Apps

How To Kill A Mockingbird, Who Tweets?

March 12, 2015 — Leave a comment

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Can you guess which top 10 countries are on the Twitter-withdraw-blacklist? You know how it goes, don’t you? You submit a request to Twitter asking for a certain content to be removed, and then you sit and wait for a response. It is not so hard to guess, who is the number one, is it? Turkey, who else.

Turkey submits more than 500 requests, the official ones, on a yearly level, and Twitter answers in about 50% with a green light. The second position is reserved for Russia, of course. However, when it comes to the Russian, then the blue bird answers positively in less than 10% of all cases. Here is a surprise.

Germany has just won the bronze medal. This is a little bit surprising. Now, the remaining magnificent seven: France, the USA, Brasil, the UK, Japan, Netherland, and India. So, what is the moral of this story? Do not you even dare to come up with some reckless parallels between the democracy and Twitter.

For what is worth, it is definitely not a good sign, when you want to remove something on Twitter. It is worth mentioning that both Russian and Turkish politicians like to use Twitter, especially during the election years. You like when Twitter users vote for you, but you hate it when they criticize. Interesting.

Facebook vs The Sitting Bull

March 11, 2015 — Leave a comment

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We all know that native Indians have colorful and meaningful names. However, in the world of modern social networks this can be a huge disadvantage, rather than a “competitive” advantage we can envy them for. So, what is the catch with Facebook and native Indian names?

Well, it turns out that you cannot register on Facebook, if you have a name, which has some other meaning. Why? Facebook thinks that these names are the fake ones. And you know how it goes with the rigorous Facebook policy, when it comes to an unconditional obligation to use only your “real” name, don’t you?

Unfortunately, these Indians have only their own names, as they are. There are no alternatives. So, the Sitting Bull can simply forget about a Facebook account. Why have nit they tried to communicate the Facebook support about this annoying problem? Trust us, they have done their best.

They scanned their IDs. Library membership cards. They wrote letters of explanations and protests. All of those in vain. It seems that Facebook is both deaf and blind, when it comes to some basic rights of native Indians. Do they have to come up with a social network of their own? Any other option?

Permissions = Troubles

January 17, 2015 — Leave a comment

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Here is how the absolute majority of all cyber troubles begins for us. We like to install new apps. We hate to check a permissions list. You either do not have time or nerves to do it for each app you are about to install. Some busy little bees have done us a huge favor. Check out the infographic we included in this post.

Does this ring a bell? As you can see, it is not such a big deal, if an antivirus app asks for dozens of permissions. We can see a reason in that. In order to work properly an antivirus software needs to move freely inside your smartphone. Right? It would be crazy to deny or limit the full access for this app.

However, we are really having some difficulties in understanding why some of the most popular social network apps demand the wide scope of authorizations. For example, you have Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, or Skype, which literally breathe down the neck of any antivirus app in the number of required permissions.

As always, it all comes down to you and your choices you have to make, this way or another, sooner or later. If a certain app asks too many and quite unusual permissions, then you have to ask yourself for a moment, do you really need this app, in the first place. Too many permissions. Not enough privacy.

Don’t Lie And Drive

December 16, 2014 — Leave a comment

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What is wrong with this post’s title? Actually nothing, it is perfectly fine. The days when we used to say, do not drink and drive, are long gone. Nowadays, you are required to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth, in order for your car to allow you to drive. Are you still confused about what we have just said?

Our story about the unparalleled lie detector for drunk drivers begins in Germany. Some busy little bees have actually recorded hundreds and hundreds of hours, which include drunk driver talks. Based on these recordings they have come up with a genuine software solution. What does it do?

Well, as soon as you try to start your car you will be required to have a convenient conversation with it. If you convince your car’s computer that you are not drunk, you are good to go. Otherwise, you will not able to start the engine. Is this a reliable solution? Hard to say, without some thorough testings.

For what is worth, this is a huge step forward for the AI. The possible applications for this intriguing software solution are not limited only to the traffic safety control, that is for sure. We have to look for the wider picture. The AI will be able to communicate with us in a much profound and precise way.

Simple, Simpler, Safe

December 14, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Sometimes you just cannot see the forest for the trees, can you? We are so worried about our endangered privacy on the Internet, and yet we do not do much about it to protect us. At the same time, we are looking for the miraculous solutions, which are expensive and complex by default. So, what is wrong with this picture?

Well, there are so many nice apps, which are more or less efficient, when it comes to the protection of your privacy. They are ready and waiting to be discovered and used, as well. You do not need a list of recommended apps. You do not need to read endless reviews. Just do it. Just install and try them for yourself.

On the other hand, our reckless behavior is the worst enemy our online privacy can possibly have. Right? Do we have to mention user names and passwords, which are totally identical. Or, passwords which include only one word with no numbers or capital letters, such as the password itself?

Let us do something for a change. Something simple and thoughtful at the same time. How hard could it be? We have the most powerful weapons against the espionage and data theft our world has ever seen – our brain and time. Yet, we tend to use and waste them for so many other useless things.

