Today this is a much different story, with people using their computers for everything including accounting, pictures, documents, music, etc.

Few people had personal computers twenty years ago, so the thought or need to back up their information was not considered that important.

KiboTec, Putting the 'Ping' in Data Backup

The "Gas Guzzler" Diaries

I decided to blog today about a product called CV 100 that my co-worked had told me to try earlier this week as I was griping to him about my car and at first I was pretty skeptical as I have never seen this product in my mechanics shop but I trust my friend and thought I would give it a try.

He gave me the remaining of the bottle he keeps in his trunk and gave me the specifics on how much of this "wonder drug" I was to give my car (1oz. for every 10 gallons). So two nights ago after I got home I fed the "magic drug" to my car. I must say I am pretty darned impressed by the difference I have noticed in my car's performance after a few days.

My car, a.k.a. Gas Guzzler as I call it most days, after a couple of days showed significant improvement on my gas:

1. In two days of driving from work and back and doing the usual run around things I have noticed that the gas gauge has hardly moved
2. I am just shy of hitting a 1000 km on one tank of gas, usually I am lucky to get in 500km on a tank of gas.

So today I thought I would start a report blog on "Gas Guzzlers" progress, and then post updates every week on any new changes.

I have inserted some information from the website to give you more info on what CV 100 is:

How CV 100 Works

• CV – 100 is a Combustion Catalyst

• Disburses evenly throughout fuel, cleans fuel lines and fuel tank gradually dissolving pre-existing sludge and residue.

• Promotes complete combustion, restoring and maintaining engines optimum performance.

• Scavenges existing deposits of carbon on all internal engine parts, restores injectors, valves, and piston crowns, eliminating problems caused by poor combustion.

FUEL EFFICIENCY

Depending on the size and condition of the equipment, there is an increase in fuel efficiency, which makes CV 100 very cost effective. Savings in maintenance costs and reduced exhaust emissions are therefore available to the domestic, commercial and industrial customer at no additional cost.

EMISSIONS

By using CV Products in their fuel, domestic consumers and many companies have solved their smoke and emissions problems, which has had a beneficial effect on the environment and on people’s health.

ENGINE PERFORMANCE

CV Products can improve the engine torque output. Usually a conditioning period is necessary before improvements in fuel efficiency are achieved. Prior to treatment most engines will be operating at less than peak efficiency due to heavy deposits. CV-100 causes combustion reactions that consume these deposits. During the brief conditioning period, fuel efficiency may actually decrease until engine deposits have been removed.


http://www.flashpointcentral.com/kibotec

So tune in next week when the "Gas Guzzler" says......

It's The "Internet", Do You Know Where Your Children Are?

When it comes to the internet and the vast cyber world, children are naive and innocent prey for online predators as an injured fish thrashing in the ocean is to a predatory shark in the vastness sounding them. Parents should always stay on top on who their children’s online friends are, where they are surfing through the web, what chat or social online community they have created accounts for and are frequenting.

Definition of an “Online Preditor”:

An online predator is an adult Internet user who exploits vulnerable children or teens, usually for sexual or other abusive purposes.^[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_predator

Parents should keep open communications with their children and keep up to date on whats happening in their lives and take seriously what your child feels is important to them at this time in their lives. Set up a weekly game night or other family activity night to spend time with your child and help keep the communication open and not let your relationship with your child go stale, this will let your child know that they are important to you and feel that they can communicate with you about the things on their mind.

§ Set up security features on your computer when it comes to minor online users in your home http://www.microsoft.com/protect/familysafety/default.aspx

§ Make rules on how many hours per week your child is allowed to use the internet and increment it into a daily or twice a week schedule, etc.

§ Set rules with your child when it comes to downloading social media, it can contain some form of malware or adult content or attachments.

§ Know where and what sites and accounts your child has set up.

§ If your child is talking to someone that makes them feel uncomfortable make them aware that it is okay to tell you so that you can handle the situation with the administration of the particular social online community or chat room administration.

§ Talk to your child about the importance of not giving out any personal information about themselves or your family if they do not know or trust their online friend.

§ If your child wants to buy something and needs permission to use your credit card, research the company they want to purchase from and the product and in doing so teach them that this is a secure way to protect them from questionable sales predators.

§ If your child has a online friend that wants to meet them, tell them you will consider it after you have sufficiently investigated the other child and talked to their parent or guardian (make sure they are a child and not a predator posing as a child) as well as you will escort your child and meet them and their parent/ guardian in a public place like a mail or public park. If the other child suddenly no longer wants to meet then block them from your child’s friends list and take the information you have and contact the authorities for further guidance on the situation.

