Tier3 Hosting and Consulting LLC

Your Facebook “private” friends lists are no long “private”… according to FB…

“The people on the list you’ve shared with will be able to see each others’ names. This gives them more context. For example, if I see that a post is shared with my five closest friends, I am much more likely to comment freely on it than I would be if I didn’t know who else could see the post.”

Here is the full article:  http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=10150278932602131

Here is a link to make a suggestion to FB (you must be logged into FB):
https://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=ui-privacy2

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the new lists, they are a long time coming in helping users control and limit who can see their information and content (posts/status updates).  HOWEVER, consider this:  Have you ever used the bcc: feature of your email?  Most people use it now to limit the amount of SPAM but that is still a good reason to use it.  What if your email client suddenly decided that everyone on your bcc: could see to whom else you sent that email?  That is what FB has done, they have now allowed people on your custom lists to see all the names of everyone that you have allowed to see that post.  If that privacy setting was important to you, then you will want to take note that your list membership is no longer private.

Over the past few months and especially the past few days I have received numerous requests for information regrading how Facebook sync’s with your mobile phone.  The answer is… IT DEPENDS!  However, over the course of the past few months I have collected a few URL’s to help me… HELP YOU.  What I have found has been a little unsettling.  I made sure that I locked down all my privacy settings BEFORE I “friended” anyone.  And yet, Facebook keeps changing those settings so that I have to go in on a regular basis and REDO privacy settings that I thought I had already removed.  For example, mobile phone number.  I never entered one and I selected “ONLY ME” in the phone number visibility.

My advise to people has always been, if you are concerned about privacy DO NOT PUT IT ON FACEBOOK, including a profile picture.

WELL, after all the recent changes I decided to verify every setting, AGAIN.  Turns out my cell phone was in Facebook AND… there is no longer a setting for who can see that (which to me means it is PUBLIC).  So, if you use Facebook from your phone, go verify whether your phone number has been uploaded.  I’m sure Facebook considers this a convenience for you.  It’s NOT for me.

And while Facebook insists that ONLY YOU can see your contacts, there are MANY websites out there ranting about how data has been linked (often incorrectly) because of sync’d contacts within circles of Facebook friends.

Here are a few (I neither agree nor disagree nor endorse any of these sites, they are just some URL’s that show up in search engines):

http://kurtvonmoos.com/facebook_steals_contact_info/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/oct/06/facebook-privacy-phone-numbers-upload

and a few recent articles that have popped up in the past few days:

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/10/7333958-dont-freak-out-facebook-didnt-publish-your-mobile-contacts

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/10/facebook_messenger/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44109153

Recently, a Facebook post has circulated regarding your mobile phone contact list is now on Facebook.  This is NOT new.  If you have a smartphone and you use Facebook from your mobile device, it is possible and probable that you have sync’d your contacts with your Facebook Contact list (formerly just called Phonebook).

From ABC Action News:

In a statement on the social networking website, Facebook responds :

“Rumors claiming that your phone contacts are visible to everyone on Facebook are false. Our Contacts list, formerly called Phonebook, has existed for a long time. The phone numbers listed there were either added by your friends themselves and made visible to you, or you have previously synced your phone contacts with Facebook. Just like on your phone, only you can see these numbers.”

To remove your phone number, log in to Facebook and click the Edit Profile button in the upper-right corner of your profile page.  There, in the left-hand column, click on Contact Information. In the area labeled Phones, you will see any phone numbers you have previously registered with Facebook. Remove any numbers you don’t want there, and click the Save Changes button.

Each smartphone (i.e. iPhone, Blackberry, Droid, etc) will have it’s own settings to turn off the sync feature with Facebook.  They are too numerous to list here but if you are unable to search and find results to change the settings for your device, let me know and I’ll help you out!

If you use Facebook on your mobile device you might want to read this article:  http://www.patrickomalley.com/facebook-mobile-warning-cell-phone-number-privacy.html and while you are at it, look at your Sync’d or Imported contacts and verify whether this is the information you actually imported.  To remove sync’d or imported contacts use the Facebook instructions found here.

Your email accounts might also sync with Facebook.  Do you have your Gmail, Yahoo or other online accounts set to allow you to use Facebook (or do you allow Facebook to import your email contacts “Find Friends feature”?)

And while I am no authority on Facebook, I will be happy to help you find the answers to your questions or help you through your privacy settings… just send me an email!

For the most part I always advise users to allow Windows Update to download and install updates automatically.  However, this week some of the updates may adversely affect a few users.  If you update to IE9 you must also make sure your Adobe Flash is updated to the latest version, HOWEVER, this may cause some Flash applications to NOT work as expected if they have not upgraded to the latest version of Flash.  Please check you applications prior to upgrading to IE9.  Also, if you use VMWare player, you may want to wait until the next set updates comes out.  There are many reported issues with many of these security updates causing VMWare Player to crash and even uninstall/reinstall does not correct the issue.  If VMWare Player is important to your work, wait to install these Windows Updates (ESPECIALLY if you are still using Windows XP).

