Cyber Crime More Frequently Targeted at Small Companies

As everything begins to become more and more interconnected with the increase in use of technology, there is also an increase in cyber crime, especially within small businesses. Now, why small businesses you ask?

Image source: Article

“With small firms often having to deal with a lack of budget, inadequate security policies and a general lack of knowledge of the subject, all sorts of weak points can be exploited,” explains Michael Millar, a business reporter for BBC News.

There are a number of things that hackers can do to your computer and software to gain information, spread a virus, or learn about your customers. Also, many of them retrieve this information and sell it to other criminals and allow them to do with it what they wish.

So as a smaller company, how are you working to protect your computer and all of the information it holds? Look here to see the five questions that you should be able to answer about your company that might help insure you have the best security possible and what do to in case you are hacked.

A warm welcome to new blog sponsor imsmartin consulting

Greetings from the team at CU Security & Technology News. We would first like to thank you for being a loyal blog follower. We hope you have found the blog and accompanying newsletter informational, educational, and even a bit entertaining.

It is with great pleasure that we announce our new blog sponsor, imsmartin consulting. The team at imsmartin is proud to be taking the blogging reigns from CU Security & Technology News blog founder, William Rogers. We would like to thank Bill for his dedication to bringing important and relevant news and information to credit unions throughout North America. With any luck, we will still see a guest blog from Bill on occasion.

We will continue to distribute our newsletter once a month. Be sure to check your emails for the latest and greatest in the world of credit union technology and security. If you are not on the mailing list, be sure to sign up using the form below.

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For more information about imsmartin consulting, please visit the website at http://imsmartinc.com.

Until our next post…

ReadyTalk makes web conferencing, online webinars and training sessions possible

Do you find yourself participating in multiple meetings, training sessions and webinars? Do they take up a majority of your take with all the time you spending going to and from them? What if you could actively participate in all of them just using your iPad, desktop, or Outlook?

Image source: Flickr

ReadyTalk, a provider of audio and web conferencing and webinar services, yesterday announced the availability of ReadyTalk Mobile, an iPad application that gives people the flexibility to participate in an online meeting, webinar or training session from anywhere.

Whether you are the one conducting the meeting or the individual attending, this application makes it easy to plan, invite others, and participate in the event while not only being able to hear everything, but also see anything that is being presented. This online tool may help us feel as though we are actually making use of all the time we have in a day that previously we felt we never had enough of.

So if you are a smaller company or credit union, other than for compliance regulations, why use log management? A log management system can analyze the logs, looks for irregularities, spot suspicious events, and even track repeated failed login attempts or port scans. Even within smaller companies, a breach of security is still a definite possibility. Is your company using any sort of log management system? If so, have you found it to be beneficial? If you are not using one, what are your hesitancies in taking the next step to protect your company?

How can you incorporate this application into your business? Look here for more ideas.

Log Management and how it could help your credit union

If you aren’t a large business with hundreds of employees, log management may not be one of the busiest IT positions. That is not to say that in a small company, log management isn’t effective.

Image source: LogLogic

Log management vendors are finding that the companies that are benefitting from their systems are usually larger companies where security is considered to be more of an issue.

“Of course, some compliance regulations—PCI DSS is a good example—are all about security anyways. But would companies use log management products if it wasn’t for compliance regualtions? ‘Bigger companies, yes, but for the smaller companies, probably not,’” according to Mandeep Khera, chief marketing officer at LogLogic.

So if you are a smaller company or credit union, other than for compliance regulations, why use log management? A log management system can analyze the logs, looks for irregularities, spot suspicious events, and even track repeated failed login attempts or port scans. Even within smaller companies, a breach of security is still a definite possibility. Is your company using any sort of log management system? If so, have you found it to be beneficial? If you are not using one, what are your hesitancies in taking the next step to protect your company?

For more information about log management, the why, the how, the vendors and pricing, look no further! Find the information you need right here!

Microsoft Employees and Cybersecurity Researchers Attack Online Crime

Have you ever been a victim of an online hacker? Has your personal information ever been stolen? The actions of two groups are looking out for your safety and your members' satefy.

Image source: Flickr

The determination of Microsoft employees and various other cybersecurity researchers to take down botnets is definitely paying off. The two separate groups were able to take down botnets that infected thousands of computers to steal personal and financial information.

Some of the computers that were infected were found to “blast pharmaceutical spam and, in some cases, steal Bitcoins, a virtual currency that is impossible to recover once stolen.” Thanks to these raids, the personal and financial information of countless individuals can be restored.

Want to hear more about how they attacked online crime? Look here for the complete article.

Use of iPad Helps ADT Double Their Sales

ADT has reaped the benefits of using an iPad in many aspects of their business. The applications that users can install allows homeowners to monitor their home security while away, increase sales revenue, schedule meetings and have even been able to cut back on the time the it takes to present a home to any potential homeowners.

Image source: Fotopedia

Salespeople within the company have been trained how to use the iPad and are finding that there are plenty of ways to improve the way that they do business.

“So what’s coming that’s so impressive? First, ADT expects to have all 4,000 salespeople using iPads by May. Second, it plans to deploy two more apps – a pricing configurator, and the ability to take electronic signatures. This will allow reps to quickly show different ADT systems and options and let customers sign their contracts all using the iPad,” according to a recent Forbes article.

Has your credit union implemented the iPad or any other mobile device, reaping the rewards of its many uses? Read more about how ADT is improving productivity and doubling sales.

Increase in technology and mobility, increase in fraud?

As the world becomes more and more technologically savvy, an increasing number of individuals use their phones and computers to purchase items.

Image source: Flickr

But is this quick and easy process safe? Randy Vanderhoof of the Smart Card Alliance says yes.

Have you taken that next step and taken advantage of enabling transactions through mobile device? Does the fear of fraud keep you or your members from engaging in this convenience?

Look hear to read more about what was uncovered during an interview with Vanderhoof.

Compromised Accounts Leads to Immediate Action by ELGA CU

Do you fear that any of your cardholders will be part of debit or credit fraud?

