How crooks fake an ATM and steal your money

There is no argument in the fact that technology has advanced and has come a long way. While cellphones and all kinds of other modern technology have continued to become more and more widespread, so has the crime that is associated with the use of modern technology. In other words, the criminals who work in the black market and use frauds as ways to gain riches, have taken to advanced modern technology for their illegal criminal activity.

According to MSNBC, "When it comes to new and creative ways of pilfering personal financial data, ATM crime is enjoying something of a renaissance here in the U.S. In the past year alone, devices like skimmers have been found on point-of-sale machines, inside gas pumps, on ticket vending machines, and affixed to ATMs throughout Northern California and the rest of the country. In some cases, thieves have successfully made off with tens of thousands in cash and/or personal card data before anyone was the wiser."

What I would like to discuss in today's blog is how cautious everyone - even a crook - has to be when it comes to frauds of any kind. While there are criminals out there that are hoping to trick the money out of you by swiping fake credit cards or using skimmers on ATM machines, there are other swindlers that are tricking these criminals into buying components for skimmers that don't actually work at all.

Here's another explanation: In the criminal world, it is "every-crook-for-himself" because well, thieving isn't easy. The former Washington Post staff writer who now runs Krebs on Security, Brian Krebs says, "As with everything in the criminal underworld, the biggest issue is not getting ripped off." In fact, during the past two years, "Krebs discovered one overarching trend while reporting on the myriad forms of skimmers for his site: Obtaining real, working components -- without getting swindled yourself -- is friggin' hard." Now what kind of world are we living? We are worried that criminals might be swindling us, while the criminals are worried about being swindled by other criminals. Does this even make any sense? No wonder the author of the article quotes this roundabout cycle as, "the food chain you learned about in 7th-grade bio."

The risk of having one's personal data stolen is relatively low compared to the risk of the person doing the swindling, so there really is nothing to be worried about. Although, due to the eye-catching headline, of course there will be people who unnecessarily panic and become extra - if not already - more cautious. Bottom line is, the most interesting item of this article was the roundabout cycle of people tricking others and the person that is tricking others is being tricked as well. Honestly, everyone should just stray from conducting acts of frauds. You could get swindled before you swindle others. Apparently, this is the how the criminal underworld operates. It's that complicated.

References:
Article and Photo from:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40496218/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

Ahmadinejad urges girls to marry at 16

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is urging young girls to marry at 16. In his very own words, he says, "We should take the age of marriage for boys to 20 and for girls to about 16 and 17. The marriage age for boys has reached 26 and for girls to 24, and there is no reason for this."

Upon reading his words, a reason as to why the marriage age has raised came to mind. In many countries, it is no longer encouraged to be married at a young age. The reason being is that most married couples will have kids and in the economy today, kids are very expensive. Girls and boys who are under eighteen should still be getting their education completed. It can be noted that in particularly less developed countries, unwanted births are on the rise. Parents of many children are at a young age and have clearly not been fully educated. Why raise lower the marriage age when raising the marriage age is the better option?

In countries like China, the government had issued a One Child policy where each family is allowed one child. The reason is due to the overwhelming population growth. Also, there is the global problem of resources running on low. Even if Iran claims that the country can feed 150 million of its people, early marital statuses should not be encouraged.

According the news article, the Iranian president has sought to raise the country's population. In July, he had inaugurated "a new policy to encourage population growth with financial incentives for every new child born." Critics towards the new policy has pointed out the holes in his plan because there is an estimated 3 million unemployed people of working age in the country, yet the Iranian president is encourage population country in Iran. If the new policy were successful and did indeed spike up population rates, unemployment rates would increase as well. It is not only Iran's problem, but unemployment is all over the world. Therefore, why is Iran seemingly the only country seeking to raise its country's population?

References:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40298045/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

Women with stressful jobs have 40 percent higher heart risks

In many of today's societies, men and women are on equal working grounds. There are less and less gender inequality concerning work opportunities. So, men and women are able have the same type of work that induce different levels of stress. The necessity of earning money is undeniable and many people are heading towards the extreme for a job. Whether it be a doctor working in an emergency room or a secretary answering calls at a busy firm, stress levels are on a rise and people's heath are becoming a concern.

