Weekly Round-Up #330: MGM Data Breach, A Pretty TikTok Window And Typing Trauma
This week we look at a data breach that seems to have been kept rather quiet but it worrying in the way it was leaked, a surprising TikTok video that I found useful for a change, and I get re-traumatised by typing teacher Mavis Beacon.
Welcome to this week’s (slightly later than usual) round up. I hope you’ve had a fun and productive week.
This week we look at a data breach that seems to have been kept rather quiet but it worrying in the way it was leaked, a surprising TikTok video that I found useful for a change, and I get re-traumatised by typing teacher Mavis Beacon.
Over 8 GB Database Exposing Millions Of Hotel Guests Dumped (For Free) On Telegram – vpnMentor
Over 142 million records were publicly shared on Telegram, exposing the personally identifiable information of MGM Hotels customers around the world, including the names and addresses, were released for free on the messaging platform Telegram.
Usually this type of data is kept on the Dark Web where it is sold on for people to use in phishing attempts or brute force attacks to gain access to other services so for this to be available on such an open platform is certainly a new type of security concern.
If you’ve been a customer of MGM hotels, they should have reached out to you if you’re one of the 142 Million people affected (a legal requirement in a lot of countries) but as the breach was 2 years ago you may have forgotten all about it by now.
Beware of spammy looking texts and emails, read up on how to spot phishing attempts and consider signing up to a service that will monitor where your data is appearing – a lot of VPNs and password managers include this function and the Firefox team also have a free option called “Firefox Monitor” that will email you if your details are found.
Best Mindful Drinking Apps 2023 – Choosing Therapy
Mindful drinking is being intentionally aware of how much we drink and the reasons why we drink alcohol. For many, it can be tough to get into the habit of practicing mindful drinking. Thankfully, there are several mindful drinking apps that can help us create a better relationship with alcohol.
So if you don’t want to stop drinking completely or just want to be more aware of what you’re consuming then Choosing Therapy has a list of some apps that can help you keep tabs on your consumption.
Twitter Officially Bans All Third-Party Apps – MacRomors
Elon Musk has made a series of strange decisions when it comes to his (semi) newly acquired platform, I’m sure we’re all aware of the chaos that ensued when Twitter Blue was rolled out to the masses which ended up wiping millions off stock values of various companies.
In another odd move, Musk has now revoked access to the Twitter API to a whole host of third-party applications. This means that non-Twitter owned services may struggle to interact with Twitter unless they’re willing to pay up for it.
The main issue was that Twitter just seemed to turn off the functionality without discussing it with any external developers first leaving their apps high-and-dry.
If you’re looking for a master class on how not to communicate with users and external suppliers then Musk would be an excellent case study.
3 Signs Your Brand Isn’t Telling A Winning Story (And How To Fix Things) – Entrepreneur
A lot of people think that a slick commercial fronted by a famous movie star is enough to draw people to your brand. The thing is, with every brand doing that it’s difficult to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
That’s where your brand story comes in – it helps you connect with customers, explain your values, your products and much more. So how do you know if your brand story is working and if not, how do you fix it? Don’t worry, Entrepreneur has you covered.
This TikToker Turned Her Window Into A Kaleidoscope, And It Looks So Mesmerizing – Apartment Therapy
I am going to admit that I am not a huge fan of TikTok (I’m not a huge fan of any social media if I’m honest). I don’t like the way you’re served random content and, maybe because I don’t use it enough for it to build up a scary profile on me, how the “For You” page is full of the same videos over and over again thanks to people trying to game the algorithm.
Every now and again though a little gem emerges, and Maya Symone has a fantastic way to create a “fairy window” which is perfect to brighten up a dull apartment or stop nosy neighbours peering in.
Apartment Therapy covers the video and also has some tips on what film to buy to get the best results.
