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What to Do If Your Email Account Gets Hacked

Hacker email

Perhaps it is just a coincidence, but I’ve had a couple of people that I know who have had their email accounts hacked recently. Given all of the personal information we send and receive in email messages, that can be a traumatic experience. One victim wondered if she should take a scorched earth policy, and move completely to a new email account. That’s normally not necessary. If you still have access to your account, you can take some steps to secure it, and keep the slimy criminal out.

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The Future of Technology, Facebook, and Relativity

The Future of Technology, Facebook, and Relativity | 40Tech

Do you remember when cell phones were for rich people? It’s only a short jump in my memory to the day when a homeless kid got angry at me when I told him I didn’t have any change; convinced I must be lying because I was carrying a mobile phone. You know, back when they still kind of looked like phones, and Nokia was king?  I felt bad for the guy, but I really was broke. I got the cell phone on credit, could barely pay for the bill, and was having many a fight with the company over false charges.

This ramble isn’t to point out that cell phone companies were crooks, even back then, and it’s not to talk about my questionable technology-money choices. The point is that this was only a few years back. I was in my early 20’s — I’m only in my mid-30’s now — and have gone from having no computer, an unused email address, and the blissful (and retrospective) peace of not knowing or caring where people were or what they were doing, to being a geek tech-blogger that makes his living in online marketing and communications. I own an iPhone, my hold-out wife has finally gotten an Android, and my three-year-old owns my iPad — and regularly sends me artwork via email.

 

Tech is Hungry

Technology is now in the palms of tiny little hands. It’s affordable, or at least readily available, to the majority of the planet, and it’s entire weight of purpose seems to be to interconnect everyone and everything as fast and as in depth as possible. The flow of information has reached truly epic proportions, as has the ability and desire to track that flow, along the habits of the people drowning in it.

The technology behind this phenomenon feeds upon itself, and in many cases, it exists only to further itself. Some of the biggest blogs out there are only so popular because people need a filter; a place to better understand, control, and find some sense of order in the massive technology machine — redundant as that phrase may seem. Smaller blogs exist for the same reason. It was likely part of why Evan started 40Tech, why I joined him, and why you are reading this post right now.

 

Facebook

Facebook is a prime example of the direction of technology. It’s sole purpose is to become familiar and intricately entwined with as much of your life as possible. It attempts to augment your life; make it easier, faster, more connected. It’s addictive. Facebook is so successful at this that it has become embedded in the general populace to the extent that it can almost be perceived in the same way as a governing body. It creates rules that dictate our way of life, is an easy target for privacy concerns and conspiracy theories, and the smallest changes can lead to virtual revolt and widespread public outcry. Facebook, much like many of the governments out there, projects an image of a body that wants to further mankind; make the world we live in a better place and all that. And like many governments, it’s more than a bit of a stretch for most people to really believe that’s true.

Facebook isn’t going anywhere, either — not without a scandal that shakes the entire foundation of their business to the core, or a hostile takeover by a frightened government or technological superpower. With some of the things in the media regarding questionable privacy practices and the rapid expansion of Google+, those things may not seem so far-fetched, but even if the big bad were to happen to the social media giant, it would probably just morph, as opposed to vanish.

Social connectivity is a way of life for us now; whether we like it or not, and no matter the anxiety, stress, or fun disorders it could cause or amplify. It appeals to the voyeur in us. It allows us to meet people we would otherwise never meet, and keep in touch with people to a degree that would be impossible without it. It is a part of work, school, play, business, entertainment, and everyday, mundane life. For Pete’s sake, your washing machine can already contact you to let you know your laundry is done, and there are tweeting dog collars, man!

 

Bring on the Microchips!

Over the next 10-20 years, unless the “social media bubble” or end of days people are right, we will likely find ourselves micro-chipped, QR-coded, and surfing the web while jogging with augmented reality sunglasses that also allow us to huddle with our families, friends, or business contacts on GoogleBook. Don’t ask me how they will take our video — somebody else will figure that out, I’m sure. That is, of course, unless we are all suffering from wifi, cellular, and bluetooth radiation poisoning, which could bring the world to a screeching and potentially catastrophic halt that would make Y2K fears look like a happy day at the park.

Or maybe we’ll be busy ripping the fabric of the universe apart with time machines. Did you hear that Albert Einstein may have been wrong? Some scientists at CERN, near Geneva, may have just recorded neutrinos that were travelling faster than the speed of light. That might disprove the Theory of Relativity and screw up one of the major fundamentals of modern physics. Learned that on Google+, I did… And I’ll be sharing it on Facebook, too.


