First, I met my friend Rushi at Third Wave Coffee in Bellandur at 5 PM in the evening.

After leaving the cafe, I tried to book a ride back to my flat in HSR Layout but was not getting anything.

So, then I decided to go directly to my other friend Aarsh’s new flat in Koramangala which was about 7-8 km from there.

I was not getting any bike or auto rides for a while as they were either taking too long to arrive or getting cancelled by the drivers.

Finally, I did get an auto rickshaw just when it started drizzling so it was good to be in an auto instead of a Rapido bike.

I had come empty-handed without my umbrella or water bottle or anything which was a rare miss on my end.

On the way to Koramangala, it started raining heavily.

By the time I reached, it was a complete downpour.

And I could not find the right building in the society and was getting completely drenched in the heavy rain.

Finally, a few minutes later Aarsh came downstairs from his building but he also didn't have an umbrella.

When we got upstairs, I took off my soggy shoes and socks and sat under the fan to dry off a little, and chatted with Aarsh and his flatmate Suman for a while.

Since they had just moved into the flat, they didn't have any stuff set up there.

They didn't have drinking water or any food at the flat and it was raining heavily.

So, we decided to wait for a while for the rain to slow down so that we can order something for dinner.

After an hour or so, the rain slowed down so we thought we will walk to a nearby area where there seemed to be many restaurants according to Google Maps.

But on the way there, we found that a nearby junction was submerged in knee-deep water and vehicles were getting stuck there.

Luckily, we managed to find some interior street routes to get to the restaurant area.

But when we got there, we didn't find any decent restaurants actually. Just small shops and an old-school style market.

So, we were confused about whether to walk back home and order something or continue walking to find some decent place to eat.

While we were deliberating that, it again started raining.

We stood under the canopy of a shop on the side of the road.

Then, we saw a small bakery on the opposite side of the road and went there to grab something little to eat as we were all very hungry.

We ate some veg roll, puff, etc, and took a Sprite to quench our thirst.

After that, we again stood there waiting for the rain to slow down but it only got worse.

Then, I saw the board of Tomba Kitchen, a Manipuri cuisine restaurant which we had noticed on Google but hadn’t found earlier while roaming in the area before the rain.

So, we thought we will give it a shot.

It was a very sketchy building but the restaurant was indeed there on the first floor.

When we went inside, the restaurant was completely empty.

Nevertheless, it turned out to be a nice, cozy place run by and frequented mostly by Northeast people. This area apparently had many people of Northeast origin living there which is why this restaurant was also there.

But the items on the menu were all very confusing as we had no idea about Manipuri cuisine.

But anyhow since we had no other option, we decided to eat there even though we were unsure about the food options there.

After asking the sole waitress there, we ordered a couple of dishes as recommended by her.

It actually turned out to be really delicious and we ordered one more dish.

We were very happy with the meal in the end and were delighted to find such nice food in a hidden restaurant in that area.

We also enjoyed the early 2000s era boy band music playing in the restaurant which was quite nostalgic for all of us.

We were joking around that this night had become such an adventure because of this rain. We also reminisced that viral video of an artist who trolled the pothole-filled roads in the city.

By this time, the rain outside had slowed down but there were still thundering clouds above so it could start pouring again at any moment.

So, we decided to immediately start walking back to the flat which was about 1.5 km away.

But we found that the road was clogged with knee-deep water again because of the rain while we were eating at the restaurant.

It was very risky to walk through that so we again took a side street route to get around the water.

We had barely walked 500 metres and then it started raining again.

We stood under the roof of a shop for a few minutes.

The rain was not too heavy so we thought we might as well just keep walking on even if we got wet.

We kept walking for a few hundred metres and then again had to stop near another shop as the rain got heavy.

Meanwhile, we saw there was a Ganpati procession with dhol nagada going on in the opposite street and people were dancing even in the middle of the rain.

It was a crazy atmosphere!

They were dancing, bursting firecrackers, and carrying the Ganesha idol while it was raining! Nothing stops the Indian people from celebrating festivals!

We also enjoyed the dhol nagada for a bit and then walked through the procession and got to the other side.

Finally, after this long detour, we were turning around towards the society road.

But as we got there, we came to the same junction where we had seen water clogging before.

Now, there were vehicles completely stuck and stranded in that water.

One WagonR car had smoke blowing out of its engine and a couple of autos had also come to a halt. There were so many people also stuck at the bus stop there.

Even though it was raining constantly, there was no point in stopping so we rolled up our pants again and waded through that water.

After walking for another 10 minutes, we finally got back to the flat fully drenched again.