§ If your child is posting photos and videos of themselves on the web, talk to them about it and convey to them that once posted its hard to keep control of them and they are on the internet forever.

I also encourage you to go to the Blog for Wired Safety.org on their website. You will find tutorials, videos, and other useful information and tip to help you teach your child to navigate the web safely. It also has support if an online predator has contacted your child as well as guidance on how to handle other situations that may come up; I have included an insert of their blog.

While MySpace.com is doing its best to keep your children from using their website and lying about their age, it’s up to parents to do their job too. Parents need to talk with their children about not sharing personal information online. Personal information includes pictures, names and addresses, schools they attend, cell and phone numbers and many other less obvious things, such as the name of their school team, ethnic background and even a mall near your house. (You can learn more about how to talk to your kids and what you should be asking at WiredKids.org or WiredSafety.org. I am an Internet privacy and security lawyer and founded the all-volunteer Wired Safety Group. We can help you if things go wrong online, or you just have questions. We provide information, education and one-to-one help for victims of cyberabuse.)

We at WiredSafety.org are developing a special program just for parents concerned about their kids using social-networking and online dating sites. It will teach you what you need to know about finding out if your child has a profile on one of these sites, how to review them and remove them, if you want to. It will also help you if your child is being cyberbullied using one of these sites or members from these sites, or is cyberbullying others.

So what do you, as a parent, do? First you need to find out if your child has a page on one of these sites. The best way to find out if your child has a profile on this or another similar site is to ask them. If you’re not sure that your child is being honest with you, you can search MySpace.com (or the other sites) using their e-mail address, or by searching for their school. (You click on “search” and enter their email address or full name in the appropriate search box.)

If you find that your child has a profile on the Web site, you should review it. It’s amazing how much you can learn about your child by reading their profiles. Does it contain personal information, such as their full name, address or phone numbers? Has your child posted photos? Are they photos of themselves or someone else? Are they sharing poems they write or provocative comments about themselves or others?

If you want the profile removed (you must remove your child’s profile if they are under age), first ask your child to remove it themselves. If that doesn’t work, MySpace.com has a section explaining how to remove a page. If you find someone who is underage, you can report it there as well. It’s not as easy a procedure as the other Web sites.

While MySpace.com is working hard to keep kids off their Web site, ultimately, protecting your child is your job. But you have lots of help. At WiredKids.org and WiredSafety.org thousands of volunteers donate their time to helping parents and children surf responsibly and safely. And we will be building a few tutorials help parents and their children understand how to be careful when communicating publicly online.

http://www.wiredsafety.org/internet101/blogs.html

If schools are looking for a presentation or program to address their students’ posting inappropriate profiles or using these Web sites. while underage or other parent concerns, they should visit WiredKids.org or Teenangels.org. Schools may find many of their students using a particular Web site If the students are under 13, please notify MySpace.com’s help staff and their profiles will be removed immediately. Working together with schools and parents, we may be able to keep our kids off of Web site that are inappropriate for young children and teach them to make good choices online and offline.

http://www.wiredsafety.org/internet101/blogs.html

You may also like to research forms of security software to protect your children, however even when software like this is purchased it is not a solution to the issue of children on the internet. You still need to be aware and vigilant on your child’s internet use and what they are doing on the internet. One example of software I found is by Kewego but there are various out there that you should check out and contact their service department about and get additional information on the product and its usage.

http://www.kewego.com/video/iLyROoafMtpA.html

I hope that you will find this posting informative, and helpful in keeping your family cyber safe, and secure. I have also added some other links for online safety tips guidelines and tools for parents and children to be aware, vigilant and safe while surfing the internet.

Canada Child Internet Safety:

http://www.protectchildren.ca/app/en/

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/familysafety/default.aspx

U.S Child internet safety:

http://www.wiredsafety.org

http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/

http://www.wiredkids.org/

Why Would You Trust Online Data Backup

I recently have read a blog about data backup http://blogs.oreilly.com/lightroom/2008/01/the-economics-of-online-backup.html and found it very useful and there have been ongoing comments on this topic. I had made a comment yesterday:

Kumar said:

I agree wholeheartedly in the importance of chooses a data backup that is a good fit for the individual, I myself use the KiboTec backup software from the company I work for as it was much more cost effective that the other backup software that I found online as there is a pay once option or monthly option and it didn't cost me $1000's per year which I must say I don't mind not having to pay annual fees now for my backups. But when it comes down to it the individual must choose a software that they find easy to use and that will accommodate their backup needs.

