Sunday, October 25, 2009

Article Blog #9

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/19/social.networking.crimes/index.html?iref=newssearch

Support: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/phishing.html

Facebook, Twitter, and many of your favorite networking websites that you love looking at day in and day out could prove to be harmful to your personal information and your computer. This is all because,
“more cyberthieves are targeting increasingly popular social networking sites that provide a gold mine of personal information, according to the FBI” (cnn.com). There have been thousands of these social network accounts captured by hackers using them for fraud. Internet phishing is, “The act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft” (webopedia.com). This has been a powerful way for people to get a lot of your personal information, and it is being used a lot to lure social networkers into giving away private information on a fake website. These social networking sites have seen massive growth, which only means that there are tons of cybercriminals trying to attack. The article also talks about how many sites encourage their members to change their passwords constantly to avoid the chance of being attacked. During this decade, the most common form of malware attack has been through audio downloads, and while surfing around sites like Google or Yahoo. Social networking sites have tried to answer these complaints from their members by making their systems more secure, while having a complex automated system to avoid the ease for hackers to hijack your accounts.

I think that this issue is very difficult to solve, and I am unsure of how long it will actually take to handle this situation. Hackers are very intelligent, and trying to stop them is a task that is extremely hard due to their ability to stay two steps ahead all the time. The chance of viruses ever going away is not likely in the near future in my opinion. The only way I think that we can stop these hackers is to bulk up the internet security while having more people looking for suspicious behaviors within these popular websites. Many phishing frauds use fake website addresses to try and trick users into believing that something about them is being said on another website and gives the use a link to “check it out”. A lot of these hackers get paid for how many people they can get to click the links. The these phishing tactics are very clever in the way they lure people in, but it is up to the individual to be careful and double check that what they are actually clicking will lead them to where they want to go. It will be hard to stop these frauds and viruses, and it will only get worse before it gets any better, but I think that over time we will be able to do it.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Article Blog #8

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/10/16/online.university/index.html

Support: http://www.bachelorsdegreeonline.com/blog/2009/50-terrific-itunes-u-lectures-to-get-you-through-the-economic-crisis/

The article at hand discusses the plans of more and more universities putting their lectures up on the internet for everyone to download. Hundreds of universities and many business schools are providing lectures online via Youtube and iTunes U, which is a part of the iTunes online store. According to CNN, “those whose budget won't stretch to a two-year MBA can simulate the experience at home -- or at work, in the gym or anywhere else they choose. And even better for money-conscious learners, the iTunes U content can all be downloaded free of charge” (cnn.com). Some schools have already been doing this, such as the French business school HEC Paris, They have been running podcast of lectures since 2006. Some professors use this online approach to answer commonly asked questions in masses rather than answer questions individually. iTunes U isn’t the only one that has had this idea of putting lectures online, others include Youtube EDU, Academic Earth, and other universities have their own Open Course Wear site. Nevertheless, it is iTunes U that is attracting all the attention and drawing the most interest.

I think the idea of online lectures is a great way to help students study and give them something helpful to listen on walks to class or car rides during test weeks. This would help students out a lot because they will have a chance to actually listen to the lecture for the second time and also give them the ability to start, pause, and stop the lectures in order for them to takes notes without being rushed. I personally have a hard digesting everything while copying notes at the same times, which makes it hard to comprehend the key points of the lecture. “One teacher noticed that each year his MBA students would ask the same questions after his end-of-course summary, so he made a podcast of recurring questions and answers. After encouraging students to come up with new questions, he is now recording responses to those in an effort to compile a video archive of questions and answers” (cnn.com). If our university had every professor provide this luxury to its students I am sure each student would deeply appreciate it while having to deal with less stress of trying to figure out what the professor expects the students to understand. Although this may be very student oriented, non-college students can download and appreciate it the same way. According to bachelorsdegreeonline.com you can, “Visit iTunes U for free access to helpful courses that will enlighten you to the state of the economy, inspire you to start your own business, and give you a little more perspective on what you should be doing with your money”. If time is an option for you, than the new iTunes U could definitely help you out.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Article Blog #7

