by E.I.T. Author | Sep 22, 2016 | Blog
If you have them, and never blocked or hid them, Microsoft, via Windows Update, will now “graciously” remove all the Windows 10 updates that they so “SCANDALOUSLY” put on your computer to begin with. A new update just released today says it uninstalls all Windows 10 related updates. (Although their list is a little bit shorter than mine is…) The information, and the update is here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3184143 (but if you install this week’s updates you will get it also)
by E.I.T. Author | Sep 7, 2016 | Blog
Yes, that was quick, huh? But today WordPress version 4.6.1 is out already…so go and update your website to keep it secure, and if it updates automatically, go test it and make sure nothing is broken. 🙂
by E.I.T. Author | Sep 3, 2016 | Blog
Is your Android phone (probably new) all of a sudden crashing and acting like crazy? Mine worked find for a few days, and it started acting bazaar. When I looked in the apps, I saw a strange looking app that I didn’t install, called “Android System Web View” …I googled it, cause I didn’t want to delete anything important. Turns out, it’s a GOOGLE app, and the latest update is crashing phones like crazy. Just uninstall the latest update (turn it off if you don’t need it) and things should go back to normal.
https://www.droid-life.com/2015/04/27/apps-crashing-android-system-webview/
by E.I.T. Author | Sep 2, 2016 | internet stuff
So…do you ever use PayPal MyCash? It’s for when you want to add cash to your PayPal account…they sell these cards, you USE YOUR CASH, likely $500 which is the maximum, and then you run to your desktop (because mobile browsers don’t work any more) …and it says it can’t complete the transaction. So now you are worried…Are you going to be out $500 cash??? (Because the card is NOT refundable!) …so in a panic, you call the number on the website, and you get, guess what, …a stupid recording that will yes, verify you have a balance on the card, but won’t help you load it to your account, and gives no way to talk to a real person. Wow!!
Well today, I FOUND THE SECRET! And of all the “get a real person” trick codes, I think this is the most sophisticaed one I’ve seen so far…
1. Call the number : 855-721-5035 …push 1 for English, or 2 for Spanish…
2. Then it asks for the 10 digit pin on the card followed by pound sign…DON’T DO THIS. Instead, push zero, 3X. (and # if you want it to end faster)
3. then it says “this is not a correct pin…please try again” …and then, AGAIN, push zero, 3 times. (& # )
4. Again it will say you have the wrong pin. And one last time you must press zero 3 times. (& #)
5. NOW it will finally say, “if you want to speak to a representative, please push 1. Push 1 …and wait. (and wait …I can’t help you with this part…if you are lucky someone will answer before the 30 minute wait time is up before you can try your pin on the site again.
Now I confess…when i did this, I still didn’t get a person. Luckily the site came back and let me put my money in my account without waiting too long…20 minutes I think.
All this being said, their cash cards are a pain. Yes. But other than that, I trust PayPal infinitely with my money. I have had people try to rip me off on the web like everyone does occasionally no matter how good you are. PayPal always has had my back. Missing money, they have put back in less than 10 minutes. They are VERY good with my money…BETTER THAN MY BANK, sad to say. So if you are hesitant, take it from me. You can trust them. (more than anyone else anyway.)
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 28, 2016 | Blog
Nothing to do with I.T. at all really…but sometimes a good conspiracy theory is just too good of a post to pass by. This theory was actually presented to me by a new client I acquired last week…and I blew it off. Of course. It was too ridiculous to consider; that our own government would murder 3000 of it’s own citizens. But I’m not a spring chicken, and I do know a thing or two…and the more I thought about how those towers fell, (because I watched them) …It began to mess with my head. So I started looking around the web. It actually makes more sense than the story that a handful of terrorist airplanes wreaked havoc, and no Air Force jets did anything, no anti-missile technology protected the Pentagon, why the towers fell “straight down” and didn’t topple, or seem to affect anything around them, how the entirety of both buildings were destroyed and no sections at all were left standing (I’ve been in aerospace all my life…jet fuel doesn’t burn hot enough or long enough, and there would have been NEARLY enough of it in an airplane to “melt” that entire building. ) Here are some more facts to consider, and there are many more articles if you are interested, just Google. Liberty For Life
And there are other articles, …like “Who Really Blew Up The World Trade Center” ; And some videos if you want to watch them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-0Ms7mId34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwSmFnlwrK0&feature=related
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ7p0tQKKJ0
So? What thinkest thou? Do you believe the terrorist story, or the conspiracy story? Why? Add comments…
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 19, 2016 | Blog
So I was reading this excellent story, because I LOVE when the bad guy gets what’s coming to him. (Even though I don’t necessarily agree with what the guy did, and probably wouldn’t myself, but I think I’m glad he did…) Anyway, the story about what took place is here: Tech support SCAMMER tricked! (you have to click the READ MORE to see the actual link, sorry. …or the Post Title…)
The part about the article I really wanted to share was about what set the guy off to start with…the WEB SITE his parents landed on that “appeared” to be a real blue screen of death…but was actually just a very good image on a web site:
So read the article if you like, I don’t judge. But the thing I want to share is that you should never get all worried when you see a scary pop-up image, get a scary email, or in particular nowadays, get a scary phone call. If it’s a phone call, I don’t care if it’s from Microsoft, your bank, the IRS, the Local Court, it doesn’t matter. Hang up. And then do some research. And if you need help, give us a call and we will do our best to help you nail it down. (often times you can just Google the phone number, and you will know right away it’s a scammer if you ever had doubt!)
