Early IT Dept
posted by Aldo at 11:01 AM
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Thursday, February 15, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
8 Things You Must Do If Your Identity Is Stolen
The dreaded phone call comes in: there has been some suspicious activity on your credit card and the bank would like to verify that you were the one spending thousands of dollars online. Shocked and appalled, it strikes you that your identity has been stolen and that you must act quickly to protect yourself from further damage. While the news can be overwhelming at first, and you most likely want to figure out how this even happened to you, there are a few steps you should immediately take to preserve your credit and your hard-earned money.
1) Call one of the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion)* to place a fraud alert on your credit report. It is unnecessary to call all three since the one that you contact will inform the other two agencies in addition to sending you a copy of your credit report for review. A fraud alert is extremely important since it requires companies to verify your identity before issuing a line a credit, thus preventing thieves from opening new accounts under your name.
2) If the perpetrators were able to open new accounts, contact each creditor and notify them of the fraudulent activity. They will close the accounts and most likely have you fill out a fraud affidavit.
3) For those accounts that you opened and are now compromised, contact the creditor and inform them that your identity has been stolen. Not only will they close the accounts, but many will read through the most recent charges to help you determine how long the abuse has been going on and how much has been charged to your name.
4) Contact your local police and alert them to the fraud under your name. A detective will be assigned to your case and ask for details such as where the charges occurred, how much was spent, and how your identity was stolen (internet, lost wallet, etc.). When you are finished providing the detective with all of your information, be sure to write down the detective’s name and the case number since many fraud affidavits will ask for these.
5) File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (the FTC) by calling 1-877-IDTHEFT.
6) Change all of the passwords that you use online. Since the thieves may have acquired your information through one of your password-protected accounts, think of a completely different word and try not to use the same one for all of your accounts. Also, while it may be inconvenient to type your passwords each time you want to log-in, never save your passwords online or on your computer.
7) If you lost your entire wallet or you believe that someone is using your driver’s license, visit the DMV, Secretary of State, etc. as soon as possible to get a new driver’s license number and card. Even if you just renewed your license, you will be required to take a new picture and pay all of the regular fees.
8) KEEP RECORDS!! Throughout your dealings with creditors, companies, and detectives, always write down the name of the individual you spoke with, their employer, the date and time, and a short summary of your discussion. Keep all of this information in a centralized location and make sure that it is in a safe place since it can be used as evidence in your case. While you may be more diligent at the beginning, important information may come to light later so be sure to track everything until all of your disputes are resolved.
Identity theft doesn’t have to ruin your life or your credit. By staying calm, getting organized, and taking these crucial steps, you can bounce back from this stressful situation and stop thieves dead in their tracks.
* Equifax, P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241, 888-766-0008
* Experian, P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013, 888-397-3742
* Trans Union, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA, 92834, 800-680-7289
1) Call one of the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion)* to place a fraud alert on your credit report. It is unnecessary to call all three since the one that you contact will inform the other two agencies in addition to sending you a copy of your credit report for review. A fraud alert is extremely important since it requires companies to verify your identity before issuing a line a credit, thus preventing thieves from opening new accounts under your name.
2) If the perpetrators were able to open new accounts, contact each creditor and notify them of the fraudulent activity. They will close the accounts and most likely have you fill out a fraud affidavit.
3) For those accounts that you opened and are now compromised, contact the creditor and inform them that your identity has been stolen. Not only will they close the accounts, but many will read through the most recent charges to help you determine how long the abuse has been going on and how much has been charged to your name.
4) Contact your local police and alert them to the fraud under your name. A detective will be assigned to your case and ask for details such as where the charges occurred, how much was spent, and how your identity was stolen (internet, lost wallet, etc.). When you are finished providing the detective with all of your information, be sure to write down the detective’s name and the case number since many fraud affidavits will ask for these.
5) File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (the FTC) by calling 1-877-IDTHEFT.
6) Change all of the passwords that you use online. Since the thieves may have acquired your information through one of your password-protected accounts, think of a completely different word and try not to use the same one for all of your accounts. Also, while it may be inconvenient to type your passwords each time you want to log-in, never save your passwords online or on your computer.