An ELGA Credit Union in Michigan had to deal with this exact situation. A disturbing 450 cards were in question when the company was informed. "I know we were not the only institution notified in the alert, but we decided to take action as soon as we learned about it,” says Frank Wilber, executive vice president of the Burton-based ELGA Credit Union.

As a result of debit and credit fraud, credit unions cover the customers’ loss. This financial burden is one no company wishes to encounter. How can it be avoided altogether?

Read more about what the Burton-based ELGA Credit Union did to keep customers informed of the situation. Would you have handled it differently? Let us know. We’d love to hear from you.

Diary of a laptop theft - what would you do?

A recent computer theft highlights the critical differences between “backup” versus protecting local & cloud storage from identity theft.

When a computer or mobile device gets stolen, what do you worry about most? Is it that your work is gone? Or that your personal information is on the device available for the theft to see? What about all of the accounts that are accessible online - captured in the history of the web browser and system menus and explorers? Are you worried about your gmail, your online banking, and your cloud-stored contact list?

This article describes the step-by-step actions as police attempt to help a victim recover their stolen devices. It also captures the victim's thought process and fears as they realize all that needs to be done now that these devices are in the hands of a thief.

We've been warned that it's always a great idea to save your data. We are also told to keep track of credit card issuers, card numbers, and phone numbers in case they are lost and stole. These two pieces of advice can be combined to assure the safety of our information within our digital life. Read the full, and very interesting, article at http://www.gregarnette.com/blog/2012/03/stolen-macbook-and-ipad-re-affirms-cloud-backup-strategy/.

Battle of the Electronic Wallets

Mobile-phone carriers are seeking a beachhead in phone-based payments. Only problem? Google got there first.

Tech experts, such as Google and Isis, are now battling to offer the best mobile or electronic wallet with the hope of capturing mobile phone advertising dollars, which could be substantial given that $200 billion spent on retail advertising every year.

Much like the very early days of e-commerce in the mid 90’s, today represents the very early days of the electronic wallet; a smart phone loaded with special chips that can transmit credit-card information and receive store offers . The armada of partners expected to participate and benefit from the electronic wallet include: all the major credit card brands and three banks with 100 million customers.

Google, with its Google Wallet already being accepted by 150,000 merchants, is forcing carriers to face the risk that Google is going to take over the lucrative slices of mobile business. The race is on as the companies scram to get merchants to install the $100 software into the new checkout terminals, so that their wallets are accepted and they can manage sending advertisements and loyalty points back to consumers.

Do banks need to be concerned with security glitches allowing phone thieves to go on electronic spending sprees? See the full article at http://www.technologyreview.com/business/39825/.

New Online Technology Helps Prevent “The One that Got Away”

Instead of having its members abandon their efforts to obtain a loan altogether or even worse, go elsewhere for the loan because of the lag in time to completion, Northwest Federal Credit Union has utilized online technology which has increased their loan close rate to a staggering 86 percent.

The system utilized by NWFCU to reduce the time lost while loan officers played “phone tag” with members to complete their loan applications, consists of a variety of communication tools created by a combination of DigitalMailer’s communication systems and MeridianLink’s multi-channel allowing the Credit Union to automatically connect with members interested in obtaining loans.

This technology allows NWFCU to stays in touch with members at every step in the borrowing process, without putting a strain on staff resources." Want to learn more about how this tech savvy system can free up your staff to close loans? Read the full article to find out more.

Enterprise Social Networks Deserve Time, Careful Consideration

Times have indeed changed as companies make the move from blocking social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, to bringing the fundamentals of social networking into the enterprise to promote collaboration, innovation and sharing.

Image source: http://www.strongmandigital.com.au

Putting social network statistics aside, it is still obvious that enterprise social networks give businesses a key platform to make their business personal to the customer. It would be a grave mistake to ignore the potential successes to be had through the implementation of enterprise social media. However, as more businesses begin to recognize the great potential of enterprise social networks, seventy percent of internal social initiatives eventually fail because those businesses didn’t do their homework.

So, what homework should small business do before a rollout? Read the full article to get some ideas.

AmEx Syncs With Twitter To Turn #Hashtags Into Savings

Want $20 back from Whole Foods when you use your AmEx card? Tweet #AmExWholeFoods. Here's what's behind the new deals for the sharing generation.

American Express unveiled a new program with Twitter to let cardmembers sync accounts with the social network, and earn savings from big brands such as Whole Foods, Best Buy, and Zappos--just by retweeting certain hashtags.

Read the full article.

Data Protection for Small Business

If your server crashes this afternoon, can you recover your data? What will you do if your office burns down tonight?

Because the stakes are so high, the first item on any small business to-do list should be to properly protect their data. This article covers three things small business should do in order to do just that.

Read the full article

Breached Card Details Threaten Privacy

Data breaches tied to credit and debit cards accounted for more than 25 percent of all breaches in 2011, according to a new report.

Breach numbers overall have declined, with breaches in the financial-services sector accounting for less than 4 percent of all breaches. While, from 2010 to 2011, the financial sector saw losses linked to debit and credit compromises drop from 18.6 percent to 1.6 percent, merchants and businesses saw jumps in debit and credit losses, from 4.3 percent in 2010 to 12.9 percent in 2011.

Read the full article.

Most Common Passwords

'Password1' is the No. 1 Password Employed by Business Users

Unfortunately, that's just the most cringe-worthy example of bad enterprise security cited by Trustwave in its recently released Global Security Report for 2012.

So, you ask, why "Password1"? Read the full article to find out.

Smartphones Continue To Grow In Popularity

American ownership of smartphones stands at 46%.

Interestingly, this number is larger than the number of adults who own cell phones that aren’t smart phones, which is currently at only 41%.

Operating system details from Pew Research:

• Android devices are used by 20% of cell owners, up from 15% in May 2011
• iPhones are used by 19% of cell owners, up from 10% in May 2011
• Blackberries are used by 6% of cell owners, down from 10% in May 2011

How will these mobile devices change the way CUs connect with their members?

Read the full article

Targeting Merchants, Square Debuts Register iPad App And Analytics

The Square app has a completely new UI, and a better integration with Card Case, which is Square’s consumer-facing loyalty, payments and merchant-discovery app.

