Category: “Just Nancy”

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Lookout App Reviewed

Stay safe with your phone by using Lookout.
Stay safe with your phone by using Lookout.

For several years I have had on my Android smartphone the Lookout app. I upgraded to Premium for $29.99 a year and wanted to share my experience in using this app.

First, I am not paid for this review. I like the app and wanted to share my experience with you.

Here’s why I like the app and went premium.

I like the security features. Before the market was flooded with antivirus and security apps, I had Lookout to keep me safe.

I like the integrated feature that allows me to find my phone, to wipe my phone if it is lost, and to sound an alarm to help find my phone. Although now Verizon and even Samsung have these as phone integrated features now for free,. Lookout had them became device standards.

I like the online interface that allows me to manage device files, backups, call logs and images. Although Verizon has this feature now with Verizon Cloud, it is buggy and does not always perform backups for days and weeks.

Lookout also protects against the following: chargeware, items billed to your wireless bill without your consent; adware; app dropper;  bot apps, click fraud; exploits; riskware; root enablers; surveillance ware; toll fraud; and Trojans.

It also keeps you apprised of what apps see and use on your phone to help you be in control of your privacy.

Here’s what I like that they just introduced this year.

This year Lookout added a nice app that automatically opens up a VPN (Virtual Private Network) when I go online. Although I have NordVPN for this use, I do like the automatic feature and use it more than NordVPN. I like this additional feature for security and consider it a nice perk for using their product.

Although smartphones may have some of these features now rolled into their device software, Lookout is proactively adding features and services that devices do not have at this time to keep your smartphone safe from schemers, spammers, and thieves.

I consider the $29.99 a year price a real value.

 

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Thanksgiving for My Many Blessings

Thanksgiving Day is more than food, it is about thankfulness.
Thanksgiving Day is more than food, it is about thankfulness.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving day and I am already waxing poetic on what that means. Right now my husband and I have a full house with three kids home from college, my oldest son and his girlfriend here, my Mom visiting from Ohio, and my sister and her son on the way. That is blessing number one for me – family.

I could not have a better partner in my life than my husband Michael. We are so well matched and yet wonderfully different. Besides that, he can still make me laugh. He is supportive, encouraging, and a fabulous financial and life planner. He is also a travel and trip planner extraordinaire. That is blessing number two for me – my husband.

When I reflect on my life I am thankful for my good health. Although I, like many, have had some health issues, I am not battling major life threatening one. I do have a vision disability and I have gone to the best doctors, but there seems no hope for an improvement much to my disappointment. That being said, you can accept health issues or fight them. This one I have just accepted and do the best with the vision I have. A self driving car may be in my future. That is blessing number three for me – health.

I am graced with wonderful customers for my business. I feel that I am at the peak of my profession and really love what I do and am good at it. The people that I work with are wonderful, more than customers to me, and are enjoyable to interact with.  As a result, this year is one of the best and most profitable years in my business’ history. That is blessing number four – great customers.

What are you thankful for today and tomorrow? Make sure to take the time to think about that question and then express to those around you that they are one of your blessings on Thanksgiving day.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

 

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Asurion – The Best Protection for Your Smartphone

My phone is on the fritz, HELP!
My phone is on the fritz, HELP!

If you do business via smartphone like me, to have your phone go on the fritz is enough to have you pull your hair out. I use a Samsung Galaxy S5 and am not really wanting to upgrade to have a not waterproof phone or one that may burn me when I hold it.  With my phone on the fritz and having just returned from vacation, I needed help fast.

For two years I have had extra insurance coverage for my phone and that of my staff. We use Asurion through Verizon. In less than 30 minutes on the phone with Verizon and then less than 10 minutes with Asurion, I had a new refurbished phone on the way.

I was concerned about getting a refurbished phone, but I have to say the phone I got had a brand new battery, looked sparkling clean and totally new. Glitchy behavior gone, my smartphone is now back to work and my old phone returned in the mail – all with totally no hassle.

I am so pleased with the process that I wrote this post just because I felt it important to share with my readers the service, speed, and hassle-free solution that Asurion has provided.

Thanks Asurion! My refurbished phone is great and I’d never know it was not brand spanking new.

Oh, P.S. I got a free one year no question warranty on the replacement phone giving me total peace of mind.

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Don’t Get Bumped Off the Grid by “Frontier” Hackers

I have just returned from vacation in Alaska and am here to tell you that the real frontier is alive and well. Surprisingly enough to me, there are those who relish living in Alaska off the grid in a “dry cabin” – without water, sewer heat, internet or even generator power.

My photo for this blog post is of the Hubbard Glacier which is 6 miles wide and 250 feet tall just above the water line. You can get an idea of scale from the tiny 6+ passenger boat in front by a calved iceberg.

It is this very real independent “frontier-like” spirit that makes Alaska so wonderfully wild and beautiful, but this same spirit lurks malevolently on the Internet. Surfing endlessly using high tech tools, spiders and robots in a cyber world that has no real boundaries are criminals, spammers, and schemers who are looking for easy targets. An unsecured WordPress website and even an html based website can be prey to these savvy attackers.

The best way to stay safe in this frontier environment starts with a super secure password for your FTP access, WordPress logins and hosting account. I do not mean using the most popular password in America which is baseball and putting a 1 behind it. I mean creating a password that is nearly gibberish and may even be hard for you to remember that contains capitals, symbols and numbers. My team likes to spell out passwords but exchange e’s for 3’s and a’s for @’s.

Don’t forget that you should have different passwords for different sites so don’t use your Facebook password for your FTP access and your WordPress login. I recommend using a password application like one that comes with Norton’s Internet Security or using a Word document to track your sites and unique logins to stay sane.

I do consider your best defense when it comes to hacking is to be proactive and to switch up your passwords every three months. As inconvenient as this sounds, getting hacked and having to pay for a clean up and losing business while your site is reworked is costly and even more inconvenient. Stay safe, it can be wilder than Alaska out there on the Internet!

All the Best,

Nancy C. McCord