7) If you lost your entire wallet or you believe that someone is using your driver’s license, visit the DMV, Secretary of State, etc. as soon as possible to get a new driver’s license number and card. Even if you just renewed your license, you will be required to take a new picture and pay all of the regular fees.
8) KEEP RECORDS!! Throughout your dealings with creditors, companies, and detectives, always write down the name of the individual you spoke with, their employer, the date and time, and a short summary of your discussion. Keep all of this information in a centralized location and make sure that it is in a safe place since it can be used as evidence in your case. While you may be more diligent at the beginning, important information may come to light later so be sure to track everything until all of your disputes are resolved.
Identity theft doesn’t have to ruin your life or your credit. By staying calm, getting organized, and taking these crucial steps, you can bounce back from this stressful situation and stop thieves dead in their tracks.
* Equifax, P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241, 888-766-0008
* Experian, P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013, 888-397-3742
* Trans Union, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA, 92834, 800-680-7289
posted by Aldo at 10:08 AM
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Thursday, February 08, 2007
Monday, February 05, 2007
Super Bowl: Where the game's losers can be winners
By Lee Jenkins
Beth Colleton was working for a relief agency in Ethiopia when she spotted a boy wearing a Green Bay Packers 1998 Super Bowl champions T-shirt.
She might have been the only person in the village to do a double-take; the Denver Broncos were the 1998 Super Bowl champions.
After Colleton, director for community ventures for the National Football League, returned home, she saw a documentary film about Romanian orphans. One of them was wearing a Buffalo Bills Super Bowl champions T-shirt, even though the Bills lost four consecutive Super Bowls in the 1990s.
"I almost fell out of my chair," she said.
This year, as usual, the NFL ordered 288 T-shirts and caps depicting the Indianapolis Colts as the winner of Super Bowl XLI.
They also ordered 288 depicting the Chicago Bears as the winner.
Rather than discarding those made for the losing team, the league now donates them to World Vision, the relief organization that Colleton briefly worked for in Ethiopia, for distribution in places like Niger, Uganda and Sierra Leone. This way, the NFL can help one of its charities and avoid traumatizing one of its teams.
"Where these items go, the people don't have electricity or running water," said Jeff Fields, a corporate relations officer for World Vision.
"They wouldn't know who won the Super Bowl. They wouldn't even know about football."
The gear is flown, along with school and medical supplies, into a major city.
'We need to have a game plan just like the teams do.'
It is then driven to one of the villages where World Vision staff members work. They distribute the shirts and caps at a community center.
It was not always this way. In the final seconds of the 1991 Super Bowl at Tampa Stadium in Florida, Buffalo's place-kicker, Scott Norwood, lined up for a potential 47-yard game-winning field goal.
Eddie White, a Reebok vice president, ran onto the sidelines with an armful of Bills championship shirts.
He had to position himself to get a shirt to Buffalo's best players if the field goal was converted.
But Norwood's kick drifted right, and White did a 180-degree turn, sprinting from the field and tossing the shirts in the closest trash bin.
White talks about such moments as if he were a coach deconstructing a memorable fourth-down play.
"We need to have a game plan just like the teams do," he said.
If the score is lopsided, Reebok and NFL employees stalk the sideline of the leading team, making sure to keep the boxes close, but out of sight.
For the past 20 years, the shirts and caps have become a part of championships in baseball and basketball as well as football. The winners get to celebrate in fresh threads. The losers trudge back to their locker room in sweaty jerseys.
When Green Bay beat New England in the 1997 Super Bowl, and the defensive coordinator, Fritz Shurmur, saw his shirt and cap for the first time, he started to weep. "I've waited my whole life for that shirt and that hat," he said.
Major League Baseball destroys the clothing that was made for its runners- up. The National Basketball Association donates it to an overseas charity. And the NFL sends it to a place far, far away.
There, and only there, the losers get to be winners.
Original Post Link
Beth Colleton was working for a relief agency in Ethiopia when she spotted a boy wearing a Green Bay Packers 1998 Super Bowl champions T-shirt.
She might have been the only person in the village to do a double-take; the Denver Broncos were the 1998 Super Bowl champions.
After Colleton, director for community ventures for the National Football League, returned home, she saw a documentary film about Romanian orphans. One of them was wearing a Buffalo Bills Super Bowl champions T-shirt, even though the Bills lost four consecutive Super Bowls in the 1990s.
