A romantic evening beneath the death star

Spending your vacation at home always involves some degree of coziness. Same with me, after a day on the road we decided to ease it out on the sofa with a "fine" movie. We didn't narrow it down further and that's when the problems began. In the past, you

Spending your vacation at home always involves some degree of coziness. Same with me, after a day on the road we decided to ease it out on the sofa with a "fine" movie. We didn't narrow it down further and that's when the problems began. In the past, you were at the mercy of TV schedules (with a whopping 3 different channels in my youth!) but now we had over 40 channels, multiple online media libraries, Amazon Prime and Netflix at our disposal. What was supposed to be a relaxing evening turned *into a real challenge*.

Spending your vacation at home always involves some degree of coziness. Same with me, after a day on the road we decided to ease it out on the sofa with a &quot;fine&quot; movie. We didn't narrow it down further and that's when the problems began. In the past, you were at the mercy of TV schedules (with a whopping 3 different channels in my youth!) but now we had over 40 channels, multiple online media libraries, Amazon Prime and Netflix at our disposal. What was supposed to be a relaxing evening turned into a real challenge.


Everything in the cloud! Good idea or security risk?

Online storage in the form of cloud services is very handy, millions of users upload their files to external servers to render them supposedly "always available and 100% secure". But is there a catch and what are the risks?

**"Where are our vacation shots? Are they gone?"** The women seemed on the verge of a stress-related demise while holding her crushed cellphone in her hands. With a smile, her husband (obviously a model for tooth bleaching) turned around and replied in a calm voice: "They can't be gone, they're in the cloud!" Domestic bliss had returned, it was joy all over again, the coffee is ready.


That about sums up the essence of most ads run by cloud service providers. It doesn't matter if a piano drops on you, you're data will still be safe. Whether that's the case is another story since ads are known to exaggerate.

&quot;Where are our vacation shots? Are they gone?&quot; The women seemed on the verge of a stress-related demise while holding her crushed cellphone in her hands. With a smile, her husband (obviously a model for tooth bleaching) turned around and replied in a calm voice: &quot;They can't be gone, they're in the cloud!&quot; Domestic bliss had returned, it was joy all over again, the coffee is ready.
That about sums up the essence of most ads run by cloud service providers. It doesn't matter if a piano drops on you, you're data will still be safe. Whether that's the case is another story since ads are known to exaggerate.


Too old to learn new things? Never!

You used to sit on a bench or take the dog for a walk once you turned 70. Today, many senior citizens play various sports or develop new types of hobbies. But why is fear of anything computer-related still so prevalent in the elderly?

Recently an older friend told me he'd like to know if his old friends were on Facebook. He had moved many times in his long life and eventually lost touch with his old contacts, you know how it is. Since I knew he owned a PC plus Internet I was about to ask him why he wouldn't simply take a look online. After all, he was perfectly capable of inputting names like **Krzysztof Szyszkowitz** himself! I got his answer before I could ask and it drove me mad inside. *Facebook was new to him, certainly very complicated and generally, at his age…* Frankly, that's a shame. He didn't lack the motivation or doubt their controversial privacy policies, he simply thought himself incapable. But why? Any moderately sane person familiar with mouse and keyboard can do so much more with their computer! "If I can show you ten guys with the IQ of a fire hydrant that made it onto Facebook, will you promise me that you'll give it a try?"

Recently an older friend told me he'd like to know if his old friends were on Facebook. He had moved many times in his long life and eventually lost touch with his old contacts, you know how it is. Since I knew he owned a PC plus Internet I was about to ask him why he wouldn't simply take a look online. After all, he was perfectly capable of inputting names like Krzysztof Szyszkowitz himself! I got his answer before I could ask and it drove me mad inside. Facebook was new to him, certainly very complicated and generally, at his age… Frankly, that's a shame. He didn't lack the motivation or doubt their controversial privacy policies, he simply thought himself incapable. But why? Any moderately sane person familiar with mouse and keyboard can do so much more with their computer! &quot;If I can show you ten guys with the IQ of a fire hydrant that made it onto Facebook, will you promise me that you'll give it a try?&quot;


The devil is in the details - How to identify phishing mails

If you receive an unpleasant email, there's one thing you should never do - exactly what is demanded of you in the mail. Read on to learn how to identify and react to phishing mails.

Mails with serious content in an official tone, final notices or seemingly technical issues are enough to unsettle most readers. Often, this is an attempt at cheating you out of your money [as I described last week](https://blog.ashampoo.com/en/2016-02-23/save-the-nigerian-astronaut-facts-about-phishing-part-1). How can you catch on to the scammers, where do they give themselves away? **The first step is to realize that your personal information is already in the wrong hands**.

Mails with serious content in an official tone, final notices or seemingly technical issues are enough to unsettle most readers. Often, this is an attempt at cheating you out of your money as I described last week. How can you catch on to the scammers, where do they give themselves away? The first step is to realize that your personal information is already in the wrong hands.


Save the Nigerian astronaut (Facts about Phishing Part 1)

Mails with serious content in an official tone, final notices or seemingly technical issues are enough to unsettle most readers. Often, this is an attempt at cheating you out of your money. Read on to learn what phishing is all about!

Have you heard of Major Abacha Tunde? This brave Nigerian man has been spending his life on a Russian secret space station since 1990 and can only see his beloved home from orbit. Unfortunately, he cannot come home because his country doesn't have the foreign exchange to bring him back. Tragic isn't it? But you can help him and make it rich in the process! This good man naturally cannot spend his luxurious salary (no duty free shops in space) and Amazon only delivers *world*-wide. For only a few thousand Euros you can help Major Abacha Tunde get back to earth - and collect a giant yield. **Don't believe me? Good for you!** This is just one bizarre example of a phishing mail meant to cheat you out of your money. Read on to learn what phishing is all about!

