Balancing Act between Technology and Lifestyle!

Technology is a Balance!

It isn't everyday that you hear people say that they have to balance work, family, and Technology.   Technology has never been in demand like it has today.    Everyone can say they do it really easily but it isn't always that simple or some would just stretch the truth.   Truth be told no one ever thought it would be this difficult to keep up with technology and keep themselves involved with their kids and work. 

Human Error!

Human error is always going to be a problem because no one can do the job a 100% that being said we have seen in the past where Human error can cause data lose.  That though isn't as big as keeping your data safe from those bad guys that would love to find out all that personal information from your tablet or computer.   Some would say that Facebook has problems too, and I would tend to agree but it isn't the end all to keeping your information safe from Identity Thefts.

Protecting your Data!

I am sure most people will say that it is impossible, I tend to agree but we can at least make it harder for someone to get that data that they want to use against you or just to see what you've been up.   Here are a few things you can do to make it that much harder for someone to get that information!

• Encrypting your Data -- You can do this from several different ways.   It just depends on how you want to proceed.  If your an Android user you have several options to encrypt your device.  I won't go into much detail on how because each device is a little different but you know where you can start!
• Password Manager -- This has been something that I tell people every time I see someone's account being hacked.   If you don't have a strong password than you can't possibly keep people from gaining access.   I suggest using Lastpass and even tell people to invest in Yubikey also!
• Back up your data -- It isn't easy but it is Essential to keep your data backed up because you never really know what will happen and you should always try to keep at least three or four different backup options.   This way if one fails you have a redundancy to help you keep your data from getting lost!

How to Balance Life with Technology!

Here is something you probably are very interested in learning.   I only have one rule when it comes to this and it is something that I have to work at each and every day.   I have come to the conclusion to set time limits on when I use my computer and when I am using technology.   I will not use it all the time and I will not miss being with my kids.   I am sure you have the same problem as me and that is why you were looking for this answer but it isn't like it will help you because it is all about discipline and you only gain that by doing this every day in school, work, or home.  One tip that I can help you with this is, set a limit and slowing each week or day take a minute off until you get to that limit.   It will be a slow process but it will be a rewarding one at the end.

Paul Sylvester

The Cheating Husband Syndrome!

When wives suspect!

Nothing in the world is the hardest to uncover.   At least that is my opinion on this because the Husband will do almost anything to hide an affair.   So what is the wife going to do.   I don't know about the everyone else but I had an interesting experience the other day and I want to discuss this in detail about what happened. 

Once a Cheater always a Cheater!

This is something of a personal belief but back to the story, I found a profile on a few of the dating sites and I thought it was strange.   I knew she was married and everything.  So I wanted to contact her and try to find out for sure.  I posted about it on my blog as a way to hopefully draw out the impersonator and try to determine just what the intent was.   It never really happened because the person involved didn't feel the need to Google their name.   Probably because that was somewhat of a fake last name.  So that didn't pan out like I had hoped.  So I found her at a local community gathering.   I help direct the technical stuff for a local church.   So I just waited to bump into her.   That day came and I told her about her profiles on the few dating sites.   She was confused and a little worried someone might of had her credit cards and her personal information.  I started to do my research and she does her research.

Wasn't a Stranger doing the impersonating!

So she gets back with me and tells me what she found out.   It was her Sister who has a hubby who has cheated on her in the past.   Seems she wanted to use those accounts to spy on her hubby and see if she could find him on any dating sites.   So she tells her sister to remove those accounts but wasn't really happy with her about not asking her.  That ends the story but it is never really over.

Even though it was a family member, most people would still worry about how the pictures and information got out.   I already thought of that, she used her Facebook information even though the security part of it wouldn't of helped.   It was a friend or family and thus the photo's would of still been viewable and download able to the persons computer.

Things you can do to prevent this!

Some of the common problems people don't do are stuff that if you did this it wouldn't of happened.   So I am going to lay out some things you can do to fight people from stealing your identity and impersonating you.  

• Setup Email Alerts -- This is something simple but set up a Email alert with your Name and if anything happens to appear you should be notified once a day.   This will help keep your identity from being stolen on the internet.
• Check your Facebook Settings -- This is something I recommend to all my friends and family.   Keep track of who sees what and what information is given out on your social networks.   Make sure only the important information is given out to the people who need that, not to strangers.
• Remove the Exif Tags from Photos -- if you plan to upload photos to any social site it is best practice to make sure people can't track or know where you've been.   It can also be a security issue for some.   So removing it will help reduce your risk of identity theft.

