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How vulnerable is your pin number?:
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/cracking-pin-code-easy-1-2-3-4-130143629.html
Bottom Line: Umm very vulnerable. First, even if you take great effort in carefully selecting a number there are only 10,000 different combinations and therefore if someone wants to compromise you badly enough – they will if they gain access to your debit card number. That said there are some basic good practices you still should engage in to minimally protect yourself.
- Don’t be lazy when picking a pin number
- Don’t believe you’re protected with a strong number
More than 25% of all pin numbers are compromised within the first 20 attempts by thieves. That’s mostly because we tend to stick to relatively easy to remember numbers. For example the most common pin number is… 1,2,3,4. The second most popular number is 1111. Third… 0000.
Clearly many of us don’t have much of an imagination but in this case it can lead to quickly and easily being compromised. In the link above you’ll see the most common numbers (and the ones thieves will try first). At a minimum you shouldn’t use those. In reality you can’t be completely protected and it’s yet another reason I believe having ID protection is a good idea.
Free checking is officially a thing of the past (for the most part) - bank shopping:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bank-fees-relentlessly-rise-2012-070057864.html
Bottom Line: So free checking used to be a given at virtually at bank. Then free checking became something you had to ask about when opening a new bank account or switching banks because of a move. These days free checking is becoming a rarity.
I won’t dwell on the details of Dodd – Frank and much of the new regulation that has led many banks (especially the big ones) to add fees to combat changes in regulation in the industry. You need to be vigilant these days in monitoring changes in your accounts. It might sound cliché or seem as though its unimportant but even Jim Edwards just found he’d been paying new monthly fees of $15 or more for checking.
All told only 39% of all checking accounts are actually fee free now. That means that if you haven’t paid attention, you’re likely paying for it. The bank I work with and recommend with not only free checking but free interest checking is Trustco Bank:
http://www.trustcobank.com/index/personal-1/checking-1.html
Update your IE with this patch now:
Bottom Line: Last week I reported on the issue with the IE Explorer vulnerability for versions 7-9 that could lead to your computer being compromised by malware. 71% of all users were/are vulnerable to the malware if they were to come across it. Simply put, if you use IE 7-9 and you haven’t updated your browser – do it ASAP. No reason not to.
Credibility thy name isn't Wikipedia:
Bottom Line: Wikipedia is an easy source to access for info but it’s never been very credible. As we’ve just found out, it’s even less credible than we’d previously considered.
Two principals at Wikipedia (a top operations person and the person running the British bureau) were accepting payments for a Wikipedia enhancing service. Basically if you have a Wikipedia page and you wanted positive spin and or artificial accounts to be promoted on the page, why just hire execs at the company to do it for you. The bonus – if someone put something negative on the page, why they could delete or spin that for you as well.
Now the two people responsible at the company for that situation are gone but the reminder should linger. Wikipedia is a little fun, a little educational but never a credible resource for information.
Bottom Line: The situation in
Google has long been riding a line of semi-censorship with certain countries including
Want to use your old iPhone accessories - well just buy one more accessory...:
http://mashable.com/2012/09/21/lightning-adapter-stores-apple/
Bottom Line: So one of the biggest complaints with regard to the iPhone 5 (which I did receive on Friday after all as an aside), was that the previous adaptors didn’t work with the 5 because of the smaller adapter size. The result was/is that the average 5 owner would purchase an additional $100 worth of accessories to replace the additional chargers, adaptors and dock stations that would no longer be functional. Well there is good news (sort of). If you buy the Lightning Adapter for the iPhone 5, you can still use all of your other accessories. You may still rightfully be a bit skeptical for having to buy an accessory to use your existing accessories but it’ll likely be cheaper then replacing all of them.
