Noteworthy News
Put it in neutral!
09/03/10 11:07
With all
the news stories involving runaway Toyota cars
abounding right now, I wanted to take a moment to
pass on a safety tip to anyone who may find
themselves behind the wheel of a runaway Toyota or
any other make of vehicle. Do not try to stop the
car by simply applying brakes. From everything I've
read, that won't work because the transmission is
still allowing the engine to provide power to the
wheels. Instead, put the car in neutral! Putting
the car in neutral disengages the transmission,
which prevents the engine from applying power to
the wheels. This may or may not cause the engine to
rev like crazy and scream like a banshee, but it
will allow you to coast to the side of the road and
stop the car. Leave the car running so that you
still have power steering and brakes. Once the car
is stopped, turn the engine off.
If you don't own a Toyota car, but know someone who does, please pass this safety tip along to them by whatever means available to you. If you have a website, or are a member of a social networking site, take a moment to pass this tip on to others by blogging about it, putting it on your wall, and/or however else you can think of. Until this problem is fixed and Toyota cars once more become truly safe to drive, everyone reading this needs to do all they can to pass this safety tip along to others. Read More...
If you don't own a Toyota car, but know someone who does, please pass this safety tip along to them by whatever means available to you. If you have a website, or are a member of a social networking site, take a moment to pass this tip on to others by blogging about it, putting it on your wall, and/or however else you can think of. Until this problem is fixed and Toyota cars once more become truly safe to drive, everyone reading this needs to do all they can to pass this safety tip along to others. Read More...
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Pack it in, pack it out!
02/03/10 12:34
In an
effort to save money and avoid a tax increase
Colorado City, Co. has removed trash cans from a
neighborhood park. While reading the comments
section under that story I saw where some other
cities have also done this only to have trash bags
and loose trash left all over the park. Are we as a
nation really so lazy and thoughtless we just can't
handle the idea of taking our own trash OUT of a
neighborhood park to help keep that park open,
while at the same time avoiding tax
increases? Read
More...
Weighing the risks
19/02/10 11:56
I've been
keeping a close eye on the story concerning the law
suit filed against the Pa. school district that is
accused of crossing privacy lines by using web cams
on laptops to spy on their students with. The
school finally did issue a statement stating they
use the remote feature only in the case of a stolen
laptop, and at no time have they ever violated
privacy laws. I'm not much impressed with said
statement though given the fact that I keep reading
where a student was accused of inappropriate
behavior in his home, and apparently presented with
a photograph as evidence of that behavior that was
taken with the built in web cam. So far, there has
been no indication that the student's laptop was
ever reported stolen.
Even with privacy safeguards like the school claims it has followed in place, isn't there a risk that a hacker could gain control of the remote feature on those distributed laptops via one of their Trojan Horse or other programs? And isn't there a terrible irony in the possibility that a hacker could possibly gain control of computers given to students to work on via such a Trojan Horse program? When one considers just how sick and vicious some of the hackers and trolls roaming the internet today are, I think the question of just how safe the laptops given to students really are, most definitely needs to be addressed. Should the answer to that question be not 100% safe, then when one considers what could happen if a hacker with pedophile tendencies gained control of one or more of those distributed laptops, it is enough to chill the blood of any loving parent.
Giving laptops out for students to work on is a wonderful idea. However, given the possible potential for misuse by the schools themselves, as well as by hackers, it is a wonderful idea that needs to be carefully thought out and well studied to insure that those gifts do not themselves become Trojan Horses that could wind up biting the givers and receivers of those gifts in the butt in some very sad and savage ways. What the school in Pa. has been accused of, could wind up only being the tip of the iceberg where that matter is concerned. Think about it.......
Even with privacy safeguards like the school claims it has followed in place, isn't there a risk that a hacker could gain control of the remote feature on those distributed laptops via one of their Trojan Horse or other programs? And isn't there a terrible irony in the possibility that a hacker could possibly gain control of computers given to students to work on via such a Trojan Horse program? When one considers just how sick and vicious some of the hackers and trolls roaming the internet today are, I think the question of just how safe the laptops given to students really are, most definitely needs to be addressed. Should the answer to that question be not 100% safe, then when one considers what could happen if a hacker with pedophile tendencies gained control of one or more of those distributed laptops, it is enough to chill the blood of any loving parent.
Giving laptops out for students to work on is a wonderful idea. However, given the possible potential for misuse by the schools themselves, as well as by hackers, it is a wonderful idea that needs to be carefully thought out and well studied to insure that those gifts do not themselves become Trojan Horses that could wind up biting the givers and receivers of those gifts in the butt in some very sad and savage ways. What the school in Pa. has been accused of, could wind up only being the tip of the iceberg where that matter is concerned. Think about it.......
Pa school is playing Big Brother
18/02/10 17:28
We are
living a world where many people are getting far
too accustomed to having their privacy invaded in
various ways by technology. Google maps are zooming
in on homes and businesses all over the world. GPS
devices are being used in a variety of ways that
sometimes cross legal lines when they used by
stalkers to pinpoint the location of their victims.
