Month: June 2005

Apple Offers $50 Credit for IPod Batteries

According to the settlement’s terms, people who fill out a claim form are entitled to receive $50 redeemable toward the purchase of any Apple products or services except iTunes downloads or iTunes gift certificates. They can redeem the voucher within 18 months of final settlement approval at any bricks-and-mortar Apple Store or online.


Consumers who had battery troubles can also get their battery or iPod replaced. Apple currently replaces or repairs defective products that are returned within one year but the class-action settlement extends the warranty to two years, plaintiffs’ lawyers said.


Consumers who file a claim must have a receipt.


Read more: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050602/apple_ipod_batteries.html?.v=5


I tried following the link for www.appleipodsettlement.com, but it seems to be a little burdened right now.

Cool Idea To Thwart Phishing Attacks

The Wall St. Journal has an article today about one step Bank of America is taking to thwart phishing attacks:



First, the bank allows customers to “register” frequently-used machines, such as a home or office PC, with its online system. When customers use one of those computers to access the site, they are shown a picture after entering a username. If the picture matches the image the user chose when setting up the account, the customer knows they are in the right place, and then enters a password to access accounts.
 
When customers try to access accounts from a computer that Bank of America doesn’t recognize, the image doesn’t appear. Instead, users must answer a challenge question, like “What was your high school mascot?” The bank tracks computer IP addresses and also uses cookies to identify PCs.


The on-line article has a nice graphic that shows the UI part of the process.  It looks like if you save the cookie in your computer, you’ll go straight to the photo or challenge question, after which you can enter your passcode.  Otherwise, you’ll have an additional step of entering your user ID.