The Techie Guy – complicated IT translated into simple English

Posted by: thetechieguy | January 27, 2012

22seven is safe & secure but banks are not happy

The banks are not happy. Following the launch of 22seven launches which required users to enter the personal banking information including their PIN, several banks have issues warning to their customers:

FNB’s Michael Jordaan has sent this Tweet:

ABSA has gone a little further by issuing this warning on their Facebook Page:

particularly highlighting 22seven as “conflict with clear fraud awareness messaging sent out by all major banks, as well as the South African Risk Association and the South African Police Force.”

I Tweeted Standard Bank to see what they say and the replied with this series of Tweets:

So it seems like the banks are pretty clear about a 3rd party having access to our PIN. Their rule seems to stick that its our responsibility not to give it out and if we do – we are the ones who are in breech so any consequences are ours to bear.

No one is disputing that 22seven has purchased THE best software in the industry to protect the sensitive information. The system they are using is called Yodlee which is the middle system between 22seven and the Banks. Yodlee’s role is to extract your financial information and make it available to 22seven. So it seems that even 22seven doesn’t have access to your info – only Yodlee’s system does and they have been around for many years providing leading world banks with management financial tools.

so what is the real problem ?

We have to ask ourselves what is the underlying issue here. Is it 22seven for daring to bring to South African a new service that is needed much like Mint.com does in the US ? or perhaps we should be asking our local banking system as to why they themselves have not brought us tools to better manage our money ? Why have they not made available any 3rd party tools to interact with the banks system in a controlled & secure way ? There are Share-trading platforms that have 3rd party APIs (programming term for allowing developers to “talk to them” in a predefined secure way) so that companies can build their own set of tools and still use the financial information in a secure methods – why have the banks not made this leap ?

22seven didn’t take the “cheap and nasty” way out and simply developed their website to automatically log into your banking site and do a “screen grab” to read your information – that would have been irresponsible. 22seven contracted one of THE most recognised players in the world for the most secure way to access the information.

Yes we have trust issues and should not be reckless and just hand out the PIN (or write the PIN on the back of the ATM card like so many do…) but should we not be asking why the banking system isn’t looking forward to provide better tools for us, their customers.

Regardless which way we look, and no matter how safe or secure their service, the Bank’s Terms and Conditions make it impossible for us to look elsewhere. Cartel anyone ?

update 27 Jan 2012: check out Simon Dingle’s view on why 22Seven is safe

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Posted in Ramblings, Social Mobility | Tags: bank, security

Posted by: thetechieguy | January 27, 2012

Facebook makes Timeline mandatory–5 common questions you should be asking

The Timeline has come to make a change in the way your Facebook looks. Facebook has announced that they will be rolling out the Timeline profile layout feature soon and it will be mandatory for everyone

“Over the next few weeks, everyone will get timeline. When you get timeline, you’ll have 7 days to preview what’s there now. This gives you a chance to add or hide whatever you want before anyone else sees it.”

Here are the 5 most common questions about Timeline:

1. What is Timeline ?

Mark Zuckerberg describes it as: “We want to design a place that feels like your home. Where you tell story online is very personal. You spend a lot of time curating it. We want to make timeline a place you’re proud to call your home.”

Timeline is a visual story of whats going on in your Facebook life ordered by the most resent – think of it as an online scrapbook.

Timeline replaces your current Facebook “look”. The same information that you currently have on your profile will be presented differently and will include the option to have multiple apps that slot into your profile.

2. What are Timeline apps ?
Apps make it easier for you to share your story with others. For example, when you add the Foospotting app, you are able to rate and recommend or not recommend a specific meal in a restaurant and this is instantly available for others to see inside your Timeline. [Retailers beware !]

Here are some apps that are available:

Foodspotting – “Find and recommend dishes, not just restaurants”
Foodily – “Follow friends and food experts to get yummy, beautiful recommendations of what to cook at home and share it all with friends. “
Ticketmaster – “Find and buy tickets directly on Facebook. This app will publish tickets you bought and RSVP you to events on Facebook”
Pinterest – “online pinboard”
Rotten Tomatoes – not clear but something about searches about movies/actors ?????
Pose – “best way to share and discover your lifestyle”
Kobo – “read books freely”
Gogobot – “plan the perfect trip”
TripAdvisor – find and rate hotels & holidays

3. What appears on my Timeline?
The usual suspects will still remains: Status, photos, who is friends with whom and other info you have in your profile currently. It will just be displayed differently.

