Question: A listener asks, "I got a Facebook email from someone I know. It was a sob story about how they had taken a surprise vacation to London and got their luggage stolen. The thieves got almost everything they had and they were stranded there. I sent a message back saying I'd be praying for them and to let me know if there was anything I could do. I got a response asking for $1800 to be sent via Western Union. I didn't do it, but have I messed up? Have I exposed myself to any viruses, spyware, or identity theft?"
Answer: Great question. OK, the first thing I'd say is that you're glad you didn't send the money, because this is an absolute scam. As I spoke to this listener, I was told that the Facebook friend's account had been compromised, the password had been changed and now the true person whose Facebook account this was couldn't even get into the account anymore to tell anyone this is a scam. Knowing that the account is compromised, you next want to verify that you don't have any malware, just to be sure. That way if there is something, you'll know where it came from. Update all your anti-malware software and run full scans. Then maybe try an online scanner like Trend Micro's Housecall, just to be sure you're in the clear. Most likely you don't have any exposure, but just be sure. To help the person who can't reclaim their account, go into Facebook. Click Account in the upper right hand corner of the page, then click Help Center. Once you get into the help center, look under Using Facebook and click Security. We'll have a direct link in the show notes directly to this page. From this page, you can report the breach.
Cool Site: Earthcam.com: This week's cool site is earthcam.com. Lots of people have webcams. Most laptops today come with them already installed. But several places have set up webcams that just focus on one thing, like the entrance to Chicago's Wrigley Field, or the Sixth Floor at Dealey Plaza. At earthcam.com, you can take a look at the views of hundreds or thousands of webcams from all over the world. The site also puts together videos and slide shows like the one showing some stunning fireworks pictures from July 4th. You'll find a search box where you can look for whatever you're interested in: traffic cameras, cities, famous landmarks. Some people put webcams on their pets, others on their bosses, so some of them are kind of pointless, but if you'd like to take a trip around the world without ever leaving home, check out earthcam.com.
Cool Gadget: Wetcircuits water resistant power strip: This is probably the coolest thing I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot. We need surge protection for our computers; even better, use an uninterruptible power supply. But what about places like garages or outdoors where a power strip might get wet? This power strip works even if you get it wet. I mean, you can turn it on and immerse it for up to two hours before there's any danger. You can also stick a pair of tweezers into the outlets and you won't get shocked, even when that outlet is wet. It won't short out, you can take a light and plug into the wet outlets and it'll turn on. This thing's awesome. I don't know if it does surge protection, but even if not, the waterproof aspect is cool.
It's All "Geek" To Me: XML: Our last podcast-related term is XML. XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language. It refers to a specially formatted text file that can be used to store and transport data. XML files use tags similar to web pages that define the layout of the data stored in the file. It's intended to be easy to learn and use. XML is the format that is used to write RSS feed files. You can create and edit these files with Notepad if you want, so you don't need some special program to work with them. It's easier if you just see XML, so check the show notes, where we'll have a link to a whole series teaching XML in detail.
