Viadeo is an international social network with some 40 million professionals.
Yet Viadeo’s email solicitations do not include a single, direct REMOVE link. In addition to the ugly, aggressive internet marketing method used by Viadeo, this may actually put it on the wrong side of the law in the US.
Instead, the unfortunate recipient of unsolicited membership “invites” from Viadeo — SPAM by layman’s definition — is required to register for Viadeo membership before s/he can request to have themselves removed from the Viadeo system altogether — on the assumption that such total removal is in fact done, something that this writer is not prepared to test.
This is akin to offering a rapist a second round in order to get him to leave you alone…
Tagged as:
Privacy/Security,
Social Networks,
SPAM,
Viadeo
Unsolicited email is not only annoying: it is intrusive, time-consuming and costly to manage; potentially loaded with highly damaging attachments; and it is often illegal. Therefore, it is important to report activities that are, or might be, spamming, and publicly expose those engaged in such shameful practices.
Tagged as:
SPAM
With the upcoming launch of the Amazon Kindle Fire just a month away, Congress is launching an investigation into the data being collected by the Silk browser and what Amazon plans to do with it.
Tagged as:
Privacy/Security
Beware of Facebook’s new facial recognition methods which enable Facebook to identify and tag your image, when uploaded by others, without your knowledge or permission. At least, until you withdraw such ‘default permission’ that Facebook granted itself when introducing this capability, without notifying you or seeking your actual permission. This is an important issue for which there are specific, and fairly simple, solutions that Facebook users can follow to control their privacy.
Tagged as:
Facebook,
Privacy/Security,
Social Networks
Simon Perry’s new ‘FishBarrel’ plugin automates the process of reporting misleading claims made on quacks’ websites to the [UK] Advertising Standards Authority and Trading Standards.
Tagged as:
Internet,
Software
Acronis True Image Home 2011 is a “greatly improved” yet mostly useless software package that is designed to perform drive imaging and file backups. And, to add insult to injury, the Acronis support team further contributes to the negative-value of this grossly inferior product. Just imagine the disaster, should you need to use this program for its intended purpose: disaster recovery.
Tagged as:
Product Review,
Software
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the leading US-based civil liberties group defending internet users rights in the digital world. The following is an important browsing security feature that Firefox browser users can greatly benefit from.
Tagged as:
Facebook,
Internet,
Privacy/Security,
Social Networks
Be sure to set your Facebook account to operate in “Secure Browsing” mode. Here’s how: While on Facebook, look at the URL address (top of browser window); if it starts with https:// you’re good. You can relax and focus instead on what content you add to your Facebook page.
If the URL address starts with http:// [without the S], you’re not operating in “Secure Browsing” and are at risk of being hacked. Go to Account|Account Settings|Account Security; click Change. Check the first setting. While there, check also to be notified when your account is accessed from new computers. Re-Post for your Friends.
Tagged as:
Facebook,
Privacy/Security,
Social Networks
Buyer Beware: If you buy a current model of a Philips-Norelco beard trimmer, when its rechargeable battery reaches end of life, and while the unit remains in excellent working condition, you’re almost up the infamous creek. All current models (and at least one that’s about five years old that this writer is the now-unhappy owner of) are not designed to have their rechargeable battery replaced by the owner.
Obviously, planned obsolescence is a core element of the Philips-Norelco business plan – as though nothing has been learned in the past 40 years: the environment, energy consumption, and material waste.
Why not call Philips-Norelco customer service (800-243-3050), to give them a piece of your mind?
Tagged as:
Environment,
Product Review
In a move that could herald a new level of danger for Facebook users, third party application developers are now able to access your home address and mobile phone number.
Tagged as:
Facebook,
Privacy/Security,
Social Networks
In case you were wondering… it’s just another internet scam — well, mostly — with what appears to be the blessing of Facebook (it could have easily banned them). Read the following, from ars technica.
Tagged as:
Facebook,
Privacy/Security,
Social Networks
A very interesting review of the history and importance of the eel in North America:
As the story goes, Squanto — a Patuxet Indian who had learned English — took pity on the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony who had managed to survive that first brutal winter, and showed them how to plant corn, putting a dead fish in each hole where a seed was planted. But before that, before the ground had even fully thawed, he taught them a perhaps more valuable skill: how to catch a fatty, nutritious fish that would sustain them in the worst of winters. And this food item, likely on the table of that first Thanksgiving, would have carried special significance to those remaining colonists. Eels — a forgotten staple of our forefathers.
While explaining events that lead to the near-extinction of the eel, the writer leaves out the fate of the Indians in the hands of America’s colonists.
Tagged as:
Environment,
Food
To manage your privacy on Facebook, you will need to navigate through 50 settings with more than 170 options. Facebook says it wants to offer precise controls for sharing on the Internet. A comprehensive and very useful explanation of this can be found in a New York Times article from May 2010. In addition, instructions on how to conceal your full birth date is provided.
Tagged as:
Facebook,
Internet,
Privacy/Security,
Social Networks
Unlike corporate e-mail accounts, however, social networking isn’t clearly of the working world. While it is publicly accessible, many users see it as an informal and intimate form of communication. And well-documented confusion over privacy settings means that some information is being made public without users’ knowledge.
Tagged as:
Internet,
Social Networks
Here is a terrific example of terrible marketing. A friend forwarded a marketing postcard sent by Manhattan residential real estate brokers at Bellmarc.com to prospective high-end apartment sellers. The language used is borderline offensive: the text is poorly written; the wording lofty, pointless, and meaningless. A case of vacuous utterance, transmitting neither valuable information nor a positive impression.
Tagged as:
Marketing,
Real Estate
