Achieving Geek Shui: Secure Data Deletion
Congratulations! You either bought or are going to buy a new computer. Of course, you'll need to backup and migrate important files, browser favorites, emails, and other data from your old computer to the new one. Once you've done this and verified all the data is present and accessible on the new computer, you can throw away, donate, or sell the old one, right? Wrong. Ensuring that personal files and data are securely deleted prior to disposing of the old computer. What do you mean delete the data. "When something is deleted from the hard disk and the recycle bin is emptied, it's gone." This is a falsehood that most people unfortunately do not understand. Simply deleting a file and emptying the recycle bin does not remove it forever. Fragments of the file or files remain in pieces, scattered throughout your hard drive. In general, reformatting a computer's hard disk before disposing of it is a fairly safe way of protecting yourself. In today's day and age, though, most computer users have files which contain personal information, such as names, social security numbers, bank account information, and more. The sensitivity of this data and the possibility that others may use it to steal your money or entire identity make it imperative that you ensure it really is deleted forever. (Note: To be clear, though, this is not intended to encourage the malicious deletion of another user's data or circumvention of local, state or federal laws. Remember that the procedures or tools mentioned in this article are basic, publicly-available tools. This does not mean that the FBI, CIA, NSA, or other law enforcement agencies do not possess data recovery tools that are more robust than the deletion ones mentioned here.) Since most users are normal people, with normal lives and normal data, you only need a few basic tools to ensure data is securely deleted. As a user, your main requirement is a tool that doesn't just reformat the hard drive or delete the data. You want one that deletes and, then, overwrites it with 0's and 1's, one or multiple times. What does this mean? Think of your data like a jigsaw puzzle of a cute puppy. Deleting breaks the files into pieces and scatters them around.(Geek Shui Translation: You break apart the pieces from each other and mix them up.) Overwriting deleted files with 0's and 1's makes them harder to put back together. (Geek Shui Translation: Once you have the pieces broken apart, you randomly spray the top of the pieces with red and blue spray paint.) Finally and depending upon the sensitivity of the data and amount of time you have, you repeat the process of overwriting with 0's and 1's three, ten, or thirty-five times. (Geek Shui Translation: You again mix up the painted puzzle pieces, repaint them, and repeat the same process as many times as desired.) The result of the process, as a whole, should ensure that the average snoop or criminal cannot put your puzzle back together and have the satisfaction of seeing your cute puppy.
Announcing Geek Shui Living’s Latest Achievement – The Digital Ozmoziz Website
Geek Shui Living is proud to announce the web debut of Puerto Rico-based Digital Ozmoziz. Digital Ozmoziz provides visual content and post production services for businesses and non-profit organizations. Their portfolio of successful television advertisements and list of satisfied clients includes well-known companies, such as Banco Popular of Puerto Rico, Martin’s BBQ, OneLink Cable, Siemens/Tren Urbano, and the American Cancer Society of Puerto Rico – just to name a few! The Digital Ozmoziz professionals entrusted Geek Shui Living to develop and deploy their website, based on their need for an attractive, functional, and self-sustaining forum to showcase their services and growing portfolio. By analyzing the company’s specific needs, Geek Shui Living was able to provide Digital Ozmoziz with a static content and blogging capabilities, as well as incorporate and leverage the power of social networking sites such as YouTube, Twitter, and FaceBook. The Digital Ozmoziz website is just another example of how Geek Shui Living focuses on the customer’s needs, minimizes additional costs, and maximize return on investment. Visit their website to learn more about this up and coming company.To celebrate Digital Ozmoziz web inauguration, Geek Shui Living is offering a 20% discount, on web design and development costs (see offer details) to any Puerto Rico-based business who mentions Digital Ozmoziz during their initial consultation with a Geek Shui Living professional. Geek Shui Living congratulates Digital Ozmoziz and wishes them the warmest wishes for continued success and an increasing profit margin!
Offer Restrictions: (1) Discount excludes initial hosting and setup fees; (2) Offer expires 12/31/2009.
Achieving Geek Shui: Preventing Inbox Overload
Ask any computer user if they receive too much junk email, and you are likely to hear a resounding, "Yes!" Reducing the amount of email spam you receive, though, is not a difficult task. Most people have at least two email accounts. Normally, people have an email account from work and one at home. How you use these email addresses, though, is often a good indicator of how much junk you will receive. So what "Geek Shui" principles can you use to prevent inbox overload? We'll cover a few that will get you started on the right path....
