Mastodon October 2010 – Josh Hrach

4 Ways to Protect Your Online Accounts

It seems that more and more people are finding their Twitter accounts hacked unknowingly. If you use Twitter, you undoubtedly have seen it. Your friends post a reply or a direct message (DM) with a link to you but from out of the blue. ‘Why would they care about my IQ?‘ you may ask yourself.

Well, here are X tips to help you stay safe on Twitter (and other online sites)!

  1. Never give out your password – This is the most important rule. Even if someone claims to be a Twitter owner, do NOT give out your password!
  2. Don’t click links from strangers – Remember when your mom would tell you not take take candy from someone you didn’t know? Well, even though you’re older, live on your own, and have a job, the rule still applies. Watch what strangers send you. If you get a random @reply saying “Hey, I saw you in this pic. http://badlink.com/haha”, don’t click it!
  3. Watch for odd links from friends – Just because you have followed so-and-so for a long time doesn’t mean that all that they post is ok. Make sure that what they send is in line with what they usually send. Do they never DM you, but you suddenly receive a DM with a link? (As a side note, I’m not saying to click on links from your friends. If it’s a legitimate link, they’re sharing it with you for a reason!)
  4. Avoid Phishing Scams – What do I mean by phishing scam? Well, let’s say someone wanted you to think you were signing in to Twitter. It may even be identical to the real login page! But, the URL might say login.twitter.com.someothersite.net. That is how you can tell if it is fake. So, how can you stay safe from this?  If you need to login in a site, make sure that you’re truly at the site before you log in! For example, if you are signing in to Facebook, make sure you’re at Facebook.com before entering in your password.

In short, think before you do anything. It’s always better to play it safe. Common sense is the big key. Keep some of that and you’ll be safer already!

Review: Rock Band 3

Yesterday was the big release of Rock Band 3. Well, for some, it was midnight Monday night. Either way, I’ve finally had the chance to play the latest musical installment and have a few things to say.

I only played the game for about a half hour, but it was enough for me to experience a few things.

First, the career mode is different than before. I’m not sure how to really describe it, but it seems like it’s easier to play in shorter sittings. Most of the sets I’ve had to play were just two songs each, which you can easily do for 15 minutes if that is all you have available.

The next change, which I really like, is that new costume and customizable options become available after achieving goals in game. There is no more money in game. This makes it much easier to gain new looks, in my opinion. You just need to unlock the gear, not see if you can play enough songs to make enough money to open something up.

The ability to instantly join a song or drop out is an amazing feature. I’ve had friends play Rock Band 2 that want to drop out mid song and, when they did, we’d all complain about having to restart the song. Now, that’s not a problem. And if someone does drop out, join in, or change any settings, the game will rewind the song a few seconds so that everyone can catch up.

The song list itself is pretty impressive. Even when doing random pop and 80’s songs, I’ve found ones that I know and can play. If you haven’t checked out the song list for Rock Band 3, yet, you should!

Lastly, there’s the new instrument type: the keyboard. A full 2-octave midi keyboard is provided with the game. You can choose to play either in the standard 5-color mode, or you can go into Pro mode and actually try to play the keys that are shown on the screen. Beware: This is harder than it looks if you can’t play the keys already! But it is also quite fun!

In short, Rock Band 3 looks like it’ll be a great successor to the already great Rock Band 2. I’m looking forward to playing the keys more, which will add a little change to the game. (Note: Only Rock Band 3 songs have the option for keys, so don’t expect to be able to play them in your already massive Rock Band song library.)

The only thing I have not tested is the new Pro guitar, as I did not purchase one. However, you can easily find reviews for that online.

Have you tried Rock Band 3 yet? What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

FaceTime Beta for Mac Now Available

One of the things Steve Jobs just announced at the “Back to the Mac” event was the release of FaceTime Beta for Mac OSX. That’s right! You can now engage in FaceTime video chats with your friends that may have an iPod Touch or iPhone 4!

If you’re a Mac user running Snow Leopard OS X 10.6.4 or later, then go here and check it out: http://www.apple.com/mac/facetime/

How Do YOU Use Social Media?

I’ve been thinking about social media and how it has expanded in recent years. In the days before Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter, social networks seemed to be much smaller groups of individuals. You would have your Livejournal, Xanga, or ezBoard (now Yuku) collectives, but none of them have the reach that social media seems to have today.

In today’s online world, with just under 10% of the world’s population on Facebook alone, social media is playing an important role in the modern world. Businesses are finding more and more use for social media networks to relay information and communicate with customers.

I’m curious how other individuals and businesses use social media. Please take the time to comment on this blog and answer the question: How do you use social media?