From the category archives:

Business

Buy online with confidence

August 5, 2010

I’ve made a lot of online purchases and I often purchase goods online to take advantage of better selection and prices.   For example, I recently ordered a larger drive for my desktop PC.  Newegg and Tiger Direct both had a good product for a good price, and shipping was reasonable considering the cost of [...]

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Instant Gratification

August 3, 2010

These days instant gratification is often portrayed in a negative light. When my kids want something right now my response might indeed be negative.  But on the other hand, I’ll admit that — at least when it comes to books — I’ve become an instant gratification junkie. Back before the Internet, I used to buy books [...]

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Ottawa: It’s all about the lack of competence

October 26, 2009

Tens of thousands of pounds of disgusting and dangerous sewage gets pumped into the basements of homeowners in Ottawa, not just once or twice, but three or four times – in what the City claims is a “hundred year occurrence.” The top public servant in Ottawa claims the sewers are working just fine, the way [...]

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Do as we say, not as we do.

October 19, 2009

We often hear banks complaining loudly about the losses they suffer from payment card fraud.  Campaigns like “Protect your PIN” and humorous commercials with a miniature armoured truck following a customer down the street must cost tens of millions of dollars. But then consumers still receive calls like I did on Saturday afternoon.  The bank [...]

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Financial Fraud and Internet Banking

August 24, 2009

McAfee recently released a comprehensive report on the array of threats facing banks and their customers.  It includes topics such as card skimming, money laundering, the Nigerian 419 fraud, auctions, and online banking.  The report also provides a good overview of current countermeasures. Highly recommended reading! The full report is available for download here.

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Domain registration: Caveat Emptor

July 27, 2009

The Internet has been around so long that domain registrations have become a commodity.  The competition is fierce, and margins are small. Registrars compete for your business not only on price, but also on added features like bundled hosting and DNS service. And among the sales tactics is the offer of free domain registrations. The [...]

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Protecting Corporate Assets

July 13, 2009

Non-profits, co-ops, and other organizations that depend upon volunteers often have challenges when it comes to protecting corporate information assets against individuals who leave the organization.  For example, I’ve recently been dealing with a situation involving the use of Yahoo Groups.  While it’s a great way to share information with a group of people, here’s [...]

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How about a date?

June 29, 2009

Sometimes in security, and life in general, it’s the seemingly small issues that cause problems.  As the saying goes, “The devil is in the details.” Take dates for example.  If I were to suggest we meet for a 10:00 coffee on 07/10/09, when should you show up?  Most of you would assume that 09 is 2009.  [...]

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Canadian Medical Rip-Offs

June 26, 2009

[Carter is on vacation, but he'll be back next week, cranky as ever!] Last week Carter wrote about some positive aspects of the Canadian health care system.  But it’s certainly not all roses. While Canadians are guaranteed a basic level of healthcare, those with conditions that fall outside this basic level are on their own, and some [...]

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