Because when you look at this image above, you can see how it would scare someone. Just keep your wits, never lose your head!
Happy Surfing!
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 19, 2016 | Blog
WordFence, the people who discovered the cloaked content on the plugin (read previous post if you missed it) has apparently received a lot of flack for their post and how they handled the information they received. They have since published a wonderful article IN DEFENSE of their original, stated “why” they still feel they have helped the public by revealing what they did…most notably to me was that the cloaking was REVEALED in their T & C (the plugin author’s T & C) …however in a place most would never find it unless they read the entire long document carefully, word for word, all the way to very end; AND by the fact that this is not a hole in their plugin, but that it was specifically coded in to it by the author. There is much more, the extended results of the malware, the sites it links to that will infect your machine, the adult content site that is not linked to a school website with a WordPress site, and much more. I highly encourage you to read it if you are one who is questioning their revelation of the malware.
or, if you, like me, are a fan of WordFence and appreciate all they do to keep our WordPress sites safe, …you can probably ignore it. (unless, also like me, you are simply a curious, “wants to have all the information” type person, lol in which case it’s a very good read.)
Oh, I forgot the link (almost) Additional post on 404 to 301 Plugin
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 16, 2016 | Blog
Yes it is here…I’ve been running it for 3 weeks already, since the beta came out, and it’s great! So if you haven’t upgraded, go do it now! Update your WordPress site(s)!
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 16, 2016 | Blog
Now this one was a new one to me, so I read this page with attentiveness. It seems that the malware can create text that doesn’t show up on the site, only on the search engine preview, which hurts your SEO and can get your site completely blocked from the search engine (Google, Bing) if you don’t get it removed. The malware is inserted with a high-rated popular plugin called 404 to 301, a plugin with over a 4.6 rating and over 70,000 downloads! You can read the entire article and the technical stuff here if you want: 404 to 301 plugin with malware . If you use this plugin, you should remove it for now, or see if they update it and fix it.
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 13, 2016 | Blog
Facebook is up and running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all around the globe…and it seems that EVERYONE in the WORLD is on it on the weekends especially, and even more so in the USA where it’s an election year, and so much drama is going on in the world. Instead of news sites, people go to Facebook. They pass around local, county, state, country, and world news, as well as friend and family updates and videos. Do you take it all for granted? Have you ever stopped and wondered how many data centers it takes to run Facebook, or how many SERVERS on the other hand, considering the service is FREE and you don’t have to pay for any of it?
Well I did. (wonder) So I looked it up for you. Come to find out, Facebook is pretty open about everything…their data-centers, their custom technology as far as hardware (which is custom)( …and their software!) …so if you are the curious type, check it out here: Facebook Data Centers & Servers
But if you want a number, it’s over 60,000 servers, spread out over a handful of data centers around the globe. I can’t steal all their images, so you’ll have to go there if you want to see the pictures. 🙁
![Phishing sites that look real, STAY AWAY!]()
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 11, 2016 | Blog
There are many phishing sites on the web that appear very real, and are very dangerous…especially to people who don’t understand how links and site URLs (addressing) works. Lately they seem to be duplicating news sites. I had 3 in my inbox today, one duplicating FOX NEWS, one Duplicating PEOPLE MAGAZINE, and another one. If you go to the sites, always check the address in the address bar. It will become quite clear you are not on the real site, if you please just open your eyes and look. This is very important. After looking at the following example of a fake Fox News website, pretend you got an email claiming to be from your bank. You click the link. You get to the website, and IT LOOKS JUST LIKE YOUR BANK’S WEBSITE because they have copied all the images and text verbatim. What is the very next thing you do? Well you try to log in of course. (and then find out you can not) …what you JUST DID, is you gave your bank account login credentials to the fake phishing site, and probably didn’t even realize you did it. That’s how it works. That’s why it’s so important you understand how this works.
So here is the example…here is something that came in an email, and I clicked the link for you…it really appears to be from Fox News website, doesn’t it? They often copy all the images, they create all the menus and everything to look EXACTLY like the real site, but IT IS NOT THE REAL SITE. (and it’s very easy to do, believe me. These are EVERYWHERE now.)
