The mysterious ~$ files--nothing to worry about

<span itemprop="articleBody description text" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><em style="line-height:1.45em;font-size:14px">Mr Reddy noticed strange files appearing and disappearing. The file names always begin with <strong style>~$</strong></em>.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">If you don't know what's going on, these files can be confusing--and even scary. A file appears in your Documents folder without you intentionally creating it. Aside from the strange punctuation, the file name looks familiar. The icon and, if visible, the extension tell you that you can open the file in a common application. But when you double-click the file, or try to delete it, you get an error message.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Then the file disappears as inexplicitly as it appears. Except for those occasions when it doesn't disappear at all.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> <br></p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Don't worry. These are merely temporary files created by either Word or PowerPoint. They appear when you open a document or a presentation, and they usually disappear when you close it.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">These temporary files have almost the same file name and extension as the files they're ghosting. Word replaces the first two letters of the file name with<strong style>~$</strong>, while PowerPoint adds those two characters to the beginning of the name without removing anything. For instance, when you open <strong style>Attack of the Blood Beast.docx</strong> and <strong style>Hercules Against the Moon Men.pptx</strong>, you'll get the temporary files <strong style>~$tack of the Blood Beast.docx</strong> and <strong style>~$Hercules Against the Moon Men.pptx</strong>.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">You can't open these files because, despite their extensions, they're not normal .docx and .pptx files. And you can't delete them because they're in use. Or at least the PowerPoint files are in use. In my experience, you can delete the ~$.docx files.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">You'll occasionally see a ~$ file when the real file isn't open. When Word or PowerPoint fail to close properly--for instance, in a Windows crash--the files aren't automatically deleted.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Actually, you're not supposed to see these files at all--they're hidden files. The fact that you can see them tells me that you (or someone else) has set up Windows to display hidden files. You can hide or reveal hidden files in the Folder Options dialog box, on the <em style>View</em>tab.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="590" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/1017-hidden-files-100057571-orig.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="585"></span><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px"></span><ul class="sharing-tools" id="primarySocialSharing" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;list-style-type:none;width:300px;overflow:hidden;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px"> <li class="facebookShare" style="line-height:1.45em;margin-bottom:0px;padding:0px 10px 5px 1px;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/furniture/techhive/bg-sharing-tools.png);background-color:transparent;float:left;width:68px;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat"> <div class="socialite facebook-like socialite-instance socialite-loaded" style><div class="fb-like fb_edge_widget_with_comment fb_iframe_widget" style="display:inline-block;height:auto!important"><span style="display:inline-block;text-align:justify;height:65px;width:60px"></span></div> </div></li></ul>

The mysterious ~$ files--nothing to worry about

Mr Reddy noticed strange files appearing and disappearing. The file names always begin with  ~$ . If you don't know what's going o...

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The mysterious ~$ files--nothing to worry about

<span itemprop="articleBody description text" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><em style="line-height:1.45em;font-size:14px">Mr Reddy noticed strange files appearing and disappearing. The file names always begin with <strong style>~$</strong></em>.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">If you don't know what's going on, these files can be confusing--and even scary. A file appears in your Documents folder without you intentionally creating it. Aside from the strange punctuation, the file name looks familiar. The icon and, if visible, the extension tell you that you can open the file in a common application. But when you double-click the file, or try to delete it, you get an error message.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Then the file disappears as inexplicitly as it appears. Except for those occasions when it doesn't disappear at all.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> <br></p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Don't worry. These are merely temporary files created by either Word or PowerPoint. They appear when you open a document or a presentation, and they usually disappear when you close it.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">These temporary files have almost the same file name and extension as the files they're ghosting. Word replaces the first two letters of the file name with<strong style>~$</strong>, while PowerPoint adds those two characters to the beginning of the name without removing anything. For instance, when you open <strong style>Attack of the Blood Beast.docx</strong> and <strong style>Hercules Against the Moon Men.pptx</strong>, you'll get the temporary files <strong style>~$tack of the Blood Beast.docx</strong> and <strong style>~$Hercules Against the Moon Men.pptx</strong>.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">You can't open these files because, despite their extensions, they're not normal .docx and .pptx files. And you can't delete them because they're in use. Or at least the PowerPoint files are in use. In my experience, you can delete the ~$.docx files.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">You'll occasionally see a ~$ file when the real file isn't open. When Word or PowerPoint fail to close properly--for instance, in a Windows crash--the files aren't automatically deleted.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Actually, you're not supposed to see these files at all--they're hidden files. The fact that you can see them tells me that you (or someone else) has set up Windows to display hidden files. You can hide or reveal hidden files in the Folder Options dialog box, on the <em style>View</em>tab.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="590" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/1017-hidden-files-100057571-orig.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="585"></span><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px"></span><ul class="sharing-tools" id="primarySocialSharing" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;list-style-type:none;width:300px;overflow:hidden;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px"> <li class="facebookShare" style="line-height:1.45em;margin-bottom:0px;padding:0px 10px 5px 1px;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/furniture/techhive/bg-sharing-tools.png);background-color:transparent;float:left;width:68px;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat"> <div class="socialite facebook-like socialite-instance socialite-loaded" style><div class="fb-like fb_edge_widget_with_comment fb_iframe_widget" style="display:inline-block;height:auto!important"><span style="display:inline-block;text-align:justify;height:65px;width:60px"></span></div> </div></li></ul>