The new app’s UI has been reconfigured so that it’s a perfect fit for brick and mortar businesses, whether they have 10 items or 10,000. The new app and Square also features in-depth analytics, allowing merchants to segment consumer payments data and transactions.

Square says it is now processing $4 billion in payments volume per year, which is up from $2 billion in mobile payments volume expected in October 2011.

Read the full article

Your Webcam Can Read Your ID Card To Verify Your Identity

Mattes' company Jumio is formally introducing Netverify, which turns any device into a personal ID reader.

It's like Jumio's previous product Netswipe, which can turn any device into a credit card reader -- all by using the webcam on your computer. Users can pay with their webcam so their credit card details are never stored on their computer -- making it much more secure to use than methods that require the user to type in numbers.

Read the full article

Remote ATM Vulnerability – JACKPOT!

There have been a number of ATM breaches, such as in 2008 when several Citibank-branded ATMs located in 7-Eleven convenience stores were compromised to extract account numbers and PINs.

Barnaby Jack, Director of Security Testing at IOActive, was able to demonstrate remotely gaining control of not one, but two ATM machines that he purchased – causing both of them to empty their cash contents onto the stage at the Blackhat Security Conference. With all of the cash extracted from Jack's ATMs, one might think that remote control over the ATM is no longer valuable. But, this is so not the case.

Read the full article

The Credit Card Is The New App Platform

Credit and debit cards are ubiquitous, but they’re mostly pretty dumb. That’s about to change.

Online commerce is now a $200 billion industry, but it’s still small compared to offline transactions. Up to 70% of consumer spending is influenced by Web and mobile research, but over 90% of actual transactions are still conducted in the physical world. Retail marketers know they can advertise more efficiently if they can actually track and close the redemption loop from online browsing to offline buying. Major consumer internet and financial services companies are also highly motivated, as they see a path to greater advertising and promotion-based revenue if they can demonstrate more marketing value through closing the loop.

So what will be the impact of this emerging app platform on the card carrying public?

Read the full article

Survey Reveals Big Data Misconceptions, Security Concerns

Can you provide IT security for data if you don’t really understand what it is you're protecting?

The survey shows that there are still a lot of misconceptions about big data. 49% said they were somewhat or very concerned about managing big data, and 38% acknowledged that they do not have a clear understanding of what big data is. Furthermore, a majority of the respondents, 59%, lack the tools required to manage data from their IT systems, resorting to using separate, disparate systems and even spreadsheets.

Read the full article

Samsung Galaxy Beam Is Both a Smartphone and Projector

Could this 50-inch beam be used for company presentations?

The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona hasn't even officially kicked off yet, and Samsung is already on fire, announcing devices left and right. After the 10.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, next in line is a smartphone/mobile projector combo called Samsung Galaxy Beam. What makes it different from most other smartphones on the market is its ultra-bright, 15-lumen projector, which lets you project a 50-inch wide image on a wall – really handy for presentations.

Read the full article

Four Technology Trends to Watch

The ‘consumerization’ of technology will affect member interactions.

Improper measure for social media, mobility, cloud computing, and data security/privacy can lead to data breaches. And when they do, they have profound effects on credit unions, including financial ramifications, loss of members, brand damage, regulatory scrutiny, and legal liability.

Read the full article

What's the Big Deal about Big Data?

The ability by organizations to collect mountains of data offers a dream scenario for hackers, but if managed properly, large volumes of information also can present IT staff with unique and valuable insight into an organization's security posture.

The more data we generate and share, the greater the risk of that data being used against us. By leveraging these same trends and viewing them from a big data picture, organizations can extract tremendous value with a greater chance of detecting and responding to otherwise undetected security incidents.

Read the full article

Identity theft, phishing top tax scams in U.S.

Identity theft and phishing top the federal U.S. tax service's list of "dirty dozen" scams, which tend to peak this time of year as millions of Americans gear up to file their tax returns.

"Scam artists will tempt people in person, online and by email with misleading promises about lost refunds and free money. Don't be fooled by these scams," Internal Revenue Service(IRS) Commissioner Doug Shulman said in a statement on Thursday.

While the "dirty dozen" schemes are common year round, many occur most frequently during tax filing season, the IRS said. The filing deadline for 2011 taxes is April 17.

Read the full article

Why social media, mobile phones want your info

Living in the world of social networking and mobile smartphones means trading away some of your personal information. Experts on the issue admit that they don't have a full picture of the way personal information is collected and used on the Internet.

Read the full article for some basic guidelines to keep in mind.

Here's A Look At The New Breed of Phishing Scams

Maybe you think you can spot scam emails by the broken English, the pleas to wire money via Western Union and the references to Nigerian princes. Think again.
Read the full article

How to cut 70 percent of your IT budget in one year

In our new structure, we needed applications that were scaled down and easier to support. We ditched the world of licensed software and annual commitments to large capital expenses on equipment — the traditional way of doing IT — in favor of cloud, SaaS and virtualization.

After a year-long migration of our IT infrastructure and applications to the cloud, we shaved more than $2 million, or 70 percent, from our annual IT budget.

Read the full article to see how they did it

Image courtesy of Flickr user AndyFitz.

Digital stick-up: Online account fraud

With court battles raging between small businesses and banks over which entity should be responsible for the massive losses that result from account fraud, ING Direct has adopted a line of thinking that not all financial institutions might agree with: Accept that the customer is going to stink at security.

While corporate account takeover remains prevalent, resulting in $87.5 million in losses last year, all banks can strive to prevent it says Rudy Wolfs of ING Direct.

Register for the report at SC Magazine

Watch Out Visa and MasterCard: PayPal Is Coming to a Brick-and-Mortar Store Near You

Products like Square and early mobile wallet innovations are already nipping at the heels of the traditional payment-processing infrastructure that merchants use every time you swipe a card to buy something at a store.

But online auction powerhouse eBay, owner of PayPal, thinks there’s room for one more competitor to bank-issued debit and credit cards with a logo such as Visa or MasterCard on the front: The company plans to roll out PayPal in brick-and-mortar retailers.

