Tuesday, March 31, 2015

A FaceBook challenge

Who knew? Logging into FaceBook from a new browser I had the opportunity to "prove" my identity by answering security questions or by identifying folk I am connected to on FaceBook. Given my lack of ability for facial recognition, it could have been a big mistake. I did manage to get all of them but there were a couple which had me almost guessing. It would be interesting to know how the selection algorithm works ... how it decides which "friends" and which pictures to select for the recogition task. It does give you the option to "skip" if you don't know one, but thankfully I didn't have to find out how many "skips" it takes for you to be locked out. Still, I think it was easier than trying to remember the answers to those security questions.

Time on his hands

Neil Moore, serving time for fraudulently obtaining over 3 million dollars by convincing folk he was from Barclays Bank, has proved he still has what it takes! From his quarters in the Wandsworth Prison in the UK, Moore set up a fake web domain with an address very similar to that of the court service's official address. He then emailed fake bail instructions to prison staff - and was released. His "escape" went unnoticed for three days - and may not have been discivered at all had solicitors not arrived to interview him ... only to find out he wasn't there. Oddly enough, three days after his escape was detected, he surrendered to authorities and is now waiting for sentencing on 8 counts of fraud and one count of escape. It will be interesting to see if they restrict his access to technology this time around.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Charge!!!

It's not often I receive an email reminding me to charge one of my devices ... but I have started getting them from my FitBit Charge (a new acquisition - a Christmas present). The Charge tracks steps, distance, calories spent and consumed (if you have a mind to enter them), several other fitness things, and also, as I now know, it's battery level! What will they think of next ... especially as it holds the charge for 7 to 10 days? This makes it fairly easy to forget ... as opposed to the about-to-be-available Apple Watch ... which surely must have a better battery life than the 18 hours claim I saw the other day!