The stereotypical image of a hacker is a guy who spends all his time holed up in his bedroom or den, fingers flying over the keyboard while red, bleary eyes, kept open only by continuous doses of Jolt cola, search the monitor for opportunities to ply his trade.

Not so anymore, hackers are getting out and about these days and practicing a more outdoorsy kind of hobby: drive-by hacking.

Wi-Fi makes it possible for drive-by hackers to park near wi-fi hotspots and steal data from unsuspecting computer and laptop users. According to a story at Consumer Affairs, the huge data loss suffered by TJ Maxx has been identified as being the work of drive-by hackers.

TJ Maxx was using an old protocol for its network that was notoriously simple to hack. Add to that the fact that TJ Maxx didn’t use encryption when sending data from transactions to banks and the theft was almost too easy. Using stolen credit card and debit card numbers, the hackers were able to counterfeit credit cards and purchase Wal-Mart gift cards. They redeemed the gift cards for thousands of dollars in merchandise.

Some banks still don’t offer online banking but even if yours does, you may not have used it. If you haven’t availed yourself your banks’ online services, take a look at some of the advantages.

You can access account information, see what transactions have cleared your account, pay bills or transfer money 24/7. Online banks never close. Because you access from a computer, you can check your account online from anywhere in the world. And those transactions that you complete over the Internet are effective immediately.

If you have several types of accounts all with the same bank, you can manage them all with one visit to the bank’s online banking site. Transfer money between checking and savings or money market accounts and the balances are instantly adjusted.

Paying bills online may take some getting used to but in the end is worth it. Some banks charge a monthly fee for this service, others provide it free for certain types of accounts. In the long run you will save money by using fewer paper checks, envelopes and stamps. You can also set up checks to issue on specific dates in the future.

If your bank offers online banking, log into the site and familiarize yourself with the services available. Many sites offer a tutorial. Remember to figure into the balance any financial transactions such debit card purchases that may not go through until the merchant posts them. Keeping an eye on your money can be easier when you look at it through a computer screen.

Consumer affairs.com is featuring an article about Blue Hippo Funding, a company that sells computers, televisions and other high-end technology to consumers with poor or non-existent credit. The company has a unique credit plan.

I checked out the Blue Hippo website where they advertise a computer system on easy credit terms. There are no credit checks. To qualify, you make a downpayment of $99.00 and then six weekly payments of $39.99. This means you will have paid $338.94 before your computer is shipped, in fact, the website states that it is not even ordered yet. Once you have paid the $338.94 “we can offer to finance the balance of your purchase price, order your computer and have it shipped…”. Still, you may think it sounds like a good deal. But nowhere on this page does it state how many payments you will make after they ship your computer.

Terms seem to change. I found several sites, including Wikipedia, stating that the initial pre-payment period was 13 weeks. Currently the BlueHippo site says 6 weeks. However, the term following the pre-payment is at least 49 weeks and in some cases it is said to be 52 weeks. In any case, the consumer ends up paying over five times the value of the item.

I checked with the Better Business Bureau. Not surprisingly, Blue Hippo has an unsatisfactory records with the BBB.

Bottom line: if you are thinking of doing business with Blue Hippo, check out a few of these informative sites first.

Better Business Bureau

ConsumerAffairs.com

Wikipedia

BlueHippo Ripoff Report at badbusinessbureau.com

Part of the pressure of modern life is the overwhelming variety of choice available. No matter what you want to buy, there will be hundreds of alternative ways to buy it, some wise and some quite foolish. It is for this reason that I have never been into a Starbuck’s – the range of choice is just so confusing and exotic that I’d never know where to start!

When it comes to travel, however, there is some good advice available. Kiplinger has a list of travel-related sites that they have tried and found to be excellent in their service. These cover things like airfares, where to stay, car rentals and cruises.

If you are short of time to do the research in finding the best answer to your travel needs, take a shortcut and use a service that others have recommended!