Apr 3, 2013 | Computer technology, General
Class is in session, folks! Ever hear of a computer scientist named Allan Kay? If you own a laptop, tablet, notebook, Mac book, smartphone or iPad, you should thank this man. That’s because in 1972, Allan Kay came up with the Dynabook.
This was a?vision of a portable computer, one where hardware,?software, programs, monitor, keyboard, and all other services could be carried in one device.?The Dynabook was to be carried everywhere the consumer?went. The Dynabook?was to be an educational tool for children. This device was to be?used ?for maintenance and documentation and presentation. Any of this sound familiar?
Despite this revolutionary act, Kay is hardly impressed. He claims today’s gadgets, with all their technological advancements, have misunderstood, and even betrayed the Dynabook dream. While today’s smartphones, notebooks and tablets have the look Kay envisioned, it lacks the service. For example, his Dyanabook was to supposed to educate children. But how are today’s devices used in schools? They’re often shunned as undesirable. They’re seen as ‘too expensive for the school budget’. Even the ones who do use portable devices, they often?make the parent/student pay.?Kay believes these devices are more harmful?than helpful socially. He says these devices take away the need for reading and writing, which?lapses society into mediocrity.
Why am I?writing about?Allan Kay? First off, we?need to know?where we come from to know where we’ve been. Allan Kay paved the way for the Apple, Droid and the other household names of today. Secondly, Kay teaches us a valuable lesson. Though we’ve come so far, we still have a long way to go. Is the Dynabook dream worth keeping alive, or has it already been fulfilled? If not, then?what other ways can we fulfill Allan Kay’s dream?
Apr 2, 2013 | networking, News
Apple’s love-hate relationship with China continues. There’s been a two week fight between Apple Inc. and the Chinese Government over warranties of iPhones sold in that country. After being bullied by CCTV, the state communist run media, Apple caves. They apologize to Chinese consumers for it’s melee and agreed to change warranty terms and cater to Chinese consumers.
Keep in mind China is Apple’s second largest consumer market, after the US. In the last quarter of 2012, China made Apple $6.8 billion dollars. So it makes perfect business sense for Apple to give in. It’s never good to bite the hands that feed you. But where does it stop? According to Global Times, a tabloid backed by the Communist Party, Apple’s apology only softened and eased tensions. I’m guessing that means tensions aren’t going away anytime soon. Last week, a state medium called Apple iPhone’s return policy ‘unparalleled arrogance’. I guess Apple’s going to have to apologize for that too. And Apple isn’t the only American based company going through this. Chinese media accused KFC chicken farmers?for adding excessive?antibiotics to their products. And they were forced to apologize.
Ever hear of the phrase ‘give an inch and they’ll take a mile’? I fear this is what China is doing. They know they have the fastest?growing economy in the world. They know they’re a rising major superpower. They know what kind of power they have these days.?They also know what kind of power media?have, especially if it’s state?owned and?operated. Are they using this new found power?for their people’s good??Or are?using this fame to?throw their weight around? My cynical self thinks it’s the latter. And?I doubt this is the last?time Apple?will apologize for something.?My question is: What will it be and how far will it go?
Apr 1, 2013 | Entertainment, General
April 1st is April Fools Day. Geeks and social media nuts are getting their pranks in order. Even major companies, like Google, are getting in the fun.
In fact, no company does April Fools like Google. Did you fall for the Google Nose/smell o’ vision? I hear a celebrity chef long for this day, and I actually thought it came true! That was an April fool on me. Do you like blue mail? Google has it. Your menu is blue. The characters and buttons?are blue. You may even get a visit from the Blue Man Group; they put on a great show by the way. Do you ever wish your smartphone was an ATM, printing money at your every beckon call? Google has a prank for that too.
Google isn’t the only one getting into the April Fools spirit. Nokia has the yellow touch screen microwave. Samsung has the eco-tree. Share your smart trees with loved ones for free. It even comes with an evolution kit. Go to Ikea and get the flat lawnmower. Log onto Think Geek and get your kid some 3-D Play dough. While you’re at it, does anybody have a bacon stretcher I can use?