Read the full article

Risky Places to Swipe Debit Cards

Would you give a thief direct access to your checking account?

No? Unfortunately, you may be doing just that by regularly using your debit card. Debit cards may look identical to credit cards, but there's one key difference. With credit cards, users who spot fraudulent charges on their bill can simply decline the charges and not pay the bill. On the other hand, debit cards draw money directly from your checking account, rather than from an intermediary such as a credit card company.

Because of that, even clear-cut cases of fraud where victims are protected from liability by consumer protection laws can cause significant hardship, says Frank Abagnale, a secure-document consultant in Washington, D.C.

He cites the example of the The TJX Companies Inc.'s T.J. Maxx data breach that exposed the payment information of thousands of customers in 2007. The incident resulted in $150 million in fraud losses, and much of it was pulled directly from customers' bank accounts. While credit card users got their accounts straightened out and new cards in the mail within a few days, the case created major problems for debit card holders who waited an average of two to three months to get reimbursed, Abagnale says.

While debit card fraud is always a possibility, being careful where you use it can help keep your checking account balance out of the hands of criminals.

Read more: Risky Places To Swipe Debit Card | Bankrate.com http://www.bankrate.com/finance/checking/risky-places-swipe-debit-card-1.aspx#ixzz1ljVNFbYl

Password Check

When it comes to Money, this magician know hows to handle it

What seems as a series of simple magic trick turns into a mind boggling illusion at the end.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=chinese+magic+coin+trick&mid=B473EA6EDE46D6FB74A7B473EA6EDE46D6FB74A7&view=detail&FORM=VIRE3 

Can you explain how he does it????

Meetings Technology Trends to Watch for 2012

The rate of technology change is increasing. Meetings and tradeshow technology continues to advance with technology products becoming better, cheaper and easier to use. Innovation is bubbling with new options. Here are some of the major meetings and tradeshow technology trends to watch for this coming year.

1. More free or low cost apps for events and trade shows.

The cost for the technology is being cut in half every year. Web software development is much faster and easier than ever before. What used to take $100,000+ and a team of programmers weeks or months to do, can now almost be accomplished by a gifted teenager in his/her bedroom over the weekend.

2. Mobile technology crosses the chasm from the early adopter to the early majority for events.

Recent data from MPI”s FutureWatch 2011 Survey and others indicate that more than 80% of meeting professionals use smartphones and other mobile devices in their jobs. Yet, relatively few planners (9%) have used mobile applications yet for their own meetings. This is about to change.

3. Do it yourself (DIY) mobile event apps will proliferate.

One of the hottest areas of mobile development is in the low-cost DIY arena. It is possible to create a fully featured, cross-platform business app (iPhone, android, iPad and mobile web) with customized logos, colors and content using BiznessApps.com for as low as $39.95/month. This DIY site is very easy to use with video tutorials throughout.

4. Conference recording and distribution is becoming cheaper, faster and much more capable.

Conference recording has been around for decades starting in the days that audio-cassettes of the presentations were mass-produced onsite and sold in the foyer. Recent technology advances have made it possible to quickly and relatively inexpensively distribute speaker video, audio and visuals over the web in real-time and on demand afterwards.

5. Hybrid meetings will extend the reach and broaden the impact of face-to-face events.

A hybrid meeting is an event that combines both face-to-face and virtual experience for local and remote attendees. It will become commonplace for many events in the next few years. Meeting professionals are recognizing that it has become much easier to extend the impact of an event beyond the four walls of the meeting room.

6. Near Field Communication (NFC) will provide streamlined connectivity and services for events.

NFC is a short-range wireless connectivity standard to enable communication between devices when they're touched together. It is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the U.S.

The applications for events are significant allowing for very fast, secure and simplified means of:

• Electronic ticketing

• Electronic business card exchange

• Credit card payment

• Easy pick up of conference literature, exhibit brochures, course notes, and other digital documents

7. YouTube and other social publishing tools will be used increasingly to promote and manage meetings and to engage attendees.

Much has been written about the power of Facebook.com and the other social networking sites to engage potential attendees before an event to increase attendance and networking onsite.WeI believe the wide range of free social publishing tools will also be used increasingly for similar purposes:

8. Social gaming tools will be used to engage face-to-face and virtual attendees at events.

People spend more than 3 billion hours a week globally playing online games! Jane McGonigal in her noted TEDTalk speaks of how gaming can make a better world by deeply engaging people and by encouraging collaboration and cooperation. She proposes to harness gamer power to solve real-world problems.

Online gaming engages people. It can immerse in a different reality. It can be very fun! …And it will find its way increasingly into events.

9. iPads and tablets will provide a new medium for accessing data at events.

The iPad is the most recent of the long-running, game-changing innovations from Apple. This and other tablet devices represent new ways to access information. Light weight, highly mobile, highly intuitive. The larger screen allow for bigger fonts, easier readability and more real estate to display material in a page-like format. The navigation is intuitive (with your fingers instead of a keyboard and mouse).

10. Free, easy to access Wi-Fi is increasing expected by meeting planners.

Free basic Wi-Fi broadband internet access is expected by planner in the meeting room, guest rooms and the lobby. Although some luxury properties are clinging to internet fees as a profit center, internet access is viewed by attendees as a utility similar to lights and water. Planners are saying “do not nickel-and-dime us with add-on charges for basic internet access.” If “Motel 6” can provide free Wi-Fi, so should meeting hotels and venues.

However, this does not mean unlimited access. Internet bandwidth can be expensive and most venues cannot handle unexpected, very large demands. If 500 event attendees pulled out their iPads to access HD video simultaneously, there are few venues in the country that could handle this without making special arrangements. If a group needs dedicated bandwidth, a dedicated IP address or other internet services, it is reasonable to charge for these. But basic, throttled access (with a minimum of 500kb/second download -- fast enough to access email and limited video streaming) should be free.

Additionally, venues need to make logging onto the Wi-Fi network easier. Opening the browser and clicking “OK” is all that should be required.

