How much is your identity really worth to you?

Identity is Everything!

I’ve been talking about this my whole life about security and you but it seems it might of happened to me.   I am sending off my information snail mail to Equifax to get my mail version of the Credit report!

If it wasn’t for Lastpass and their Free Credit Monitoring that you get with your 12$ a month subscription to their lastpass Mobile service.  I was alerted earlier than I ever thought possible.   Almost as soon as it hit the credit monitoring services.  I am so glad I took the option of having them monitor my credit report for me.   It reminded me through pop ups and push notifications on my phone and tablet.

Identity theft and you!

It can happen to anyone and at any time.   I found out that I might be a victim and I put a Credit Reporting Freeze on my account on Equifax, Experian, and Transunion.   It only cost me 15$ on all three credit bureaus that prevent it from going any further than that!  I also went with LifeLock (affiliate link) to help protect my identity for 10$ a month.   Currently I am going to offer peope a 30-Day Free Trial + 15% Off 6 Months LifeLock Service with code SHAREASALE15S30 (affiliate link) to encourage you to keep your identity safe.

I will be talking more in depth on what to do if your identity is stolen, but first I have to fix the problems I have and see if I can make it even better for myself.   This post will not be long but the ones that come up with be more in depth on how to avoid this misfurtune fro yourself!

How to tell if that Match.com account is fake. (From Personal Experience)

Julia on Match.com : https://flic.kr/p/c3Uio

On Average — 1 in 10 is fake!

I joined Match.com (affiliate link) and signup with the three month membership.  I must say it was nothing I was expecting. Me and this lady online started talking on their in under a day we switched to the Google Hangouts and have been chatting for the past week at least on and off.   I’ve been loving the talks, and we have talked about everything from sex to secrets in dating!  I’ve been up front about almost everything that wasn’t to personal and we are finally going to meet in the next few weeks.  Even though Venturebeat talks about one in ten profiles are scams.   I do not like scams or for that matter and I try to avoid them at all costs!

How to defend against Scammers!

There are ways to find out if that profile or that picture is possibly a scammer.    I will say that even these techniques are not a 100% guarantee and you will have to ultimately make your own decision on if that person is actually real or fake.   If you take my advice you’ll be far more likely to find the real account and keep yourself from getting hurt.  Although again, it isn’t going to be 100% perfect, you could still find those scammers who are more diligent in their scams.   

Details are everything!

If you find a match on Match.com (affiliate link), Zoosk, eharmony, or OkCupid.   You will need to do several things before you email them or chat with them.  

• Search for their Pictures  — Download or find the link to their picture on the dating site and do a reverse picture search on sites like Tineye.com, Bing, or Google.  These are the three you should start first and try other sites that have similar abilities.  
• Profile search — Copy the whole text of the profile and search Google and Bing and see if you find other profiles with the same text in either whole parts or over 50% of the same text.   Even though it could happen it is unlikely that the profiles would use the same exact wording and styles.
• Self Employment — if the profile says they are self employed then that is another mark on the profile and you will have to be careful.   It doesnt’ mean that it should be disqualified all together but it should make you keep on the look out for them asking for money.   

Most of the time, these are the red sirens in the mind that should go off if you do come across a profile that is questionable.   If you find two or more of these that are on other sites or same site with different name and profile.   You can bet that it could very well be a dating scammer.   Only way to know for sure is time.

The Chat sessions!

If by chance you found someone who doesn’t have any of these 3 things going on with their profile.   You should start talking to them but you need to do these steps until you finally meet!

• Picture exchanges — if they send you new pictures you have never seen before, you should go back and find the most likely photos that might be used on other and see if those pictures come back with hits to other sites.   It not be as bad as you think but it should be kept a constantly making sure the person is real.
• No money — Tell the person after you get to know them your stance on not giving money to them or anyone else until you have physically met them.   Even then you should be cautious after the first meeting because they could very well be scammers.   Again only time will tell.   If you throw out this to the scammer, they will stop talking to you because they know they are wasting their time on you.   It is a good way to weed out the fakes accounts from the real ones.  The ones that are really will understand not try to get any money from you.
• Be Honest — Be honest with yourself and them about your goals and what you are wanting from the relationship can help determine if they are truly meant for you or some other person.   If you try to hide these things, then you will not succeed in finding that perfect match.

If you follow these simple steps, your less likely to be scammed and thus you are will have a much enjoyable eperience in your dating endeavor.   Nothing is set in stone with these steps but I am sure these will help you in finding your perfect mate for life and help you avoid those scammers!

Why blogging personally helps me! (5 Insightful tips for Blogging)

The Art of Blogging — mkhmarketing (http://mkhmarketing.wordpress.com/)

Why I blog!

When I started blogging in the 2007, I never really got the idea of what a blog is and what it was designed for.  For that matter, I didn’t even understand the dynamics of how to keep my blog writing.   The idea of researching, and working my blog was as foreign as to me as dating.   I haven’t dated very much in the past and I know that being nervous is something you have to expect.   It’s like the body is preparing for a fight or flight, when you have nothing to worry about.   Blogging is something that is an outlet for me.   It’s like a pressure valve that I can release steam if I am under to much pressure.  

Journaling and my Thoughts!

