Monday, November 28, 2011


Is this the tip of a Breach Iceberg? We don't know who was actually breached, but even “a few” domains could service millions of individuals. Will this vendor disclose the breach, even if no individuals (just corporations) are customers?
101Domain.com Suffers Securty Breach
November 27, 2011 by admin
Michael H. Berkens reports:
101Domain.com has apparently suffered a security breach which “may have resulted in unauthorized access to your personal information and possibly payment information.”
According to Webhosting.info, 101domain.com has around 10,000 domain names under management.
Read more on TheDomains.com. From the notification letter:
We are writing to you as a primary contact on your account with 101domain.com. We need to make you aware of a security breach that may potentially have affected your account.
We were recently informed by one of our vendors that some of its systems, and those of a few of its customers, including 101domain.com, were compromised to varying degrees by a phishing attack. Although there is no direct evidence that your information was stolen and we have received no customer complaints, this attack may have resulted in unauthorized access to your personal information and possibly your payment information.
It sounds like although 101Domain.com’s customers are affected, the breach was not theirs but their vendor’s. Or am I reading this incorrectly?


For my Ethical Hackers: Need a new car for Christmas?
New Siri Hack Will Start Your Car If You Ask Nicely
… Developer Brandon Fiquett is behind this little hack, and boy what a hack it is. Building off the same Siri Proxy server that allowed @plamoni to control a thermostat over WiFi, Fiquett created a plugin that interacts with a PHP script that lives on his own webserver. That PHP script allows Fiquett to send commands to any (registered) car with a Viper SmartStart system, which in this case means his silver Acura TL.


“We're doing it for the cost savings – not because we are otherwise unable to manage our employees.”
CT: Time is money: DCF looks to shed costs by tracking its employees
November 28, 2011 by Dissent
Jacqueline Rabe Thomas reports:
Following the lead of private and nonprofit businesses, the [Connecticut] Department of Children and Families is considering adding GPS devices to its fleet of 800 vehicles to quash misuse of its vehicles.
In her proposal to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget office, DCF Commissioner Joette Katz estimates these GPS devices will save the state nearly $250,000 in the first year by being able to prove misuse of vehicles, verify overtime hours and save 20 percent on fuel consumption.
Read more on The CT Mirror.


I suspect this will be good for music and musicians. Will RIAA freak? Probably. In the end, it won't matter.
Steven Levy on Facebook, Spotify and the Future of Music
Even if Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hadn’t been introduced to Spotify two years ago, it was probably inevitable that the two companies would hook up. The European music service had already won millions of fans, thanks to a business model that allowed music nuts to stream any song, instantly, for free.
… And that’s why, when former Facebook president and Napster cofounder Sean Parker discovered Spotify in 2009, he made a point of telling Zuckerberg about it.
… Within a day, Zuckerberg had updated his Facebook status: Spotify is so good.
… In September, after two years of speculation following Zuckerberg’s four-word swoon, Facebook announced an ambitious initiative that lets its users quickly and easily share music with one another—in many cases for free.
[Music players on Facebook?
SPOTIFY Customers can stream unlimited music for free—at first. After six months, the monthly limit drops to 10 hours, at which point Spotify hopes users will pony up for a subscription.
MOG The latest version of the streaming music service allots a set amount of music that users can listen to for free. They can earn more free tunes by sharing songs and playlists.
EARBITS This free streaming online radio service isn’t supported by advertising. Instead, it plans to charge artists to promote themselves while listeners check out their music.
IHEARTRADIO With this Clear Channel app, users can tune into broadcasts from 750 radio stations or tailor stations to their own taste for free. No commercials—at least until the end of the year.
TURNTABLE This free service operates as a virtual venue for Djing. Users vie for points by creating crowd-pleasing playlists for other avatars in genre-themed listening rooms.
RHAPSODY The godfather of streaming music charges $10 a month to listen to tunes on one phone or MP3 player. Pay a few bucks more to add additional mobile devices.


Perspective I used technology (the Conestoga wagon) to move here FROM New Jersey, severing contact with most of my relatives.
November 27, 2011
Pew: Why Americans use social media
Why Americans use social media - Social networking sites are appealing as a way to maintain contact with close ties and reconnect with old friends, by Aaron Smith, Senior Research Specialist, 11/14/2011
  • "Two-thirds of online adults (66%) use social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or LinkedIn. These internet users say that connections with family members and friends (both new and old) are a primary consideration in their adoption of social media tools. Roughly two thirds of social media users say that staying in touch with current friends and family members is a major reason they use these sites, while half say that connecting with old friends they’ve lost touch with is a major reason behind their use of these technologies."


It's a bit tricker than slapping together an eBook...
November 27, 2011
Digitized: Audubon’s Birds of America, accompanied by his Ornithological Biography
"The University of Pittsburgh is fortunate to own one of the rare, complete sets of John James Audubon’s Birds of America. It is considered to be the single most valuable set of volumes in the collections of the University Library System (ULS). Indeed, only 120 complete sets are known to exist. While Audubon was creating Birds of America, he was also working on a companion publication, namely, his Ornithological Biography. Both of these sets were acquired by William M. Darlington in the mid-nineteenth century and later donated, as part of his extensive library, to the University of Pittsburgh. Recognizing that the Darlington Library includes significant historical materials, such as rare books, maps, atlases, illustrations, and manuscripts, the ULS charted an ambitious course to digitize a large portion of Mr. Darlington’s collection, including the Birds of America. We are pleased to present our complete double elephant folio set of Audubon’s Birds of America, accompanied by his Ornithological Biography, through this Web site. Together these sets constitute an unprecedented online combination."


“How to win friends and influence people, socially?” 99% of my readers agree!
Social Proof Is The New Marketing
… What is social proof? Put simply, it’s the positive influence created when someone finds out that others are doing something. It’s also known as informational social influence.
Wikipedia describes social proof as “a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others reflect the correct behavior for a given situation… driven by the assumption that the surrounding people possess more information about the situation.”
Five Types of Social Proof
Expert social proof – Approval from a credible expert, like a magazine or blogger, can have incredible digital influence.
Celebrity social proof – Up to 25% of U.S. TV commercials have used celebrities to great effect, but only a handful of web startups have to date.
User social proof – Direct TV marketers are masters at sharing user success stories. (fascination with this was actually the inspiration for this blog post)
Wisdom of the crowds social proof – Ray Kroc started using social proof in 1955 by hanging an “Over 1 Million Served” sign at the first McDonald’s. Highlighting popularity or large numbers of users implies “a million people can’t be wrong.” [10 Billion flies can't be wrong! Eat garbage! Bob]
Wisdom of your friends social proof – Learning from friends thru the social web is likely the killer app of social proof in terms of 1:1 impact, and the potential to grow virally.


Dilbert illustrates one of the primary rules of statistics/data mining...

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