Have you checked your email lately? I bet you have. Do you know that a cracker, a person who tweaks and manipulates some system loop holes for their own benefit, could trace your email accounts, change your settings and could hold your online properties in ransom? I didn’t know that until I have read David Airey’s blog. Says there, Gmail is Hacked/Hijacked and left his business sabotaged. If you read through the entry, you’ll know about how a cracker stole and held his domain for ransom. In his site, he stated how it was taken away, how it was recovered and how much damage it caused him.

Thieves appear in many forms and permeate in various ways. We’ve heard stories of people with hacked online accounts, of people who had to pay for something they did not purchase with their card themselves, but they pay anyway just to maintain a good credit standing. My friend, Michelle, received an email from a “supposedly” Gmail admin, asking for her account access because of a needed settings reset. She replied with the details in all innocence thinking it was legit. The next day, she can no longer log in. And her boyfriend from Michigan asked her the next day “Why do you need such a huge sum of money?”, pertaining to an email he “received from her”. She realized that a cracker accessed her email and demanded money from her American boyfriend. Good thing that the bf called to check before sending anything. Another friend of mine uses her Yahoo email to receive funds through PayPal. One day she can no longer access her PayPal account. She remembered giving her Yahoo account details through a form sent by a “customer service” rep of Yahoo for “maintenance check”. It was too late, her email account was cracked and so was her PayPal. She notified PayPal for a transaction hold, but it was too late. The funds were all transferred. All she could do was a request to close her account and get a new one, to prevent the thief from using her credit cards and debit cards any further.

I’m sure we don’t want anything like that to happen to us or to anybody. But the truth is, it is happening and we should all be aware of the booby traps set around this filthy online world. I highly suggest that you do not use free emails as contact emails of important accounts like Online banking, PayPal, Ebay, Domain Hosting.. anything that’s of value to you. Thieves would steal anything valuable, for money’s sake. Also, make it a habit to Log Out when you’re done checking your emails. When you browse through the net with a logged in Gmail account, some unsecured sites track your mail accounts and start their crime from there. So never leave imprints of your email accounts anywhere in the net.

If your budget allows, get a Lifelock account. As shown in LifeLock.com, LifeLock is America’s #1 Identity Theft Prevention Program. Works like an insurance, they guarantee to shield your identity up to $1,000,000. They’ll prove to be the most advanced, safest and easiest to use in cases of Identity theft. They have an Identity Theft Quiz form. They offer protection services for a minimal fee and even discounts. Try visiting their website to get your own LifeLock promotion code and subscribe to their services.

Above all, be aware of what’s happening. Be mindful before you lose anything you’ve been working hard on.

Posted: January 4th, 2008 under Reminders, articles, work.
Comments: none

BlogToProfit website now has a new look and behind it is a new sign up process and a whole new system. For those of you who were with the program or at least heard about it, I’m inviting you all to register and be part of it. Yep, even the past BToP bloggers will be asked to sign up again since we are forming a new listing of active blogs and bloggers.

Although the entire flow is not fully set up and ready yet, but there’s going to be changes in the entire process of evaluation, receiving and submitting link assignments and payment. Bloggers will be receiving automated emails and alerts for important notifications.

A support team has also been formed to answer all queries and concerns. I’ll still be around and you may still contact me about BTOP matters through my email but the site contact emails will be received by a support personnel who will be available 24/7.

Some of the things that will not change though are:

Earning through referral - all bloggers who have registered are qualified to earn through referral. But it’s going to be a ‘per blogger’ basis. Referrer may only earn once the blogger submits his/her first sponsorship regardless of the number of blogs he/she has registered and completed from then. But of course, Referral incentive can only be credited if and only if the referrer email is listed during the blogger’s registration.

USD and PHP payments - BToP bloggers have the option to receive the payment in USD or PHP. All payments in USD currency are done through PayPal. For Philippine bloggers who do not have PayPal, Bank and Western Union payment options are available for them. The preferred option for payment should be specified on the bloggers account/profile record from the website.