4. What about privacy ? Can I select what appears on Timeline?
Timeline is editable so that you can control every aspect of it. Look out for the Facebook editing “pen” icons which allows you to hide or nuke activities, info, photos, events etc.

5. Its private ! I don’t want everyone to see everything, can I restrict who can see what ?
Yip, just like you can currently manage your privacy and limit who can see what, the same will apply for Timeline (drop down list allows you to select who can see what)

So we all better embrace Timeline – its coming if we

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Posted in Ramblings, Social Media, Social Mobility, Tech Tips | Tags: Common Questions, facebook, Timeline

Posted by: thetechieguy | January 26, 2012

Like something on Facebook by humping it…

Posted by: thetechieguy | January 26, 2012

22seven launches…&…crashes – Can we trust it with our PIN ?

DO NOT GIVE OUT YOUR PIN – golden rule. I broke it.

We are repeatedly told that no one, including bank tellers, will ever need your banks PIN. It is your security. It is your responsibility to make sure no one knows it. We have been repeatedly warned by every bank that if you give our your personal information and your account is accessed – TOUGH. You are in breech of Privacy Policy.

So along comes a services called 22seven.com which is an “independent online personal financial service” that aims to help consumers answer the question: “how do we make ends meet?”

“Our service doesn’t have all the answers but it does have a few insights,” says Christo Davel, CEO of 22seven. “22seven is founded on the idea that if we become more aware of why we make the decisions we do, we will be in a better position to make smarter money choices.”

The team at 22seven believes the flaw is that traditional financial management tools rely on objectivity, rationality, budgeting and discipline.

“The reliance on purely empirical data to make decisions is the problem,” says Davel. “People are hardwired to make choices on instinct, intuition and emotion. It doesn’t matter how many budgets we do or how many books we read, we will still act like the complex, emotionally governed human beings we are.”

22seven offers insight into how people make their money choices, and guides them to being and feeling in control of their financial lives.

So how does it work ?

You obviously have to sign up and you are walked through various screens of humorous prompts Kulula.com style.

Once you have completed the initial steps, you are asked to select your bank:

and then the unthinkable:

You HAVE to put in your login details, pin and password as if you are logging into your Bank’s website ! …eh….what ?????

At this stage, most people will do a double take and I suspect most people will abandon the service. (See Golden Rule above – never give our your PIN)

Whilst 22seven goes to great length to explain about security and that its a Read-only and you can not actually transact from this website, the fact remains that they have your information stored somewhere.

If you are able to get over that fear and put your confidential information in, the website then pulls your info directly from your bank (heart skips a beat when you get the “someone has logged into your online bank account” sms).

It seamlessly sets up all your accounts and then does a good job in categorising your expenses.

That is unfortunately as far as I got as the site had logged me out due to “technical issues”.

I suspect that they have not estimated the initial take-on popularity and the system simply fell over.

Here lies the main problem which is going to hurt: When you are dealing with people’s sensitive financial information and thiose brave early adopters who took the plunge and gave you their PIN, you can not afford to have your system crash. This raises serious concerns and doubt.

As can be expected, the Twittershepere has been abuzz with both positive and negative comments – not surprisingly Security dominates the chatter with even a Facebook Poll launched.

In Summary:

I am confused. Surely Management would have recognised that the PIN will be a major stumbling block. So why not have the facility to “Import Banks statement” as an alternative. This would have been prudent in the initial stages when you are trying to gain customer trust.

The choice of technologies also seems puzzling – the entire system is written in Flash which instantly leaves out the MAC iPad users. Why not use HTML5 ?

Finally, when you see the system taking strain, why not shut off any new registrations ? This gives your technical team the time to better bulletproof your system before opening it up to the public again.

What a pity. The service has such great potential and is very needed. I am looking forward to watching this service as it develops, fixes it bugs and see how it handles the security concern.

As for me, yes, I did sign up and put in my PIN. And Yes, I did delete my account and changed my PIN as the site started to crash around me.