July 15, 2010 7:40 AM

http://blogs.oreilly.com/lightroom/2008/01/the-economics-of-online-backup.html

and went to see if there were any new comments today, and one comment in response to my post:

Liz Stamos said:

I don't think backups should be done online. Its safe in some way but still unsafe due to the fact that you can get your account hacked, or people working at the backup facility can steal your data. Why would you trust your data with someone else? Personally I run an iphone case store both online and offline so I keep but my data with me and I take it up on an encrypted hard drive.

I just don't trust my data even being left at the office.

July 15, 2010 10:08 PM

http://blogs.oreilly.com/lightroom/2008/01/the-economics-of-online-backup.html

Now I posted a reply to the reply on my comment but after wards, it occurred to me that this was a good topic for a New Post, "Why would you trust your data with someone else?".

This I thought was a very valid question. I myself when making my decision checked into the security of the data backup as well as if and when the encryption settings for the software were updated and how often. With the company I work for the encryption software is updated as soon as there is an updated version. They also have security features put in place to strengthen the security.

The next statement was that "you can get your account hacked", well I have worked with computers for a number of years and I have had the not so pleasant experience of having my computer hacked and it resulted in me losing all my data.

The fact is you can just as easily get hacked using at home methods of backing up your information as you can taking the extra risk using an online backup software. Even if you are hacked using your home method's of backup, portable hard drive for instance, your information on your PHD very well is secure to an extent as it is not stored on your physical computer but the information on your physical computer you backed up has been compromised by the hacker.

If a consumer is thinking of online data backup, there are benefits to choosing that route. If you are using home methods of databackup and you have a fire for example that is consuming your house, and your backup (lets say its a flash drive) flash drive is in your house or maybe its in your purse or briefcase, etc.. When you think about if you are in the building the last thing you would think of taking with you is your briefcase or purse and if its lying somewhere in the house you sure are not going to go run and get it. Your thoughts in that type of high anxiety situation would be to get yourself and your loved ones out safely till the Fire department arrives to extinguish the situation. Chances are in that situation you have not only lost the information stored on your backup but you have also lost the information on your computer.


The nice thing is with online data backup, yes you can still be using a flash or portable hardrive if you wanted, but no matter what possible disaster befalls your physical compputer and home method's of backing up, your data is still safe and accessible to you.

So as I had said in my reply a consumer who is looking into various types of backup and are considering using online data backups should research the products they are looking for, research the price points they are looking for as well as utilize the support service that these companies have and ask as many questions as you need in order to make a decision that is right for you and will secure your data.

Genie in a Bottle

Here is something FREE that works and saves your money! There is a software

program that when you download onto your computer, saves you money!

When you do a search on any product, it will find you the cheapest price on

the internet in your country. CNN was talking about a few months ago, and

it really works.

The software is free and we here at Kibotec are giving it away now. If you want to know how to get your own personal logo on the software, send me

an email.

I don't normally send out emails promoting a product to my friends and family, but this one is FREE and it really works.

So click on the link and check out the Shopping Genie. In the

future, if you are looking for web hosting or a way to protect your data, I hope you will give our company a look. Please feel free to forward the link to your friends and

family.

http://www.kibotec.net

In my years of expertise I have run across many people who do not or do occassionally back up the information on their computers. Many of these aquantances I have met have come to me to help them retrieve their information but for many the results of retrieval were nil to nothing.

One of these such cases was a customer and close friend of mine who's computer was damaged in a flood in the the Peterborough, Ontario area in 2004.

She called me up the Morning of the flood and was completely distraught as her computer had been damaged in the flood as well as she lost many of her belongings. Although she was thankful that her baby and house was salvageable, her computer when I went to see her was not. She had lost almost all the pictures she had of her few month old daughter as she saved all the photos from the SD card to her computer but did not make copies saved to disk or anything.

I took her computer home with me to see what if anything I could do but it was beyond repair, set her up with a spare laptop I had and gave it to her and when I did this I also added a backup software and explained to her that this was a very important thing for her to do. I even went so far as to call her family members I had contact with as well as our mutual friends and asked them to send me any photos they may have of her daughter to replace what she had already lost

Whether people in this day and age are backing up using portable hard drives, USB flash drives, which I myself stay clear of as I have lost as many of those myself as I have lost socks in the dryer down some unforseeble abyss to where ever "lost things" eventually accumulate.

My encouragement with this post is to make people aware that even though you may save valuable information your computers it's vital for people to backup their computers using a software that they are comfortable with and adapts to the individuals time frame for backups.

So whether you are backing up using portable hard drives, flash drives, or disc, or are utilizing more secure forms of online data backup, you are using the backup that suits your needs and keeps you from the worry of losing the information that might not be retrievable if your computer crashed or was damaged by some other unforseenable force.