Privacy

The Certification Wars

April 9, 2015 — Leave a comment

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Google has a new cyber enemy made in China. The CNNIC or the China Internet Network Information Center is at least to say furious about Google’s rejection to accept its web certificates. So, what is the big deal with these certificates? Does it really have to be this way for these “old cyber friends”?

Do we really need an additional chapter in the book of conflicts between Google and China? Well, it seems that there is no other choice. This can be a disturbing and annoying thing for the Chinese website owners. Why? Each time someone uses the Chrome to check out your website, there is a surprise.

As a matter of facts, this surprise is not a nice one. You get a warning that this particular website does not play by the Google web security certification rules. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to guess twice how is this tiny detail going to affect the number of total visits, do you?

Maybe, this is a Google way of paying back some old dues for all the inconveniences associated with the rigid, but extremely profitable Chinese market. Unfortunately, while these two giants are fighting, we, the mortals, are going to suffer either way. What happened to a magical word called compromise?

Gimme The Right Beat For My Tweet

April 5, 2015 — Leave a comment

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Hey Twitter, what took you so long to come up with the proper Quality Filter for the harmful, negative, or harassing Tweets? Maybe, we have waited for the others to become sick and tired of all negativity. Or maybe, Twitter has a priority in fighting against the nudity and porn related content.

Now, the malicious content is the next thing on its list of future improvements. For this one we have to say, our hats off to you our dear Twitter. You are a little late, but we do not mind. At least, not too much. For what is worth, we would like to see, how it is going to work in the real social life.

You cannot possibly expect to eliminate all of those annoying cyber trolls, can you? However, you can minimize the damage by taking away their only weapon. Their poisonous comments. Right? It is worth mentioning that at this initial stage Twitter wants and plans to protect only the verified users.

How nice it would be to see what is next on this Twitter’s improvement list? When you eliminate the explicit content and negative messages from any social network, then you get a breathable and cozy cyber space. What are you waiting for? Try the new Quality Filter, as soon as you can, and get back to us.

The Urban Human-Chip-Implant Legends

April 1, 2015 — Leave a comment

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There is a serious rumor we are dying with an anticipation of confirming or compromising, for quite some time. Have you heard something about it? Maybe, all we need is a pair of additional Google eyes and hands. Here it goes. The Obamacare asks from us to get the human implant chips, with no exceptions?

Allegedly, by the 2017 we should all have the new friends, which will go under our skin. Literally. These implants are supposed to improve the very quality of our lives. However, we all know that every time you hear a meaningless and ambiguous phrase, such as his one, something bad is to happen.

We will lose the latest illusion we used to have about our already deeply compromised privacy. It is a great thing to be able to pay bills with the simple wave of your hand, but do you really want to trade your privacy for that? Do we have to mention all troubling religious implications, as well?

Our world is supposed to meet its inevitable end, the very day we embrace the mark of the beast. Or, in other words, the human chip implants. Of all the things in the cyber universe, we had to deal with this one, first. Are we going to use a special WordPress implant for writing and reading blogs?

Book Of Faceless Rules

March 26, 2015 — Leave a comment

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Poor old Facebook, it has to add new rule pages all the time. This time, Facebook wants to deal with nudity and terrorism. In this way, Facebook has joined the anti-nudity-coalition. Google and Twitter have already made it perfectly clear that only artistic or medicine oriented nudity is the only acceptable nudity.

On the other hand, it is not a secret that the jihadists can be easily caught in the controversy trap. They are fighting all the evils of the Western society, while at the same time they cannot imagine a single day without the Internet. No Facebook or Twitter, no new recruits nor followers. As simple as that.

For what is worth, Facebook has decided to introduce a new strict policy, when it comes to promotion or glorification of terrorism. The Islamic State tried to launch its social network called the Book of Caliphate, but the Anonymous hacker group made sure it could not stay online for a single day.

Until the next time, and some next set of new rules. In the meantime, make sure you do not upload any of your naked pictures, including positive comments or even worse “likes” for the news about terrorist attacks. We sure hope that the number of rules will not exceed the number of users to aplly them.

The Self-Destructive Cyber Desires

March 22, 2015 — Leave a comment

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There is one busy little cyber bee called Matthew Rothenberg, who has run an interesting experiment. He launched a self-destructive website called the Unindexed. So, how does it work? This website is alive and healthy, as long it has not been indexed by Google at some point in time. And then, what?

The code inside it does not allow for a website to survive, once it is being indexed by Google. Again, why it is so important? Well, in the first place, this gives you an orientation how long it takes for Google to catch your website in its indexing structure. For your information, around three weeks, give it or take.

Matthew had a goal to examine how long we can express our thoughts in the cyber place, with no fear that our posts will be indexed, and therefore “immortalized”. Now, you see what was this all about. It can work with the apps. Just think about the Snapchat and its self-destructive messages.

However, once you get on the Web, you have the Google rules of indexing you have to deal with.  So, what is our only option? You have to launch a new website every three weeks. It does not sound like a good plan, does it? How to hide effectively from the bad indexing Google boys? Any ideas?

