A woman is suing Google after being struck by a car on a busy highway. Why is this Google’s fault? Because she was following the Google Maps walking directions at the time. In the lawsuit, she claims Google provided her,

walking directions that led her out onto Deer valley Drive, a.k.a. State Route 224, a rural highway wit no sidewalks, and a roadway that exhibits motor vehicles traveling at high speeds, that is not reasonably safe for pedestrians.

This woman apparently left her common sense at home when she departed. Concentrating on her Blackberry, she forgot how to LOOK UP and notice her surroundings.

Google warns in their walking directions, “Walking directions are in beta. Use caution – This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.” This may, however, have been missing on the Blackberry edition of Google Maps. Even still, if Google told you to jump off a cliff, would you?

[Via BoingBoing]

Debit cards are increasingly popular, and for good reason. It’s the convenience of plastic without the temptation to spend money you don’t really have.

But should you sign or enter your PIN? Although I’m a technologist, I’ll be the first to admit it’s just as much, if not more, of a business issue.

Thankfully both types of concerns land on the side of, in my opinion, only using your PIN when you withdraw cash from an ATM (and make sure it’s a legit ATM at that!).

On the business side, most card issuers offer better fraud protection if you sign for a debit purchase than if you use your PIN. This is at least partly due to the fact that when you sign, the transaction gets processed by the MasterCard or VISA networks, and at minimum you get the fraud protection offered by them. You should check with your card issuer to get the details.

The credit card networks used when you sign also offer better fraud detection, as they can analyze the data from many card issuers.

On the technology side, it’s a question of the risk to your PIN and the impact if it gets compromised. ATMs, especially the major brands like NCR and Diebold used by the big banks, are built with security in mind. The keypad module has built-in encryption and its tamper-proof, for instance.

Other equipment where you use your card and enter your PIN is unlikely to be as secure. Even if it is, a clever person can skim your card in the blink of an eye and have a surreptitious camera recording your PIN.

Once they have your PIN in addition to your card #, they can create a fake card and then carry out the less consumer-protected PIN transactions instead of just being limited to signature transactions if they didn’t have your PIN.

Depending on your bank and what other info they have, they might even be able to access your account(s) through your bank’s web site because they have your PIN as well.

If all that isn’t enough to convince you, consider this: more and more, banks are enrolling their debit card customers in rewards programs similar to the ones offered for credit cards, but you only get rewards for signature transactions.

More protection and free stuff. Sounds like a winning combination to me.

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Remember the LifeLock ads where the owner broadcasts his own Social Security Number? Well, after the ads ran, owner Todd Davis’ identity was stolen thirteen times. Crooks opened up credit card accounts, ran up phone bills, and applied for bank loans using Davis’ SSN. Doesn’t do much for the company image, dudes.

Customers pay $10 to $15 a month for their service, which has a $1 million guarantee that your identity is secure with them. The FTC went after them earlier this year, claiming the company was making false advertising claims:

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz states the Commission’s feelings bluntly: “While LifeLock promised consumers complete protection against all types of identity theft, in truth, the protection it actually provided left enough holes that you could drive a truck through it.”

In the settlement, LifeLock agreed to pay $11 million to the FTC, which will be refunded to consumers. Also, they have been instructed to remove any “100% effective” claims from their advertising.

Bottom line: no one but YOU can protect your SSN. Only give it to those that need it, and then keep it in the lockbox.

[Via the fine folks at The Consumerist.]

Netflix may be a great service but I’ll never subscribe. The reason? Pop-under ads. If you are a web surfer, you’ve seen these ads come up and then disappear quickly as you visit various sites. Then, as you’re closing windows, there’s a stupid Netflix ad taking up space.

I know you can block them with a pop-up blocker, but that doesn’t work all of the time. For some sneaky reason, the pop-under ads sometimes get around it.

If you’re fed up like me, here are a few sites that can help: How to Block Netflix Popup in Firefox, How Can I Get Rid of Netflix Popups?, Netflix Pop-ups in IE8.

Netflix should STOP advertising like this. It doesn’t win them any friends, only enemies.

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They say that in real-estate, location is (at least almost) everything. The same can be said about the files on your computer. To put the issue in a more metaphysical light, if you don’t bother to know where you put something, how can you expect to find it?

When PCs first became available, the concept of location was easy for most users to understand, as there was usually a floppy disk involved, with (theoretically, at least) a label on it. Location was tangible, physical.

Now, we use increasingly large hard drives where we can create a virtually limitless collection of “nested” (one inside the other) folders to store our files in.

Just as it was incumbent on us to label and organize our storage when it was in small physical containers like floppies, it’s even more important to do so now, at least if we want to find our stuff.

When someone can’t locate a file and they ask me for help, nine times out of ten their answer to the question “Where did you put it?” is either “Huh?” or “I don’t know.”

Here’s one common scenario: Someone gets an email attachment and they open it (usually by double-clicking) without saving it in a known location first. They make some edits, then something goes wrong. The power goes out, the computer hangs, the reply email with the edited file doesn’t get sent or saved, etc. Poof…gone.

The way to avoid heartache like this is to NEVER open a file from an external source (email, a web site or application, etc.) without saving it to a location of your choosing first. It usually just takes one extra click (choose Save instead of Open, for instance) to make sure that you know where the file is being saved instead of just relying on the default setting of whichever program you are using.

