Varun Almaula - less IS more OR less

Before I Let You Go...

So here you are, at the most recent result after typing "install ubuntu linux samsung np530u3c" in your favorite search engine...

security

Cybersecurity Education is a Social Equity Issue

Making the connection between cybersecurity and social equity: How cybersecurity education can help increase confidence and participation in the digital world for the underserved population.

product

Cards FOR Humanity: 'we care' Community Mental Health Careboxes

What do you get when you combine PostSecret, Little Free Libraries, and Cards Against Humanity? ..."we care" Community Mental Health Careboxes: A #HackMentalHealth hackathon project focused on lowering the threshold for your first mental health experience.

product

Top Samples From A Smörgåsbord of Jobs-To-Be-Done Resources

A collection of top takeaways from various Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) resources for product development. This post focuses on what they have in common, and not how they differ.

security

A Useful Band-Aid For Sites Still Using SMS for Logins

This entry describes how use a free Google Voice VOIP number to receive SMS login codes for websites that don't support Authenticator apps or hardware keys for 2FA.

security

🔥HOT DEALS ON FREEZES❄ Infinite Credit Freezes for the Low Price of $0

🔥HOT DEALS ON FREEZES❄ Once upon a very odd and scary time, security and privacy conscious citizens had to fork over anywhere between $10-$50 to evil credit bureaus every time they needed to get a new mobile phone line. This dark age ended on September 21, 2018.

tech

No VM required: How to instantly 'spin-up' your favorite Linux distro+GNU in Windows 10

Install a Linux/GNU distro in minutes and run it instantly in Windows without a Virtual Machine using the new Windows Subsystem for Linux feature of Windows 10

tips

Our Weird Obsession With Keeping Our Trash Bins Clean

SF Bay Area households can cover San Francisco entirely in a thin layer of plastic liner bags every 7 months. A couple years ago, I finally caught up to the reality that lining trash bins with plastics bags is not only a relatively useless endeavor, but also harmful to the environment.

security

Stop, Drop, & Freeze. Rinse & Repeat. (The Equifax Edition)

Two years ago I was notified that Experian had a major data breach that affected 15 million customers records including date of birth, social security numbers, drivers license IDs, addresses

conservation

SF Zero Waste Update: If You Know How to Sort, You Can Recycle Soft Plastics

Recology recently made a wonderful update to their San Francisco recycling program concerning those pesky soft (soft = crumples in your hand) plastics that end up everywhere.

tips

How 6 Eyelets and 50ft of String Can Save You $37 + 175KWh Every Year

About 3 years ago, I bought a pack of eyelets and a spool of string with the simple goal of hanging a clothesline in my storage room to air dry my clothes.

product

Okta@Home

A case study looking into how Okta, an enterprise identity management security company, can expand into the consumer market.

security

Why You Need to Enable MORE Notifications

We receive far too many notifications from services that don't matter and far too few notifications from services that do (specifically services that deal with your money).

security

When Basketball and Cybersecurity Collide

Independently, I love basketball and cybersecurity. Unfortunately in this case, the same doesn't hold true for their intersection: "Bucks leak tax info of players, employees as result of email

conservation

The Weekday (Vege)||(Pesce) tarian

This post IS NOT about promoting vegetarianism, veganism, raw vegansism, or eating more healthy. This post IS about how to make your impact on long term sustainable food consumption in

security

Your IRS IP PIN Might Actually Hand Your Refund to Criminals, Unless...

Freezing Your Credit - The Gift That Keeps on Giving You thought the worst had already passed. After you got a notification in the mail that your SSN and other

product

The Power of 'Undo'

One of the benefits of not having any brand allegiance in the 'smartphone wars' is that I've been able to appreciate subtle differences between brands after bouncing from Windows Mobile,

conservation

The Big Blue Bin

Apparently that warm and fuzzy feeling I get when filling up my blue recycling bin with every type of paper, plastic, and metal I could find was only a feeling.

security

My High School's Mascot Is 'Gator'

So now you know my answer to "What was your high school's Mascot?". But that's OK. I don't actually use this security question anywhere, and if I am

security

Let's Get 2nd Level

The last step in this three part blog post, is to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for any account supporting it (full list here). 2FA can help you buy some time

security

You Only Need To Remember 4 Passwords

Its Time To Simplify Your Password Game Text passwords might be dying, but they aren't leaving anytime soon. You can now use your fingerprint to unlock your phone, your face

security

Applying Common Sense to Data Breach Response

I believe some major revisions are needed for post breach etiquette (if you do too, please sign this MoveOn petition and whitehouse.gov petition). While there have been some recent

security

Why Is Experian Asking For My Money After Losing My Social Security Number?

Some of the recent breaches that hit Anthem and Experian are worst case scenarios for consumers. In these cases, your core personal information (SSN, maiden name, previous addresses, etc.) are

security

Stop, Drop, and Freeze

Watching that 3rd rerun of Sports Center? Checking Instagram for the 4th time this hour? Unless you are doing something urgent, it is probably worth it to set aside an

about

Why this?

There are all sorts of entities duking it out for your valuable resources: your time, thoughts, physical space, personal information, money. We've been trained to sign up for dozens of credit cards just to save 10% on a purchase, get excited about scoring yet

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