When we got upstairs, it was around 10 PM.

Aarsh had decided to go back to his relatives' place nearby in Koramangala itself for the night as his luggage was there and I had to still get back to my home in HSR Layout.

But the rain was not stopping at all.

We were fully wet and there was nothing we had in the flat, not even water to drink which is such an irony.

In that rain, there were zero chances of getting any auto or cab or any mode of transportation now.

We stood there outside the flat since we didn't want to get everything wet inside.

We were waiting for some auto or cab booking but then we just sat inside trying to dry off a bit since we were not getting anything in Ola, Uber, and Rapido.

I charged my phone a little bit and we listened to a few songs to just pass the time till the rain might slow down.

Though Suman had offered me to stay there for the night, I knew I had to get back home as the next day was going to be busy for me.

It got to almost midnight when the rain did slow down somewhat and I finally got one auto rickshaw booked on Rapido after constantly trying for 2 hours on all the apps.

I and Aarsh decided to share the auto since his relatives' place was along the same route toward HSR Layout.

But the society gate was closed since it was late at night.

So, we had to walk outside to the main gate in the rain to get to the auto.

Finally, we were on our way.... or so we thought.

We were nearing the Koramangala Indoor Stadium on the way towards Sony Signal when we saw the water level on the road ahead was too high.

We were nervous about whether our auto rickshaw could go through that.

But the auto driver was a brave man and he kept pushing through.

The water had come inside the auto and our feet were in the water but he kept pushing ahead.

But sadly, the auto engine started sputtering a bit and came to a halt in the middle of the water that was around 2 feet deep.

The road divider was also fully submerged under the water.

We rolled up our pants again and stepped out into the water to get to the other side somehow.

We walked on the divider of the road which was barely visible and it was like doing a tightrope walk because the water was threatening to throw us off balance because of the waves created by a couple of buses passing by.

Not just our auto rickshaw, but there were many other vehicles stranded in that place. Some people had left their cars behind which were stuck in that water.

I clicked a couple of pics at this moment just to remember it for posterity. The vehicles you see behind us in the selfie were all just stuck there.

We kept walking for about 100 metres and got to the next traffic signal where the road was relatively clear.

A lot of people at the traffic signal were taking photos and videos of the whole situation as we both and a few other people were trying to get out of that water.

Perhaps, I and Aarsh might have ended up on some TV or social media footage of this whole event.

Our hopes were sinking about getting back to our homes tonight.

Aarsh suggested I walk back to their flat and stay the night there with Suman but again I insisted on finding some way to get back to my home.

I had even thought of asking for a lift from that police bus that just passed us.

Meanwhile, our auto driver and another good samaritan had pushed the auto out of the water to that traffic signal.

And our hero driver somehow magically started the auto engine again and shouted to us to come back and sit in the auto.

We got back in and then he took a different route to avoid the water-clogged road ahead and took us straight towards Hosur Road where things were not so dire.

But it was a bit off track from where Aarsh had to reach so he got down and decided to walk through the streets towards his destination about 2 km away.

My auto driver finally drove off towards Silk Road and then got me safely to my home in HSR Layout.

I had already made the payment for the trip on the app via UPI but decided to give the driver some extra cash and thanked him for accepting the ride and getting me home somehow through all that difficulty.

At around 1 AM, I finally reached back home and it felt like the end of an unexpected adventure in my time here in Bengaluru.

I had thought the evening would be a nice, relaxed time with my friends as we would sit and watch the India-Pakistan cricket match of the Asia Cup that evening, along with the F1 Grand Prix race and Premier League football matches going on.

I didn't get to do any of those things but ultimately it was a crazy night of adventure in the rain which I and my friends will never forget.

I had never seen rain like this in the city and it keep raining throughout the night pretty much till the sun came up in the morning.

For those looking for more context about these crazy rains, you can read more about it in the news.

For me, it all ended just fine without too much personal impact but I hope that the administration takes some measures to improve the public infrastructure and prevent the adverse impact of such weather situations in many areas of the city.

Yes, let’s get ready to bid farewell to an old friend. Privacy.

Privacy is one of the fundamental human rights which is about to be endangered. It may sound like a sci-fi story, but it is the ugly truth we are about to face.

The world is going to be transparent to everyone with access to the Internet and electronic devices. With the emergence of social networking platforms, anyone can find where you live, work or even what you eat for lunch with some search queries! And the cyberspace is going to be more interconnected as we step into the Internet of Things era. So let’s be mentally and emotionally be prepared to forfeit the right of ‘privacy’. Although some service providers have started offering end-to-end encryption for users, but ultimately the encryption is just a feature in the database which can be backdoored using sophisticated tools.

