I’ve had some interesting experiences with two companies recently that I’d like to share. We all do business with companies online: we buy from them, we schedule appointments, we put in support requests, and so on. Today, I very seldom use the mail, and don’t shop in person very often. How these businesses treat customer security is interesting. Some places are very technically savvy and have robust, secure online transactions. Being realistic, though, I know that my dentist’s office does not employ a full-time sysadmin. They buy an off-the-shelf customer care solution and hire someone to install it on their website. Sometimes that’s good, sometimes that’s bad… First was with my mechanic. I like my mechanic – they’ve saved me[…]
Category: rants
A service provider shall not be liable for monetary relief, or, except as provided in subsection (j), for injunctive or other equitable relief, for infringement of copyright by reason of the provider’s transmitting, routing, or providing connections for, material through a system or network controlled or operated by or for the service provider, or by reason of the intermediate and transient storage of that material in the course of such transmitting, routing, or providing connections – 17 USC § 512, from the Cornell University Law School No business is an island. There’s no company that does not, to some extent, rely on other businesses. Business models assume that vendors will be able to assure a steady flow of goods, that[…]
A few years back, I was working as a tech writer for a company which made medical software. We were trying to get an important certification that we’d need to sell our product. And a crucial part of that was good documentation: we had to show how it worked, what it did, how it tracked everything, how it was secure, etc. Well, that’s what you have a tech writer for, so all is good. It’s important to know, I didn’t have any existing documentation to work with. There was a wiki which had the developers’ notes in it, but that’s it. Nothing by way of formal hand-it-to-an-outside-entity documentation. Okay, that’s not too abnormal; tech writing is expensive, and many companies[…]
The following events are based on actual facts and actual events. Names have been changed to protect the oblivious. I would like to start off by stating that I take no pity on the individual this story is about. I refer to them as oblivious because to do what they did simply can’t be categorized in any other way. Let’s back up a week. I’ve been in need of another Android device to do some tinkering with, have a backup for my daily driver, and to have something that my son can play with and not fear total destruction (again of the daily driver). After checking with friends and co-workers if they had any spares – they didn’t – I[…]
So, SOPA is the news of the day, in terms of the Internet and security; it has been for well over a month now. In case you’re not familiar, SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act. It will “authorize the U.S. Department of Justice to seek court orders against websites outside U.S. jurisdiction accused of infringing on copyrights, or of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement.” I won’t bore you with the typical arguments about how it’ll infringe on free speech, or weakens safe harbor, etc. These arguments have been made, and they may have some validity, but let’s talk technology. SOPA is the most recent in a long line of legislation intended to regulate the internet. Such legislation is doomed[…]
Sometimes emails aren’t always what they seem. Sometimes they promise great things. Sometimes they follow through with these, but most times they do not. Read on for an example of what not to do in promotional emails and learn how you can further protect yourself from email fraud.