General
Chinese developer charged with espionage
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2000”]Image by Katy Levinson used under Creative Commons License [/caption] American federal authorities have charged a Chinese developer (believed to be an ex-IBM employee) with stealing source code from big blue. The defendant, Xu Jianqiang was arrested by the FBI in December and since they have raised the indictment to 6 charges (from the original one): 3 x economic espionage and 3 x theft of trade secrets. The prosecutor claims the source code was stolen to benefit Chinese authorities and are "
ZIPSIM is a US prepaid SIM card for travel and EDC
I have written about the virtues of RoamMobility countless times (here, here, here, here, here). I have written about them because roaming fees are the scourge of travelers. Regardless of what roaming plan your carrier offers, you will likely be limited to slow speed, data caps or other conditions which mean you have to think twice very time you pickup your phone. RoamMobility was a nice easy solution that offered an affordable way to get virtually unconstrained normal use. Then came with their travel SIM sticker, which offers good global pricing and coverage but costs more if you travel to the US.
Clean water for travel and survival (Steripen & Aquamira)
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“4739”]Image by Tom Hal used under creative commons license [/caption] November 2012, I wrote an article about the Steripen. The Steripen is still part of my travel kit and something I rely on regularly. If you have't read it, you should. Why do I need to clean my own water? The question I get asked most often is why? If you are someone that stays in nice hotels and buys expensive bottled water, you shouldn't have any issues?
Best travel body wipes
Anyone who has travelled for business knows the feeling of feeling "un-fresh" and not having access to a shower. Anytime you need a clean freshening up and don't have access to soap/water, you need an alternative solution: enter body wipes. I recently went searching for the best wipes (for travel or EDC) and read hundreds of reviews online (websites, blogs and retailer comments) and ordered 30 different brands. what I was looking for was: large surface area thick wipe that won't easily rip something environmentally friendly something with a mild perfume and no alcohol something that comes in a resealable container After all my testing, the ones that really stood out were the Action Wipes.
Comparing T-Mobile's Tourist plan with Roam Mobility
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2333”]Image by GotCredi used under Creative Commons License [/caption] I received a handful of emails asking me to company the new T-Mobile Tourist plan with the Roam Mobility talk+text+data plans. For $US30, T-mobile gives you: a single use disposable SIM (valid for 21 days) 1000 minutes of local USA calling 2GB of high speed LTE data Unlimited international text messaging to 140 countries For $CAD4.95 a day, Roam Mobility gives you: a reusable SIM (expires after 6 months without a plan) unlimited nationwide calling (USA) and Canada Unlimited international text messaging to 140 countries ~400MB of LTE Data a day What happens when your SIM expires With the T-Mobile and Roam Mobility plan, when the SIM expires, you lose your assigned number and need to get a new one.
T-Mobile launches tourist plan for visitors to the USA
T-Mobile just launched a plan for tourists visiting the USA. Go into any T-Mobile store with an unlocked GSM phone and buy this $30 plan. It is active for 3 weeks and does not auto-renew. You get 2GB of LTE data Unlimited texting to 140 countries 1,000 minutes of domestic calling a free SIM card This will complete directly with companies like Roam Mobility and KnowRoaming. Let's see if they respond with cheaper plans. Source
Native Union USB Lightning EDC & Travel Belt Cable Review
USB Cables are a dime a dozen. Lightning cables are more expensive but come in all shapes, sizes and quality. Most cables are perfectly acceptable sitting on your nightstand at home but if you carry it with you (EDC) or travel with it, then you need to make sure you pickup something that can withstand the torture it will endure. Native Union is a boutique accessory maker that seems to put some thought in their designs and charges accordingly. No $2.
Anonabox Pro Review
I received a handful of emails from readers asking if I had an EDC (Everyday Carry) kit and what it contained. I decided I would refresh my kit them post an article about it but my first through was securing your Internet connection when outside of a trusted network. WIFI you should be worried There are literally hundreds of articles on the internet and clips from news style shows talking about the dangers of using unprotected WIFI on untrusted networks. An untrusted network is any network you don’t directly control (work, library, coffee shop, hotel, airport, etc).
How to thrive under pressure
Your body is a miraculous creation that is able to quickly adapt to different situations often without you even realizing it. When working in pressure situation, your body reacts by making physiological changes [for the worst] that also impact how you think. Truth is pressure is the new normal and you must learn to deal with it or it will crush you. Here are simple steps to help you conquer any pressure situation: Be in the moment As an IT professional, I have seen the effect of extreme pressure on experts handling large and complex IT outages or security incidents.
