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May9

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Someone is saying bad things…

Posted in: Scams, The Web
I just got another one of these urgent, life-altering, panic-stricken email notifications from one of my followers on Twitter.

Dang, not again. Why all the hate?

It’s all a scam. In fact, you’ve probably seen a couple of these in the past. Before you start panicking and losing sleep, learn about what it is and why it arrived and you’ll feel just fine – and a little annoyed after it happens over and over again.

This is a classic Phishing scam. (Phishing is a way of attempting to acquire information (and sometimes, indirectly, money) such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.)

Basically, at some point, someone clicked on that link. When that happened, a script would run (and malware is planted) and sent to random ‘followers’ of the person who clicked on the link. So now several people have the new message in their direct messages on Twitter and likely in email form if you have notifications set to send in Twitter.

If you were to click on the link, it would take you to a fake Twitter log-in screen. It would say your current session expired. And if you add in your info, viola – the scam stream starts anew.

What should you do if your Twitter account is compromised?

Change your password immediately (if you can):
1. Log in to your Twitter account in the URL by typing http://www.twitter.com/ (DON’T click on the link in the email!) and click on your name in the top right hand corner.
2. Click “Settings” and change your password to something that you’ll remember but won’t mean anything to anyone else (remember to include numbers, letters and special characters).
3. Good job, you’re done and tragedy averted.
If you can’t change your password (because you’re locked out):
1. Visit this link: https://twitter.com/account/resend_password
2. Enter your name or email and you’ll receive an email to take care of the rest
Good luck, and remember, if people are talking about you – take it as a compliment! Just keep your Twitter account locked down.

Happy Tweeting.

If you find you're locked out of your account, you can generate and email to help get you out of Phishing hell.

Further Reading: Tips from Twitter’s Help Center

Lots of links are shared on Twitter, and many are posted with URL shorteners. URL shorteners, like bit.ly or TinyURL, create unique, shortened links that redirect to your longer link so it can be more easily shared. URL shorteners can also obscure the end domain, making it difficult to tell where the link goes to.

Some browsers have free plug-ins that will show you the extended URLs without you having to click on them. Here are links to plug-ins for Internet Explorer and Firefox (which is a free-to-download browser):

URL Expanders for Internet Explorer
URL Expanders for Firefox

In general, please use caution when clicking on links. If you click on a link and find yourself unexpectedly on a page that resembles the Twitter login page, don’t give up your username and password! Just type in Twitter.com into your browser bar and log in directly from the Twitter homepage.
May5

2 Comments

Blogging on the road with iPad 3

Posted in: Technology, The Web, Travel

Greetings from Nashville! I’m on the road with Tara as her childhood friend Jen is getting married at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. This place is massive. It has 2,881 rooms – each more than 400 square feet. Others, including the suites, are much bigger. All in all, it’s a great place to have a wedding.

The Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee

The first thing that really impressed me (outside of an atrium with a waterfall and the hotel’s overall beauty) was that Wi-Fi was FREE. That’s pretty rare at hotels. If you can’t score a free access code from the desk attendant, you usually have to buy time. It’s a pain. So I’m glad it’s free. So I decided to try to blog from my new little iPad 3 setup while Tara is busy getting her makeup and hair done.

I recently got an iPad 3. I love it. It’s much faster and has crisper images than the 1st Generation model, and that’s all thanks to the retina display. I picked up a ZAGG Folio case that has a built-in keyboard and a protective case. The keyboad can be removed and the case is very durable. The keyboard connects via BlueTooth. It’s very slick and easy to use.

It’s strange because I keep trying to use the touchpad that’s on my MacBook. It’s obviously not there. You have to touch the screen to navigate, but you eventually get the hang of it. I’m actually blogging from my Safari brower. But it’s definitely not as seamless as it would be on my laptop. Here’s why:

Blogging on the iPad 3 can be done!

First, there can be a lag on the keyboard. Not overly noticeable, but will force you to slow down from time to time. It’s just a minor annoyance.

Media: You can’t just upload a picture in the Media section or in the post dialogue. This is due to iPad’s decision not to use Flash. So the only workaround I found at this point is to download the WordPress App from the App Store and add an image from the Photo Stream or by taking an image from iPad itself. The photo in this post is from my iPhone. I snapped it with iPhone, it hit iCloud through Photo Stream and I attached the image in the WordPress App. And just copied the HTML code and I’ll pasted it in before publishing.