After you install Windows Updates you should check to make sure your email settings are correct AND double-check your hardware settings.  There have been reports of hardware settings such as power and cooling settings changing.

As always… it’s a good idea to make a restore point and/or a BACKUP of your computer prior installing updates.

I’ve had FOUR phone calls today from people in a panic because they dropped their phone “in the pool… lake… sink… toilet…” (OH… and now I’ve officially had “I dropped my iPod in my beer!” (please follow the same procedure for lakewater )

The best advice I can give you is:  teach your phone to swim and if that doesn’t work, try this:

Items you will or might need:

1) a zip-close bag full of dry, uncooked rice (NO, to the best of my knowledge, it does NOT matter what kind of rice… just UNCOOKED)

2) distilled water

TURN OFF THE PHONE  (iPod, mp3, electronic device, etc.), and/or  DO NOT TRY TO TURN IT ON!  If possible, take out the battery IMMEDIATELY!

FIRST, if you dropped your device into something “dirt-y” you are going to want to rinse it with DISTILLED water, even if you do not think the water was “dirty” you might want to use distilled water.  By DIRT, I mean like lakewater… and I’ll let you decide what to do if it takes a swim in the toilet   PLEASE keep in mind that distilled water is not a disinfectant (and do NOT attempt to use a disinfectant); I want you to use distilled water to get any DIRT out of the phone. If you took a swim in the ocean (or a fishtank) you MUST rinse with distilled water ASAP to get the salt or minerals off of the copper components!

I have been asked about alcohol and there are PROS & CONS to alcohol: 1) rubbing alcohol usually isn’t “strong” enough to clean and dry out without leaving a residue and rubbing alcohol is usually what everyone has in their cabinets.  You see, it works wonders on components but if it touches your screen, it will leave a mess.  SOOOO, feel free to gently clean the battery, cover, keyboard, etc. with alcohol, but if it has an LCD screen, do NOT submerse your device in rubbing alcohol!

If possible, take out the battery and gently set the phone on the rice, be careful not to get rice or rice dust into the phone.  Seal the bag and let it set overnight (the longer the better).  DO NOT SHAKE THE BAG.  Everyone always calls me back and says the phone screen is clear after just a couple of hours… GOOD… but that does NOT mean the components inside are dry, it just means the rice is working!  KEEP IT IN THE BAG OVERNIGHT!

[UPDATE:  if you are at a pool and have no rice, as apparently many of you have experienced:  you should remove the battery (if possible) and set the device on your dash IN THE SUN.  This will at least get the process started until you can go buy rice!  if you are at the beach... WAIT... you MUST rinse the salt out of your phone BEFORE it dries!]

This does not always work but I have known people to use this solution multiple times, on the same device, with great results.

[NOTE:  many have asked about using a blow dryer.  I do NOT recommend this because if you use too high of heat, you can damage your phone... and NO... do NOT put your phone in the OVEN!]

Many businesses are interested in “this new blogging thing” that is out there Blogging is basically defined as a Web Log, hence Blog. It’s not new, just a whole lot easier to do. Many of you, who know me personally, know that I have kept a personal “blog” for over 14 years now. As the years have passed, posting to blogs has gone from a tedious task to something as simple as a click of a button. My response to people when they ask if they should blog is “why not?” Many questions come from people who just want to keep in touch with family with a short anecdote and pictures of the grandkids. However, there are legitimate business reasons to keep a blog. It’s an excellent way to keep in touch with your customers by keeping them apprised of new or innovative ways to use your products. Blogging encourages feedback and that is always good. Regardless of whether comments are positive or negative, they encourage your customers to talk to you and allow you to address any concerns or reward and recognize superior performances.

That said, many times the communications of a company are left to the office staff. An excellent example would be a church where the bulletin is often prepared and printed by the church secretary. Imagine how tedious it would be to require this person to also login to the church website and retype or even cut/paste excerpts from the bulletin. True, the ability to cut/paste has made life much easier but websites are still an environment that many church secretaries do not feel comfortable entering.

Now enter Word 2007. Using the same example as above, the church secretary has probably created the bulletin in Word 2007 (or another comparable publishing product). Using Word 2007 you literally click on “create new”, select “New Blog Post” and after a quick set up, it’s a simple as the click of a button to publish to your blog. Now instead of remembering any website information, an authorized user can create and publish posts to a blog.

One detail you must remember before using Word 2007 to blog is to have the website administrator turn on xmlrpc.php, once this task is complete, you are ready to blog using Word 2007.

Microsoft has some helpful screenshots of how to create a new blog post using Word 2007. Keep in mind that using Word 2007 to make a blog post is a simple solution that many users need in order to take that first pensive step into the online community. If you are looking for bells and whistles, you probably want to stick with your theme plugins, otherwise… Blog Easier!

[NOTE:  this post was made using Word 2007]

Recently, someone asked about securing their home network because they had overheard a coffee shop conversation where someone needed to look up a map or directions and the reply was, “I’ll just open my laptop and you drive around this neighborhood until we find an open network.”  It’s actually more common than you think and many law enforcement agencies have trained volunteers that do just that… drive around your neighborhood looking for open networks, to teach you how to protect yourself.  It used to be just reminding you to close your garage door, but an open network can lead to breached data and identity theft.  Securing your wireless network is easy, but varies between product vendors.  When setting up your wireless network, make sure you enable “wireless security”, such as WEP, WPA or WPA2.

