Valentine’s Day And Another Gift Idea Down The Drain!

Another retail “holiday” is coming up that’s out to separate you from your dollars. What are you thinking of getting your Valentine? Beyond the standard roses and chocolates (or even slinky nightwear ), I’ve always thought that a nice gift for Valentine’s Day should be something personal enough yet still fairly simple — like a photo frame for instance. [I actually think you should reserve the more elaborate gifts for your anniversary!] So speaking of picture frames, I’d come across some new-fangled, digital frames on catalogs like Sharper Image or Grandin Road, where I often pick up a lot of fascinating ideas I’d secretly file away in my own wish list for the next gift exchange.

I thus find it unfortunate that our local paper talks about how such a great Valentine’s gift idea may no longer be so great given that the latest victims of destructive computer agents happen to be various consumer electronic items, which are now picking up really bad viruses from overseas, where they are usually manufactured.

Malicious software code has turned up on a wide range of popular electronics, from digital photo frames to compact flash cards to MP3 players – even MP3-playing sunglasses – and retailers are scrambling to respond. Using another computer to run a Google search on the name of the infection he found led him to three Chinese-language Web sites.

The problem here appears to be quality control given the source of these products and their parts. It seems understandable that anything that has software in it should really be tested and checked out for these types of bugs as well, though when I think of software viruses, infections and malware, I just never expected to find them in stuff that seemed so innocuous and “everyday”, like a simple photo frame or sunglasses (even if they happen to be the jazzed up kind). Then again, our regular everyday items have now evolved into things that have been pimped up and tricked out like never before:

Security experts say buyers should be aware that digital devices have more computing power than they once had and can run automatically when plugged into a PC. To be sure, digital photo frames are computers unto themselves. The high end models have wireless access – allowing people to ship photos around a home network – and a gigabyte of memory, an amount unheard of in portable devices just two or three years ago.

So beware of anything that you’re thinking of sticking into your computer — you may have to think twice knowing what can be out there to sabotage your virtual world.

Here are a few things we can do about the new threat of malware in our merchandise:

Living in The Age of Malware

Report your troubles.
If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of being infected, we are told to contact the retailer from which we got the product from. Since many of the tainted products have been sourced either from Best Buy or Sam’s Club, here’s the info to call them or you can visit your neighborhood store location.

• For Best Buy, call (877) 467-4289, or visit www.insignia-products.com.
• For Sam’s Club, call (888) 746-7726 or visit www.samsclub.com.

Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software.
Seems like a no-brainer, but lots of people out there still don’t protect nor secure their computers enough and have not installed the appropriate software to ward off the evil. It’s a good idea to keep your firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware software updated and running regularly. True, they may not help block the stuff coming through a USB port but you’re probably still ahead if you have as much protection as you can muster.

Lastly, don’t take the risk.
Well, that just means that maybe we shouldn’t be so bleeding edge after all. How about picking something else as your Valentine’s Day gift? If you like the photo frame idea, maybe this more harmless variant may do the trick for you:

This DIY crafts project should be pretty clean. No bugs in this one!

It’s a shame that these days, we can’t just enjoy a gift for what it is, without worrying that it would somehow jump out, bite us and harm our valuables. The fight against malicious minds, fraud, identity theft, scams, you name it, just never ends, does it? I suppose sometimes, the old-fashioned gifts are just better.

 
Featured Gifts:

• Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown! (DVD)
• Sweet Wishes For You! Gourmet Food Gift Basket
• Sterling Silver Open Double Flower Pendant, 16″ – 18″

Image Credit: SF Gate

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Categorized under: Smart Spending