The idea of privacy has been re-written many times since the evolution of the internet and the Internet was like the discovery of fire, which accelerated the human progress to new levels. It’s like a chain reaction, first the internet, then smart phones, then social media, and now IoT. We are living under a cloud of data where everything is saved at a remote location. Everybody knows that whatever you put on the web is under the threat of a potential exposure. Still, we are furious to fill pages after pages of social networking websites.

And the worst part is, we know that we are the products of these social networking platforms, and the primary source of revenue for them, but we still spend an average 2–3 hours everyday sharing our location, our kids pictures, our travel scheduled, and our life journey.

That shows that we are willing to interchange privacy for other services. Since no one cares about the privacy, you may wonder why I am telling about something we don’t even care about. Well, things are about to change in a huge way. Internet of things is not something to be taken lightly. It is the collection of ‘versatile’, ‘smart’, and ‘revolutionary’ inventions in a single basket. Let’s make it simpler. It’s like a busy street where you keep your jewels in small boxes and hoping that it will be safe from thieves. Once we implement IoT, then there is no mode called ‘offline’ because we are not using IoT, instead we are living with IoT.

When the number of devices increase, so does the amount of information shared. Considering the increasing addiction of the current society to technology, what we are about to witness is quite uncertain. The IoT network is going to accommodate information regarding your behavior, tastes, health and many other things. When the countless sensors surround us, the concept of privacy will be nothing but a ‘lame joke’. Especially when nations are equipped with advanced tools for surveillance and spying as a preparation to face the IoT era. It’s time to rewrite the definition of ‘privacy’ and ‘anonymity’, once again.

This article was originally published at Cyware Journal.

Amen! Stay tuned to keep learning!

Mind doing a small favor to me? Press the “❤” button below. It would mean a lot to me! :)

What is it? What are it’s uses? How to use it?

ll of the major players in the web browser category come with a feature called “Incognito Mode” or “Private Mode”.

What is Incognito?

Privacy mode or “private browsing” or “incognito mode” is a privacy feature in some web browsers to disable browsing history and the web cache. This allows a person to browse the Web without storing local data that could be retrieved at a later date.
It hides all the web activities of one user on a single, shared personal computer by automatically deleting all the browsing history, search history and all cookies at the end of the session.

Okay. But what is its use?

It is a common misconception that Incognito Mode is only useful for people to hide their online activities while viewing adult content. But there are actually many practical uses of Incognito mode which are surely not embarrassing.

1. Multiple Accounts:
   Most websites only allow you to login to one account at a time but sometimes it is possible that you might need to access two different on the same website simultaneously. For example, most of us have multiple email accounts so you can access one account normally like you do while opening the second account with Incognito mode in a second window.
2. Privacy on public computers:
   Many times we use public computers like the ones at a library, cafe, airports, etc to access your web accounts. In such a case, you don’t want that public computer to store your browsing history and cookies which someone can access later. If you forget to log out of an account, then someone can access it when they visit that website. So, it’s better to browse in Incognito mode making sure all of your history and cookies are deleted automatically once you close it.
3. Avoiding Paywalls:
   We all run into websites which have hidden nuisances in the form of paywalls which pop up after you have viewed a certain amount of content on the website or used it for a certain amount of time when the paywall pops up asking you to pay to continue getting access to it.
   To avoid such paywalls and use such websites infinitely, you can use Incognito mode so that your session will be automatically deleted on closing it every time making that website think you are a new user every time you access it using Incognito mode.
4. Unbiased Search:
   Nowadays, all websites including search engines like Google track your online behaviour using cookies due to which they are able to provide search results based on your preferences, likings and search history. But what if you want an unbiased result while searching something? Simple. Use Incgonito Mode.
   Also, you can use a search engine like DuckDuckGo which doesn’t track it’s users. Visit this to learn more.
   NOTE: This point is not always true nowadays because many major websites track you even when you are not visiting their site. For example, Facebook has recently started tracking people who are not Facebook users also.

Sounds good. But how do I use Incognito mode in my web browser?

It’s pretty easy. In most modern web browsers, click on “File” in the top menu bar to open a dropdown menu. There will be an option named “New Private Window”. Click that to open a new browser window in Incognito mode.

There are also keyboard shortcuts to open Incognito mode in most web browsers.

