Author Archive
Camera Insurance Saved My Drowned Samsung
My husband had just brought us a new camera after me nagging him for the best part of two years, a 14 mega pixel with digital and optical lens, fantastic! Don’t get me wrong, there was nothing really wrong with our old Samsung camera, its just that 1.4 mega pixels was getting a bit behind the times! My friend’s photos always looked so much better than mine, so much larger and clearer than anything I could produce with our old Samsung.
Jeff took the new camera to work, just two days after we got it to take some pictures of his new truck to show the kids, don’t loose or break it I said, he frowned at me and said ‘like I would’!
He took some great pictures of his truck, the definition of the images was great, it was raining when he took the pictures and you could clearly see the rain drops over the bright shinny red paintwork, this was a fantastic camera.
Jeff had had a good soaking that day in the rain and his smelly old waterproof was smelling a bit more than normal, so I decided to put it through the wash, unfortunately, Jeff had left the camera in one of the pockets! Whilst I was checking the pockets the phone rang and took away my line of concentration.
After the phone call, I must have just picked the coat up and shoved it straight into the machine, forgetting that only half the pockets had been checked! It was when the wash was about half completed that my mistake had been noticed; my 5 year old son started asking me what was the box doing inside the washing machine? I put my coffee down and walked into the utility room to see my son, sitting down by the washing machine staring through the clear door of the machine; on the other side of which was our new Samsung camera, caught in between the recess and the rubber seal of the door. I stopped the wash cycle and reset the machine to drain and then opened the door and recovered the drowned camera. It would be clear from the levels of water it had been in contact with, that it had already taken its last photo, just two days old!
On my husbands return from the gym I explained the incident to him, which he found quite amusing, or should I say, a great excuse to make some sarcastic one liners, his speciality. Then, once the jokes had started to wear off, he said have you informed the camera insurance company? I did not know he had taken out a stand alone camera insurance policy for the new Samsung, but as he said, three hundred pounds worth of camera is worth protecting.
I was a bit taken back the two days later when there was a knock at the door and a delivery man thrust a bag in my hand and said sign here please, it was a replacement camera, a replacement for the one I had washed a couple of days previously. I will make sure we get camera insurance again for this one, as the policy we had before is only valid for one claim and then it is automatically void.
Since the washing machine incident I have filled up the laptop hard drive with countless photos of the children, also, I now double check the pockets in our washing every time I fill the machine!
Samsung Omnia Insurance
Get Great Value Insurance for the Samsung Omnia (i900). Available HERE.
The Launch of the Samsung Omnia has exceeded sales expectations, with reports of many of the major high street retailers selling out within hours of new stock arriving in store!
The Omnia is a pure revolution in mobile phone technology, but comes complete with a very high replacement value and although free on some tariffs, if you were to lose or have it stolen, the replacement cost at present is around the £450-£500 mark, so Phone Insurance would be a wise decision.
Watch This Launch Video and be Amazed!… (It’s not what you expect)!
The Omnia is a high value phone, so it would be advisable to get some decent protection to cover the event of Theft, Loss, Accidental Damage, Water damage and more, click HERE to purchase High Quality Omnia Insurance Cover, at a price below high street retailers!
Business Web Hosting Solutions
There are many business hosting services that are available over the Internet. It is essential to select a business hosting services that accommodate your requirements. There are many different characteristics to the different business web hosting websites. A web hosting service should give a refund with no further questions asked. Also, the web hosting service should guarantee your website is up and running at all times.
Business hosting services are now largely available throughout the Internet. Web hosting sites have different characteristics like Miva Scripting, private servers, surplus backbone connection, and co-location services. Search for services you need and avoid paying for unnecessary services. Dedicated servers cost more. Consider different issues before choosing a website hosting service.
Getting Started – Buying a New Laptop
If you are thinking of purchasing a new computer and you are considering purchasing a laptop for the first time, you may be wondering if this is a good choice. It seems that the computer has definitely replaced the dog as man best friend, so it makes sense that you would be taking this choice seriously.