Since I can ever imagine, I’ve been one of the ones to love to journal and put my thoughts on the page.   It is something that not everyone can do or even accept.   Some people think that doing a blog is making yourself more public.   I tend to agree on the stance that once you start blogging your becoming a public figure.   It isn’t something that people can comprehend but it is something that must be accepted.  Acceptance is something that is required by everyone, because if you can’t accept that.  Firstly, people will be looking at your blog post in detail and judging you on the merits of the blog posts.  This can be very frustrating to some, and others like me simply smile and keep blogging.

Some useful Insights!

Since I having been blogging for over 7 years, I would of thought I would give you some valuable insights on blogging!  Each of these isn’t set in stone but can be a valuable tool and reference to keep people coming back to your blog!

Nothing Set in Stone — Even though your starting to blog you have the right to change or move your blog to anyplace you see fit.   That being said, if you do not learn from how your visitors feel about a certain setup of your blog.   You’ll know based on how they do not stay long or amount of people who come in the first place!  

Find your Niche — Even though it seems like a constant reminder, it isn’t something that you need to figure out.   If you do not, you will have people come and go without actually having people stay and want to build a community!  Like Me, My niche is basically Cell Phones, and Android Operating systems.   Anything to do with Google Android is what I like to talk about it in one way or form!

Add personality — If you you aren’t going to be warm and inviting for each reader that comes to your site, then your wasting their time and yours.   They want that connection that drew them to your site in the first place.   If anything you should welcome them in one way or other to your site and make it so they want to keep coming back.   It takes 7 times before a reader decides to stay or go, so you have 7 times to make it inviting and create an community.

Build upon stories — I’ve done this in this post and others, talking my experiences and adding personality.   Guest of every nationality like to hear stories and just about anything that revolves around the niche you trying to build upon.   So I am sure you have stories that can be used with your blog idea if you just stop and relax!

Money isn’t everything —  When I first started blogging, and I knew it was going to be hard to instantly start making money.   So I just put the idea to the side.   I developed the community and my niche first and then you can start learning to make money around your niche.   You should not expect to make any money in the first year if that.   I think that is a good rounded answer.   It just depends on how hard you work on your blog and how many readers you get to come to your site.   Keep in mind that what you promote should be something you believe in and not what others believe in.   If you take a personal responsibility on that, you have a much greater chance of making money.  Don’t expect it to come over night that is for sure!

If you follow these 5 tips, your be more happier and bring in even more readers and followers to your blog.   Nothing comes without hard work and understanding of the people or things that you talk about.   So if you put your heart into your blog, you can bet it will be a success no matter the real outcome!

Google shoots my site in the foot! (Unnatural outbound links)

I got this email Thursday!

It wasn’t the best news that I could of wanted from Google.   After all, I was getting some great traffic from searches.   Although, admittedly I am not really to worried about page rank.   It isn’t like I was making a ton of money from people coming to my site but it is the principle of thing that really bothers me and makes me really un happy.  I would of like Google to email me saying we think you have unnatural links and suggest which links were unnatural instead of just dropping my page rank.   some sites just do not know some of this, I am working long hours at work and this comes my way.   It’s like Google likes to shoot all sites in the foot just because they can.

Granted, Sites like to Make Money!

It would be silly of my to say that I didn’t like the adsense revenue that started to happen last month.   I pretty much doubled my adsense in a months time and I am quite sure it was all by my doing alone.  I know which posts Google had a problem with and I’ve pretty much dealt with them.  It was my Gust Posts from other people and organizations.   I found out that Google thought I was getting paid for these guest post.   In truthfulness these were really from BlueFirePR, which isn’t necessarily anything bad but I guess Google Doesn’t want them to control SEO rankings.  So I am instituting a new guest post policy.    Anyone wanting to submit any guest posts, must now be using the NOFOLLOW policy, and maybe a Dofollow policy for anything that I think is a good site but I have the final say so.   I have already went and put all those links that I think were not tech related as nofollow and I have also submitted a request to remove the block and asked that they give back my rankings.   I do not know if I will be at the same level as before, or if it will go down and never recover but I am willing to work with Google on this.

Guide Lines for Other Webmaster!

I thought it best to talk about some of the things most webmaster will want to implement as soon as they hit that little snag in the road.  It isn’t everyday you get an email like this from Google.  I have submitted a manual request but it could take several weeks before I find out the results of what they will do!  Until then here are some suggestions for future guest posts that you might do on your own site:

• Guest Posting — If your looking for quality guest posts, join something like Guest Crew (Affiliate Link).  I’ve been on their for some time and I have been publishing posts to other sites with little effort and been making my site more popular!
• Only have one Dofollow link — If you looking publish an article that isn’t in your niche you may as well make all links nofollow just so you do not make Google suspicious!   It is up to you how you publish or post your content.
• Niche Guest Posting — If you are going to post, it is suggested that you keep the post in your niche and that way Google will not get to suspicious.   This is where Guest Crew (Affiliate Link) can help.   It can find posts that are in your niche and you have the final say so!

I was going to do a how to on finding these culprit links but there are plenty out there that do the job for me and I didn’t have to look far or long to find the problems on my site since I have been doing this for so long, I know Google doesn’t act slowly, so I knew it had to be really recent that was the red flag for them.   If you think it is something really old, then you will need to do a lot of searching but I knew it wasn’t so for me.