For Google Chrome: (Press CTRL(command) + SHIFT + N) or (ALT + F Then press I) to access Incognito Mode

For Mozilla Firefox: (Press CTRL(command) + SHIFT + P) or (ALT + F Then press W) to access Private Browsing

For Internet Explorer: (Press CTRL(command) + SHIFT + P) or (ALT + T + I) to access inPrivate Browsing

NOTE: You can use incognito mode in major mobile web browser applications also. To turn on incognito browsing, simply visit your mobile browser’s “Settings” page.

Cool. I will start browsing privately!

But wait a minute! Incognito mode doesn’t mean complete privacy!

Yes, it does hide you web activities from other users on the same shared personal computer but it doesn’t hide your activities from everyone else in the internet.

Private Browsing doesn’t make you anonymous on the Internet. Your Internet service provider, employer, or the sites themselves can still track what pages you visit. Private Browsing also doesn’t protect you from keyloggers or spyware that may be installed on your computer.

So even though YOU can’t see your web activity….

…..the rest of the internet can!

Stay tuned to keep learning more about cybersecurity :)

Mind if you do me a sweet favor, and tap the ♥ button if you enjoyed this article? It’d mean the world to me. 😊

In the first part, I talked about the Security and Privacy sections in Facebook account settings.

Now, I will move on to the remaining sections.

Timeline and Tagging Settings

This section allows you to set some other privacy settings for your Facebook account. Here you can choose who can add things to your timeline, who can see posts you share on your timeline and how to manage tagging options.

Who can add things to my timeline?

This option allows you to choose who can post to your timeline and also option to review a post you are tagged in before it can appear on your timeline.

Who can see things on my timeline?

This option allows you to have a look at your timeline as some other person and review what they can see on your timeline.
Here you can also select who sees posts you have been tagged in on your timeline and choose who sees what others post on your timeline. In the last two cases, it would be advisable to set these options to Friends.

How can I manage tags people add and tagging suggestions?

Using this option, you will be able to check the tags friends add to your photos before they appear. This one is a very important privacy option because if someone adds a tag to your post, his/her entire list of friends will see your post. Here you can also choose who all to add to the audience of a post when you are tagged in it and who should see tag suggestions when photos looking like you are uploaded.

Blocking Settings

In the Blocking section, you can restrict the way other Facebook users, apps and pages interact with you.

Restricted List

This list can be used to restrict specific people from seeing your posts on your timeline but they will still be able to see your public posts or your posts on a mutual friend’s timeline and the posts that they are tagged in.

Block Users

The people you add to this list cannot see your timeline, cannot tag you, invite you, chat with you and add you as a friend.

Block Messages

Here you can block someone from contacting you via chat on Facebook or Messenger.

Block app invites

Here you can set it to automatically ignore any app requests from someone in future.

Block event invites

Here you can do the same for event invites to ignore invites from someone in future.

Block apps

Here you can block apps so that they can’t contact you in future.

Block Pages

Once you block a Page, that Page can no longer interact with your posts or like or reply to your comments. You’ll be unable to post to the Page’s Timeline or message the Page. If you currently like the Page, blocking it will also unlike and unfollow it.

Mobile Settings

This is one of the most important security settings for your Facebook account. To enable Login Approvals, you need to enter your mobile phone number here. If your browser is not recognized, you will receive a code via SMS to login to your Facebook account.

Apps

Here you can see which all 3rd party apps have access to your information and you can remove it from the list, in case you don’t use it anymore or if it is found suspicious. Also, here you will find options to set privacy for content posted using old versions of Facebook app and option to control what info about you can other bring with them to an app they use.

Ads

Ads based on my use of websites and apps

If you turn On this option, Facebook will track your behaviour online and show you ads similar to your interests.
For example, if you visited the Facebook page of a restaurant nearby, you will most likely see an ad of that restaurant prominently in your sidebar after that.
If you prefer to not get tracked, turned this option Off.

Ads on apps and websites off of the Facebook Companies

This option decided whether these preferences also apply to other websites and apps of the Facebook companies.

Ads with my social actions

This option lets you choose who can see your social actions on ads. For example, if you like a certain Facebook page from the ad shown to you, then your friend will see the same ad paired with “<your friend> likes this”. If you turn this to No One, then no one will be able to see your social actions paired with ads.

Ads based on my preferences

This provides a tool to set your preferences for Facebook ads which will be used to show you ads relevant to your preferences. If you remove all preferences, you will see still see ads but they might not be relevant to you.

With this, we have covered all of the important settings for your Facebook profile to improve your security and privacy on Facebook. I will next post a cheatsheet that you can download with actionable steps to improve your Facebook security.

This guide was originally pusblished at Cyware Journal.