11. “Indoor Positioning Systems” will greatly assist in event and trade show way-finding and navigation.

Standard GPS does not work indoors. Standard Wi-Fi triangulation only gets to about a 100 foot (30 meter) accuracy -- not good enough for precise tracking though an exhibit hall, venue or for person-to-person finding at an event.

New technology from at least two companies (Wifarer.com and Sherpa-Solutions.com) promise to overcome these challenges to provide very precise positioning (as fine as 1 meter) by tracking Wi-Fi enabled smart phones, carried by an increasingly larger percentage of the population. These tools will be able to provide:

• precise positioning

• personal navigation through a venue/exhibit hall with optimized routing

• friend/contact finding and networking (with permission)

• location-based content delivery (exhibit discounts or video as examples)

• optimized exhibit hall viewing by product category

• exhibit hall “hot spot” and traffic flow analytics

• several other features will likely develop from this exciting technology.

In addition to venues and convention centers, this technology holds great promise for shopping centers, airports, hospitals and museums.

10 Most Annoying Restaurant Trends

The time has come! to give you the latest batch of restaurant-world developments that really get under our skin. Which one of these irks you the most?
1. Dogs in Cafes/Outdoor Restaurants
Sometime during the early aughts, toting around your dog in your purse became acceptable social behavior (along with texting during dinner and talking about Twilight). As a result, it seems more and more restaurants started bending health code rules to please overly entitled "pooch pushers" who insist on dragging their smelly mutts around with them 24/7.

2. Tables Ridiculously Close Together
Unless you have a 22-in. waist à la Lara Flynn Boyle, squeezing out of your seat is nigh impossible in most restaurants these days. We appreciate that eateries are often dealing with high rents, tiny spaces and a need to squeeze as many seats into a space as possible - but seriously, guys, could we space the tables out a little here?

3. Overzealous Wine Pouring
If there’s one thing we definitely don’t need help with, it’s pouring our own alcohol. We hate when servers are constantly topping off our glasses (clearly in an effort to sell more booze) when they’re already mostly full - leaving our wine/beer to get warm and stale in the process.

4. Designer Ice
While bigger, fewer ice cubes help keep drinks cool without watering them down, we're really not a fan of those giant ice blocks that knock against our teeth as we’re sipping.

5. Enormous Wine Glasses
What’s with the humongo glasses? We realize a bigger glass makes for tastier wine, blah blah blah, but when the table is barely 12 in. across, those gigantic wine glasses leave little room for the more important stuff - the food!

6. Ketchup Snobbery
We don’t care if your homemade ketchup was hand-squished from eight different types of artisanal heirloom tomatoes. With a burger and fries, just give us good old-fashioned Heinz.

7. Sparkling, Flat or Filtered Tap?
Is this a trick question? We realize that the dreaded water question must be asked - but seriously, there’s gotta be a better way to phrase it, because restaurants that make their servers say this seem to be trying to trick their customers into ordering a pricey bottle of water.

8. Unisex Restrooms
Restaurants with unisex bathrooms are just asking for a lawsuit (or some raunchy bathroom situations at the very least). It’s one thing if it’s a unisex, single room kind of situation, but personally it really weirds us out when we’re doing our business in the stall and we see a member of the opposite sex washing their hands just outside. Awkward!

9. Excessive Punctuation/Lower-Case Letters in Restaurant Names, Menu Items
Wh.at is up wi.th all the pe.ri.ods? When you’re trying to look up a restaurant name that happens to have a few extra periods thrown in, the excessive punctuation can make it a little bit tricky.

10. Wood-Infused Food
Lately "wood" is having its moment in the spotlight as some rustic New American restaurants are offering dishes prepare using various "wood infusions," some going as far as to spotlight a different type of wood each day. Interesting idea, but in reality the food comes out half-cooked and smelling like a humidor.

iPad a solid education tool

More and more schools are jumping on the digital bandwagon and adopting iPads for daily use in the classroom. Apple's education-related announcements last week will no doubt bolster the trend, making faculty tools and student textbooks more engaging and accessible.
But today another data point emerged, demonstrating that the iPad can be a valuable asset in education. In a partnership with Apple, textbook publishers Houghton Mifflin Harcourt performed a pilot study using an iPad text for Algebra 1 courses, and found that 20% more students (78% compared to 59%) scored 'Proficient' or 'Advanced' in subject comprehension when using tablets rather than paper textbook counterparts.

The study was conducted at a Riverside, California, middle school from Spring 2010 to Spring 2011 using HMH's Fuse: Algebra I app. Similar pilot courses and iPad programs have cropped up all over the country, primarily in private and boarding schools, and select universities. In the public school sector, more than 600 school districts have adopted a 1:1 iPad program.

Read more about iPads in schools:  http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/23/tech/innovation/ipad-solid-education-tool/index.html

Working Through Lunch

Imagine being fired, like this Chicago woman was, for working too much.

A report on Time magazine's website tells the story:

"Back in January 2010, Sharon Smiley, who worked as a receptionist and administrative assistant at a Chicago real estate company, clocked out of work but stayed at her desk to finish a project assigned by her manager. Another manager told her to she had to leave her desk and go to lunch. But she said no and continued working. That turned out to be a bad move. She was fired.

The company required that all hourly non-exempt employees take a 30-minute lunch break, and the issue was complicated by the fact that, as a receptionist, Smiley’s desk was at the front door of the company’s office. It seems that her managers felt it was unprofessional for her to eat in front of clients and potential clients who walked through the door."

When she tried to get unemployment benefits, she was denied them because she had been fired for cause. She fought that decision, and last week an appeals court ruled she could receive unemployment because she was not fired for gross misconduct.

Many people work through their lunch break. A good many of them eat at their desks, too. Maybe it's due to a special project; maybe they need to leave 15 minutes early, or maybe it's the only way to get all their work done and still get home at a decent hour.

Do you work through lunch, and/or eat at your desk? And does your employer have some kind of policy on such behavior?

