Daily Dose of Common Sense

Progress in technology always brings about new kinds of dangers. Crossing the street must have become a frightening experience for a fair percentage of the folks who lived through the transition from horse-drawn to motorized vehicles, but soon every 5-year old knew enough to look both ways before they cross and pay attention to traffic signals. Education and adapting your behavior are the key.

The security dangers posed by the Internet are no different. By now (hopefully) we’ve all learned not to open email attachments we weren’t expecting (even if they appear to come from friends).

But a newer and more subtle danger is deceptive web links in emails and on web sites. But, like the simple rule about looking both ways, there’s also an easy way to mitigate this danger as well.

The key is to understand that the text of a link doesn’t necessarily have to match the actual web “destination” (the technical term being a URL, Uniform Resource Locator). So, if I want to link to CNN, I can make the link text match (http://www.cnn.com/) or use some other text (CNN).

The malicious links are crafted to appear like that first link that shows the URL as the text (let’s call this a “bare link”), but the actual URL is a different site that is a fake version of the real site shown in the text. So, how can you detect this subterfuge?

Every web browser and email program has a feature that shows you the URL of a link when you hold the mouse pointer without clicking (called hovering) over the text. So, for instance, this fake bare link to Citibank can be easily detected: http://www.citibank.com/

So, anytime a bare link’s destination URL doesn’t match what looks like the URL in the text, don’t click it. It’s as simple and common-sensible as looking before you cross the street.

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The fastest growing group on Facebook is the 35-54 set, which can lead to sticky situations with real consequences for many people. Therefore, who you friend is as important as who you don’t. As an example, a survey out this week found that 56% of people believe it’s irresponsible to friend your boss on Facebook. Seems there are more categories to be considered as well. So, here’s our common sense list of “To Friend, or Not to Friend.”

Should you friend…

…your boss? As the survey lends us to believe, it’s probably a bad idea. Not only are you possibly exposing awkward photos, status updates, and Wall posts, but your boss can actually SEE if you’re on Facebook at any given time. (The “Friends Online” feature reveals who is logged into the site.) Unless you plan to do all your Facebooking after hours (ha!), then let the boss actually think you’re working. Also, it’s hard to claim a “sick” day when you post photos of your impromptu trip to Six Flags the next day.

…your parents? This is tricky. It really depends on your parents. Are they the judgmental type? Do they disapprove of your lifestyle, job, or friends? If they’re the easy-going, we-love-you-just-the-way-you-are parents, then you’re probably safe. However, you don’t want to become the black sheep over your online revelations. Plus, if you connect to your folks, you might learn more than YOU want to know. (Be prepared for a barrage of Farmville.)

…your kids? As we just talked about, you might learn more than you want to know. Are you invading your child’s internet privacy? Or, are you just trying to stay more connected? If it’s the later, that is certainly a noble reason. Just don’t expect them to appreciate it. More than likely, you’ll just embarrass them.

…your ex? Before you try to maintain a friendship (albeit an online one) with an ex, ask yourself if you’re ready to hear about his or her new relationships. If you can handle seeing vacation pictures of he and his new girlfriend in Bermuda, then it’s probably OK to be Facebook friends. But, if hearing about how happy he or she is without you sends you over the edge, it’s not worth it. Also, if you friend an ex just to keep tabs on him or her “just in case” (or worse, for some revenge plot), then that’s just wrong.

…randoms? If you can’t remember the person from high school, then why stay connected to them on Facebook? Ditto for a friend of a friend, or someone who was blindly suggested by Facebook. Yes, you can hide friends from your News Feed. But, if you friend someone knowing that you’re just going to hide them, why friend them in the first place?

Facebook isn’t just about collecting as many friends as you can. It should be about interacting with a network of people you’re interested in. Don’t let the friend requests bog you down. When in doubt, IGNORE!

Myth or fact: Wearing a bra causes breast cancer? Answer: MYTH.

Apparently, there’s an Internet rumor going around (and we all believe those, don’t we?) that women who wear bras have a higher rate of breast cancer than those who don’t. Here is what Dr. Ted Gansler, director of medical content for the American Cancer Society, told The New York Times:

There is no scientifically credible evidence of this, he said, and the proposed mechanism–that bras prevent elimination of toxins by blocking lymph flow–is not in line with scientific concepts of how breast cancer develops.

He goes on to say that the idea that bras might cause breast cancer is so ludicrous that it’s doubtful scientists will ever waste research dollars on it. So, don’t burn your bras yet, ladies, and don’t believe everything you hear on the InterWebs.

