What is the scariest thing happening with the internet? Mass data mining and invasion of privacy? Big brother? For me that pretty much sums it up. The internet is a tool for information and research, but too many aspects of the technology are being used against us in sometimes seemingly innocent ways. Data mining, taking our personal information and using it to create profiles about our personal lives so that ad companies can better deliver unwanted advertising and product pushes to our attention. Or simply that fact that elements of our personal lives are out there and can be accessed and abused by anyone with the knowledge and motivation to do so?
Well there you have it. Identity theft. Physical theft. Virtual theft. It all becomes possible through the realm of technology for many ways. People are watching us. Reading our email, looking into our personal lives, making sure that we are behaving and conforming to aspects of societal norms, all too often in the guise of the protection of freedom and government. But at the same time these same invasions of privacy are being utilized in more nefarious ways to bring harm to ourselves, our families and our friends. Personally, I don’t want people knowing that I’m out shopping, away from my house because the gps on my phone let’s everyone know that automatically. I also don’t want the location of my home (which I’m currently away from) known just because it’s been posted on Google Earth.
Technology is great and when used properly can help propel our species into a new and prosperous age. But don’t abuse it. And definitely don’t do stupid things to put yourself and your friends at risk. Technology is to help us learn and progress, not to hurt, control, or profit from those who can’t defend themselves either virtually, financially, or physically.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Week 7 BOC: Companies that spy on you
Two companies that can spy and take your personal information right off the internet are Google and Microsoft.
In the case of Google, geotagging, that is, the portion of metadata that is sent when pictures are taken or apps on your mobile phone use your current location are sent to the host server. The risk that this presents can be very serious depending on how the features are used. It can also be less serious. In the case of Google, which is a company that has always unashamedly sought your personal data so that it can use that data to sell you products and tailor advertising directly to you, it can now send you these ads to you based on your location, where you are up to the minute you are there. “Security experts are particularly worried about the pictures posted on social networks, since they are usually accompanied by real-time statuses. They say that anyone with a modicum of programming knowledge can write a program that could search for the combination of geotagged pictures and "On vacation" statuses” (Net Security).
Microsoft on the other hand, has just recently debuted their newest gaming flagship, the Kinect. Almost immediately an online uproar of articles an opinions came out claiming Kinect’s ability to see what you are doing in the comfort of your own home, how many people are there, the types of gestures being made, who left during specific advertising messages, and so on. “He seemed to suggest that Kinect could tell the Imperium how many people were in the room when an advert was being shown and how many got up and went to the loo.” (Tech Eye).
All of this comes for the sake of information gathering, whether it be for financial gain in relation to targeting advertising to specific people, or political motivations and household numbers. Information is king, and these two mediums can get it from your if you’re not careful about what you put out there.
In the case of Google, geotagging, that is, the portion of metadata that is sent when pictures are taken or apps on your mobile phone use your current location are sent to the host server. The risk that this presents can be very serious depending on how the features are used. It can also be less serious. In the case of Google, which is a company that has always unashamedly sought your personal data so that it can use that data to sell you products and tailor advertising directly to you, it can now send you these ads to you based on your location, where you are up to the minute you are there. “Security experts are particularly worried about the pictures posted on social networks, since they are usually accompanied by real-time statuses. They say that anyone with a modicum of programming knowledge can write a program that could search for the combination of geotagged pictures and "On vacation" statuses” (Net Security).
Microsoft on the other hand, has just recently debuted their newest gaming flagship, the Kinect. Almost immediately an online uproar of articles an opinions came out claiming Kinect’s ability to see what you are doing in the comfort of your own home, how many people are there, the types of gestures being made, who left during specific advertising messages, and so on. “He seemed to suggest that Kinect could tell the Imperium how many people were in the room when an advert was being shown and how many got up and went to the loo.” (Tech Eye).
All of this comes for the sake of information gathering, whether it be for financial gain in relation to targeting advertising to specific people, or political motivations and household numbers. Information is king, and these two mediums can get it from your if you’re not careful about what you put out there.
Week 7 BOC: YouTube Video
This video is a short video intended to be a funny parody of the online gaming community surrounding Call of Duty: Black Ops. It is a game that I play with friends on occasion, and it can be quite fun and challenging if this type of entertainment appeals to you.
However, one element that I have noticed surrounding the game and its so called community is the lack of respect and politic that is fostered by it. For the most part, people forgo be polite and nice with a desire to have a good time for being rude, childish and unquestionably insulting. It can be, and is in many ways, pathetic.
