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This is the personal blog of John F. Morton. It's where I talk about the stuff that interests me. Primarily technology, marketing and pop culture. If you are looking for my portfolio of work, visit johnfmorton.com. Thanks for stopping by!

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Filtered by Category: Privacy

Making Your Own Kindle Book Files

It’s hard for me to believe I’ve missed an entire month on my blog. December is usually a very busy month with my juggling 3 jobs, traveling to see my family and the usual seasonal holiday parties. I’ve also been giving my new Kindle from Amazon a thorough workout all month long as well. The abbreviated review is that I’m enjoying it immensely. It’s not perfect, but it’s got so many things right that I feel comfortable recommending it to anyone who loves reading.

There have been many good reviews of the device. Here are a couple I found really fair to the device: Steve Gibson’s review, ArsTechnica and Gizmodo. (In case you’re wondering, that is the same Steve Gibson from the wonderful podcast Security Now.) There’s not much more I’d add in terms of a review so check those out if you’re still on the fence about getting one.

First, some hidden features of your Kindle.

There are quite a few things your Kindle can do that aren’t so obvious. The most useful is the clock. Sure, it’s just a clock, but pressing ALT-T while you’re reading a good book will briefly display the current time in the lower left hand corner of your Kindle’s display. Since it’s a reading device, it writes out the time as in Eight till six instead of 5:53pm.

The Kindle most definitely is not a game machine, but that hasn’t prevented Minesweeper from finding it’s way. Just press ALT-SHIFT-M when you are on the Home screen. It doesn’t seem to work when you’re actually reading a book.

There's more to read. Click here for the rest. >>

If You’re a Verizon Wireless Customer, Your Privacy Is In Question.

How private is your private life when it comes to Verizon Wireless? If you have not specifically “opted out” of giving away your information, what you do with your phone is for sale. What kind of information is Verizon Wireless selling? According to Ars Technica, the “data on the calls you make and receive and the services that you may make use of” and “the features of your phone and its capabilities.” (Read the full article here.)

Verizon Wireless has been contacting its customers via mail to inform them of their intent to share CPNI data with “our affiliates, agents and parent companies (including Vodafone) and their subsidiaries.” The company says that customers who do not want their CPNI data shared need to call 1-800-333-9956 to “opt-out.” Upon dialing the opt-out number, Verizon customers will be prompted for their phone number, billing ZIP code, and last four digits of their Social Security Numbers (in the case of businesses, their Employer ID numbers).

Failure to opt out will be interpreted by Verizon Wireless as “consent” the company’s data-sharing practices.

This type of opted-in sharing of personal information isn’t limited to Verizon Wireless. If you read over your agreement with your credit card company, you’ll probably find a similar situation. Your privacy is yours only is you claim it in the modern age.

If you have another mobile carrier, don’t assume you are protected against this type of activity. No matter which company handles your mobile service, it’s probably worth a call to them to protect your personal information.