Information Security Tips To Protect Your Information

 

Presented by Vimit Gupta

Competent Communicator Manual
Project 2: Organize Your Speech
Time: Five to Seven Minutes

Below is a summary of key points from the speech:

1) Antivirus: Running antivirus does not slow your computer down nearly as much as a virus does.

2) Not all web sites are safe. Always ensure that the source you are browsing or downloading from is legitimate. Use extreme caution if you are referred to a site by an email message. If you're uncertain, don't click or download.

3) Be especially wary of emails sent from individuals or businesses you do not recognize. You should never download attachments from unrecognized senders, as they are likely to contain viruses or malicious software that can take over your computer and/or harvest your personal information.

4) On mobile devices your personal information is more likely to be compromised via device theft or loss. Take appropriate precautions.

5) Minimize personal information sharing. If you don’t trust the website with your personal information there is no need to enter more information which is required to use the website or signup for an account.

6) Ensuring your computer has up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware software is an important part of protecting your personal information online. Trojans and keystroke logging software can steal personal information from your computer when you use the Internet.

7) Think before you click. Change your Internet habits when you surf. Always think before you click. It’s one of the best ways to protect yourself online.

8) Don’t click links in emails, Instant Messages (IMs), and pop-up advertisements. Be cautious about clicking links and downloading from people’s social networking site profiles.

9) Even if you know better than to click links in those “phishy” emails, make sure your family members do, too.

10) Social networking sites are a common place for people to share pictures of their families, but if you're one of the 40 percent of users who don't restrict access to your profile, then those pictures are there for everyone to see. Sharing your social plans for everybody to see isn't a good idea.

Be Sincere and Be Safe

- Vimit Gupta

(Editor’s Note:  Vimit is an IT professional with plus eight years of experience working with global organizations.  He is a Microsoft, Oracle and ITIL Certified Professional with vast experience in IT management and consulting.  He has helped in IT management, overall infrastructure setup and maintenance for small scale businesses to big multi-national companies.)

 

 

Katy Toastmasters Game Film

During the Army-Navy football game on December 7, 1963, for the first time, sports fans saw an Instant replay.  (For Katy Toastmaster football fans, Roger Staubach was the quarterback for Navy in the game.)  It was replayed at the original speed prompting the sports commentator to tell viewers “Ladies and gentlemen, Army did not score again.”

Today it is hard to imagine watching a sports event without instant replays.  I believe the rise of popularity in NFL football is due in part to the use of instant replays to review the action. American Tackle football a chess match of the fastest and most complex team sport in the world.  Slow motion instant replays help fans understand the complex interactions of players in any given play.  Oddly, no one watches game film of chess matches.   

Football coaches and players spend hours reviewing game film.  What went right, what went wrong but more importantly, what can we learn by reviewing game film to improve our performance. 

Toastmasters also uses the instant replay during meetings.  The instant replay in Toastmaster is called “Evaluations.”  All prepared speeches are “instantly” evaluated during the meeting with positive and constructive comments to the speech presenter.  These evaluations are usually civil.

In Katy Toastmasters, we have evaluations that are far from civil.  In fact, some evaluations are brutal, merciless, savage and extremely critical. Sometime the evaluators are just disgusted with  performances.  Those evaluators are ourselves as individuals while we watch ourselves on Katy Toastmaster Game Film.

For many individuals, it is difficult to view themselves in still photos much less watching themselves  presenting a speech.  Seeing yourself on “film” is another dimension in evaluations.  A picture is worth a thousand words but a video is worth a million of words.

Those of us in Katy Toastmasters are grateful to Jim Harrington, DTM, for his tireless work in video recording speeches and evaluations.  Not only does he film, he also takes his personal time  to create individual CD’s for members to review their presentation.  As someone who was the film guy for my son’s youth football team, I can tell you it is an effort to create these CD’s.  Yet week after week, Jim creates member CD’s as he sincerely tries to help individuals become better speakers and evaluators.  Jim Harrington’s unselfish service to Katy Toastmasters is an inspiration in leadership for those of us in the club.  We can’t thank him enough for all his efforts and service to the club.

Below is a video clip Jim Harrington created for my speech on “The Big Bang” and it is Jim who was the Toastmaster that night who introduced my speech:

“The Tale of The Big Bang”

Presented by Andy Paultanis on June 6, 2013
Advanced Communication Series: Storytelling

Project 4: The Folk Tale  
Time: Five to Seven Minutes
Evaluator: Sherry Han

                           

The Sun Never Sets on Katy Toastmasters

It was once said “the sun never sets on the British Empire because the sun was always shinning somewhere on British territory”. 

In 1821, a Scottish newspaper called the Caledonian Mercury wrote, “On her dominions the sun never sets; before his evening rays leave the sires of Quebec, his morning beams have shone three hours on Port Jackson [Australia]  and while sinking from the waters of Lake Superior [Ontario], his eye opens upon the Mouth of the Ganges [India].”

 

The British Empire was at the height of its power during the early part of the twentieth Century which ruled a quarter of the earth’s surface and over twenty percent of the world’s population. The British dominated the seas as fifty percent of the world’s merchant marine shipping was British.  The British Royal Navy was the largest and most powerful on the seas.  It was the largest empire of all time.

It could be said the sun never sets on Katy Toastmasters. We are not an imperial Toastmaster Club.  We can argue the sun is always shinning on our member’s family and friends somewhere in the world at any time during the day.  

We are a diverse group of individuals representing every continent (excluding Antarctica) on earth.  We have members from North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. Our members share with other members the richness and diversity of their cultures in their various speeches.

One unusual member has claimed there could even be extraterrestrial aliens from far away galaxies in the club although this has not been substantiated. This could stem from the fact that so many members present fantastic speeches that are out of this world.

A legacy of the British Empire was the spread of English as the primary business language throughout the world.  Reviewing the Katy Toastmaster membership, one would estimate over forty percent of our members would claim English as a second language.  There is support and great admiration in the club for members whose second language is English who work to develop their public speaking skills.

Despite the great cultural diversity within the club there is a unified camaraderie of the members working and supporting each other to become better public speakers.       

- Posted by Andy Paultanis