OK, so here’s the scoop:

• Follow @supergeeks and @khon2kirk on Twitter and you get a SuperGeeks’ Security Suite.  Just drop in to any of our stores.  We will install it for you free of charge.
• On May 5, 2010, if we’ve reached a minimum of 1000 followers each, we will give away a new netbook.  We will choose one of the followers.

Now, some people would rather have an iPad than a netbook, so we will let the winner choose.  iPad or netbook.  If you win, you get to choose

Twenty some years ago, while in Tokyo, I was part of a small team of engineers working on a new digital storage format.  It was a long, 8-month project, as we and a handfull of others negotiated a set of standards for the industry.

Format standardization may sound kind of dull,  but the stakes were actually quite high.  Adopt the right format, and all is well. Make a poor decision, and it could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.  (Think Betamax.)

Three companies were involved in the process and all were – and still are – titans in the electronics industry. I won’t divulge the names here for obvious reasons.  But I can tell you this:  We were very close to coming to an agreement. In fact, it was the proverbial eleventh hour, just days before a formal announcement was due, when an errant fax landed on our desks and changed everything.  We weren’t supposed to have seen that fax. It was confidential and mistakenly sent to us by one of the companies in the consortium!

According to the fax, that company was publicly endorsing one format, but secretly intending to adopt and entirely different technology.  We were stunned…and fortunate to get to the truth sooner rather than later.

Companies, like governments, need accurate, regular and speedy intelligence.  Good intelligence allows for smarter decisions and new opportunities.  Fortunately, there are now several online tools which can help you keep a pulse on your competitors and your industry:

• Public Record – Thinking of hiring an applicant?  Deciding on a contractor?  Got a problem customer? A lot of info is available online free of charge.  Using this site you can search traffic criminal and civil case history:  http://www.courts.state.hi.us/

Click on ‘for Litigants’ and then choose ‘Search Court Records’  We use the site for preliminary background checks.

• Google Alerts – Want to monitor whether anyone is infringing on your tradename?  Or need to capture a customer complaint on a blog somewhere before its becomes huge PR problem?  Use Google Alerts to get email daily notices whenever anything relating to your topic or query is posted online: http://www.google.com/alerts It’s useful for tracking people, stories and competitors.  We use it to track how and where ‘SuperGeeks’ hits the internet.

• TinEye – Now you can search without words.  TinEye is a reverse image search engine.   Just upload a photo or insert the image’s link from a website and see where it is being used on the internet.  It’s a good tool to manage proprietary images, trademarks…even your personal Facebook pics:  http://www.tineye.com/

• Google Translate – Dont let a little Kanji get in the way of your reading a Japanese website: http://translate.google.com/# Give it the URL of a foreign language site and Google Translate will immediately translate it into the language of your choice.  It’s not perfect, but it gets the job done.

• Twazzup – If you want to get a pulse for what’s happening right now, use a real-time search engine like Twazzup: http://www.twazzup.com/.  You can follow conversations relating to your brand, competing products and services, and hot topics.

• More Google - Like it or not, Google is the king of data.  Google now offers realtime search results.  Google Trends is very interesting: http://www.google.com/trend . You can also use the advanced version called Google Insights: http://www.google.com/insights/search/# See what’s hot and what’s not.

• WHOIS – Sometime all you need to know is who owns a domain name.  For example, you may have the email address, and the email address is based on a domain name, so all you have to do is enter the domain name here: http://whois.domaintools.com/ Sometimes the info is ‘hidden’, but it’s worth a try anyway.

Of course, what’s fair for one is fair for all. You can use tools like the ones listed above to gather intelligence.  But others can do the same intel when interested in you.  What kind of data is your organization leaking into the wild?

We are all familiar with the Nigerian scams, and can usually spot a scam however our office was recently “probed” by a very sophisticated scam.

First of all, the email correspondence was well written, no typos, bad grammar, etc. It came from an Asian company with a link to their website in the email. The company really existed. They wanted us to collect debt from a Hawaii company that really exists and the connection between the two companies made sense (one manufactures an item that the local company installs) The BIG hook was that they used the NAME OF AN ATTORNEY FORMERLY ASSOCIATED WITH OUR FIRM AS A REFERRAL!! Unfortunately, this attorney received a cold call and was asked for the name of a Hawaii law firm that could help them and he did indeed give them our name.