I’ve played a version of this game before and I know my site is older than it looks but I also know what to do when I get hit by these problems.   Stop think, re-examine the problem and you will always come out on top!  

Has it happened to you, how about leaving a comment telling me what you did?

Virgin Mobile Did what to my Data Speeds?

Got this text Message!

VMFreeMsg: Starting 5/6/14, if you use over 2.5GB of data during your mo. plan cycle, data speeds will now be reduced to 2G speeds. Info at http://msg4u.us/vwae

I don’t know about anyone else but when I first got this text message, I was like so How fast is 2g speeds verses 3g speeds on Google Now!  So Here’s is the breakdown of this:

Speeds

• 2g is on average about 115 kilobytes per second  (A little faster than voice calling people)
• 3g is on average about 614 Kilobytes per second (Good for some streaming media)
• 4g is on average about 20 Megabytes per Secong (On average it varies from phone to phone)

As you can see this doesn’t really explain it very well but let’s try to make it easier to understand this:

1 byte is 8 bits, so 1000 kilobytes(1,024 bytes which is 8192 bits) and you need 65536 kilobytes to make 1 Megabyte of data.   So you can see that the larger the file or anything you do on the phone will be drastically slowed down on the phone.   If yo do the math or at least think about it, you can go to a free wifi hotspot to get better speeds than this.   

Virgin Mobile and Boost is screwing you!

Virgin mobile seems to want you to go to another prepaid service.   Even with Straight Talk, they do something like this on their networks.   They do limit there speeds but I am unsure as to what the speeds are lately but they aren’t unlimited either.

It looks like I have a few options, Straight Talk although they do the same thing but not as bad, T-mobile Which looks to be comparable to Virgin Mobile or Boost.   You could try MetroPCS but I can’t seem to verify that it is truly unlimited and that is what I am looking for.   I am asking for help to find something that isn’t as restrictive as what Virgin Mobile is doing.   I might buy a data plan for my home now.   So I am going to look into this some more but if you know of a prepaid plan that is truly unlimited, please leave a comment and let everyone know!

Why I do not click "Here" in emails and why you should to!!

 

tools4technow.com

That isn’t going to happen!!

It isn’t like I do not know what might happen, but before I even did anything I check out the link by looking up the domain which if you want to check out what I see you will see the there isn’t really a main site link at the top of the Google search.   Odd isn’t it, well I then looked at the urls that was after the domain name and I found:>

/-wqs-/generallaborer.com/Free/GetStarted.asp?aff=F7288B41-CC5D-4D08-B06C-FB03EF98DEFB

As you can see it looks to be a redirect to “generallaborer.com” with an Affiliate link that means someone gets paid for links that use that link.   You can tell that someone gets paid by the “AFF=”.   I also have my own affiliate links but you will know when I put a link on my site that pays me money when you use my link to buy stuff with.

Spam

It appears to be a scam or a way someone makes money when you sign up with a link to that site.   I do know know what actually happens because I did not click on those links.   I can only assume that it was a link spam and not a scam but I will never truly know and I am not really worried about that type of help from people who try to make money off you without telling you.   

You rarely know what the links really go to from emails.   They can be masked or hidden and you could even get a virus on your computer as easily as you can get one just surfing the net.   It could also make you think your are logging into a site you visit often but in truth you are giving your password away to someone who will use it for all sorts of purposes.   These are the main I will never click on links without some looking up of the domain in question.   You should never click links that your are not expecting or from people who you do not know!   Each one of these should be a first step to prevent something terrible from happening to you or your computer.

How to know if your battery is on it's way out on cell phones!

Batteries won’t last!

I know this all to well.   With all my phones from the Lg Optimus F3 to my Kyocera Risa.  Every phone I have had, I get to know when the battery should just be replaced.   I will talk about my experiences and hopefully it will help you when it comes time to replace that battery.

Nothing I say should constitute you going out and buying a battery but it will at least help you know if you might need to.   It however is up to you when and if you get a replacement battery.

Shorter charge cycles!

This one is the first sign the battery, which has circuits that close off to prevent the battery from fully charging.  These circuits help keep the battery from exploding or leaking and causing serious damage to you or the phone.  It can show itself in several ways.   You might find that you have to charge your phone up more frequently or that it says you have a full battery one hour ago and now it is down to half or almost empty.   

Phone gets warm to touch while charging!

It isn’t uncommon that from time to time when your charging your phone the phone may get slightly warm due to the charging of the batteries but it gets warmer than usual.   This is caused by the phone trying to force charge the battery to charge a cell that looks to be almost dead and it is trying to keep it alive.

Bulges on cell battery!

It isn’t always the case but if you examine your battery of your phone.   I saw this with my HTC inspire 4g Phone, where the battery was getting a slight bulge and shorter charge and discharge cycles were happening.  

Cell Phone Apps

Although I will remind you that even getting a new battery might not be cause of your phone not keeping charge.   Some android phones use more battery life due to apps or other such widgets that are constantly be used on the phone.   These tend to help reduce the life of your battery and it will not help if you battery isn’t dead or on it’s way out.  You may find it helps for the small time but you will be back at where you left off.   Before you consider buying a new battery, consider looking into which apps you might not need and remove them.   This will greatly increase your battery life and your experiences.