Guess I also have trust issues…

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Posted in Mobile, Ramblings, Social Media, Tech Tips | Tags: bank, pin, security, trust

Posted by: thetechieguy | January 25, 2012

Twitter purchased Dasient to keep the baddies away…

With Twitter popularity exploding, it was just a matter of time before spammers used Tweets to distribute their rubbish. Twitter’s limited 140 character and the shortening of URLs with various services has made this even easier as you can not see which site the URL it taking you to until you click on it. Spammers other trick is to purchase Ads on Twitter which seem genuine however when anyone clicks on the ads, it forces users to download software, or be taken to unsolicited webpages.

Twitter has been active in trying to eliminate these types of malware and has announced it has purchased a security company, Dasient. It describes itself as “an anti-malware vendor for large enterprises in the financial services, media, and online sectors.”

Dasient’s blog reads as follows:

Since its inception, Dasient has been focused on solving web-scale security problems involving malware and other types of online abuse. In 2009, Dasient launched its web anti-malware platform, capable of scanning URLs and websites for the presence of harmful content. In 2010, Dasient launched the industry’s first anti-malvertising service to protect ad networks and publishers from the scourge of malicious ads. Over the last year, we have been very active in securing the ads and content of the some of the industry’s largest ad networks and web sites.

So what will Dasient do for Twitter users ?

Dasient software will scan all adverts to look out for malicious code to protect unsuspecting users. The software will also be used to scan for other types of attacks such as phising scams that are very popular with Direct Messaging (DM) and and @mentions.

We have all seen Tweet such as these: “surely this cant be you in this pic ?” and “free iPad click here” and “you were so funny check this pic of you”

Lets hope that with the aid of this technology Twitter will be a safer place to be as we rely more and more on it for instant news, communication and information.

The terms of the purchase deal are not public but seems like it must be worth a great deal as Dasient is winding down – well done !

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Posted in Social Media | Tags: hack, purchase, Twitter, Virus

Posted by: thetechieguy | January 24, 2012

MTN unveils its new refurbished Data Centre

I was invited to attend the official launch event for MTN’s refurbished Data Centre in Galo Manor.

I have been a supporter of MTN’s hosting facilities for many years. I have my own servers and customer servers in the hosting facility from way back when the business was known as UUNET, then it changed to Verizon and now MTN Business. As “Galo” is MTN’s flagship hosting environments, I was very keen to see what changes have been made and also to ensure that my customers are still in good hands.

I must report back that I am not disappointed.

The new facilities have been retrofitted – which is a fancy word to explain that the same facilities have been upgraded with new technology, new power, new redundancy, new systems and even new shiny cabinets. What is unique is that the same facilities have been upgraded whilst live customers were in the building and operational. This was not always a smooth path and downtime due to power issues did occur but overall customers did not feel the impact of the changes that were happening in Galo.

So what have been done ?

The main focus is on power management. Each cabinet now gets 22amps (vs 16amps in the past). Power utilisation is also measured in real-time down to a cabinet level which allows MTN to better manage and distribute power to its customers. The power is backed up by UPS and not just one but three generators. Those customers currently hosting their servers in Galo would be thrilled to hear that. We now can say that generator issues are a thing of the past.

A unique offering from MTN is that customers can now be charged on a Pay as you Use basis and not a flat fee. This benefits customers with only a few servers.

The physical environment where the servers are hosted is now 2000 square meters with an additional 500 square meters in the waiting just in case they have to increase capacity again.

Security has been increased dramatically from perimeter security to internal security, authentication, ID verification, Bio metrics, card authentication and even a “bank style” revolving door. All of these have already been implemented.

MTN has even thought of the poor techies who have to do the work to maintain their customers equipment and so they even upgrade the work area. This area now includes a microwave, coffee machine, couches and a TV – those of us who spent many many many many many many hours working into the night will really appreciate this !

The only issue I could see when when going into the Data Centre was that the cell phone signal was very poor in certain spots. On Vodacom I could only pick up 1 bar. This is an issue if you are working in the Data Centre and need to make calls to the office or suppliers. This is also an issue if your servers have any 3G modems attached to them.