A game, by definition, is supposed to be fun and entertaining. Unfortunately some of the lesser elements of the community don't take it as fun, but as a means to insult and degrade other people, simply because it is part of a community that is for the majority, anonymous and virtual. It becomes sad to see that many people in our culture get more enjoyment out of using games and forms of online entertainment such as this as more of a digital shouting board for their rude, juvenile opinions rather using them as they were intended, for fun. And for the record, no, just because you have a good time insulting other people online does not mean it's a valid form of fun or entertainment.
All in all, the game is still fun despite the negative aspects of the community that have surfaced because of these types of services. But it is still worthy of play from time to time.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Week 6 EOC: Video Challenge, Tentative Plans
As of right now the plan is to record a small video game playing session on the newly released and highly popular Call of Duty: Black ops. This game is one of the single most popular game franchises, if not THE most popular, and has recorded record breaking sales number on its initial launch of Tuesday of this week (11.9.10).
As for the theme of the short video it is a spoof of some of the more serious (and annoying) of the over five million active users who play this game online on a regular basis. As a sporadic player myself(for fun and entertainment) I have born witness to some of the more juvenile and irritating personalities who tend to get online and take the experience either far too seriously, or are simply intentionally irritating.
The video will feature a shot of the TV screen as I (or someone else) plays the game (intentionally losing), and a shot of hands manipulating the controller while in the background there is a set of running commentary set to parody some of the more annoying personalities found during online play. It is intended to be a fun and funny spoof of the game experience, likely to be entitled “The World’s Greatest Black Ops Multiplayer.”
As for the theme of the short video it is a spoof of some of the more serious (and annoying) of the over five million active users who play this game online on a regular basis. As a sporadic player myself(for fun and entertainment) I have born witness to some of the more juvenile and irritating personalities who tend to get online and take the experience either far too seriously, or are simply intentionally irritating.
The video will feature a shot of the TV screen as I (or someone else) plays the game (intentionally losing), and a shot of hands manipulating the controller while in the background there is a set of running commentary set to parody some of the more annoying personalities found during online play. It is intended to be a fun and funny spoof of the game experience, likely to be entitled “The World’s Greatest Black Ops Multiplayer.”
Week 6 BOC: There's an app for that!
As it turns out, though the idea does seem preposterous, the British smart phone app to provide diagnosis for sexually transmitted diseases is a real thing. Researchers from St. George University in London have acquired funding for an application to help alleviate problems brought on by a recent outbreak of common sexually transmitted disease. "It's bringing the diagnostics to the population rather than having the population come into clinics. We've really wanted to do this process because there's been this huge burden of sexually transmitted infections." (Daily Tech). Gross, yes, but also useful in certain societies that can a times revolve around shame, or fear of exposure to certain types of information. It does show the overall utility and versatility that modern smart phones are beginning to develop. I mean, why not do everything on your smart phone, including pee on it, virtually and in private instead of in real life?
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Midterm 1: The Octet
Simply put, the Octet is a grouping of 8 digital bits. Although the naming convention has changed in recent years as technology has become more widespread, the Octet used to have widely different meanings from the term byte, while now they are nearly synonymous. “The easiest way to understand bits is to compare them to something you know: digits. A digit is a single place that can hold numerical values between 0 and 9.” (How Stuff Works). Electrically speaking, an Octet is simply a collection of 8 digital (or electrical) switches that can have one of two positions, on or off.
This is a very important element to understand about the internet and about the digital transfer of information. Any file, no matter what type (.jpg, .bmp, .wav, etc.), or how large or small (8 bits to 20 Gigabytes) is, at its most basic level, composed of a series of bits strung together in possibly millions of Octets. “A bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and communications, and it always has a value of either zero or one. A byte is a contiguous sequence of a fixed number of bits that is used as a unit of memory, storage and instructions execution in computers.” (Linux Info).
As the number of 8 bit combinations increase in a given file or data type, so does the number possible 1 and 0 combinations. This is important because it allows for a huge amount of diversity and potential for information. Computers process information in quantities of eight units, so these numbers are very signification and have become a universally recognized mathematical property. Computers speeds begin to double at alarming rates due to the computational property of the octet allowing for huge jumps in power and speed (i.e. 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256).
