http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20082777-281/street-view-cars-grabbed-locations-of-phones-pcs/
Google street view collected the locations of millions of laptops, cell phones, and other wifi devices from around the world. Only locations of wi-fi access points was supposed to be collected. The information it collected from computers and other devices were made publicly available through Google.com. In April Apple came under fire of logging the location of its Iphone users. Google declined to address why and how the collection of the devices information was collected. Their API revealed where the device was located, a practice that can reveal personal information including home addresses and the addresses of restaurants frequently visited. It is not legal for Google to be collecting people's private information, and scary that they post it for the public to see. I am hoping that the Government will look into this problem and I would not be surprised to see a class action lawsuit be brought towards Google.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
5 Things a Company Can Do to Boost Social Engineering Immunity
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/72891.html
Organizations IT departments don't pay too much attention to being very susceptible to social engineering hackers. This article gave some tips that organizations can use to reduce the chances that they will be hacked. The first is to identify targets and make a list. This step points out that areas of an organization with elevated access (help desk, call center) ar3e the most likely to be attacked ,because of their access to passwords, etc. and that they should be trained on what to look for to recognize an attack. The second step is to recognize and address user limitations. this involves building steps in a process that takes decisions about access out of the hands of support staff. The third step is to test the processes and evaluate what areas to fix. The fourth step is to build awareness by posting large signs in common workplaces(above the coffee machine). And the last step is to develop an IT plan going forward on how to protect form and build countermeasures to potential attacks. Companies are as susceptible to hacking as anyone, and being hacked can be very costly. The more aware people are of the potential problem, the better off a company will be.
Organizations IT departments don't pay too much attention to being very susceptible to social engineering hackers. This article gave some tips that organizations can use to reduce the chances that they will be hacked. The first is to identify targets and make a list. This step points out that areas of an organization with elevated access (help desk, call center) ar3e the most likely to be attacked ,because of their access to passwords, etc. and that they should be trained on what to look for to recognize an attack. The second step is to recognize and address user limitations. this involves building steps in a process that takes decisions about access out of the hands of support staff. The third step is to test the processes and evaluate what areas to fix. The fourth step is to build awareness by posting large signs in common workplaces(above the coffee machine). And the last step is to develop an IT plan going forward on how to protect form and build countermeasures to potential attacks. Companies are as susceptible to hacking as anyone, and being hacked can be very costly. The more aware people are of the potential problem, the better off a company will be.
4 Future Technology Waves That Will Change People's Lives
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/72831.html
This article touched on four different technologies that will change our lives in one way or another. The first technology is building off of existing video technology. It talked about how people don't necessarily want to be looking at the person they are talking to, and it would be useful to be able to display videos or pictures on the screen instead of the person looking at your face. The second technology talked about having communication between people's smart phones, the police, and security cameras to make society a safer place with the lack of funding for police and rising crimes. The third technology touched on how tablets are going to become more popular and their need for a more sensitive screen and using a stylus on them, and reducing people's needs for a keyboard. The last technology talked about how in the future batteries will be replaced with capacitors, and this will make electricity for electrical units cheaper and last longer. ll of the technologies that were touched on were logical, and would help society on the whole.
This article touched on four different technologies that will change our lives in one way or another. The first technology is building off of existing video technology. It talked about how people don't necessarily want to be looking at the person they are talking to, and it would be useful to be able to display videos or pictures on the screen instead of the person looking at your face. The second technology talked about having communication between people's smart phones, the police, and security cameras to make society a safer place with the lack of funding for police and rising crimes. The third technology touched on how tablets are going to become more popular and their need for a more sensitive screen and using a stylus on them, and reducing people's needs for a keyboard. The last technology talked about how in the future batteries will be replaced with capacitors, and this will make electricity for electrical units cheaper and last longer. ll of the technologies that were touched on were logical, and would help society on the whole.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Combining Differant Technologies for More Interactive Running
http://gigaom.com/mobile/what-happens-when-you-marry-sports-sensors-and-social/
Technology will be used during the 2011 New York Marathon for both the IOS and android smartphones which will integrate data from RFID and GPS sensros to provide real time progress of the runners. The runners status will also be available through email and text if you wanted to track a particular runner (i.e. family memeber or friend). There are current phone apps which track statistics/trends that peopel can use daily to help them train or motivate themselves. If I ran to get into shape I'd definately find it helpful to gather data from my phone app to give me the ability to track my progress and set realisitc goals for myself.
Technology will be used during the 2011 New York Marathon for both the IOS and android smartphones which will integrate data from RFID and GPS sensros to provide real time progress of the runners. The runners status will also be available through email and text if you wanted to track a particular runner (i.e. family memeber or friend). There are current phone apps which track statistics/trends that peopel can use daily to help them train or motivate themselves. If I ran to get into shape I'd definately find it helpful to gather data from my phone app to give me the ability to track my progress and set realisitc goals for myself.
Using Tablet PCs to Help with Autism
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_18478215
This article is about how companies are building apps for tablet PCs to help kids with Autism learn. Some children with autism find it easier to learn visually and a touchscreen allows them to use there fingers to guide, point to, and move objects on the screen. It also allows them to trace letters and numbers when they are learningto read and count. HP has invited developers to create apps to aid children with autism and allow people to download the apps for free. There are currentl;y apps available for the ipad and android tablets, but are not free. Another problem with a lot of the current apps are that they were built by teachers who lack the technical skills to make the apps as user friendly as the users would like. As more people buy tablets with touch features, hopefully more people/companies will create educational products to aid those in need.
This article is about how companies are building apps for tablet PCs to help kids with Autism learn. Some children with autism find it easier to learn visually and a touchscreen allows them to use there fingers to guide, point to, and move objects on the screen. It also allows them to trace letters and numbers when they are learningto read and count. HP has invited developers to create apps to aid children with autism and allow people to download the apps for free. There are currentl;y apps available for the ipad and android tablets, but are not free. Another problem with a lot of the current apps are that they were built by teachers who lack the technical skills to make the apps as user friendly as the users would like. As more people buy tablets with touch features, hopefully more people/companies will create educational products to aid those in need.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Google+ , More personal Information Security
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/07/google-plus-users-will-soon-be-able-to-opt-out-of-sharing-gender.html
Google+ is trying to give Facebook some competition for online social interaction. One of the biggest complaints of Facebook is that they give out too much personal information, which can be found or sold to outside vendors. Google+ will be using gender information for pronouns while addressing the users. If the user decides to make their gender hidden, the pronouns used will be more general. Giving people this security feature will be attractive to most users. it will be interesting to see what other personal security features are offered by Google+ during their beta phase. Changing the gender setting is also easy, and can be easily completed by novice computer users.
Google+ is trying to give Facebook some competition for online social interaction. One of the biggest complaints of Facebook is that they give out too much personal information, which can be found or sold to outside vendors. Google+ will be using gender information for pronouns while addressing the users. If the user decides to make their gender hidden, the pronouns used will be more general. Giving people this security feature will be attractive to most users. it will be interesting to see what other personal security features are offered by Google+ during their beta phase. Changing the gender setting is also easy, and can be easily completed by novice computer users.
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