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Internet Privacy: the Venn Diagram
Posted: October 29, 2010 (23:49) under Humor, Intellectual Property, OMG, Security

Does this clarify things?

This is just what I’ve been saying all along, only not as well.

Facebook <3 U!
Posted: October 19, 2010 (05:20) under Humor, Intellectual Property, Security, Software, Technology

I know we occasionally rag on Facebook here, accusing it of being a sort of social media honey trap from which one finds it impossible to completely extricate one’s self, but it’s not that we’re saying they’re actively malevolent. Just look at some of the things they’ve come up with to make your life better:

Customer Service Manifestos

“You are not Facebook’s customer. You are the product that they sell to their real customers—advertisers. Forget this at your peril”

August 6, 2010 5:31 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@glassbeed

Clarence Fisher

(quote from @cqwww)

The soothing announcement

FACEBOOK WANTS TO MAKE TWO THINGS CLEAR: 1. WE’RE COMMITTED TO PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY. 2. YOU’RE ADORABLE WHEN YOU SLEEP.

October 18, 2010 2:47 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@PROMO_TWEET

Promoted Tweet

The Facebook Phone

Getting Grounded
Posted: September 23, 2010 (01:58) under Hardware, Humor, OMG, Security

Image via Wikipedia

Generally, we’re here on this blog to let you know about data safety. Today, we’re here to give you a gentle reminder of personal safety.

We take technology so much for granted that it’s hard to imagine someone who hasn’t, for instance, gotten at least halfway into the shower while plugged into an iPod. Not. a. good. idea. Today, Gawker blogger Adrian Chen got a not-so-gentle reminder that basic precautions around electricity can go a long way towards, say, preventing you from getting struck by lightning in your own bedroom.

Like he was.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a thin strip of white flash in the window that looks onto an alley behind my apartment—it was so thin it might have been traveling down a wire. Suddenly my left arm shot off the keyboard, pulsing with the same weird combination of numbness and pain you feel after grabbing an electric fence, if you’ve ever been dumb enough to do that. It was enough to shoot me to my feet, and I stood there for a few seconds wondering what had just happened. The first thing I did after realizing I had been hit by lightning was scream something along the lines of: “HOLY FUCKING SHIT I WAS JUST HIT BY FUCKING LIGHTNING WHAT THE FUCK.” The next thing I did was check to see if lightning strikes were covered under Applecare.

Just like a blogger. Typical.

So, everyone, go buy a good surge protector! And if you already have a surge protector but are lazy like me and don’t plug your laptop into it because it’s all the way under your desk, while there’s a perfectly fine outlet right there on the wall, and what the hell does a surge protector even do? You probably deserve to be struck by lightning.

…

(P.S. Do not ask if I have super powers. Lightning strike victims hate when you ask us that.)

Noted. So, boys and girls, what did you learn from today’s lesson? That’s right: Steve Jobs wants you to protect his precious products properly, and if you fail to do that, he’ll call down thunder and lighting upon you.

u got meme’d!
Posted: September 10, 2010 (19:51) under Humor, Security, Technology, Theft

There are lots of technical hacks and ways to get at your internet properties, be they blogs, websites, or social media pages and profiles; why, there’s an entire master’s program in Bulgaria on hacking: not preventing it, doing it. So your internet security is always at risk, both from amateurs who only want to change your Facebook status to “poopyfacepoopyface” and from experts who have a commercial interest in your data and control of your internet properties of whatever kind.

That said, by far the easiest way to get at someone’s site is to convince them to give you the password. Don’t think it’s easy? Check this elegant, yet evil little trick out:

Facebook Password Trick

That’s not nice; don’t fall for it. But if you do, remember that you can delete your posts on Facebook if you hover your cursor over the right-hand side of your comment, just above the line of typing. But if your friends do this to their friends, GET NEW FRIENDS.

Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear
Posted: August 25, 2010 (00:59) under Bugs, Humor, Software, Technology

or vastly farther away, if you’re using Microsoft software:

Estimation; Bill Gates was never terribly precise

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Internet Needs
Posted: July 21, 2010 (08:41) under Humor, Technology

Maslows hierarchy of internet needs

But seriously, what more do you need?

My name is Prince. And I am Busted!
Posted: July 13, 2010 (04:23) under Humor, Security

So, have you heard His Imperial Princeness’s latest declaration?

My name is Prince and I am crazy

Yeah, well this particular blog saw it coming. And we saw what he’s not saying, and we posted it ages ago!

The Not-So-Fine Print
Posted: May 27, 2010 (03:23) under Humor, Intellectual Property, Security

We’ve discussed the monolitic data mining system known as “Facebook” before. Let’s discuss it again in light of the recent change in “privacy” settings and subsequent public outcry. I think this about sums it up.

Facebook Privacy

People know that when they post information about themselves to a website they and the website are bound by the user agreement that they signed during the registration process. The problem here is that Facebook (and several other sites to which you should similarly give the side-eye) reserves the right to rewrite their side of the contract at any time. Maybe they’ll actually tell you; maybe they’ll expect you to have Techcrunch on your RSS reader and check it hourly.

Remember: this is a service contract. It’s true that you pay nothing in cash, but you are giving them precious information which they then use to make a significant amount of money. Look at it as a consumer would, for that is what you are. Weigh the tradeoffs and realize that even though there’s no cash exchanged, there is a significant cash value to your information as far as Facebook is concerned, which is why they do not charge you for the service. You are entitled to bring critical intelligence to bear on the issue.

I still have my Facebook profile, one Facebook Group, and two Facebook Pages, and it’s unlikely I’ll join the so-called mass exodus on May 31 (we’ll see how many of them really delete their profiles; nobody wants to get left off a birthday party invitation list!). But it is similarly unlikely that I will actually trust Facebook to keep my best interests at heart, or even keep my settings.

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Wil Wheaton Backs It Up
Posted: April 7, 2010 (02:01) under Backups, Humor, Uncategorized

Wil Wheaton's recursive tee

Yes, the former Wesley Crusher, current Internet Celebrity Wil Wheaton reminds you to back up. It is not suggested that you back up (as here) an infinite number of times, but if that’s what you’ve got your heart set on, OffsiteDataBackup can hook you up.

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