What’s your April Fools prank? Is it the laptop that will print out money? Is it the iPod that will?spray you cologne. Or, play a prank on someone and put it on You Tube. So, what’s your prank going to be?
Mar 31, 2013 | Entertainment, internet
Have you ever made a You Tube video? How many hits does it have? How many subscribers do you have? In the earlier days of this social medium, they had an ‘Original Channel’ funding initiative. Hundreds of millions of dollars, much of it given to major media companies, were distributed to launch their own channels.
The first lesson is: This isn’t TV. Many channels, like Crash Course and SciShow, tried going that route, putting in lots of camera work, big sets and a large cast. Their results?backfired, and it could take years for their creators to earn that money back. The best channels, like SouceFed, were low budgeted, realistic, and took only a small number of people to produce.
Other lessons: You don’t need a lot of money to have a good You Tube video or channel. You don’t need a lot of good looking people either. Remember the top 10 video list I posted a couple of weeks ago? Most of these men and women can hardly pass as supermodels. But they said or did something that connected with Joe and Jane; that’s why they got so many hits. I think people are fed up with Wall St., Washington and Hollywood these days. So of course they’re going to gravitate to people who are closer to them. Which would you rather see: the rich get richer, the?pretty?get prettier, more?political fighting?or a homeless man who performs a kind deed get housing?
Now, You Tube advertisers are using much smaller grants, and those go to people who have experience making online videos. So it looks like they’re getting it. But are the video producers? Personally, I say start doing them yourself. With 2010s technology, it’s easier and cheaper to make an online video than ever before. If it’s good enough, it will get the attention it deserves and the money and ads will come. Will I be seeing your video one day?
Mar 30, 2013 | Entertainment, networking
On April 4, a press conference sponsored by Facebook will reveal it’s ‘home on Android’. On this day, the Facebook home screen will be shown off on an HTC handset, on a Droid system, with Facebook in control. Picture another version of Amazon Kindle.
They’re making all the right promises, like becoming closer to your friends. It will reduce the time it takes to make posts and respond to them, they say. You can use the Facebook phone to invite someone over for drinks, dinner or coffee if they are near you. And since Facebook is your home screen, as soon as you turn the phone on, you’ll be immersed in your Facebook world. Okay, this can be a great way for FB to attract advertisers and to help HTC handset, whose numbers aren’t doing that well. However…
Don’t you get enough Facebook already? It’s easy to get on your desktop, laptop or notebook. Just?about every device from the iPod Touch to the Ice Cream Sandwich offers a Facebook app. Yeah, you can let your friends know where you are, but can’t texting do that? Plus,?if I had a phone that directly?goes to my FB page, I’d probably never get anything done. I’d be on my home page, and everybody else’s, almost 24 hours a day, which is probably what?they want. So yes, I can see a few Facebook addicts?buying this device, as well as those who just have to buy into the latest trend every time they come?out. I like to call them sheeple.?Who wants a Facebook phone? Not I.
Mar 29, 2013 | Entertainment, scam, Security
Earlier this week, I reported on cyber attacks and those who fight to prevent them. So that got me thinking: What are the worst cyber crimes and cyber attacks of all time?
10. The LA Traffic Light Attack: In 2006, Los Angeles, CA traffic engineers went on strike, The perfect opportunity for two hackers to lengthen red lights and further?snarl traffic in a city that’s notorious for crawling. Two disgruntle engineers were eventually sentenced to probation.
9. Mafia Boy: In 2000, 15-year-old Michael Calce slowed down?and interfered?with?web traffic. He did this to major sites, like?CNN and Yahoo, even ?caused security concerns in the White House.?Mafia Boy?shed light on how easy it was for anyone to attack any site anytime.