Outside of these minor challenges, the ability to blog from the actual web is great. Functions are pretty close to the real thing on a laptop or desktop. I even updated a plugin while on Wi-Fi on the iPad 3. Very slick. This is my very first post on this new setup and the keyboard makes a HUGE difference. There’s not way I’d want to type all of this on my iPhone or iPad without a keyboard for that matter. Of course, you can post blogs through a secure email – it’s all configured in SETTINGS. Some day I’ll try that.

I was worried about leaving the MacBook Pro at home and relying on the iPad only. I tried it once before, and found I couldn’t do much at all (that was the first generation). I was on a trip to Orlando and the hotel I stayed in didn’t have Wi-Fi, only plug in ethernet connections. How annoying. Now I can just switch over the 3/4G and I have a connection at all times. Tech life is getting better.

It’s time to get motivated and ready for the wedding. Just happy to report the iPad/ZAGG experiment is a success. Now I should go buy some cowboy boots and a ‘gui-tarr’ and try to fit in in this town. Take care, y’all.
May3

2 Comments

Amway Arena implosion photo

Posted in: Old School, TV News

I just found all my pictures from the morning the Amway Arena was imploded. I have been meaning to put together a few of them in a time-lapse photo to show it going down. One of these days I will. But here is a pretty cool from that morning. While you can see it pretty well, it was the sound that was the best that morning. Very loud!

The rubble from the Arena is still piled up as the developer works to sort through it and recycle what they can. The Amway Arena implosion is a very ‘green’ project. Most all of the material will be recycled.
May2

2 Comments

Ditch iPhone Reminders, get Wunderlist

Posted in: Productivity, Technology

If you’re like me, you can’t remember the last time you were ‘bored’. I haven’t used the word in years. Wait, I did a few weeks ago. I was at home in my kitchen, pacing around the island. The robot slipped a gear, as I fought to grasp the idea, “could I possibly be bored!?”. I found something to do quickly and that was that.

My point is, with how busy we are these days, it’s easy to fall out of sync. ARGH! I forgot my friends birthday. ARGH! I didn’t feed my girlfriend’s cat. ARGH! I have an TV station event this weekend. Art show. Downtown. Don’t miss it.

I was excited to see in Apple’s recent update to provide ‘Reminders’ and ‘Tasks’. A neat little app to help you control your life. I used it for a few minutes and found it wasn’t suitable for my OCD personality. I like to see my tasks completed when I cross them off. It’s a sense of accomplishment. So with that, I was jazzed when my girlfriend Tara introduced me to a few options outside ‘Reminders’. I was quickly sold with Wunderlist.

In full disclosure, I’ve only been using this a few days, but loving it. Wunderlust claims it forces you to become productive.

“Organize everything – Start boosting your daily productivity now, no matter what needs to be done, from shopping lists to projects and todos – there is Wunderlist to manage it all.”

You can’t beat the price. $fr.ee. Love that. And it even gives love to all of you PC users out there. It works on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and PC. I recently picked up a new iPad 3 – so I’m building my organizational empire. I downloaded Wunderlist on my Mac Pro at home, my MacBook Pro (that goes with me everywhere), my new iPad and my iPhone. Solid.

When I make an update, it kicks around iCloud and updates my devices into all of my ‘Lists’. I have lists for TV, my other ventures and a great option with Wunderlist – a shareable list. I have a list for my girlfriend and I so we can kick to-do items back and forth and check it off when completed. I had to put in a very important task for tonight:

This was my test to-do item for tonight, but yes, it's important! A great feature of Wunderlist is the ability to share your lists.

But you get the idea. It works. She can see the task, as can I. And we get stuff done.

And as I said earlier, you can check off your tasks and it shows them under the open items – grayed out with a strikethrough. You can delete them at your leisure.

Other options include: Printing your lists, collaborating with others via an 1-time email sharing, kicking up to iCloud and CloudApp for seamless multi-device integration, drag and drop list items, reminders via messages and emails, add notes to tasks and multiple backgrounds.

All in all, I think it’s productivity at its best at a time where we all need to really streamline what we’re doing because there is SO much going on. If you’re the type who loves the notepad and Uni-ball Vision Black Micro pen (the best) and simply can’t break away, don’t. Stay with what works. But if you’re trying to mesh your daily appointments and tasks neatly into your online/social/computerized bubble that is Life…then Wunderlist is just what the OCDoctor ordered!

Don’t be late!