Identity theft sucks
Did you know that I live in an industrial complex in Keller, TX and that a few days before that I lived in an apartment complex in Fort Worth, TX? Neither did I. I logged in yesterday to take a look at my credit card statement and after logging in was greeted with a mostly bare page that told me to call an 800 number and that’s when I learned about my shopping spree at Buy.com and my repeated changes of address. Luckily the fraud department of the credit card company did not allow those charges to go through. And now I am left wondering, did someone just happen to crack my password on the credit card site? Or does someone have my Date of Birth, Mother’s Maiden name, and Social Security number (which is the other way to take over an account online)? So far I haven’t seen any major damage on my credit report but I will have to monitor it closely for the next long while.
What to do?
1. Setup a 90 day “fraud alert” at the 3 Credit Bureaus. They now share information, so notfiying one should notify them all. Here is the info you need on all three just in case:
TransUnion
Fraud Victim Assistanc Department
Phone: 800-680-7289Equifax
Consumer Fraud Division
Phone: 800-525-6285Experian
National Consumer Assistance
Phone: 888-397-3742
So far I am runniing through step one, I am guessing I will be monitoring my credit like a hawk for the forseeable future and possibly contacting the police if there is any erroneous activity. But if I find out more, I will update this post.
By the way, US federal law allows you to request a free credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus once a year. The website to do this is :
Essential Windows Software
As I’m probably going to be building a computer in the near future as a gift, I figured I would go ahead and share what I consider to be the essential free software to add to a fresh windows installation. You may disagree but here it is :
Documents :
FoxIt Reader – Faster than Acrobat, and feels more lightweight
PDF Creator – create a virtual printer to print PDFs from any app that prints
OpenOffice – Office suite compatible with that other guy’s
Yahoo! Desktop Search – fast, and easy search for your files
Picture Organizer/Touchup :
Picassa – From Google, easy and ituitive
Browser :
Firefox – fast, and just as bloated as you make it
Firefox Extensions :
Sage – RSS Feed Reader, integrates with live bookmarks, and feeds are customisable with style sheets.
Google Browser Sync – Just use the bookmarks (don’t use the cookies, history, or password synchonization as it make me a little quesy)
Google Notebook – Notebook meet bookmarks
BugMeNot – Never register for a one use password again
Media Players :
Itunes – maybe a little bloated but works really well
Media Player Classic – nice video player, plays several formats, harkens back to the days before MS went overboard with Windows Media Player
Virus/Spyware :
Avast! – antivirus suite, frequently updated, easy to use
Windows Defender – Spyware removal for dummies
Spybot S&D and Ad-aware – Backup Spyware detectors
Paranoia :
Eraser – really get rid of files, or whole drives
Extra Geeky :
Sun Java – java runtime/compiler
Cygwin – posix layer for windows, give you access to *nix tools
PuTTY – Windows Telnet/SSH client
TightVNC – Remote Control Software for you computer
Disney claims copyright on headstone
From Boing Boing :
Disney threatened to sue a headstone carver for copyright infringement of Pooh for a stillborn infant’s grave, but changes mind after bad publicity starts.
More:
United Press International
Everything cancelled is new again
Futurama is coming back. All the original voice actors have been re-hired and episodes will begin airing in 2008 on Comedy Central.
More info:
NY Post
Death is only the beginning
Saw this article linked on Digg this evening. It basically show how they were able to resurrect Marlon Brando for a reprise of his role as Jor-El in the upcoming Superman Returns.
Take a look it is neat and a little creepy at the same time:
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=23646
Happy Mornings
I really like this Folgers ad :
Net Neutrality : God Save the Internet
SaveTheInternet.com has officially introduced us to “The BroadBand” a group of 3 singer/songwriters who have composed a song which is titled “God Save the Internet”. So head on over listen and download the song, and then take a few minutes to look through the site and tell your congressman your views on this issue.
Recent Net Neutrality News :
MarketWatch
CNET News.com
I’m popular … with spammers
Just installed the WordPress plug-in “Bad Behavior” to help combat this (it’s contact form spam, not comment). If you are getting HTTP 412 errors on one of your browsers and you are not spamming, please leave a comment. Thanks!
EFF : The Corruptibles
The EFF has put together a nice little video that shows the potential effects of the RIAA & MPAA backed legislation worming its way through congress. Take a look :
Then write your congressman about it :
Audio Flag & Perform Legislation
TV Broadcast Flag
Analog Hole Legislation
Quickmuse
As seen on TechCrunch :
Quickmuse is in their own words “a cutting contest, a linguistic jam session, a series of on-the-fly compositions in which some great poets riff away on a randomly picked subject.” Basically 2 poets are given 15 minutes and a quote as a topic and they proceed to write a poem. On the site you can see the live action, or once it is over you can see the finished work, or you can “replay” the whole thing against a 15 minute timer and watch as the poem and its revisions evolve. It seems like a pretty neat site. There are also forums where you can discuss the poems themselves. Check it out.
Cat Reality TV Show : Meow Mix House
For the next 10 days, 10 cats will be will be participating in a reality TV Show called “Meow Mix House” to be seen on Animal Planet. As each cat is voted off the show, they will be adopted into a permanent home. Maybe the reality tv show phenomenon has officially jumped the shark.
More info :
Meow Mix House
Reuters
Speak English if you want a cheesesteak
Apparently at Geno’s in Philly, there is now a sign that reads “This is America – when ordering, speak English.” On the one hand I respect the owner’s right to put up such a sign in his own restaurant, on the other, I hope they respect my right not to buy from them while it is up.
Bummer, they do make great cheesesteaks, but I guess I’ll have to get my cheesesteak elsewhere on my trip to Philly.
Here is the Reuter’s article :
Philadelphia ‘English-only’ eatery to face probe
Now Reading
Planned books:
None
Current books:
-
The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time, Book 4) by Robert Jordan
-
A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3) by George R.R. Martin
-
1776 by David McCullough
Recent books:
- Lamb by Christopher Moore
- The Demonata #6: Demon Apocalypse (Demonata) by Darren Shan
- A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2) by George R.R. Martin
- The Demonata #5: Blood Beast (Demonata) by Darren Shan
- Demonata #4, The: Bec: Book 4 in the Demonata series (Demonata) by Darren Shan
-