There appears to be no room for argument in the recently big U.S. government funded study that found "female workers with stressful jobs were more likely than women with less job strain to suffer a heart a heart attack or a stroke or have clogged arteries."

The research that distributed the study involved 17,415 participants in the Women's Health Study regarding heart disease and cancer prevention. According to Associated Press, "the women were healthy, 57 years old on average, and had worked full or part-time when the study began in 1999." This study is credible since it is a known health organization that has a long ongoing study. The results of the study showed that there is a 40 percent risk for women who have highly-stress jobs. They are more likely to suffer from a heart attack.

What's interesting to note from this article, is the explanation for why excess stress can be harmful for the body. Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, director of the Women and Heart Disease program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York says that , "stress can harm by releasing 'fight or flight' hormones, spurring inflammation and and raising blood pressure." This will then raise the chances of clogged arteries or strokes.

On a personal note, this is a worrying result because my own mother is someone who has a stressful job. She works long hours and often complains that different parts of her body hurts. After reading this article, it seems that her level of stress may conclude to an unhealthy future. Stress appears to be unavoidable when it comes to different jobs, but of course there are ways to relieve stress, as mentioned in the article. This includes exercising.

These are the facts and these are the data. A high level amount of stress is not good for the body. While I personally think that sometimes stress can be inevitable, it still better to find ways to relieve stress. So, for the people who are working their body to the limit, they should be wary of the health risks and learn how to reduce stress levels.

References:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40182278/ns/health-womens_health/

Pictures:
http://www.yroma.com/tag/stress/

Hotel replaces room keys with mobile phones

According to Associated Press, "visitors to Stockholm hotel will be able to use mobile phones instead of keys to unlock the doors to their rooms." How it works is that the hotel will lend repeat customers hand-held mobile phones so that they can check in before arrival. These hand-held mobile phones can also be used as keys to hotel rooms. The mobile can activate a scanner-like sensor instead of having a card-like key originally used to swipe open the suite doors.

This new technology is called Near Field Communication and envisioned for ticketing and card payment. This new radio technology is expected to be built into smart phones and will be a new addition in the mobile phone market. Although currently the use of these mobile phone keys are on trial.

"The head of Assa Abloy's mobile keys division, Daniel Berg, acknowledged that participants in the trial may find it cumbersome to have an extra mobile phone." I agree with this. I don't understand what is the point of using a cell phone when a room key is sufficient enough. I don't see the problem with having a room key and carrying around and then having to swipe it to open the hotel room. People are always looking to modernize and update technology in the present time, but sometimes some upgrades are not necessary. According to the article, it said that this new technology will be adapted into smart phones, but I know a lot of people who do not own such advanced cellphones and are still using cell phones without touch screens. In fact, they prefer their phones to stay old-fashioned with key pads instead. I think by introducing this new mobile technology for hotel rooms may be trying to change modern technology too quickly and too fast.

In the article, it said "hotels can continue giving key cards to visitors who don't have the new technology in their phones." Even though the new technology is currently on testing trial, it needs be sent back to the lab so it can be revised more. Not everyone is a smart phone consumer. What the developers of the new mobile technology are aiming at, are at the upper class people who can afford the smart phones. Instead, they should consider that there is a significantly larger amount of population of people who are unable to afford smart phones and who do not want to upgrade their mobiles. A key card seems simple enough since it is provided from the hotel itself.

References:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39976610/ns/technology_and_science-wireless/

Facebook in Privacy Breach

Facebook is a phenomenon that has breached people everywhere. It is an easy connection from friends and coworkers to other friends and coworkers anywhere and everywhere. Besides the social network that is Facebook, it is also a place where users can control and choose to share information with people they are familiar with. But recently, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found that some Facebook applications have been exposing users' personal information to an outside party.

"Many of the most popular applications, or "apps," on the social networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying information -- in effect, providing access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names -- to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found."

I believe I can speak for many others when I say that I use Facebook a lot. It is the main type of social networking that many people use these days. It has replaced myspace and personally, I use it more than I use instant messaging. I always believed that I could surf the web anonymously and use Facebook without a third party accessing my personal information. I think I can openly say for a lot of people that they would like to keep their personal information private while using Facebook. According to the investigation made by Wall Street Journal, popular applications "have been transmitting identifying information." This is very shocking because Facebook applications are overwhelmingly popular. Applications such as Farmville and Restaurant City have attracted millions of Facebook users and these users are unaware of their names or their friends' names being sent to advertising and Internet tracking companies. Facebook is indeed a growing social networking website that people everywhere appear to have connected with. Facebook should continue to strengthen its privacy functions so that users can continue to be anonymous and use the social networking site freely without their personal information being breached by third parties.

