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Dear
Craig:
Welcome
to CN Consulting's "Cocktail Talk".
Cocktail Talk is a casual monthly newsletter
intended to arm you with amusing bits and bytes of information on
whats happening in the computer world. Topics sure to break the ice
and capture an audience at many a social or business event.
Cocktail
Talk is archived on www.cnci.us
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Currently, on Cocktail Talk - Christmas Gift Idea
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 Christmas
is right around the corner and if you are struggling to find that
perfect gift, I can help. But first a Public Service Reminder.
With
so many of us in full shopping mode you know what's coming. Yes you
do. Spoofing and Phishing.
Bogus
emails claiming to be from UPS, FedEx, USPS, banks, stores, and
credit card companies, all trying to get us to give up our
account information so they can rob us. Nothing new.
But
I got one the other day that was new. It was from PayPal thanking
me for my "generous donation". It looked real
enough. So real I logged in to PayPal to see if I actually had
given money to some cause by clicking some box at checkout.
The
interesting part came when PayPal took me to school on Best
Practices. It's a really good checklist, and I'd like to share it
with you.
Paypal
Will Always:
- Address our customers by their first and last name or business
name of their PayPal account
Paypal
Will Never:
- Send an email to: "Undisclosed Recipients" or more than
one email address
- Ask you to download a form or file to resolve an issue
- Ask in an email to verify an account using Personal Information
such as Name, Date of Birth, Driver's License, or
Address
- Ask in an email to verify an account using Bank Account
Information such as Bank Name, Routing
Number, or Bank Account PIN Number
- Ask in an email to verify an account using Credit Card
Information such as Credit
Card Number or Type, Expiration Date, ATM PIN Number, or
CVV2 Security Code
- Ask for your full credit card number without displaying the type
of card and the l ast two digits
- Ask you for your full bank account number without displaying your
bank name, type of account (Checking/Savings)
and the last two digits
- Ask you for your security question answers without displaying
each security question you created
- Ask you to ship an item, pay a shipping fee, send a Western Union
Money Transfer, or provide a
tracking number.
I'm
giving PayPal
full credit here, and rightfully so, but your financial
institutions should be following similar Best Practices. With that
out of the way let's talk about Cocktail Talk's Christmas GIft Idea.
It's
the Apple Watch. I admit to being lukewarm toward the Apple Watch
for some time. There's always that one thing that sells you, this
is what tipped it in for me, and I think it's really creepy. The
camera.
No
it doesn't have a camera, it uses your iPhone's camera. I suppose
they added this feature so you could take better selfies with all
your BFFs. But what if you don't want to be in the picture?
Today
I left my iPhone on the table at brunch and went to the buffet.
From the carving station I was able to power on my iPhone, open the
camera, and watch everything going on in real time just using the
Apple Watch. You can take pictures too, without flash or sound. I
don't know exactly what to call those pictures, but they wouldn't
be selfies.
The
Apple Watch comes in a price comparable to whatever watch you'd
normally give to your significant other. Not that you would give
them one after what I've just told you. Maybe you should ask for
one and just give jewelry like last year.
Watches
that watch, selfless selfies, more jewelry, or not, that's your
call, and that's Cocktail Talk.
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Thank you for
reading,
Craig Phillips
CN Consulting,
Inc.
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CN
Consulting, Inc - www.cnci.us
Computer Consulting for Business!
CN
Consulting Inc. (CNCI) is an independent consulting company formed
in 1990 and located within easy reach of both Chicago and
Milwaukee.
CNCI
maintains a select client base providing consulting services
concerning the use of information technology. We persistently look
for advantage to our clients in added value and reduced cost made
available by advancing technology.
CNCI
does not have financial interest in any given product or product
line. We evaluate current and emerging technologies solely based on
their benefit to our clients. CNCI implements the solutions it
recommends and readily partners with companies that offer products
and services to the advantage of our clients. CNCI offers complete
client support with singular accountability.
We
maximize the benefit of our clients' existing technology, systems,
and platforms while integrating the benefits provided by new
technology.
Business
Continuity and Business Development are our goals with Continuity
being the foundation of Development.
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