Creators of Siri to launch next generation AI assistant May 9
Siri, Google Now and Cortana launched with great fanfare. We expected great things and for the most part, they are all disappointing. Truth is none of them really lived up to our expectations. The creators of Siri have been hard at work creating the next generation of AI, which they claim will be able to handle much more complex tasks. The new AI will be able to parse natural language queries and will be able to handle chained commands. We expect you will be able to ask it to find a flight Toronto to Los Angeles next Thursday in the afternoon priced between $300-$700.
Are Apple's best days behind it?
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“1200”]Image by Dominik Fusina used under Creative Commons License [/caption] Apple stock took a tumble even though the company made boatloads and boatloads of cash last quarter. Why? Because some investors believe Apple's profitable run has lasted too long and obviously it must eventually come to an end. They saw the reduced growth rate in iPhone sales as a bad omen. Unfortunately this is not how the world works and it isn't how statistics work. This misguided belief actually has a term and its called the "
Would you like some malware with your dental cleaning?
“The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a law that was created to protect millions of working Americans and their family members with medical problems. ” — American Cancer Society Most working professionals have an association they can call their own. Dentists have the American Dental Association. The ADA represents 159,000 dentists across the USA and most received a "gift" recently in the form of a USB key with new dental codes. <img src="https://ekiledjian2.
Quote about success
Action is the foundational key to all success. Pablo Picasso <img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/9912c7beda.jpg" alt="">
Is WhatsApp security Good and trustworthy?
Quietly and with little fanfare, Whatsapp released an update to all of its products enabling end-to-end encryption for its 1B+ end users. Funny enough, most users aren't aware that their Instant Messaging tool of choice is now powered by the worlds most secure end-to-end encryption protocol : Signal. Can I consider WhatsApp secure? A couple of weeks ago, OpenWhisper systems announced that its Signal secure protocol has been imbedded into Facebook's WhatsApp instant messaging application. The question I receive daily is "
Major shift in loyalty incentives needed for programs to survive
Users have a love or hate relationship with loyalty programs. You either love them, because they deliver amazing value, or hate them because you think they’re a worthless scam. A 2014 McKinsey report showed that companies with loyalty programs (55 publicly traded North American & European companies were surveyed) had the same or less growth than those that had no loyalty programs : 4.4 vs 5.5% per year since 2012. Companies with strong visible loyalty programs seemed to also have EDITDA margins 10% less than companies without loyalty programs in the same sector.
How to secure Windows 10
The first misconception I want to tackle is that Windows 10 is magically more secure than Windows 7/8.1. The reality is that it isn't, but it benefits for 15 years of continued hardening and security improvements to the Windows core itself. Having said it isn't materially more secure doesn't mean it's not better. Windows 10 includes some tools to make computing safer for the average user. Windows Defender is included with every updated system and is Microsoft’s built in anti-malware tool.
Do this to keep your free Microsoft OneDrive Storage
What Microsoft giveth, Microsoft can taketh away. And so Microsoft did the unthinkable last year and announced it would be rolling back the free storage add-ons it gave users (base free 15GB storage going down to 5GB and camera roll bonus) and was clawing back the unlimited Office 365 storage to 1TB. Understandably there was an uproar and now Microsoft has a setup a special webpage where you can ask them to keep your free storage levels. <img src="https://ekiledjian2.
Body language secrets of top negotiators
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“5397”]Image by US department of agriculture used under creative commons license [/caption] Communication isn’t only about carefully crafted words. Negotiations aren’t about arguments and leverage. A good experienced negotiator will marry strong arguments & leverage to carefully practised body language. There have been dozens of studies and research papers on the power of body language during negotiations. An MIT one measured a negotiator’s ability to convince a jury (body language was accurately measured using a body worn device).
Body language secrets of leaders
A true leader captivates the attention of his audience almost immediately and hold it without fail. Certainly being self-confident and a good wordsmith are important but the reality is that body language plays a much more important role. When you walk in front of an audience, most have already made up their minds about you before you utter your first word. This isn’t magic but basic physiology. This non-verbal communication is a combination of many factors including your posture, tone, facial expression, eye contract, arm and hand movements and more.
The Hidden Killer of Your Creativity
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“1090”]Image by Becky Wetherington used under creative commons license [/caption] Last minute work on school assignments was the norm for most university students. They wait until the last minute then “pull an all-nighter”. Many feel that this pressure to deliver makes them work better but recent scientific evidence shows that this may actually be completely false. It seems pressure may actually stifle innovation and creativity. It pushes you down a conventional path. Some of the most successfully entrepreneurs are people that have learned to deal with pressure.