After these digital strings are put together to form whatever file type, to transmit whatever type of information you are trying to send, they must somehow be sent across the internet (if communication is your desired end). This is accomplished by data packet transfer, or packet switching. “So the role of the IP layer is to figure out how to `route' packets to their final destination. To make this possible, every interface on the network needs an `IP address'.” (Net Filter).
“Each packet contains address information that identifies the sending computer and intended recipient.” (Comp Networking). Once the data has been reassembled on the other side by the receiving router, you have successfully sent your information. If there is some breakdown in communication, or some small piece (or packet) of data was lost along the way, the receiving router will request to have the information sent again until the entire piece has be reassembled.
So, what is the Octet? “An octet represents any eight-bit quantity. By definition, octets range in mathematical value from 0 (zero) to 255.” (About). To most of us, it’s data. Digitally, it is one’s and zero’s, little bits of electricity strung together to contain information. In this form we use it to communicate ever more rapidly and frequently as the internet grows and continues to change. The size files grow, and our appetites for more and more information grows with it, even though far too few of us actually know how that information gets from point A to point B. The Octet is the backbone of all modern data and communication. And though it seems complex from a distance, it’s nothing but ones and zeros.
This is a very important element to understand about the internet and about the digital transfer of information. Any file, no matter what type (.jpg, .bmp, .wav, etc.), or how large or small (8 bits to 20 Gigabytes) is, at its most basic level, composed of a series of bits strung together in possibly millions of Octets. “A bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and communications, and it always has a value of either zero or one. A byte is a contiguous sequence of a fixed number of bits that is used as a unit of memory, storage and instructions execution in computers.” (Linux Info).
As the number of 8 bit combinations increase in a given file or data type, so does the number possible 1 and 0 combinations. This is important because it allows for a huge amount of diversity and potential for information. Computers process information in quantities of eight units, so these numbers are very signification and have become a universally recognized mathematical property. Computers speeds begin to double at alarming rates due to the computational property of the octet allowing for huge jumps in power and speed (i.e. 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256).
After these digital strings are put together to form whatever file type, to transmit whatever type of information you are trying to send, they must somehow be sent across the internet (if communication is your desired end). This is accomplished by data packet transfer, or packet switching. “So the role of the IP layer is to figure out how to `route' packets to their final destination. To make this possible, every interface on the network needs an `IP address'.” (Net Filter).
“Each packet contains address information that identifies the sending computer and intended recipient.” (Comp Networking). Once the data has been reassembled on the other side by the receiving router, you have successfully sent your information. If there is some breakdown in communication, or some small piece (or packet) of data was lost along the way, the receiving router will request to have the information sent again until the entire piece has be reassembled.
So, what is the Octet? “An octet represents any eight-bit quantity. By definition, octets range in mathematical value from 0 (zero) to 255.” (About). To most of us, it’s data. Digitally, it is one’s and zero’s, little bits of electricity strung together to contain information. In this form we use it to communicate ever more rapidly and frequently as the internet grows and continues to change. The size files grow, and our appetites for more and more information grows with it, even though far too few of us actually know how that information gets from point A to point B. The Octet is the backbone of all modern data and communication. And though it seems complex from a distance, it’s nothing but ones and zeros.
Midterm 2: IPv6
Internet Protocol Version 6 is a newer, faster, larger, and believe it or not, simpler version of the protocol currently used (IPv4) for transmitting information via packet transmission over the internet. Although not in use yet, it will eventually replace the existing protocol (IPv4) that has been in use since 1981. “IPv6 is designed to solve many of the problems of the current version of IP (known as IPv4) such as address depletion, security, autoconfiguration, and extensibility.” (Microsoft).
One of the main, and most important elements of IPv6 over its predecessor is the increase in address space, such as the sheer number of internet addresses currently available on the internet. Whereas IPv4 uses 32 bit of space, IPv6 will use 128 bits, allowing for a vast increase in the number of addresses available for use. “This addressing capability, along with new functions enabling end-to-end security, improved mobility support, simplified address configuration and management, make IPv6 a critical component in the evolution of e-business and the next generation internet.” (IBM). And that’s just it. IPv6 is the Internet Protocol to service the next generation of computer and internet usage, including mobile computing. So why isn’t is in use already?
According to some sources, IPv6 is on the verge of widespread implementation. “The technology has broad implications to innovation and productivity. It allows us to explore new business growth models, and offer more people and communities equitable access to information.” (Cisco). Considering how quickly the internet has shrunk, and by shrunk I mean how quickly much of the bandwidth and space for addresses has diminished, now would be a good time to truly expand the internet and how we use it. The internet is the future of nearly all media, and we need to utilize it the best we can.