The Complete Guide to Facebook Account Security and Privacy 2016: Part 2

Stay tuned for the cheatsheet and more such resources!

Mind if you do me a sweet favor, and tap the ♥ button if you enjoyed this article? It’d mean the world to me. 😊

Social media has now become an integral part of our lives. And while talking about social media, it’s hard not to talk about Facebook which is the biggest social network out there with over a billion active users. It’s almost hard to find someone who has never used Facebook. Even many of our parents, neighbours, distant relatives now are active on Facebook. Sometimes many of us also add unknown people to our friends list just after a quick glance at their profile.

The problem with social media arises there is no clear distinction between private life and public life. If we do not carefully understand privacy on social media, we are at the risk of malicious actions of cyber criminals. So is there a way to understand this in an easy way?

Yes, there is. Follow this guide to learn the basics of security and privacy settings on Facebook.

The simplest step is first checking out the Privacy Shortcuts provided by Facebook.

Privacy Shortcuts

Your privacy shortcuts give you quick access to some of the most widely used privacy settings and tools. Click the below button

at the top of the page (besides notifications button) to see shortcuts that help you manage:

• Who can see my stuff?
• Who can contact me?
• How do I stop someone from bothering me?

This is also where you’ll find the latest privacy updates and other helpful tools. The shortcuts you find here may change over time to reflect the settings and tools that are most relevant.

Facebook Account Settings

Now we will dive into the actual Settings of your account which has a lot of sections including General, Security, Privacy, Notifications, Apps, Ads, Videos, etc but we will here focus on Security and Privacy.

Security Settings

Click on the Security section in your Facebook account Settings page. Let’s go through these settings one by one.

Login Alerts

This option allows you to receive alerts as notification and an email when anyone logs into your account from an unknown device. It is a good idea to turn on the notification and even the Email alert so that you can get to know instantly if any unauthorized person accesses your account.

Code Generator

Code Generator is part of an extra security feature called login approvals. If you turn on login approvals, you’ll be asked for a special security code each time you try to log into your Facebook account from a new computer or mobile phone.

Code Generator is a feature in the Facebook app and creates a unique security code every 30 seconds, even if you don’t have access to text messages (SMS) or an internet connection. You can use this code in addition to your password to log into Facebook. You can also use Code Generator if you ever need to reset your password.

To get your code on your Android:

1. From your Facebook app, tap the hamburger icon (looks like this)
2. Scroll down and tap Code Generator
3. Use the code to log into Facebook

To get your code on your iPhone or iPad:

1. From your Facebook app, tap More
2. Scroll down and tap Code Generator
3. Use the code to log into Facebook

App Passwords

App passwords are one-time passwords you can use to log in to your apps and help keep your Facebook password safe. If you have login approvals turned on, you won’t have to wait to receive a code when you use an app password. Instead, you can skip login approvals and log in immediately.

Note: Facebook saves a list of the apps you generate app passwords for, but it doesn’t save the passwords. If you log out of any of your apps, generate a new password.

Public Key

This option allows you to manage an OpenPGP key on your Facebook profile and enable encrypted notifications. Also, here you can download Facebook’s public key which will be needed to setup encrypted connection with Facebook. For those who are not aware about this encryption, I suggest reading this Wikipedia page.

Trusted Contacts

Trusted contacts are friends you can reach out to if you ever need help getting into your Facebook account (ex: you forget your Facebook password and can’t get into your email account to reset it).

After you set up trusted contacts, next time you can’t get into your account your trusted contacts can access special, one-time security codes from Facebook via a URL. You can then call your friends to get the security codes and use those codes to access your account.

To edit or remove trusted contacts from your account, follow steps 1 through 3 and click Edit next to your trusted contacts.

Learn how to use your trusted contacts to get back into your account.

Your Browsers and Apps

Here you can review which browsers (from respective devices) have been marked as frequently used by you. If some browser seems suspicious or unknown, then it’s better to remove it.

Where You’re Logged In

This option shows all the places from where you have logged into your Facebook account including web browsers, mobile apps, Messenger apps, etc. Again, it is advisable to click on “End Activity” beside any of it which seems suspicious, unknown or on an old device.

Legacy Contact

A legacy contact is someone you choose to look after your account if it’s memorialized. Once your account is memorialized, your legacy contact will have the option to do things like:

• Write a pinned post for your profile (ex: to share a final message on your behalf or provide information about a memorial service)
• Respond to new friend requests (ex: old friends or family members who weren’t yet on Facebook)
• Update your profile picture and cover photo

You also have the option to allow your legacy contact to download a copy of what you’ve shared on Facebook, and we may add additional capabilities for legacy contacts in the future.