Other new services:

No more paying for both incoming and outgoing data – just pay for the one traffic (whichever is the greater)
If you host in multiple location, there is a new services to connect your servers – no more MPLS and paying for that.
No more space constraints (with limits) – there are half cabinets, full cabinets and even caged areas for those larger equipment.
Full Power Management reporting available online – ensuring MTN lives up to its SLA

Overall the facilities are impressive and on a world-class basis. I have no hesitation in continuing host my servers there and recommend the facility to anyone looking for a safe, secure and stable home for their precious equipment.

Note: no pictures were allowed to be taken of the inside of the facility

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Posted in Events, Tech Tips | Tags: Data, mtn

Posted by: thetechieguy | January 24, 2012

FNB brings eWallet to PEP

The holy grail of banking – how to get to the “unbanked”

Looks like FNB has once again taken a step ahead by offering eWallet – a facility to use your cell phone to shop and do other banking transaction.

FNB (First National Bank) and PEP (retailer) have partnered together to offer this solution to their customers allowing any branch of PEP to be used as a traditional bank teller.

Anyone with a bar-coded South African ID can deposit money, send money, withdraw money, make payments and purchase goods at any PEP store in the country.

CEO of FNB, Michael Jordaan says that the partnership is a milestone for the bank in its efforts to use innovation and technology to make banking available to South African consumers. “With this partnership we are further extending banking services to all South Africans, with or without a bank account. This will enable them to send and receive money instantly, a simple yet safe solution in providing access to financial services”.

“FNB eWallet is a market leading FNB Innovation and this initiative takes our product to an additional 1 200 new outlets,” adds Jordaan.

Since its launch in 2009, more than 700,000 eWallets have been created. On a monthly basis an average of 50 000 new eWallets are created.

So how does it work ?

How to use eWallet at PEP (Sender):

Deposit Money
You require a valid RSA ID and Cellphone number
The cashiers scans your ID and captures the Cellphone number
(If this is the first time you use the service, the cashier will capture your name and surname as well)
You’ll hand over the amount of money you want to deposit into you eWallet to the cashier
You’ll receive an SMS confirming your deposit on eWallet
Send Money with eWallet
Having received funds into the eWallet (deposit at PEP, Money transfer via FNB cell phone banking/ another eWallet /internet / ATM), dial *120*277# from your cellphone and select “Send Money” Option
Enter the cellphone number of the person you want to send money to.
Key in the amount you want to send and confirm.
Recipient receives SMS confirmation

How to use eWallet at PEP (Recipient):

Withdraw at any PEP stores
Recipient can withdraw money at any PEP store or FNB ATM
You will receive SMS confirmation of how much money has been sent and who sent the money
Dial *120* 277#.
Select Withdraw cash and thereafter select Retail PIN if you are PEP store
You will receive SMS with Reference number.
Provide the cashiers with the Reference number, cellphone number and amount you want to withdraw.
Enter PIN on the PIN Pad and the cashier will hand you over the amount of money you have requested.

In summary:

In a recent Youth Consumer Panel discussion we had and Mobile web Africa 2011, not a single person used eWallet. The main reason was “none of my friends are using it so I dont trust it”

eWallets have had a rough time. There is a trust issue that consumers need to understand and the targeted PEP audience will need a lot of convincing before this solutions becomes mainstream. Security for both the PEP employees (now handling more cash) and the eWallet user is a concern.

I applaud FNB (and PEP for being open to the idea) for once again being bold and innovative in bringing e-solutions to the market !

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Posted in Mobile, Tech Tips | Tags: bank, eWallet, FNB

Posted by: thetechieguy | January 23, 2012

If your site has too many ads–beware ! Google has a new algorithm to filter you out

Getting tired of this too ?

You do a search on Google for some information, and click on a site in the Search Results. But then, you have to click through multiple pages, frame, bars, banners and continue buttons before you get the info that you came looking for. I am searching for info not ads and it seems Google agrees.

Google has had enough of sites that have way to many adverts and not enough content. So Google has a new algorithm that will filter out these sites. Simple.

Matt Cutts, Distinguished Engineer posted this on the Blog:

In our on-going effort to help you find more high-quality websites in search results, today we’re launching an algorithmic change that looks at the layout of a webpage and the amount of content you see on the page once you click on a result.

