For those of you that don’t know, (where have you been?) Facebook is one of the world’s leading social networking sites, in competition and sometimes cahoots with MySpace. The two sites, who’s concept would have been laughed at years ago, have taken root and flourished in the semi-narcissistic generation today; infamously dubbed the Information Generation. They didn’t get this title for no reason, kids today can use computers much better than their parents, and miles better than their techno-phobic grandparents. These sites allow a youth, (and more recently, every body) to have a place of their own to customize as they wish, and can constantly change to adapt to your every day moods. Perhaps one day you are excited to go to the beach; so your background is all sunlight and tropical themed, while another day your page is plastered in gray, representing your boring day at the office. For some though, the profile capabilities aren’t even the greatest aspect of the site. They just love the fact that nearly everyone is on the site, or some other site, so they can communicate and share pictures with all of their friends from one convenient place, instead of rustling around through an impersonal phone, hoping someone will answer.

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Ever wonder why the Puritans set sail for America, they left because of a couple reasons. For one, they were persecuted in England for practicing their religion, and despise England’s culture. The main reason they left though was to escape the tyranny of the king. The United States was founded on the belief that each citizen should have his or her own individual freedoms and privacy. This belief has held up well over time, but was a hard won battle. At first, our colonists wished there to be no government, and to have a sort of self rule, but this didn’t work out. Shortly thereafter, the bill of rights and the constitution were written. These spelled out and put every American’s rights onto an indelible piece of paper, and made sure that they could not be taken away.

Even though our guarantee is still there, preserved and well, some people are still wary of the government. The government has done some things that make privacy advocates a little nervous. It started with the Patriot Act; this allowed the government at any time to intercept, record, and save any sort of communications you are having, provided they are solely used for national security threats. This Patriot Act was quite intrusive and Americans hadn’t seen anything like it since the days of being harassed by England for taxes we owed and other petty matters. This matter was acceptable though, as our nation was in a time of grieving after the terrorist attacks on 911. These attacks made the Patriot Act a smash hit with Congress, who would pass anything that would bolster security; we were quite scared at the time.

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The city of Austin in Texas is now paying a low flat fee per month to occupy a building right near the local police department. This building is to be used as a “fusion center.” While this has an epic ring to it, it actually has nothing to do with nuclear power; it is a center where state, federal, and local police departments can come together and share information about criminals in hopes of catching them more quickly.

Privacy advocates are not so sure about this new edifice and what privacy issues it could present. They think that maybe it could accidentally leak this data to the public, and that any information on anybody would be fair game. Remember, they don’t just keep information on criminals in this data base. What if this data base were to be hacked and the information let out to the public; addresses, case studies, etc.? Who says it would even be secured properly? They mainly just don’t like the idea of three above the law organizations getting together and having complete information available on pretty much every person ever.

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The social networking giant FaceBook has come under some fire of late. People have always had mixed opinions about the site and its implications. Some people are big fans of the site and enjoy the socializing potential it has. Many people sign up for the site, and it would be unlikely that you would find someone who isn’t on FaceBook. From here, you could get their user I.D. and from there visit their site and send them a friend request, and you’ll be on your way to communication. This is great for people who have lots of friends and family who live far away; in this manner they can talk and share photos and information from even countries away. Some people just love the fact that they can make an entire web page that is solely their’s, and they can customize it however they like and show the world who they are.

While this seems overly positive, they are people who can’t stand FaceBook, or any social networking sites for that matter. For one, they say that these sites represent the downfall of the coherent conversation, lacking any depth whatsoever, and just relying on Internet slang to communicate. Then, they say that these sites are just a big risk for privacy and that they advertise way to much. These are both true, the sites make all of their money off of advertisements and other types of things, and they do so quite often. Every time you navigate to a new page you pretty much have to click through some sort of ad. While this is just simply annoying, the privacy risks are real.

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Have you ever logged into your e-mail account and gotten an email such as one that says something like “You’ve won a million dollars! Congratulations!”? This seems like a sweet deal; a million bucks and you did nothing for it. Seems too good to be true? The old axiom is still in place and functioning today; it probably is. If you read carefully, you must provide them with access to your bank account, so they can wire the money into you. They probably won’t be putting anything in, but they might take quite a bit out. Another common one is to get your log-in or password information to a website. People will create false e-mail addresses and pose as a representative of the site. For example, someone could stick the word “MySpace” in front of an AOL email address and ask people for their passwords to run site maintenance, and somebody would probably do it.

There is also the possibility that these e-mails are just filled with viruses or mal ware. These can be stopped by an everyday virus scanner, but some more intricately woven viruses can sneak their way through to your system. Looking at your email providers “spam” section isn’t enough to stop the problem either. Did you ever notice how often you have to go into the spam folder to retrieve a message that was not actually junk at all? The same could happen the other way around; a spam email could sneak its way into your inbox folder, and you would read it without thinking twice; game over! These viruses are often wired to completely fry your computer, or to try and extract vital information from your hard drive and then bring it back to the individual responsible so they can wreak more havoc on you.

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Everyone has heard about the “Cash For Clunkers” program the government has instated of late, in an effort to get Americans to trade in their uneconomical, “gas guzzling” cars. The program offered a significant amount of money to citizens who decided to pursue this route, and they actually traded in their big cars for more miles per gallon, smaller cars. This seems like a good move for everyone, as everyone needs money, and the government is working to decrease pollution and keep the environment a bit cleaner; a win-win.

The program is done through a website, www.cars.gov, and from there dealers and people alike can see the options they have for trade-in values and can sign up for the program. Everything sounds good right? Wrong. Fox News’ Glenn Beck recently uncovered some ominous news from the website and its fine print that absolutely no one reads.

