Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
At the "Big Tent" outside the DNC perimeter, MyBarackObama administrator and former Facebook employee Chris Hughes held a chat with online activists about the role of social networking in the Obama campaign.
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Fundraising and hitting the campaign trail are not the only key tasks in running for President. Business Week's Technology Insider traces how "technology and an appreciation of how to use it have always been important to political campaigns," from FDR's pioneering use of radio to today's use of microtargeting of voters and online social networks.
Web pick posted by CQ Staff
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Last week's military incursion into Georgia by Russian troops was preceded by an attack on government computers, and the same thing could happen here, experts warn. According to CNN, computer security experts say no one has devised a way to protect against online attacks on government systems. The fact that the U.S. is so dependent on the Internet makes us all the more vulnerable, they say.
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
With information easily available on the Internet and stored on devices like cell phones, could that be causing humans to devote less effort to remembering things? That's what an essayist at Salon wonders. He jumps off an essay from a University of Chicago sociologist writing about whether the Internet changes how people think, which itself follows on an Atlantic Monthly piece entitled, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, xconomy.com
The U.S. is lagging behind other countries in providing broadband Internet access to its citizens, a report from the Communications Workers of America has found. According to Information Week, the CWA report showed that the median download speed in the U.S. is 2.35 megabits per second, compared to 63.6 Mbps in Japan. Of the 50 states, Rhode Island has the fastest connections at a median of 6.8 Mbps, while Alaska is slowest, at only 0.8 Mbps.
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Using the Internet or text messages to harass one's fellow students could become illegal under a bill making its way through the California legislature. The Associated Press reports that the cyberbullying bill passed the state Senate on a 21-11 vote and is headed to the Assembly.
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Bruce Schneier writes in his "memo" to the next President: "You have the buying power to get your vendors to make serious security improvements in the products and services they sell to the government, and then we all benefit...."
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Facebook, MySpace, and their ilk are becoming increasing popular for identity thieves and purveyors of malicious software, several speakers at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas said this week. The Washington Post's Security Fix blog says the raft of user-created applications on these sites are prime candidates for spreading malware. On the other hand, one speaker warned that staying off such sites gives scammers the opportunity to create a fake profile for you and use it against your friends.
A private think tank is looking for ways the government can make cyberspace more secure. The Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency, a group organized by a Center for Strategic and International Studies, is working on recommendations it can make to the next president. CNET News quotes Marcus Sachs, Verizon's director of national security policy, a former government official, and a commission member, said that stealthy cyber-intrusions were a real threat to the security of today's networks.
"In the transition between the Clinton and Bush presidencies in late 2000, there was no group doing what we're doing now...trying to tee up cybersecurity as an agenda item," Sachs said during a panel discussion at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas.
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Some Internet service providers are worried that the growing demand for large files, such as videos, is going to produce more data traffic than the Internet can handle. But one Internet expert says traffic growth rates are actually falling. Ars Technica reports that Andrew Odlyzko of the University of Minnesota's Internet Traffic Studies project says "there is not a single sign of an unmanageable flood of traffic."
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
The Federal Communications Commission wants to bring high-speed Internet access to the 40 percent of American homes that lack it. Business Week tells us that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wants to provide government incentives for private companies to provide more broadband service. He wants to auction off wireless spectrum and have the winning bidder commit to bringing at least minimal broadband service to 95 percent of the country within 10 years.
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
A newly created free search service will dig up police records of anyone you want to find out about in all 50 states, including traffic violations. An essay in the New York Times wonders if such services will upset a social balance where the privacy of minor infractions was protected by the difficulty of obtaining such records.
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
A Pittsburgh couple has sued Google over its Street View feature, which contained a photo of the outside of their house. Aaron and Christine Boring say the feature lowered the value of their property and caused them mental suffering. A blogger at CNET News feels the Borings might be taking the notion of privacy a little bit too far.
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
Here's a chance to get a jump on a piece that will surely spur some discussion. The New York Times has published on its website a story from its upcoming Sunday magazine about Internet trolls who are, in the paper's words, "part of a growing Internet subculture with a fluid morality and a disdain for pretty much everyone else online." A "troll" is someone who intentionally disrupts online communities.
Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com