The mysterious ~$ files--nothing to worry about

Mr Reddy noticed strange files appearing and disappearing. The file names always begin with  ~$ . If you don't know what's going o...

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Use two-factor authentication for your Twitter account

<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Bad things can happen if your Twitter account gets hacked. At best, it annoys and confuses your followers; at worst, your account gets used to spread spam and malware. Ugh. Although nothing can completely stop hack attacks, using two-factor authentication can help.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Two-factor authentication—or as Twitter calls it, "login verification"—adds an additional layer of security when you try to log in to your account. In addition to entering your username and password, you also need to enter a single-use security code, which is usually sent to you via a text message or through the official Twitter smartphone app. This can prevent someone from accessing your account even if they get ahold of your username and password.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Twitter has a couple methods of supplying you a security code, and the method for setting it up is slightly different depending on which method you choose.</p> <h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Getting verification codes via text message</h2><img alt="" border="0" height="323" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/login_verification-100058670-orig.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="543">You can switch on two-factor authentication with a simple click.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> To get your login verification codes in text messages, start by visiting<a href="https://twitter.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Twitter.com</a> and log in with your username and password. Next, click the gear icon in the upper right corner, and choose <em style>Settings</em> from the menu that appears. On the next page, select <em style>Security and Privacy</em> from the list on the left-hand side, then look for the <em style>Login Verification</em> section under the <em style>Security</em> heading.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">At this point, select the button labelled <em style>Send login verification requests to my phone</em>. Twitter will sent you a test text to make sure your phone can receive messages and ask you to make sure you got it. Once you do, Twitter will ask you for your password: Enter it when prompted and press <em style>Save Changes</em>.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="259" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/add_phone-100058672-large.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580">If you don't have a phone associated with your Twitter account, you'll need to add one first.<blockquote style="margin:1em 40px;border-left-color:rgb(217,217,217);border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;padding-left:10px;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;line-height:22px"> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><strong style>If the button is grayed out:</strong> You will have to add a phone number to your Twitter account: If that's the case, select <em style>Mobile</em>from the list along the left-hand sinde of the window. Choose your country or region from the list, enter your cellphone number in the<em style>Phone number</em> box, then press <em style>Activate phone</em>.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Twitter will then ask you to send a text from your phone to activate it: Once you do—and once Twitter receives it—you'll get various options for receiving text message updates. You can adjust these now or come back to them later, but once you do, go back to the<em style>Security and Privacy</em>section and set up login verification as described above.</p> </blockquote><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Once you're set up, you'll get a text message that contains a six-digit verification code whenever you try to log into your account. Enter it when prompted, then press <em style>Submit</em>. You will not have to log back into any Twitter client apps that are already associated with your account, but if you install a new Twitter client app on any of your devices, things get a little complicated.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="190" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/twttr_temp_password-100058669-medium.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="300">When you use login verification, Twitter requires you to use a "temporary password" to log in via a third-party client.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> If you want to log in using a Twitter client after turning on login verification, you will need to log in using a temporary password. To do so, go to the settings page on Twitter.com, select <em style>Password</em> from the list on the left-hand side, then look for the <em style>Generate</em> button in the upper right corner. Twitter will ask you to enter your regular password: Do as instructed, then press the<em style>Generate</em> button, and Twitter will give you a temporary password you can use to log in using the app of your choice.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">The temporary password does not replace your regular password: It's only to log into apps that don't directly support Twitter's login verification system, and it expires in one hour.</p> <h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Getting verification codes through Twitter's mobile app</h2><img alt="" border="0" height="212" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/login_veri_phone-100058674-medium.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="300">Toggle a switch in Twitter's smartphone app to use Login verification.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> To use this option, you need to first install Twitter's official smartphone app for Android and iOS; you can get it from the Google Play store and the App Store, respectively. Open the app and sign in if asked, then tap the <em style>Me</em>button in the black toolbar to get to your profile.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Next, click the gear icon on your profile page, then tap <em style>Settings</em>. Tap<em style>Security</em> on the settings screen,  then toggle the slider labelled <em style>Login verification</em>. You'll be asked to confirm that you want to use this phone to receive verification codes; if you do, tap the <em style>Confirm</em> button. At this point, Twitter till switch on login verification for your phone, and you'll need to have your phone with you to log into Twitter.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Once you set up your account to receive verification codes through the Twitter app, you'll want to make note of your backup code, which you can use to get into your account as a last resort. Go back to the <em style>Security</em>pane in the app, tap <em style>Backup Code</em>, and write down the alphanumeric code that appears. Keep this in a safe place!</p>