One thing you don’t have to worry about is the capabilities of laptop computers. Laptops, also know as notebook computers (or just notebooks), can do all of the same things that you’ve become accustomed to doing on a computer, only they are smaller and more convenient.
The great thing about laptops is your ability to run them on a battery. With the new advances in laptop technology, the laptops are becoming smaller and smaller. In fact, there are ultra small notebook computers complete with 40gb hard drives, that weigh less than a pound, and offer 3-4 hour battery lives. If you’re using the computer mainly for business uses, then you’ll obviously make different choices than if you’ll be using the computer mainly around the house.
Transurety says patents provide for Internet insurance
Individuals and businesses sending confidential information over the Internet may soon be able to buy insurance and be compensated paid if the data is lost or stolen, according to a company that has been issued four patents on making that insurance work.
Transurety, a Minnesota patent-holding company that acquired the original company behind the technology, plans to license it to companies in the insurance industry that can then offer policies to banks, health-care companies, law firms and other enterprises.
“There’s no technology that’s 100 percent secure, so why not insure the residual risk-” said Allen Stern, CEO of Amax Consulting, which is handling the operational aspects of Transurety’s business. The insurance could come in two forms, Stern said. In one case, an individual might buy a policy as an add-on before sending a sensitive e-mail message via a Web e-mail service. The company’s technology may also help security software vendors offer expanded warranties that cover losses that occur if their products don’t work, Stern said.
Transurety is grouping the set of technologies under the brand name Insuriti and claims its patents are the first to address Internet transmission insurance
Its not just Data the Goverment looses!
The news comes days after the department lost a memory stick containing the details of all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales.
It has emerged that officials lost more than 300,000 people’s details a month in the year to April.
That came on top of the loss of two CDs containing the entire child benefit database – containing the details of 25 million families – last November. The discs have still not been found.
Home Office data released in response to a question by the Tory peer Lord Hanningfield show that 43 laptops and 94 mobile phones have been lost or stolen at the department over the past three years – 15 laptops and 47 mobiles in 2007; 14 laptops and 10 mobiles in 2006; and 14 laptops and 37 mobiles in 2005.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Defence said that almost 600 laptop computers had been stolen in the past decade.
That admission came after Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, had to make a statement to the Commons about the theft of a laptop containing the personal details of 600,000 people from a car in Birmingham.
A Home Office spokesman refused to say what was on the 43 laptops, but added: “We do not believe that any of the lost laptops contained sensitive or classified information.”
Lord Hanningfield, the leader of Essex council, demanded an inquiry into what he described as a worrying data lapse. “This is another example of this Government’s woeful failure when it comes to data security,” he said.
“Given the sensitivity of the Home Office’s work, including its lead role in the fight against terrorism, this is all the more worrying.
“This is, of course, also the government department with responsibility for ID cards. There now needs to be an urgent review of what data was lost on these laptops, its sensitivity and possible impact on any work, as well as a wider review of the Home Office’s security policy.”
Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, added: “If the Home Office cannot safeguard such basic equipment, how can they be trusted to deliver ID cards containing the personal data of millions?”
The Home Office said in a statement yesterday: “The Home Office is determined to learn from earlier security breaches in government and is committed to ensuring that our systems and processes to protect personal data are as good as they can be.”
Since the loss of details for 25 million child benefit claimants in November, Whitehall departments have begun including information on personal data losses in their annual financial statements.
Among the losses that emerged earlier this week were the National Insurance numbers of 17,000 people and the theft of a laptop containing encrypted details of 17,000 Sats exam markers.
It was also disclosed that the Foreign Office lost information affecting about 190 people, and that there were six occasions when the Department for Transport misplaced personal data, including the records of three million driving test candidates.
Free Gift to Students from the Banks?
You can tell times are really bad when the best freebie a bank can offer its new student customers is something as unglamorous as insurance – or, even worse, nothing at all.
