9 Steps to Protect Yourself From Credit Card Fraud

Credit card fraud in America accounts for 47 percent of the worldwide total, and 76 percent of the data breaches[1]. In 2014, approximately 31.8 million Americans had their credit cards breached, a 300 percent rise in one year. It seems that as fast as technology moves to protect us, hackers are just as fervently seeking…

The Art (and Technology of) Cooking

As my family will attest, I love to cook. And eat. There is just something about food that is comforting. When I serve my family a delicious meal that I have made from scratch, with fresh, healthy ingredients (preferably from our garden), it makes me…happy! Years ago, my grandfather used to laugh at me when…

Tracking Endangered Humpback Whales in Hawaii

My family just got back from a week-long vacation on Maui. People keep asking me how the trip was and I never know quite how to answer… Amazing. Wonderful. Perfect. Without-a-hitch. The problem is that I don’t really know how to put what we experienced into words. Between the beach, the pools, the views, the…

Should Apple unlock its iOS for the FBI?

On February 9, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice ordered Apple, Inc., to unlock the iPhone 5C used by one of the shooters in the attack that killed 14 people at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, on December 2, 2015. Vital Information on an iPhone The FBI believes that Syed Farook’s phone—which…

Skiing with RFID

Getting Rid of the Traditional Ski Lift Ticket It’s cold outside, snowing like crazy, and here you are, at the base of a 13,000 foot mountain ready to be carried to the top by a little chair attached to a cable. The only thing standing in your way is a small piece of paper with a…

4 Barcode Apps that Will Scan that Weight Away

Raise your hand if you’re on some sort of diet or healthy eating regimen now that the holidays are over, like I am. It seems like everyone I know is trying to shed the extra bloat from too many cookies and egg nog. While types of diet vary, one thing remains constant: barcodes can help!…

Posting Barcodes on Social Media: Safe or Not?

Barcodes are wonderfully useful in so many applications. The world simply wouldn’t be the same without them. But when it comes to safety and security, it is important to remember that the information contained in a barcode CAN be stolen – and recent news headlines have alerted us to the fact that barcodes accidentally posted…

Extreme Makeover: Barcode Edition

At first glance, barcodes are pretty boring. Black, white, black, white, black…well, you get the idea. But the thing is, they are everywhere! Virtually every product packaged for sale in a retail venue is labeled with a UPC (Universal Product Code) and then later scanned at checkout. Honestly, the product competition out there is fierce…

The Rise of EMV and How it Will Affect You

What is EMV? EMV stands for Europay, Mastercard and Visa. It is a global plan to reduce credit card fraud in multiple ways by taking advantage of chip-card transactions:  EMV cards make the technology required to forge a fraudulent credit card much more expensive and out of the reach of potential criminals.  EMV transactions use…