As we’ve mentioned previously, we’ve heard complaints from users that if they click on a result and it’s difficult to find the actual content, they aren’t happy with the experience. Rather than scrolling down the page past a slew of ads, users want to see content right away. So sites that don’t have much content “above-the-fold” can be affected by this change. If you click on a website and the part of the website you see first either doesn’t have a lot of visible content above-the-fold or dedicates a large fraction of the site’s initial screen real estate to ads, that’s not a very good user experience. Such sites may not rank as highly going forward.

Smart site owners will redesign their sites to better balance content and ads so that its win win for everyone or run the risk of not coming up on Google results at all !

nice move Uncle Google.

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Posted in Ramblings, Tech Tips | Tags: Ads, Algorithm, google

Posted by: thetechieguy | January 23, 2012

Make money with Mobile Apps in South Africa–here is how:

So much has already happened this year and we are not even out of January yet.

CEOs resigning (Altech, Mweb, Incredible Connection). New CEO being appointed (Cell C, RIM).

But this nothing in comparison to the event happening in January. Of course I am referring to the Mobile Monday launch event sponsored by Vodacom Digital Media

This event will discuss the Mobile application development in South Africa and the opportunities they present.

As the power behind the launch of the Vodacom App Store and the other side of the App coin, the Vodacom Developer Programme, Vodacom Digital Media will also report back on the State of the Mobile Nation.

There will be a panel discussion that will consist of the following industry thought leaders:

Gift Mphefu (Portfolio Manager, Vodacom App Store)
Adrian Lee (Mobile Content Lead, Samsung Mobile SA)
William Price (Global of E-Marketing, South African Tourism)
Grant van Wyk (Head of Mobile Development, Pbel)
Toby Kurien (Android Freelancer)

If you have an application that you have developed, then make sure you enter it so you can have your name in lights (ie. projected on the wall) as you present it to the crowd (over 250 people) . And there is more ! if you are selected as the top 3 apps, you will get yourself a Samsung Galaxy Tab (personally love this device).

If you don’t have an application, I would strongly encourage you to attend the event anyways. Why ?

It is FREE
Only the best in the mobile sector are there
Its the only place where you get the right mix of Techies, Marketing, Media, Bloggers, Consultants, Agencies, Brands
You get a chance to network so WHEN you eventually do need a Mobile App or Service – you know who to contact
Awesome vibe, great atmosphere, and its a Monday night so it makes the week go faster

Register here before there is no more room :http://momojoburg.eventbrite.com/

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Posted in Ramblings, Social Mobility | Tags: event, Mobile apps, momo, Samsung, vodacom

Posted by: thetechieguy | January 23, 2012

How 3 million emails changed the world

We heard about it, We protested, We won…well that almost what happened to the SOPA and PIPA bills which were withdrawn on Friday 20th January 2012.

The semi-official version is:

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said he would postpone a critical vote that had been scheduled for Jan. 24 "in light of recent events."

Lamar Smith, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, followed suit, saying his panel would delay action on similar legislation until there is wider agreement on the issue.

"I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy. It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products," Smith said in a statement.

So it seems that the massive on-line protests, petitions, Blogs and Tweets actually made a difference. Drawing enough attention to a specific topic can have a dramatic effect.

Here are “inside numbers” of what has been labelled as the “the largest online protest in Internet history":

With the use of Technology, we are able to mobilise the masses and act with a unified voice. No longer are we limited to the group of people we know personally, but with Social Media and the Web a message is powerful enough to travel & spread beyond your own city, country, continent and even language.

Mass action is very powerful and the Usage of Social Media allows these messages to spread across the globe. However, the opposite side of the coin is also true. Mass hatred and intolerance can also be spread across the world.

Technology has made it very easy to take a stand – lets harness this for a better world.

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Posted in Mobile, Ramblings, Social Media, Social Mobility | Tags: PIPA, protest, SOPA

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The Techie Guy – complicated IT translated into simple English

22seven is safe & secure but banks are not happy

Facebook makes Timeline mandatory–5 common questions you should be asking

Like something on Facebook by humping it…

22seven launches…&…crashes – Can we trust it with our PIN ?

Twitter purchased Dasient to keep the baddies away…

MTN unveils its new refurbished Data Centre

FNB brings eWallet to PEP

If your site has too many ads–beware ! Google has a new algorithm to filter you out

Make money with Mobile Apps in South Africa–here is how:

How 3 million emails changed the world

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