NGO vs NSA

March 19, 2015 — Leave a comment

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How many times have you wished to file a lawsuit against the bad boys in the black suits? Well, if you do not or cannot do as an individual, there are quite a few organizations that are willing to do your job. Let us mention some of the well-known names, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Is it possible to sue the NSA? Yes, apparently it is. Is it possible to win a case against the NSA? We shall have to wait and see. For what is worth, the mass surveillance program run by the NSA has obviously gone too far. Something needs to be done in order to win back our cyber freedom. What exactly?

Let us start with a lawsuit, which claims that the NSA with its spying and surveillance programs directly put a finger in both eyes of the first and the fourth US constitutional amendments. Somehow, we got an unpleasant feeling that this is going to be David against Goliath scenario. Are we right?

On the other hand, this lawsuit is more of a signal for the busy little cyber bees in the NSA to change or improve their spy programs, than a serious warning as we are hoping right now to be. Our fingers are crossed, that is for sure. At least we will show them that we are helpless, but not blind.

The Dark Decade

March 17, 2015 — Leave a comment

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Whenever the most popular whistleblower in the world has something to say, you simply know it is not going to end up well for our cyber security. Edward Snowden is the usual suspect, when it comes to the most annoying partybreakers. So, what happened this time? Speak out you dark cloud.

It turns out that the bad busy little cyber bee in the NSA and the CIA have worked the entire decade in order to infiltrate the IOS system. They were stubborn and merciless, when it comes to the spying on iPhones and iPads. Have they succeeded? Did they bite the Apple, our precious apple?

That is the catch. We do not know, and probably we will never know, for sure. It also makes a perfect sense to claim that Android was not left aside. However, this simply makes you wonder and become helplessly restless, is there a place in the cyber space you can really feel safe and protected? 

The secret government agencies can simply afford themselves to get some of the leading Apple’s developers. You can scare or buy him or her, or touch an ego with an irresistible James Bond story. Why bother for the entire decade? It just does not make any sense, does it? Edward, what are you hiding?

Trouble In Facebook Paradise

March 14, 2015 — Leave a comment

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How many young busy little bees all over the world dream about working in Facebook? You do not have to be a rocket scientist to know this answer without using the full capacity of your brain power or the Internet itself, do you? Facebook does not have to worry about the potential employees.

Why? Because, there are so many of them are standing and waiting patiently in the line. However, there are some rumors about the dark side of the moon. Some of them are obviously exaggerated, but some are simply true. You hear them, and you simply know. There are 24/7 on the watch assignments.

You are not supposed to leave a town. Not to mention the drinking during the period of high alert state. In addition, it makes a perfect sense for your family or friends to bother you each day with their annoying requests and questions, because they know you are working for their favorite social network.

What about the relationships between the employees themselves? Sometimes, this can be a living hell, just like in any other company under a tremendous pressure. Finally, Mark Zuckerberg worries more about Google’s business, than his own and only cyber child. Think twice before sending him your CV. Right?

Do You Need A TalkSpace?

March 14, 2015 — Leave a comment

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It is said that a kind word can heal any wound. Maybe, that was the very thought the creators of the TalkSpace app had on their minds when they had designed it. So, what is TalkSpace all about? To make the long story short, while using some plain English expressions, this is a cyber therapy.

When you hit a wall in your heart or head, you can subscribe on a weekly level. What do you get in return? Well, you can talk or chat with a professional therapist. The TalkSpace offers a possibility of attending a video conference in the real time. We should not forget the numerous forums.

These forums, you can attend for free. As you can see, someone has thought of a nice way to benefit from the fruitful world of apps. This is a truly win-win scenario for both therapists and people with the different kinds of psychological issues. Great thing, indeed. Providing therapy with no limitations.
When it comes to the physical pain and troubles, guess we will have to wait a little bit longer. Although, cyber words can heal your soul, cyber hands cannot heal your wounds or fix the bones. For what is worth, your cyber-app-therapist has all the time and patience in the world, just for you. Talk!

In The Palm Of Your Drone Hand

March 12, 2015 — Leave a comment

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There is a lovely flying toy. This mini-drone can easily use the palm of your hand as an airport. The only “trouble” is that it cannot use an action camera. Why? You do not have to be a rocket scientist to answer this question, do you? This butterfly drone simply cannot afford an additional weight.

So, what can we use it for? Unfortunately, the modern drones are quite notorious. Instead of improving our lives, they tend to take them away in an easy, unhuman, and mechanical way. There were some rumors that Amazon plans to use them for the delivery purposes. Is there any good in them?

For what is worth, there were some “tryouts” in a positive direction. One of them is a contest, which asked for you to come up with an idea about a possibility to use drones for good deeds. This is how we have heard about a proposal to use drones for planting the trees in the remote areas.

We sure hope that someone will not come up with a brilliant idea to put some poison on this tiny aircraft, for example. We are not eager nor curious to find out what are the dimensions of the biggest drone in the world, now that we are fully aware of this drone small wings, that is for sure. How about you?