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/talk-of-the-day/do-you-work-through-your-lunch-break/article_12e9c4d0-42a3-11e1-94be-0019bb30f31a.html#ixzz1jvHvvTO9

Top Spelling Blunders

Increase Your Credibility by Watching Out for These Commonly Misspelled Words

Grab your dictionaries and flip on your spell-checkers, because we are in for one exciting ride! We recently collected the most common spelling mistakes even the most credible expert authors make.

Over the course of the next few weeks, we will present these pesky misspellings to you in order to help you maintain your credibility and build confidence in your writing skills. Without further ado, we give you: The Top 5 Spelling Blunders!

"loosing"

Loosing is the number one, most prevailing spelling blunder! It often occurs when the author intended to use the present participle of the word lose, as in losing weight and mistakenly adds a second o. The root of this blunder stems from the confusion between the words: lose and loose.

Here's the difference: Lose means loss and loose means something is, or has been, released (or something not firmly held in place).

Example: Sam tightened his loose belt after losing weight.

Key: What do winning and losing have in common? Both have only two vowels (winning = ii, losing = oi).

"todays"

Today can be defined as in the course of present time or this present time. The word today can be used as an adverb (qualifies or modifies an adjective) or a noun (person, place or thing). For the sake of brevity, we are going to concentrate on the noun: today.

Here's our issue with todays: it is a noun, sorely missing its good old friend the apostrophe. In order to form the possessive form of a singular noun, no matter what the last consonant is of the noun, you must always add an 's. To do otherwise, you will end up with the plural form of the noun (e.g. dog's vs. dogs, cat's vs. cats, etc.)

Example: John was featured in today's newspaper!

Key: If you state todays, you are essentially stating many present time, which would suggest a bend in the space-time continuum - present time overlapping present time... To fix this, simply add the apostrophe before the s: today's.

"everytime"

Unless you are referring to the Britney Spears pop song "Everytime", every and time should be written as two separate words. The confusion often occurs when writers think about compound words, such as everywhere. Compound words take on a whole new meaning than if they were separated. For instance, everywhere (all places) = every (each, all, any) where (place or position).

Example: Every time you publish an article, your exposure increases.

Key: Everyone, everywhere, should add a space every time.

"aircrafts"

Here's the deal with aircrafts: Whether it be singular or plural, the word aircraft is spelled the same way. Similar words include: moose, fish, and species.

Example: The aircraft are positioned on the carrier. Please watch your step when entering the aircraft.

Key: The pilot of the aircraft won't land when other aircraft are on the runway.

Alternately, this issue with aircrafts may be similar to our previously discussed issue of the possessive form: todays vs. today's.

Example: Please watch your step when descending the aircraft's staircase.

"ect"

No "ifs, ands, or buts," ect is not the correct abbreviation for et cetera. Et Cetera is a Latin expression meaning and so forth or and other things. Its correct abbreviation is etc.

Example: Writing supplies may include pens, pencils, paper, etc.

Key: Don't forget to pack eggplant, carrots, tomatoes, etc. in your lunch.

There you have it - the top 5 most common spelling blunders!

Israel ’s new ‘Cutting Edge’ Airport Security

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israelis are developing an airport security device that eliminates the privacy concerns that come with full-body scanners. It's an armored booth you step into that will not X-ray you, but will detonate any explosive device you may have on your person.

Israel sees this as a win-win situation for everyone, with none of this stuff about racial profiling. It will also eliminate the costs of long and expensive trials.

You're in the airport terminal and you hear a muffled explosion. Shortly thereafter, an announcement: “Attention, all standby passengers. El Al is proud to announce a seat available on flight 670 to London . Shalom!”

Record Crowd at "Reaching Your Members in the 21st Century"; Next Year - Orlando, FL, Nov. 8-11

More than 125 credit union  attendees from across the country participated recently in the conference program in Palm Springs, CA on "Reaching Your Members in the 21st Century. Key programs included:

• Reaching the Senior Market
• Sizzling Marketing in the 21st Century
• Selecting and Developing the Right Talent
• Gens X, Y and Z - The Future of Credit Unions
• The Right Business Models
• Trends in Retail Service
• The Hispanic Growth Opportunity
• Cales Cultures
• Today's Social Media Opportunities

If you weren't there, you missed a great educational opportunity. Mark your calendar for next year in Orlando for November 8-11, 2012.

Rather than tell you more, here's some photos from the conference.

Postal Cuts to Slow Mail Delivery

Facing bankruptcy, the U.S. Postal Service is pushing ahead with unprecedented cuts to first-class mail next spring that will slow delivery and, for the first time in 40 years, eliminate the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day.

The estimated $3 billion in reductions, to be announced in broader detail on Monday, are part of a wide-ranging effort by the cash-strapped Postal Service to quickly trim costs, seeing no immediate help from Congress.

The changes would provide short-term relief, but ultimately could prove counterproductive, pushing more of America's business onto the Internet. They could slow everything from check payments to Netflix's DVDs-by-mail, add costs to mail-order prescription drugs, and threaten the existence of newspapers and time-sensitive magazines delivered by postal carrier to far-flung suburban and rural communities.

That birthday card mailed first-class to Mom also could arrive a day or two late, if people don't plan ahead.

"It's a potentially major change, but I don't think consumers are focused on it and it won't register until the service goes away," said Jim Corridore, analyst with S&P Capital IQ, who tracks the shipping industry. "Over time, to the extent the customer service experience gets worse, it will only increase the shift away from mail to alternatives. There's almost nothing you can't do online that you can do by mail."

The cuts, now being finalized, would close roughly 250 of the nearly 500 mail processing centers across the country as early as next March. Because the consolidations typically would lengthen the distance mail travels from post office to processing center, the agency also would lower delivery standards for first-class mail that have been in place since 1971.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/postal-cuts-to-slow-delivery-of-first-class-mail/article_17a16f10-1650-5a75-918e-1453b9135e2f.html#ixzz1fclJ9IYA

TSA still frustrates 10 years later

Removing shoes, retrieving laptops, displaying bags of liquids: all are part of the airport screening process and all are cited by air travelers as top issues with flying.

In a survey by the U.S. Travel Association (USTA), the nation’s largest travel trade group, 600 Americans who traveled in the last 12 months were asked to list their top five grievances with air travel. Four of the five issues named by the majority of the respondents involved the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) security checkpoints.

