Tech Talk

A new website has the potential to change the way folks look at America’s cities.

Hottblock.com, launched last week

Paul Mansour launched hottblock.com, a self-funded website out of Austin, Texas, last Tuesday. Masour created the innovative site after becoming frustrated while considering the pros and cons of job offers in different cities. He did not know anything about the communities, and his web research only provided him with statistical data — and not a feel for the culture.

After hearing that many of his friends suffered the same concerns, he launched the site that offers reviews and ratings of many medium and large cities across the country. It will give folks the opportunity to share the benefits and drawbacks of each community.

Among the communities locally listed:

• Ansonia
• Bridgeport
• Danbury
• Derby
• Milford
• New Haven
• Norwalk
• Shelton
• Stamford
• Waterbury
• West Haven

However, none of the aforementioned communities have been reviewed as of this posting. But you can change that. In fact, the founder told Tech Talk that he is depending on members of the community to help populate the pages.

“Contemplating a new job in a new city is hard enough already without the added difficulties of weighing the pros and cons of a particular city and its many neighborhoods,” Mansour told Tech Talk. ”Unless you know someone in your prospective town, it’s difficult to find the best neighborhood or part of town. I’ve had many friends over the past few years who have encountered this issue and not been satisfied with the resources currently available online.”

He said there are many sites that offer housing statistics, restaurant reviews and opinions on destinations from the perspective of a visitor — but not any that tie it all together.

“You can scour the Web for articles or posts with similar information, but hottblock.com gives visitors a chance to learn about a city from long-time residents in once place,” Mansour said. ”Though larger cities comprise most of the reviews, visitors have the option to explore reviews for any city or town in the country with a population over 5,000.”

He told Tech Talk that he is considering expanding the site to offer multimedia opportunities. It currently only allows text to be posted.

Hottblock.com has a lot of potential. Its success, however, will depend on how involved he could make the numerous communities in which he has launched portals. Currently, Mansour is depending on the site to grow through word-of-mouth. He may need to do a little more than that to be successful.

Tech Talk spotted an offer worth sharing with Mac and Windows users this afternoon:A Seagate 1TB external USB 2.0 hard drive.

This is a great deal for anyone seeking to secure additional space. While similar offers sometimes pop up across the Internet, the vast majority come with the caveat of completing rebate forms. This one from Best Buy is $50 (plus tax) without any rebate.

More than three-quarters (or 88 people) of the folks who commented on Best Buy’s page about the drive indicated that they would recommend the device.

But hurry: The offer expires Nov. 29.

One ought to never forget the potential power of Google or Twitter.

Unfortuantely your Tech Talk editor momentarily failed to recognize both Thursday — but was immediately reminded why the technology giants have become so engrained in his daily life.

By default, Google Mail places users’ signatures below the message to which they are responding as opposed to immediately below the response. The decision has led to much frustration — so much so that the Tech Talker felt vented about the decision on his personal Twitter account. Within hours, a friend responded and pointed the Talker to a simple solution he should have thought of: The Google Labs section of Google Mail.

There, listed among more than a dozen other neat options, is the option to move the signature to immediately below one’s response. Incredible.

The episode reminded the Talker of the potential of Twitter to find solutions easily and effectively — and how forward-thinking Google is.

Happy weekend.

Hey girls, you might want to change your passwords and lock your computers to ensure your privacy.

While Tech Talk has always been adamant about Internet safety, a recent survey reported by Mashable left us stunned.

A whopping 53.18 percent of men polled said they believe privacy is dead online, according to AskMen’s “Great Male Survey,” Of the more than 100,000 dudes who completed the survey, 21.31 percent said that privacy is alive and well.

The survey, which was conducted over two months and involved more than 100,000 gentlemen, found that 13.32 percent of men read their partner’s electronic correspondences because it was open.

Nearly nine percent of survey participants said they admitted to breaking into their partner’s e-mail or messaging account — and a whopping 23.51 percent said they read a partner’s messages “with my partner’s knowledge,” a very broad answer.

Nearly 22 percent of respondents indicated that they would check their partner’s messages if “I suspected my partner was up to something.”

Of course, not all guys violate their partner’s privacy — and not all girls are innocent in this. There are a lot of good, upstanding gentlemen out there who go the extra mile to ensure their significant other’s cyber security. Nonetheless, however, everyone should be prepared.

The lesson in all of this is your privacy online is growing more difficult to safeguard — but it does not have to be.

Tech Talk recommends that passwords are randomly generated and are changed monthly — and should include special characters (such as exclamation points and asterisks,) capital and lowercase letters and numbers.

For more information on strong passwords, you could check out Microsoft’s corresponding page — and we recommend trying their password checker.  You could create a randomly generated password here.

Happy surfing.

Google collected sensitive data, including passwords, a French data protection agency examination has found.

The information was collected from unsecured wireless networks by the search engine’s Street View vehicles as the company logged WiFi hotspots, the BBC reported Monday.

CNIL, the French data protection agency, told reporters that an early look indicated the presence of “data that are normally covered by… banking and medical privacy rules,” the BBC reported.

Passwords for e-mail and “chunks of text from messages” were reportedly found, according to the British media.

The search engine giant said it was working with authorities and would delete the information it had gathered, if requested, the BBC reported.

Google acknowledged that its vehicles had “mistakenly” collected and stored data broadcast from wireless networks in Connecticut, Tech Talk reported earlier this month.

The search engine called the collection a software mistake, Tech Talk cited a release by Connecticut’s Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, as saying. Google has stressed that the data has been secured and was not used “in any Google service or product.”

Google said it has grounded its entire Street View fleet and has stopped collecting wireless data, Tech Talk has previously reported. The search engine “believes” it started collecting the data in Connecticut two years ago, Blumenthal said in a statement.

