A Brief Intro to Web Security

So you may have noticed something going around facebook, a status says something like “FB has automatically set itself to the Non-Secure browsing setting!” Sounds pretty alarming doesn’t it? Why does facebook default you to something that is not secure? Is somebody looking at your facebook profile right now? Have they stolen your password? Just what can they actually do?

In reality, facebook is no less secure than most sites you visit. Twitter, gmail (and other google services), tumblr, yahoo, etc. all do the same thing as facebook. The real danger is not really in having your account hacked. The real danger is the information you keep on facebook, or in any online account for that matter.

If someone were to hack into your facebook account, they wouldn’t be able to steal your password. They’d pretty much only get to drive your account for a bit — much like leaving yourself signed in at a public computer. But, on facebook, that could mean they figure out your full name, your date of birth, family member’s full names, and all sorts of other info about you. The kind of information that could be useful in an identity theft. Or the kind of information help them get past those security questions your online banking account is always asking you.

Hence, it’s a much better approach to be careful about the amount of information you put online. Because (as a general rule) you should always assume that almost anything you put online will be seen by someone else’s eyes sooner or later.

Update: Here’s another article describing this exact problem.

Mobile Computing

It seems like more and more we are turning to our mobile devices to handle all our online needs. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. are all easily available through smartphones. Complex tasks like document and photo editing are easily possible. Heck, I even wrote this entire post simply using my Palm Pre. So with all this intense mobile computing, is it time to leave the traditional PC behind?

Perhaps not. At least, not according to this guy. The author of this article spent 30 days using only a Palm Pre for all his computing needs. He actually took the idea of pure mobile computing and put it to the test. His conclusion? There is a space for mobile computing, but it doesn’t work well for everything. There will always be a space for the traditional desktop computer or laptop – even with the iPad or other tablet-sized devices.

So why do we want mobile computing so much? According to the article:

The world might say that they want a mobile device that can handle all of their computing needs, but they’re really just lying to themselves. They just want something new, and it just so happens that the newest ‘things’ are coming in the form of mobile devices.

I love all the things I can do with my smartphone, but I recognize that it has it’s place. Mobile computing will definitely improve our lives – but it won’t replace all our computing needs.

Yo mamma so fat, she sat on a binary tree…

“Yo mamma so fat, she sat on a binary tree and flattened it into a linked list in O(1) time.”

– kyrii (twitter)

Grants help Utah firm launch new education technology

Grants help Utah firm launch new education technology

Check it out! My company is spotlighted in this article!

Choosing More Secure Passwords

Choosing More Secure Passwords

Really good article on how to choose good passwords.

DNA seen through the eyes of a coder

DNA seen through the eyes of a coder

Finally, it all makes sense…

The (Anti)Social Networks

I remember one evening as a kid when my Dad came upstairs from our TV room. Earlier, my siblings had been watching a movie that, for whatever reason, they weren’t supposed to be watching. I think they had been told to go to bed, or something like that. Anyhow, he came upstairs with a huge grin on his face, carrying the plug to the TV. Just the plug. He had literally cut it off as a way of punishing us for watching too much TV. My sister cried. A lot.

Though it may not have seemed so at the time, it was probably one of the best things he could have done for us. Lucky (or maybe unlucky) for us, my Dad is an electrical engineer. He rigged up our TV’s power cord to a lock and key. When the key was in, the TV worked; when the key was out, the TV wouldn’t even turn on. It was a brilliant way for him to control how much TV we watched as a family without cutting us off completely. It taught me that TV is something to be controlled, not something we should let control us.

TV can be sort of like a drug to us. It rewards us in the short-term, but leaves us with long-term regrets. It can be addictive. It can lead to unhappiness. “OK,” you say, “this isn’t a big surprise. I’ve known this for a while.” True, but what I find interesting is that it doesn’t actually change our habits much. Even more interesting, though, is that we’ve had TV since 1927, and we’re only just discovering all the social and personal effects.

That kind of scares me.

Why?

Because the Internet is way more prevalent in our lives now, and we’ve only had it for about 30 years. How is it affecting us? How is social networking affecting us, like Facebook and Twitter? We can already see how it’s pulling us apart, and yet we do little to stop it.

Here’s a great article about how TV gives us a feeling of vicarious friendship through watching unrealistic images of groups of friends that spend all their time together. We want deep social interaction, but we turn to cheap imitations of this through Facebook and TV:

This decline in real friendships may account in part for the dramatic
rise of virtual friendships like those on social-networking sites where
being “friended” is less a sign of personal engagement than a quantitative
measure of how many people your life has brushed and how many
names you can collect, but this is friendship lite. Facebook, in fact,
only underscores how much traditional friendship — friendship in
which you meet, talk and share — has become an anachronism and
how much being “friended” is an ironic term.

Perhaps we should take the advice of the first article and go back to reading books. They’re one of the few things untouched by the media and advertising — for a little while longer, at least.

Data Overload

Ever since I got a data plan with my Palm Pre, I have been a happy camper. I love having the answer to almost any question available right there in my pocket. It has become so useful that it’s basically replaced my laptop and desktop for home computer use. All my social networks are easily accessible, along with email, web, and a host of fun little games. It has kept me entertained for hours and hours.

With a phone that can do so much, you’d think I’d keep in touch more with my friends, right?

Not so much…

It’s not that I don’t keep in touch with them — I do — it’s just different. I’ve found I hardly ever use any of the minutes on my phone. Now, I’ve never been much of a phone person before, but I remember trying to keep myself within 300 anytime minutes on my old phone and struggling. My new plan is better (as far as minutes go), but I’m not sure I’d break my limit even without the unlimited night/weekend minutes. Why?

Because I either text or Facebook stalk or tweet at them.

Apparently it’s not just me either. We are turning more and more towards data usage over actual calls. More towards using the Internet to communicate instead of in-person communication.

There’s always two sides to this issue: It’s a good thing because we are more in touch than ever before, but bad because that type of communication can be pretty impersonal. The good can be pretty convincing though: I can keep up with all my friends that have moved away from Provo in a way I couldn’t before (+1 Internet). If I want to share something with all my friends, it’s easy to do (+1 Internet). Planning and event organizing is simplified (+1 Internet). I could mention several more.

Not being able to actually talk to my friends when I actually see them? Not cool (-10000 Internet).

What is it about being so connected and in touch with each other that inhibits us from being able to actually communicate?

It’s easy for me to forget that the Internet is a tool. Like phones, or old-fashioned letters. They are meant to help us communicate with others, but not for actually replacing them. If we let it, Facebook can quickly define a relationship, instead of supplementing it. Texting becomes the way to communicate instead of a way to communicate. And that warps our perceptions of people. Because too much is hidden by these communication methods.

The bottom line? Sometimes you need to actually visit these people you follow on Twitter or Facebook. Have a non-virtual chat. It’s pretty neat.

(Also, I write stuff like this a lot. Is it getting annoying? Does anybody still read this?)

Game Theory and Love

Game Theory and Love

We all know it’s not this simple, but still… an interesting read.

An Anesthetic Default

An Anesthetic Default

Sometimes I feel I’m entirely too guilty of this… how about you?