The Future As Seen By Me In 2010

Image
Well looky here, things one has scanned in eh. (ignore the photo, that's some guy that made some accounting software, not sure what became of him ;) MIKE RIVERSDALE is fuming. The expensive headphones he bought in Sydney three weeks ago have just died. His first reaction is not to randomly spill expletives into his coffee, but to use his iPhone to vent his frustration to his Twitter con- tacts, under the moniker Miramar Mike. "I will also put, 'What should I do?' It's a conversation. I'm reaching out to the people following me." The council predicts hand-held digital devices such as smartphones will rule the world in 2040. They already rule the life of Mr Riversdale, whose company WaveAdept helps businesses adapt - their computing sys- tems to allow staff to work from anywhere - and with anyone. In order of fre- equency, he uses his iPhone to tweet (1136 followers; 8363 tweets since joining), e-mail, make phone calls and use online services, such as checki
Reply

5 articles about keeping your identity ("persona") safe

By /
How Stuff Works: Identity TheftSeems to be the day of "user identity theft" with the following 4 articles (plus mine from a week or so ago) popping into the feeder.

With the news that Facebooks "Beacon" program being amended due to privacy concerns (Google News: facebook beacon) the whole subject of "online identify" will, I predict, become the dominant conversation during 2008, especially as Google and the like push further into the enterprise with a "life online" delivery of services.


Colin Jackson: On the Internet no-one knows you’re a dog
Colin the voice of IT-ness on National Radio's Nine To Noon and a few days ago he turned his attention to thorny issue of ID verification, the government and what it means to you and me.
...
It’s really getting at the notion that we are anonymous on the Net and that people can’t tell much about you from a screen name or email address.

Q: Is that true?

A: No, not really. Clever or well-resourced people can tell a lot about you by looking at the traces you leave online. Never assume you can’t be traced across the Internet.
...


lifehacker: How to Track Down Anyone Online
And Colin's broadcast/article leads me nicely on this (USA based) article from the ever useful lifehacker.
When you're trying to find someone online, Google's not the only game in town. In the last two years, a handful of new people search engines have come onto the scene that offer better ways to pinpoint people info by name, handle, location, or place of employment. While there's still no killer, one-stop people search, there are more ways than ever to track down a long-lost friend, stalk an ex, or screen a potential date or employee. The next time you wonder, "What ever happened to so-and-so?" you've got a few power people search tools to turn to.


Computerworld NZ: 8.3 million in US victims of ID theft in 2005
Problem is growing there, but not so bad in NZ

And for those that need a more homegrown perspective check out this article from Computerworld
NZ ID theft figures
According to Statistics NZ's "Information and Communications Technology in New Zealand" report, released last month, the proportion of individuals who had been a victim of fraudulent ICT activity that resulted in some loss was 1.6%, well below US figures.
The 35- to 39-year age group had the highest proportion of those who experienced loss (2.3%), followed by the 50- to 54-year age group (2.2%), and the 55- to 59-year age group (2.2%).


5 easy ways to protect your online presence with Dr Miramar Mike
And once you've had the pants scared off you you'll want to be protecting your own identity ("persona") with my 5 easy steps:
  1. Reserve your name in all the right places
  2. Have a plan for each persona
  3. Monitor who's referencing you and why
  4. Maintain one core set of information
  5. Don't use the same email/password password for all
Happy and safe surfing everyone

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular articles

The Future As Seen By Me In 2010

Image
Well looky here, things one has scanned in eh. (ignore the photo, that's some guy that made some accounting software, not sure what became of him ;) MIKE RIVERSDALE is fuming. The expensive headphones he bought in Sydney three weeks ago have just died. His first reaction is not to randomly spill expletives into his coffee, but to use his iPhone to vent his frustration to his Twitter con- tacts, under the moniker Miramar Mike. "I will also put, 'What should I do?' It's a conversation. I'm reaching out to the people following me." The council predicts hand-held digital devices such as smartphones will rule the world in 2040. They already rule the life of Mr Riversdale, whose company WaveAdept helps businesses adapt - their computing sys- tems to allow staff to work from anywhere - and with anyone. In order of fre- equency, he uses his iPhone to tweet (1136 followers; 8363 tweets since joining), e-mail, make phone calls and use online services, such as checki

Knowing good info from bad - how do we?

This posting inspired by the latest Gerry McGovern newsletter - read it for his views We vote. As an example, that's the power of Google search - it uses the concept that web pages with the highest 'vote' get put at the top of page 1. The 'vote' is a weighted one using the number of pages that reference it multiplied by a lot of clever algorithmic type activity - highly technical insight from Google themselves . In essence you voted me top of the "mike riversdale" Google list by linking to me. However, voting is spreading through the web in many more ways than simply linking to pages and I believe the driver is that people are starting to use the tools to group themselves into communities. In the good ol' days before " Web 2.0" (say before mid-2005) there were many informal methods of finding the 'best* content' - we would send emails to our mates pointing out cool sites, read about it from dedicated "Best of the Web ..."

Which Laptop Should I Buy?

MiramarMike.co.nz is very nearly wired up with equipment and needs one last thing - the laptop. And for those that have given advice, thanks and please bear with me just a little longer :-) Everyone tells me to get an Apple MacBook Pro but it's a darned expensive beastie. Having said that I am willing to pay a little premium for the ease of use over and above Windows Vista and Ubuntu. Also I have a mate currently traveling the US who's willing to pick up a laptop over there but I'm sure how much cheaper they actually are. And so, three questions I'd love some help with: Should I go for an Apple MacBook Pro no matter what (and why?) Should I get my mate to buy the laptop (any make) in the US? If not buy in US where in NZ/Wellington would you recommend? What do you think - leave a comment My calcs. You can edit this spreadsheet with more options at: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pmxKow-YfvkpQWjvBfAcpVw

3 Actions For Those Being Made Redundant

Image
It sucks out there in Wellington and around the country at the moment as the Government, tech, and media industries cull roles in wide ranging and sweeping actions. No-one except you know how this feels, and only those close to you can understand the impact, but know this, you will survive. 1: Understand, YOU are not redundant. Your role is being made redundant, you are not. For whatever reason the role you've been filling is deemed no longer viable within the organisation you used to work within.  You are not redundant, your role is. This is isn't about you, don't take it personally, this is not a reflection of you. Of course the impact on your life and those you hold close is very personal, but the reason it has happened is not about you. (as a side note, you are not merely your role anyway, you are way more than whatever work thing you were doing) 2: Do not panic! If you can, take time to re-evaluate what you do before shotgunning your CV out to every recruitment agency

How To Facilitate A Barcamp/Unconference

Image
I have been privileged to help create a number of successful barcamps ( Wikipedia ) alongside an ever growing number of committee members here in Wellington over the past few years both public and internally at client sites. I've also attended others around the country which have been mostly awesome but sometimes missing a certain "something". During this time I've managed to crystalise what I believe helps create and facilitate (NOT "run) a successful barcamp - here it is, by all means share it around. Oh, one more thing - barcamps are traditionally held within the realm of the geeks but there's NOTHING about a barcamp that limits it to such an industry and, much like you can hold a traditional conference on any subject under the sun, so you can with a barcamp. What do you need for a barcamp? I've always said you only need the following to get have a barcamp A venue A date A logo People On reflection I should also add, "a need" - dur. The date