Your legacy contact can’t:

• Log into your account
• Remove or change past posts, photos and other things shared on your Timeline
• Read messages you’ve sent to other friends
• Remove any of your friends

Deactivate Your Account

This option is pretty self-explanatory. Deactivating your account will disable your profile and remove your name and photo from most things you’ve shared on Facebook. Some information may still be visible to others, such as your name in their friends list and messages you sent.
Now let’s move on to the Privacy Settings.

Privacy Settings

The Privacy settings help you review basic privacy settings and make sure your profile and the content you shared are viewed by the audience you select. Let’s run through each of the options.

Who can see my stuff?

You can manage the privacy of things you share by using the audience selector right where you post. This control remembers your selection so future posts will be shared with the same audience unless you change it. The basic options available are:-

• Public
• Friends
• Only Me
• Custom
• Close Friends
• Family
• …..and more based on your pages, locations, lists, etc.

It is advisable to not keep the visibility as public for posts that are more personal in nature. In this same section, you can review your posts and your Facebook activity by using the Activity Log, or limit the audience for your posts in the past.

Who can contact me?

Here you can choose who all can send you a friend request.

Who can look me up?

With this option, you can choose if you want to be looked up by people using your e-mail address or your phone number. Also, you can select if you want search engines to send someone looking for your name to your Facebook timeline. This is an important privacy setting that you should consider, since your Facebook timeline will appear in search engine results if someone searches for your name.

In the next part, we will examine the next few sections — “Timeline and Tagging”, “Blocking”, “Mobile”, “Apps” and “Ads”.

This article was originally published at Cyware Journal.

The Complete Guide to Facebook Account Security and Privacy 2016: Part 1

Stay tuned for the next part and more such resources!

Mind if you do me a sweet favor, and tap the ♥ button if you enjoyed this article? It’d mean the world to me. 😊

Step by step guide to a more secure account

Since the growth a lot more people use Gmail for their email, either using Google’s website in a web browser, or through an email client. When you use Google for your email — as well as for search, maps, and more — you have a number of security and privacy options you can set.

In this article, you will learn how to run a Google Security Checkup, a Privacy Checkup, and how to tweak Google’s settings, so your account is secure. And I’ll walk you through Google’s Gmail Security Checklist.

Begin by going to https://myaccount.google.com, which is the control center for your Google account. There are 3 sections on this page, one for Sign-in & security, one for Personal info & privacy, and another for Account Preferences.

Google Security Checkup

Start with the Security Checkup. Click Get Started in that section, sign into your account, and follow the instructions. There are five items in this checklist to run through.

Recovery Information Check

Google asks you to enter a recovery phone number and email address. This helps you get back access to your account if you’ve lost or forgotten your password, so it’s a good idea to enter phone numbers. After filling that section in, click Done.

Recent Security Events Check

You can now see recent security events. This tells you when you logged into your account from different devices, and lists any changes you’ve made, such as to your password, or to your recovery phone or email. If anything looks suspicious, click Something Looks Wrong, and then follow the instructions. Otherwise, click Looks Good.

Connected Devices Check

Here you can now verify all your connected devices. These are computers, tablets, and smartphones through which you have logged into your Google account. If you’ve recently sold or given away a device, it’s a good idea to remove it from the list. Or if you see an unfamiliar device in the list, you should remove it. Click Something Looks Wrong, and follow the instructions.

Account Permissions Check

In this section, you can check your Google account permissions. This is a list of apps and websites that are authorized to access your Gmail or Google account. If you’ve tried out some apps, for example, but no longer use them, you should click Remove here for every such app. Click Done when you’re finished.

2-Step Verification Settings Check

The final section is for 2-Step Verification. I’ve earlier mentioned two-step authentication in Cyware daily tips. Google offers a similar feature, which protects your email and the rest of your Google account. It’s a good idea to set it up if you haven’t already. If you have already set up 2-Step Verification, you’ll see your phone numbers here. If not, you can turn on 2-Step Verification. See this Google page for instructions on how to turn this on.

When you’re all done, you’ll see a summary of what you’ve checked. Click Continue to go back to your account settings page.

Google Privacy Checkup

The Privacy checkup offers another group of settings that you should check. From the account page, click Get Started under Privacy Checkup.

Most of these settings apply to Google+, YouTube, and what type of data Google stores, and who can view it. Have a look through these and adjust anything you don’t like.

Gmail Security Checklist

The Gmail Security Checklist is a 9-step checklist that is specific to Gmail accounts. It includes items such as creating a strong password, setting your recovery options (which we saw above), checking your account for unusual activity (also above), and then looks at specific Gmail settings.

