Skip to main content

Practicing Safe Computing in Online Purchases

Online Purchase Protection

I’m a geek, I can’t hide it, in fact I revel in it. I love technology, learning new technology and yes, buying new technology. Much of my buying of technology occurs online. I am skeptical of online security. Daily you read of someone else’s database or web site being compromised. Up until recently I dedicated a single credit card as my online card and used only it for online purchases. Then the credit card company bumped up my credit limit significantly due to my paying the bills on time and not carrying a balance. Now the low limit credit card that I purposely kept low is now much higher than I am comfortable with for online purchases. I have ignored the opportunity to get the one time use credit card numbers as offered by many of the credit card companies. It seemed like it would be more trouble than it was worth. I finally took the time to read through the procedure and discovered I could download a software package to my computer that would allow me to fill the online form and generate a one time only credit card number for that specific purchase. 5 minutes later if I want another purchase it does it again. No hassle and no liability, not even the ubiquitous, your only responsible for the first $50.00 of fraudulent charges, statement.

So it is easy, it offers a nice level of protection which appeals to my Internet paranoia and it is FREE. Why didn’t I do this sooner. Inertia, too lazy to really read the offer, who knows but…since I have done it, I have now recommended it to my family members and now I am recommending it to you. Try it, I’ll bet one of your credit cards offers it as well. It is just one more step in practicing safe computing online in our tumultuous world of technology. And it’s FREE!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Samsung FlipShot-ho hum

I just got the Samsung FlipShot aka SCH-U900. If you haven’t noticed by now, I am very family oriented, specifically focused on grandchildren. I frequently lament that I don’t have my camera on me. However, I always have my phone on me. Thusly I wanted a phone with a decent camera. The FlipShot comes close. Samsung claims it is a 3 megapixel camera with flash and zoom. The photos are not what I would consider decent from a digital camera but compared to my last phone/camera, they are much better. The phone has a slot for a micro sd memory card. I popped a 2gb card in there for saving my photos. I have not been able to find a way to default the photos to the memory card. You have to manually move them. I haven’t given up and perhaps in a software upgrade there will be a way to get them to the card without moving them manually. Getting them off of the phone is interesting. If you don’t buy Samsung’s charging/data cable, you can send them to yourself and get them on your pc that way. You

Troy-Bilt 2700 PSI 2.3 GPM Gas Pressure Washer Review

Troy-Bilt 2700 PSI 2.3 GPM Gas Pressure Washer Review Item #: 75140 | Model #: 20414 When I started this blog, I assumed I would be only talking tech. Well that led to philosophic musing and then comments on other stuff. I’m not sure where a pressure washer fits but regardless I am writing about it. I was power washing the mildew off the siding and thought the odor was the detergent I was using. When I looked over my shoulder and saw the grey smoke pouring out of the pressure washer, I realized what the odor really was. Considering the age of my venerable electric power washer, I concluded that discretion being the better part of safety and how water and electricity don’t play well, I trashed my old power washer. After much research, I found the Troy-Bilt 20414 was the best bang for the buck I could find. Keep in mind I am a consumer, not some testing house, so I make my purchases based on research and price point. I wanted electric but my boys who participated in the purchase,

3D Printing—Way, Way Cool

You may not be familiar with the term 3D printing but I bet you remember the replicator from Star Trek. Well kiddies, it is no longer just science fiction. Replication exists! Analog Science Fiction and Fact had a great article in the November 2008 edition called: “The 3D Train Wreck”. Thomas A. Easton, the author gave a great overview of the future of 3D printing. Simplistically, take your 3 dimensional CAD drawing and print it out on a laser printer that will print layers with some type of raw material. Each layer is adhered to the previous layer until you have a full three dimensional finished product. There are a variety of existing technologies that are doing this right now. Rapid-prototyping in industry is the biggest market right at the moment. Consider how incredibly convenient it would be to fabricate or replicate things right at home. My Polaris pool sweep needed a part yesterday. The part is unavailable, without the part the sweep doesn’t work. The alternative was to buy a