The survey was released to mark the 10th anniversary of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which created TSA in November 2001.

Top Five Frustrations Cited by Air Travelers:

1.) People who bring too many carry-on bags through security checkpoint (72.4%)

2.) Uncomfortable seats on airplanes (70.4%)

3.) Wait time to clear the TSA checkpoint (68%)

4.) Having to remove shoes, belts and jackets at the TSA checkpoint (62.3%)

5.) TSA employees who are not friendly (42%)

However, TSA also received some positive feedback from the survey. About 66 percent of air travelers said they are somewhat or very satisfied with the organization’s overall performance.

For frequent travelers, that satisfaction rate was 54.6 percent.

Additionally, nearly 75 percent of travelers said they were somewhat or very satisfied with TSA’s recent announcement that it will eventually stop forcing passengers to remove their shoes through the security checkpoints.

Bill would scrap checked baggage fee

Fliers hate baggage fees, and the long lines at airport security screening that are made worse by passengers carrying on more bags than they did in the past.

So just before the the busiest air travel day of the year, Sen. Mary Landrieu has introduced legislation to try to put limits on airlines charging for checking in bags.

Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, has two different proposals. One would prohibit airlines from charging for the first checked bag.

The other would allow the fees, but raise taxes on airlines that charge for baggage. That proposal would raise the $260 million that the Transportation Security Administration estimates it needs to handle the extra carry-on bags going through the screening process.

The TSA estimates that the number of checked bags has decreased by 26% since 2009, while carry-on bags increased by 87 million in roughly the same time period.

"Many airlines consider checking a bag not to be a right, but a privilege -- and one with a hefty fee attached," said Landrieu. She said her first legislative proposal "will guarantee passengers one checked bag without the financial burden of paying a fee, or the headache of trying to fit everything into a carry-on."

The second, she added, would at least make sure taxpayers are made whole for the stresses more congestion at security places on the system.

Not surprisingly, the airline industry's trade group objects to both proposals.

The Air Transport Association says its own survey shows only one in four passengers now pay a baggage fee, either by carrying-on bags, choosing an airline that won't charge a fee or having the fee waived due to the credit card they use or the frequent flier perks they receive.

Southwest Airlines (LUV, Fortune 500) doesn't charge for bags and has made the lack of a fee part of its marketing campaign. Jet Blue (JBLU) doesn't have any fees on the first bag. On the other extreme, low-fare carrier Spirit Airlines (SAVE) charges even for carry-on bags.

"Customers do have choice today," said Steve Lott, spokesman for the association. "In terms of fairness, you pay for the services you get. Under what the senator is suggesting, some people would be paying for a service they aren't using."

Airline consultant Michael Boyd said he believes if the fees were banned, fares would rise instead. That could cost customers even more due to the excise tax they pay on fares and not on fees.

"I hate the fees like everyone else," said Boyd. "When American Airlines (AMR, Fortune 500) initiated a bag fee, I thought they were doomed. But the consumer didn't blink an eye, they just got out their wallet."

25 "Worst Passwords" of 2011 Revealed

If you see your password below, STOP!

Do not finish reading this post and immediately go change your password -- before you forget. You will probably make changes in several places since passwords tend to be reused for multiple accounts.

Here are two lists, the first compiled by SplashData:

1. password

2. 123456

3.12345678

4. qwerty

5. abc123

6. monkey

7. 1234567

8. letmein

9. trustno1

10. dragon

11. baseball

12. 111111

13. iloveyou

14. master

15. sunshine

16. ashley

17. bailey

18. passw0rd

19. shadow

20. 123123

21. 654321

22. superman

23. qazwsx

24. michael

25. football

Last year, Imperva looked at 32 million passwords stolen from RockYou, a hacked website, and released its own Top 10 "worst" list:

1. 123456

2. 12345

3. 123456789

4. Password

5. iloveyou

6. princess

7. rockyou

8. 1234567

9. 12345678

10. abc123

If you've gotten this far and don't see any of your passwords, that's good news. But, note that complex passwords combining letters and numbers, such as passw0rd (with the "o" replaced by a zero) are starting to get onto the 2011 list. abc123 is a mixed password that showed up on both lists.

Last year, Imperva provided a list of password best practices, created by NASA to help its users protect their rocket science, they include:

It should contain at least eight characters

It should contain a mix of four different types of characters - upper case letters, lower case letters, numbers, and special characters such as !@#$%^&*,;" If there is only one letter or special character, it should not be either the first or last character in the password.

It should not be a name, a slang word, or any word in the dictionary. It should not include any part of your name or your e-mail address.

Following that advice, of course, means you'll create a password that will be impossible, unless you try a trick credited to security guru Bruce Schneir: Turn a sentence into a password.

For example, "Now I lay me down to sleep" might become nilmDOWN2s, a 10-character password that won't be found in any dictionary.

Can't remember that password? Schneir says it's OK to write it down and put it in your wallet, or better yet keep a hint in your wallet. Just don't also include a list of the sites and services that password works with. Try to use a different password on every service, but if you can't do that, at least develop a set of passwords that you use at different sites.

Someday, we will use authentication schemes, perhaps biometrics, that don't require so much jumping through hoops to protect our data. But, in the meantime, passwords are all most of us have, so they ought to be strong enough to do the job.

My Blackberry Is Not Working

http://www.flixxy.com/my-blackberry-is-not-working.htm

If your PC or blackberry is not working, check this out.  LOL

Airline fined $900,000 for lengthy tarmac delays

The Department of Transportation said Monday it has fined a regional affiliate of American Airlines $900,000 for keeping hundreds of passengers cooped up for hours on planes in Chicago earlier this year, a clear warning to airlines on the eve of the holiday travel season that similar incidents won't be tolerated.

American Eagle Airlines had tarmac delays of more than three hours on 15 flights arriving at O'Hare International Airport on May 29, the department said in a statement. A total of 608 passengers were aboard the delayed flights.

