Reinke Faces Life

http://www.yatedo.com

People Search Engine

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I always am looking for Jaspers. Graduates of Manhattan College. THE Manhattan College. http://manhattan.edu

So I do a lot of searches for “manhattan college”.

I’m never surprised when it’s wrong.

I compensate a lot:

“manhattan college” -marymount -“marymount manhattan college” -“borough of manhattan college” -marymount -manhattan.edu -bmcc.cuny.edu -msmnyc.edu

I’m frustrated, but rarely surprised.

I did my usual search and it even offered a search.

schoolname:((manhattan college))

But I was disappointed when it returned BOMC and MMC.

Argh!

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http://advantage-marketingblog.com/2011/06/02/social-media-and-phishing/

Social Media’s Dark Side: Phishing and Scams

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Here’s what employees can do to avoid becoming the prey of phishing attacks:

1. Never click on a link or a bookmark which is associated with financial transactions or asks for any sensitive information; instead always manually type the URL in the address bar.

2. Don’t click on links which ask to download ActiveX or software on your system. These could be Trojan/malware which later becomes the control center to remotely control your system and others in the network.

3. Ensure that the site is authentic and using secure layer (https) before providing any sensitive information about yourself or your organization.

*** end quote ***

Good advice for real people as opposed to “employees”.

I’d add “Switch to Open DNS”. It’s free and will prevent you from being “speared” by a “phisher”.

(On a technical note, it does that by preventing your browser from resolving known bad names into ip addresses. Thus, you’ll see the Open DNS “warning screen” with the option “Get me out of here”. It’s not perfect, but another compensating control.)

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https://local.nixle.com/alert/4699441/?sub_id=241886  

Thursday June 9, 2011 1:51 PM EDT
NEW POLICE LANGUAGE SERVICE SAVES PERSON

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On Tuesday South Brunswick Police used a new language service to help locate a victim suffering a heart attack. At around 10am a woman called 911 from a cellphone seeking help. The dispatcher was unable to determine where the victim was or the problem. The dispatcher connected to a translator through a new program used by South Brunswick Police called Interpretalk. The translator was able to assist the dispatcher with identifying the location of the victim within two minutes of being on the call. When police officers and EMS arrived they found the 49-year-old victim was suffering a heart attack. The victim was taken to a local area hospital and is listed in good condition.

The new translation service – Interpretalk allows dispatchers and police officers to be able to communicate in 157 languages, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The service which has been available to the department since March of 2011 has been used 7 times. Chief Raymond Hayducka said, “Our community is diverse and we want to be able to assist anyone in need. This new tool gives officers and dispatchers another way to get help to people in need in an emergency.” He added, “This case clearly demonstrates the importance of being able to reach out to all aspects of our community.”

The service is used once a dispatcher or officer believes there is a language barrier. The dispatcher contacts Language Sevice Associates who provide the translation. Communication Center Supervisor James Deery said, “We could not understand where the victim was and her being on a cellphone made it more difficult. The service Interpretalk provided was quick and provided the lifesaving measures she needed.”

*** end quote ***

Neat use of technology. From a network perspective, it’s really just a fancy three way calling option. Getting it all set up, agreed to, and paid for that was the heavy lifting. That’s effective use of technology.

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http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/06/06/1321257/A-Brief-Sony-Password-Analysis

A Brief Sony Password Analysis
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 06, @09:30AM
from the change-it-now-people dept.

troyhunt writes

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99% of passwords don’t contain a single non-alphanumeric character.”

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It would seem that two short words separated by a “special” character would be a great password.

9vfj#4fkh kdj5@3jdz 4ax4$32az

Give the hackers another 10 characters to worry about.

26 lower case, 26 upper case, 10 digits, 10 specials = 72

(72) ** password length *** equals a long time for crackers.

Even if you cheat like I suggested — [(62)**4 (10) (62)**4] — is still a long time.

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http://www.macworld.com/article/160120-2/2011/05/ebook_prices_outrage_innovation.html

E-Book prices fuel outrage — and innovation
by Narasu Rebbapragada, PCWorld May 30, 2011 9:00 am

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The evolution to digital will differ by publisher. Hachette’s Thomas anticipates, “Some print runs will decline, some will expand, and new readers (who were not previously regular physical book buyers) will enter the market because of the digital revolution.”

And only time will tell where in the pricing spectrum—from best-selling $25-plus hardbacks at one end to 99-cent music downloads at the other—e-book prices will settle. Some argue that there’s no incentive for publishers to cut prices. Despite the public protests, people are buying e-books in droves. Others point to the inevitable downward trend of digital content prices.

“It’s still a little bit like the Wild West out there,” says Brian Felsen of the current digital publishing landscape. But who lassos whom—publisher, retailer, or self-made author—remains to be seen.

*** end quote ***

Clearly, the inet is crashing existing business models.