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AdFreak has a great graphic of what you could buy instead of a Super Bowl commercial. While I don’t like some of the suggestions, the point remains clear: Super Bowl ads are a giant waste of money.

Yes, I know some of them are iconic and some of them are wildly popular. And, the ads are a main reason that people tune into the game. Agencies know the audience numbers are unbeatable on any other day in the modern television landscape. So, the ad dollars makes sense to some companies. (How else would GoDaddy be a household word?) But, most of the ads we’ll see on Super Bowl Sunday will only end up as a blip on our busy, over-programmed, short-attention-span radar.

I don’t begrudge the network for charging the amount they do for the airtime. I’m a firm believer that the free market should decide what the going rate is. If there are companies willing to pay it, then the network should reap the benefits. But, in this recession, does it really seem wise from the company’s perspective to pay $2.6 million for a 30-second spot during the game? Yes, that is over two and a half million dollars!

That’s why Pepsi’s decision to not place Super Bowl ads this year is so great. After almost 25 years of placing ads during the Super Bowl, they have decided to put the money towards a social media campaign. Pepsi usually purchases many 30-second spots during the game, so this is a huge chunk of change the company can use throughout 2010 and beyond. Plus, the announcement has been so startling that Pepsi is now getting more Super Bowl buzz than its rival Coke.

We’ll have to wait until next year to see what effect Pepsi’s pull-out will have on the ad rates. Could this be a trend other companies will follow? Until the economy bounces back and people have jobs again, I sure hope so.

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Sometimes we make it easier on the bad guys.

Many computer users prove themselves easy targets for hackers and identity thieves. First, we learn that “123456″ is the most common password in use today.

Imperva found that nearly 1 percent of the 32 million people it studied had used “123456″ as a password. The second-most-popular password was “12345.” Others in the top 20 included “qwerty,” “abc123″ and “princess.”

Not exactly hacker-proof. Instead, pick a password of a letter and number combination that is at least six characters long.

Second, we learn that many adults put their full addresses in their social media profiles.

In one example, the study commissioned by a unit of credit reporting services firm Experian found that 14 percent of adults – and 20 percent of those age 60 and over – listed their full home addresses in their social media profiles.

Now, I’m not suggesting that putting your address online guarantees a robbery. (See our recent post “Do Thieves Read Twitter, Too?”) But, do you really want anyone, and we mean anyone, knowing where you live? Identity theft, junk mail, stalkers, past girlfriends, Jehovah’s Witnesses… you open yourself up to a variety of ways to have your personal domain invaded.

Don’t make it easy on them. Make the bad guys work harder and perhaps save yourself some aggravation down the road.

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Here are some of our favorite brief Web stories from this week.

Some people had common sense.

• Time Magazine did a profile on They Might Be Giants‘ kids album called Here Comes Science. Glad to see a great band getting some props. Kids need smart music!
• Too broke to fly home for Uncle George’s funeral? No problem. Some funeral homes now begin to stream funerals live on the Web.
• A Texas family cut their grocery bill in half by planning their meals a year in advance. A lot of work, I’m sure, but knowing what you need to buy down the road allows you to wait until it goes on sale, etc.

And, some did not.

• A TSA agent planted fake drugs on a traveler as a gag. Nice, huh? Agent no longer employed by TSA.
• A New Hampshire man called the cops to complain that he paid for sex and did not receive it. Clearly not a student of the law. He and the woman were both arrested (shocker!).
• Detroit shoplifters ran over and killed the Kmart employee trying to stop them. Now they face armed robbery and homicide charges. The shoplifters were making off with $400 of CDs. That’s worth going to jail for, don’t you think?

Our lives are crowded with electronic devices, and that’s mostly a good thing, as they entertain, inform and connect us. Keeping track of all of the various chargers and adapters for these devices, however, can be a huge hassle. Here’s two common sense tips that will help reduce the burden.

First, when you get a new device or adapter, get a Sharpie and write the name of the device on its charger/adapter. A black marker on a black plastic case still works, as you can see it fine if you change the viewing angle. This will prevent you from losing track of which “brick” goes with which device.

The next tip is for the car. If you prefer to have a separate adapter for the car (so that you don’t forget your cell phone charger, for instance), then just follow your usual shopping routine (with comparison shopping on the web highly recommended). But if you want to avoid paying for another adapter, a great solution is to buy what’s known as an inverter.