Got a Story you want to tell people, just leave a comment and tell me your experiences in this subject matter!

First Impressions of the LG Optimus F3 4g LTE by Virgin Mobile!

Specifications:

Display: 4.0-inches (Gorilla Glass)
Camera: 5-MP Processor 3-MP Front
Speed: 1.2 GHz OS:
Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean)
Wifi
Blue tooth
NFC (Near Field Communications)
CDMA, 4G (EVDO+HSPA), 3G

Since getting my ZTE phone wet the last few weeks ago, I decided I would jump up and try a new phone out.  So this weekend I went to Walmart to see what they had and I was surprised that they were out of the ZTE’s, I liked that phone because the screen size.   Even though they both say 4.0 screen size, I could swear the ZTE is slightly bigger probably more closer to 4.1 but that is just me.   You can read my full review of the ZTE AWE and decide for yourself.

First Impression:

I have done this in past with the ZTE Awe and I’ll talk about my first impressions of this phone and go into more detail later.   First off, it has no way to do the Wifi Hotspot like the ZTE but you do have the option of Blue tooth Tethering your phone and I can also do a hard tethering from the phone to Windows/Mac laptop.   So you can still use the 4G speed for surfing the net.  I will look into finding out how to get complete wifi tethering later on.   I know I will have to circumvent Virgin Mobile but that seems to be the only way to have true wifi tethering enable with them.   They seem to try to frustrate the customers who do want true unlimited service.   I haven’t really had the chance to see if they consider 4g as true unlimited, or if it is still bound by the reduce in speed of 3g after 2.5 GB of bandwidth.

Comparing it to the ZTE AWE!

After using the ZTE Awe, I thought I should oa quick comparison of the two phones.   Each has unique properties and have reasons why you will want to use that particular phone.   So I’m going to tell you my experience in hopes this will help you make a choice of the two.   It won’t be an in depth comparison but it will be a quick overview.

ZTE awe is a little lighter and lest thicker than the LG Optimus.   It depends on on what your looking for with weight and thickness but I honestly think the LG Optimus is slightly thicker and heavier to either to make you believe it is stronger or it is stronger.  The LG Optimus has better camera properties, even though they both have 5 Mega pixel cameras, it looks like the Awe uses software to make it get to 5mp.  You can tell when I used the camera on the LG Optimus, it actually looks better and much more responsive.  The Awe only comes with a 1mp front camera and the LG Optimus comes with a 3mp front camera.  If your going to be doing video chats on a phone, I think you will want to be much more details.  

The Touch screen on the AWE doesn’t feel anywhere like the Gorilla glass that comes with the LG Optimus F3.   I do not know how to describe this but I do enjoy the touch screen on the LG Optimus better than I do with the ZTE Awe.   If feels much more sturdier and less breakable.   Although I have dropped the AWE several times, and the phone has yet to shatter.   So I know the AWE will not break as much as it looks.  

Finally, The LG Optimus F3 is a good buy for those who want to have a better experience with photos, and even the speed.   I have been able to pick up data signal’s in places I usually had a hard time getting signals.  So that is also another plus.   The Zte AWE is good for those who need a cheap phone for games and watching movies on it.  So I’ll let you decide which on you want to buy.  

Why being Single is freaking Awesome!

Myles Munroe - January 28, 2005

This Book helped me with Singleness!

I have been reading “Single, Married, Seperated, and life after Divorce” (Amazon Affiliate link) and after reading this.   I can’t but help tell you why being single helps me in so many ways.   I although know the desires of my heart and others where you may want to find that special someone.   This book however has so many good qualities to help people learn that being single can be so undeserving.   Being single can be so much fun and less stressful.  

I’m going to share with you some of the things that I have learned from this book that will help you wanting to be single even more!

No unexpected expenses!

Let’s face it being married, you have to know what your partner bought and forgot to tell you.   The only thing you have to worry about is having enough saved to pay for unexpected car repairs.  Even with both you in constant communications with your spouse, there is always going to be things your spouse will buy and tell you afterwards.   

No fights!

When I was with my ex, I was always having stress because we would be at odds with each other and we would always have to compromise.   While I am single, I do not have to worry about any compromising.   It’s my way and I do not have to listen to no one!

Myths about Married and Single People!

I seriously love the show Mythbusters and watch it every chance  I get.   So this myth that being married or even being single has so many disadvantages but it is clearly a myth.   Being unique is something that we should strive for in our day to day life.   Whether we are married or single, no one understand that being single can be a very make for more enjoyment.  Most people confuse Singleness with what it’s like being single.   People see others hugging, and showing affection and they yearn for that closeness but yet they do not know themselves.   Until you know yourself, you can not understand others and this is why being single is so Awesome!

I’ve pretty much told you my take on why being Awesome is so good, but I would love to hear yours.  Please feel free to leave a comment and tell me your thoughts on this book!  I learned so much from this book and I’ll probably reread it to learn even more!  

I encourage people to go read the book and become an individual (Amazon Affiliate Link).   When you do that and have a life filled with singleness, then you may find that special someone walking into your life!  

My ZTE Awe got dumped in a water hole!

The experience that I know!

