Why Opt-in is better than Opting-Out!

Starbucks Touchscreen Storefronts Image by DavidErickson via Flickr

Opting-out on Anything Worries me!

If your like me, you probably have had those experiences where you were automatically added to a list or even something like a spam list.   I’ve probably seen it all if you ask me, I know I’ve seen those phones calls where I get pitched an idea or even trying to glean some other personal information from me.   That is what really worries me sometimes, not knowing about my privacy and who all has my personal information.

Someone reader over at the GNC blog commented and said “I wouldn’t mind if starbucks comes to my place and give me a free morning coffee.”  When I read that comment it made me think about how much some people like to just be auto-subscribed to emails and charged money for things they didn’t asked to be charged for.

Differences between Starbucks and Amazon!

Hey lets face it, I wouldn’t mind a free coffee now and then.   Starbucks isn’t going to find you and give your a free coffee because that would go under the stalking rule.    They probably don’t even have your credit card on file to charge your account if you buy something else along side that coffee in the first place.   You have physically be in the store to even have a chance at getting a free coffee.

Amazon on the other hand, in my opinion has some things that can be trouble down the road.  They have your personal information in a database, which could lead to identity theft.   I really don’t think it is a real possibility but I have to at least throw that out and say it.   They also have your Credit Card on file to charge for things on their website, Kindle, and Roku Box.  It’s called the One Click buy, you don’t have much security but a pin that someone could easily guess or keep trying until they get it right.   Although Amazon has some great policies in place to let you get your money back that is, if you can prove that it was malicious and that you didn’t authorize them.

Let me Opt in!

Amazon could of easily prevented this debacle in the first place by sending out email to a select few people offering them the chance to try this Kindle Fire Compass and telling them what will happen if they do try it out.   How much it would cost after the 14 days of trial are over with and what the main idea about the product.   If they just did that, no one would of minded to try it out.   Heck, I would of jumped aboard if they ask me but I was one of the lucky few who didn’t get picked.

My Blog will always be Opt-in!

I know one thing, I will never give out your information to anyone.   For that matter will ever send out unsolicited emails from me. The one reason you might want to consider subscribing to my email campaign is to keep up to date on any new posts.   If you want to opt in and get my updates sent to your emails please join the list.

Paul Sylvester

Don’t forget to Subscribe!

What is Amazon Kindle Compass and why would I want it? (Breaking News)

Angry Birds on the Kindle Image by Tim Wilson

Conscience is a man’s compass. — Vincent Van Gogh

I don’t know what the fuss is about but I thought it was something we should at least talk about! It seems that Amazon has made a bad mistake when it comes to trying to get people to Autosubscribe. This is something that I have said in the past but you know how companies are they think it is best for the consumer and want something good to come from this.  I’ve been reading about how people all around the world are being auto subscribed, and you can go and check it out at the amazon Discussion board.

Some bloggers are already talking about this and I wonder why it isn’t being blogged about more.

Amazon Bought the Domain in November!

I am unsure why they’d buy the domain in November but that just may be the tip of the iceburge.   This seems to be something they’ve been developing for quite some time and until I actually get to see what it is.   You can check the domain on the Whois and see for yourself.   Some speculate that it is something do with a actual compass on your Kindle like the Ipad has.   I don’t know if that is what this is or if it will be something totally different, only I time will tell but I do know that it has to be something that you will pay for on a monthly subscription like a magazine or news articles.

Has anyone actually seen it on the Kindle Fire?

That is the next question I have, what is it and what does it do?   I wouldn’t mind finding more out about this but there is very few things out on the web about it.   Don’t forget to email me at paul[at]paulstechtalk[dot]com if you find out anything else about this and I’ll be sure to watch the comments.

Update:

Found something on the Amazon Discussion board that might clear some of it up:

I just got this email from Customer Service after a quick call they let me know it would not be charging me,but they could cancel it anyway.

“Hello,

The Kindle Compass is an editorial magazine designed to help customers get the most out of their Kindle reading experience. It is delivered wirelessly to Kindle devices, free of charge.

We are currently delivering the magazine to a random subset of Kindle customers. Customers who wish to unsubscribe from The Kindle Compass can do so from a link in the last section of the magazine, or from the Manage Your Kindle Subscriptions page at www.amazon.com/manageyourkindlesubscriptions

At this time we are not able to subscribe additional customers, but we look forward to making The Kindle Compass available to more customers in the future.

Thanks for your interest in Kindle.”

Paul Sylvester


Finding out which network carrier you are using with Pre-paid Cellular Companies!

Movida 2011 – 01 Image by radiofabrik via Flickr

Not all Carriers are the Same!

Hey Let’s face it, you thought it would be so simple to have a prepaid cell phone account. You just can’t figure out why your signal or speed is just so terrible. If your like me, when you create an account with Tracfone, Straight Talk, Jitterbug, Movidas, MetroPC and Cricket Wireless.

Although you might of thought it wasn’t going to be all that hard to figure out why.   It  could just be simply your wireless network that you are being leased or rented from.   Those prepaid companies don’t really have any actually networks, some of them might work different in each region and you will only know by trying.

Finding out your Network

If your in a hurry, you can always go to whoismycarrier.com and have them text you your carrier information.   I however feel that might not be the best approach because of Privacy and there is no way to know what they do with the number once they have it in their database.   I prefer to find it out myself.   Here is How I find out which carrier I am on when I need to know!

Create an Account with Google Voice

 

After Setting up a Phone Number!