8. FBI Virus: In 2012, this virus wouldn’t let victims go until it paid at least $200. It’s scary because it’s dressed up to look life a federal site, but it isn’t. One analyst said 40 percent of CP repair issues have to deal with this virus. I don’t know how much money this malware ripped off, but this virus was universal and sly!
7. Citigroup Attack: In 2011, this mega bank lost 2.7 million dollars and over 200,000 customers’ personal info to thieves. The fact it happened to an international bank reminds us nobody is safe!
6. Conficker: Perhaps the most overrated worm of all time. Okay, so it did infect tens of millions of systems, and?survived a lot of destruction attempts. But I put it on this list because of the media hype and fear this?worm produced. I like to call it ‘The virus that cried wolf’.
5. TJ?Maxx and Marshalls: This Massachusetts??bases retail chain had 45 million debit and credit cards compromised. This super data breached cost TJ Maxx and company over a quarter billion dollars.
4. Albert Gonzales: He was part of the TJ Maxx?scheme, as well as?hacking into Hannaford Brothers Supermarket,?Dave and Busters and 7-11. He and his gang compromised over 100 million debit/credit cards worldwide. He won the longest?ever prison term for hacking: 17-25 years.
3. Max Vision:??He was a security researcher who crossed over to the dark side.?In 2006,?he created?one of the largest cyber criminal?markets of all time with 6,000 members! His organization, Carders Market, compromised 2 million?accounts and?ripped?approximately $86 million dollars.
2.?Epsilon: This marketing and email handling service for banks like JP Morgan was hacked in 2011. Some estimated up to $4 billion dollars was stolen. Fortunately, more emails than cards were compromised, so it could be far less.
1. Original Logic Bomb: Never heard of this one? It occurred in 1982, long before the Web as we know it. During Cold War tensions, the US blew up a Soviet Siberian gas pipe line. This burst caused technological and natural chaos. It also demonstrated the power of hacking years before most ever heard of the word.
If you know of ay cool cyber attacks worthy of this list, we’d love to hear from you.
Mar 28, 2013 | News, scam, Security
“Hey, come check out these cute kittens! They’re so adorable!,” the email says. You click on the email. But it’s not kittens, it’s a dramatized cyber attack!
Many companies are using phony attacks to wise up their employees to hacker schemes. They turn to cyber trainers like PhishMe, the creator of the cute kitty Dr. Zaius email, to teach employees what to avoid. Employers and cyber trainers agree it’s not the big hacker armies that destroys systems. But it’s the cute little emails and subtle seductions and temptations that wipe out systems and start trouble. That’s what Phish Me educates individuals and businesses about.
They’re not the only one. Will Pelgrin is now VP for Center for Internet Security, a non-profit organization that teaches cyber safety. He used to work for the state of New York. While holding that security officer position, he sent 10,000 emails to individuals and businesses all over the state telling them to give up their emails and other personal information. The first time, 15% did as the phony email told them. The second time, only 8%. Some cyber trainers drop drives in public facilities and put ‘confidential’ and a company logo on them. Often, curiosity takes over, the mark puts the drive in the computer, and, well, they’re lucky this is just a test.
Personally,?I wish there were more companies like Phish Me. Let’s face it, hackers, ID thieves and cyber crooks are getting smarter. We should get smarter?too. I’d much rather be fooled by a cyber trainer than?to realize some crook overseas has wiped me out?of everything or exposed me of everything because I hit some tempting email. So I take my hat off to the Will Pelrgrins of America and others in the fight for online security. Do you or your office use Phish Me or?other cyber trainers? How has that experience impacted?your surroundings?
Mar 27, 2013 | Error, News, Security
Be on guard today wherever you are. A major web attack that started in Europe is slowing machines and systems down globally. You can thank Spamhaus, a Swiss and British based anti-spam campaign organization and Cyberbunker, a Dutch based company that boasts, “We’ll host anything except for terrorism and child porn!”