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/10/07/language.facebook.google/index.html

Support: http://www.bloglingua.com/google-and-facebook-release-new-translation-tools

The article shows two ways of trying to achieve one common goal, which is internet translations in order to create a true “world wide web.” Two of the top leaders trying to tackle this task are Google, and the social networking giant, Facebook. Both sides are taking different approaches in achieving this goal, and both believe their way is probably the best way. It’s a competition between humans and machine, in this objective to create a internet for everyone. “Facebook aims to translate the Web using an army of volunteers and some hired professional translators. Meanwhile, Google plans to let computers do most of the work” (cnn.com). Facebook currently has more than 65 functioning languages with at least 30 more on the way soon. Whereas Google has 51 languages with over 2,500 language pairs. Facebook uses real people who suggest translation phrases and vote on others submitted translations. Google’s computers use its search engine to examine text that is already on the web, as well as from professional web translations on the web. However, both come with its own flaws that are still being worked out. Google’s computers have a hard time recognizing slang terms, whereas Facebook is geared more towards common talk, but their translators do not touch on wall post, photo’s or comments making it hard for someone communicate with a new friend with no common language.

I think that Google and Facebook both have great ideas on how to make the internet truly global and for everyone. It is about time that someone tries to connect different countries and cultures together by making it easier for people to communicate with each other. Many people would really like to understand the idea of other’s but there are times when the language barrier is too difficult to translate, which is where Google and Facebook come in. However, both lack in certain areas with their programs, but they still have helped many people out so far. My thing is why not join forces? Think about it, wouldn’t it be quicker if Google and Facebook were to join forces and create a perfect program to translate any language? On the other hand, many people think that an online translation still cannot compare to a professional. “Automatic translation is convenient and helps people get a quick gist of the page. However, it’s not a perfect substitute for the art of professional translation” (bloglingua.com). Overall, we still have a lot of time before either Google or Facebook completes its goal, but at least we are headed in the right direction on something that should have been done a long time ago.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Article Blog #6

Source:http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/28/dcot.socialmedia.privacy/index.html

Support: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/does_that_facebook_app_have_a_privacy_policy_probably_not.php

The article at hand addresses the fact that we must be careful about how we use the social network giant “Facebook”. It talks about how we must guard ourselves, and stray away from potential danger on the networking site. According to Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDtheftsecurity.com, “It’s all about providing the bad guy with intelligence”. The piece of writing also depicts how hackers can use information posted on a person’s profile that can help lead to figuring out their passwords. Twitter was also discussed in the article at being a possible problem of danger because of its constant status updates of some users. CNN reports that Facebook has over 350,000 applications that are used by approximately 70 percent of its members. Some of these applications include “quizzes” some of which can include personal information depending on how far into that some people may get. Facebook defends it case by stating, "We enforce this policy through spot checks and have disabled apps that we've found to be in violation. No app can access the most sensitive information like contact info." (cnn.com)

I think that Facebook is a great way to stay in touch with family and friends, but I do agree that if you are not careful then you could become a victim to hackers. I personally do not think that it is a good idea at all to put your information that you would not want everyone to know anywhere on Facebook. It is very easy these days for hackers to get into your account and destroy it without your knowledge. The social networking site has been under a lot of heat recently, “Facebook is busy defending itself against accusations that they're using user data for advertising purposes, but it seems that the real danger on Facebook may be the access to this same user data from unknown companies outside of the social network” (readwriteweb.com). However, you can’t completely blame Facebook because it really is up to the individual to decide how much information they are going to provide to their “friends list”. All and all, Facebook is a great place to network yourself and keep it touch, but no one can tell you where to draw the line on what you post on your profile or how you answer “quiz” questions. Your profile is yours so maintain it and help avoid the potential for harm.