To check settings for your Gmail account, log into that account. Above your inbox, to the right, you’ll see a gear icon. Click this, and you’ll see a number of settings. The page in the Gmail Security Checklist shows which settings you should specifically check to ensure that your Gmail account is secure.

Other steps in this checklist tell you to check your computer for malware, ensuring that your operating system is up to date, and downloading important app updates as well. You should especially make sure your web browser is up to date; if you access your email with a browser, security holes in this app could leak your email, or open you to security threats.

It’s a good idea to go through all this checkups once a month. Google makes it fairly easy to manage security on your account, as long as you know where to look.

This article was originally published at Cyware Journal.

The Complete Step by Step Guide to Google Account Security

Stay tuned to learn more and get exclusive resources :)

Sources:

https://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/how-to-manage-gmail-and-google-security-and-privacy-settings/

https://www.grahamcluley.com/2016/03/better-protect-google-account-step-verification-2sv/

Mind if you do me a sweet favor, and tap the ♥ button if you enjoyed this article? It’d mean the world to me. 😊

What is the value of your old clothes? From a true story that inspires me

Michael Jordan was an African-American man, born in 1963, in the slums of Brooklyn, New York.
He had four brothers and his father’s wages were not sufficient to provide for the whole family.
He grew up in a poor neighborhood which was full of discrimination, to the point where he could not see any hope for the future.

When he was 13 years old, his father gave him a piece of used clothing and asked: “What do you think the value of this outfit would be?”

Jordan replied, “Maybe one dollar.”

His father asked, “Can you sell it for two dollars? If you can sell it, it would mean that you are a big help to your father and mother. “

Jordan nodded his head, “I’ll try, but no guarantee that I’ll be successful.”

Jordan carefully washed the clothes clean. Because they didn’t have an iron, to smoothen out clothes, he leveled it with a clothes brush on a flat board, then kept it in the sun to dry. The next day, he brought the clothes to a crowded underground station. After offering it for more than six hours. Jordan finally managed to sell it for $2. He took the two dollar bill and ran home.

After that, everyday he was looked for used clothing, washed and ironed it and sold it in the crowd. More than ten days later, his father again gave him a piece of used clothing, “Now think of a way that you can sell these clothes for 20 bucks?”

Jordan said, “How is it possible? This outfit can only fetch two dollars at the most. “

His father replied in an effort to inspire him, “Why don’t you try it first? There must be a way.”

Finally, Jordan got an Idea He asked for cousin’s help to paint a picture of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse on the garment. Then he tried to sell it in the school where the children of the rich study. Soon a housekeeper, who was there to pick his master, bought clothes for his master. The master was a little boy of only 10 years but was very fond of clothes. He loved it so much and he gave a five dollar tip. 25 dollars was a huge amount
for Jordan, the equivalent of a month’s salary of his father.

When he got home, his father gave him yet another piece of used clothing. “Are you able to resell it at a price of 200$?” His eyes lit up.

This time, Jordan accepted the clothes without the slightest doubt. Two months later a popular movie actress from the movie “Charlie’s Angels”, Farah Fawcett came to New York for her Movie promos. After the press conference, Jordan made his way through the security forces to reach the side of Farah Fawcett and requested her autograph on the piece of clothing. When Fawcett saw this innocent child asking for her autograph,
she gladly signed it.

Jordan was shouting very excitedly, “This is a jersey signed by Miss Farah Fawcett, the selling price is 200 dollars!”He auctioned off the clothes, to a businessman for a price of 1,200 dollars!

Upon returning home, his father by broke into TEARS and said, “I am amazed that you did it My child!
You’re really great! “

That night, Jordan slept alongside his father. His father said, “Son, in your experience selling these three pieces of clothing, what did you learn about success?”

Jordan replied, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

His father nodded his head, then shook his head, “What you say is not entirely wrong! But that was not my intention. I just wanted to show you that a piece of used clothing which is worth only a dollar can also be increased in value, Then how about us — living & thinking humans? We maybe darker and poorer, but what’s the difference? “

This thought enlightened young Jordan. Even a piece of used clothing could be made dignified, then why not me? There is absolutely no reason to underestimate myself.

From then on, Michael Jordan felt that his future would be beautiful and full of hope.

This story inspires me a lot and I hope it will help you all too! :)

Our potential is so great, and should not be viewed small & low only because of our status, looks or wealth. Even a diamond is just a stone before it has been polished.
Keep improving yourselves, trying your best and striving ahead!