The fight between Spamhaus and Cyberbunker is causing the biggest cyber attack in Internet history. It started when Spanyhaus blacklisted Cyberbunker. The?trash talk intensifies. Spamhaus calls Cyberbunker cyber criminals. Cyberbunker claims Spanhaus abuses it’s power by playing Internet Gods. In the eyes of many, Cyberbunker is being blamed for the attack.
According to Spamhaus spokesperson Steve Linford, the?DDoS tactic was used. This tactic floods the victim with traffic to the point it shuts down and clogs up the motor way. Imagine traffic on a highway being so jammed you can’t even get off your intended exit. Now imagine that going on for miles and miles. There’s no telling when you’ll make it home because everything is so clogged.
Though this is happening in Europe, remember has close our world is thanks to the Web. Just liked clogged up roadways keep you from reaching your destination, clogged up Internet roads can keep you from your banking, your work, your emails, your social media or any other aspect of daily life. And Spamhaus has 80 servers around the world. They’re already worried it can slow down emails, entertainment sites, and social media, from Yahoo to Netflix. Couldn’t this spat be solved peacefully? Why should the world have to suffer because of two companies? Have you had trouble with your Web slowing down? If so, I’d love to hear from you.
Mar 26, 2013 | Computer technology, News
I know, everybody’s talking about the 17-year old Brit that made $30 million dollars selling his app. But I found a story just as startling, for the wrong reasons. Analysts predict Apple is about to report it’s first quarter of income gross loss in 10 years.
I’m no stock market guru, so check the chart yourself.?Analysts expect?Apple’s Earnings Per Share (dividing the company’s earnings by number of shares) to grow from over twelve dollars a year?ago?to $10.12 today. Some experts say the EPS rate is as low as $9.23.? This is not some ‘end of days’ crisis. This is more like expectations were higher than reality. Last year and the year before, the? company’s gross margin were at an all time high. Now, in the wake of new released products (new Macs, iPhone 5) that didn’t sell as planned, those gross margins fell 10 percent.
Look of what they’re not telling you. In a mater of months, Apple’s stock went from nearly $700 in Sept. 2012 to around $462 as of this morning. Yes, the iPhone 5 was a setback, but look at the flops over the past year, like the Apple Maps fiasco. The competition, like Android and Samsung, has really stepped up to the plate. That’s why they ran that negative ad campaign a week or two ago. Last paragraph, I said, this first quarter loss moment wasn’t an ‘end of days’ crisis. But when you stack crisis on top of crisis, eventually bricks will fall like Jenga. So should Apple hit the panic button now? Or is this just a phase all corporations go through?
Mar 25, 2013 | News, Security
Hackers get a bad rep. They’re known for breaking into computers, causing a raucous and nuisance at best. In?more extreme cases, they’re known for stealing IDs and account numbers and even, putting whole governments at risk.?Our Dept. of Homeland Security wants to hire these guys.
According to DHS Janet Napolitano, young hackers are just what we need. Foreign organizations have been hacking into that system, stealing and selling secrets, studying infrastructure, and putting us all at risk. That’s why they’re turning to people like 17-year-old Arlen Jaska and his classmate Collin Berman. They’ve taken part in a Virginia high school hacking competition. Out of 700 applicants, Jaska and Berman were two of the 40 who got to go. This convention was created by cyber security expert Allen Paller, who is cooperating with Homeland Security to train up the next generation of hackers.
They’re turning to youth because they know the curiosity kids like Jaska and Berman will have, and they’re eager to learn more. DHS knows if they train them young and get them interested, they will have a cyber security army for decades to come. But the question is, are the Jaskas and Bermans of America buying it. ?The problem with going into the government is you?re going to make a lot less,? said Berman. Jaska follows that up by reminding us you can’t exactly go around bragging about what you’re doing for government.
So is this a good idea? A few years ago, the winner of the cyber competition went on to break into the Pentagon and sent secrets to China, one of the very nations Secretary Napolitano is worried about! That brings up another point: Will these young hackers in training turn against DHS? Will they even want to work for DHS? These are questions I’d like to be?answered.
