Digital Forge Productions

Is It Secret? Is It Safe?

Posted by Al | Filed under My .02, Rants

Ok, so some of the hubbub of late concerning Facebook and Goggle Buzz security has subsided. Yet, concerns continue to be bandied about by various tech bloggers and podcasters. One well know luminary of this august bunch went so far as to publicly delete his Facebook account. Fair enough, to each his own. Nobody is forcing anyone to participate in social networking. Are there vulnerabilities? Is there a chance that someone could find out something about you that you would rather them not know? The answer to both is, certainly.

There is, however some misconceptions that are being promoted, rather nefariously. A lot of it is borne out of ignorance, and a sort of naiveté on the part of both pundits and users. Facebook, Google, and a host of other social networks do gather information about you and then sell it to marketers. It’s the way things are, get over it. It’s how they make their money and still provide a free service to the public. The marketers don’t really care what your name is, where you live, or who you’re seeing, etc. What they do care about is what you like. That’s it. Rather than put random ads next to your news feed hoping that you’ll maybe like what they are offering, they place ads targeted to what they think you’ll like. They find out what you like through data-mining. It’s not a perfect system, but it works. It’s a gold-mine that social engineers and marketers are not about to abandon. It’s the wave of the future, so we really need to educate ourselves and not be ignorant.

The only way to avoid these types of things is to unplug the computer and crawl into a hole, and never come out. Any exposure you’ve ever had to the internet has exposed you to data-mining. It did not just happen when all the big flap over it occurred. It’s been going on for years.

Of course there are those who worry that the government is assembling a dossier on everyone who uses Facebook and the like. Not to worry. They have had far better mechanisms for that for a long time, and already know more about you than you would ever want them to. So take off the tin-foil hat and put it to better use. I worked for an office supply company years ago. A co-worker of mine used to deliver to the IRS, and actually made friends with a few of the workers. One day, one of them showed him the information they had in his file. He was appalled. They knew practically everything there was to know about him. I say all that to say this: Being mad at the social nets makes about as much sense as shutting the gate after all the horses have gotten out.

Are internet security concerns real? You bet they are! Can people find out things about you? Absolutely! That is why I continually beat my drum; Behave as if you are being watched, because you are. You wouldn’t drop trou in the middle of Walmart and start shouting obscenities and disparaging remarks, so don’t do it on the social nets. It’s every bit as public as going outside your home, except that you don’t have to leave home to do it. You will always be remembered for your words and actions out in the real world, the same is even more so on the internet. Bottom line: Common sense rules the day. Use it!

Tags: Fecebook, Google, Google Buzz, security, social networking

Read more | Comments (0) | July 24th, 2010

The Cloud, What Is It?

Posted by Al | Filed under Cloud Computing, Cool Stuff, Google

What exactly is the cloud? This is a question that seems to mystify many internet users. It’s a fair question. The answer is about as nebulous as it seems. To simplify matters, it’s sort of a new, web 2.0 term for the internet. Oh it has gone through a few name changes over the years, ARPAnet, World Wide Web, etc. The term actually comes out of geek speak. Engineers in planning web based applications often draw diagrams and organizational charts for their own systems and/or that of their clients. But in the middle of all this they have this line drawing of a cloud that is representative of what we know as the internet. They do this because the internet is actually a very complicated concept. All that they really care about at that point is that it works .

Cloud computing is a concept that keeps popping up in conversations concerning this new interconnected existence we have. What is it? That’s also a fair question. Rather than go in to some lengthy explanation, let me point out that most of us have already engaged in some form of cloud computing. If you have a Yahoo! or Hotmail webmail account, then you have already engaged in cloud computing. There are many types of cloud applications, but they all have this in common. They store your data on servers “in the cloud”. When it’s put that way, many begin to grow uncomfortable with the concept. Is it secure? Is it safe? The answers are yes and no. Most cloud apps provide a way for data encryption, so personal data is fairly secure. In some ways it is safer in the cloud than stored on your computer. Case in point: I have gone through at least 5 computers since I got my first web mail account. You know what? All my emails were still there after I fired up each replacement computer.

Some might be concerned about storing sensitive data on the cloud. For example, personal data, password lists, book manuscripts etc. These are all valid concerns and the decision to use them should be weighed out and tempered with common sense. However, I feel that if you have data that is that sensitive then it deserves it’s own dedicated computer that has never had internet access. Many leading cloud computing sites are now sporting the https protocol rather than the venerable old http. The secret is in the ‘s’. It stands for secure. https typically features 128 bit encryption for data transfer both up and downstream. Many backup services add another 256 bit encryption layer for added security. As far as digital security goes, that’s about as safe as it gets.

So far we’ve talked about web mail, and touched briefly on online storage. Let’s look at a couple other fun cloud computing things. Social networking is a cloud type application. There have been many new stories lately about security concerns with some of the luminaries like Facebook and Google. My first law of internet usage is this: Behave as if you are being watched, because chances are, you are. It all comes down to common sense. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want your parents, your principal, or your employer to see. In other words, behave! Past that, have fun! Explore! Experiment.