I have done this many times with phones just like the HTC Inspire, it was another one that got wet!  You just have to know what to do as soon as it gets wet to prevent any damage!  It isn’t anything new but someone people just do not think about this until it is too late.   As for me, I learned that if you can take the power source out of the phone, it stands a much better chance of surviving then when you do nothing and then the wiring gets fried.

What to do if it does get soaked!

I will be glad to lead you through how I saved my ZTE Awe phone and kept it from getting fried.   How I dried it and how you can do it without using Rice.   

1. Once your phone gets wet, your first response is to always pull the battery, if you can!   I am sure not everyone thinks about these kinds of things but once you remove electricity from the equation, you stand a much greater chance at saving the electronic device!
2. After that, you should get as much of the water off the phone as necessary without breaking the phone.  I just flung it around with my hand a few times.   
3. I also took the back off and left the back uncovered.   This will help the phone dry quicker and easier.   You may see water spots in the screen if you leave the back on.   It has to be able to dry the inside of the phone also.
4. I used a Hair dryer, If you used this technique remember the phone should not get to hot.   You best bet is to keep it in your hand as you blow air any place on or in the phone you can without causing damage.   If the phone get hot in your hands it is time to let the phone cool off.   This way you will not damage the phone.   BATTERY MUST BE REMOVED before doing this and after this for an hour!
5. I then would use the hair dryer every day over the next week to help dry the screen off and get those water droplets to go away from the screen.   You can continue to do this as long as you like as long as you do not get the phone extremely hot and you do not have the battery in the phone as you use the hair dryer on the phone!

Now since I got the phone dry I no longer have WIFI or Blue tooth capabilities, and I am seriously thinking about buying a new phone but something that will allow me to make a portable hotspot with laptop and tablet.  The only one that looks to be promising for Virgin Mobile, is the Samsung Galaxy S2 (Amazon Affiliate Link).   Which I might just buy that myself and use that for my internet at home.

I am sure it was the phone getting wet that caused the wifi and blue tooth to be broken, at least it seems to be the problem.   So I want to hear from the community about the Samasung Galaxy S2 and how has it been with Virgin Mobile US?  Let me know by leaving a comment,

Several online retailers have weak password security!

Retailers makes it easy for hackers!

Dashlane releases their top 100 online Retailers and “The Illusion of Personal Data Security in E-Commerce” this makes it easier for the hackers to know the common passwords for sites.   Some of the retailers that are mentioned are:

• Cafepress (affiliate link) — Although I have been a huge supporter for those really cool shirts and other personable merchandise.   They only require a 3 character password.  If your using a 3 character password, then you are just yelling to the hackers come get my credit card information and personal information!
• Scholastic Inc — This one seem likes they allow this for kids, I just hope they don’t give out all that valuable information.   They two also only require a 3 character password for an account!
• 1-800-flowers (1800flowers.com) — Only requrie a 1 character password, which means that you could use Q for your password and you’d be all set for someone to take your credit card information really quickly.

Those are only the few that I found that were really interesting.   I am calling out these retailers to make changes to their password lengths.  You can see the complete list of the 100 retailers with passwords length and various other data.   This link is thanks to Steve Gibson to see all the important stuff!

Password Length

I’ve talked about Lastpass in the past so I will not talk about it anymore.  I do recommend people use the maximum length you can have on sites that are really important to you.   This will prevent hackers from guessing real simple passwords.   Although you should have Higher, Lower, Numbers, and Special characters in your password to make password guessing even harder.  It is up to you to prevent your account from getting hacked or taken over.   No one can help you but yourself!

The Chromebook experience and the White Screen of Death!

White Screen of Death!

From: [ Version 32.0.1700.95 (Platform version: 4920.71.0)]

The latest update : [ Version 32.0.1700.103 (Platform version: 4920.82.0)]

Had a really strange effect on my system.   Whenever I started booting up the system right after the update, I would just go into a cycle of white screens or I would see the default background for a few minutes and then it would just turn all white!  It got so annoying, I started calling Acer Laptops about it and requesting a Chrome OS Ninja for help on this issue.   They said  I would have to send in my laptop and wait 7 to 10 business days for it to be resolved.   I didn’t have that time or luxury to not be without a laptop so I went back on my resolve to figure this little issue out.   The only thing I could come up with is to go download a new version of Chrome OS for my Acer Laptop by using Windows Recovery Option.   Strange Google should have a way for me to download an ISO of the latest version without having to having to do these steps.

Recovery Options

By Pressing Esc+Refresh then hold down the Power button.  I was able to bring up the “Chrome OS is missing or damaged” message and then after I made a new usb card for my device it booted without a problem.   I do not know what actually happened but it was quite frustrating and Google needs to start providing more ways to recover the system without having to go through so many hoops.   

Has anyone else had this type of problem?  I’d like to know!

Unable to read SIM Card on the HTC Inspire 4G!

Reading the SIM card!

I’ve had one reader who says they are having an issue with the SIM card not being able to be read on the HTC Inspire 4G phone.   Some of the things that I have foundto be case are how people insert the card into the Inspire but we are going to give out a quick tip that will help keep that sim from sliding out ever so slightly.   This workd for me and while I do not use the phone anymore.

Best Hack ever!

This is some what a really good way to keep that sim from loosening the connection to the phone.  I found on SIM card that you can make them thicker. 

