Chris Pirillo » fax-machine

Useless Technology

Chris Pirillo — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:26:03 +0000

Raise your hand if you actually still have a land-line in your home – and use it. I have a feeling not many hands will be up in the air. Many people simply don’t see the need to pay for this type of service when they already shell out money for their cellular device every month. We need our cell phones, right? However, if we have those, do we really need a land line as well? The answer – for millions of users – is a big fat NO.

This makes me wonder what other types of technologies are considered outdated or useless. Things such as CDs are obsolete in large part these days. They aren’t gone, no. But they certainly don’t sell the way they used to. With services to listen to and download your favorite music out there, who wants to go buy a disc that you aren’t supposed to rip onto your devices? I’m pretty sure almost no one does, which is why record companies keep screaming about their bottom line.

Head to any electronics department, and you’ll find a number of VCRs for sale. Who the hell uses one of those anymore? If you still have old VHS tapes lying around, you’ve likely converted them into digital media to use on your computer or other (newer) devices. We want to save those memories, right? Those little tapes don’t last forever, and they just don’t play well, anyway.

Another piece of “obsolete” tech I see everywhere are fax machines. Can anyone tell me who still USES those things? I wish they would die a terrible death in a fire or something. There is actually one of these devices in my home. I can’t tell you when the last time was that I used it, though. These days, I scan documents into the computer and transmit them via email. Remember, no one has land lines so how the heck are they going to receive a fax?

What other types of technologies currently being sold make you scratch your head and wonder why anyone bothers? What is obsolete in your mind?

Useless Technology

Are Copy Machines a Security Risk?

Chris Pirillo — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:37:45 +0000

Are Copy Machines a Security Risk?

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Almost all copiers made since 2002 have a hard drive buried inside the machine. Just like the ones in your computer, those hard drives store data and information. They store images of every document that is scanned, copied or emailed. This turns your office necessity into a time bomb. If someone is in the Identity Theft business, a standard used copier could be a pot of gold.

“The type of information we see on these machines with the social security numbers, birth certificates, bank records, income tax forms,” John Juntunen said, “that information would be very valuable.” Juntunen’s Sacramento-based company Digital Copier Security developed software called “INFOSWEEP” that can scrub all the data on hard drives. He’s been trying to warn people about the potential risk – with no luck.

For the purpose of this investigation, CBS news correspondent Armen Keteyian and Juntunen bought several used copier. At the time of purchase, they had no idea who had owned the machines previously. Once they pulled the hard drives out, they found thousands of pieces of sensitive information. One of the copiers had documents still on the copier glass, from the Buffalo, N.Y., Police Sex Crimes Division.

The results were stunning: from the sex crimes unit there were detailed domestic violence complaints and a list of wanted sex offenders. On a second machine from the Buffalo Police Narcotics Unit we found a list of targets in a major drug raid.

The third machine, from a New York construction company, spit out design plans for a building near Ground Zero in Manhattan; 95 pages of pay stubs with names, addresses and social security numbers; and $40,000 in copied checks.

But it wasn’t until hitting “print” on the fourth machine – from Affinity Health Plan, a New York insurance company, that we obtained the most disturbing documents: 300 pages of individual medical records. They included everything from drug prescriptions, to blood test results, to a cancer diagnosis. A potentially serious breach of federal privacy law.

It seems as though no one realizes how huge of a potential threat to security this is. A large majority of people who have used copy machines never knew that there IS a hard drive in them which keeps a copy of everything they’re doing. It’s almost as though this is being swept under the proverbial rug. Why isn’t anyone making more noise about this? Why aren’t there headlines everywhere shouting to people to warn them of this situation? There should be warning labels on every one of these machines, and pages in the instruction booklets telling consumers how they can permanently remove the data in the event the machine is sold or given back at the end of a leased period.

How many times have you used a device like this in a work environment to scan, fax or copy things of a sensitive nature? How often have you used a “public” machine (for instance, in a bank) to fax important personal information to a company… such as your insurance company? Do you have any idea where your data is now? I have a feeling that you don’t. And that, my friends, worries me.

Are Copy Machines a Security Risk?

Can You Send a FAX For Free?

Chris Pirillo — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 04:32:52 +0000

Can You Send a FAX For Free?

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Yes, I was trying to send you a FAX. I don’t know if you have a machine that can pick it up. If you don’t, I’m interested to see what happens when you pick this up! Anyway, there are times when you need to Fax something, and don’t have a machine of your own. Luckily, there are free services that let you send them without installing anything – or without having to buy a machine.

Using MyFax, you can send up to two facsimiles per day – absolutely free! Enter the To and From information, and attach your FAX (.pdf, .doc, etc). Enter an additional message, such as an Attention name, or similar instructions. That’s it – your FAX is ready to send.

It doesn’t get easier than this, and you certainly won’t find a cheaper service than this. I absolutely love coming across things like this. If you know of other excellent (and free!) services to help us with our daily lives, please pass them along!

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Can You Send a FAX For Free?