July 9, 2012: Doomsday

A trojan virus is on the loose preparing to affect both PCs and Macs that redirects all Internet traffic through malicious servers. The creators of this virus have been stopped and arrested, but there could still be millions of PCS out there that have been infected and won’t know until July 9. On this day, those computers infected with the trojan virus will no longer have access to the Internet.

This issue goes all the way back to 2007 when the first trojan surfaced. This malware creates a botnet by changing how the machine accesses the DNS and redirects your computer’s DNS queries from your Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) server to the one created by the trojan creators. In all essence, it is highjacking all Internet traffic from the infected machines. The good news is that the FBI has shut down the operation including the malicious servers and has set up its own DNS servers to ensure any infected computers do not lose their Internet.

If you have any reason to believe your computer is infected then go to http://www.dns-ok.us/which will let you know if your computer’s DNS is working correctly. If your machine tests positive for the trojan virus, the website provides anti-virus tools and a comprehensive to-do list. I performed the test and it said that my “computer appears to be looking up IP addressed correctly!” Therefore, my computer has not been affected by this trojan. Check yours today!

http://mashable.com/2012/04/24/dns-changer-trojan/

WARNING: Anything you tweet may be used against you in court!

Yes, it’s true. Just this week, a New York judge ruled that prosecutors do not need to have a warrant to subpoena a Twitter account since this information is made available to the public through a third-party service. This ruling was made for the case of Occupy Wall Street protester Malcolm Harris who attempted to block the subpoena on his Twitter account. I found this article interesting because many of us think of our Twitter account as our own private property secured by a password and privacy settings, but in reality, it is public information that can be used against you. This is a perfect example of the fact that anything posted on the Internet is archived and accessible to anyone, even the courts.

http://mashable.com/2012/04/24/no-warrant-necessary-judge-rules-tweets-can-be-used-in-court/

Top 10 Clever Tricks Built Right Into Gmail

This article listed the top 10 clever tricks built into Gmail as:

10. Host files in your email inbox for easy access

9. Keep track of your home IP address

8. Strip your emails of annoying text formatting

7. Restore your contacts list if you mess it up

6. Copy and paste image directly into messages

5. Sort Gmail messages by size and get rid of data hogs

4. Set up Gmail on iOS like it was meant to be

3. Access Gmail when it’s down

2. Set gmail as your default mail client

1.  Add a snooze button to Gmail

It said that some of these Gmail features are lesser known, and I would have to agree because I was unaware of the majority of them. I originally was not a fan of Gmail because of how different it functions compared to other tradition mail clients, however, after switching to Gmail through the university I have grown fond of the mail client and believe that is because of the many unique characteristics it offers.

http://lifehacker.com/5903974/top-10-clever-tricks-built-right-into-gmail

Visualizations get political

A specific website was designed to provide real-time data tracking the number of election-related tweets for each candidate in France’s presidential election. The visualization shows that incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy is in the lead for the first round of elections but candidate Francois Hollande is closing in. I found this to be interesting because in my MIS 404 class last semester we performed data mining on Twitter data so that we could create our very own visualization. Because it is unstructured data, it is more difficult to mine, but I believe in this day and age people are more willing to analyze data when it is presented in an attractive manner. A visualization makes it quicker and easier to put data into context and draw conclusions. Visualizations are becoming more and more popular without people really noticing. It is something we have begun to expect when receiving news or information. One of my favorite examples of a visualization is is newsmap.jp, which is a website that presents news based off popularity. The more popular the genre and the story are, the bigger the space and squares are. It makes the way you receive your news fun and interesting.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/22/2966385/french-election-live-tweet-visualization

Facebook purchases Instagram for $1 Billion

Instagram’s success was a matter of perfect timing. Right after the app was released the iPhone 4 was launched which had a new and improved camera and helped contribute to the use of Instagram. In just three months, the newly released app hit one million users which has quickly turned into 10 million users and now 27 million, and still counting. During this climb to the top, Instagram did not have to pay a dime to get where it is today. One of the co-founders stated that he thinks of Instagram as more of a social network than a photo-sharing app. This free photo-sharing app allows its users to take photos, apply a filter, and share it on social networking website such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Tumblr, and Flickr. The application is now compatible with any iPhone, iPad, iTouch, or any Android device above 2.2. It confines the photo into a square shape and resembles that of a Polaroid picture. Even though in it’s pre-revenue stages, Mark Zuckerberg decided he wanted Instagram and put the price of $1 billion on it – a somewhat arbitrary and controversial number at this point. Although Instagram rests with Facebook now, the co-founders have practically become both celebrities and Billionaires over night.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/09/instagram-story-facebook-acquisition/

Should employers be allowed to ask for social networking passwords?