Mind if you do me a sweet favor, and tap the ♥ button if you enjoyed this article? It’d mean the world to me. 😊

The tiny drops caress my face

Falling straight from the sky, as if in a race

Soothingly they work their silent magic

Unfolding memories, making me nostalgic

I silently watch as the wind blows

Thinking deeper as every moment goes

The tiny drops nourish my mind

Just as they do, the green of every kind

Teaching me lessons that no one wrote

Like fruits of my own thought

— Parin Vachhani (A poem inspired by the rain today)

Tiny Drops was originally published in Poets Unlimited on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Harnessing the power of icons to communicate in foreign lands

I love travelling. Being an Indian, I have travelled a lot in India and recently also outside India. And every place I have gone to has a local language of it’s own.

I always wished I could speak in Telugu while living in Hyderabad to easily explain the directions to a cab driver or speak in Mandarin while giving order in a restaurant in Singapore.

But unfortunately I cannot and tools like Google Translate still have a long way to go. Also, such tools are useless if you are in a remote place with no Internet connectivity. In such cases, your best bet is to try and explain something to a local person by using hand gestures because even English doesn't work in most places.

But in this age of computers and mobile phones all around us, we still haven’t understood the potential of a common design language used in icons and emojis throughout the world for everyday communication.

Fortunately, an idea came into the mind of George Horn, a Swiss traveller who was travelling through Asia in 2013 on “cheap motorbikes” with his friend Florian Nast. They partnered with Stefan Streit and in late 2015 and they created their brand Iconspeak.

After having had some snake for dinner we sat down in a bar with two Mekong-buckets, which is a bottom half of a large PET bottle, filled with a wild mix of spirits. We reflected on our past days on motorbikes in a foreign country and culture. Many times we were confronted with a language barrier that was only to be overcome by drawing signs, symbols or icons on a piece of paper, map, or into the dirt. We thought it would be great to have an essential set of icons with you, permanently, so that you could just point on whatever you need — and people would understand. Soon the notepad was pulled out again and we started listing more or less essential icons that would have been of great help during not just ours, but basically anyone’s trip.

-Iconspeak Company Blog

https://iconspeak.world/blogs/main/64643525-chapter-1-from-dirt-to-shirt

Some of the early ideas…

…which resulted into the T-shirt for travellers.

They created a useful T-shirt printed with 40 universal icons, perfect for those occasions when you don’t speak the local language. Soon, they also introduced other products like caps, bags, tank tops, etc based on the same concept. The prices start at $22.

This is an innovative idea which points towards the potential use of modern software design language as a means of communication between people who don’t speak the same natural language.

Mind if you do me a sweet favour, and tap the ♥ button if you enjoyed this article? It’d mean the world to me. 😊

Iconspeak was originally published in Way To Do on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

When Mathematics Meets Art

Deepart is based on deep learning — multi-layer neural networks which are supposed to mimic human brain. The project uses a pre-trained neural network for detecting geometric shapes in the image. The algorithm extracts the geometric shapes from the images and applies texture from the ‘style’ image, typically a painting by an artist, to the content image provided by the user.

It basically takes a photo that you upload and redraws it in the style of another photo you upload or a style among the famous paintings shown on the website.

After the publication of the original Gatys, Ecker and Berthge paper many implementations appeared on-line. As it was associated with Deep Dream project at Google, deep learning enthusiasts tried to write the code and run it on their computers. The problem was that the technology, while having the potential to attract ordinary users, was used only in the tech community. We thought of bringing it to the public by using cloud computing. The main obstacle is that processing of a picture takes a lot of GPU time, which leads to high cost of servers. But it turned out that some users are willing to cover that cost and we managed to build sustainable, partly free web application.

— Michał Warchoł, Deepart team in an interview

This application was created by Łukasz Kidziński & Michał Warchoł based on a paper: Leon A. Gatys, Alexander S. Ecker, and Matthias Bethge in the research paper entitled ‘A neural algorithm of artistic style’.

An open-sorce implementation of this neural style algorithm is also available on Github at this link.

Also, for the more curious ones, you can deploy it on an Amazon EC2 instance by following this very helpful article found on HackerNews.

This is a wonderful way of combining mathematics and art using the tremendous computing power available on modern cloud based clusters.

Here are some more examples:

And me myself:

Here is the comparison between actual submission, the style applied and the final result:

I don’t know about you but I am definitely addicted to this kind of pics.

Mind if you do me a sweet favour, and tap the ♥ button if you enjoyed this article? It’d mean the world to me. 😊

Thanks :)

DeepArt was originally published in Way To Do on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.