"I almost fell out of my chair," she said.
This year, as usual, the NFL ordered 288 T-shirts and caps depicting the Indianapolis Colts as the winner of Super Bowl XLI.
They also ordered 288 depicting the Chicago Bears as the winner.
Rather than discarding those made for the losing team, the league now donates them to World Vision, the relief organization that Colleton briefly worked for in Ethiopia, for distribution in places like Niger, Uganda and Sierra Leone. This way, the NFL can help one of its charities and avoid traumatizing one of its teams.
"Where these items go, the people don't have electricity or running water," said Jeff Fields, a corporate relations officer for World Vision.
"They wouldn't know who won the Super Bowl. They wouldn't even know about football."
The gear is flown, along with school and medical supplies, into a major city.
'We need to have a game plan just like the teams do.'
It is then driven to one of the villages where World Vision staff members work. They distribute the shirts and caps at a community center.
It was not always this way. In the final seconds of the 1991 Super Bowl at Tampa Stadium in Florida, Buffalo's place-kicker, Scott Norwood, lined up for a potential 47-yard game-winning field goal.
Eddie White, a Reebok vice president, ran onto the sidelines with an armful of Bills championship shirts.
He had to position himself to get a shirt to Buffalo's best players if the field goal was converted.
But Norwood's kick drifted right, and White did a 180-degree turn, sprinting from the field and tossing the shirts in the closest trash bin.
White talks about such moments as if he were a coach deconstructing a memorable fourth-down play.
"We need to have a game plan just like the teams do," he said.
If the score is lopsided, Reebok and NFL employees stalk the sideline of the leading team, making sure to keep the boxes close, but out of sight.
For the past 20 years, the shirts and caps have become a part of championships in baseball and basketball as well as football. The winners get to celebrate in fresh threads. The losers trudge back to their locker room in sweaty jerseys.
When Green Bay beat New England in the 1997 Super Bowl, and the defensive coordinator, Fritz Shurmur, saw his shirt and cap for the first time, he started to weep. "I've waited my whole life for that shirt and that hat," he said.
Major League Baseball destroys the clothing that was made for its runners- up. The National Basketball Association donates it to an overseas charity. And the NFL sends it to a place far, far away.
There, and only there, the losers get to be winners.
Original Post Link
posted by Aldo at 9:14 AM
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Saturday, February 03, 2007
Friday, February 02, 2007
Microsoft Prepares for Daylight Savings
Looks like Microsoft is preparing for the March 11 Daylights savings more than I am.
Dear Valued Microsoft Customer,
This year Daylight Saving Time (DST) extends by approximately four weeks. In compliance with this provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, DST dates in the United States and Canada will start three weeks earlier (2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday in March) and will end one week later (2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November).
In some instances, effort will be required to accommodate the new DST legislation. For example, systems and applications may need to be updated directly, while in other circumstances the application may inherit the date and time information from the underlying system.
Microsoft is committed to helping customers that are affected by the DST changes make this transition as seamless as possible. Microsoft is producing updates for Windows products as well as other Microsoft products affected by the new U.S. statute. These updates will be released through technical support channels including Microsoft Customer Service & Support (CSS), as well as online channels such as Windows Update and Microsoft Update.
Details of the updates for Microsoft Windows and affected Microsoft applications, how customers can acquire them and when they will be available can be found on the Microsoft website at http://www.microsoft.com/dst2007. Corresponding technical Knowledge Base articles are linked from this website as well.
Microsoft is providing the Time Zone updates at no-cost for customers on Windows platforms that are covered by Mainstream Support. For more information on the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy including options available for products in Extended Support, please visit http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle.
Further Assistance
Microsoft values your business. For more information visit http://www.microsoft.com/dst2007, or contact Microsoft for assistance. A list of phone numbers is located at http://support.microsoft.com. Microsoft Premier Customers may engage their Technical Account Manager directly.
Please DO NOT REPLY to this email as this is not a monitored inbox. If you have questions/inquiries please visit http://www.microsoft.com/dst2007
This e-mail is intended for distribution within the United States. Please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary for similar offerings outside the US.
posted by Aldo at 11:10 AM
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