Alan HymanThe Bloghttp://www.alanhyman.com/journal/2010-05-25T03:47:52ZSquarespacePrivacy and the Internet…as considered by An Average Schmo.http://www.alanhyman.com/journal/2010/5/24/privacy-and-the-internetas-considered-by-an-average-schmo.htmlAlanNYC2010-05-25T03:46:43Z2010-05-25T03:46:43ZSo I have been listening to Leo Laporte, Cory Doctro and reading Scobolizer. I’ve been trying to see if I can use their wisdom filled options to help shape my own simple view on this controversial subject.   So let’s see.  They are public people with thousands of followers.  Thousands!   And me?  I have maybe 300 followers on twitter and 250 friends on Facebook.  There is your proof I can proudly refer to myself as “an average schmo.”  How can I relate to the Leo Lapote’s and scobolizer’s of the world?  I think to myself in my privately invaded space, “Does what I have in my humble life map to their globally conscience options?”  Drum roll, please… “Nope.”

While I am opposed to Facebook's new draconian privacy stance I know the naked truth…I can't delete my Facebook account.  Can you?  It’s the tool I use every day to communicate with the 250 friends this average schmo has around the world.  That’s a lot of frequent flier miles Facebook is saving me.  LOL
Okay.  That said, here is another fact.  I’m a professional techie.  I know what centralized data can do for the profitability of a company.  I know they have to make money to succeed.  I can’t survive without making money.  Can you?  And so we come to it… I want my cake (total privacy) and I want to eat it, too (Facebook completely free).  How am I going to be an instrument of change?!  How can an average schmo force Facebook and other social networking businesses to take my privacy seriously?!   
I don’t have a clue.  Do you?



]]>Doctor Who: The End of Timehttp://www.alanhyman.com/journal/2010/1/4/doctor-who-the-end-of-time.htmlAlanNYC2010-01-04T00:57:53Z2010-01-04T00:57:53ZFinished watching the Xmas special. Both part 1 and part 2. It was very good. I am going to miss David Tennant. Let me know your thoughts.

]]>Doctor Who The End of Timehttp://www.alanhyman.com/journal/2009/12/28/doctor-who-the-end-of-time.htmlAlanNYC2009-12-28T05:02:24Z2009-12-28T05:02:24ZHas anyone seen the latest Doctor who special?  The End of Time, Part one The second part will air Saturday January 2, 8:30/7:30c.

What did you think?  I liked it, but thought it was bit jumbled.  I can't wait for part two.

]]>iPhone is no long available in NYC LOLhttp://www.alanhyman.com/journal/2009/12/27/iphone-is-no-long-available-in-nyc-lol.htmlAlanNYC2009-12-28T00:55:20Z2009-12-28T00:55:20ZOK yes it seems very farfetched, but according to these two sources and their conversations with ATT customer service it would seem that they have stopped selling the iPhone in NYC.  I am laughing as this is probably a mistake and the ATT Customer Support reps are just reading what the see on their monitors.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/12/27/apple-iphone-inexplicably-unavailable-for-nyc-via-online-orders/

http://mashable.com/2009/12/27/att-iphones-new-york-city/

 

]]>Gimodo Avatar Review. Read and then go see history in the making.http://www.alanhyman.com/journal/2009/12/18/gimodo-avatar-review-read-and-then-go-see-history-in-the-mak.htmlAlanNYC2009-12-18T16:41:11Z2009-12-18T16:41:11ZWow I can't wait to see this movie.  Anyone want to go?  LOL

http://gizmodo.com/5429424/avatar-review-yes-it-changed-everything-after-all

]]>Privacy and the Internet 2009http://www.alanhyman.com/journal/2009/12/15/privacy-and-the-internet-2009.htmlAlanNYC2009-12-15T17:01:24Z2009-12-15T17:01:24ZAs 2009 comes to a close the IT Security guy in me looks back to where are we with our privacy.  I don't know about you, but I got nervous when I heard what Google CEO Eric Schmidt said about our privacy (see video below). What he said is similar to what Hitler & Nazi Germany said about peoples freedoms back then.  Scary.  Makes me nervous.  There has been a lot a buzz about this on the internet.  People are calling on Eric Schmidt to apologize for his comments.  I agree.  By saying these things he violated our trust and their Philosophy.  He violated number 6 on their own list.  Do no evil...I don't believe it.  Don't you either.

It is not only Google saying our privacy is gone, but also Facebook (see ACLU Facebook Quiz link below. last link).  I bet you didn't know that when you play one of these online Facebook games you are giving the game publisher access to all your information.  Some people are saying that this must be a flub on Facebook's part.  But wait...give me a break.  I am not so sure about that.  How are these games to make money if not having access to your friends to propagate themselves?  Well I think Facebook users should be asked first before the game starts what access is needed. 

Recently Facebook changed how the privacy settings worked.  Facebook benefits from having as much information in search engines as possible.  So their initial settings places all your information on the web.  I have heard that they just changed back.  However you should check your settings ASAP and set them accordingly.

Some commentary from around the web...

http://twit.tv/225

http://calacanis.com/2009/12/13/is-facebook-unethical-clueless-or-unlucky/

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/eric-schmidt-google-and-privacy-2009-12-11

Things you should know about your privacy on Facebook...

http://dotrights.org/what-does-facebooks-privacy-transition-mean-you

http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=114232425072

 

]]>Apple’s Mac OS X 10.5 Snow Leopard Server Not Playing Nicely with iPhone?http://www.alanhyman.com/journal/2009/12/15/apples-mac-os-x-105-snow-leopard-server-not-playing-nicely-w.htmlAlanNYC2009-12-15T16:51:19Z2009-12-15T16:51:19ZI have been using the iPhone since the beginning with Exchange.  It works very well.  The only issue I have is that when you go in the iPhone mail app it wants to connect and retrieve mail.  That is strange as exchange is push not pull.  I have tried this many times with echange being the only mail account on my iPhone and the behavior is the same.  Seems wastefull to me.

http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/12/15/apples-mac-os-105-snow-leopard-server-playing-nicely-iphone/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheIphoneBlog+(The+iPhone+Blog)&utm_content=Google+Reader

]]>Thanksgiving should be renamed "The Great American Butter Day"http://www.alanhyman.com/journal/2009/11/27/thanksgiving-should-be-renamed-the-great-american-butter-day.htmlAlanNYC2009-11-27T22:19:13Z2009-11-27T22:19:13Z

]]>RadioShack to stop selling electronic partshttp://www.alanhyman.com/journal/2009/11/22/radioshack-to-stop-selling-electronic-parts.htmlAlanNYC2009-11-22T22:13:16Z2009-11-22T22:13:16Z

Ok they changed the name to "The Shack". Now I hear from my local Radio Shack guys that within a year they will stop selling electronic parts. They will be sold online only! Ugh I am so sad. Where will I go for my solder and resistors?

]]>Google is now the new OShttp://www.alanhyman.com/journal/2009/11/20/google-is-now-the-new-os.htmlAlanNYC2009-11-20T17:27:04Z2009-11-20T17:27:04ZJust finished reading about and looking at the YouTude video of the Chrome OS.  I like the idea.  I think the approach is fresh.  This could work for most users.  I like that the OS will only work with SSD drives...very fresh.  I like the idea of using tabs for each application.  Oh (excited here)...And the ones you use all the time can stay to one side and automatically startup. 

Yes it is Cloud based.  All your data is saved to the Cloud.  Google's Cloud.  Humm...I guess this solves backup problems.  Everything you work on, documents and spreadsheets, get saved to Google's servers.  No backup required.  Nice for the end user.

]]>