Use thin tap on the back of the SIM card.   Basically, you keep putting tape on the back until it is snug.   Usually on need to it once or twice but no more than that.   You can not put tape on the side with all the metal but only on the plastic.  It has to be tape that is really smooth so if you use use ruff tape it might not work as well. 

This will help those who have been problem. It might solve your problem but it also might not, it just varies from device to device!

Those really BAD passwords you shouldn't use! The list is out for 2013!

Who uses these?

It isn’t everyday that I come across some really interesting passwords.   Among the list of the 25 that Spashdata has released!  The Ones that really stand out for me are: “trustno1” (Gives a new meaning to TNO), Adobe123 and my favorite “photoshop” are on the list of those the top 25 passwords you should NEVER USE.  I don’t know if people are just trying to come up with something no one would think of or if they really want there Facebook Account to be hacked in the first place!

Randomness is everything!

I keep telling people to go check out Lastpass to be safe but it some people will never learn.   I believe in Lastpass so much I pay for the mobile version for a year.   Only 12$ a year but it is for a good cause, and I am really happy with their service!  Lastpass is truely the Last password you will ever have to remember.  

I don’t know about you but I think it is time to go change some passwords! 

Three Timesheet Apps for the Android! (Friday's Pick's)

TimeSheet ( Free ) or ( Pro: 2.50$ )

This is one Application that I have been and still use for my Android ZTE AWE and Kyocera Rise Phones.  I don’t know about the rest of you but I did try the Free version and was really impressed with it.   So I upgraded to the Pro version to help support the developer and also because you get more stuff with the paid version.   

The nice thing about this app is that I can keep track of all my hours and also keep it backed up on Dropbox (I get no money for this link but when I refer enough people, I get up got 16 gb of space!  So please go sign up and help me get the maximum!) or to the SD Card.   So at least I have two ways to do this plus it has a great automatic backup feature to help keep your hours from getting lost!  It keeps track of expenses and travel if your one to be getting paid traveling.   So you can know by the end of the week how much you made and also some other great tools to help you make sure you are short on your next check.

Timesheet - Time Tracker  (Free)

I do not like to do free apps but my friend from work showed me this one and swears to it.   I’ve played around with it and it seems to be a very easy and you really don’t have a lot to fill out.   It can be very useful if all you need to do is track your hours and nothing else.   You can also backup to Dropbox (I get no money for this link but when I refer enough people, I get up got 16 gb of space!  So please go sign up and help me get the maximum!) or a Micro SD card if you wish, so your times will be saved in the cloud!

I personally like the TimeSheet Pro that I paid for because It allows me to enter so much more information and keep track of so much more.

Time Recorder (Free)

I admit, I haven’t played around with this one but it looks promising for two reasons.   You can split tasks and also have more than one option to backup this to.   You have Dropbox (I get no money for this link but when I refer enough people, I get up got 16 gb of space!  So please go sign up and help me get the maximum!)and/OR Google Drive that you can use to keep your time from going missing.   The only problem I see with this is you need plugins that need to be installed to use these two backup features.   It was something the developer, I suspect, couldn’t intra grate with the app very easily.   So that is why I didn’t install this one because of to many plugins that come along with this free version.

I still recommend Timesheet Pro, which is what I use all the time and has worked really well for my needs working as a contractor.   It does what I need to keep track of my time.   Know of a good app that does just this and want to tell people about it.   Leave a comment and tell people your experience with an Time recording app!

How to Root a ZTE AWE phone! (Virgin Mobile)

Cydia Impactor rules!

After getting my ZTE AWE,  I’ve been looking for a way to use the tethering feature that can be useful where I am currently located at!   The only problem is that Virgin Mobile (VM) does not let me pay the 15 dollar tethering charge for using it has a wifi hotspotl  According to them, there is no way to enable this.   So I went searching for ways to enable it.  I have gotten closer to making that happen by BREAKING MY WARRANTY.   According to VM, if I root the device, it voids the warranty of the device.   I kind of think this a small ridiculous rule so it is up to you!

The way I did it was a very easy way to download Cydia Impactor to root your device!  It puts the Super USER binaries on your device and allows them to have any thing on it that you want.   

Steps to root phone:

• Install the ZTE AWE software from phone!  You can do this simply by System Settings —> Connect to PC and selecting Install driver!  (Only needs to be done on Windows or Mac OS!)
• Put the Phone on USB Debug :  System Settings —> Developer Options — > USB Debugging
• You will need to click on the USB menu on Cydia Impactor and select the N800 driver.
• Once your do that you can simply drop the SuperSU Binaries
• Install the SuperSU from ChainFire

Once your have done all this you will have ROOT access.   It is up to you what you want to do but I have found that you have several things that can help monitor your phone and speed it up.   In the coming weeks I will tell you about a few of my favorite apps that work to help keep your phone running smooth!

Microsoft did WHAT to Google?

Microsoft smears Chrome OS!

In the lastest attempt by the Microsoft, who seems content to throw mud and some fud over the Chrome OS.   Microsoft got a hold of the Scroogle Domain in late 2012 and has been holding onto it eversince.   Scroogle was an attempt to keep advertising and secured search going through Google but was not sponsored by Google.  It Ended in early 2012 due to throttling and DDOS attacks.   I don’t know this sounds suspciously like Microsoft wanted that domain, it wouldn’t surprised me if that was the case.  Some of the things that I just are not happy about this little campaign of theirs is these facts.

