Travel ID Tip of the Day

My tip may seem to be rather odd, but it can be a life saver- or at least a travel saver. See, I went to Iowa for a friend's wedding, and got my hair cut short. Ten inches off and donated to Locks of Love. The problem was that I only had a driver's license as a photo ID, and was using a bank receipt and SS card as back up IDs. No problem leaving. But then in Iowa, trying to fly home, the security officer looks at my drivers license of me as a long-haired sixteen-year-old, and says, "This isn't you." I laughed, I thought she was joking...she wasn't. I stood there panicking, trying to push the bank receipt on her, but she just kept repeating, "No. This in NOT you." My friend was verifying my Id, I was pulling out my SS card and insurance card, searching for my debit- which I've hide in my purse because then when souvenir shopping I have to think about if this cheesey junk is worth the effort. But she won't have it, instead she is insisting I stole someone's purse. I think when I curled up crying about not wanting to stay in Iowa as I'm from Arizona and it's too COLD, the male security guard decided to give pity as he shoved me through the metal detector, shoved all my stuff into a bin and slid it through the X-ray thing so I could get it. But from now on when I travel I not only take two picture ID's- a student and a driver's license- but I make sure one if with long hair, the other with short.
-Anonymous Guest

MacBook Tip of the Day

Concerned about your Mac Laptop getting stolen. Even more concerned that you wanna see the guy fry who stole if from you? Check out Undercover, it will track the IP address and take pictures of the person who is using your computer. Hah hah aha!

Found on TUAW

Password Tip of the Weekend

Here is a good little article explaining how hackers crack passwords and then offers tips to make a password that is easy to remember yet hard to crack. Read the article at Baekdal.com

A couple of tips I will add to that as you create passwords.

1. Never type a password you mind loosing on an protected Wi-Fi network. It is amazingly easy to grab a password that is flying over the air unencrypted.

2. Don't use the same password for secure and unsecure sites. If it is a little, no name operation, who knows how secure his sever is. Or if the web address starts with "http://" who cares how secure their server is, cause the password could get nabbed along the way. Look for "https://" at the beginning of your web address to avoid this.

3. Beyond what they mention in the article, one of my favorite ways to create a memorable yet secure password is to use a phrase and use the first letters off of the words. Such as "I like working at Creative Group in Wilmore, Kentucky". My password might be "ilwacgiwk". Now that is fairly secure. However, mix in some special characters, numbers and caps to kick it up a notch and you could get "Ilw@8GiWilmore,KY", which is more secure, but less fun to type, then any passphrase mentioned in that article.

4. For Mac OS X users, there is a built in tool to help you come up and/or check the level of security of your passwords. Open up your "System Preferences" under the Apple menu. Click on accounts, and then click Change Password. You don't need to actually change your password, just click on the little key icon. The "Password Assistant" comes up. If you want it to make up a password for you just select "Type: Memorable" and drag the slider to how long you want the password to be. If you want to make your own password, just to check how secure it is, select "Type: Manual" Then type in your password, if the security graph is about a third of the way up you're doing pretty darn good. (Just make sure to hit cancel in the change password box to keep from changing the password to your user account.)

Evil Scuba-ers Tip of the Day

Do you know someone who suddenly took up an interest in scuba with little or no warning? Be careful! They could be terrorists!

Here are some signs the FBI says to look out for:
- Desire to learn how to swim in murky water
- How to swim up pipes
- How to be towed while in the water
- Pays for lessons in cash
- Declines to give personal information
- Writes amusing quotes in a little notebook

Insurance Tip of the Day

This tip is special thanks to Chad at the Cre8tive Group, who didn't realize his helpful information would become a tip for the world to see!

You'd think that if you have a high-price item in your home or business that it would be covered, in almost any circumstance by your homeowner's insurance. But you may not realize that most insurance policies only cover individual personal items up to $1,000, often times close to your deductible. Of course, if your house burned down, flooded, or was otherwise destroyed, of course insurance would replace the home and the items inside. But, if someone broke in, stole that one item, and left, it would only be covered to $1,000, unless you have a separate type of insurance for the item.

So, Chad informed me that a type of insurance offered by most providers is a great solution. It's a type of insurance called inland marine insurance, which you can use to insure any piece of property at almost any value. The best part is that this insurance is cheap, and it covers the item inside or outside your home, and in almost any situation of damage, theft or destruction. It could be stolen, ran over by your car, rained on, thrown into a lake or dropped off a cliff. And the best part is, there's no deductible. You're insured for whatever amount you specified. The only scenarios in which inland marine insurance does not cover you are 1. intentional damage or destruction, or 2. if the item was being used in a felony.

But, this insurance is especially useful if the item will be rented to other people, traveling on delinquent airlines, or being shipped. Laptops, cameras, videocameras, jewelry, etc. would all be good candidates for this insurance.

State Farm offers inland marine, and for my HD videocamera, it was only $1.55 per $100 for a year. Well worth the peace of mind!

Parking Tip of the Day

As a female, it can be dangerous parking in public areas, especially at night. We've all seen at baby stores how they have parking spots for pregnant women. Well, in Germany, they've taken our safety to the next level. In most parking garages, including the structure at the airport, they have special parking for all women. It is close to the exit and in a more well-lit area! You'd better believe next time I have to pick someone up in Frankfurt I'll be taking advantage of this tip! Just look for this sign!

Scuba List of the Day IV

It is very important to have a good buddy when you are scuba diving!!! What do good buddies look like? First, they remember the numerous acronyms like BWRAF and SORTD. Second, they can read and understand the complicated dive tables. Third, they remember the hand signals. Fourth, they don't try to pull off your mask or fins and protect you from those who will try such shenanigans. Fifth, they have a good understand of personal space. This keeps them from invading your space and from destroying marine life.

Guard Dog Tip O Da Day

How smart is your pet? Does he defend your home and on occasion take it to a ridiculous level? Why not test your pet...take him for a walk and return home pause at the front door and ring the doorbell. It is possible your dog will attempt to scare himself away by barking profusely!

Good boy!

-JCo

Spying Tip of the Day

Thanks to our friends Sydney and Jack Bristow from Alias for this tip. If you ever decide to extract someone who poses a TREMENDOUS threat to national security for WHATEVER purpose, don't under any circumstance handcuff him or her to a nearby railing while you go kill people. Chances are, he'll figure a way out and you shouldn't assume he'll be right where you left him. Just a thought. It may end up being something you regret for a long while. So, good luck with that. Come to think of it, don't extract someone like this ANYWAY!

Etiquette Tip of The Day

When you arrive home at an hour when roommates still might be sleeping (11:00am on a Sunday, particularly), and there are houseguests in town, never assume that everyone's up and the security system is off--make sure you press "off" on the security system remote before you open any exterior door (two quick beeps is better then 10-12 longer alarm-type ones). Also, NEVER have cold groceries with you in this situation. You might be fortunate if the houseguest in the adjacent living room is a hard sleeper--you might just be able to get all of the cold items in the fridge. But you're out of luck if the kitchen sink decides to back up when you're getting rid of old milk when you're making room for the new. Then the big question arises--do you wake them up with the disposal, or do you let them slowly wake up to the smell of sour milk? I assure you, just follow the tip--no groceries on weekends before 2pm, and get that alarm turned off before you wake up the neighborhood.