We are often asked what is the best software to purchase so that employees can share files in the office, and then the next question is “can I get to that from the internet?”  That’s a loaded question that most IT departments do not want you to ask.  Allowing access to internal networks is often a lot trickier than most users think.  And stepping out of the office, what if you just want to share files with your family, have kids create a project together, organize photos for a sports club?  The answer to all of the above can be simple… use DropBox.

Here’s the definition of DropBox according to wikipedia

DropBox has been around for a while now and many articles have been written about it’s features and uses, including MaximumPC, and Forbes and many others.  To learn more about DropBox and download a copy visit their website:  http://www.dropbox.com

You might have questions about security regarding your files, this is what their website says:

We always suggest that you use common sense regarding your data.  If you feel like something should be “classified” then you will want to do more research before storing your files (because you will want to know how their data is backed up and restored… their data being YOUR data).  However, if you are trying to share pictures of Auntie Em and her prize apple pie… this is for you!

I often have customers spend a lot of time working on their “about us” pages to give details, not “fluff”.  I also like to keep my eye out for news articles that I can direct my customers for more information.

Today, I was browsing around my newslists because I like to subscribe to ALL of them. It’s information overload but I like to see what is good, what is bad, what is weird, what is left and what is right.   Sometimes an article is an excellent example of “WHAT NOT TO DO!”  I found an article from a few days ago that gives excellent advise on how to create an “About Us” page for your website.

BNET is part of the CBS Business Network: http://www.bnet.com/blog/small-biz-advice/7-ways-to-write-a-better-8216about-us-8217-page/753?tag=content;drawer-container

I have heard many stories over the years from people who “thought” they had backups of their data, only to experience a data loss and discover that their backups were useless.  Do you know if your data backup is a true backup?

There are many reasons why a backup might not work:  the original data was corrupted, the media is no longer readable, or the data is obsolete.  There are some simple steps to verifying that your backups will work for you in your time of need.

Verify your data is not corrupt

Often, people set their computers to have automated backups and do not realize that they have inadvertently deleted or moved a file or have a system that is infected with malware.   Once your system has become infected the integrity of your data is at risk.  You should have a good scanner installed on your system and periodically run thorough checks to confirm that your files are intact.  If you think your system is infected here is a brochure: Tier3 Malware Brochure, to assist you with removing the malware.

Once you have completed a backup you should review your logs to verify that no errors occurred during the process.  If you have automated backups, you should create a reminder to check the logs periodically.  There are many types of backups settings and the ability to recover a deleted file may be a short-term setting.

Not all backup types are the same

While backing up your data is paramount, the way you backup your data is also vital to data recovery.  The best solution is to have multiple backups on varying media in multiple locations.  To accomplish this you will want to consider media types.  Many companies use tape backups, which require a person to actually physically go to the data server to manually rotate tapes.   Consumers have copied data to CD’s/DVD’s because they are extremely portable, but the longevity of this media is still in question.  Many portable devices are considered disposable and while you might have a copy of your data on a thumb drive, this may not be a true backup of the files you need.  Secure online backups have become popular in recent years because it is a true backup located off-site, requiring only the internet for access.

When choosing backup solutions you should consider the ability to access your backup.  Are you in an area that might be evacuated?  If so, remembering to take your backup device and power cords might be difficult.  It is a good idea to “share backup” services with another field office, or even another family member who lives in another region.  Make a backup of your data, verify that it is valid and then mail a copy.  You may not have immediate access but if your data does not change often, for example, archives of family photos, you will have the data secured.  An excellent addition to “shared backup” services is secure online backups accessed anywhere from the internet.  You will have access, or another field office or family member, to easily bring your data online from anywhere.

Check to make sure your file types are supported

Imagine that you have your entire family collection of videos on BETA or VHS tapes.  While having the data is important, half the battle is having access to that data.  You may save your box of BETA tapes from a house fire only to discover that your ancient BETA recorder has been lost.  The same goes for electronic data.  Many popular file formats are already beginning to see changes.  For example, Microsoft recently made changes to the file extensions used in its popular Office Suite software.  You may have noticed your .doc is now a .docx and so on.  Music types have also seen changes in recent years.

It’s a good idea to periodically review your backup data sources to make sure those files are still accessible.  If you notice that your file types are becoming obsolete there are many options available to assist with conversions.  Never destroy the original version, who knows, BETA might become popular again one day.

[originally reviewed October 2009]

For more information:

Tier3 offers secure online backup solutions, for more information visit our Tier3 Backup website.

A great new article, dated December 2010, discussing many of the same topics can be found at CNET:  Future-proof your data archive

Over the next few weeks I will be re-posting articles that I have previously sent out to customers and friends in hopes to refresh your memory and update our archives.  If you have a particular subject you would like me to address, please let me know.  Feel free to ask questions, make comments and suggestions.  As always, thank you for your support.