With an average age of 36 in the top 10 list, I am assuming that middle-aged people still don't understand that clicking on links like "See CAMERON DIAZ naked!" is a great way to get yourself a nice little Daprosy Worm.
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
August 19, 2010
Congratulations, Mrs. Diaz
Cameron Diaz won the prestigious "Most Infected Celebrity" award this year. McAfee's top 10 list includes such notables as Heidi Klum and Penelope Cruz as well as male heart-throbs Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise (apparently "Knight and Day" was popular with hackers).
With an average age of 36 in the top 10 list, I am assuming that middle-aged people still don't understand that clicking on links like "See CAMERON DIAZ naked!" is a great way to get yourself a nice little Daprosy Worm.
With an average age of 36 in the top 10 list, I am assuming that middle-aged people still don't understand that clicking on links like "See CAMERON DIAZ naked!" is a great way to get yourself a nice little Daprosy Worm.
June 18, 2010
Cyberspace Declared a "National Asset"
Ok, so it hasn't passed yet, but Ol' Joe Lieberman has brought a bill up in the Senate that gives the government the ability to effectively turn off or alter the internet in the case of a national emergency.
http://gizmodo.com/5567094/new-bill-would-give-the-president-an-internet-kill-switch
No part of that sounds good to me. I can't really think of a situation where the internet would need to be turned off by my government. I'm okay with government regulations involving public safety, but this is too far for my tastes.
Another interesting page I found recently on google shows how many site removal requests have been submitted by each country. The US ranks 4th (China is not included though).
http://www.google.com/governmentrequests/
Maybe these were just requests to remove terrible things (ie: child pornography, "snuff" films, etc.), but who draws the line? I guess that's always the trouble with increasing regulation though; at some point, "regulation" becomes "paternalism" which eventually becomes "totalitarianism". Give Orwell's 1984 a read sometime before the next election, and think about it.
And before you blame it all on the Democrats, read up on the USA PATRIOT Act sometime.
http://gizmodo.com/5567094/new-bill-would-give-the-president-an-internet-kill-switch
No part of that sounds good to me. I can't really think of a situation where the internet would need to be turned off by my government. I'm okay with government regulations involving public safety, but this is too far for my tastes.
Another interesting page I found recently on google shows how many site removal requests have been submitted by each country. The US ranks 4th (China is not included though).
http://www.google.com/governmentrequests/
Maybe these were just requests to remove terrible things (ie: child pornography, "snuff" films, etc.), but who draws the line? I guess that's always the trouble with increasing regulation though; at some point, "regulation" becomes "paternalism" which eventually becomes "totalitarianism". Give Orwell's 1984 a read sometime before the next election, and think about it.
And before you blame it all on the Democrats, read up on the USA PATRIOT Act sometime.
June 4, 2010
The end of unlimited wireless signals the rise of WiFi
AT&T and Verizon, two of the US's largest cell-phone carriers, and (I'm going to assume) the largest distributors of wireless internet in the country have now both announced that they will no longer make "unlimited use" wireless plans available to their customers. My guess is that the big two were getting too much demand for data from their networks, and had to find a way to manage it. I'm going to go ahead and announce my predictions for the future of wireless/portable internet:
1. Cell phone bills skyrocket for some, stay the same for others. With the rise of 3G tablets and super-capable smart phones, customers subscribing to the new "Pay-as-you-go" internet plans will undoubtedly pay more than the $35 per month that they paid for the now-defunct unlimited plans. AT&T's new data rate is set-up so that you pay $20 per month for 20 MB of data (about 9 minutes of YouTube video), but in an age that is moving rapidly in the direction of mobile computing, this will prove to be far too expensive for even a casual phone internet user, but for $60 per month you can get a whole 5GB of data. Now 5GB is probably enough for most people in a month, but who wants to fork over $60 for it? Not me, and probably not you, which is why I predict...
2. The rise of WiFi. Its likely that this won't all be free either, but the competition from an increased number of WiFi hotspots could seriously damage the cell companies' ability to charge such exorbitant prices for mobile internet. We'll also have to see who starts to dominate the WiFi network though, because a lot of them are managed by AT&T or Verizon, so I could see them raising the price on WiFi hotspots to keep up with the increase in mobile charges.
As kind of a side note, I think we're reaching a sort of bottleneck with internet connection and speeds. Computing is trying to move mobile, and put its storage off in a remote location for access from any computer in the world, but the connection speeds don't yet make it practical. Maybe Google's fiber optic idea will catch on...I can dream at least.
1. Cell phone bills skyrocket for some, stay the same for others. With the rise of 3G tablets and super-capable smart phones, customers subscribing to the new "Pay-as-you-go" internet plans will undoubtedly pay more than the $35 per month that they paid for the now-defunct unlimited plans. AT&T's new data rate is set-up so that you pay $20 per month for 20 MB of data (about 9 minutes of YouTube video), but in an age that is moving rapidly in the direction of mobile computing, this will prove to be far too expensive for even a casual phone internet user, but for $60 per month you can get a whole 5GB of data. Now 5GB is probably enough for most people in a month, but who wants to fork over $60 for it? Not me, and probably not you, which is why I predict...
2. The rise of WiFi. Its likely that this won't all be free either, but the competition from an increased number of WiFi hotspots could seriously damage the cell companies' ability to charge such exorbitant prices for mobile internet. We'll also have to see who starts to dominate the WiFi network though, because a lot of them are managed by AT&T or Verizon, so I could see them raising the price on WiFi hotspots to keep up with the increase in mobile charges.