No easy way to print!

This one was an obviously no brainer for me, when I bought this Acer Chrome book because I really don’t have any reason to print anything and if I did, I can go to a library or to Kinkos to print what is needed to print.   I am not going to go into detail because when I did m FAQ section about the Chrome OS.   I was pretty much thinking Microsoft is worried because they will loose so much profit from Windows.   A Small fact for those who think Windows 8 can print, not without some jumping through some hoops will you be able to print.

NPD and that elusive 21% figure!

NPD published an article about how Chrome Books have a 21% sales in 2013.   I tend to think this may be a little low but that is probably because people don’t really advertise they bought the Chrome OS and thus it will grow in the coming years, I am sure of it.   You see, the reason I bought this laptop was a really serious question for me.   One of money, one of Security and Battery life, each of these were a value for me and I did like any person who buys a laptop.   I reasearched it long and hard, and new what i would be facing and what my limitations were going to be.   So I didn’t not walk into this half handed.

No windows 8!

I only had two options one with Windows 8 or Chrome OS.   I only had around 300$ to use to buy a new laptop with my other laptop breaking down.  Don’t get me Wrong, I had no problems with Windows 7 but from the way I was reading it with Windows 8.   I just didn’t want to have to worry about all those major problems associated with the release of the that operating system.  I am sure I am not alone in this venture because this had many features of Windows 7 and how to approach the problem.   

Resolution for Microsoft!

Hey Microsoft, if your really worried about loosing the sales and money from your consumers, then you should come up with an easy way to dual boot a Chrome OS and Windows 8 into one cheap laptop like this one and thus we can have access to everything we may ever need.   A Good browser when we need it and ways ways to print and download movies when we want to!  Hey now there is a concept that would make everyone happy.   Also, it shouldn’t cost an arm or leg to buy a Windows machine because you will still make money in other areas besides licensing!  

So I tell you this right now, Microsoft you are no long the Alpha dog in my life and you will just have to learn your new place in this changing world!   Until you learn you will always be on the sidelines!

Why your Facebook account got hacked and how to secure it!

You’ve Probably seen:

Help me!!! the house was broken into lastnіght, i caught the theіves stealing our stuff on our securitу cameras! Do уou happen too recognize them?  (Some link such as Tumblr)

I know it is the hardest thing to understand but when it comes to getting your Facebook account, getting into your account is the most valuable for them.   Most of the time it is used to mine data such as your personal information or so they can become you but that it’s always the case.   It is sometimes the case that a spammer wants to get those click’s from your friends and you be the one who gets in trouble with Facebook.   It isn’t always the case though.   More than anything hackers or some call the crackers want to get your account to make money somehow.  99% of the time that is the case the other 1% is someone who wants to just be a wise guy and show you he did it!

Well it happened!

You probably like the rest of the people asking how do I prevent this in the future first thing first.  You need to change your password on your Facebook account.  Once you have your account back you will then need to end all activity on your facebook account besides the device your logged into and that means you will need to update your password on all devices.   

The Easiest way to end all activity on your facebook account is:

Settings — > Account Setting —>  (Click) Recongnized Devices —> (Then) End All activity

Before you start putting the password in to all those devices maybe it is time to use a good Password manager to do just that, I recommend Lastpass because it is has everything you need to help keep hackers out of your account.   You should use a minium 20 character length and make it as random as possible.   This is what I have used to keep people from guessing my password although it is good way to help prevent Phishing attacks from sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets!

Setup a 2 Authentication factor!

In some ways this has been the hardest for people to understand and to want to use because it slows down people logging into their account but it also makes it that much harder for someone to get into your account because they have to know your validation code.   This will help you keep your privacy and security safe.  There is a great tutorial on how to do it, and I use it with the Google Authenticator myself!

Review your Timeline!

It might not be needed but you never know what the hacker posted on your timeline or your activity and you should carefully check it out from the time you thought you got compromised to now.  You never know what has been posted or said about your until you do a complete inventory of damage control.  Delete any posts that you didn’t do and remove those from your time line.   Just look for a little X on the upper right corner.

Finally Review your security Settings!

Go back through your security settings and make sure the hacker didn’t enable something that you might regret later on.   For instants your timeline being public or your phone number or something that you don’t want anyone other than friends or family to know.  There are few places where you should check and maybe change if need be and they are:

Settings —> Privacy Settings

Settings —> Account Settings —> Timeline And Tagging

Settings —> Account Settings —> (-)Blocking

You never know what the hacker did to either unblock someone or change something that you had put private.   So this is what I call damage control.   This will keep you safe and secure, but remember the only way to truly be safe is watching what you do online and keep that information private as long as possible.

Best Tips and Tricks for your ZTE AWE!

Common questions!

I’ve been getting a few common questions and thought this was a good time to discuss a few of them and help you increase your productivity on your ZTE AWE phone.   Each one of these tips is good to use for your phone to help you make it easier to get what you need to get done with your phone.  This phone is 4.1.2 Android (Jelly Bean).   

