Cook Family Foundation

As part of the NonProfit Capacity Building Program, Tech Talk networking began in December 2014–but it’s not too late to join in!  If you’d like to be a part of it and haven’t yet responded, reply to this post, or Tweet us @ShiaNPCB or @awolber

The tech group will meet again on January 27, 2015 at Safe Center (1300 North Hickory Street, Owosso, MI) where we’ll focus on security.  Read through the following to learn a few ways to improve the security of your accounts and devices. If you want to improve your security setup, bring your phone and laptop to the session for some “hands-on” help.

Improve Security with 3 Apps by Andy Wolber (@awolber)

Too often, headlines proclaim “Millions of passwords stolen”. The news may cause concern. But unless you’re hacking or hiring for the compromised company, there’s not much to do after a security breach except change your password and monitor your accounts.

Yet you can improve your security with three apps: two to protect your accounts, and one to protect your device. The apps? A password manager app, a two-step authentication app, and a device remote management app.

Protect your accounts

1. A password manager app

A password manager app solves two problems: length and re-use. A password manager generates a long, random string of characters for each of your online accounts. With a password manager, you never use the same password twice. Should a site be hacked, you only need to change the password for that single account.

I use LastPass, which works on most operating systems (Windows, Linux and Mac) and with most browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Internet Explorer). I pay $12 per year for LastPass Premium to access LastPass on mobile devices (Android, iOS, Blackberry, and Windows Phone). You might also consider Dashlane. (See “The best password managers for PCs, Macs, and mobile devices” by Tim Ferrill at Infoworld.com for more reviews.)

Both LastPass and Dashlane encrypt your information, then sync your passwords to their servers. This encrypted data syncs to each of your devices. Because of this, use a strong password to secure access to your password manager app.

2. A two-step authentication app

A site that supports two-step authentication requires you to login with your username and password, then enter a six-digit number for access. You obtain the six-digit number from your phone, either from an app or a text message. Even if someone hacks your username and password, they’d still need your phone to access your account.

You need two things for two-step authentication to work: you need a phone to obtain the code, and the site needs to support two-step authentication. Facebook supports two-step authentication, for example, as do Apple, Dropbox, Google, and Microsoft. Follow the links to instructions to enable two-step authentication at each of these sites. See https://twofactorauth.org/ for a long list of others sites that support two-step authentication.

Protect your device

3. Device remote management app

Apple, Google, and Microsoft all allow you to lock, locate, or erase your phone remotely. Follow the links to configure these capabilities for your Android, iOS, or Windows Phone device.

If you lose your phone, lock your device first to protect your data. Then login to your account online to locate your phone — or force it to ring, which is helpful if you’ve misplaced it nearby. As a last resort, send a signal to erase your phone the next time it connects to the network.

Similar tools protect laptops or desktops. For example, Prey protects Windows, Mac OS, and Linux systems, as well as Android and iOS devices.

Additional security

For most people, the three steps above will improve security. A few other actions help, too, though.

• Install updates to your system and software regularly to protect against known exploits (more on this for Android, iOS, Windows 7 or Windows 8, and OS X).
• Require authentication — such as a username, password, pin code, password, or fingerprint — for access. Set this up on Android, iOS: passcode or Touch ID, Windows 7 or Windows 8: password, PIN, or picture, or OS X.
• Connect securely to password-protected WiFi networks you trust. Use a VPN, a virtual private network, when you access WiFi elsewhere. Lifehacker explains VPNs and suggests a few VPN providers. I use PrivateInternetAccess.com.
• Encrypt information wherever possible. Encrypt information when stored, to prevent access to your data even if someone achieves access to your storage. In other words, if I remove a drive from your laptop, I can bypass the operating system and access the data, unless you’ve encrypted your information. Follow the links to learn more about system encryption for Android, iOS, Windows, or OS X systems.

• Backup your data automatically, wherever possible (more on this for Android, iOS, Windows 7 or Windows 8, and OS X).

To ensure complete computer security, build every part of your system from scratch — and never connect it to a network. Since that’s likely not practical, then at least install and configure the apps above to make your accounts and devices more secure today.

Tom and Bruce Cook stand with SRESD program administrators Denise Brady and Lisa Seigel

The Shiawassee Scholars program, a partnership between the Cook Family Foundation and the Shiawassee Regional Education Service District (SRESD), has cultivated the abilities of over 750 high school students on their path to college for 15 years now. Back in 1999, when the most recent Scholars were not even born, the Shiawassee Scholars program was launched to help academically talented students succeed in high school, gain admission to competitive colleges, and be best prepared for life.