Tell Google Voice which number you want to forward to!

Once you Verify Cellular Phone Number.

Go into your Setup!

Just Click on the Sprocket and Settings!

Go to the Phones Tab

Edit Phone Number

Click check operator!

Once you update that, You will see which Carrier you are using!

That’s It!

If you follow this tutorial, you will find out which network you are on.   You won’t have to worry about spam from unwanted companies and thus.   It will however cost you minutes but if you don’t mind spending a few minutes on your phone you will find out just as quickly as anyone else.   You may have to wait an hour or two before you can find out the carrier but mine was instant.   It will be different from carrier to carrier.

If you are using Straight Talk, please feel free to visit my other post and tell people what phone your using and which network you are using to better help others find out what to expect.

Paul Sylvester

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My Top Five Favorite Posts for 2011

English: Posts in the sand Presumably these po... Image via Wikipedia

It’s that time again!

I know this blog has been up and down this year and thus I want to discuss some of my more popular and ones that I am really proud of.   We all know that is isn’t going to be easy for me but I thought we could at least talk about some of more favorite posts and let people who just found my blog see some of my other posts!

We’ve all seen those post each year on different blogs and I am sure I am not the only one who does this but it is something that I like to do.   It after all is about community and sharing with my friends.  I know I consider my readers like close family because I am always thinking what I can do to better my life and yours.   This is my biggest reason for blogging, to make life better for everyone and make it much more enjoyable for me also.   You don’t know how nice it is just to sit down and write to my family(readers) and not have to feel like there is pressure to post.   This is my goal every time I write a post to share and hope it makes people think about how to work smarter and not hard.

Top Five Favorite Posts!

I will start off with my Five favorite posts and discuss them in length.   You can always feel free to look around and click any article on my site without worries.

  1. How to Get a Free VPN for Ubuntu/Kubuntu! –This is was one of those that I did because it was essential for me to find a free VPN for when I go to hotspots and not have to pay.   When you are on a limited income and trying to get to your next paycheck, then you know why I couldn’t afford to pay for a VPN service.  Also I use Kubuntu and thus couldn’t use the Windows only free VPNS that were available.
  2. Three ways on how to NOT waste your Money! —  This one is a supposedly a recruiting job from (crmglobalresources.com) but after doing my research it looks to be like my other post “Why do I need to pay for recruitment?” So I was really proud of this one to tell people about it! So don’t always think there will be easy money.4
  3. Apple Needs to Worry about Security and Virus! —  This one was of my favorite post also because I am always tell people that there will always be Apple viruses and that their advertisements in the past will always haunt them because Apple can and will be targeted now and in the future for virus attacks because they are getting a larger share in the Marketplace.
  4. My Reasons why Amazon will make an Android Tablet!  —  This is another one of my favorites because it was one of those that came true.   Just look at the the Kindle Fire to verify it, that is after all an Android tablet.   I think they have more to come in the future but only time will tell!
  5. Android Malware, Ridiculous! —   Let’s face it, most people think that Androids can’t get virus or have malware.   I discuss this in length and tell you that even Linux can have viruses and you should count your eggs before they are hatched.  I am not going to say that they will or will not but I discuss why hackers and virus writers would love to do it.   Once the market gets saturated enough with Android devices they will start to develop viruses and malware for them, I am sure it.

As you can see that there were some really good posts in 2011 and I hope to get even more post done in 2012. I am going to be resolute to doing a better job of posting but that could be a futile effort.

Paul Sylvester

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Prediction: Tech Gifts for 2012 to look for!

 

Looking Ahead!

I know this is going to be a really silly post to some of you but I thought it was something that I like to talk about with my family and thus I thought it was about time to talk with it about my blog.

I know this will probably not be right or even close but I thought it was about time to at least try to see predict what we will see in the coming year and maybe just maybe I will be close.   I seriously doubt I will be right or on target as some will say but then again.   I was right about the Kindle Fire prediction before it was even announced.

Think ahead for 2012

I don’t know what people are going to think but I will give a few insights as to which technology favorites we have now will be even better next year.

Kindle Fire  —  We will see more screen size, I would think it could get as big as 10.1 or maybe just maybe a 9.7 inch screen.   I don’t know if that will happen but I see this as a possibility.   I also think we will have a bigger storage capacity and also maybe even an outlet for a SD or Micro SD card.   All this makes sense because of them wanting to compete with Apple over their Ipad .

Android Devices — I see it becoming even bigger than they have been possibly even bigger than an laptop.   I also think we will start seeing more better quality and manufacturers are going to not want to produce quantity but quality.

Apple Struggles — I don’t see anyway around this.   In the coming years because of Steve Jobs Die in 2011 and Apple not knowing where their next big thing will come from.   Steve Jobs was the innovator for the company and I think they will have to remake their image but that will be time consuming.

More Pads and less desktops — I hate to say this but I am going to say that we will see more kids and parents in the future carrying data pads such as Android or even Ipads around town or to wifi hotspots because they are a lot less bulkier and easier  to carry.

Everything will be cloud based —  More and more people will be using the cloud to store they data and private information and thus will need more space and more ways to protect that information.   This will be a security nightmare but I am sure some good companies will blossom from this.

This is some of the stuff that I thought I would point out and hopefully we will see it come true in the future at least to some.   I don’t want to see Apple stocks go down even though I don’t have any of their stocks it is however going to be a struggle for them as well as other companies in the coming year.

Paul Sylvester

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