I’ll end with an example of how crazy it is to do anything else. If you handed a clerk a piece of paper and said “Just file it anywhere,” would you ever expect to find it again?

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This post originally appeared on July 28, 2009. It’s our second most popular post to date.

Bill Gates recently quit Facebook because he had too many friends. He had trouble keeping track of who he actually knew and which friend requests were from strangers. Although you aren’t Bill Gates, you may still have a little dead weight in your Facebook friend list. Here are some ideas on how to annoy those connected to you and potentially lose some friends.

Mundane Status Updates
“Joe Smith is tired.” Yeah, we’re all tired, Joe. Is that the best you can do? Continually updating your friends on all the mundane tasks in your life just may cause a few folks to de-friend you. So, keep it up with such snooze-alerts as “is bored” and “is going to the gym.”

Talk Politics and/or Religion
Politics and religion are two touchy subjects. People have their own opinions and it’s very hard to convince them to change sides. Talking about your views is a possible way to offend a few Facebook friends who don’t agree, especially if you trash the other side.

Take Every Quiz and Share Results
There are thousands of Facebook quizzes, and some are even entertaining. However, your friends don’t want to know which “Sex and the City” character you are or your Simpsons IQ score. If you want to lose friends, then take all the quizzes you can and publish the results each time.

Keep Sending Invitations
Mafia Wars and Vampires may be fun to you, but receiving invitations to them over and over again is just annoying. We realize that getting more people to play helps your score. And, we don’t care. Lil’ Green Patch may be a good cause, but we’re tired of it. So, if you want to annoy your connections, keep kidnapping people and passing drinks around.

Be an Over-Poster
Everyone has at least one or two over-posters on their friend list. These are people who update their status WAY too often and share links and photos galore. Appearing too frequently in your network’s News Feed is a good way to cause “friend fatigue” and get yourself de-friended.

Tag Friends in Unappealing Photos
Dig up those dusty old photos and crank up your scanner. Horrify your friends! Embarrass your family! It is especially helpful to find pictures where your targets have bad hair days, closed eyes, or strange expressions. And, make sure to tag the photos so everyone can recognize each other.

There are many other ways to annoy on Facebook (like over-punctuating your updates), so feel free to suggest some of your own pet peeves.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: jurvetson

Would you give up a finger to save your iPad? No, me neither. A man in Denver lost most of one finger because he tried to thwart the theft of his new iPad.

Jordan, 59, said he’d just purchased Apple’s latest must-have item and was near the parking garage when the robber struck.

Jordan had the bag containing the iPad wrapped around his left hand and was “holding on tight,” he told police.

The robber jerked so hard that it stripped the skin on part of Jordan’s pinky down to the bone. Most of the finger had to be amputated.

Here’s how I see it: iPad = replaceable (eventually). Finger = not replaceable (generally). No brainer, in my opinion.

This is similar to a purse snatching, where the advice is always to give the robber what they want. Your life, limbs, or digits aren’t worth losing over whatever is in inside.

[Via the fine folks at Pat's Papers]

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The Consumerist has a funny tale of someone who tested an iPad at Best Buy, checked his email, and walked away while still logged in to his mail account. Lucky for him, the next person was a good samaritan and, instead of causing havoc, just logged out for the unknown person.

The good samaritan sent a pretty funny email to the person, and cc:d The Consumerist:

You decided to try out an iPad at your local best buy. But guess what? You logged into the mail app on a publicly used test product and didn’t log out?!?!?!?

This time a good citizen has decided to alert you of your mistake. I will also be kind and log you out Be aware and use some common sense the next time.

If you have the opportunity to test a wireless device in a store, go ahead and check your email. Just remember to LOG OUT when you’re done. That is, unless, for some reason, you want strangers reading your email, having access to your personal information and contacts.

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While we wish we lived in a world where naked, drunken photos wouldn’t affect our job prospects, that’s not the reality for most people. What you say and do online that’s public is…well…public. And, if your online information is deemed inappropriate by a potential employer, you could be eliminated from the running. In fact, a recent survey found that 70% of recruiters and hiring managers have rejected a job candidate because of information found online.

So, what sort of information might be problematic?

“Inappropriate” comments by the candidate; “unsuitable” photos and videos; criticisms of previous employers, co-workers, or clients; and even inappropriate comments by friends and relatives, according to the survey report, titled “Online Reputation in a Connected World.”

Some job recruits are even going as far as to change their profile names. But, this should be unnecessary. On Facebook, you should be able to hide your information from public view. If you don’t know how to adjust your privacy settings, this is a good place to start. And, Mashable’s HOW TO: Clean Up Your Facebook Profile is another great read.

Then, your secrets should be safe.

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I don’t understand really long fingernails.

How can you accomplish anything quickly with long talons at the end of your fingers. Every day, you use your hands to grab, touch, sign, collect, wash…whatever. Long nails only get in the way. And, I’m not talking long nails. I’m talking about loooong nails.

In 2008, a woman made media headlines when she complained that the iPhone’s touch screen was hard to use with long fingernails. She even went as far as to call Apple “misogynistic.” I guess cutting her nails was out of the question. Instead, let’s just expect the product manufacturer to redesign the mousetrap to accommodate us. Makes sense, right? (I’d like an iPhone that will also clean bathrooms. Let me know when it’s ready.)

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