Being too safe, it seems like a contradictory concept in today’s civilization. How can one be too safe in these days of economic hardship, impending threats of terrorism, and more nuclear firepower than we know what to do with; we could probably blow up the entire galaxy with our combined stockpiles. It has even permeated to the social aspects of our lives: at one point in the idyllic fifties perhaps young kids were allowed to roam free and play parking lot baseball until dinner time, a period of about fifteen minutes where all kids would be scurrying home to avoid missing curfew. This curfew was only imposed because the rest of the family didn’t want to wait on the rambunctious youth while they succulent food got cold; it did not cross their minds that perhaps a child predator would be sweeping the streets once the streetlights illuminated, looking to abduct their kid. These kids did not have cell phones either, the radio and the television were opulent luxuries that not everyone enjoyed, and featured no communication abilities either. These parents relied on and trusted their kids, and the neighborhood or social establishment to run them home before dark. No one knew anything about cell phones, and certainly if anyone did have such a thing, it would not be in the interest of a child to lug the old “brick” around while engaging in the suburban ball games.

These days every child carries a cell phone, and is on call everywhere they go. For what purpose? Society seems to have tried to obfuscate the matter by making a cell phone something important in the cultural zeitgeist; even the old calling features have become obsolete with the new text messaging capabilities of these micro-computers. These devices have cameras installed, music players, you name it, some cell phone has it. This takes away the fear and anxiety that every parent feels, and instead of making the phone seem like a security tool to the naive child, it is now just a hip fashion accessory.
Read Full Article

Tweet This Post

Whether you are trying to get your laptop hooked up to your router or you are in a place where you want to learn more about your computer and how it connects to the outside world in general, you will find that one great way to start is to consider your IP address. When you are looking at computers and what allows them to connect to the Internet, the term IP address is one that comes up fairly often, but you might be at a bit of loss as to how to explain it; even asking someone who knows how they work will not necessarily give you an answer that is satisfactory. When you are thinking about what an IP address is, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind.

The first thing that you need to understand is that the term IP address is short for “Internet Protocol.” It is a label that has been assigned to a user that allows them to connect to a larger network. An IP address is something that every site on the Internet has, however keep in mind that it is something that serves multiple functions. It has been stated that an IP address is a location as well as a route. If you want to get online, if you want to make sure that you have access to the information that is on the Internet, you will find that you need to have an IP address; essentially, it acts as your “passport.” At the most basic level, if your computer cannot find an IP address to use, it is not going to be able to get online As an Internet user, you will get your IP address from your Internet service provider, which is often abbreviated to ISP. When you hook your computer up to the Internet, whether you are using a cable modem or a direct Ethernet connection of some sort, you are putting your computer on your ISP’s network. In most cases, you will find that your computer is immediately given an IP address that you will be able to get online right away. At the beginning, you might need to go through a procedure where you confirm who you are and that you have service with the company in question, but you will find that in many cases, you can simply plug your computer in and get connected right away. Read Full Article

Tweet This Post

Usually, any Internet controversies are reserved for the interest of ISP presidents, software programmers, and other computer savvy individuals. Lately though, some Internet news has been making headlines with everyone. It pertains to Internet neutrality, which is the act of keeping all things regulated and equal on the Internet. ISPs have lately come out of the woodwork and into the limelight about their practices of regulating Internet speeds. They take some applications and websites which require lots of bandwidth and are usually quite slow to load, and they speed them up. By doing this though, they decrease the speed at which all other sites go. There is only so much bandwidth to go around, and when they allot more to one thing, another has to give.

This makes the public a bit uneasy. For one, the Internet is supposed to be a free place, void of many tyrants who might wish to control it or pull the strings behind the scenes. Second, with decreased browsing speed, their favorite sites and games could take much longer to load. Sure, there are other things that will be expedited, but there are other programs that will be slowed to a crawl.
Read Full Article

Tweet This Post

Around the world, the United State has men and women serving in the military and deployed. These very brave soldiers are defending our country under what can be extremely harsh conditions. While it can be said that they chose to serve in the army or navy or marines freely, we still owe them our gratitude. It’s up to us to make sure that they have everything they need to be secure when deployed. Security however, is not only making sure they have the military equipment, it also means that we need to provide a way to let off steam. The USO does an amazing job at this with entertainment right at the front line. Remember, a soldier’s best defense is his or her mind. If they are well cared for, they will be better able to cope. Years ago, all the military had was R & R, letters or packages from home and, of course,  the USO. Now soldiers who are overseas also have access to other forms of entertainment via the web.

