Geek Stuff category archive

Outting twits:

Twitter confirmed Friday that it had become the latest victim in a number of high-profile cyber-attacks against media companies, saying that hackers may have gained access to information on 250,000 of its more than 200 million active users.

The surprising part of this story is that they got fined.

The operator of the popular Path social networking app is paying $800,000 to settle charges of illegally collecting personal information from mobile devices without the users’ knowledge or consent.

More at the link.

Aside:

I’ve never heard of “Path.” It seems to be a phone thingee.

Facebook says, “May I see your passport, please?”

Back in February 2012, well prior to its acquisition of Instagram in April that year, Facebook confirmed that it had begun asking some users to provide government issued photo IDs, but at that time, a Facebook PR rep told TPM that the company was only “testing this process right now with people who have a large number of subscribers,” and would “iterate based on the feedback we receive.”

That iteration seems to have extended the online ID checks to people even with relatively small numbers of Friends and followers, as one user who emailed TPM to complain only reported having about 200.

This is creepy, especially given Facebook’s history of zucking with users’ privacy.

More at the link.

The Reader’s Digest version. A sample:

1. Want to know how much Facebook knows about you?

Go to Account Settings in the Home menu and click “Download a copy of your Facebook data.”

Twits with complete sentences.

The ACLU offers some hints for making sure that Facebook’s new “graph search” has not zucked your privacy settings.

DHS says turn off your java. It can’t be trusted.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security urged computer users to disable Oracle Corp’s Java software, amplifying security experts’ prior warnings to hundreds of millions of consumers and businesses that use it to surf the Web.

Hackers have figured out how to exploit Java to install malicious software enabling them to commit crimes ranging from identity theft to making an infected computer part of an ad-hoc network of computers that can be used to attack websites.

Oracle does not have a good record on bug fixes.

Remember that “Java” and “Javascript” are not the same thing. Javascript is not implicated in the warning.

More at the link.

Via Bartcop.

Via PoliticalProf.

Store in a room full of iJunk.

Microsoft’s reputation as the “less cool” rival to Apple appears to have been reinforced, after thieves raided its Silicon Valley offices – but only stole a collection of iPads.

The thieves made away with five iPads worth more than $3,000 (£1,865) from Microsoft’s research and development centre in Mountain View, California, over Christmas.

Microsoft’s flagship collection of smartphones and tablet computers remained untouched in the raid, according to Mountain View police who spoke to The Register.

In a landmark traffic study, Caltrans and MIT have discovered that too many cars on the same road heading in the same direction result in traffic jams.

The story also included this little creepy detail:

The study’s authors anonymously tracked more than 350,000 Bay Area drivers using their cellphone and GPS signals — the first time that’s been done — to gather some of the most detailed data yet on what causes our traffic jams.

(Embed fixed.)

An experienced computer user tries Windows 8. Chaos occurs. (Warning: Mild language.)

Excerpt: “Less user-friendly than DOS.”

Via SMLR.

Quentin Fottrell reviews the symptoms at MarketWatch.

Via Delaware Liberal.

I logged into Facebook today to respond to a comment on one of my posts and discovered, that, once again, Facebook has zucked with the interface to make it difficult to find the stupid “Log Off” button.

Off to delete their stupid cookies . . .

The state’s highest court is reversing a judge’s order that a northern Virginia woman remove negative online reviews of a home contractor.

The Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and Public Citizen said Wednesday that the Supreme Court of Virginia has thrown out the preliminary injunction issued in Fairfax County Circuit Court. The groups had appealed the judge’s order saying it violated both the First Amendment and Virginia law.

The lady felt she had been ripped off by a contractor and published her story. The contractor sued.

I think this is a good ruling.

Details at the link.

Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source.

Join the new TWUUG forums and help them grow, then join us tomorrow in person.

Tidewater Unix Users Group

What: Monthly TWUUG Meeting.

Who: Everyone in TideWater/Hampton Roads with interest in any/all flavors of Unix/Linux. There are no dues or signup requirements. All are welcome.

Where: Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk Training Room. See directions below. (Wireless and wired internet connection available.)

When: 7:30 PM till whenever (usually 9:30ish) on Thursday, January 3.

Directions:
Lake Taylor Hospital
1309 Kempsville Road
Norfolk, Va. 23502 (Map)

Pre-Meeting Dinner at 6:00 PM (separate checks)
Uno Chicago Grill
Virginia Beach Blvd. & Military Highway (Janaf Shopping Center). (Map)

Reunited and it feels so good.

(That’s somewhat similar to how I ended up in Virginia Beach, the one really good thing that has resulted from my signing up for the Zuckerboard.)

Is Facebook the lonely cloud?

. . . when you’re not yourself?

If you don’t stake out your social media territory, someone else will.

That’s the new reality reflected in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Pittsburgh’s federal court by a foundation head against the networking firm LinkedIn Corp.

Rick D. Senft, president and CEO of the Passavant Memorial Home Foundation, wants to know who put his name, personal cell phone and personal email on the popular site — and so far, LinkedIn won’t tell him.