An inverter plugs into your car’s DC power outlet and then generates the AC power for an outlet just like you find in your home. It costs about the same as one specialized car power adapter that will only run one device, but lets you use any regular home adapter. Also, many of these inverters now feature a USB port to charge/power any device that plugs into your computer’s USB port.

If your kids, for instance, have several different portable gaming devices, you need only buy the one inverter and then you can use the home adapter that came with each device.

Keep in mind that inverters generate limited amounts of power, so don’t plug a power strip into them or otherwise try to run multiple devices off them (unless you’ve bought a larger-capacity, higher-priced truck mounted unit or similar).

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Twitter: you either love it or you hate it. The service appeals to many because it’s a way to carry on short conversations with large groups of people. But, like any conversation, users should be careful not to offend, bore, or just plain suck. The Oatmeal has a comic that is pretty funny and to the point: Ten Things You Need to Stop Tweeting About.

These include: what you’re eating, the conference or event you’re attending, your workout, and your emotional breakthroughs. The main reason is that no one cares about these things. (Well, very few people anyway.) Most of the ten are fairly obvious, especially like tweeting about Twitter. (Does anyone really do this?) But, we still appreciate the efforts made to liven up some of the social media banality.

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We’ve been taking it easy over the holidays and enjoying some time off. But, that doesn’t mean we’re not paying attention. Here are some of our favorite brief Web stories from this week.

Some people had common sense.

• No one wants to get sick, especially with health care so expensive. NYTimes.com had a great article on how to recover–cheaply–once the sniffles start. Simple stuff is what works, and they give some facts on all the hoodoo and other remedies that do little, if any, good.
• The TSA has dropped their case against two bloggers who posted a copy of the agency’s intense security directive for Christmas day. Shouldn’t they be worried about terrorists, not bloggers? At least our tax dollars won’t be wasted in this trial.
• Experts at exposing flim-flam and wastefulness, Consumer Reports Health Blog posted a list of “9 items not worthy of your holiday cash.” These include such gems as Latisse, the Night-Light Condom, diet pills, and Kinoki footpads. If you thought your body was leaching toxins from your feet at night, we’ve got a bridge we’d like to sell you.

And, some did not.

• A driver passed out at the wheel while some meth was actually cooking in the BACK SEAT. A mobile meth lab really takes some guts, folks.
• In absolutely the CRAZIEST shoplifter story ever, a couple caused quite a ruckus at a Walmart in Tennessee. He’s trying to steal flat-screen tvs, she’s stabbing someone in the parking lot. It’s a like some zany, mad-cap sitcom plot from Hell.
• Maine and California will consider putting a cancer warning on cell-phone packaging, despite the fact that the jury is still out in the scientific community. Way to fear-monger, legislators.

Hard really is better than soft.

While trying to explain to a friend why clicking on untrusted links or attachments is bad, I came up with an analogy. It’s the equivalent of walking down the street and having some stranger hand you an opaque container filled with unknown liquid, and you discarding or ignoring your common sense and swallowing the stuff.

I don’t have a good analogy, however, for this next bit of tech advice, which is common sense for the pocket-protector set, but may seem like an arbitrary edict for anyone without a degree in computer science.

Whenever you buy a new computer, it doesn’t matter what kind it is (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.), ALWAYS connect it to the Internet via a router (which acts as a hardware firewall).

The reason is that even if the computer is equipped with the best software firewall, when the computer is brand new, it hasn’t had a chance to download the latest security updates. Therefore, in those first tens of minutes when you are setting up the PC and getting those updates, the computer is extremely vulnerable.

In case you think I’m exaggerating, you should know that people have done studies that have found the time it takes for an un-patched (missing the latest security updates) system to get infected can be as low as four minutes.

You don’t need a fancy firewall like a corporate office may have, any cheapo home router will do. This is because the function in the router that  allows it to share the Internet connection with multiple computers also means that it blocks any connections originating from the Internet (as opposed to originating from one of the computers connected to the router).

This is not to say that you shouldn’t bother with software firewalls (whether built-in to your operating system or part of 3rd party security software). You should have a software firewall as well. Computer security experts call this kind of layering “defense in depth”. Think of the hardware firewall as the doorman or security guard in an apartment building. You still want to keep your own door locked too.

So, don’t let the hacker grinches out there ruin the experience of setting up a new computer this holiday seasons. And yes, I realize that I did come up with an analogy after all. It’s a Christmas miracle!

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