Not much to say about this phone. This Nokia is the same Nokia you could buy 4 years ago. I did not notice anything new or special about the phone but for $10, I am more than happy. This model does have speaker phone and it does live up to Nokia’s reputation for great reception. This is a great way to get a phone when you need one for something temporary. The next time you kid decides to kill their phone buy getting it wet, make them use this $10 phone as punishment. Oh, and one more thing! I’m pretty sure you can only get this deal online.

Because fraud is so rampant on ebay, many ebay sellers are requiring their buyers to confirm their address so that they will be covered by ebay and Paypal’s Seller Protection Policy. But what does this mean? This is ebay and Paypal’s way of verifying your identity. The system they have built covers the seller in the event of fraud and they buyer gets some other benefits too.

So how as an ebay buyer do you do this? Generally, you add your bank account to Paypal, Paypal sends you two small deposits, and you then report back the deposits. It is not full proof but it must have good enough success for ebay to support it.

As an ebay Seller, I have had Paypal tell me that someone fraudulently stole one of my buyer’s account to buy something from me. When this happens, I am liable and Paypal will always reverse the transaction taking the money out of my account but since I shipped it to the address given in Paypal and they had a confirmed address, they covered it and did not take the funds from me.

Had I not followed ebay and Paypal’s rules and the buyer’s address was not confirmed, they would have taken the money from me end of story. Im pretty sure if you add your bank account to Paypal as a buyer, you get coverage in the even that the seller is fraudulent.

As a buyer or seller, you will run across someone who will try to rip you off. If you are going to sell or buy on ebay, please read ebay’s policies before buying or selling anything. Many people jump right in and get ripped off right away. Others who are more cautious, get through without ever getting ripped off because of ebay’s policy.

Just got back from crippling a customer’s HP Pavilion computer after installing Windows XP Service Pack 3. I talked to HP and they know about this issue and is working on it.

If you install Service Pack 3 on an HP computer and your computer will not start follow these steps. When the computer reboots, you will get a black screen asking if you want to try to boot Windows normally (which will not work if you try) or in Safe Mode. It will say this has happened because of a recent hardware change/failure or software problem. Just use the arrow key to highlight any of the Safe Mode options, hit enter and wait for your computer to boot into safe mode. If you do not get this screen, hitting F8 while your computer is booting should do the trick. Once the computer starts in Safe Mode, (it will look different but it is ok) go to your Control Panel, Add Remove Programs, and finally click Windows XP Service pack 3 so that it uninstalls. Once you click it, it should ask if you want to uninstall but if not, highlight it and click the uninstall button at the top.

Of coarse be sure to read the date when you read this because all 500GB hard drives might be this price by then but $69.99 for a 500 GB Seagate is phenomenal. This is the cheapest price for a hard drive I have ever seen. Go to ZipZoomFly.com As usual, Seagate helps us out by driving the base cost of gigs per dollar down in hard drives.

It is not your fault and it is easy to do, but getting you identity stolen via a fake email is a serious issue. Unfortunately, we live in a world where their people are evil and prey upon the good and unsuspecting. Most people may know by now but if you have not heard, you can get fake or spoofed emails from a spammer that leads to a fake financial institution or some other scheme in an attempt to steal your personal information or gain access to your bank account. To help prevent yourself from getting your identity stolen, I have compiled a simple list of rules to follow.

• Assume all from anyone you don’t know is bogus and fake
• Assume all email from any financial institution is fake
• Do not click any links in email

On another note, you should turn off the html preview in email so you don’t get a virus but that is a story for another day.

If you receive an email from you bank or financial institution, it could be real but there is a good chance it is fake. Usually, they will say your account is about to be canceled and to click a link to fix or update your information. The email will look just like it was from you bank and the link will take you to a site that looks just like you bank but it is not. when you log in, they phishing is done. You just gave your username and password to your bank and now they are free to drain your account. Some really bad and obvious links will ask you to update your information while asking for your name, address, drivers license number, birthday, and social. Sadly, do not trust anything of this nature from your email. If there is a problem with your bank, go directly to their web site by typing the web address in your browser. Obviously, if there is a problem, your financial institution will tell you.

If you think you are a victim of identity theft, here are some steps as they are found on the ftc.gov website.

• Try to document and make a record of as much as you can regarding the theft.
• Place a fraud alert on your credit report. Get the info below.
• Notify the companies who own the accounts that have been compromised. If your American Express info was stolen, call American Express immediately
• Close the accounts that have been compromised
• File a complain with the Federal Trade Commission. Use the online complaint form or call 877-ID-THEFT
• File a report with your local police department (in the place that the theft took place)

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

Again the steps and more details are from the ftc.gov web site found here

I have to start by saying I would not recommend doing this for various reasons, but this is really cool. It seems someone fed up with the lack of connections with his MacBook Air and a knack for soldering figured out how to imbed a USB Verizon wirless card in the Air. First of all, a $5 USB extension cable would allow for connectivity or second, you could create a personal hotspot with the cradlepoint router which will be less stressful and you wont ruin your expensive computer by accident. I should also warn you that these USB hi-speed EV-DO modems don’t seem to last long if you use it much. If your card burns out, you have to do this all over again!

With that said, I admire this persons creativity and think it is worth mentioning on my blog. It seems that even though there is only one USB port on the MacBook Air, there are connectors for more USB ports inside the computer. The modder simply broke down the USB modem to be as small as it could, get some other parts he needed, found a small bit of room in the computer, and you have a MacBook Air with build in EVDO. Check out the steps with this link: http://www.getlistedlocally.com/Business_Resources.html

Sometimes you have your hands on the keyboard and it takes extra time to grab the mouse and move to the address bar to type a web site while using Internet explorer. If you are looking for a way to speed up the process, try typing Alt+d. This means hold down the alt key and then press the d key. This will move you to the address bar and you are free to type hopefully making your browsing experience quicker and better.