We had especially high hopes for HSBC. After a couple of more recent heady years giving away packs of free CDs and MP3 players, HSBC was doing all right on the freebie front. But this year, its best offer is two years’ free travel insurance – assuming, that is, that students will somehow be able to afford two years’ worth of holidays in between all that partying, building up student debt and studying, of course.
If banks were students, then Abbey would like to think it’s the sensible one that stays in, goes to the library, meets deadlines and gets early nights every night. Abbey says it has resolutely refused to give away freebies with its student accounts.
‘We find students would much rather have a good overdraft rate or a good rate of interest on balances in credit. The spokeswoman says: ‘Students would much rather have cash in their account than a really bad-quality MP3 player anyway.’
Meanwhile, at Barclays, a spokesman assures us that it still ‘believes in offering students fun’. ‘Six free cinema tickets,’ says the website. ‘We have always looked to provide incentives we know students will find practical and beneficial,’ a spokeswoman for the bank told us. Students use it and it appears to be worthwhile.’
Read the full storey in the guardian
MOJ Lose’s Laptop With 45’000 Peoples Data Stored
The Government’s reputation for protecting people’s sensitive electronic data has been dealt yet another blow with the revelation that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) lost the records of 45,000 people.
The information included dates of birth, national insurance numbers, criminal records, and in a single incident, the loss of bank details and other information belonging to 27,000 people working for suppliers to the department.
In another case, officials lost an “inadequately protected” laptop storing the job applications of 13 people who were applying for judicial positions with the service.
The revelations in the department’s annual accounts come after similar blunders saw two CDs with the child benefit records of 25 million families lost in the post and the loss of 658 laptops by the Ministry of Defence.
In 30,000 cases the MoJ did not notify the people affected, judging that it did not need to do so after carrying out a risk assessment.
In January an “inadequately protected” laptop containing records of 14,000 fine defaulters including names, dates of birth, addresses, offences, and – in a fifth of cases – national insurance numbers, went missing from a “secured” government office.
In June 2007 records of 27,000 people working for suppliers to the MoJ, again kept on “inadequately protected” storage devices, were lost.
Two other laptops and several other storage devices were mislaid in 2007, leading to the loss of names, dates of birth and national insurance numbers of 145 court appellants, and the names of 138 criminals and the offences committed by them.
Liberal Democrat Justice spokesman David Howarth MP said: “Yet again the Government has shown that it cannot be trusted with citizens’ personal data.
“How can ministers possibly argue for the introduction of a universal ID Card scheme when they can’t even keep safe the data they already have.”
An MoJ spokesman said: “Risk assessments were carried out to assess who, if anyone, should be notified and to ensure measures were in place to mitigate risk to individuals and to prevent a recurrence of the incident.
“The dsepartment will continue to monitor and assess its information risks in order to identify and address any weaknesses and ensure continuous improvement of its systems.”
He said the ministry is planning to implement a dedicated information assurance programme to oversee and ensure that electronic information and documents are “managed, stored and disposed of in a manner that inspires high levels of parliamentary and public trust and confidence”.
In April the Information Commissioner said he was notified of 94 data breaches since the loss last year of the child benefit database – two thirds were committed by the Government and other public sector bodies.
Buy Laptop Insurance Here!
Mobile Laptop Broadband is Enjoying Explosive Growth
MOBILE broadband is enjoying explosive growth — with 511,000 laptop plug-ins sold in five months, says OFCOM.
The communications watchdog also revealed more than two million Brits have now used one of the “dongle” devices to plug into laptops for on-the-go internet.
More than one in ten mobile users have also accessed the web through their phone. And during 2007 the number of 3G mobile connections rose by 60 per cent to 12.5million subscribers.
As the UK’s use of communications services grows, users are being charged LESS, Ofcom revealed in its annual report out today.
The watchdog said the average UK household spent £93.63 a month on TV, radio, mobile phones, landlines and internet — down £1.53 a month on 2006.
