Adobe hacked

Fire-Effect-TutorialsIn case you haven’t heard – 2.9 million of Adobe’s customers have had their details hacked, and that ‘may have’ included info like credit card details.

Here’s a little more via Wordfence (which I highly recommend by the way):

 

Within the last 48 hours Adobe announced that they have been hacked and that the user account data of 2.9 million Adobe users has been breached. They also confirmed that the attackers may have gained access to the user’s financial information. The Washington Post are covering the story.

Adobe products are used extensively in the WordPress community, so we are issuing a special alert to ensure that our subscribers are aware of the breach and know what action to take.

Adobe has issued a bulletin on their Help website which details what happened and what to do and it includes a FAQ about the incident at the bottom of the page. You can find the Adobe bulletin here.

I’d like to add special emphasis to two items:

 

  1. If you have the bad habit of using the same password on multiple websites, make sure you change your password on all other websites that used the same password as your Adobe account.

  2. If you purchased something from Adobe within the last few years, keep a close eye on your credit card or bank statement for illegal activity.

Here’s the full blurb from Adobe, including info on changing your password etc.

[Pic via http://webdesignerfan.com]

Five Cool Cases For The iPhone 5s

The iPhone 5S has been out for a couple of weeks now, so I thought it might be worth a quick roundup of some of the more different case options out there for the phone. Of course, most iPhone 5 cases will fit the 5S too, so unless you see otherwise assume those below are iPhone 5 compatible. All prices in US dollars.

BookBook_for_iPhone_5_5s_-_BookBook_for_iPhone_5_5s_-_Twelve_South 1. BookBook

I’ve owned a MacBook Pro version of the BookBook for a few years now, but the iPhone 5S version has a wallet built in as well.

If you only have a few credit cards to stash and you don’t mind having to open the BookBook to chat on the phone, then this is worth considering.

It looks great and although pricey at $59.99, it’s leather and looks solid.

Find out more here.

 

 

2. Bling Biscuit

Ok, it’s gimmicky and appears only available on Ebay, but I like it:

biscuit

3. iLuv Camera Case

If retro is your thing, the vintage camera case design might appeal. $44.99 from iLuv.

iLuv

4. Danchi Government Housing Case

Not sure how many of these have been sold, but I suppose there’s a market for everything. $41 will get you one from here.

danchi-government-housing-iphone-5-cover-case-1 5. Thumbs Up Pill Case

This one’s been out for quite a while for the iPhone 5, but it deserves a special mention. Not sure how you’ll go putting it through customs at the airport though! Cheaper than real pills at just over six euros from Amazon.

iPhone-5-case

 

If you know of a particularly cool iPhone 5S case, drop a line in comments to let us know.

1953 Sci-Fi At Its Best: The Rotifers

The RotifersWe all have stories from our childhood that scared the hell out of us – or at least entranced us with the power of the situation they described. Once such story for me was The Rotifers, which I read in the late 1970s or 1980s in a paperback sci-fi short story collection.

It enough of an impact for me to recall it recently, and after some serious googling (I couldn’t recall the story’s title), I found it on Project Gutenberg. Aside from the fact it was a joy to read again, I was interested to learn that it was more than 25 years old when I read it as a kid. Given some of the domestic descriptions I should have realised, but there you go. Written by Robert Abernathy, the story’s power is in its simplicity and the story premise that still has a lot of power today: that the microscopic can harm us if it wants to.

Anyway – have a read of a 1953 short story that’s likely to give you at least a small case of the creeps.

How to turn off your Mac’s spelling auto-correct

If you’re like me and driven to distraction by OSX Mountain Lion’s determination to change the words you type, it’s actually very easy to turn it off:

1. Go to Apple Menu > System Preferences

2. Click on ‘Language and Text’

3. Uncheck the box ‘Correct spelling automatically’:

Language___Text4. That’s it!

 

How To Get Feedly Working With Safari

feedlySpeaking from personal experience, there was a bit of mystery for me about getting Feedly to work on Safari for OSX. So for your benefit here’s what to do (I’m on 10.8.4 OSX):

1. Go to Feedly.com

2. Download the Feedly Safari extension

3. Double click on the downloaded extension and you’ll get a prompt asking if you want to install it – click that you do want to.

4. The next step is where I got lost: how do I access the extension? Well, it’s not obvious unless you have a sharp eye, but look up to the left of Safari’s search/URL bar:

feedly2

There’s the Feedly button. Click on it and you start the process of importing your Google Reader feed into Safari!