Use two-factor authentication for your Twitter account

Bad things can happen if your Twitter account gets hacked. At best, it annoys and confuses your followers; at worst, your account gets used ...

Read more »

Use two-factor authentication for your Twitter account

<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Bad things can happen if your Twitter account gets hacked. At best, it annoys and confuses your followers; at worst, your account gets used to spread spam and malware. Ugh. Although nothing can completely stop hack attacks, using two-factor authentication can help.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Two-factor authentication—or as Twitter calls it, "login verification"—adds an additional layer of security when you try to log in to your account. In addition to entering your username and password, you also need to enter a single-use security code, which is usually sent to you via a text message or through the official Twitter smartphone app. This can prevent someone from accessing your account even if they get ahold of your username and password.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Twitter has a couple methods of supplying you a security code, and the method for setting it up is slightly different depending on which method you choose.</p> <h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Getting verification codes via text message</h2><img alt="" border="0" height="323" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/login_verification-100058670-orig.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="543">You can switch on two-factor authentication with a simple click.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> To get your login verification codes in text messages, start by visiting<a href="https://twitter.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Twitter.com</a> and log in with your username and password. Next, click the gear icon in the upper right corner, and choose <em style>Settings</em> from the menu that appears. On the next page, select <em style>Security and Privacy</em> from the list on the left-hand side, then look for the <em style>Login Verification</em> section under the <em style>Security</em> heading.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">At this point, select the button labelled <em style>Send login verification requests to my phone</em>. Twitter will sent you a test text to make sure your phone can receive messages and ask you to make sure you got it. Once you do, Twitter will ask you for your password: Enter it when prompted and press <em style>Save Changes</em>.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="259" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/add_phone-100058672-large.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580">If you don't have a phone associated with your Twitter account, you'll need to add one first.<blockquote style="margin:1em 40px;border-left-color:rgb(217,217,217);border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;padding-left:10px;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;line-height:22px"> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><strong style>If the button is grayed out:</strong> You will have to add a phone number to your Twitter account: If that's the case, select <em style>Mobile</em>from the list along the left-hand sinde of the window. Choose your country or region from the list, enter your cellphone number in the<em style>Phone number</em> box, then press <em style>Activate phone</em>.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Twitter will then ask you to send a text from your phone to activate it: Once you do—and once Twitter receives it—you'll get various options for receiving text message updates. You can adjust these now or come back to them later, but once you do, go back to the<em style>Security and Privacy</em>section and set up login verification as described above.</p> </blockquote><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Once you're set up, you'll get a text message that contains a six-digit verification code whenever you try to log into your account. Enter it when prompted, then press <em style>Submit</em>. You will not have to log back into any Twitter client apps that are already associated with your account, but if you install a new Twitter client app on any of your devices, things get a little complicated.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="190" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/twttr_temp_password-100058669-medium.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="300">When you use login verification, Twitter requires you to use a "temporary password" to log in via a third-party client.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> If you want to log in using a Twitter client after turning on login verification, you will need to log in using a temporary password. To do so, go to the settings page on Twitter.com, select <em style>Password</em> from the list on the left-hand side, then look for the <em style>Generate</em> button in the upper right corner. Twitter will ask you to enter your regular password: Do as instructed, then press the<em style>Generate</em> button, and Twitter will give you a temporary password you can use to log in using the app of your choice.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">The temporary password does not replace your regular password: It's only to log into apps that don't directly support Twitter's login verification system, and it expires in one hour.</p> <h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Getting verification codes through Twitter's mobile app</h2><img alt="" border="0" height="212" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/login_veri_phone-100058674-medium.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="300">Toggle a switch in Twitter's smartphone app to use Login verification.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> To use this option, you need to first install Twitter's official smartphone app for Android and iOS; you can get it from the Google Play store and the App Store, respectively. Open the app and sign in if asked, then tap the <em style>Me</em>button in the black toolbar to get to your profile.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Next, click the gear icon on your profile page, then tap <em style>Settings</em>. Tap<em style>Security</em> on the settings screen,  then toggle the slider labelled <em style>Login verification</em>. You'll be asked to confirm that you want to use this phone to receive verification codes; if you do, tap the <em style>Confirm</em> button. At this point, Twitter till switch on login verification for your phone, and you'll need to have your phone with you to log into Twitter.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Once you set up your account to receive verification codes through the Twitter app, you'll want to make note of your backup code, which you can use to get into your account as a last resort. Go back to the <em style>Security</em>pane in the app, tap <em style>Backup Code</em>, and write down the alphanumeric code that appears. Keep this in a safe place!</p>