“Our ultimate objective is to delete the data consistent with our legal obligations and in consultation with the appropriate authorities,” a Google spokesperson said.

Investigations have been launched in Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Spain. Several U.S. states are considering filing civil suits, the BBC reported.

The company stated earlier this month in a release sent through Blumenthal’s office that it considered the information broadcast from the personal and business networks to be public information. It said it needs the information to “improve our location-based services.”

This is a serious issue. Any information collected could lead to people becoming victimized – not just by Google but by someone who hacks into the technology giant’s servers, which have been compromised before.  This news should remind Web surfers that they should only use secure wireless connections – or else they face becoming a victim. Learn more about wireless security here.

Even before Monday’s news, Connecticut’s attorney general indicated that a probe in the state was underway.

“Google’s actions raise troubling and profound questions about privacy and whether laws need to be clarified or changed,” Blumenthal said in a statement distributed earlier this month. “I urge consumers to consider encrypting their wireless computer networks. An unencrypted network is an invitation to snooping, like broadcasting all communications on loudspeakers. Anyone with the right software and equipment can listen in.”

Are you a BlackBerry or Android user about to embark on a bike ride?  Are you tired of the same old routes and looking for a new and exciting ride?  Google is here to help.

Google Maps for Mobile now provides biking directions on its mobile application. In addition to accessing directions, users can find helpful information as well as share places with friends, according to a company blog post.

Individuals have been able to access biking directions, trails and lanes from their computers for some time.

To get rolling, simply go to m.google.com/maps in your mobile browser and install the latest application version.

Are you looking for a new trail to explore? Tech Talk suggests checking out Hike it Up, a regularly updated blog dedicated to sharing the best sites in the state to explore — for both the seasoned and novice hiker alike.

Happy riding.

Another Connecticut bank appears to have been targeted by folks who tried to steal personal banking information.

Suspects allegedly used a skimming device to capture card and PIN information at a People’s United Bank early Thursday, the Darien Patch reports.

Three women were led away by police in handcuffs, the Patch reported, and police are reportedly seeking a fourth individual.

In July, Tech Talk reported the arrest of a man who allegedly attached skimming devices to ATMs in two Wallingford banks.

“As technology evolves, there are more and more ways for criminals to circumvent the process,” Connecticut State Police spokesman Sgt. Chris Johnson told the New Haven Register at the time.

Thieves can capture ATM, debit and credit card information through a process called skimming anywhere such cards are used by capturing the information contained on the cards’ magnetic strip.  In many cases, cameras are also attached nearby to capture PIN information.

However, by following but a few simple tips, you could avoid becoming a victim.

Consumer Reports recommends:

• Don’t type in your pin at the gas pump for your debit card because they are produced by only a couple manufacturers making it easier for someone to gain the ability to insert a skimming device inside the pump where it cannot be seen.  If a credit card is unavailable, the publication suggests choosing the screen prompt that identifies the card as a credit card so a PIN is not required; greater protection from liability is gained if fraud occurs this way.
• Closely monitor your bank accounts — preferably online — because federal law limits consumers’ liability for fraudulent debit-card charges to $50, but only if the  theft or loss is reported within two business days. Failing to report unauthorized charges within 60 days of the date of the statement could make you liable for any unauthorized withdrawals afterward.  Visa and MasterCard have zero liability policies that go beyond federal law by exempting debit users from liability in most circumstances when a bank investigation confirms a transaction is fraudulent.  However, dealing with debit-card fraud has the potential of having a greater impact on your finances than credit-card fraud as you won’t be out any money while the disputed charges are being investigated.
• Use ATMs at banks because there’s generally more traffic and surveillance cameras to prevent someone from attaching a skimming device.  Granted, as noted in the ABCNews.com report, bank ATMs could also be targeted.  And, in fact, ABCNews.com reports that criminals are beginning to target ATMs in banks because the increased traffic gives thieves the potential for more activity and subsequent money.

ABCNews.com offers six recommendations of how to spot ATM skimmers:

• Be aware of your surroundings. Be extra careful of machines in dark areas or in places that don’t look well guarded and monitored.
• Pay attention to the front of machines. If it looks different from others in the area (for example, it has an extra mirror on the face), has sticky residue on it (potentially from a device attached to it) or extra signage, use a different machine and notify bank management with your concerns.
• Notice how it feels to type in your PIN code. If it’s difficult to punch the keys or you feel resistance, it could mean that a keypad overlay is present.
• Cover your hand as you type in your PIN. If a camera is present or someone is trying to look over your shoulder, this will obstruct their view.
• If you think the area around the card entry slot looks peculiar, pull on it. If it comes off or loosens, alert bank management but try to leave the machine as you found it. Leaving the evidence in place could help authorities track down the criminals.
• If you find a skimming device, in addition to notifying bank management, the ATMIA says to notify local law enforcement.

If things get completely out of hand, American banks might resort to a South African technique of loading pepper spray into automatic teller machines to deter crooks, as Tech Talk reported here.  Granted, a few modifications would have to be made first.

Anyone who ever spent much time playing video games likely came across the Konami Code, one of the industry’s most infamous key sequences, named after the folks behind the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The code — up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A — is active in more than 100 video games and Facebook, according to TIME Magazine.

According to the weekly magazine:

It doesn’t matter where you type it: just have the Facebook page open and active. The result? Lens flares — those groovy circles that appear when pointing a camera into the sun — appear on your page with every click of the mouse. Useful? Not in the slightest. But they’re easy enough to get rid of — logout and they’re gone.

And I could personally attest to its validity.

Go try it, you know you want to.

And then check out other sites that utilize the code.