How To Protect Yourself If Your School Uses Surveillance Tech – Wired
According to Wired it’s now becoming common practice in US schools (which I am sure will spread elsewhere if it hasn’t already) to monitor student’s emails, online search and even contact law enforcement if they perceive something is threatening.
While this is technically a good thing, the lack of privacy is a big concern especially if a student doesn’t have access to the internet at home or, more importantly, doesn’t feel safe using it there.
So, what can you do to protect your privacy if a school has these policies in place? Firstly it’s important to know what is being tracked and why – are they just monitoring school computers or are they tracking any device that connects to school Wi-Fi? What are they doing with the data? What is their data retention policy? Who goes through it – is it a person or is it automated?
Wired covers a lot of great questions that both parents and students can put to the school to ensure that their data is being used in a safe and legal manner.
Autism, ADHD, And Other Neuro Types Can Be An Asset In The Workplace – Business Insider
In years past, neurodivergency was seen as something that would either hold you back or make you a liability in the work place. If you have time blindness you’re obviously disrespectful for showing up late to meetings, if you have ADHD and struggle to finish a task then you’re unproductive or unreliable.
As time has moved on and people have started to understand what these differing ways of dealing with the world mean, companies are starting to realise that there is a wide pool of talent out there that they have been ignoring.
This coupled with a growing acceptance that being present for a 9 to 5 in the office every day may not necessarily be the most productive environment means that companies are more flexible than ever when it comes to provide suitable working conditions and support networks.
Business Insider looks at this growing sector of the employment market, what it means for businesses and how they can support neurodivergent candidates.
How To Add One-Click Login With Google In WordPress – WP Beginner
I am going to hold my hand up here and state that I hate those “sign in with Google” popups on websites which shouldn’t even be appear as I have disabled that option but I guess in 2023 Google is still trying to control everything.
That being said sometimes convenience is the most important thing for your customers/website visitors and being able to provide a simple way for someone to login or register on your site could be the barrier to a sale or a repeat customer – I know I’ve skipped out of checking out after realising the account sign-up process was 5 pages long (really guys? Who came up that that idea?)
So if you’ve got a WordPress site (and it’s on WordPress.org or Self-hosted, this won’t work if you’re on a WordPress.com site) WP Beginner shows you how to allow users to sign up or in with an existing Google account.
How To Stop (Or At Least Slow Down) Porch Pirates – Lifehacker
I had to look up what a “Porch Pirate” was as it’s not something I’d heard of – I guess working from home in a very quiet road with security cameras is probably quite the deterrent.
A “Porch Pirate” is someone who will see a parcel left on your doorstep and steal it. The problem is that the courier will have flagged the parcel as delivered – they may even send you a nice photo of the package sat by your front door, but when you get home it’s not there so you have to try to prove to the courier and seller that you never got it – even though they have photographic proof it was technically delivered.
So how can you stop these thieves? Lifehacker has some great ideas such as choosing drop off locations (like an Amazon Locker for example), banding together with neighbours to take it in turns to take in parcels and more.
She Taught A Generation To Type. But Who Is The Real Mavis Beacon? – Mashable
Mavis Beacon was the bane of my childhood existence. I swear she had in in for me – I also swear she lied massively about how terrible my typing was.
30 years on, I still don’t type the way she wanted me to – I mean does anyone? Be honest now! But I am an above average typist so I do what works for me – I also use the backspace key so SUCK IT MAVIS!
But who was Mavis really? Was she some lady with claw-like hands huddled over a keyboard coming up with new ways to terrorise the next batch of children taught by her, or is there more to the story? Read Mashable’s article to find out (and try not to have your childhood ruined too much, okay).
I did a typing speed test on several sites and it was anywhere from 42 to 57 WPM so I guess it very much depends on the test! What’s your words per minute? Drop it in the comments below.
Have A Great Week
I hope you have enjoyed this round-up, as always if you have any links you like to share with me and my readers please contact me through the website or send me a tweet.
Until next time, Stay Productive!
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