Change IP to bypass blocks

So what do they do on the world wide web? Believe it or not, many of them watch television. Sure, they might be able to watch television using a television set, but the shows available in country are either in a different language or they are old reruns of old American television programs. While I’m sure that “The Honeymooners” is still a favorite, and who doesn’t want to watch “Three’s Company”, current US television programming is not usually available. On the Internet, they can stream television shows from the various cable and broadcast networks. They could have watched the last episode of “Psych” or the new “White Collar” program on the USA Network. Or maybe they want to watch some sports program. The web makes this all possible.

Instead of TV, they might be on social networking sites like FaceBook or MySpace or Bebo. For those who have not served in the US military, you can’t imagine how much of a gift these sites are to lonely young men and women far from home. With a click of a mouse button, they can see friends and loved ones online. They can catch up on the latest happenings in their immediate families or circle of friends. They can see videos, pictures and general updates. And maybe, just maybe, some of the loneliness might go away. Yes, they are still at the front. Yes they are still in harm’s way. But they have a connection back to their normal every day lives. Unfortunately, they can’t always connect back to these US based sites. You’d think the world wide web is available everywhere.
Read Full Article

Tweet This Post

Most everyone person who has a computer these days (and who doesn’t?) probably is on some type of social networking site. What was once deemed a silly fad that narcissistic children engaged in is now a world wide phenomenon. People use these services to communicate, post pictures, post information, and most importantly, create their own personalized profile. There are a multitude of sites to use also. Most people only commit to one, (MySpace, FaceBook, Xanga, etc.) but some people will have multiple sites to upkeep with multiple sets of friends. While these sites have good intentions of bringing people together and giving them a place to congregate, there are people who spoil it for everyone.

Change IP on Social Networks

First of all, these people wouldn’t be able to spoil it if everyone simply checked their privacy options when they loaded up the site. Just as people click “I accept” blindly on the terms of service agreements, they also overlook their privacy settings. These extra features could allow random people not to send virus filled messages to them, or people who aren’t their friends to access their profile. Oftentimes, even to send a friend request, you must know some personal detail about the person that only a real friend would know. This stops impersonators from pretending to be someone else and making the victim think they are friends. This is all great but useless, no one uses it or even knows it exists.

Also, people need to start reading their terms of service agreements. These are often pretty basic, and just say stuff about no copyright infringement, and other legal stuff, but sometimes they hide insidious information in their banal text. For example, when one logs onto the “Cash For Clunkers” website to try and get some extra money for their old beater cars, in the terms of service agreement neatly packed in where no one can read, is that once logged in, your computer is property of the United States government and can be accessed anytime even after logging off of the site for any information they want. That was something you didn’t want to miss before hitting accept!
Read Full Article

Tweet This Post

Identity theft; a hundred years ago, nobody would have understood what that even means. Perhaps they would have thought it was a just a fallacy produced by some science fiction movie, but they didn’t even have science fiction movies yet. Identity theft is a product of the Information Generation, and at no other point in history has one’s identity been able to be stolen. Any identity for someone from at least one hundred years ago was your own personal image; the clothes you wore, the things you did, the people you associated with: a highly social concept. Nowadays though, your identity is delineated by your social security number, your phone numbers, and other little strands of data that truly mean nothing but also mean everything.

IP Changers protect your online identity

It seems kind of ironic; one’s identity is shown by a bunch of numbers and passwords and user names. When you think about it though, it really does make sense. A hundred years ago, there simply weren’t as many people, and those people lived in small towns where everyone knew everything about everyone else. Nowadays we live in crowded cities pretty much running into each other while trying to walk on the street. Instead of just having to watch out for a slowly moving horse drawn carriage, we have to beware and yield (a car yielding in a busy city just doesn’t happen) to huge sport utility vehicles, speeding through the streets desperate not to hit any red lights. These people in the small towns were all known by first and last names; the government today could never keep track of all American citizens like that, so we are each assigned a social security number; a numerical value that becomes who you are to the United States government, and a tool that makes it much easier and faster to search for and find people.
Read Full Article

