GreenBucks

Spam. People associate this word with the canned good named Spam. But there is another meaning for spam and that would be:

Electronic messaging system abuse through sending unsolicited messages, usually in bulk form (more like send to all) regardless if the recipients want to get these messages or not. In other words, these are sent indiscriminately.

E-mail spam is the one that is sent regularly which is mostly about products or services being offered. There are however different forms of spam and these will show as instant messaging spam or SPIM which targets instant messaging services, online classified ads, wiki spam and internet forum spam.

Blogs have spams too, in the form of comments which is also called spamdexing. There are also those that are called splogs.

Continue Reading »

No Comments »

Downandup or Conficker has invaded millions of computers worldwide.

This perhaps is one problem that had Microsoft scratching its head and burnings the midnight iol in determining who made the worm. In fact they even offered a $250k bounty to whoever will point to the perpetrator. yup, that bad.

So how would this enter one’s computer? One is through USB drives. If in case you want to know how it looks like, click here.

So how should one get ready to “battle” the worm, if it hasn’t invaded yet one’s computer? Click here. Or try to F-Downandup Removal Tool.

No Comments »

I wrote my Food Friday entry today because we will be a bit busy tomorrow with school-related activities.

I had a thick slice of medium rare steak last Wednesday night during the annual Christmas party held at the manse of the owner of the intervention center where I work (part-time). We had this kind of food last year, same menu, same plate, please click here.

I chose the medium rare variety between the two types they were offering, had it smothered with a rich mushroom gravy sauce. The thick slice took over half the space of the plate! And to think that this was a big plate 😀

On my plate are buttered whole corn kernels, 2-3 T of garlic rice (can’t resist) and a little pasta carbonara.

I wanted to just put the steak on one plate and the others on a different plate but I didn’t. It would be difficult to walk back from the buffet table to our table holding two plates. Not to mention I would probably look like too hungry (which incidentally I was, lol!).

I wasn’t able to get good photos of my dinner plate because those sitting on with me on our table were giving me weird looks like I have gone insane taking photos of my food! 😀

________________________________________________________

If I have to eat dinners like this until the holidays are over, I might have to get me some Anoretix 😀

12 Comments »

GreenBucks went to the WordCamp Philippines last September 6, 2008.

The lectures that I have attended were the following: Blogging 102 which is basically about how to advertise and have contests (plus where to get the prizes to be given away) to increase the blog’s juice on readership and traffic.

Then I attended the Building a Blogging Community. This is very timing since my friends and I just launched a new group writing blog, the FilipinoMomBlog.

I also attended the lecture on plug ins and SEO.

Then Mr WordPress himself Matt Mullenweg, presented the new developments for WordPress including the WordPress 2.7 which will be available in November.

I had fun learning new things except for one major mishap. My (Sandisk) SD card decided to go nuts so I lost all photos of the lectures that I took. I just took several photos again but the new WordPress 2.7 photos were in those that were probably lost 🙁

Incidentally, some of my photos were recovered last night. Woohoo! (insert Plurk banana dance here) Thanks hubby!

Continue Reading »

40 Comments »

Web hosting.

What is web hosting? How does one have an online account, a blog, a corporate website? How much does not need to put up for these services? What are the best web hosting services being offered in the market today? Is the web hosting provider secure? What about data recovery? What about the other technical aspects of web hosting?

These are just some of the questions that would-be bloggers and corporate/business owners would want to know details about when they get interested in setting up online sites. Blogging and putting up corporate sites is not just about writing and putting up photos. One should learn at least basic technical aspects of putting up such sites.

If one wants to have his own domain and be hosted by web hosting services, then one should be able to understand the basic ins and outs of this endeavor.

One of the best ways to learn about web hosting is to read articles and web hosting tutorials. Sure, it is good to listen to the advices of friends who know about these things but reading makes one understanding these things better. Web hosting rating should be scrutinized too, to know the leaders in the market.

Also, one of the concerns would be the cost of the web hosting package. For would-be bloggers, they can opt to start with a starter package. They can probably get a different package once posts have been made and traffic to the site has been increasingly going up.

For corporate sites, they can opt to get the packages for exactly what they need to accommodate everything they may want to put up in their site.

If its any consolation and also for added credibility, better check web hosting awards to also know which companies have been given due recognition in the field of web hosting services.

Check out this web hosting site to view the packages being offered.

No Comments »

To be a victim of phishing is not a pleasant experience for anyone involved with any online transaction.

To be a victim of online identity thefts is definitely not pleasant.

There have been stories of people, bloggers and non bloggers whose online earnings or savings accounts have been violated and their monies victims of theft.

So how should one protect his online accounts?

• When suspicious emails arrive and there are links to open, check first if the links are legit. Put your cursor over the link and see what is being seen in the browser. If these are not matched, then it is suspicious and might be fraud.

• Now, why would you open a mail that asks you to confirm about an item that you ordered when you know you didn’t order anything? That is suspicious too.

• Change your passwords every now and then, every two weeks if need be. Go for passwords not associated to you and use letters and numbers and characters in the password. Do NOT store these passwords in your computer.

• There are identity thieves that use keystroke-logging software to know the usernames and passwords through emails, freeware and yes, instant messaging.

• Be careful when downloading anything from unknown sources for these files may contain malicious software programs that might be accompanied by spyware.

• Do not respond to emails requesting for your personal information.

I remember this episode from Psych, one my favorite (very funny) detective tv series. They were in a speed dating club and had to sit with other people and get to know them by asking questions. Shawn noticed that one woman’s questions were different. She was asking about these things:

• hometown where the guy grew up
• mother’s maiden name
• favorite color

So naturally, Shawn’s interest perked up. They finally got this woman and her husband who was also working in the dating club for identity theft.

These are just some of the things one has to look out for in order to protect online accounts. I am very sure there are a lot more different ways these thieves have that will enable them to do their illegal activities.

________________________________________________________

I did not write these things because I assume I know everything. I wrote these things as a reminder that I too, need to beef up what I need to do to protect myself from identity theft.

If financial institutions and government offices have been victimized, we can be too. I hope not me, of course.

10 Comments »