Tech tips: Change voicemail password to stop hackers

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Question: I think my ex-husband is listening to my voicemail messages. He seems to know a lot about what is going on in my life. How can I stop him?

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  Louis Lanzano, AP

  Rupert Murdoch’s media empire is embroiled in a scandal over phone hacking at some of his newspapers.

Louis Lanzano, AP

Rupert Murdoch’s media empire is embroiled in a scandal over phone hacking at some of his newspapers.

Answer: We’ve been hearing a lot about voicemail hacking lately. It is very easy for anyone to hack. Most phones ship with a default voicemail password or no voicemail password. A hacker with your phone number can get everything. You will need to set up a new password to stay safe. The process varies by phone and provider. When you change the password, avoid common number sequences. For example, 1234 and 0000 are both easily guessed.

Q. I’m looking for a work-from-home job. How can I avoid getting scammed?

A. Working from home sounds like a great idea. However, many work-from-home jobs offered online are scams. There are a few ways you can tell. The company might be new or doesn’t have a real-world presence. The income promised might sound too good to be true. The company requests money for training material or to complete paperwork. It pressures you into giving out sensitive information. The job requires any exchange of money, even if it isn’t yours. All of these can be red flags.

Q. A friend told me that Microsoft no longer supports Windows Vista. Do I have to upgrade to Windows 7?

A. Your friend wasn’t entirely accurate. Microsoft has ended support for Vista with Service Pack 1. That version of Vista won’t receive any more program or security updates. Fortunately, you don’t have to upgrade to 7. A service pack is a collection of updates and sometimes new features. Microsoft released Service Pack 2 for Vista in 2008. That’s probably what you have installed. It will be supported until 2013. If you have an older computer, you might be running SP1. You can upgrade to SP2 for free using Windows Update.

Q. What are Mac gestures?

A. Most new Apple products support multitouch input. The Macbook’s built-in trackpad is a good example. You can also buy a multi-touch trackpad for Mac desktop computers. Multi-touch means you can control your computer with special gestures. A pinching or rotating gesture can zoom or rotate content. Four-finger swiping controls Expose and switches applications. There are lots of potential gestures. Of course, not every gesture will be useful to you. Try grabbing a free program like MagicPrefs. It lets you customize any gesture to activate whichever action you what.

Q. I got an email from Facebook saying a new computer logged into my account. What does this mean?

A. Facebook implemented several new security features recently. One of those features is Login Notification. It notifies you by email whenever a login occurs. This is a great security feature. You can catch hackers logging in from unknown computers. If that happens, open your Facebook profile. Go to AccountAccount Settings. Then scroll down to the Account Security section and click the change link. Now, go to the Most Recent Activity section to see a list of account activity. You can remotely log out unauthorized users. Then change your account password to keep them from coming back.

Email questions to Komando atC1Tech@gannett.com.

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Marketing Expert Says the Rules Have Changed

Portsmouth, NH (PRWEB) July 29, 2011

Millions of small business owners are struggling with disappointing sales numbers using the same marketing strategies that happily earned them staggering profits during the hay days of the boom economy just a few years ago.

Market expert and founder of Managed Marketing, Charles Gaudet, says that most small businesses are stuck because the marketing rules have changed and small business owners must adapt to become a formidable competitor in this marketplace.

“Let’s face it, consumers have more options today than any other point in history. Back in the day, if you wanted to buy something, you’d talk to a friend, check the Yellow Pages or look for an ad in the newspaper and make a selection based on a limited group of competitors, but things have changed,” Gaudet states, “and even those businesses that had early internet presence had fewer competitors than they do now.”

“And, because there was so little competition, you could send somebody right to a sales pitch and reasonably expect to receive sales, but entrepreneurs all over the world have noticed that approach is no longer working,” says Gaudet

“Today, it’s critical to realize that your clients do have options and you have more competitors. So how do you compete?” asks Gaudet.

Gaudet elaborates that there are numerous ways to become the dominant leader in your marketplace, but the top three actions that most business owners can institute are:

1.    EDUCATE YOUR MARKET: Make it easy for your prospect to try your product or service before they buy. Show your prospect that you are the most likely candidate to solve their problem. Offer them a free report, free sample, test-drive, webinar, or an introductory education seminar at no charge to help them take the first step towards solving their problem.

2.    LEAD YOUR MARKET: People are looking to be led, directed and guided down the path that will offer them the greatest benefit, greatest value, highest profit, most savings, or biggest advantage. Become known in the market place as the business that will most likely offer these solutions and begin to become their trusted-advisor before they make their purchase.

Provide guidance and advice so that they purchase the solution that best meets their needs and continue to follow-up with additional products or services that will give your clients and customers the greatest advantage. We live in a world of social media and open communication, the more you help people get what they want, the more they talk and the better you’ll do.

3.    TAKE THE RISK AWAY: If your product or service is as good as you say it is, let your customer buy your product with a guarantee that if it doesn’t perform as promised, you’ll either make it right or refund their money. Don’t be afraid to be liberal with your guarantees. The better the guarantee, the better the sales. The increase in sales will over compensate for the refunds on any risk-free offer.

Managed Marketing’s best clients have used these strategies and others to increase their company profits by as much as thirty percent or more in as little as five days. If you’d like your business to be considered for a Managed Marketing consultancy, please visit www.ManagedMarketing.com/services/ to learn more about how Managed Marketing can grow your business.

ABOUT CHARLES GAUDET: Gaudet has been called the “World’s Most Inspiring Small Business Expert” for consistently delivering windfalls of profits to his clients by unveiling opportunities that have been previously under-utilized or have gone unnoticed. Gaudet started his first business before the age of 5 and has been ferociously committed to the study of successful business practices ever since. He is the founder of Managed Marketing, LLC and and can also be found on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ManagedMarketingLLC or Twitter at: www.twitter.com/CharlesGaudet

ABOUT MANAGED MARKETING: Managed Marketing, LLC is a leading marketing consulting firm with percentage-of-profit fees. The company specializes in finding two or more overlooked marketing opportunities commonly found in most small-to-medium sized businesses and customizing actionable marketing strategies to increase a company’s profits by 30% or more in as little as five days. You can read more about Managed Marketing at www.ManagedMarketing.com.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/7/prweb8680088.htm

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