Drumroll please...
I'd like to officially announce the launch of the Hepteleos Computer Security Guide website that Jeff and I have been working on for some time now. There are still a few quirks to work out, but the page is now functional and there is content. More content will be constantly added since thanks to blogger, I have an easy way to add articles and content. Most of the page layout is courtesy of Jeff and the content is mine.
For your bookmarking pleasure you can visit the site through either of these links:
http://www.hepteleos.com/
http://www.computersecurityguide.com/.
Please also sign up for our mailing list, and we will send computer security notifications and reminders to your email box. We promise not to spam. =)
Still Coming soon:
Links to other security resources
Bookstore - possibly a full fledged store
.....Let me know what you would like to see.,
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Phone Advice Please
I hate Best Buy. Let me say it again...I hate Best Buy (and panasonic)
Don't ever buy an extended warranty or product replacement plan from Best Buy.
A year ago, Amanda and I bought a new Panasonic cordless phone set. 2 handsets, expandable to 3, with an answering machine. We also bought a product replacement plan to go with it just in case. Well, we didn't even have the phones for 6 months before we started having problems with one of the handsets cutting out on calls. The other one was fine and still is fine. We lived with it for a while until the battery also died and won't keep a charge. We haven't even had the phone for a year, and already one of the handsets is dead. They have also been interfering with our wireless internet since they use the same frequency.
In January, I tried to use the product replacement plan to replace our phone. I find out that you cannot return the phone to the store. You have to call an 800 number and they mail you a prepaid mailing label and RMA slip so you can ship the product to some claim center. Once they receive the product and check it out, they then send you a voucher for the original purchase price that you can take into a Best Buy store and use it like cash for anything in the store. Well, our problems started when we never received the prepaid mailing label and RMA slip in the mail. After 4 or 5 weeks, I call back and say I never received anything in the mail. They verify my address (they were missing the unit # of my condo the first time, but that has never stopped mail from being delivered to me), and say they are going to resend the RMA label and I should receive it within 14 business days. Another 3-4 weeks go by with nothing arriving in the mail. I call a third time, they supposedly resend the label, again it never arrives.
I call a 4th time, this time I'm really PO'd at the process. I really just want to take my phone back to the store and deal with it there. The lady on the phone is apologetic and offers to send the voucher in the mail right away so that I can get my new phone and not have to worry about waiting to send my old one back first because of the problems. The voucher never arrives. I called last week after waiting 3-4 weeks to find out about the missing voucher. The person on the phone this time looked at the status and it showed that there was "an error" processing the voucher.... I wonder of there was also "an error" processing all the previous things they supposedly sent me. This person asked me to hold while he looked into the error. He came back on the line and said the error was fixed (without explaining what the error was) and my voucher was on its way and that I should receive it within 14 days. 2 days later the voucher finally arrived in the mail 4 months and 5 calls after my original attempt to redeem the product replacement plan.
So now I have a voucher for $136 to use at Best Buy and I'm not sure what kind of phone to get now. Definately not panasonic again because of our problems, and Amanda knows someone from work who also has a panasonic phone with problems. Problem over half the phones Best Buy sells are Panasonic. We bought a Motorola phone after our wedding, and that lasted less than 2 years before the phone was completely dead. It was a crappy phone that we didn't like anyway - so motorola is out. Since 2.4GHz was possibly interfering with our wireless internet, that leaves the 5.4 Ghz phones. With panasonic and motorola out of the picture, the only remaining brands that Best Buy carries are AT&T, VTECH, and Uniden - and they have to support multiple handsets. Which one to get?
I long for my old phone back. I had a Toshiba cordless phone that was a rock. It lasted me over 12 years from 8th grade through high school, college, apartment life, and our first year of marriage before it finally died. Why can't I find another phone that will last us like that? Best Boy doesn't sell Toshiba, and I don't even know if they make cordless phones anymore. Whatever happened to quality craftsmanship these days?
I am never ever buying another product replacement plan from Best Buy. Possibly never shopping at Best Buy again either.
Don't ever buy an extended warranty or product replacement plan from Best Buy.
A year ago, Amanda and I bought a new Panasonic cordless phone set. 2 handsets, expandable to 3, with an answering machine. We also bought a product replacement plan to go with it just in case. Well, we didn't even have the phones for 6 months before we started having problems with one of the handsets cutting out on calls. The other one was fine and still is fine. We lived with it for a while until the battery also died and won't keep a charge. We haven't even had the phone for a year, and already one of the handsets is dead. They have also been interfering with our wireless internet since they use the same frequency.
