addresses

Skype exploit reveals user IP addresses

A simple Skype exploit can reveal IP addresses -- remote and local -- of any user.

A blog post by skype-open-source runs through the process of obtaining a user's IP address. Essentially, all a person has to do is start the process of adding a contact with a specific user name. Instead of sending a contact confirmation, the person can click on the information card to obtain the IP address of that particular user.

The process only works if the other user is online. The only method of protecting against this is to log off of Skype when you'… Read more

Easily share your contact info using ContactMonkey

If you're looking for an easy way to share your contact card, give ContactMonkey a try. By listing your information on ContactMonkey, you'll be provided with a Web page where your contact info will be listed.

Visitors of your page are then able to view your info, as well as given the option to download your contact card by clicking on one of the 19 different devices or programs supported by ContactMonkey. By supporting so many different contact card formats, ContactMonkey ensures your information is available to anyone, even if they're viewing your info on … Read more

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week people wrote in with questions about the options for performing a clean install of OS X Lion, restoring an iTunes library after formatting and reinstalling the OS, and whether virtual machines will be affected after reinstalling OS X. In addition, some people have wondered about Intuit getting other older PowerPC-based software packages running in Lion, and whether Address Book contacts can be shared among local user accounts. We welcome alternative approaches and views from readers, so if you have any suggestions, then post … Read more

How to gather contact information with Postable

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Managing a large address book can be tedious, but it doesn't have to be. Usually when you send out requests for contact information you'll have to scour the e-mail you get back for all the pieces of info you're currently missing. With Postable, you can have contacts edit their own information by sharing a link with them, and then export all of the collected information right to your own address book. Here's how to get started:

First you'll need to head to Postable.com and sign up for an account. Hopefully OAuth support … Read more

The semi-automatic way to manage multiple contact lists

Few business resources are as valuable as your list of contacts. It's no wonder companies such as Twitter and iPad app vendor Path are trying to get their hands on their customers' contacts--with or without their express permission.

Contacts are like rabbits: they tend to multiply whenever they get together.

In the past year my Gmail contact list has grown by 50 percent, not to mention the many updates and changes to existing entries. Contact-sync programs promise to keep the information in multiple address books up-to-date, but the programs I've tried create so many duplicate records they'… Read more

Search smart in Firefox with Smart Address Bar

Smart Address Bar is a free Web browser add-on that turns your address bar into a search tool. "My address bar is already a search tool," you say? Ours too, but we were a little surprised to find that Smart Address Bar made actual improvements. We tried Smart Address Bar for Firefox in Firefox 9x. While we were trying it, Firefox 10 came out, but Smart Address Bar handled the update fine.

As with other Firefox add-ons, activating Smart Address Bar requires restarting Firefox, which is easy enough to do without losing any open pages. Smart Address Bar'… Read more

Search smart in IE with Smart Address Bar

Smart Address Bar for Internet Explorer adds as-you-type searching to IE's toolbar. It saves time by presenting results immediately, and it helps you find things you might not have found if you used the default method. Of course, IE lets users choose whether or not to enable searching from the address bar, and the default search engine is Microsoft's Bing. Smart Address Bar replaces Bing as the address bar search tool, though you can still search Bing from the Web interface. You can activate and deactivate it from the IE add-ons manager, as well as access the developer'… Read more

Facebook embraces stage names

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Facebook embraces celeb pseudonyms VoIP must report service outages FLA: Foxconn facilities are 'first class' Update to stop address data snatchers Google+ is a man's world Subscribe: iTunes (MP3) | iTunes (320x180) | iTunes (HD) | RSS (MP3) | RSS (320x180) | RSS HD

'App-gate' serves reminder: You're on your own

If you like Kabuki theater, the latest stylized drama involving Silicon Valley and Washington must be amusing.

Congress finally woke up to demand answers from Apple about user privacy. Apple dutifully blamed rogue app makers for ignoring development guidelines and collecting user contact data. And so it goes.

In the middle are users, rightly wondering whether anyone has their interests at heart or just sees them as suckers to exploit periodically (for money or their votes.) Seems that we're never too far removed from the next privacy boondoggle, where Company X, Y, or Z will always manage to cross … Read more

Privacy dilemma for developers: Apple to the rescue?

What Path did with users' address books was ill-advised, to put it kindly. But thanks to the company's blunder, Apple will finally do what it should have done years ago: enforce its address-book protection policy.

Apple said today that apps that are collecting user contact lists without permission are in violation of its app guidelines, and that a software fix is on the way to keep that from happening.

The practice of rifling through address books is at the core of many social apps.

Apps vendors are running fast, trying to build the best social apps they can. Social … Read more