He says that once you go to the site, sign up and sign in, that you are directed to a Privacy and Security act site. This is standard stuff right? The kind of stuff that you see and blindly accept on every website you visit. This is where you made the mistake. Lately, the news have seen some cases of these terms of service agreements containing some questionable doctrines and other little pieces of information they assume no one will even bother to read. They were right for the most part, but there is always that one curious guy to spoil their fun and actually read the contract before accepting it.

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Our Earth spins on its axis constantly, and yet, even though we are all sideways, no one seems to notice or complain of an incessant disorientation. Yet the world spins on and its round robin orbit manifests many changes to the lay of the land and the more tangible ones. Leaves yellow, snow falls, temperatures change, rain falls. These small changes are more sonorous and reverberate more than initially though. With the metamorphosis of the leaves, children are drawn outside to observe the new pigments. As the snow begins to fall, the children run inside, change their comfortable summer clothes and don their thermal garb. They make a snowman and leave him outside, and before they know it, his carrot nose is in a mushy puddle at their feet. As the snow runs into the gutter, Jack Frost is quickly mourned and forgotten as they run outside in shorts and sandals to bathe in the summer sun. As the rain begins to fall, the unbreakable cycle starts again and the kids are inside again, hiding from the rain and muggy heat, longing for the idyllic changing of the leaves once more.

Scientists call this natural phenomenon the “Circadian Rhythm.” It is classified by not only a predictable cycle, but a steady progression. History has always exemplified this term to be true. Man has always slept an average of 8 to 9 hours a week, (Some of us are jealous of Man) ate 3 meals a day, and longed for companionship. Even though all is same in Man’s world, progress is being made. First, Man encountered and mastered fire. This acted as a strong catalyst, and soon enough, we have the combustion engine. Now we are researching hydrogen and water-powered automobiles. Once we had only beepers, then we adjusted to car phones, then came the brick cell-phone, and now even the paper thin Motorola RAZR is considered archaic. Man’s routines and rituals have remained the same, but technology has been skyrocketing ever since the caveman sparked a flame and put a stick in it.

With the advent of modern technology came comforts and luxuries we had never experienced before, but take for granted today.. While the caveman might have had to worry about hunting his next meal and whether he was going to eat it or vice versa, the most we worry about is gathering up enough spare change to get a soda at the McDonald’s drive-through. Our primal ancestors worried about sparking a strong flame and maintaining it for a whole night to provide warmth and protection from predators while modern humans worry if they forgot to pay their electric bill, and flip a switch to find out.

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Social networking sites such as MySpace, FaceBook, Xanga, etc. have become all the rage as the cultural zeitgeist has moved towards online life. People do everything from their computers these days, so why not add socializing onto it? While they are a lot of fun and can keep one connected to far away friends, these sites can also be dangerous if not used correctly, and unfortunately, not many people do. Here are some quick tips to help you stay safe and secure online.

#1: Utilize your Security settings:
When you log onto and sign up for one of these sites, there is always a toolbar somewhere on the screen that will say something along the lines of “settings”. Most people are too busy blogging and chatting to worry about such an unsocial part of their experience, but it is necessary. When you sign up, you release your password, e-mail, and other personal information to the site. Some options in here even can stop your information from being sold to advertising agencies for a quick profit.

#2: Make your profile private:
Unless you are a business or a band, you will want your profile to be private. You can most likely find the privacy options in the settings tab. This will allow only people whom you designate as friends via an invite or a message to be able to view and comment on your profile. This will also keep people you don’t know from trying to get at your personal information.

#3: Watch out who you “friend”:
The main premise of most of these sites is to have friends. These are a great feature to be had, as it allows you to instantly communicate with these people and separates them in alphabetical order. Some people take this too far though. They think that having the most friends is a game, and their inflated egos lead them to request and accept random people, allowing more people access to their page with all sorts of sensitive information. Who you think is a friend might not actually be a friend.

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In the “Information Generation”, the zeitgeist and buzzword of today Internet security and privacy; how do I browse anonymously online? While many people are concerned with the matter of privacy, it turns out most people do nothing about it, or what they do is not nearly enough.

It is a scary world these days. British magazines “The Sun” and “The News of the World” were recently accused of doing the unheard of, even for the “gutter press”; they allegedly tapped celebrities phones to find out what they were up to in order to check up on them and have more things to report about. Seems like Orwell is turning in his grave right now. This was a wake-up for the public: while celebrities are famous, they are just people, and if this could happen to them, it could happen to us!

This scandal followed a recent one, although the latter was not the fault of the press. Photographs, personal information, and even pictures of family of Sir John Sawers, Britain’s soon to be chief spy, surfaced in many gossip magazines after his wife posted them on FaceBook. Obviously, his cover was compromised by an entire nation of peeping eyes.

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Right now the world is in a state of change; a metamorphosis if you will. Just as the ugly caterpillar crawls into its cocoon and emerges as a majestic butterfly, the business world is in a transition.  Right now, the economy has taken a turn for the worst, and is scaring even the highest echelons of society. Globalization has always helped spur the economy back to health by expanding business into other regions, but it is not easy. Different countries have different rules and regulations than does the U.S., and sometimes these fall into conflict.

Privacy laws are a prime example. In the U.S., privacy laws are stringent for the public, and many services are available to bolster your defenses even more. In other, less-than-democratic countries, the words “private proxy” or “anonymous IP changer” probably aren’t even in the local vernacular. One specific paragon of this would be online banking. In America, no expense is spared to ensure digital privacy. Everything you can think of; encryption, anti-identity theft, and the use of secure tunnels makes all transactions virtually impenetrable. In other countries, proxies and other privacy software are frowned upon and oftentimes blocked by the government. These places, in their attempts to delete all of their citizen’s privacy so they can be more easily monitored, actually place them at higher risk for online crimes.

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