There are more than these three but this will at least point you in the right direction to start preventing people from taking your identity and using it for their own means.   If you know other ways to fight identity theft then please feel free to leave a comment.   I'd love to hear what you have to say on the subject.

Paul Sylvester

Facebook Security and You -- Why you Should update your privacy Settings!

Facebook Privacy and You!

Privacy for Facebook!

Who needs them? Your probably asking.  I know I am not one to preach about privacy but that doesn't mean you need to worry less about your privacy on Facebook.   It just means you have to be more vigilant 

Every so often Facebook likes to update their privacy settings and not tell you.   Either to add a privacy setting or take one way, more likely than not it is to try to keep you from being private but that is where you need to constantly be checking to see if you need to do something or check something in your privacy settings!

Check List for Facebook Privacy!

• How you Connect [See Above] -- This little one is good for people who don't want to have people constantly requesting them.  So if you are over sensitive to your privacy and security you should limit who can be friend you, look you up, or Send you a Facebook Message!
• Timeline Tagging [See Above] -- Figure out what you want to allow.  I know of friend who has made the choice to approve all tags of her from going public without her intervention.  I did the same thing because of my Ex-wife, she seems to be angry with me right now so I will not approve a tag unless it's true.  
• Ads, Apps, and website [See Above] -- occasionally, you will have a lot of apps wanting to control what you do on Facebook.   I usually try to do a little Spring cleaning of Facebook apps every so often and this area is where you do it.  It also lets you personalize what gets thrown your way.
• Block People and Apps [See Above] -- You know you have those annoying people who just won't stop harassing you.  So this is where you go to block them or unblock them.  You can also block certain apps or you can choice to unblock certain app requests.  Great little tool to keep your privacy safe from stalkers and other people!

The last part of this Privacy kick is who sees your posts, is it just friends or everyone.   You can change that here also whenever you decide you want more or less people to see your posts.   It however only go into effect when you start posting again.   All old posts are either only friends or public, so make you choice wisely.   You can however change that later on by going back and editing all your posts to what you want them to be either public or Private although you do that with each and every post so it will take some time.

I wanted to share some way to keep your privacy safe, I've not shown you everything but some beginner steps you will have to do become more privacy conscience.  You however should check it out every so often to see if Facebook decided to give you more options or to make sure nothing has change.  I try to do it every month but it is just me!  I hope this post helped you get back some of your privacy and keep your profile from prying eyes.

Paul Sylvester

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Lastpass still the best there is!

Lastpass had been broken!

In a recent blog post by the Lastpass team, they talked about how they saw data being sucked from one of their servers.   They hit the panic and Paranoia button because they know how important it is for our passwords to be safe.   They have inititated a password reset for some accounts.   There openness only shows me they want to be as plain as possible.   That is why I thought I should at least talk about this recent Lastpass Hack as some would say.  I have said it in the past but I will say it again.   Lastpass is the best there is and I support there efforts a 100 percent.

Lastpass has implemented a forced password on some users!

I’m not saying everyone is effected but if your one of the few who they have forced you to change your password, I would certainly do it.    The most part if your unsure, the best possible advice I could give you right now is to just hold tight.   We know that they working hard to resolve the issues and that you will probably be next in line.   Just hold off until we know more.

Are you in offline mode?

This is the other problem right now with Lastpass but don’t worry.   You can download the proper files needed to keep your self busy while they fix the problem.   I am using Linux but if your need to have access to your Lastpass passwords, go download the offline versions of Lastpass and use them until they have fixed the problems associated with the passwords.    I have installed the Pocket Password from Lastpass on my Kubuntu system without a hitch. This will be a valuable edition for when I am not able to get connected online.

Lastpass I am still a USER and I thank you for your hard work!

Paul Sylvester

Related articles

• LastPass Hack of the Day (geeks.thedailywh.at)


• LastPass Security Breach? (ghacks.net)


• LastPass Says Hackers May Have Stolen Password Data (businessweek.com)


• LastPass Users Urged to Change Their Last Password (techland.time.com)


• The Last News You Want to Hear is LastPass Hacked. Now What? (cloudave.com)


• LastPass forcing members to change passwords (news.cnet.com)


• Use Lastpass? Change your master password asap (sunbeltblog.blogspot.com)