Use two-factor authentication for your Twitter account

Bad things can happen if your Twitter account gets hacked. At best, it annoys and confuses your followers; at worst, your account gets used ...

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What you need to know about privacy, email, and particularly Gmail

<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"><em style>Pritesh Singh asked whether anyone other than the intended recipient can view files attached to a Gmail message.</em></p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Unless you take special precautions, nothing you send by email is secure. That's doubly true with Gmail, since Google uses the content of your messages to target advertising.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">I very much doubt that Google employees are reading your mail; there are cheaper ways to get the job done. But the potential of abuse is always there. And let's not forget the NSA's enthusiasm for sticking its nose into everything we do online.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Giving up Gmail won't help much. All email, by its nature, is insecure. Your unencrypted message will go through several servers between you and the recipient. Even if the message leaves your PC encrypted with SSL (as happens with Gmail), that only protects it for the first leg of its journey.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">There's no technical reason why we can't all have full, end-to-end encryption built into our email systems. A free, <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/197789/open_source_safe.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">open-source</a> standard already exists: <a href="http://www.openpgp.org/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">OpenPGP</a>. All it needs is universal acceptance by the major email clients and providers.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">But that's not going to happen. While it would be wonderful for most of us, such acceptance would not be in the interests of Google, Microsoft, or the U.S. government.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">So what can you do?</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> The most obvious tactic is to keep sensitive stuff out of email. You can send most messages without privacy worries. But when you want to make sure that the cops, the crooks, or the corporations can't read it, use encryption.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">That's not as easy as it sounds. Your recipient will need compatible software and possibly your password. And they may not be as tech-savvy as you.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">In my experience, the best method is to skip email altogether and use a service called <a href="http://www.sendinc.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Sendinc</a>. Both you and your recipient will need your own accounts (free ones are sufficient for most people). You don't need to know each other's passwords; although both of you should have <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2011773/learn-to-use-strong-passwords.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">strong ones</a>.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="460" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/1021-sendinc-100057604-orig.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="597">

What you need to know about privacy, email, and particularly Gmail

Pritesh Singh asked whether anyone other than the intended recipient can view files attached to a Gmail message. Unless you take special p...

