A convergence of all things extreme

There is no shortage on the web of articles with security advice for the everyday user of social media sites. Many of these contain great tips relating to your various account settings, third party application integration, and usage practices. However, what many articles don’t discuss are two simple, yet very important, user practices concerning login information. These two easy methods go a long way towards keeping your login name and password out of the hands of the bad guys.

Use Different Names And Passwords For Each Site/Account.

According to security experts, this is likely the most common mistake. Using the same login info for multiple accounts is a severe risk. If you use the same login at every site, and just one account happens to get hacked, someone instantly has access to ALL your accounts. You can imagine the problem that creates, especially with financial and highly personal accounts. With the proliferation of security vulnerabilities on social websites such as MySpace and Facebook, where much personal info is available, using unique login info for each site is just a no-brainer.

Log In Over A Secure Connection.

Another common mistake is logging in to a site using a non-secure connection. This is easy to fix by simply adding the letter “s” to the site address before you visit it. Nearly every site of any importance provides access to a secure, encrypted login. When you log in over an encrypted connection, the data being sent (your login info) cannot be intercepted and stolen by a hacker who is attempting to “tap” the login connection. To easily use a secure connection, in your browser’s address bar you just change the “http” portion of the site address to “https”. In the images below, I show you the address bar from Internet Explorer and from Firefox, the most popular web browsers. Notice the difference between the secure and the non-secure addresses. The secure addresses, with “https” at the beginning, display an indicator (circled in red) telling you that you are using a secure connection. If you are not logging in this way, you should be. I suggest creating new bookmarks for your login sites, with “https” heading the address instead of “http”.

Your login addresses should look like the 2nd or 4th images, depending on your web browser.

Leave it to The Onion News Network to continually enlighten us with their exclusive coverage of trending topics. Their top-notch production talent once again comes through in this new attack on teen smoking, delivering an actual message through their trademark absurdity and politically incorrect attitude.

New Anti-Smoking Ads Warn Teens ‘It’s Gay To Smoke’

Fold, cover, hide, fill.

Taking the porta-potty to a new level, a Japanese auto accessory company is producing the Kurumarukun, a personal portable toilet that they introduced as a concept in 2007. The kit contains a cardboard box frame, a plastic liner, a water absorbent sheet, and a privacy curtain. All the components come folded in a package designed to fit in a small suitcase or the trunk/cargo area of vehicles. When needed, the um….user….simply folds the cardboard to form the seat, inserts the liner and sheet, and attaches the privacy curtain via nylon cords which have suction cups at their ends. We certainly hope assembly is a very quick process.