Recent research conducted by the Polytechnic Institute of New York University has discovered some major glitches in Skype's privacy settings that could potentially expose the location and movements of Skype's entire database which consists of a half-billion users world-wide.
Hackers can steal IP addresses easily by making partial calls to any skype user. The call does not go through and the target would have no idea the call was ever recieved. Hackers can gain access to your personal files, downloads, movements and physical address. The differentail concern with this particular glitch is that ANY person can gain access to ANY Skype user, the hacker does not have to be a contact to make partial calls. Skype typically runs when a user's computer is in use, regardless of whether the user is using their program or not.
A blog by social media savvy Karen A. Frenkel quotes Skype’s Chief Information Security Officer, saying: "We value the privacy of our users and are committed to making our products as secure as possible. Just as with typical internet communications software, Skype users who are connected may be able to determine each other’s IP address. Through research and development, we will continue to make advances in this area and improvements to our software."
I don't know about you, but I feel much better. Oh wait...
Extremists like Keith Ross, a researcher looking into the problem at NYU, points out the potential for terrorist groups to take advantage of the glitch and track targets. Targets at risk could include goverment officials, or employees of target organizations.
Read more at http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/10/24/skype-security-flaw-potential-terrorist-threat-nyu-professor-says/
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Viral Videos
From the humble beginnings of the numa-numa dance and the star wars kid, viral videos have become somewhat of a phenomenon in online culture.
What constitutes a viral video?
http://socialtimes.com/what-makes-a-video-viral_b61409
A million views on a video is, to be put simply, a lot. However, videos that hit one-million views only to level off are not the videos that are remembered. YouTube expert Kevin Nalty puts it; “a video I submit is “viral” if it gets more than 5 million views in a 3-7 day period". He uses President Obama’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner comedy routine as an example, which was viewed over 7.2 million times the first WEEK it was uploaded.
Number of hits alone do not make a video viral, it is the excitement and frenzy feel it creates. If people are watching it and people are talking about it, then more people are naturally going to watch it and keep talking. The interest level of the video is the stimulant for how long the "buzz" surrounding it will last.
The longevity of the cycle of talked about videos add to the notorious "viral" title. Do the vidoes create a lasting "spin-off", if you will? People still joke about Gingers, thanks in part to the angry ginger video, (something I, as a ginger, am specifically bitter towards..). It has stuck, making camp in popular culture
What constitutes a viral video?
http://socialtimes.com/what-makes-a-video-viral_b61409
A million views on a video is, to be put simply, a lot. However, videos that hit one-million views only to level off are not the videos that are remembered. YouTube expert Kevin Nalty puts it; “a video I submit is “viral” if it gets more than 5 million views in a 3-7 day period". He uses President Obama’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner comedy routine as an example, which was viewed over 7.2 million times the first WEEK it was uploaded.
Number of hits alone do not make a video viral, it is the excitement and frenzy feel it creates. If people are watching it and people are talking about it, then more people are naturally going to watch it and keep talking. The interest level of the video is the stimulant for how long the "buzz" surrounding it will last.
The longevity of the cycle of talked about videos add to the notorious "viral" title. Do the vidoes create a lasting "spin-off", if you will? People still joke about Gingers, thanks in part to the angry ginger video, (something I, as a ginger, am specifically bitter towards..). It has stuck, making camp in popular culture
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Locating social media
In a world of little online privacy, it seems natural for location based social media to thrive. Users of sites such as Foursquare and Facebook's location options allow users to share their whereabouts and swap information and happenings in their area.
A new mobile app that has become particularly interesting to me is TagWhat; an application that allows users to upload mobile photos of landmarks around their location, adding personal commentary to the image. Commentary can include personal stories, random facts, historical information, deals, tips, anything others may find interesting (or... not).
Maps meet scrapbooking meets Facebook meets Groupon in TagWhat. The potential to share deals and helpful information based on your location could reshape social media. The application undoubtably has a long ways to go, but it's potential is exciting.
Blogger Natalie Giddings addresses the differences TagWhat offers in comparison to other social media outlets in her blog, saying:
"What differentiates TagWhat from Foursquare (and what makes it more like Facebook), is the fact that it eschews the formers' game mechanics and focuses on the user interaction and community building aspects of the latter. The basic use of TagWhat is that it lets users turn a view of any location into an engrossing, educational experience, as users provide interesting stories and entertaining information about every single thing that can be captured by your camera - think a diner and its history is interesting enough? I Love this examples they give on their website. Try to point the device at the tables, perhaps a user has tagged the exact table where a famous actor used to sit during his lunch breaks. TagWhat makes the world more interesting."
Read more: http://technorati.com/blogging/article/augmented-reality-meets-location-based-social/#ixzz1a7bHNVet
A new mobile app that has become particularly interesting to me is TagWhat; an application that allows users to upload mobile photos of landmarks around their location, adding personal commentary to the image. Commentary can include personal stories, random facts, historical information, deals, tips, anything others may find interesting (or... not).
Maps meet scrapbooking meets Facebook meets Groupon in TagWhat. The potential to share deals and helpful information based on your location could reshape social media. The application undoubtably has a long ways to go, but it's potential is exciting.
Blogger Natalie Giddings addresses the differences TagWhat offers in comparison to other social media outlets in her blog, saying:
"What differentiates TagWhat from Foursquare (and what makes it more like Facebook), is the fact that it eschews the formers' game mechanics and focuses on the user interaction and community building aspects of the latter. The basic use of TagWhat is that it lets users turn a view of any location into an engrossing, educational experience, as users provide interesting stories and entertaining information about every single thing that can be captured by your camera - think a diner and its history is interesting enough? I Love this examples they give on their website. Try to point the device at the tables, perhaps a user has tagged the exact table where a famous actor used to sit during his lunch breaks. TagWhat makes the world more interesting."
Read more: http://technorati.com/blogging/article/augmented-reality-meets-location-based-social/#ixzz1a7bHNVet
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