the trademark of ShareThis) has made it’s way onto 130,000+ sites and reaches over 400 million users per month.
(more…)
Tags: button, email, Facebook, Google, links, share, ShareThis, text, Twitter, web sites, Yahoo
Posted in Firefox, Free Programs, Social Networking, Tips and Tricks | No Comments »
