Recently picked up a “Phillytablet” from the local newspaper publishing group, Philly Media Network (PMN), publishers of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News, and a few other smaller news publications.
Read on to view my review of the actual hardware (The Arnova/Archos 10 G2 Tablet) and of the Philly Media Network applications that you are subscribed to.
Categories: Hardware,Reviews,Social Media
I’ve been trying to grab a Twitter screenname that people continually register and do not use. Twitter eventually deletes it, but I suppose it is in high enough demand that someone else registers it right away (and then continues to never use it). Wrote up a quick and dirty php script to check the Twitter API to see if a screenname exists and if it doesn’t, shoot a short an email. I’ve been using changedetection to roughly do the same thing but it has fallen short on two counts: the first is that it reports follower count changes, and second it only runs once a day and this hasn’t been fast enough for me to grab my desired screen name. You can set this script to run via cron at any desired interval, I’ve set it to run every 30 minutes for me. Test with sample information to make sure….
Categories: Code Samples,PHP,Social Media
Currently I am in the Computer Science Master’s Program at West Chester University and I am focusing my research on Location Based Updates in Social Media and their societal and security implications. So you can say I think about this topic more than most normal people do.
FourSquare is a growing service that allows you to “Check in” to restaurants, grocery stores, museums and just about any place you can imagine. However, I have seen several of my friends checking in to locations which, I must say as a security research student, set off warning bells. Although I am calling out FourSquare specifically, these also apply to just about any other location based software where you broadcast your location to other folks, whether they are your friends or the general public. GoWalla and BrightKite are in the same boat.
Without further ado… here is my list of top FourSquare Security Faux Pas (after the break…)
Categories: Other Technology,Social Media
Tagged: geotagging, Security, Social Media, society, tips
There have been a number of high profile account compromises due to the insecurity of password reset questions. Examples of two big ones off the top of my head are Sarah Palin Yahoo account compromise and the Twitter “Hacker Croll” fiasco. There have been many more compromises on accounts due to weaknesses in password reset questions, even if they are rarely as publicized in the main stream media like the previous two. The attacks are basically the same – primary e-mail accounts are typically secured by password, and the password can be changed by entering an answer to a password reset question. Both of these account compromises were caused by weak password reset questions. And although Palin certainly was/is a high profile account, the Twitter compromise was caused by a low-profile IT Administrator who happened to store sensitive company documents in their Google Docs folder. This goes to show that everyone, from….
Categories: Email,Other Technology,Social Media,Software,System Administration
I gave a presentation at the ABA/National Association of Bar Executives 2009 Small Bar Conference on June 26th, 2009 on “IT for the Small Bar”. Below are my Powerpoint notes for the presentation. It For The Small Bar A few photos from the talk:
Categories: Other Technology,Social Media,Software
Tagged: powerpoint, presentation
Ok, this is not really a plugin per se, but WordPress already has the capability of displaying a Twitter search stream via it’s RSS feed widget. It is dirt simple to set up. Go into Appearance -> Widgets and select the widget area you wish to add the twitter search stream to; Add “RSS” and position the widget accordingly. Click “Edit” and “Enter the RSS feed URL here:”. This is the link from search.twitter.com where it says “Feed for this query”. Enter a title, if appropriate. Thats it! You will see an area on the site such as the one below: To summarize: There is no Twitter Search Plugin but WordPress’s RSS feature works just fine!
Categories: Configurations,Social Media,Software
Names like Comcast, Verizon, SBC, RoadRunner, Cox, Charter – control the vast majority of the ‘last mile’ internet running into many homes. A fact of today’s economy in the United States is that in any particular geographic area, you only have a handful of providers that can provide high-speed access to the internet. For example, in the Philadelphia region there are only 2 serious options – Verizon and Comcast. The reason for this is that being able to provide a high speed access line to a home involves running a LOT of wire or fiber – and this has an enormous investment in capital and technology. Only large companies have the resources available to provide these services and keep them stable. They also will buy many smaller companies that pop up – both for their technology or because it also eliminates some of the competition. Comcast has done this in….
Categories: Other Technology,Social Media,Software,Television
Tagged: Cable TV, choice, Federal Communications Commission, internet bandwidth, internet connection, internet service, ISP, net neutrality, p2p, Point protocol, Television, Television Company, United States
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