Read more »

What you need to know about privacy, email, and particularly Gmail

<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"><em style>Pritesh Singh asked whether anyone other than the intended recipient can view files attached to a Gmail message.</em></p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Unless you take special precautions, nothing you send by email is secure. That's doubly true with Gmail, since Google uses the content of your messages to target advertising.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">I very much doubt that Google employees are reading your mail; there are cheaper ways to get the job done. But the potential of abuse is always there. And let's not forget the NSA's enthusiasm for sticking its nose into everything we do online.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Giving up Gmail won't help much. All email, by its nature, is insecure. Your unencrypted message will go through several servers between you and the recipient. Even if the message leaves your PC encrypted with SSL (as happens with Gmail), that only protects it for the first leg of its journey.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">There's no technical reason why we can't all have full, end-to-end encryption built into our email systems. A free, <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/197789/open_source_safe.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">open-source</a> standard already exists: <a href="http://www.openpgp.org/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">OpenPGP</a>. All it needs is universal acceptance by the major email clients and providers.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">But that's not going to happen. While it would be wonderful for most of us, such acceptance would not be in the interests of Google, Microsoft, or the U.S. government.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">So what can you do?</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> The most obvious tactic is to keep sensitive stuff out of email. You can send most messages without privacy worries. But when you want to make sure that the cops, the crooks, or the corporations can't read it, use encryption.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">That's not as easy as it sounds. Your recipient will need compatible software and possibly your password. And they may not be as tech-savvy as you.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">In my experience, the best method is to skip email altogether and use a service called <a href="http://www.sendinc.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Sendinc</a>. Both you and your recipient will need your own accounts (free ones are sufficient for most people). You don't need to know each other's passwords; although both of you should have <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2011773/learn-to-use-strong-passwords.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">strong ones</a>.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="460" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/1021-sendinc-100057604-orig.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="597">

What you need to know about privacy, email, and particularly Gmail

Pritesh Singh asked whether anyone other than the intended recipient can view files attached to a Gmail message. Unless you take special p...

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How to quickly recover lost form data in your browser

<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">This is an update of a browser extension I last wrote about a couple years back. It's too good not to revisit every so often.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Just the other day, this happened: After writing a fairly lengthy post in a browser-based blog tool, I hit the Backspace key to delete something--but because my cursor wasn't inside the text field at the time, Chrome interpreted that as the keyboard shortcut for "back." In other words, back to the previous page. A big chunk of my unsaved work: gone.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Crud.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> This kind of thing can happen in all kinds of circumstances. Maybe you click <em style>Next</em> or <em style>Save</em> after completing a Web form, and your browser crashes, or the server times out, or your Internet connection croaks. Whatever the case, it means you just wasted a bunch of time and lost a bunch of work.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Fortunately, there's a simple, effective "do over" in the form of <a href="http://getlazarus.com/download" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Lazarus, a browser add-on that makes it easy to recover lost form data</a>. It's available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. (Sorry, Internet Explorer users.)</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Lazarus automatically (and securely, with a password if you prefer) saves every keystroke you enter into any Web form, blog tool, comment box, or what have you.</p> <a class="zoom cboxElement" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/lazarus-restore-field-100065807-orig.jpg" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="" border="0" height="363" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/lazarus-restore-field-100065807-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580"></a><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> To bring back your data, just look for the little Lazarus symbol above whatever box you were typing in. Click it, then choose the snippet of text you want to recover. Presto! It reappears like magic.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> I can't count the number of times Lazarus has rescued me from accidental deletions, wayward keystrokes, and the like. If you use any of the supported browsers, this is a must-have extension.</p>

How to quickly recover lost form data in your browser

This is an update of a browser extension I last wrote about a couple years back. It's too good not to revisit every so often. Just the...