5. That’s it!

2013 Mental Health Symposium in Second Life

virtual-abilitySome more great work from Virtual Ability, Inc, with this Saturday seeing a Mental Health Symposium. You can find out more on the Virtual Ability blog but here’s the schedule:

Will you Treat ME?  Funding mental health care treatment – now and under the Affordable Health Care Act
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Presenter: Jayme Nelson, RN, MS (SL Avatar: Jayme Xaris)
Saturday April 27, 2013 7-8 am PDT

Sudden Violent Loss: Its Impact on Every Member of the Community
Presenter: Deborah Houston-Schrenzel (SL Avatar: Brede McDonnell)
Saturday April 27, 2013 10-11 am PDT

Poetry and Mental Health
Readers: Eliza Madrigal, Zen Arado, Szavannah Resident
Saturday April 27, 2013 11:30am-12:30pm PDT

Introducing the Whole Brain Health Fair to Second Life
Presenter: Lissena Resident
Saturday April 27, 2013 1-2pm PDT

Exploring New Ways of Evaluating Mental Capacity of Seniors
Presenter: Kara Bennett, Ph. D. (SL Avatar: Dancers Yao)
Saturday, April 27, 2013 2:30-3:30pm PDT

Herbal Medicine and Mental Health
Presenter: Richard Roth (SL Avatar: Farm Gartenberg)
Saturday, April 27, 2013 4-5pm PDT

Virtual Ability Island: Big Week of Activities

virtual ability islandLongstanding hub for health and community services information, Virtual Ability Island, has a big week of activities ahead that I wanted to give a plug to.

First, the summary of the events:

Virtual Ability Community Events, week of Feb. 4-10

**Events marked are open to the public. All other events are for VAI community members and their invited guests.

TUESDAY Feb 5
2:30pm SLT- Woodget’s Weekly Quiz Night- VAI Sanctuary Beach Cafe

WEDNESDAY Feb 6
**1pm SLT- SL Limits (Part 2)- Yellow Hibiscus Cabana

THURSDAY Feb 7
**10am SLT- Shot in the Dark (flu vaccination)- Healthinfo Island Research Pavilion
1pm SLT- The Content Tab- VAI Sanctuary Building Classroom

FRIDAY Feb 8
**11am SLT- Second Life’s Little Secret- Sojourner Auditorium
**noon SLT- What is One Billion Rising About?- Sojourner Auditorium

SATURDAY Feb 9
**8am SLT- About VWBPE 2013- Sojourner Auditorium
1pm SLT- Swim and Chat- VAI Sanctuary Beach Cafe

SUNDAY Feb 10
**noon SLT- Self-Advocacy: Who, How, and Why- Yellow Hibiscus Cabana
2-4pm- Pun-off Party and Dance- Dance Pavilion, VAI Sanctuary

All events brought to you by the Virtual Ability community. Please see individual event notecards below. If you have ideas for future VAI events, please contact iSkye Silverweb.

And then the detail on the key events:

SL Limits (Part 2)
PRESENTER: Slatan Dryke
WEDNESDAY February 6, 1pm SLT
Yellow Hibiscus Cabana, Virtual Ability Island
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/44/138/23

How many…? How long…? As much as…? Second Life numerical limits that affect your inworld experience.

PRESENTER BIO: Slatan Dryke has extensive experience in Second Life, including volunteering as an Ex-SL Mentor/Trainer, RHN Q&A Group Co-Owner, PWT advisor, SAM/VAI Mentor, and Ajuda Brasil Mentor.

Presented in text, with optional Voice transcription.

(Part 1 of this mini class is not a prerequisite.)

***

A Shot in the Dark: Just how effective are Flu Vaccines?
PRESENTER: Kaznats Oh
THURSDAY February 7, 10am SLT
Healthinfo Island Research Pavilion
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/130/196/30

Have you gotten your flu shot? How effective are flu vaccinations anyway? Research will be presented in plain language, so you can make an informed decision.

PRESENTER BIO: Kaznats Oh (Richard Stanzak in RL) is a critical care nurse. He also worked as a molecular biologist for fourteen years, seven of them for Eli Lilly pharmaceuticals in both research and development.

As a traveling ICU nurse he has been employed at 26 different assignments. He has worked in major trauma units, transplant units, cardiac units and hospitals from 1150 beds to 8 beds. He has experienced first-hand the problems of healthcare and can certainly attest this is a national problem.

Stanzak is the author and/or co-author of several papers and also has several patents. He is the lead author of a benchmark paper on the cloning of genes responsible for the production of erythromycin. He was engaged in research at Eli Lilly when Prozac was first discovered and Genentech first licensed the insulin gene to Lilly. As a critical care nurse, he is responsible for providing teaching to patients or families about drugs, diseases and procedures.

Presentation in text, with optional Voice transcription.
(Repeat of session given Jan 17.)

***

Second Life’s Little Secret: A discussion
PRESENTER:  Saffia Widdershins
FRIDAY, 8 February 2013, 11am SLT
The Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/53/172/23

Over the years, the question of gender in virtual worlds has formed the fodder for a wide variety of newspaper and magazine articles and several well-regarded academic studies in the wider world, and some fascinating blog posts from inworld. But one area that has been comparatively overlooked – and one that may have an important bearing on some of the problems that Second Life faces today, and some of its potential strengths that could ensure its longevity – is the demographic of age.
Saffia Widdershins discusses one of Second Life’s open secrets – the fact that the inhabitants of Second Life may well be older than they appear.