The airline must pay $650,000 of the fine within 30 days, the department said. But up to $250,000 can be credited for refunds, vouchers, and frequent flyer mile awards provided to the passengers on the 15 flights, as well as to passengers on future flights that violate the three-hour rule, the department said.

The department implemented a new rule in April 2010 limiting tarmac delays on domestic flights to three hours. After that, airlines must either return to a gate or provide passengers who wish to leave planes with some other means of safely getting off. Airlines that violate the rule can be fined as much as $27,500 per passenger.

When Was the Last Time You Wrote Something?

I heard a rumor that schools will no longer be teaching handwriting in classes - no more cursive lessons. I have yet to confirm or deny this, but it really has me thinking. My son is going to be growing up in a world that is totally different than mine.

The way he communicates with friend, the way he learns, the way he views the world, will be totally different thanks to technology. It's not a bad thing, but it's definitely different. I guess there's no need to write when you can type. Call me old fashioned, but I miss the days of hand written letters. There's just something to be said of going to the mailbox and pulling out a letter addressed to you. You know the person that sent it once held the same paper your holding and took the time to sit down and pen a message. It's a person's time and effort for YOU right there in the palm of your hands.

So, this week, I sat down and wrote letters to a few friends. I said the same things I would have said in an email, but on paper. I'm sure they thought I was crazy, but I'm also positive it put a smile on their face to get a piece of mail from me.

Moms, when was the last time you sat down and wrote a letter?

More smartphone buyers prefer Apple's iOS

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90852/7444302.html

A latest survey released on Monday showed that iPhone is the top choice for nearly half of North American consumers who plan to purchase a smartphone in the next three months.

According to the survey conducted by ChangeWave Research in June, 46 percent of respondents prefer a device running Apple's iOS, the mobile operating system powering the iPhone. The number increased by two percentage points compared to a similar poll conducted in March.

The survey mainly focused on the North American smartphone market.

Among the 4,163 respondents, 89 percent were from the United States and 11 percent outside the country.

Around 32 percent of prospective smartphone buyers said they will choose a device powered by Google's Android operating system, which is up one percentage point compared to the poll in March.

The gains of Apple and Google's market shares came at the expense of Blackberry phones developed by Research in Motion. Only 4 percent of planned smartphone consumers want to buy a Blackberry, which is down one percentage point since March and the lowest share ever seen in a ChangeWave poll. In September 2008, some 32 percent of consumers said they prefer Blackberry.

The survey also took a look at the potential impact of Apple's iCloud service which will become available this fall. Some 29 percent of Apple product owners said the upcoming iCloud service makes them "more likely" to buy Apple products in the future.

ChangeWave said the result shows the new iCloud service is enhancing existing customer loyalty and will generate customer demand for other Apple products.

Apple's iCloud, introduced in early June, will automatically store music, photos, apps and documents, and wirelessly push them to any Apple device to enable access for uses anytime and anywhere.
For customer satisfaction, iPhone had the highest satisfaction rate in the industry with 70 percent of users "very satisfied" with the iOS.

Some 50 percent of Google Android users said they were "very satisfied" with the operating system. Only 26 percent of Blackberry users said they were satisfied with the system.

Meanwhile, the poll found that 57 percent of consumers using Windows Phone 7 said they were "very satisfied." However, "the higher Windows Phone 7 rating has yet to produce a sustained momentum boost for Microsoft in terms of buyer preference," according to the survey.

Top Scams of 2011

Where there is money to be had, there will always be con artists looking for new ways to scam you. Listed below are five top scam complaints to protect yourself against:

• Skimming is on the increase this year. Banks have been reporting a huge increase in ATM rigging. Criminals attach a device to the ATM that collects the card information or traps the card so they can use it. When using an ATM, always check around the machine for anything unusual before placing your card into the slot.

• Along with other economy related scams, such as loan modification and foreclosure rip offs, work-from-home scam complaints are becoming more prevalent. Con artists will state that the job requires the purchase of materials to begin working and claim you'll be reimbursed on your first check. Legitimate employers do not charge you for information, start-up kits, software or anything else related to the position. A few popular types of work-from-home scams to avoid are assembly, marketing and stuffing envelopes.

• Internet phishing is still a fast growing complaint with the advancement of more sophisticated malware and hacking of social networking accounts. These phishing scams steal your identity and financial information. Never open emails or links from unknown senders. It's also a good practice to change your passwords often.

• The simple, and less sophisticated, "doorstep" scams are easier to spot. Fake contractors, utility workers, charity collectors and others make the rounds from neighborhood to neighborhood. Simply ask the individual for ident ification, license number or a supervisors name and phone number to verify their identity.

• Vacation and travel related scams mainly target those who journey abroad. Fraudulent companies will book the traveler in sub-standard accommodations or disappear with their money altogether. Be wary of unsolicited offers and promotions as well as unknown callers. Only use established, well-known company websites. If you are suspicious of a deal, research the company and offer before giving out your credit card information.

Bank Fees Fuel Consumer Anger

People are angry at the proposed debit card fees and nearly one-in-three consumers say they will take their money elsewhere.

According to a new study by The Research Intelligence Group, 30% of banking customers say they will leave their institution should the bank start charging a monthly fee for debit card use. This anger is even more pronounced with younger (35%) or more affluent (37%) consumers.

Another 43% of consumers said they would choose a different method of payment. 28% said they would pay by cash, while 15% claimed they would use a credit card.

Regions and SunTrust have already started assessing a monthly fee on debit card usage. Bank of America will begin charging a $5 per month fee in 2012. Chase (one state) and Wells Fargo (five states) are testing this fee in various areas.

The survey was performed by The Research Intelligence Group from a representative sample of 1,000 U.S. adults in early October.

Consumers do not like paying a monthly fee for using their own money. These fees are also being assessed by some banks that we, the taxpayers, bailed out a few years ago.

Lawmakers are also upset.

After Wells Fargo announced a 21% increase in their third quarter profits, Senator Dick Durbin sent a letter asking the bank’s CEO to explain the need for a new debit fee. Durbin had previously sent a letter to Bank of America, reprimanding the bank after it announced plans to charge consumers for debit card usage.