Just a heads-up that I have added what I feel are very important links to the blog:
The last three documents should be “required reading” for all US citizens, and the links are simply specific links into the national archives. I decided to add these specific links as I anticipate making reference to at least one of these documents in the coming days.
Enjoy!
Greetings All!
Just a heads-up that I have decided to add a category called “Reading” which will be devoted to literature of all forms (for the most part technology related) that I feel is worth your time to read.
I decided to create this category because so much of what I want to post frequently has additional reading references that are worthy of discussion in their own right. So stay tuned for posts specifically focused on good literature in all of its forms.
Greetings All!
Just a heads-up that I have finally gotten around to adding a new category called “Mobile Technologies,” as this is an exploding area of computing. I have been resisting this category for a while because:
Only a fool would turn their back on mobile technologies, as the consumer has made it clear that this is what they are craving. However, as a person who is a technology specialist by trade, I have been underwhelmed with the vast majority of attempts to create useful applications of technology on this platform.
In short, the playing field is inundated with piles of totally useless phone apps.
Now, part of this is just the slow churn of technology moving forward. You have to wade through a lot of bad ideas until you come across the truly good ideas. Or rather, one byproduct of working towards a “good idea” is the production of lots of “bad ideas.” If this were all that was going on, I wouldn’t feel so bad about the mobile technologies market right now. I get depressed when I see so much effort being applied by companies to the sales and marketing sides of their businesses on products that are simply not well thought out. Perhaps a CEO from these companies would say that “being first to market is king…even for a lousy product.” Perhaps that is why I am not sitting at the top of a multi-billion dollar company.
Anyway, a lot is going to shake out of the mobile technology market (we have already seen a lot of that market shake out already). Hopefully what we will be left with is some reliable technology that actually is useful.
There has been an awful lot of news lately regarding various different computer hacking organizations that have been out to make a statement about the state of computer security (or rather, the lack thereof) in the world at this time. I have commented on some of these stories before, and in at least one case I also talked about how I vehemently oppose online voting in the United States due to the fact that my experience as a computer scientist tells me that we simply do not have adequate security measures available to prevent tampering with the voting.
Well, it turns out that a hacker, wanting to illustrate the point more forcefully, has apparently hacked into the Florida voting database and made some of that information public…just to prove how insecure the system really is (see the original article here).
I am not sure that this person’s well being is going to be maximized by this intrusion should he or she be caught, but I certainly understand the desire to underscore the fact that the current state of computer security is totally insufficient to allow for online voting at this time. From my point of view, anyone telling you otherwise is just feeding you a line of malarky (don’t ask me what “malarky” is…I just know that my mom seemed to know what it was because she used it in sentences like this one all the time…).
While I cannot condone illegal activities to prove a point, I do understand this person’s frustration with the misinformation that has been spread regarding the security of online data, and their desire to illustrate the fallacy of those statements.
Anyway, give this a read and ask yourself just how safe YOU would feel if voting was moved to an online system in today’s security environment.
I just wanted to get this out to all of our readers in case you noticed this today. Reuters is reporting that this morning, the twitter account of the Fox News Politics team was hacked/compromised/broken into, and that the perpetrators were sending false “tweets” out such as:
“#ObamaDead, it’s a sad 4th of July. RT to support the late president’s family, and RIP. The shooter will be found”.
If you saw such messages…know that they are false.
There is much to be said about protecting one’s account passwords, but I find it sad that such a message would be sent by those who gained access to the account. While I know that there are laws that can imprison persons threatening the life of the President, I don’t believe there are laws in place that can imprison those who falsely announce the President’s death. However, I have the sneaking suspicion that the government attorneys might just find a way to argue that declaring his death is somehow akin to threatening the President…which would mean that those responsible just might have something to worry about.
In any event, it is my personal opinion that these hackers have no sense of style. You mean to tell me that they break into the Fox News Political team’s twitter account and THAT’s the best they can do?
Ah well…
Happy 4th of July! Thank a vet! Say a prayer! Read the Constitution! Most of all, teach your children! Have a great and safe day!
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