The scammers hook the attorney into an attorney/client relationship (thus barring you from reporting them), then request funds to be sent immediately upon receipt of funds from the local company. (you get a check from the local company for “amounts due”, you deposit it, then wire the funds out before making sure the local check has cleared) Attorneys on the mainland have had hundreds of thousands stolen from their IOLTA accounts.
Things that should set off alarm bells:

1. The urgency of acting quickly. You must do due diligence.
2. Client wanting funds before checks deposited have cleared your IOLTA account;
3. When a logical referral name is used, check with the referral source about the legitimacy of the referral.
4. They make excuses that they cannot find a convenient time to talk on the phone, they strictly stick to email correspondence.
5. The email is different from the company email.

Make sure your attorneys do not make referrals to cold callers, let the HSBA referral line do that.

We have had a staff meeting regarding this latest development so everyone in the firm is aware. I have attached some info to supplement any staff meeting you wish to have.

lawyers targeted.pdf

The personality of the Scion is different than the Mini so it makes sense to flow with it rather than ignore it. At the time we did the Mini, not a lot of companies were using it, especially as a “responder vehicle.”

The Scion has been around a while and the street racer guys have a particular way of using graphics and the custom decals.

The language on the scion comes out of Scion car culture, specifically the language they use to describe the names of companies or products that each Scion owner decides to use. The geeks are different so let’s celebrate it.

I made up the phrases to try and blend geek and scion culture. The graphics are intended to be made out of reflective material.

Mobility Systematics:
The Scion systematically transports people, parts and computers around town.
Repair Disorder: When something is in a disordered state you fix it.
k eeg on front of car: gee k in the mirror of the car in front. It’s too normal to not have the space, makes you wonder a bit.
k eeg powered: Geek Powered, same idea.
2.0: A pun on race car numbers and web 2.0. Also, this car is version 2.0 for the geek carfleet

It’s that time of the year again when we stop and remind ourselves what we are grateful for:  living in paradise, having a loving family, owning the greatest pet ever.

As a SuperGeek,  I am also grateful for tech tools that make my life easier and more fun:

iPhone
I am grateful for my iPhone.  Its maps lead me out of the most obscure places,  its chess application exercises my brain while I am waiting for my son at the pediatrician’s office,  it advises me what to eat and it delivers New York Times articles before the carrier does.

On a recent trip to Uruguay, I could call my brother who lives in Philly and my staff in Honolulu for free, using iPhone Skype app!

Google
If you read this column regularly, you know I am a big fan of Google.  Google embodies all the things I like: simplicity, power, results.  If your small child asks:  Why are leaves green?, Uncle Google instantly delivers scientifically correct answers and illustrations.

If you use Google docs instead of Microsoft Office, you can access your files from anywhere in the world and collaborate with your family or co-workers on the same projects.

If you need to convert a currency, watch a funny video of a baby dancing to Beyonce’s latest hit, keep track of the volatile stock market, shop for board shorts (See Google Products), consolidate your 5 email accounts, or create a simple website (Google Sites), you can do it well and for free.

Netbook
As a person who is always on a road, always working, and always wanting to stay plugged in, I really appreciate my little Fujitsu netbook and carry it all over the world.  Yes, at 7 years old, it is a grandma of current netbooks, but it allows me to work go online in some third world countries without having to hop on public computers , which are unsafe.

Online shopping
I don’t shop very much and I abhor shopping crowds in general.  However, sometimes I must buy an airplane ticket to New Mexico to visit my mom, buy a bluetooth device for my iPhone, and buy supplies for my martial arts business. Again, I travel a lot and always need to reserve hotels, cars, buy airplane tickets and tickets to events.  If it weren’t for kayak.com, hotels.com, TripAdvisor, Priceline.com, I would spend countless hours on the phone and driving around before each trip.

Thanks to Amazon + Kindle, I don’t need to go to a book store anymore. Retailmenot.com and Fatwallet.com have the best deals and online coupons.

Twitter
Since I am always busy and on the run, yet still curious about the world, Twitter is perfect for me.  I follow the major news organizations and people I find fascinating .  Twitter can provide news from around the world and close to home in convenient snippets. Yes, I still prefer a fresh newspaper on a lazy Sunday afternoon.  However, during the work week, I don’t have this kind of time.  Twitter allows me to stay current with minimum time investment.  Naturally, I use Twitter it via my iPhone.