Block & Report

December 13, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Twitter has taken care of things very seriously. What does it mean? With more than 500 million tweets on a daily basis, it is more than reasonable to expect that some of them will be disturbing or unacceptable in their nature. This is a true logistic nightmare to get rid of them promptly and accurately.

This is why Twitter has decided to include some additional options, which will improve the work of the intern neighborhood online watches. From now on, you will be able to block the inappropriate content or accounts more easily. We should also mention the improved report function. Is this enough?

Well, when you have hundreds of millions of users, you cannot never be sure and safe enough. Yet, by empowering users to do something about it, you are improving your chances as a service provider. On the other hand, we sure hope this will not turn into some kind of Twitter account wars. Right?

Let us see, how it will work in the future. Although, we do not like a formulation, which includes something like improving your customer’s experience, in this case we have no other choice than to comply. So, what are you waiting for? Find your most annoying little cyber bird and block it. Or, even better, report it.

No Play For The Pirate Bay

December 13, 2014 — Leave a comment

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One of the latest news in the world of torrents that the Pirate Bay is alive again online turns out to be a fake one. You should pay attention. The fake websites can be the extremely efficient phishing places rich with malware and all kinds of trojans. Yet, that is only the beginning of troubles associated with the Pirate Bay.

The long arms of the cyber blood thirsty Hollywood have found a way to hit the mobile weak points, as well. Google had no other option than to remove all mobile apps directly or indirectly associated with the Pirate Bay. Unfortunately, the developers were the collateral damage in this cyber war.

From now on you cannot download The Pirate Bay Proxy, The Pirate Bay Premium, The Pirate Bay Mirror or the PirateApp. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to know that the almighty entertainment industry wants to make an example out of the Pirate Bay itself, do you? With this one the entire torrent structure can collapse.

The sad thing in this story is either an unwillingness to find a compromising solution or meaningless stubbornness, which prevents us from finding a way to deal with torrents in an acceptable way. We will always strive for a free content. How to fight this basic instinct? Hollywood, you can do better than this.

Golden Rules And Cyber Fools

November 26, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Privacy and social networks simply do not go hand in hand. Does it really have to be this way? Well, it depends on you. At this dark hour for our privacy, it would be nice to remind ourselves of a timeless classic in this field. According to the NSA golden rule, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about.

As simple and as complicated as that. On the other side, here is one more goldie just for you. There is no such a thing as privacy on social networks. The man, who invented the Facebook, said that. If you want to keep something a secret absolutely and permanently, you have no other choice than to keep silent.

So, what are we supposed to do? Use the social networks to suit you the best. However, do not forget that everything and anything on these networks come at a certain price. It is up to you, whether or not a certain social network will become a social spider’s web for you. Maybe you are a spider itself.

Yet, you just do not know it. Either way, it is the social networks’ way or the highway. We have a choice, to use them or find some other way of communicating and making new friends. Is this a true choice, in the first place? Or, you can create a new social network of your own. Maybe you can change the world.

I Am The Moderator!

November 9, 2014 — Leave a comment

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So, how do you think the system works? We are talking about the immense content sea of the social networks. You think that you have seen it all, don’t you? You take the situation on the modern social networks for granted. You do not like what you see. Well, without moderators that would have been a living hell.

According to some very reliable urban legends and unreliable rumors there is an entire army of literally hundreds of thousands of social network moderators out there. Most of them are freelancers from the third world countries. For a couple of hundreds of dollars per month you get the top class human filter.

Thanks to these busy little bees we have a unique chance to enjoy ourselves in the cleaned version. Do not you even dare to ask what had to be eliminated during the process itself. All for your pleasure and convenience. Why? Because the good old Facebook does not want to upset its users too much.

If so, how come we do not have hundreds of thousands of cyber security moderators? Well, that is more costly. In addition, from the provider’s point of view, this is a completely different thing. The one he is ready to pay for, only when something bad happens. Poor busy little bees, they fly only in one direction.

Jailbreak One More Trouble To Make

August 29, 2014 — Leave a comment

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If you have second thoughts about jailbreaking your iPhone, after reading this post, you will definitely leave the things just the way they are. One serious rumor has it that AdThief IOS Malware has its origins in China. On the other side, this malware has an extremely specific goal to achieve.

It steals ad revenues. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out that this malware switches the recipient address of ad revenues. The things are pretty much serious in this matter. More than 75,000 infected devices and more than 20 million stolen ads. Is this impressive or what?

On the other hand, we have to admit that this malware is not necessarily bad from the user’s point of view. What this has to do with us? Yet, it is only a matter of time before the Chinese hackers realize that they can do some additional account’s IDs and recipients switching. We can be affected next.

We should also hold our horses and do our very best not to exaggerate the things. The main thing is that we can identify a certain cyber threat. The next move is to find the adequate answer for it. We sure hope we will not have to wait too long for the efficient cure. Poor old advertisers. Do you feel sorry for them?