TIP 1: Keep your Phone updated

If you haven’t already, you should check to make sure you ZTE AWE is updated in several areas.   You can easily do this by hitting the 3 dashes on the phone that look like a small bar graph.   Then select “System Settings” and scrolling all the way to the bottom of the screen.   You will select “System Updates”.  Once your their you will find 4 options: 

• Update PRL
• Update Profile
• Update ZTE Software
• Update Firmware

Each one these can help you in several areas.  First question people ask me is what is a PRL it is “Preferred Roaming List” and can be very useful to keep your signal strength at highest possible strength for your location.   You should do this from time to time or when you have done a hard reset to get put keep your phone updated to any new cell towers in your area.  

Updating your Profile basically helps you keep your phone validated with the network.   You should occasionally keep it updated to make sure you have the latest codes for your phone to be able to communicate with the cell towers and for you to be able to use their services.   This can be quite useful if your experiences some problems with connectivity problems with your 3g service.

Update ZTE Software is a form of drivers that you need to use to have your phone work with Jelly Bean.   I am sure there are some Cyangen Mods out there that can get around this but I am not really concerned with using a mod right now.  As you know it is another layer to the Android community for them to have some for of ownership of their phones.   Nothing you can do about it but you should keep that updated just in case there is something new you can use with your phone.

Update Firmware can be very useful if your just bought your phone and you wanted the latest version of Android on your phone.   You will get updates from the provider if there is an OTA (Over The Air) update that is available for your device but those aren’t very reliable and thus you can check manually.  Who knows you might someday be able to use the Android 4.3 or 4.4 the Kit Kat Versions!

Tip 2: Multiple Folders and Groups

The nice thing about Jelly Bean and above on the android devices is that you can now have folders on your  home screen and any other menu area you are wanting to put it.   On the ZTE you have 4 spots that you can have a permanent folder.  The Home bar as I call it can be easily used to keep those folders of apps that help you on your phone.   I’ve got a Social Folder with Facebook, Twitter, and any other social app that I want.   I also have several different phone apps that allow me to do stuff like Google Voice.   I even have a games folder so I do have to go back to the home screen to play games that I use offten on my device like Words With Friends.

If you would like to add or remove icons on the bottom bar, just press on the icon shortcut and hold for a second or two and then move it to where ever you wanted to move it to.   If you happen to delete an important shortcut just find them in the apps menu.   That is the Circle with 4 small squares in it!  

TIP 3: Adding a VPN

If your are worried about people spy on you on public or when you use your phone.   You can have a VPN on the phone.   You can use something like VPN4ALL but if your wondering what a VPN is, check out my article on the subject.   If you value your privacy you will want to read both articles to better understand how to use a VPN.   

Adding a VPN is easy, just hit the menu key (3 Bars) and then select:

System Settings  —-> More —-> VPN —-> Add VPN

There are sever different options to setting up a VPN on the ZTE AWE but I recommend the L2TP/IPSec PSK or the IPSec Xauth PSK ones.   They may not be NSA backdoor but I can’t be 100% sure about that.   I do not recommend at all to use the PTPP for VPN because that is not the best idea for keeping people out!

More to Come!

It seems this will be a good one to come back to in the coming weeks.   I will post even more tips and tricks in the coming weeks and if you haven’t subscribed to my RSS Feed or my Email list.  If you don’t you might miss a valuable tip or trick for your ZTE AWE or some other device that I’ve talked about in the past!

Note to Self: Keep a Backup with you at all times!

Chrome OS Back ups!

The story was a simple one, I went to friends house to use their wifi with my Acer Chromebook and I got an update reminder on my system for a update to the Chrome OS.   It seems that it was a beta version of the software that was the problem.  I’m a tinkerer at heart and you can change it from three different versions:

• Stable
• Beta
• Developer — Unstable

You can change to anyone of these simply by going to chrome://help/ and then clicking more info.  

Use it at your own risk!

As you can see you have a choice to try out the ones that aren’t very stable and might cause problems.   This is where I must grab my foot and stick it in my mouth.   I was trying the beta version of the Chrome OS to see what might be coming out in a few months.   I usually don’t have problems with a beta version of any Operating system but this last update for the Chrome OS Beta just made my computer boot and then just got to a white screen and it would just hang there for several minutes and then it would reboot.   Well I didn’t have my backup restore flash drive with me and was trying everything  I could come up with to get it running.   Finally I broke down and borrowed my friends 4gb flash drive to create a restore of the my Parrot CoffinFish E3181 ISO (Use at your own risk) that I made back a few weeks ago, just in case!  I used that to create a restore flash drive on my friends Windows system.  If you are looking for the tool to make one for your system, you can check out Google Page on that!

Restore Switch on the Acer!

I was searching long and hard to find this elusive restore switch to boot into the restore option of the Chrome OS.   Apparently after looking hard and long the simple way to do this is just hit the ESC-F3-POWER button at the same time.   There is no actual button you have to push to get into the restore mode.   At least that is how I got into the restore mode on my Acer Chrome Book!   

Truth Be Told!

I should of had my USB drive with me at all times but I didn’t have a good way to keep it with me at times.   I am now in search for a way to have a key chain USB to do just that.   Be able to put it on my key chain to take with me every place  I go and thus won’t have to worry about this next time around!   I am sure this won’t be the last time since I am always going to be a beta tester.