One of the main, and most important elements of IPv6 over its predecessor is the increase in address space, such as the sheer number of internet addresses currently available on the internet. Whereas IPv4 uses 32 bit of space, IPv6 will use 128 bits, allowing for a vast increase in the number of addresses available for use. “This addressing capability, along with new functions enabling end-to-end security, improved mobility support, simplified address configuration and management, make IPv6 a critical component in the evolution of e-business and the next generation internet.” (IBM). And that’s just it. IPv6 is the Internet Protocol to service the next generation of computer and internet usage, including mobile computing. So why isn’t is in use already?
According to some sources, IPv6 is on the verge of widespread implementation. “The technology has broad implications to innovation and productivity. It allows us to explore new business growth models, and offer more people and communities equitable access to information.” (Cisco). Considering how quickly the internet has shrunk, and by shrunk I mean how quickly much of the bandwidth and space for addresses has diminished, now would be a good time to truly expand the internet and how we use it. The internet is the future of nearly all media, and we need to utilize it the best we can.
Midterm 3: Origin of Spam
As we know (and hate) it today, spam refers to the overabundance of electronic mail messaging, in the form of unsolicited advertisements. But spam doesn’t just come from your email inbox, it has roots in many other forms of media as well. “The word "Spam" as applied to Email means "Unsolicited Bulk Email".Unsolicited means that the Recipient has not granted verifiable permission for the message to be sent.” (http://www.spamhaus.org/definition.html).
In modern terms, the name of spam came into use with the earliest iterations of the internet, although the case could be made for the earlier iterations of unwanted chain letters and the like. The origins of this come from a bug in the original USENET software which was intended to delete unwanted messages, and which mistakenly ended up sending over 200 unintended messages to existing USENET users. “It was these recipients that were first to use the term spam, which at the time simply meant abuse of USENET.” (Spam Laws).
Prior to the internet, the spam was first utilized by virtue of the telegraph where the first recorded spam message was sent simultaneously to several destinations. “The first unsolicited messages came over the wires as early as 1864, when telegraph lines were used to send dubious investment offers to wealthy Americans.” (Time Magazine). Appropriately, the definition refers to Network abuse of nearly any kind. Of course we are all familiar with the modern terms of either the processed meat product, or the gross overabundance of unwanted email.
Spam today has become a whole new monster. It has taken root in a variety of different media, smart spammers utilizing the many varied forms that the technological world gets its information. Emails, text messages, faxes, internet ads, and so on have become the new media by which spam has taken root in all our lives…and almost none of it is welcome. ”Spammers have always shown their liking for big names and brands. And very often these brands are abused to spread malware or gain access to users’ accounts.” (Symantec). Not only has spam become incredibly annoying, but it is now becoming dangerous to our personal identities and property. Obviously common decency will not stop spammers. But the line needs to be drawn somewhere.
In modern terms, the name of spam came into use with the earliest iterations of the internet, although the case could be made for the earlier iterations of unwanted chain letters and the like. The origins of this come from a bug in the original USENET software which was intended to delete unwanted messages, and which mistakenly ended up sending over 200 unintended messages to existing USENET users. “It was these recipients that were first to use the term spam, which at the time simply meant abuse of USENET.” (Spam Laws).
Prior to the internet, the spam was first utilized by virtue of the telegraph where the first recorded spam message was sent simultaneously to several destinations. “The first unsolicited messages came over the wires as early as 1864, when telegraph lines were used to send dubious investment offers to wealthy Americans.” (Time Magazine). Appropriately, the definition refers to Network abuse of nearly any kind. Of course we are all familiar with the modern terms of either the processed meat product, or the gross overabundance of unwanted email.
Spam today has become a whole new monster. It has taken root in a variety of different media, smart spammers utilizing the many varied forms that the technological world gets its information. Emails, text messages, faxes, internet ads, and so on have become the new media by which spam has taken root in all our lives…and almost none of it is welcome. ”Spammers have always shown their liking for big names and brands. And very often these brands are abused to spread malware or gain access to users’ accounts.” (Symantec). Not only has spam become incredibly annoying, but it is now becoming dangerous to our personal identities and property. Obviously common decency will not stop spammers. But the line needs to be drawn somewhere.
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