As kind of a side note, I think we're reaching a sort of bottleneck with internet connection and speeds. Computing is trying to move mobile, and put its storage off in a remote location for access from any computer in the world, but the connection speeds don't yet make it practical. Maybe Google's fiber optic idea will catch on...I can dream at least.
June 2, 2010
This could change the iPad
It looks like someone has come up with a solution to the absence of Flash on the iPad and iPhone:
http://gizmodo.com/5552545/smokescreen-converts-flash-to-javascript-on-the-fly
As the article says, it's a little "hefty" at the moment, but the open-source nature of the software leads me to think that this could be up and running on Flash-free devices soon...assuming Apple will let it.
http://gizmodo.com/5552545/smokescreen-converts-flash-to-javascript-on-the-fly
As the article says, it's a little "hefty" at the moment, but the open-source nature of the software leads me to think that this could be up and running on Flash-free devices soon...assuming Apple will let it.
June 1, 2010
May 14, 2010
Personal Branding - Part 1
Creating a name for yourself in business, politics, or the arts has long been a goal of professionals, but the idea of personal branding has changed incredibly quickly in the past 10 years.
As the internet has grown, and evolved, social networking has come to rise, and is likely here to stay. Beginning with the personal website, spreading to weblogs (blogs), and now moving into social networking, the ability to reach any other person in the world's information and thoughts has drastically changed the way those of us who are connected live. I can now simultaneously send a message to 100 of my friends in the time it would have taken to address a single letter 20 years ago. Furthermore, I can post a blog entry or make a tweet in a few seconds that is instantly visible to any of the millions of internet users worldwide. People who would otherwise have no connection whatsoever can now find others with common interests or needs, and unite via the internet. People with little access to communication with the world outside their country can tweet via text message the state of their home's political unrest first hand. This vast array of information has its advantages and disadvantages, but today I'm going to focus on the personal advantages that the internet and social networking offers.
The concept of using the internet to create a name for yourself has been labeled "personal branding," and it basically covers any information that the internet offers about you. Do a quick google search for yourself. Try including your middle name or excluding it or just using your middle initial. If you have a facebook or twitter account, you're likely to see one of your profiles in the top results. If you have created a google account, you will also see that profile, and it's likely that any other variety of websites that you may have visited or commented on will appear.
It's a little scary to think that you are so easily accessed, but you have to think about the positive uses for this mass availability. The first obvious benefit is employment. If an employer gets your application, thinks about hiring you, and can quickly find more information on the internet about you, they may decide to call you for an interview or not based on this information. This is where information control becomes important. Trying to get your name higher on the list of google search results can increase your visibility, and make sure that potential employers can find you more quickly - assuming they find the information you want them to.
Another benefit is meeting people. As I said, social networks can connect two or more people who would otherwise have never met in real life, so it's good to use this to your advantage. Find companies that you may want to work for on twitter or facebook and follow them. Comment on their posts occasionally, just to make them aware of you, and ask them questions about their company. Imagine going into a job interview and telling them you saw their post this morning on twitter.
Rather than make this entry longer than it needs to be, I'll include some further reading. My personal recommendation for getting started is to create a LinkedIn account (basically like facebook for professional connections), start using twitter to follow employers and coworkers, and think about buying your domain name. It's a cheap investment, and you never know when it will pay off.
My Favorite Personal Branding Blog
LinkedIn
Twitter dos and don'ts
As the internet has grown, and evolved, social networking has come to rise, and is likely here to stay. Beginning with the personal website, spreading to weblogs (blogs), and now moving into social networking, the ability to reach any other person in the world's information and thoughts has drastically changed the way those of us who are connected live. I can now simultaneously send a message to 100 of my friends in the time it would have taken to address a single letter 20 years ago. Furthermore, I can post a blog entry or make a tweet in a few seconds that is instantly visible to any of the millions of internet users worldwide. People who would otherwise have no connection whatsoever can now find others with common interests or needs, and unite via the internet. People with little access to communication with the world outside their country can tweet via text message the state of their home's political unrest first hand. This vast array of information has its advantages and disadvantages, but today I'm going to focus on the personal advantages that the internet and social networking offers.
The concept of using the internet to create a name for yourself has been labeled "personal branding," and it basically covers any information that the internet offers about you. Do a quick google search for yourself. Try including your middle name or excluding it or just using your middle initial. If you have a facebook or twitter account, you're likely to see one of your profiles in the top results. If you have created a google account, you will also see that profile, and it's likely that any other variety of websites that you may have visited or commented on will appear.
It's a little scary to think that you are so easily accessed, but you have to think about the positive uses for this mass availability. The first obvious benefit is employment. If an employer gets your application, thinks about hiring you, and can quickly find more information on the internet about you, they may decide to call you for an interview or not based on this information. This is where information control becomes important. Trying to get your name higher on the list of google search results can increase your visibility, and make sure that potential employers can find you more quickly - assuming they find the information you want them to.
Another benefit is meeting people. As I said, social networks can connect two or more people who would otherwise have never met in real life, so it's good to use this to your advantage. Find companies that you may want to work for on twitter or facebook and follow them. Comment on their posts occasionally, just to make them aware of you, and ask them questions about their company. Imagine going into a job interview and telling them you saw their post this morning on twitter.
Rather than make this entry longer than it needs to be, I'll include some further reading. My personal recommendation for getting started is to create a LinkedIn account (basically like facebook for professional connections), start using twitter to follow employers and coworkers, and think about buying your domain name. It's a cheap investment, and you never know when it will pay off.
My Favorite Personal Branding Blog
Twitter dos and don'ts
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