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2 Steps To Better Security

January 18, 2012 By Ty Hedden Leave a Comment

Security is a funny thing, more of an illusion most of the time, shattered into pieces when a critical system is compromised. For most of us email is weakest link, an opening to the rest of the things we need to keep secure. What damage could be done by somebody with access to your email?

Could you post your email password on the internet and live to tell about it? I could. I’m about to.

Okay, so this isn’t my real email account, but I’m going to use this account to prove a point. I’m putting the following gmail address and password out there because I want one of you to email me from it. I will give five dollars to the first person that can. (seriously) And yes that is the real password.

Email: 2steprocks@gmail.com Password: horriblepassword

There is a catch though, even with my password there is nothing you can do. You’re missing something critical. My phone.

What does my phone have to do with all of this? Well, I’m using something called 2-step verification from Google. Anytime a new computer (or mobile phone, whatever) tries to sign into my gmail account Google will send a six digit code to my phone via SMS. That code then needs to be entered after the password, once every 30 days. Without the code you can’t log in. No ifs, ands, or buts. Without my phone, that password is useless.

Go ahead try to sign in. My five dollars is looking pretty safe right about now isn’t it?

You can find 2-step verification under you Account Settings in your gmail. Just follow the prompts, the setup is very simple.

My wife and I both moved to 2-step verification a couple of months ago and the minimal inconvenience of having to enter that code now and then (no more than every 30 days) is well worth the peace of mind it brings. I would never go without it again.

I’ve been blunt in past blogs about how horrible most people’s passwords are. I say that lovingly, out of concern for other people’s security. But the truth is, most are not nearly as good as they should be. Adding 2-step verification is not a substitute for a strong password, but it sure makes it tough for the bad guys. Remember, the harder you make it, the safer your five dollars will be.

Filed Under: Geekdom, Tech Tips
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Pod Pointer – Test drive that Android app!

January 16, 2012 By Ty Hedden 1 Comment

Pod Pointer

Want that new Android app but worried it won’t be worth the cash?

Any Android based phone running Android 1.6 or newer allows you to return an app within 15 minutes of purchase for a full refund.

Just Launch Android Market and click on Menu, followed by My Apps.  Select the newly purchased app and click on Refund.

No more buyer’s remorse!

Filed Under: Pod Pointers
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Pod Pointer – Reopen that tab!

January 2, 2012 By Ty Hedden Leave a Comment

Pod Pointer

If you’ve accidentally closed a tab in your browser, most modern browsers let you reopen that tab with this command:

CTRL + SHIFT + T

Run the command again and it will open the tab that you closed before that.  And so on.

That’s it, that’s all!  If you’re itching for more great tips, look no further than here!

Filed Under: Pod Pointers
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OMG Minecraft 1.0!

December 14, 2011 By Ty Hedden 1 Comment

There has been a lot going on at home in the last month. Somewhere in the hustle and bustle I missed Minecraft 1.0 being released. I don’t know if you Minecraft, but I do. My wife Minecrafts, my family Minecrafts, our cats probably Minecraft.

 

I’m not going to get lost in all the great updates to this version. The big deal here is that Minecraft is finally out of Beta and is officially released. We’ve been playing the beta pretty much since it came out and run our own server. Updating the world we’ve built up over the last year was pretty fun, finally seeing our work fully polished.

 

For those unfamiliar with Minecraft it is a very simple game, easily accessible to non-gamers. The premise is that you start out with nothing in a fully craftable block-world. Your first task is to build or seek shelter because at night… monsters come out. The rest is up to you. If you’re the creative type Minecraft is an amazing canvas. There is literally no limit what you can craft with the elements around you. Engineers will feel at home with the amazing construction and mechanical capabilities.

Unfortunately version 1.0 means you’ve missed the beta pricing but it is still well worth money. Get it right now, you won’t regret it!  That is our server below:

 

 

 

Filed Under: Geekdom, Miscellaneous Meanderings
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Movember!

November 16, 2011 By Ty Hedden 1 Comment

Movember is finally here again. A whole month of uninhibited moustachery!

Most people are now familiar with Movember, in case this is the first you’ve heard of it, read on. Every November men everywhere help raise money for cancer research, primarily prostate cancer. We do this by growing incredibly awesome moustaches and collecting donations.

I look totally ridiculous with a moustache, it’s great. That is the idea though. Men don’t generally put their health issues right out there. We’re really quite bad at talking about these things. A whole month of moustaches is a great way to make sure we are talking about our health. This is a disease that has touched our family. We have been lucky where many have not, and not lost anyone. Regular screening and just plain taking care of yourself really can save lives.

You can check out the Movember team I’ve joined up with at mobro.co/tyhedden and I’ll be sure to have an update picture soon as I’m been working hard this past week to grow a fine show-stache.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Meanderings, Technology with Porpoise, Uncategorized
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Taking Your Time

October 26, 2011 By Ty Hedden 1 Comment

Raise your hand if you have too much time on your hands.

No hands? None at all?

Some days I’m overwhelmed by how fast we all move nowadays. Work, kids, dinner, cleaning, sleep, all packed into 24 hours. So much on our plates and not quite enough time to do any one thing perfectly.

This weekend we got in a little fender bender. Well, to be fair we didn’t get in a fender bender, we were run into. Nothing too dramatic. We had just pulled out of a parking space and were on our way when another car pulled out too fast and put a sizable dent smack dab in the center of our car. (right between the doors on the drivers side).