A new issue associated with social networking and privacy has been brought to our attention from several reports showing that employers are asking job applicants for their passwords to Facebook and other social networking websites. I just heard about this last week during a guest speaker from PwC when a student asked what we should do if put in this position. He said that he would never ask for such private information as a recruiter/interviewer and encouraged us not to give that information up. I could not even believe that this was actually being practiced. Facebook has come out against this practice already and many states are already in the process of writing bills to prevent this kind of behavior. Maryland has now become the first state to pass a law prohibiting employers from asking for social media passwords. Illinois and California have both introduced similar legislation and many other states are expected to quickly follow. I believe that it is a poor reflection of any company that expects this information out of an applicant and it is unfortunate that this unethical behavior has to be put to rest through even more legislation.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/10/2938954/maryland-law-prohibits-employers-facebook-social-media-password

Wi-Fi Use: iPhone > Android

A new report found that owners of iPhones are much more likely to use Wi-Fi compared to Android users. Data shows that 71% of iPhone users in the US connect to both Wi-Fi and their mobile network, while 29% only use their mobile network. Android users have the complete opposite trend with 32% of its users connecting to both Wi-Fi and the mobile network and 68% percent only using the mobile network. The article asked the question why are iPhone users so much more inclined to use Wi-Fi compared to Android users, however, they did not seem to have a reason. I am an Android user and I would have to agree 100% with these statistics. I always connect to my mobile network and do not remember the last time I connected to Wi-Fi on my phone. When I first got my Android device, I would sometimes use the Wi-Fi, but I found it to be more of a hassle and inconsistent and decided that the mobile network that was only a tad slower was easier to deal with than the settings of Wi-Fi. I’ve never had an iPhone but everything that I have heard about it leads me to believe that it is more user friendly and I think this may also have something to do with the Wi-Fi usage trends.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/3/2922479/comscore-iphone-versus-android-wifi-usage

Amendment to threaten first amendment rights

Arizona House Bill 2549 just needs the signature of governor Jan Brewer to criminalize the use of “obscene, lewd, or profane language” through any digital communication, but only if done with the intent to “terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend.” This amendment is meant to make cyberbullying and online harassment illegal however this change creates even more issues. Many are concerned that this amendment could be taken advantage of and misused as a form of online censorship by the government and ultimately threaten people’s free speech. The biggest flaw I see with this amendment is the ambiguity that comes with the language used in the amendment. It does not offer any definitions which leaves much room for interpretation and abuse of the amendment. If I were an Arizona citizen, I would be very concerned for my first amendment rights in the digital world.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/3/2922030/arizona-bill-2549-amendment-censorship-harassment

Google and Facebook: “Intermediaries For The Government”

Legal scholar, technologist, and best-selling thriller writer, Lori Andrews,  just published her newest book, “I Know Who You Are And I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy.” In this book, she argues that social networks such as Facebook and Google+ are destroying our privacy  by referring to them as “intermediaries for the government.” Andrews believes that social media networks like Facebook and Google+ have business models based on “deception” and profit from our personal data. I found this article to be very interesting after looking more closely at the privacy policies of Facebook and Google. When I read through it, I did have a sense of insincerity and deception, but me along with the majority have not let this stop us from using their services. What is it going to take to get people to demand privacy protection?

http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/26/keen-on-lori-andrews-how-google-and-facebook-are-intermediaries-for-the-government-tctv/

Who needs coding? Meet HTML5

Although I found this article before class today, it ironically relates to our class discussion. HTML5, the newest version of HTML, can now make flashy and beautiful websites without coding or plug-ins. It is the most updated version of online code used to build websites and allows for integration of videos, pictures, graphics and words. This capability is now allowing everyone, not just developers, to create fancy websites.

The Wix company has already released a free HTML5 website builder that has many easy-to-use templates. These templates were designed for people with small businesses, designers, photographers and corporations that are looking to take their web presence to the next level. The beauty in this version and its templates is that there is absolutely NO need for code. Individuals simply drag different web features and type whatever text they want. After learning about this capability, it is going to be very frustrating to learn and practice coding in class when creating our own website. Is there anyway we can switch to HTML5?

http://mashable.com/2012/03/26/free-html5-website-builder/