Reference:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304772804575558484075236968.html?KEYWORDS=facebookKEYWORDS%3Dfacebook

Picture:

© Facebook

Rapper T.I. going back to prison for 11 months

On October 15, 2010, Grammy Award winning rapper T.I. also known as Clifford Harris Jr, was ordered back to prison for 11 months due to illegal drugs uses. When he was first arrested for suspicion of drug possession last month in California, he was on probation. He was ordered to do 1,000 hours of community service hours. The community service hours included talking to schoolchildren about the dangers of gangs, violence of drugs.

Unfortunately, during his probation, he had clear possessions of drugs and had take the ecstasy drug three times since leaving prison. During the trial, the rapper pleaded with the judge to keep him out of prison, but the judge did not give in and sentenced him to 11 months of serving in prison.

The issue with drugs is clearly very serious. I believe that U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pannell Jr. was reasonable in his decisions. The rapper T.I. had clearly been given a sentence of doing community sentences in hopes that he would face redemption and stay away from drugs. As U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates says, "We had hoped that this would be a new, innovative opportunity. We're not giving up on Mr.Harris, but... if you veer off from the road of redemption, there are consequences." Like she says, Harris had been given his second chance already for his crimes, but since he had access to drugs and was caught again, he was expected to face the consequences.

I believe that the court ruling and the Judge's decision are all very fair. The Judge is practicing fair justice by not succumbing to the rapper's plead for mercy when he is clearly guilty of his actions even after a fair warning. His orders from his first offense was very clearly laid out. "As a condition of his release earlier this year, he was ordered not to commit another federal, state, or local crime while on supervised release, or to illegally possess a controlled substance. He was also told to take at least three drug tests after his release and to participate in a drug and alcohol treatment program."

But now he is being sent back to prison for 11 months for violating his probation. He had even submitted diluted urine, according to Yates. His further breaching of his court orders as well as his dishonesty should be a sure enough path to prison. There are always consequences for actions and Harris had already been given a second chance. Therefore he is expected to surrender voluntarily to authorities by Nov 1, according to Associated Press.

References:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39691531/ns/today-entertainment/

Google test cars that can steer without drivers

A surprising article came out on October 10, 2010 about the Google test driving cars that can be steered without humans. These cars are so advanced that it can travel a total of 140, 000 miles all on their own without a human driver steering the wheel. The goal of producing self-driving cars is "help prevent traffic accidents, free up people's time and reduce carbon emissions," says project leader Sebastian Thrun. Apparently, the cars are programmed to know speed limits, traffic patterns, and road maps. They use video cameras, radar sensors and lasers to detect other cars. That is definitely very high tech compared to humans who don't have built in video cameras, radar sensors and lasers to detect other cars.

There are two main points in the article. The first is how there are working self-driving cars that are already on testing mode by Google Inc. The company is so overflowing with cash, that it is able to focus on projects outside of its browser expansion. If there are self-driving cars that can function all on its own based on highly advanced technology, then supposedly, consumers will have more time to browse the web, as Google is a browser of the Internet. According to engineers, they consider the self-driving cars to be safer than when humans drive the cars manually themselves. Humans are prone to distraction, whereas technology is not. Car accidents are one of the leading death causes to humans and the production of self-driving cars could potentially eliminate or lessen this problem. Already, humans rely heavily on technology, so allowing cars to drive us is much like how we rely on technology anyway.

This leads up to the second point mentioned in the article. By having cars that can drive itself, according to Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group in San Jose, California, "driverless vehicle will make computers more like robots imagined in the 1920s, rather than tabletop data processor we use today." The possibility of robots assisting humans have always been around. Now it seems like the science fiction seen in movies is becoming a reality. How long will it be before self-driving cars hit the market and replace manual cars? Technology has definitely come a long way, since people's imagination are becoming a reality. Self-driving car? Wow.

References

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39606282/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/