This was despite huge increases elsewhere in the economy and a rise in the amount of time spent watching TV, listening to the radio, surfing the internet and using mobiles or landline phones.
The average Brit now spends seven hours and nine minutes a day on these activities — with TV and radio still the most popular pastimes.
Peter Phillips, Ofcom’s market development chief, said: “Our devotion to watching, listening and staying in touch wherever and whenever we want shows no sign of diminishing and, with healthy competition, overall prices offer increasing value for money.”
Ofcom’s report also highlights huge growth in digital and high-definition television.
It says the main TV in nearly nine in ten UK households is now digital — while, by March, 80 per cent of all sets being sold in Britain were equipped for high definition.
Meanwhile, by the end of last year, one in four homes had a digital video recorder allowing them to watch, pause and rewind live TV.
#
THE Financial Services Authority yesterday slapped its fourth biggest fine, £5.6million, on the UK arm of banking giant CREDIT SUISSE for mis-pricing some securities.
Prevent Laptop Theft – Back to School Time
(ARA) – Today’s students gear up for back-to-school season by stocking up on expensive technology, from MP3 players to laptops. However, most students are unaware that dorm rooms and schools are some of the most dangerous places to store precious electronic equipment.
Dormitories and schools are among the top five places from which laptops are most likely to be stolen, reports Absolute Software, a firm specializing in computer theft recovery, data protection and asset tracking.
“Students have a false sense of security on campus,” says John Livingston, chief executive officer of Absolute Software. “Many students are bringing thousands of dollars of electronic equipment into their dorm rooms with little to no security precautions. It’s just open season for criminals.”
It’s not just the hardware costs that students need to be concerned about. Since these devices are often used for school work and personal computing as well as entertainment, losing a laptop can negatively impact academic performance or put a student at risk for identity theft. Students need to know how to protect themselves.
Computers now play multiple roles in a student’s life — notebook, library, photo album, stereo, television and telephone. Computers also serve as a primary means of communication for students with faculty, family and friends through e-mail, instant messaging and social networking sites. Protecting a computer is part common sense, part hardware and part software. Absolute Software offers these tips to students:
1. Use visual deterrents. A cable lock or other locking mechanism can act as a deterrent to would-be criminals. Although they can be ripped off the plastic exterior of a laptop with a strong tug, they do force some criminals to think twice before taking the risk.
2. Avoid leaving unsecured laptops unattended. Lock them in cabinets, safes or other secure facilities when not in use. If they must be left in a vehicle, they should be covered up or locked in the trunk.
3. Keep laptops inconspicuous. Laptops should always be carried in inconspicuous carrying cases, such as backpacks or tote bags, instead of tell-tale laptop bags.
4. Use complex passwords and change them regularly. Don’t use simple passwords that can be guessed easily. Always use a combination of numbers and letters and never leave your password in obvious places on or near the computer.
5. Leverage anti-virus software, encryption solutions, anti-spyware and firewalls. Prevent unauthorized access and spyware from invading your computer and protect valuable information with data encryption software. Make sure your systems are properly installed and kept up-to-date.
6. Back up valuable data on a scheduled basis. Data backup needs to happen as frequently as possible to minimize the risk in the event of theft or loss. The information or ”knowledge” that is stored on the computer is often more valuable than the computer itself.
7. Understand the dangers of pirated software and file sharing. Both piracy and over-deployment of purchased licenses can lead to significant lawsuits or other financial penalties. Not only is it illegal, but pirated software can increase susceptibility to viruses, Trojans and other attacks.
8. Check your insurance policy. In the event of a loss, some homeowner’s insurance policies will cover computers that are taken outside the home. If a student lives in a dormitory, renters insurance may be in order.
9. Use asset tracking and recovery software. Install an asset tracking and recovery tool such as Computrace LoJack for Laptops (www.lojackforlaptops.com) to track and recover a computer that is lost or stolen. Computrace LoJack for Laptops’ Student Edition includes remote data deletion capabilities, which significantly reduce the risk of identity theft if your laptop is stolen.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