Read more »

How to quickly recover lost form data in your browser

<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">This is an update of a browser extension I last wrote about a couple years back. It's too good not to revisit every so often.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Just the other day, this happened: After writing a fairly lengthy post in a browser-based blog tool, I hit the Backspace key to delete something--but because my cursor wasn't inside the text field at the time, Chrome interpreted that as the keyboard shortcut for "back." In other words, back to the previous page. A big chunk of my unsaved work: gone.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Crud.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> This kind of thing can happen in all kinds of circumstances. Maybe you click <em style>Next</em> or <em style>Save</em> after completing a Web form, and your browser crashes, or the server times out, or your Internet connection croaks. Whatever the case, it means you just wasted a bunch of time and lost a bunch of work.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Fortunately, there's a simple, effective "do over" in the form of <a href="http://getlazarus.com/download" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Lazarus, a browser add-on that makes it easy to recover lost form data</a>. It's available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. (Sorry, Internet Explorer users.)</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Lazarus automatically (and securely, with a password if you prefer) saves every keystroke you enter into any Web form, blog tool, comment box, or what have you.</p> <a class="zoom cboxElement" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/lazarus-restore-field-100065807-orig.jpg" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="" border="0" height="363" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/lazarus-restore-field-100065807-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580"></a><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> To bring back your data, just look for the little Lazarus symbol above whatever box you were typing in. Click it, then choose the snippet of text you want to recover. Presto! It reappears like magic.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> I can't count the number of times Lazarus has rescued me from accidental deletions, wayward keystrokes, and the like. If you use any of the supported browsers, this is a must-have extension.</p>

How to quickly recover lost form data in your browser

This is an update of a browser extension I last wrote about a couple years back. It's too good not to revisit every so often. Just the...

Read more »

Protect your Facebook account from hackers with two-factor authentication

<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Nobody likes it when their friends suddenly start spewing links to weight-loss supplements and porn on Facebook. Don't be that person. Using Facebook's two-factor authentication feature can help keep undesireables out of your account—perhaps saving some friendships.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Two-factor authentication, for the uninitiated, requires you to enter in another piece of private data in addition to your password in order to log in. This typically takes the form of a single-use security code that gets sent to your smartphone, and it can help keep your account safe in case a hacker or data thief ever gets ahold of your username and password.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="211" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/login_approval_setup-100058826-medium.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="300">Setting up Facebook's Login Approval feature takes just a couple minutes.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> To start, visit <a href="https://www.facebook.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Facebook.com</a> and log in with your username and password. Next click the gear icon in the upper right corner, and select<em style>Account Settings</em> from the menu that pops up. On the next screen, select<em style>Security</em> from the list on the left, then select <em style>Login Approvals</em>. When the Login Approvals section expands, check the box labelled <em style>Require a security code to access my account from unknown browsers</em>, and Facebook will walk you through the setup process.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">By default, Facebook will send security codes through its mobile app, but it can send you text messages as a backup login method. If you don't already have a cellphone number associated with your account, Facebook will ask you to add one. When prompted, select your country from the list, enter your number, then press Continue. Facebook will send you a text message to confirm that your number is indeed yours: Enter the six-digit confirmation code texted to you when prompted, then click<em style>Confirm</em>.</p> <h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Logging in</h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Facebook will not pester you to enter a security code from a browser it already recognizes, so if you only use Facebook from one computer, you may never be asked to senter a security code. But if you are, here's what to expect:</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="227" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/enter_code-100058825-large.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580">After you enter your username and password, you'll be asked to enter a security code.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> The next time you log into Facebook on a new computer, enter your username and password as usual, then press <em style>Log In</em>. On the next screen, Facebook will ask you to enter a security code.</p><img alt="" border="0" height="221" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/10/code_generator-100058827-medium.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="300">The Code Generator in Facebook's mobile app.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> To get that code, open the Facebook app on your phone, tap <em style>More</em> (in the toolbar on iOS, swipe left to right to access the <em style>More</em> menu on Android), then scroll down and tap<em style>Code Generator</em>. Facebook will give you a single-use code that's good for 30 seconds (after 30 seconds, you'll be get a new code). Enter this in on your computer, then press <em style>Continue</em>.</p> <h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Limitations</h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Facebook's two-factor authentication feature won't protect everything, though. It only asks for a security code if you attempt to log in from an unrecognized device, and it only works for login requests from Web browsers—you can log into the Facebook mobile app without having to enter a code. Still, it's better than nothing.</p>

Protect your Facebook account from hackers with two-factor authentication

Nobody likes it when their friends suddenly start spewing links to weight-loss supplements and porn on Facebook. Don't be that person. U...

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