But if you look at it closely, in the address bar, you will see that it is NOT from Fox News, it’s from https://consumersguidedfinancial.com/ which is a phishing/marketing site, only designed to get your money, NOT give you news. if you aren’t sure where to look for the web address, look at this example, I circled it for you….
Note that you don’t need to read the entire address/URL. You only need to see the part that identifies the site, the part before the .com/.net/.org/.info/.mobi/.co/.website/.us/…or whatever top level domain URL is in use for the site. The rest of the stuff after that just identifies folders and files inside the directory structure on the server hosting the site, and has no use in this scenario.
Now HERE is a clip from the REAL Fox News website:
Quite a bit different, isn’t it? The header, the social network sharing links, even the top article is more like “real” news…from a reputable company. The key is that if something seems a little “off” it always warrants a deeper look. And the test? Of course! The address bar! Here is the real one from the URL foxnews.com :
So be careful out there. Informed is safer. There are predators out there waiting to prey on your lack of knowledge, understanding, and information. So be informed. If you have questions, find someone you trust, and ask them. You can always post questions on the Everything I.T. Facebook page, and I will gladly answer them. It’s my goal to help you stay safe. Eventually there will be discussion forum here where you can ask, but for now, go to Facebook please. Everything I.T. on Facebook (if you aren’t already reading this on Facebook, as posts go there also)
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 9, 2016 | Blog
(to download the whitepaper, click “read more” after the social network links, then you can see the link.)
For years now, various states and the federal government have been trying to figure out and balance the taxes lost over the brick and mortar store sales that have moved to the internet. They have been talking about taxing the internet for years. Well, it’s finally taking place. At least in some states. I have uploaded a document that you can download and read on new laws taking place in various states, that started on July 1st, 2016, this year. I highly recommend you read it. It doesn’t really apply to most people unless you are either an affiliate, or if you have over $250,000 of sales in any one particular state. (for the most part) …but if you are involved in internet retail, you definitely need to read it. I do know that Amazon has “fired” affiliates that happen to reside in certain states. And I imagine that some states will be coming after some businesses next tax season, so you may want to get your “ducks in a row” so to speak. Download the whitepaper here: 2016 Fiscal New Year – July Sales Tax Changes
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 3, 2016 | Blog
So, I’m not sure how “I.T.” or “information technology” related this post is…but it’s information anyway. I have one non-technical blog subscription I get in my inbox, and it’s from TIGTA which stands for “TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR TAX ADMINISTRATION”. In other words, they monitor the IRS’s actions. This email I got today is related to this article on the IRS …levying individual’s Social Security benefits, and I found it very informative…enough to share with whatever small portion of the public actually reads my posts anyway. If you want to download the entire report for your own benefit/resources, you can get it here: Report Reference Number: 2016-30-043 It is titled “Revenue Officer Levies of Social Security Benefits Indicate That Further Modification to Procedures Is Warranted”
The report found that “While most Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revenue officers follow the law when issuing levies on taxpayers, some took levy action on Social Security recipients that likely caused or exacerbated economic hardship”1
Apparently, “in 15 percent of the audit’s sample, TIGTA found that revenue officers took levy action on Social Security recipients that likely caused or exacerbated economic hardship. These levies may be due in part to a change in collection policies that appears to give equal weight to nonlegal considerations and the legal requirement to release the levy when the IRS determines that the levy is creating an economic hardship for the taxpayer.”1
“Additionally, while existing procedures allow revenue officers to manually levy up to 100 percent of Social Security benefits, taxpayers have the right to claim an exemption from the levy. However, in 28 percent of the sampled cases, revenue officers used the wrong form to levy Social Security benefits. As a result, the IRS did not consider exemption amounts before establishing the levy. Of these cases, 6 percent involved taxpayers who suffered greater Social Security levies than allowed by law.”1
- quoted text taken from an email received from TIGTA, and may likely also reflect text in the online report, although I haven’t read that one directly, and any apparent plagiarism is pure coincidence. However, if you believe you own this content, and want it removed, just contact me from the contact page, and I will remove the post.
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 2, 2016 | Blog
Well, I installed the WordPress 4.6 and one of the following nightly builds, and it’s working great! No conflicts anywhere on my site…so good luck to the rest of you.
by E.I.T. Author | Jul 28, 2016 | Blog
The website currently has the “RC” version of the software installed…it’s the version after the Beta, but before the standard “tested” release. I do it for the developers, as they need people to test it before they can release it, so I test it. So if you experience any issues with the site, please let me know. I believe the contact forms are working OK…but there is always chat if not. OK? Thanks for participating with me. I appreciate your patience and input if you have any…
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