If marketing is a “conversation”, then the model has to profit off that “conversation”. That’s what is important developing that community. Monetizing it is secondary.

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http://blip.tv/the-raxis-report/nh-clog-bill-d-s-speeding-ticket-trial-2571630

NH-CLOG: Bill D.’s speeding ticket trial
The Raxis Report

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(1) Entertaining to use the Gooferment’s court to fight a ticket.

(2) Imagine if they had to do this for EVERY ticket? The system would grind to a halt.

So that how we have to fight. Make small battles too expensive. And, clog their “courts” so they can’t get to the big issues.

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http://www.innovationtools.com/weblog/innovationblog-detail.asp?ArticleID=1592

Innovation: Coke rethinks the soft drink vending machine
June 1, 2011 | By Chuck Frey | Category: Innovation Strategy

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Coca-Cola has been aware for some time that consumers wanted more variety from its soft drink dispensers. So it began development of a new dispenser called the Freestyle that would enable consumers to create their own mixes of soft drink flavors. But when it conducted consumer research on its Facebook page, the company was shocked at how much variety they really wanted. Not 20 to 30 flavors, but more like 100! The message was clear: Consumers wanted to mix their own drinks!

*** end quote ***

Recently, I’ve been undergoing a lot of changes in my life.

One of which is to REDUCE the number of choices that I force myself to make.

Simplify.

Maybe all we need is water.

Of course, that’s not so good for Coke, if everyone simplifies them out of the equation?

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http://news.cnet.com/8301-13845_3-20061950-58.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TheCheapskate

MAY 12, 2011 6:00 AM PDT
Free Windows utility lowers your printing costs
by Rick Broida

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Tired of burning through pricey ink and toner cartridges? PretonSaver Home promises to cut these consumable costs by up to 70 percent. Best of all, it’s free. (Note: You can use the previous link to download the program, but click here to go to Preton’s site and register for the activation code.)

*** end quote ***

Sounds like a great idea.

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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/accent/travel/canadian-couples-missteps-shock-nev-town-locals-1468419.html

Canadian couple’s missteps shock Nev. town locals
By JOHN MILLER The Associated Press
Posted: 10:36 a.m. Wednesday, May 11, 2011

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MOUNTAIN CITY, NEV. — At about 6,000 feet in a narrow valley surrounded by bulbous, snowcapped mountains, this tiny northeastern Nevada town sits roughly two hours from anywhere, in the middle of nowhere.

It’s that remoteness and grandeur that apparently drew Rita and Albert Chretien to the area around Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest as they made their way from Canada to Las Vegas. Albert Chretien has been missing in the wilderness since late March after the couple, guided by a new GPS, ventured off the highway onto muddy, washed-out forest service roads winding deep into the high country.

Rita Chretien was found Friday by a trio of hunters after spending seven weeks in the couple’s van stuck in mud, surviving off trail mix, hard candy and water from a nearby stream. Her husband set out on foot to find help, hoping to make it to Mountain City. He hasn’t been seen since.

*** end quote ***

Death by technology?

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ADVISING A FRIEND UPON A MALWARE INFECTION

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This is an attack that I’ve seen on many others. It’s basically vectored against your Yahoo address book. It can be (I’ve seen both) (a) maware on windoze personal computer; or (b) your Yahoo account is compromised.

I suggest:

(1) Get a backup of your data asap. I like lots of copies taken differently.

(2) Adding a known unique address like “XYZXYZXYZ _ reinke@reinke.cc” to your yahoo address book, that exists no where else, so you can know when your book is accessed.

(3) Immediately changing your Yahoo account password to a 30 character random like “NFVjviIUAiDipmo3EiYgSQoSdb3XO8”. Read my blog about alpha spammers. Eventually they id every yahoo, gmail, or hotmail account and then begin to attack them to find out the password. Once discovered, they take over the account, lock you out, and all sorts of mischief ensured. When you’re locked out, it becomes nearly impossible to recapture it.

(4) Run all the various anti-malware packages on your machines until you find the culprit. Some times, like XYZXYZXYZ, you find it after only three. Some times, it takes dozens, but it is there. In rare occasions, (2/42), you lose the whole machine and have to do the dreaded “bare metal restore”.

This is an immediate threat to your computing environment. Once the bad guy “discover” your account, you only have days to react to it. (I imagine the bad guys “finding bot” factory discovering accounts, then they turn on the “cracking bot”. Then they turn it over to real people.)

imho,
fjohn

p.s., that why I recommend having one’s own domain. It’s not worth attacking. Too sparss a target. And, probably practices good info sec hygiene.

