Security and privacy alert: a friend of mine had an issue with his Facebook account. He thought he may have been hacked, but he also could have been victim to the recent rash of malware, click-jacking and scams that have taken over Facebook in an epidemic as of late. What I didn’t realize was that Facebook keeps a list of potential friends that you may invite to join Facebook. Read on to discover a couple of inherent dangers.
Review: Prince’s Purple Rain on 180g Vinyl
![Purple Rain [180 Gram Vinyl]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61LaMB7uj-L._AA300_.jpg)
It took me by surprise but then again, I never expected it: Purple Rain was reissued on vinyl awhile ago, and I totally missed it! OK, so I fell off the clue wagon on this one. I had heard that Warner was reissuing Dirty Mind, Controversy and my personal favorite, 1999 on 180g vinyl this coming May, and managed to pick up Purple Rain to give it a spin. Seeing that Prince has never had his early catalog remastered, all we have had are lackluster early-release CDs and our aging vinyl. Is the new 180 gram version any improvement?
The reissue of Purple Rain, cut by Bernie Grundman Mastering, is very good indeed! Anything is better than the CD currently out there, and one thing I noticed about this 180g version is that there is more clarity to the music. I’ve discovered in these later years that one of my favorite tracks is “Take Me With U” which has a killer production to it; you can really hear the acoustic guitar through the mix on the vinyl. The distortion at the end of “Let’s Go Crazy” (on the original vinyl cut) is also removed, so it plays back much cleaner. (It is comparable to the 12″ single version, in fact.)
The vinyl itself is fairly quiet, but not as quiet as the Van Morrison Moondance I reviewed a short while ago. Some minor ticks are about the extent of it. The only other flaw is that mine has some minor dish warp to it, but that is nothing a good record clamp can’t fix. A nice touch is having a reprint of the original inner sleeve, plus reproductions of the original LP labels on both sides. Definitely recommended for fans of Prince, and I am anxiously awaiting the reissue of the three earlier albums.
Will Facebook Ever Do Anything Against Scammers, Spammers and Click-Jackers?
In the past two or three months, I have witnessed an exponential increase in the number of scam posts, phony videos, fake offers, etc. hitting the walls of my friends and my news feed. In my case, having been online for 20 or more years now, I’ve become somewhat immune to all of the spam and scams out there. For my part, I have systems in place to virtually eliminate spam and many scams (it’s called Google Apps/Gmail), never click on anything unfamiliar, never visit untrusted sites, and am naturally wary of anything I encounter.
For the less computer savvy friends of mine, I worry. They don’t have my experience, or my background in computing, networking, online life, and computer security. I am constantly badgering everyone with warnings, informational posts, and other tidbits to help keep their Facebook experience safer. What worries me now is that the deluge of scams, spams and click-jacking is increasing, often faster than I can post a warning about them, or other sites can issue alerts.
Continue reading Will Facebook Ever Do Anything Against Scammers, Spammers and Click-Jackers?
The Wii, Return of The Jodi, and some Homebrew…
I’ve read for over a year about how a Wii owner could install a Homebrew Channel and install custom, non-Nintendo software on the Wii and also run games from a USB stick or hard drive. As of today, I finally took the plunge. The kids have a copy of Lego Star Wars for the Wii, and that was my key to unlocking the Wii and a whole new gain on functionality. Through a modified game save file, referred to as Return Of The Jodi, you gain access to an installer which kicks in and opens the door to the installation and customization through various system patches and modifications. With any “unauthorized” modification, you always risk “bricking” the Wii, but the modifications I used were relatively safe, and work well.
In the coming weeks, I will outline some of the new goodies I’ve found for the Wii. From emulators to media player apps and all sorts of file and system utilities for the Wii, there is a lot more out there that will help you take the Wii to a whole new level. It has been fun, and there have been a couple of disappointments. But overall, the Wii has been put to a lot more usage in the past few weeks, and eliminates the need to keep multiple consoles hooked up to the TV set.
Audiogalaxy Music Streaming App
I’ve tried a few different apps for streaming music from my computer to other devices. The latest is Audiogalaxy. Once a file sharing peer to peer service, Audiogalaxy now offers what some are incorrectly calling a cloud music service. What Audiogalaxy does is stream music files from your computer to any remote device, such as my Android phone. How does it compare to the others?