RATT phones supplied by suspicious spouses and
other nosey people are listening in to what should
be private conversations. And now a Pa. school
district has done the unthinkable, and is accused
of eavesdropping on its students inside their homes
via remote controlled web cams on the laptops it
supplied to said students.
Suit: Pa. school spied on students via laptops
(AP)
When you take into consideration that students are very likely to take those laptops supplied by the school into their bedrooms to do homework on, the idea of the school having remote web cams that can be turned on at any time, is disgustingly scary to say the very least.
The real irony here is that this Big Brother behavior by the school was uncovered when an assistant principal told a student he thought he had engaged in inappropriate behavior at home, then produced a photograph taken by the web cam on the computer supplied by the school as evidence. None of the stories I've read so far have said what the inappropriate behavior of the young student was. I can't help but feel that whatever that student did, it isn't half as bad as what the school has done by invading the homes of its students in the manner it has.
Some students from that school are now placing masking tape over the web cams and microphones on their school supplied computers. And though many are probably going to laugh at this, I actually started putting a small piece of sticky note over the built in iSight cameras on my macs a couple of years ago after watching a movie where a hacker took control of a computer web cam. I figured even back then, better safe than sorry when it came to that all seeing little eye on the top of my display screen.
The Lower Merion School District should ashamed of itself for violating the privacy of its students, as well their parents in the manner it has. They are at best, guilty of a form of illegal wiretapping, and at worst, no better than a pedophile who puts hidden cameras in bathrooms. The faculty members responsible for this breach of privacy need to be held accountable for their actions. And the school district as a whole needs to understand that their job of monitoring students does not extend past the boundaries of the schoolyard.
When you take into consideration that students are very likely to take those laptops supplied by the school into their bedrooms to do homework on, the idea of the school having remote web cams that can be turned on at any time, is disgustingly scary to say the very least.
The real irony here is that this Big Brother behavior by the school was uncovered when an assistant principal told a student he thought he had engaged in inappropriate behavior at home, then produced a photograph taken by the web cam on the computer supplied by the school as evidence. None of the stories I've read so far have said what the inappropriate behavior of the young student was. I can't help but feel that whatever that student did, it isn't half as bad as what the school has done by invading the homes of its students in the manner it has.
Some students from that school are now placing masking tape over the web cams and microphones on their school supplied computers. And though many are probably going to laugh at this, I actually started putting a small piece of sticky note over the built in iSight cameras on my macs a couple of years ago after watching a movie where a hacker took control of a computer web cam. I figured even back then, better safe than sorry when it came to that all seeing little eye on the top of my display screen.
The Lower Merion School District should ashamed of itself for violating the privacy of its students, as well their parents in the manner it has. They are at best, guilty of a form of illegal wiretapping, and at worst, no better than a pedophile who puts hidden cameras in bathrooms. The faculty members responsible for this breach of privacy need to be held accountable for their actions. And the school district as a whole needs to understand that their job of monitoring students does not extend past the boundaries of the schoolyard.
Their coverage map, isn't their only problem
16/01/10 12:31
AP Exclusive: Network flaw causes scary Web error -
Yahoo! News:
According to this story, their coverage map, isn't
the only problem AT&T has right now.
Seems sometimes when people try to log into their
Facebook pages from their cell AT&T phones,
they are winding up at other people's Facebook
pages. The truly scary part here is that the
people getting to these pages by mistake, are
landing on them with full access to private
information on that page. Sure makes me glad
I don't do Facebook, or even Twitter my time
away. And that I learned a long long time
ago, there is NO such thing as true privacy on the
net. There are too many hackers, crackers,
trolls, and things can go wrong for that to
exist. Read
More...
Beware of bogus Haiti relief scams
14/01/10 10:57
As I was catching up on what is going on around me
by reading the news headlines this morning I came
across across a story that reminded me some
criminals are always eager to take advantage of
disaster. For those of you wanting to make a
donation to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti,
please read this story,
FBI Warns of Bogus Haiti Online Donation
Scams
first, and make sure the donation you are making is
actually going to those victims, and not in the
pockets of some low life cyber criminal.
However, Snopes has said the messages posted on
Facebook that you can
Make
a $10 donation to the Haiti relief effort by
texting the word Haiti to 90999 are
true.
Please do be aware the $10 donation will be charged
to your cell phone bill, and NOT made by some other
charitable organization or donor.
My perusal this morning of the technology news headlines this morning also made me more aware the Google Hack has raised many concerns concerning China.
And on an Oddly Enough news note, Montenegro's only hippopotamus has escaped from the mountainous Adriatic nation's zoo.
My perusal this morning of the technology news headlines this morning also made me more aware the Google Hack has raised many concerns concerning China.
And on an Oddly Enough news note, Montenegro's only hippopotamus has escaped from the mountainous Adriatic nation's zoo.
Real tragedy, and sad irony
23/10/09 13:31
While propped up in bed this morning enjoying my
morning tea and enchanting electric flames from my
little faux cast iron stove, I found this story
about the
Somer Thompson murder
much less enchanting, but even more riveting than
those electric flames. Tears came to my eyes as I
read the sad tale of the chubby cheeked 7 year old
who met her fate at the hands of a brutal
killer. As I wiped my eyes and continued
reading the story I was struck by the irony of the
the headline link right above it.
Read More...