PRESENTER BIO:
Saffia Widdershins is the editor of Prim Perfect Magazine, the executive producer of treet.tv‘s Designing Worlds, Happy Hunting! and Metaverse Arts, and of the annnual telethon for Relay for Life. She helped organise SL9B, and runs regular talk and discussion events at major events, such as the Birthdays, the Home and Garden Expo and the Christmas Expos. She’s taken a role in publicising concerns over Second Life issues such as Intellectual Property Rights and griefing.  Currently she’s one of the team behind One Billion Rising in Second Life.

Presented in voice, with text transcription.

***

What is One Billion Rising About?
PRESENTER: Honour McMillan
FRIDAY 8 February, noon SLT
The Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/53/172/23

What is One Billion Rising about? Honour McMillan explains!

One out of every 3 women in the world will experience violence during her lifetime which totals more than one billion. Women, and the men who love them, will participate will walk away from their homes, businesses and jobs on Valentine’s Day and join together to dance in a show of collective strength.

One Billion Rising in Second Life is an officially registered event associated with the real live movement. 24 hours, 24 performers and 24 artists on 4 sims.

PRESENTER BIO: Honour McMillan is an explorer, blogger and community event organizer in Second Life.

Presented in both Voice and text.

***

About VWBPE 2013
PRESENTER:  Kevin Feenan (SL: Phelan Corrimal)
SATURDAY February 9, 8am SLT
The Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability Island
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/53/172/23

Phelan Corrimal presents highlights on the upcoming Virtual Worlds Best Practices in education conference being scheduled for this July 2013. Find out about opportunities to present, volunteer, or just plain have fun at the conference.

PRESENTER BIO:  Kevin Feenan, also known as Phelan Corrimal in Second Life, is the President of Rockcliffe University Consortium and one of the Executive Directors of the VWBPE Conference. Originally started as a grassroots educational conference, the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference brings together over 2000 educators, researchers, and institutional professional from around the world to discuss issues facing education and how virtual technologies can best be applied to solving these dilemmas. The conference is run as an open source conference and is free for anyone to attend.

Presented in both text and Voice simultaneously.

***

Self-Advocacy: Who, How, and Why
PRESENTER: SIster Abeyante
SUNDAY, February 10, noon SLT
Yellow Hibiscus Cabana, Virtual Ability Island
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/44/138/23

What is self-advocacy? Who can most effectively self- advocate? What are some tips to make self-advocacy more effective? What should you try if it doesn’t “work”? Why bother? Find out a bit more, and share some tips of your own in this presentation and discussion about self-advocacy for people with disabilities. Great for beginners and intermediates, but the experts and wisdom figures will help us too!

PRESENTER BIO:
Sister Abeyante (Sister Patrice Colletti, SDS, a Sister of the Divine Savior from Milwaukee, WI) is a long time disability rights advocate who has been widely involved in personal and systemic advocacy efforts. Starting at age seven, when she became deaf, she’s developed some “pretty darn effective!” approaches to helping people make better and more just choices, particularly related to inclusion and civil rights for people with disabilities. She currently works as an Inclusion Coordinator in an innovative, inclusive urban housing project near Milwaukee, WI.

Presented in text, with optional Voice transcription.

Five Great Sources of Humour on Facebook

ItuDSIf like me you spent the odd minute or two on Facebook, you may be looking for some reliable sources of humour. Below we have five Facebook pages that deliver just that.

1. Three Laughs Per Day

First some transparency: this is a page that I run for pure enjoyment. It has a mix of humorous pics with some attention to avoiding racist / sexist posts. Only a handful of posts are made each day at the most. Usually safe for work although contains some language – overall for over 18s only.

2. Creepypasta

A good cross-section of humour, mostly safe for work. Over 18s. Usually 6-8 posts a day.

3. Cop Humour – Australia

All police-related humour but still broad enough to appeal to most. Quite a few posts per day but not enough to be annoying.

4. Collective Noun

Given the title, you assume this is a more full-om page but it’s generally ok although there are definitely a number of NSFW images posted. Over 18s only.

5. No Hope For The Human Race

Although there’s some more general humour, this one’s not for the faint-hearted and definitely isn’t safe for work at times. Also has some more contentious humour that will get some people’s backs up. Absolutely for those over 18 only.

Post your favourite Facebook humour pages in links below!

One of the funny Movember pics I’ve seen

Movember is a very fine cause that’s grown and grown over the past few years. Some of the moustaches grown can be a little sparse, but on the other end of the extreme there’s impressive efforts like this:

 

I happen to know the subject of this photo and he has a huge commitment to the cause: why not donate to someone you know who’s taking part? And I have to admit I’m glad I didn’t see the pre-back shave photo!

OSX Lion: How do you remove the modem icon from the system menu?

How do you remove the modem icon from the system menu?I think it’s safe to say most of us don’t use a modem anymore, internal or external. So it’s annoyed me for years that the modem icon still appears in the system menu at the top of your screen, just near the time.

So it was with some pleasure I worked out how to get rid of it and it’s pretty damn simple to do: you hold down the command key while clicking and dragging the icon downwards to remove it – the same way you remove an icon from the Dock.

How simple is that?

[Pic via Endgagdget]

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