Founder & Editor-in-Chief - Christian Computing Magazine

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slogin&ref=technology&adxnnlx=1219205490- XMLd0D+Y5zB1Ql2FJiTK+w Yahoo Launches Fire Eagle, a Location Service for Users Why would you want to share your location with others, or with applications? It might seem that letting an Internet service know where you are might lead to a privacy issue. However, Google Mobile App on iPhone makes you realize just how important sharing your location can be. For example, recently when I couldn’t find a book at the bookstore, I opened Google Mobile. The first thing you are asked each time you open Google Mobile is if it can use your present location. Saying yes, and doing a search for libraries, will give you libraries that are closest to you, including a map with directions, phone numbers and more. Yahoo’s new Fire Eagle will allow users to decide if they wish to share their locations on the web, or on smart phones that might user their service in the future. Why would you wish to share your location with others on the web? A blogger may wish to blog about local subjects and users searching for local news would quickly find their blog at the top of their search list. For more information, visit http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRr-xoufrxvBbc0uGt7xsLgTS9jAD92HKED01 iPhone Receives Complaints About 3G Connections Users across the nation and around the world are complaining about the iPhone’s 3G Internet connection. Many have complained that they lose connection, yet AT&T has claimed that the problem was not in their network but in a software glitch within the iPhone. Apple released an update yesterday, so if you haven’t already, when you sync your iPhone, be prepared for a 15 minute wait while the new update downloads and installs. Personally in our area we have not noticed any problems with the 3G, and in a few cases where WiFi was available we found it slower than the 3G speed when watching a video on iTunes (for example). Some are skeptical that the recent upgrade will fix the problem, and some have suggested the iPhone 3G’s may be recalled if the problem cannot be resolved. For more information, visit http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080819/D92LLK1G0.html New Trojan-Horse Malware Attachment to Flight Ticket Email There is a new scam hitting email boxes which could set up a malware program in your computer designed to steal your persona ID information and send it to criminals in Russia. The email claims to be a confirmation from Delta (or other airlines) and provide a user name, password, and informs you that you have been charged for the ticket. The email also states they have attached a zip file which contains your invoice. Of course, if you didn’t purchase a ticket and don’t want your card charged, you will feel compelled to open the zip file to check if they really charged one of your accounts. However, if you do, you will have unleashed a malware program that is designed to steal your information. For more information, visit http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9110883&intsrc=hm_list Should Your Cell Phone Company Be Able to Charge You a Termination Fee? According to one state judge in California, if a cell phone company charges you a fee for terminating your contract, this practice violates state law. In this recent ruling, Sprint has been ordered to refund $18.3 million to customers they had charged, and to credit $54 million to other customers who had not paid the fee awaiting this ruling. Verizon had recently agreed to pay customers $21 million just before they were to go to trial in a similar incident. One solution may be to have a declining fee the longer the contract is carried. A lot of lobbying is going on with the FCC to seek federal rulings to protect termination fees by Christian Computing® Magazine August 2008 6
cell phone companies, so this and other such rulings on a state-by-state basis might be coming in the near future. For more information, visit http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hFmVAv-IB4T3cDSapIMM3NMf-lWAD927N0S80 DNS Flaw Brings Us Our First DNS Hacks, and Apple Finally Has Patched For almost a month it has been reported that the way the internet directs us to websites, DNS, had a flaw. Most have updated their computers, yet the first reports of hackers taking advantage of this flaw have started to come in. In Texas, some hackers have been found to infect computers taking advantage of the DNS flaw in computers that have not updated. In this case, when you sought to go to an AT&T site, you were sent to a fake site instead. Once you were at the fake site, the programming on the site would cause your computer to click on the web banners, which would filter back to ad revenue for the hackers. Many more dangerous phishing attacks are feared to be taking place, and until everyone updates their computer with the fix, this will only get worse. Important to note, Apple just announced they had fixed the DNS flaw for their software last Friday (Aug 1, 2008). Their fix came late, but hopefully Mac users will do an update to fix the flaw soon. For more information, visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26043932/ Google Offers New Service, “Alerts” Google Alerts is a cool utility that will keep you informed whenever anything is posted anywhere on the Internet about a subject you are interested in! For example, we set up one to alert us whenever Christian Computing was used and it has been interesting to see posts about our articles and such. You can set up an alert about yourself (Steve Hewitt doesn’t work so well since there 4 or 5 other Steve’s that keep making the news) or any person or thing. Google will search websites, blogs, etc., and send you an email with a short sentence that shows what was said, and a link. So, if you want to track whenever anyone on the web says anything about you or your church, use Google Alerts and watch what happens! Technical Prestige? With the new iPhone, there are many new exciting applications to download from their new AP Store. Many are free, while most others that have an associated cost run between 99 cents and $10. However, I found one that charged $999.99! The application? It is called “I Am Rich” and basically adds a red icon which you would proudly display on the first menu of your iPhone so that others might see it and know what a success you are (grin). The only thing the icon does when pressed is show “a secret mantra” that “may help you to stay rich, healthy, and successful.” If I paid $999.99 for a red dot icon to display on my iPhone, I would have to wear it around my neck to be sure everyone saw it. I don’t know if anyone has purchased this “application” yet, but I don’t think I would be impressed if I saw it on someone’s iPhone! Christian Computing® Magazine August 2008 7
Page 2 and 3: Founder & Editor-in-Chief Steve Hew
Page 4 and 5: Bio-Metric Security Goes Vascular W
Page 8 and 9: cover story OutTouch The Digital Ou
Page 10 and 11: The system has been up and running
Page 12 and 13: Christian Computing® Magazine Augu
Page 14 and 15: very affordable, and we consider it
Page 16 and 17: do whatever you can to be keep your
Page 18 and 19: tech talk Firefox Tips Dr. J.D. (Do
Page 20 and 21: Using Quick Search Speaking of quic
Page 22 and 23: look for a new offering program at
Page 24 and 25: ACS ACS ideas to impact Special Eve
Page 26 and 27: higher power with kevin Using Table
Page 28 and 29: a lesson from this passage and the
Page 30 and 31: it as you wish including fonts, spa
Page 32 and 33: (http://www.yellowpages.com), Wikip
Page 34 and 35: ministry communication Are your chu
Page 36: our church involved in small groups

Founder & Editor-in-Chief - Christian Computing Magazine

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