It appears the the Party of Hypocrites is out in full force. Republican candidates like Newt Gingrich, John McCain, and Rudy Giuliani are calling for privacy during the presidential campaign. How do they keep from biting their forked tongues? These Republicans who constantly make personal character a central issue in their attacks on others want us to simply look the other way when it comes to their own personal lives! Do they really think we can take them seriously when they spew this garbage? I won't. I hope you won't either.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Please Fix IE7 To Work With Flash!
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How many of you are having this problem? You visit a site that uses Adobe Flash content and receive a message stating that you must upgrade to the latest version of Flash Player. You are sure that you have the latest version of the player, but to be certain you go to the Adobe site and download it anyway. In seconds, you see the Adobe sample playing and think, "ok, cool, everything is working." However, when you return to the site that originally told you to upgrade, you still receive the same message. Next, you Google the problem, follow the suggestions to uninstall Flash Player, and then reinstall Flash Player. You return to the site that gave the "upgrade" message once again, but still, you receive the same *@&# message telling you to upgrade. From my experience, this is an IE7 problem. I can go to the same sites using Firefox and view the content without any problems. I wonder if Mac users have these issues.
How many of you are having this problem? You visit a site that uses Adobe Flash content and receive a message stating that you must upgrade to the latest version of Flash Player. You are sure that you have the latest version of the player, but to be certain you go to the Adobe site and download it anyway. In seconds, you see the Adobe sample playing and think, "ok, cool, everything is working." However, when you return to the site that originally told you to upgrade, you still receive the same message. Next, you Google the problem, follow the suggestions to uninstall Flash Player, and then reinstall Flash Player. You return to the site that gave the "upgrade" message once again, but still, you receive the same *@&# message telling you to upgrade. From my experience, this is an IE7 problem. I can go to the same sites using Firefox and view the content without any problems. I wonder if Mac users have these issues.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Freeze Your File and Their Profits
I was just visiting Experian's website (the credit reporting agency) to see what I can learn about how to freeze my file with them so that potential creditors and others (including identity thieves) could not access it. While searching the site, I came across an article by the Maxine Sweet, the company's Vice President of Public Education. That must be another name for Spin Doctor. Public Education? Riiiiiight. Profit protection is more accurate. Ms. Sweet was responding to a question asked by the fiancee' of a man who had been the victim of identity theft and apparently requested that his credit reports "frozen." The problem is that the future husband was careless and forgot the PIN given to him by Experian (and quite possibly the other 2 reporting agencies, Trans Union & Equifax). Ms. Sweet, being the great "educator" said that freezing his file after an identity theft actually would give the thief more power to do harm by committing different types of fraud. How ridiculous!
The fact is that every time someone freezes their credit file, it is lost revenue for the credit reporting agencies because they can no longer sell your information to just anyone who has your personal information. If your file is frozen, you must personally "unfreeze" it temporarily for the person or company who wishes to view the information. If you properly handle your PIN, this is a minor hassle for you and the person/company needing the information, but a MAJOR hassle for the credit reporting agency. They must spend man-hours and money, locking and unlocking and re-locking your credit file. This again takes money from their bottom line. I should let you know that your state may allow a nominal fee to the credit reporting agencies for temporarily unlocking your file.
It all makes me laugh. Why? I truly cannot stand credit reporting agencies. They gather very sensitive, personal information - information that should be extremely privileged, and they sell it. Does the party requesting your credit information have to know you? No. Does the party requesting your information need your permission? Supposedly, yes, but it is very easy for them to skirt this requirement. Do you get any part of the profit from YOUR information that has often been collected without YOUR permission (because you have no choice if you want to buy a house, car, furniture, etc.)? No. AND, if something is incorrect on your credit report, getting it corrected is extremely difficult. In my opinion, credit reporting agencies do the same thing that a paparazzi photographer does. They take something private from you without your permission and sell it. It is a scummy business. It stinks to high heaven. But now, we - or, at least, some of us - have been given a new tool to battle these companies.
Some state governments actually did something right for a change and gave some control back to the real owners of personal credit files - the people whose names are on those files. In some states, you can now freeze your credit file from an unknown entity attempting to gain access to it. It currently costs $10/person per agency to freeze your credit file (a total of $30 per person) and requires that you send a certified letter requesting the freeze to each of the 3 agencies. The credit reporting agencies are required to maintain a toll-free number for people who have frozen their files. If you want find out which states have made this law, how to get your state to enact such a law, and where to write to freeze your own credit file, simply follow this url:
http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/financialprivacynow/learn.html
My wife and I are going to freeze our files in order to take away some of the credit reporting agencies' power and to protect our credit, which Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax are NOT doing. I hope you will consider freezing your credit file also.
The fact is that every time someone freezes their credit file, it is lost revenue for the credit reporting agencies because they can no longer sell your information to just anyone who has your personal information. If your file is frozen, you must personally "unfreeze" it temporarily for the person or company who wishes to view the information. If you properly handle your PIN, this is a minor hassle for you and the person/company needing the information, but a MAJOR hassle for the credit reporting agency. They must spend man-hours and money, locking and unlocking and re-locking your credit file. This again takes money from their bottom line. I should let you know that your state may allow a nominal fee to the credit reporting agencies for temporarily unlocking your file.
It all makes me laugh. Why? I truly cannot stand credit reporting agencies. They gather very sensitive, personal information - information that should be extremely privileged, and they sell it. Does the party requesting your credit information have to know you? No. Does the party requesting your information need your permission? Supposedly, yes, but it is very easy for them to skirt this requirement. Do you get any part of the profit from YOUR information that has often been collected without YOUR permission (because you have no choice if you want to buy a house, car, furniture, etc.)? No. AND, if something is incorrect on your credit report, getting it corrected is extremely difficult. In my opinion, credit reporting agencies do the same thing that a paparazzi photographer does. They take something private from you without your permission and sell it. It is a scummy business. It stinks to high heaven. But now, we - or, at least, some of us - have been given a new tool to battle these companies.
Some state governments actually did something right for a change and gave some control back to the real owners of personal credit files - the people whose names are on those files. In some states, you can now freeze your credit file from an unknown entity attempting to gain access to it. It currently costs $10/person per agency to freeze your credit file (a total of $30 per person) and requires that you send a certified letter requesting the freeze to each of the 3 agencies. The credit reporting agencies are required to maintain a toll-free number for people who have frozen their files. If you want find out which states have made this law, how to get your state to enact such a law, and where to write to freeze your own credit file, simply follow this url:
http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/financialprivacynow/learn.html
My wife and I are going to freeze our files in order to take away some of the credit reporting agencies' power and to protect our credit, which Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax are NOT doing. I hope you will consider freezing your credit file also.
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