Defending the Kingdom eBook!
12 August 2007
I’ve finished compiling the long-planned Defending the Kingdom eBook, and I’m really happy with it. I think you will be, too.
The book contains all of the best material from this blog (but in shorter, snappier form) as well as a lot of new material.
Download the first 5 pages free to get a taste of what’s inside.
As a bonus, you can download the free eBook Package that will guide you through the difficult (but completely doable) steps required to clear your good name if your identity is stolen. The package contains a list of every organization you need to contact and a worksheet to help you keep track of your efforts as you go. You’ll also find sample letters to creditors, collection agencies, and credit reporting agencies.
The book costs $10, and, in my opinion, it’s worth every dollar. Check out the eBook page to find out more and to buy it. I hope you like it, and I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions for a future edition or update.
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Comment by Kaili — 14 August 2007 @ 5:21 pm
Easy to read & understand, language is snappy and interesting. I know I told you before, but I *really* love the cute lil bug on the “stop bugging me” page.
Referenced page numbers are the ones you’ve put on each page, not the pdf page numbers.
Impressions/issues:
– The “High Security” password section is a little confusing. Does the software itself enter your password for you? If not, how is this better than just randomly making up passwords yourself?
– The changing background colours are a little weird, though I do like the consistent red/black/white theme.
– Excellent use of the word “juicy” on the “hold your mail” page. 🙂
– Step 3 on p22 doesn’t explicitly mention that the “scan …” option will appear in the context menu only if you have certain antu-virus applications installed. Do you suppose that’s necessary?
– Love, love, love the HD destruction page. Beautiful.
– My dad got identity thieved, and he managed to successfully get rid of all the credit cards, accounts, applications, etc that had been made in his name, but now his credit’s shot. Lame.
Picky things:
– Page 6 contains the awkward and/or ungrammatical phrase “all links are available on defendingthekingdom site to save you typing effort”. Does the site name maybe want a “the” in front of it?
– Page 9 starts with “To vet the program…” Is ‘vet’ a new interwebby verb that I’m out of the loop on, or should that say ‘get’?
– Intriguing: on page 14 the first bullet mentions postal codes (Canadian), yet the second mentions SSNs (American, as opposed to Cdn SIN).
– Page 26, paragraph 3: “spreasheet” (‘d’ is missing).
Comment by Ian Saxon — 14 August 2007 @ 6:05 pm
Great comments, Kaili, thanks!
– Most PDFs have embedded page numbers that differ from Adobe’s (because of cover pages and the like that Adobe counts but a normal book doesn’t). Does that bother you?
– Password Safe, the program I recommend for storing passwords, does indeed generate very good passwords if you don’t want to make them yourself.
– Fixed typos and grammar. Thanks.
– To “vet” something is to scrutinize it or subject it to a thorough examination
– I’m sorry to hear about your Dad having his ID stolen. It’s an unfortunately common crime. How long ago was it? If not too long (and hopefully even if it’s been a while) he should be able to clear up his credit report. I highly recommend that you show him the ClearYourName spreadsheet in the eBook Package. It describes how to contact the credit bureaus to get them to expunge false information, which they should do with a bit of cajoling and proof. After all, their sole purpose is to provide accurate information about credit histories for individuals. Please let me know how that goes and if you need any help.
All the best,
Ian
Comment by Kaili — 15 August 2007 @ 10:53 am
I wasn’t complaining about the page numbers, just letting you know that when I mentioned one it’d be the book’s page number, not adobe’s. 🙂
So, to clarify… PasswordSafe creates for you a string of characters considered to be a good password, and then you have to memorize it and enter it yourself?
Aha. I am slowly recalling this meaning of “vet”… thanks 😉
Comment by Tom — 15 August 2007 @ 10:55 am
It awesome, man. Thanks for the life saving tips. The ebook is practical and fun to read.
The page layout is pretty creative, I never read a landscape format PDF before, good for monitor reading, not sure whether people like to print that way. Somehow the fonts don’t look so sharp.
Tom
Comment by Tom — 15 August 2007 @ 10:58 am
One more suggestion: it’s better to enlarge the margin between the content and the page edge.
Tom
Comment by Ian Saxon — 15 August 2007 @ 4:30 pm
@Kaili: Password Safe creates passwords and also stores them in an encrypted database (you can store the program and database on a USB key, which is pretty cool). Then, whenever you need to enter a password, you can open the database and copy and paste the password into the appropriate field.
@Tom: Thanks for the comments. The ebook is set to fit inside your screen, which may be why the text isn’t as crisp as you’d like. Try adjusting the zoom.
Ian