*** begin another quote ***

May I suggest that you have your own domain? The common wisdom, or is that common whizdumb, is to own your own name as a domain name. I own “reinke.cc”. (I like saying “sea sea me at reinke.cc”! me@reinke.cc will actually work!) I gives one quite a bit of control. And, it’s very cheap. I know three solutions at 15$/year using wordpressdotcom with gmail, 25$/year email only with 1and1, and 60$/year for domain+email+webspace also at 1and1. My point is not that you should use 1and1. http://www.1and1.com/?k_id=9113251 I could care less which one you use. It’s that getting on to your own domain with email is cheap and easy. And, it’s not hotmail, yahoo, or gmail. It IS your own “personal brand”.

*** end another quote ***

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42688590/ns/world_news-the_new_york_times/

Tsunami warnings, written in stone, saved some
Sentinels mark previous waves: ‘Do not build your homes below this point!’
Ko Sasaki for The New York Times
A stone tablet in Aneyoshi, Japan, warns residents not to build homes below it.
By MARTIN FACKLER
updated 4/20/2011 5:55:02 PM ET

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ANEYOSHI, Japan — The stone tablet has stood on this forested hillside since before they were born, but the villagers have faithfully obeyed the stark warning carved on its weathered face: “Do not build your homes below this point!”

Residents say this injunction from their ancestors kept their tiny village of 11 households safely out of reach of the deadly tsunami last month that wiped out hundreds of miles of Japanese coast and rose to record heights near here. The waves stopped just 300 feet below the stone, and the village beyond it.

“They knew the horrors of tsunamis, so they erected that stone to warn us,” said Tamishige Kimura, 64, the village leader of Aneyoshi.

*** end quote ***

Technology is in the eye of the beholder. These stones were placed for the purpose of warning their descendants.

Now the Japanese government is looking for a 21st Century equivalents.

Seems like those stones were are pretty good equivalents!

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http://www.macworld.com/article/159351/2011/04/kindle_lending_library.html

Amazon announces the Kindle Lending Library
by Lex Friedman, Macworld.com Apr 20, 2011 10:18 am

*** begin quote ***

E-book lending, periodicals reading in apps coming to Kindle

Amazon on Wednesday announced that later this year it will launch the Kindle Lending Library, a feature that will allow Kindle customers to borrow books from 11,000 libraries across the United States. The Kindle Lending Library—which Amazon is forming in partnership with digital media distributor OverDrive—will work with all Kindles, and all Kindle apps, including the Mac and iOS editions.

Once the feature launches, customers will be able to borrow Kindle e-books from their local libraries and start reading them instantly. If you check out a Kindle book a second time, or later purchase your own copy from Amazon, you don’t lose any notes and bookmarks you’ve added; they remain linked to your Amazon account. (And, in an advantage over old-school paper-and-binding books, you can make as many notes on your e-copy as you like without mucking up the book for the next person to borrow it.)

*** end quote ***

The Gooferment and its “copyright” diktats have and will muddle this technology.

* Copyrights are now a centuries lock on the information. Weren’t patents and copyright supposed to expire and allow the public to benefit? Wasn’t, isn’t, that the only reason for giving an author a monopoly?

* Publishers allow books to go out of print. Disney puts stuff “back in the vault”. And, some copyrights have their ownership lost in time.

* A library, or a person, can “loan” or sell their copy. (The doctrine of “first sale” and all this “software licensing” nonsense.) Why is an ebook different?

* Libraries should be restricted to loaning out a single copy of e-books at a time as they would be with paper books. There shouldn’t be question.

* “Expiration”, like when publisher HarperCollins changed its agreement with OverDrive, dictating that its e-books should “expire” after 26 checkouts. That’s just wrong.

Did I miss anything?

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http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/64169

McGraw-Hill Create: Customized eBooks for the Classroom
April 14, 2011 12:28
From CNBC:

*** begin quote ***

The McGraw-Hill Create platform enables instructors to easily customize digital content for their courses, combining their own course-specific materials with a range of other resources. Instructors have instant access to a vast library of McGraw-Hill resources to develop instructional materials adapted specifically to the needs of local markets. At Create’s core is a Google-like search engine functionality that enables professors to immediately pull from a wide range of quality content, including 4,000 McGraw-Hill textbooks, 5,500 articles, 11,000 literature, philosophy and humanities readings, and 25,000 business case studies from prominent providers such as the Harvard Business School

*** end quote ***

Perhaps they are feeling the heat, as their “franchise” swirls the bowl? I guess the days of big over-priced textbooks is over and the inet hosted ebooks is just over the horizon. Obviously, this has implications for MC, the faculty, and staff. Not to mention the Library, and the Technology Architecture. Argh! I guess my big concern would be who own’s the copyrights and the “organization of the dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom)”. Maybe I’m a skeptic, but, since “crowd sourcing” is all the rage, perhaps the “customized digital content”, and the organization there of, becomes the property of McGraw-Hill. Then, they turn around and “sell” it as a new “title” to anyone who will buy it? Bet some evil lawyer has billed a lot of hours writing that licensing agreement that will be a quick pop up. Hmmmm?

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