Have you heard of Major Abacha Tunde? This brave Nigerian man has been spending his life on a Russian secret space station since 1990 and can only see his beloved home from orbit. Unfortunately, he cannot come home because his country doesn't have the foreign exchange to bring him back. Tragic isn't it? But you can help him and make it rich in the process! This good man naturally cannot spend his luxurious salary (no duty free shops in space) and Amazon only delivers world-wide. For only a few thousand Euros you can help Major Abacha Tunde get back to earth - and collect a giant yield. Don't believe me? Good for you! This is just one bizarre example of a phishing mail meant to cheat you out of your money. Read on to learn what phishing is all about!


Why I'll switch off my cellphone momentarily

We now have the means to work anywhere, any time and stay in touch with anyone. But when are we taking things too far?

There I was standing in the flat countryside looking at my cellphone when - dare I write it - the unthinkable happened, **I was offline**. No business mails, no friends to chat with on Whatsapp and the blog was suddenly far far away. With mixed feelings, I looked around, saw cows, wind turbines, the gray sky and not a soul. No vibrations would announce the arrival of a new message, no delicate **ping** would direct my attention to important company news. Alone, offline with only the wind in my face and some unexpected peace and quiet.

There I was standing in the flat countryside looking at my cellphone when - dare I write it - the unthinkable happened, I was offline. No business mails, no friends to chat with on Whatsapp and the blog was suddenly far far away. With mixed feelings, I looked around, saw cows, wind turbines, the gray sky and not a soul. No vibrations would announce the arrival of a new message, no delicate ping would direct my attention to important company news. Alone, offline with only the wind in my face and some unexpected peace and quiet.


"Antivirus XY has detected a suspicious program ..." "Shut up!"

Bad vibes are few and far between at Ashampoo. But when anger shows its ugly face, it's quite often related to overzealous antivirus programs.

There's one piece of news that has our staff gnarl like a pack of raging dogs. It's usually something along the lines of "Antivirus XY has detected a virus in our program YZ". If bad vibes could be turned into energy, we'd be able to power all of Germany! We know the story all too well. At the risk of ruining the punchline: I can assure you that these are always false alerts, *we don't distribute malicious code*. That doesn't stop antivirus software developers, malware scanners, operating systems or even browsers (!) from happily raising hell whenever one of our applications or applications from other developers are about to be run. To make it brief, there's a race going on, a race for trust - and millions of Dollars.

There's one piece of news that has our staff gnarl like a pack of raging dogs. It's usually something along the lines of &quot;Antivirus XY has detected a virus in our program YZ&quot;. If bad vibes could be turned into energy, we'd be able to power all of Germany! We know the story all too well. At the risk of ruining the punchline: I can assure you that these are always false alerts, we don't distribute malicious code. That doesn't stop antivirus software developers, malware scanners, operating systems or even browsers (!) from happily raising hell whenever one of our applications or applications from other developers are about to be run. To make it brief, there's a race going on, a race for trust - and millions of Dollars.


The anti-social networks

The Internet was supposed to turn our world into a global village. Read on to find out why often the contrary is the case.

I'm not a very nostalgic person and I consider "Everything was better in the good old days." utter nonsense. For one thing, everything couldn't have been better *because we were offline*. But lately, I find myself pondering over how the Internet is changing us if it is changing us at all. 


Admittedly, **cussing online** has been with us since the beginning of the Internet, preferably overblown and vulgar. Online, anything's up for a heated debate and, surprisingly, I've encountered the most heated discussions when the topic was either *the keeping of animals or nutrition*. How the most amicable of characters can turn into animals and start a holy war when discussing the keeping of cats or the benefits of a vegan lifestyle will most likely be comprehensible to like-minded spirits only. This has the potential to turn into fanaticism and rot people's souls.

I'm not a very nostalgic person and I consider &quot;Everything was better in the good old days.&quot; utter nonsense. For one thing, everything couldn't have been better because we were offline. But lately, I find myself pondering over how the Internet is changing us if it is changing us at all.
Admittedly, cussing online has been with us since the beginning of the Internet, preferably overblown and vulgar. Online, anything's up for a heated debate and, surprisingly, I've encountered the most heated discussions when the topic was either the keeping of animals or nutrition. How the most amicable of characters can turn into animals and start a holy war when discussing the keeping of cats or the benefits of a vegan lifestyle will most likely be comprehensible to like-minded spirits only. This has the potential to turn into fanaticism and rot people's souls.


In plain English: Spotify

Everyhting you need to know about Spotify. Pros and cons, costs and benefits!

## What is it?

Spotify is a streaming service for music, audio books and other audio content with unlimited song access. There's a dedicated software / app for every device from computers to cellphones.

What is it?
Spotify is a streaming service for music, audio books and other audio content with unlimited song access. There's a dedicated software / app for every device from computers to cellphones.


Finding the PC that is right for you

A few pointers for your next computer purchase!

Like me, many others have received money as a Christmas gift and are now facing the same problem: **Which PC should I buy?** The thing is that there's no one PC that does it all. It depends on what you're going to do with it, your primary use cases and, let's be honest, it also depends on *how much money you have at your disposal*.

Like me, many others have received money as a Christmas gift and are now facing the same problem: Which PC should I buy? The thing is that there's no one PC that does it all. It depends on what you're going to do with it, your primary use cases and, let's be honest, it also depends on how much money you have at your disposal.


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