After reading an article about Joe Biden and the work that he’s been doing regarding US-international relations, I have more confidence in him and the direction that the current administration is taking to improve those relations. Today, while having lunch, I turned on the television and caught a Daily Show episode that had an interview with Joe Biden. The interview was conducted on November 17, 2009.

Part 1

Part 2

With more and more users becoming accustomed to online banking, more and more phishing scams are making an appearance. How does one protect themselves from becoming a victim?

The number one rule I use has always been to never click on a solicited link, even if it is in an e-mail supposedly sent from your bank. The best thing to do is to open a new browser, or tab, and type in the website address of your bank. Log in from there and do any updating you were requested to do.

Fraudulent e-emails and websites are becoming more and more sophisticated, and can easily mimic the look and feel of your bank. That’s why I say to pass on the link and type in the website address, yourself.

Now, that’s how you can protect yourself. But what about banks? What are they doing? According to the New York Times, many online banking and financial websites are implementing more security measures such as “two-factor authentication”, and are offering zero liability in the event that your account is compromised. This second authentication can come in the form of a code sent as a text message to your phone that you have to enter onto the website when logging in. It’s another step, but it’s added security.

Granted, this isn’t for everyone, and it’s still in the early stages. But, it’s an effort toward securing your financial accounts.

When I was in Vietnam, one of my co-workers was researching a Vietnamese anti-spam solution that consulted and updated a central database that would act as a repository and filter for incoming e-mail. In theory, this would also thwart phishing scams. If this were to be executed, each e-mail provider would have to provide their own database and filtering solution (which is what the spam filters are), or, there could be a central database that many e-mail providers could use to share knowledge about which e-mails and e-mail addresses are fraudulent. Thus, reducing the number of fraudulent e-mails sent to a user’s inbox and reducing the number of victims to phishing scams.

Resources:

• NY Times: Don’t take this bait (but you’re safe if you do)

This video makes me want to play a Lego version of The Legend of Zelda. Will it ever happen? I doubt it, but you can never really tell with Nintendo. Before they do a Lego Zelda, they’d probably go with an 8-bit Zelda.

In an attempt to reduce the number of open tabs on my browser, I’ve decided to bookmark these on the blog. Why not just bookmark them with the browser?

Eventually, after reading these three articles, I want to write something about them. For now, the number of tabs I have open now is unsettling. Here goes “minus three”.

Mullenweg: 10 Blogs to Make You Think
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/11/wordpress.blog.mullenweg/index.html

The Theory of Supermarkets
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/10/magazine/the-theory-of-supermarkets.html

How-To: The Non-Expert: IKEA
The Morning News
http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/how_to/the_nonexpert_ikea.php