Tweet This Post

The Internet is not a place to be known and recognized on. There is too much inherent risk: if everyone knew everyone else on the Internet, everyone would now be able to get all sorts of personal and sensitive information off of each other. The Internet is a great tool, and nearly essential in today’s society. Business is conducted over the Internet and through computers; some of the world’s biggest deals have been inked online, through a combination of video, text and voice chat. Socially, society has taken a one hundred and eighty degree turn; we used to value our personal friendships and have a close inner circle of friends to whom we would trust our lives to, now we have all of our information laid out for our near one thousand friends to read and comment on. Even the world of the Internet itself is changing quickly. Once upon a time, e-mail was the fastest way to communicate with somebody, while now it is faster and more convenient to simply instant message (IM) them.

Again, the Internet is a great place, and an irreplaceable tool in the Information Generation’s repertoire. It goes without saying though that every good thing has a flaw, and the Internet’s thorn is quick a scary and dangerous one. This thorn could put a hole into your very life and your very identity: who you are! Don’t get philosophical now, saying the Internet could change you and ravage your morals and values; identity is meant in a social way. Whether it be your reputation, or the more ominous social security number, when you do any business on the Internet, both are being put at risk.
Read Full Article

Tweet This Post

Everyone knows how difficult it can be to find a job. There is so much competition, and so much criteria you have to meet. It is common knowledge and a sad truth that if you don’t have a college degree, you will have trouble finding any job that will make you decent money. In a little while, your Bachelor’s degree might become obsolete! Think of all of the people you have to run up against too; there will always be that one over qualified person who sets the bar so high no other prospective employee can even try and compete. Maybe you are that employee, but somebody below you has connections with the boss and hiring staff, and you get pushed out of a position you really deserved. These problems are especially lucid in today’s society and our rapidly diminishing economy. Jobs are few and far between, and the people who aren’t getting laid off are holding onto their jobs for dear life; there won’t be many places hiring or looking for newcomers to start there.
Read Full Article

Tweet This Post

A groundbreaking new project to collect all of the world’s written materials and assimilate them all into one place is under way; the result has come to be known as Google Books. Instead of having to sift through a giant library of books in order to find one little one you want, and then having to lug it to home, school, work, or where ever, you can simply access it online. A subscription to Google Books would allow you to access any book by any author anywhere while online. Some people wonder why this is useful though, because no one can have a computer while they are out traveling. They are mistaken though; most everyone has a computer on them at all times; simply enough, we disguise it as a cell phone. These cell phones used to be bulky car units used as a last ditch attempt to communicate, but have grown into quite intuitive instruments. Consider today’s cell phone; texting, games, camera, video, many apps, and for many, a web browser. That’s right; a web browser to access the Internet and to access your Google Books account.

You can see how Google Books is going to be quite a useful and economical resource, but it doesn’t come without its downsides as well. Many privacy advocates have eyed the service with suspicious glances, for the software holds the capacity to track and maybe accidentally release sensitive information. As it stands right now, a customer has to release a large amount of their personal information to sign up, and the service will keep meticulous records as to who is reading what and when they are doing so. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has released many papers to the court that is still figuring out the logistics of these agreements between authors and companies. They say that this Google Books software is potentially very dangerous, and the public needs to be alerted, or they at least need to change things.
Read Full Article

Tweet This Post

It is quite understandable to question a new thing, and want to know what it is and how it works. This is especially true of new people; our instincts tell us who is a threat and who isn’t usually seconds after we meet them or see them. Sometimes our intuitions can fail us though, and we then turn to a more infallible way to decode somebody. Employers nearly always run background checks on potential employees. Again, this is that basic human instinct running in our veins telling us to find out about people and who they are. Someone could be a great guy in the interview and completely have the wool pulled over your eyes, but when you check his background, you find out he is a convicted felon of a serious charge. Certainly not the type of guy you want working at your business and working with your customers!

While this is a safety issue for the most part, these tests may have a bit of an intrusive value to them, and could be misleading. In psychology, the tendency for people to put more emphasis on the personality than the situation is called the false attribution effect. Many employers are blind to the possible mitigating factors of the offense or the actual person’s turn around in life. Regardless, these types of tests border on the privacy laws that everyone enjoys around the world… for the most part.
Read Full Article

Tweet This Post