Each year a group of approximately 50 eighth graders are identified as “high academic achievers” and invited to participate in the Shiawassee Scholars program. This provides a variety of support programs and activities to help the students better prepare for their pursuit of a college career. Students and their parents are invited to educational seminars throughout their high school years, the students are invited to tour a university campus, and each student may apply for a scholarship to pursue an academic/career interest such as a summer camp or advanced learning opportunity.

By identifying and recognizing academically talented students early, the Shiawassee Scholars program seeks to encourage students to continue to pursue academically challenging activities during their high school years. This unique program provides important opportunities beyond what their school or families may be able to offer. Several Shiawassee Scholars have gone on to prestigious colleges and have received significant merit-based scholarships to do so.

If you know a talented eighth grader, contact your middle school counselor or the SRESD for information on taking the SAT test this January, the results from which will be used to select Scholars.

If would like more information about Shiawassee Scholars, please visit the SRESD website or call 989-743-3471.

As part of the NonProfit Capacity Building Program, Tech Talk networking will begin on December 17 at 10:30 am.  If you’d like to be a part of it and haven’t yet responded, reply to this post, or Tweet us @ShiaNPCB or @awolber

Personal learning: it’s a process by Andy Wolber

How do you manage what you see, save, search, and share?

You have a personal learning system. Read an article? Copy it. Hear something new at a workshop? Write it down. Need to know something? Google it. Want someone else to know? Share it online.

Your personal learning system includes all the tools you use to read, save, search, and share information.

Many people rely on an old technology to read and save information: paper. You might not think of paper as a technology, but it is. In China during the 2nd century BCE, people wrapped delicate objects with paper to prevent breakage — just as we do today. But by the 3rd century CE, writing on paper was common. It took around 500 years for people to adopt the behavior of writing things down.

Today, we use software to search and share in ways that paper can’t. Need to know something? These days, our first response might be to search or ask for help on a social network. Chances are good that useful resources already exist. Search tools and social networks help connect us to information — and more importantly — other people.

Plenty of tools handle these same tasks — reading, saving, searching, and sharing — for private information, as well. For example, a keyword search of your files might help you locate a document. Or an article might be shared privately with your colleagues, not posted publicly. In most cases, you choose whether to keep your information private or share it.

Mostly Digital Example

Example of personal learning tools. Yours will be different. (That’s good.)

Here’s my personal learning system. I likely use a few more digital tools than some people, but this set works well for me. I follow more than 450 sites with Feedbin: when a new post appears at one of the sites I follow, it shows up in Feedbin. I follow about 1,000 people on Twitter, 150 people on Google+, and subscribe to 9 podcasts (audio shows), and 6 magazines. And I read the New York Times newspaper delivered to my driveway daily.

When I see something online that I want to read later, I save it with Instapaper. I bookmark websites I want to find again at Pinboard. I saves notes in either Evernote or Google Docs.

I search frequently to find items I’ve saved in Instapaper, Pinboard, Evernote or Google Apps. I also use Google’s advanced search options often. And I use the Chrome browser on all of my devices, so I can always search my browser history.

When I find something useful or interesting, I most often share it to Twitter or Google+. Every now and then I even email someone a link directly when I want to make certain they’ll see it.

TO DO  (before December 17, 2014)

Your system will look very different. You’re not me. Your history, job, and tool preferences will likely be different. That’s good. It will make our discussion of tools much more interesting!

Before we meet, I’d like you to identify the tools you use…

• To see new information (read, watch, or hear),
• To save information for later review or reference,
• To search, and
• To share with other people (publicly or privately).

It may help to think through a typical day. What do you read, watch or listen to? How do you learn what’s happening at work? How do you share that with your staff — or board members, volunteers, or friends? You might be surprised at the range of information sources and tools.

Put together your list, then bring it to the meeting ready to discuss with the group when we meet on December 17 at 10:30 am at the YMCA (515 W Main St, Owosso, MI 48867).

Be ready to discuss how the tools you use help you learn what you need to know or connect you to people that can help you.

Feel free to keep your list in digital form. No need to print anything. If you like, take a few minutes to illustrate your personal learning workflow. Share your workflow publicly wherever you’re active online, if you’re comfortable doing so.