In January, I tried to use the product replacement plan to replace our phone. I find out that you cannot return the phone to the store. You have to call an 800 number and they mail you a prepaid mailing label and RMA slip so you can ship the product to some claim center. Once they receive the product and check it out, they then send you a voucher for the original purchase price that you can take into a Best Buy store and use it like cash for anything in the store. Well, our problems started when we never received the prepaid mailing label and RMA slip in the mail. After 4 or 5 weeks, I call back and say I never received anything in the mail. They verify my address (they were missing the unit # of my condo the first time, but that has never stopped mail from being delivered to me), and say they are going to resend the RMA label and I should receive it within 14 business days. Another 3-4 weeks go by with nothing arriving in the mail. I call a third time, they supposedly resend the label, again it never arrives.
I call a 4th time, this time I'm really PO'd at the process. I really just want to take my phone back to the store and deal with it there. The lady on the phone is apologetic and offers to send the voucher in the mail right away so that I can get my new phone and not have to worry about waiting to send my old one back first because of the problems. The voucher never arrives. I called last week after waiting 3-4 weeks to find out about the missing voucher. The person on the phone this time looked at the status and it showed that there was "an error" processing the voucher.... I wonder of there was also "an error" processing all the previous things they supposedly sent me. This person asked me to hold while he looked into the error. He came back on the line and said the error was fixed (without explaining what the error was) and my voucher was on its way and that I should receive it within 14 days. 2 days later the voucher finally arrived in the mail 4 months and 5 calls after my original attempt to redeem the product replacement plan.
So now I have a voucher for $136 to use at Best Buy and I'm not sure what kind of phone to get now. Definately not panasonic again because of our problems, and Amanda knows someone from work who also has a panasonic phone with problems. Problem over half the phones Best Buy sells are Panasonic. We bought a Motorola phone after our wedding, and that lasted less than 2 years before the phone was completely dead. It was a crappy phone that we didn't like anyway - so motorola is out. Since 2.4GHz was possibly interfering with our wireless internet, that leaves the 5.4 Ghz phones. With panasonic and motorola out of the picture, the only remaining brands that Best Buy carries are AT&T, VTECH, and Uniden - and they have to support multiple handsets. Which one to get?
I long for my old phone back. I had a Toshiba cordless phone that was a rock. It lasted me over 12 years from 8th grade through high school, college, apartment life, and our first year of marriage before it finally died. Why can't I find another phone that will last us like that? Best Boy doesn't sell Toshiba, and I don't even know if they make cordless phones anymore. Whatever happened to quality craftsmanship these days?
I am never ever buying another product replacement plan from Best Buy. Possibly never shopping at Best Buy again either.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Scary Finals
I have finals in a week for the two classes I'm taking - May 4 and May 5. I'm scared of what's going to be on them, don't know what to study for, and starting to panic. The thing about Master's classes is that they don't give you nice little study sheets for the finals. Is there going to be a study sheet someone asked? The syllabus would be a good place to start the Professor said. Fortunately the syllabi for both classes listed very clear objectives for each week.
My formal methods class which I only semi understand has a 40 question multiple choice final worth 40% of the grade in our class. This class has been challenging. The first half of the class was spent covering first order logic, and fomal methods in the Z specification language which is based on set theory and first order logic. The second half of the class was spent reading very academic papers on Information Security which used these formal methods to develop formal proofs about the security models they were presenting.
My operating systems class was much easier since I also took an operating systems class at Biola. But this final is going to be 7 questions also worth 40% of my grade. I'm really not sure what to expect here.
I wouldn't stress so much except that I have to get at least a "B" in the class in order for Northrop to reimburse me through our tuition reimbursement program. Having to pay for the class out of my pocket if I don't do well enough is a good motivating factor, but stressful as well.
My formal methods class which I only semi understand has a 40 question multiple choice final worth 40% of the grade in our class. This class has been challenging. The first half of the class was spent covering first order logic, and fomal methods in the Z specification language which is based on set theory and first order logic. The second half of the class was spent reading very academic papers on Information Security which used these formal methods to develop formal proofs about the security models they were presenting.
My operating systems class was much easier since I also took an operating systems class at Biola. But this final is going to be 7 questions also worth 40% of my grade. I'm really not sure what to expect here.
I wouldn't stress so much except that I have to get at least a "B" in the class in order for Northrop to reimburse me through our tuition reimbursement program. Having to pay for the class out of my pocket if I don't do well enough is a good motivating factor, but stressful as well.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
if at first you don't succeed, then try, try again...
Ok, this is just scary... 272nd time a charm for man on driving test. I don't really want to be happy for him - I'm scared of what he'll do to all the other drivers on the road. Driving just doesn't seem like one of those things you should learn how to do by trial and error.
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