A Rundown on the Top ‘Colorful’ E-readers in the Market

A Rundown on the Top 'Colorful' E-readers in the Market | 40Tech

Editor’s note: Today, 40Tech is pleased to present you with a guest post from Annabelle of Godot Media.

Pink seems to be the color on everyone’s minds, with men and women alike choosing fancy and cheap pink e-readers over the usual white, black or silver colored e-readers. Besides features and functionality, aesthetics is an important consideration for buyers of laptops, e-readers and other computing devices. Though not many brands have color options when it comes to e-book readers, there are a few manufacturers like Sony, Bookeen, Cool-er etcetera who do offer cheap e-readers in many colors including pink. For those who want to check reviews and compare deals on ‘pink readers’, here is some information on the different brands that have pink e-readers for sale.

Sony E-readers

Among the most popular electronic book reader brands, Sony has pink e-readers that are slim, light-weight and small enough to fit into your pocket easily. Available in rose-pink and silver color, this e-book reader has an easy to use touch-screen, a glare-free screen that enables hours of stress free reading, 12 built-in dictionaries, abundant memory space and long battery life that can keep you reading for almost 2 weeks with a single charge.

Bookeen E-readers

You can buy cheap pink e-readers from Bookeen, which is a less known French company offering eBook readers to users around the world. The e-readers offered by this company are available in seven different colors, including pink, black and white. Compatible with Linux operating system, Bookeen e-readers are available in grayscale, with a 5” screen that also enables daylight reading, a USB drive, G-sensor motion detector and a battery that can run for almost 2 weeks after charging it.

Cool-er

Cool-er is the brand name for an eBook reader by the UK based company called Interead. Marketed as the iPod of the E-reader world, this small, light-weighted pink e-reader is available in eight different shades including hot pink and cool pink. The cool-er is compatible with windows and MAC operating systems, can store up to 4000 eBooks with expandable memory, and supports many formats of electronic books including FB2 and RTF. The added benefit of a cool-er is that you can share e-books with up to five people for free.

Kobo E-readers

The Canadian based manufacturer Kobo Inc., may not have an exact pink e-reader computer but offers a closer shade of pink – the porcelain or pearlized lilac. Available only with grayscale display, this e-reader has Wi-Fi connectivity, expandable memory, long battery life and a built-in dictionary.

Other brands

Besides buying cheap pink e-readers from the above mentioned brands, the cheapest way to get a pink e-reader is by converting your existing black, white or silver colored e-reader to pink with the help of e-reader accessories. For the Amazon Kindle that is available mostly in black or graphite white, you can find silicon and leather cases in various shades of pink, while Barnes and Noble offers a ‘grapefruit pink’ silicon frame to make its ‘Nook’ even more attractive.

Although the original pink e-reader brands are a bit highly priced in comparison to the white or black models, you can get the best prices on pink e-readers from the many exciting deals and offers that are available in the market.

Author bio: Annabelle is a senior technology writer with content writing service firm Godot Media (Twitter Godot Media). She has interests ranging from latest gadgets to following web technologies and trends. She has also ghost written several eBooks as a part of the eBook writing service team at Godot Media.


App of the Week: MarsEdit – My Mea Culpa [Mac]

Marsedit app of the week

This week’s app of the week post is a mea culpa of sorts, instead of a full review. Several months ago, we compared MarsEdit, ecto, and Blogo, which are all Mac blogging apps. Head on over to that review for a more detailed look at MarsEdit, and the other two apps. At the time, I favored ecto, largely because of the way that it handled images. Since then, I’ve seen the light. I’ve purchased a MarsEdit license, and haven’t looked back.

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Is Facebook Tracking Every Web Page That You Visit . . . Even After You Log Out of Facebook?

Facebook cookies

9/28/2011 UPDATE: Facebook has responded to the complaints . . . sort of. For an in depth explanation of Facebook’s response, check out Nik Cubrilovic’s blog post.

Facebook has some explaining to do, if the findings of one blogger are true. Nik Cubrilovic, an entrepreneur and developer, recently analyzed Facebook’s tracking cookies, and found some surprising behavior. Specifically, even if you log out of your Facebook account, “Facebook still knows and can track every page you visit.” Before you get too upset, though, read on.

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