Some of the coolest cloud apps lately have been produced by Google. Gmail, Buzz, Reader, and Docs lead the pack and have become indispensable to many corporations and universities. Gmail with it’s Buzz interface is intriguing and gives serious competition to many other social networking sites. Google’s Reader is a news feed aggregator that is a powerful tool in it’s own right. Along with being able to gather all your web subscriptions into one spot, it also integrates nicely with Gmail and Buzz. Wave is another creature that Google is developing that really tends to defy description. You can read further on it in two of my earlier treatises on the subject.

Google Docs is a bold leap into the future of cloud computing. Docs is an online office type suite of web apps. It has a word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation, and drawing authoring environment that is compatible with many major software suites including Microsoft Office. Recently Google added a Wave like collaboration capability to Docs enabling more than one user to edit a document, simultaneously! Docs also allows files (any type) to be uploaded to storage in your account. It simply adds another layer to your backup plan should disaster ever strike.

Not to be outdone, Microsoft just last week released Office Online. It is a bona-fide online version of it’s venerated Office suite of programs. Power users might be left a little hungry, but for casual users, it’s eye candy. There are pros and cons to each, to be sure, and there are plenty of bloggers out there who will be happy to point them all out. All I will say at this point, is that the way of the future is in the cloud, and the future is bright! Check em out!

Tags: Cloud, Google, Google Buzz, Wave

Read more | Comments (0) | June 12th, 2010

Acer 17.3″ Aspire AS7736Z-4088 Laptop PC with Intel Pentium Processor T4400 and Windows 7 Home Premium

Posted by Al | Filed under General, Product Review

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Acer-17.3-320-GB-AS7736Z-4088/13352322

Well after having my new lappy for almost two weeks, I suppose it’s time to submit my own .02 about this piece of equipment. Think of it as the first product review on this blog.

First Impressions: It’s huge! Pretty big as far as laptops go, especially in this age of netbooks and iPads. 17.3 inches provides quite a bit of screen real estate, which is pretty easy on these nearly half century old eyes. It’s also led backlit providing a really bright vibrant display. If this is the same kind of technology employed (not sure if it is) as the new generation of flat panel tv’s, then it provides whiter whites, and darker blacks, by selectively turning off the backlight in just the dark areas. Not sure if this is the same thing, but I put my old HP multimedia laptop next to it for comparison. I kept trying to turn up the brightness on the HP, and just could not make it come anywhere near the Acer.

If the large screen is not enough for you, then check this out. The computer’s touchpad supports multitouch with pinch and swirl. If you are having trouble seeing a small typeface, just place two fingers on the touchpad and spread them apart! The whole screen zooms to whichever size you need.

The OS (Operating System) is Windows 7 Home Premium. I will do a separate post on what I think of it, but I will say that it is a marked improvement in performance over Vista. Microsoft may have actually gotten this one right. The RAM (Random Access Memory) is 3Gigabytes, kind of an odd quantity, get it? odd? I’m only used to seeing RAM installed in pairs, even numbered, single gigs notwithstanding. But it seems more than enough to do the job. According to the documentation that shipped with it, the RAM is expandable up to 8 gigs due to the 64 bit operating system.

The Intel T4400 core duo processor also seems pretty much up to any of the mundane tasks I throw at it, although I have yet to play any games on it. It also runs VERY cool, much more so that the AMD based HP I was using.

Round it all out with a 320G hard drive disk. Not the largest drive around, but adequate for my needs.

So to sum it all up, compare it to my less than 2 year old HP: Twice the processing power, three times the RAM, almost six times the storage, and a great big easy to read monitor. Oh and did I mention a full keyboard including the number pad? It’s there too.

We shopped this computer at Walmart (where we first saw it) then comparison shopped it on the internet. Google is your friend! I could not find a comparable unit for less than about 700 to 800 bucks. So at 498 it seems to be a pretty good value. We bought two. This seems to be a standard stock item for Walmart, so if you are in the market for a new notebook, you’d better snag one up before they realize what they have!

Tags: Computers, Mobile Computing, Product Review

Read more | Comments (0) | May 7th, 2010

Hiatus…

Posted by Al | Filed under General

Sorry folks, there has been a lot on my plate as of late so I haven’t been posting much.

I do have something to report though. I am now the new owner of an Acer Aspire 7736Z notebook computer. I am still dabbling around getting my feet wet, so to speak. So perhaps I will actually do something of a product review later in the week.

Incidentally it came preinstalled with Windows 7. So maybe I can also jump on that band wagon too. I know I’m a bit late in the review cycle, but I’ve never been much of an early adopter. I can tell you that there is marked performance improvement over Vista. Profound improvement. Oh yeah, there are some interesting little widgets and eye candy too. But as Leo LaPorte of the TWiT network says, “It’s Vista the way it should have been.”

Well, just wanted to say, I’m still around, cheating the undertaker. So I’ll be back to posting soon.

Read more | Comments (0) | May 2nd, 2010