Technology overload can ruin relationships

"Technology might be just as addictive as alcohol and drugs and could also wreak havoc with personal and work relationships, a leading expert said."True? Just ask my wife... ;)

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Security and Privacy Aren't Opposites

Bruce Schneier spells it out: Security and Privacy Aren't Opposites.

How Money Laundering Scams Work

Following on from the earlier phishing article, here's another on being scammed to work as a Money Mule.

How Phishing Works

Ever wondered how phishing works? Are these people elite hackers, or a bunch of script kiddies? Who gets your info and what do they do with it? Take a look at this interview with Nitesh Dhanjani and Billy Rios.

New Notebook at Tesco

New Notebook at Tesco

Tesco are selling a notebook with a 'massive 2MB memory'!

Blogged with Flock

RASIC

A RASIC matrix is a management tool to establish roles and responsibilities on a project or other activity. RASIC defines who is:

R - Responsible: solely and directly accountable for creating a work product

A - Approving: and needs to review and assure this work product's quality

S - Supporting: any and all individuals or groups who help create this work product

I - Informed: any and all who need updates during the creation of a work product or during the execution of a business process

C - Consulted: any and all who help define product design or quality review criteria

See also: RACI

Pillaged MySpace Photos Show Up in Massive BitTorrent Download

Think your online photos are safe because you marked them as private? Think again.

If you have photos that you don't want made public, don't put them online. Websites have privacy policies but they also have security holes. If someone wants to see your photos (or any other information for that matter), they'll find a way.

At least the person who is distributing the photos created one 17GB file, which is enough to put off all but the most determined voyeur. I expect these photos will be downloaded, poured over, sorted, and a 'best of' collection will make an appearance.

11th Hour Buyout to Save Scrabulous Tonight?

11th Hour Buyout to Save Scrabulous Tonight?: "Unless a Hail Mary deal is reached, Facebook's Scrabulous application may finally get the axe tonight."

It's still up, so far...

Telecommuting makes work worse for non-telecommuters

Ars Technica has a short study on how telecommuting makes work worse for non-telecommuters. It argues that, while telecommuting has liberated the chosen few, those left behind are disappointed with having fewer, weaker relationships and are frustrated with the perceived increased workload and difficulties of working with teleworkers.

From a personal perspective, I have been working in remote teams since late 1999. Not only have I dealt with 'work at home' colleagues who may or may not appear in the office from day to day, I have the added challenge of working with other team members who are globally dispersed. From early morning meetings with Singapore to late evenings talking to those on the west coast of the United States, I spend my day interacting with colleagues I've never met.

Oh, and did I mention my manager sits 4800 miles away from me? :)

I have the ability to work from home whenever I want, though it is not encouraged in my current job and location. I do occasionally use it when I need to, but I prefer being in the office to have that separation of work and home life. When I work at home I typically do longer hours (no commute, start earlier, finish later), and even leave the PC connected while having dinner or watching TV in an evening. I am more productive at home, but also feel the need to 'prove' I'm working harder.

Building relationships is hard at first, but if you set some ground rules, use the available tools like email and Instant Messaging (and heaven forbid you pick up the phone once in a while), with a little effort and some trust in your colleagues, it's very rewarding.

Anti-spammer fined $60K for using 'whois'

This is ridiculous:

"David Ritz, the veteran American spam-fighter, has been hit by $60,000 in fines plus lawyers fees after losing a civil suit that accused him of illegal hacking."

"The complaint alleged that Ritz "hacked" servers owned by Sierra (which describes itself as a specialist web hosting and internet services firm), obtaining confidential internal network configuration data (using a zone transfer, host -l command) and domain name information (using whois) before publishing that data on the net."

Facebook asked to remove "Scrabulous"

"The makers of word game Scrabble have asked Facebook to remove its popular online version “Scrabulous,” which they say infringes their copyright."

Best get those games finished before it's too late.

Edit to add: Bogglific's already been taken down. :(

The Pirates Can't Be Stopped

Have a read of this long but interesting article talking about piracy, including an interview with 'Ethan', the hacker who broke into Media Defender.

2007 Darwin Awards

Have a good laugh, the 2007 Darwin Awards are out.

Confidential details fall off the back of lorries

Why bother breaking and entering to steal private data when you can just pick it up off the side of the motorway?

Motorways too dangerous? Then go for a drive in the countryside.

Your New Wireless Digital Picture Frame Is Endangering Your PC

"In the past month, at least three consumers have reported that photo frames received over the holidays attempted to install malicious code on their computer systems, according to the Internet Storm Center", The Register reports.

I still want one. :)

Pensionbook - Facebook for the Elderly

Going back through my email I rediscovered this one from my mate, Big O:
Pensionbook - Facebook for the elderly (from straightfrommybrain.com).

Secret Crush widget spreads adware on Facebook

If you installed the Secret Crush widget on Facebook, beware: Secret Crush invites prospective marks to find out which of their friends might fancy them, then tries to socially engineer you into installing the Zango (formerly known as 180solutions or Hotbar) adware application.

The widget may have been removed from Facebook now but the adware may still be installed on your PC.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you, and thanks for reading my website.

I don't make resolutions but here are my plans for 2008 (in no particular order):

• Buy a house
  
• Get a cat (or two)
  
• Change my car
  
• Buy a new TV (or two)
  
• Buy a new sofa (or two)
  
• Start a family
  

Last year's goals went as planned, hopefully this years lofty ambitions will be just as successful. ;)