My point? Well, honestly there was no reason for this to happen. Sure, I’ll agree that “accidents happen” but I feel that is too simple. This is a case of somebody not taking enough time. It takes a certain amount of concentration and diligence to operate a car. Seems like something so simple doesn’t it? Pulling out of a parking space… Not really. Failing to take a few extra seconds to look twice, and be really certain of what you are doing can save everyone a lot of aggrevation and time.

I could say the same for the irresponsible drivers I see every day on their phones. Texting and talking when they should be spending a little more time on the task at hand. My favorite ones are those texting at red lights. I don’t know what to think of them. The messages they send while they aren’t paying attention must be incredibly important. I wonder what makes their agenda so critical they couldn’t wait to pull over or get home to deliver that all so important message.

I’m not talking about spending twice as much time on a simple task, just a sliver more. This is what makes the difference between a job perfectly executed and one done half-baked.

Slow down a bit. In your cars and in your day to day tasks. We don’t need to be in a rush. A few extra minutes (even seconds) here and there are what separate pros from amateurs. Whatever you’re doing, take a little extra time and do it as best you can.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Meanderings
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Pod Pointer – Fall asleep to music on your Apple mobile device

October 24, 2011 By Ty Hedden Leave a Comment

Pod Pointer

Let your Apple mobile device serenade you to sleep with this quick tip!

I like to fall asleep to music.  I also don’t like my iPhone battery drained in the morning.  Here’s how to get the best of both worlds:

- Launch the Clock app, then hit Timer

- Set the amount of time before the music should turn off

- Tap When Timer Ends, scroll down to the bottom, select Sleep iPod and tap Set


- Click Start on the timer

- Turn on your tunes in the iPod app

The music will stop when the timer runs out.

If this pointer didn’t put you to sleep, now your Apple mobile device will!

Filed Under: Pod Pointers
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Pod Pointer – Calculate…with Google!

September 19, 2011 By Ty Hedden Leave a Comment

Pod Pointer

Calculate right from the Google search bar by using this quick tip!

Did you know that the Google search bar is a fully functional calculator?  Go ahead and try it:

Type in 7 x 36 as a test (don’t forget the spaces)

Better yet, try unit conversions. Type in something like 320 gallons to litres

That will save you at least 5 minutes of time this year.  Wow!

Filed Under: Pod Pointers
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From Banner Ads To TV Commercials

September 14, 2011 By Ty Hedden 1 Comment

So I’ve started a new project at home. Well, not so much a new project as fine tuning a previous one.

We use Windows Media Center as our PVR. It is connected to two TV tuners so we can watch and record shows. We don’t have any cable boxes from our cable company. This affords us total control over how media is recorded, stored, and accessible. It also let’s us do some things we otherwise couldn’t.

One of those things is stripping commercials from both our recorded and live TV. That is my current project.

If you’ve read my post a few months ago on filtering out advertisements on our network you’ll know I really dislike being bombarded with advertising. Since then we’ve also set up Adblock Plus on all of our mobile computers, to keep everything nice and tidy while we’re away from home. The last piece in this filter is our TV.

I’m not going to get into the ultra geeky details on how I’m setting this up. I’m still testing a couple of solutions, most of which are surprisingly simple, and free. What I want to discuss today is the how it feels to forget about these types of noise in our day to day life. I’m still thrown off a little when browsing the “noisy” internet on a friend’s computer. I forget what that is like.

I suspect after some time of no longer seeing commercials on TV I’ll have a similar experience at friends’ houses.

Of course this system won’t be perfect. In order to pull commercials from “live” TV you run into a slight delay to compensate for the gaps, and some commercials are missed entirely. I figure I am getting about 30% still coming through right now, with only an hour or two of time invested. It already feels great.

Some people have pointed out that I’m bypassing the very business that either pay or subsidize the content I enjoy. I’ll agree there is some validity to that argument but I’m looking a little further than that. I’m not happy having content thrust at me and not having control over it.

I think this is what being a geek is all about. Having the drive and determination to tweak the everyday things around you. Installing buttons and levers where there are none. Making technology work for you, even in ways it may not have been intended to.

Filed Under: Geekdom
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Password Is Not A Good Password

August 19, 2011 By Ty Hedden 2 Comments

I’ve got a bit of a reputation with my family for being the “password tyrant”. I honestly wasn’t trying to be a pain when I created password policies requiring 15 character passwords containg both upper and lower case characters plus a number and symbol on every family member’s computer I could get my hands on.

I do this out of love.

I don’t want my mom getting hacked. I don’t want you to go through that either.

Let’s take a look at my Do’s and Don’ts.

Don’t:
- Use personal or family information, at all. This includes names, birthdates, addresses etc. in any form.
- Use the same password for everything. Honestly, you should have a unique password for absolutely everything. If your email and banking password are the same they are both compromised if one is found out. This also means spouses should not be using the same passwords.

Do:
- User a password that is both upper and lower case and has at least one number and one symbol. It needs to be at least ten characters long. (the length is debatable but at least ten characters is my recommendation.)
- Avoid nouns (person, place, thing) in general. The best password is not a word at all. The more it looks like gibberish, the better. Often a hacker will have a “wordlist” of millions of words. The words in the list are run against the service they are trying to hack. This is called a dictionary attack. If your password is not a word, then it will not be in a wordlist.
- Change your passwords regularly. A good strategy is to change all passwords when you change your clocks. Even the best password in the world can be picked up by a key logger.

To get an idea of how your password measures up test it here.

You’re looking for a rating of Best.

If you’re thinking “wow, that really sounds like a pain in the butt” then I agree with you. Though I promise your new ridiculously long, complex, password will be less frustrating than having somebody else in control of your email or online banking.

You can’t go back in time and make up for poor passwords. Make yours great today!

Filed Under: Business Babble, Technology with Porpoise
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