Just place the link and it’s done - Unlike other programs, BlogToProfit does not require bloggers to write a lengthy review or an elaborate topic about the advertising site. A daily rant, a regular day blog post mentioning the keyword would suffice. Of course, the content MUST be original - NOT COPIED from somewhere.

I’m just sharing with you the information above. Some of you may have questions about this and I think this is an easier avenue for me to explain BToP matters to a greater number of audience than just replying to query emails one after the other (which is just fine, but… the reply may take a while).

We at BToP are really looking forward to the exciting year ahead. Thank you all for supporting the program.

Quick links:
Sign Up!
Process and Guidelines

Posted: December 7th, 2007 under articles, work.
Comments: 1

Here’s what happens when there’s too many stuff on my plate that I’d rather eat somewhere else… :((

Just another fun quiz found in the web… Take a break and take the quiz with me

I AM
70%
OPTIMUS PRIMETake the Transformers Quiz

Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime is the heroic leader of the Autobots. He is the personification of courage, strength, and integrity. His personal motto is that “Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.”

Like Optimus Prime, you are good by nature. But beware because mischievous thoughts sometimes tempt you. You are inspiring, confident, and a natural leader. The Autobots have chosen well. In addition, you use technology when you need to, but you do not embrace the latest trends.

Posted: August 17th, 2007 under work.
Comments: 4

Heyo Peeps! Am in Davao now. But as usual I brought my work with me. This is not really vacation for me as I have been tasked to do some Marketing leg works. The trip didn’t go well, I was dizzy and hungry the whole time. I sat next to a Dutch businessman who loves Davao and was living here for about 3 years now. A very interesting person who didn’t seem to mind the bumpy trip. He knows a bit of Visayan. We talked about all kinds of stuff, from Jazz Music then language, then Product development and ISO documentation to a feasibility for an Ethanol plant to be built somewhere in General Santos City… material handling, manpower management, statistics…. pretty technical huh? You bet. But it was fun. Good thing I was an Industrial Engineer by profession (but not by practice) or else the conversation and exchange of ideas wouldn’t be that “juicy”. It ended up with him offering me a position in his company as they are in dire need of an IE with experience in documentation. I reacted with a big “whoa!”. I mean, the last time I worked with project planning reports and bloody progress documentations was 2 years ago. I may be an organized person when it comes to work and beating quotas and deadlines, but… my IE hands are all rusty now and I just don’t think I fit the job. I gracefully declined the offer. Besides, I can’t just leave my current job. I love my current work and the things that come along with it.. ^_^ When we reached Davao, he asked for my number and he’ll keep in touch he said.

So yun. I’m happy to be home. And sleep in my own bed. Miss my old life. Just before I left, my boyfriend noticed that I seemed excited for the trip. I was. I was exhausted the past days and it showed. It’s not leaving that I was excited about, it was simply because I was heading home.

Posted: May 26th, 2007 under work.
Comments: 4

Let me just share an info I found. One blogger was ranting about her awfully slow DSL connection and was tired of receiving crappy excuses about the broken cables and so she wrote a complaint to her Internet Provider. After a very long wait, here’s the reply:

” We acknowledge your emails, maam, and we apologize for not having replied sooner.

We regret that your DSL service is encountering slowdown. The strong earthquake in Taiwan caused major breaks in international cable facilities reducing our bandwidth capacities. The consortia operating these facilities have dispatched cable ships to undertake needed repairs. Most possibly repair will be completed on the second week of January. We are also working on augmenting via alternate routes.

Please bear with us.

Respectfully Yours,
PLDT DSL

I understand the bloggers sentiments as most of us probably feel the same. I’m not gonna share her exact angry words. We all know how she must have felt.
So eto.. update lang. If PLDT assures their customers that the repair will be completed by 2nd week of January *doink!* most likely most cables share the same damaged path and will *fingers crossed* be fixed by the same time…

Good luck sa quota ko! T_T

Anyway, I went site hopping to check the connection and found the page about Beverly Hills cosmetic surgery. It’s interesting to note how far celebrities (or even just ordinary people who have extraordinary means) are willing to go just to get the look that they want. Oh well… they could afford it. Perhaps they just ran out of ways to spend money to *lolz

Posted: January 5th, 2007 under work.
Comments: 3