Sunday 8 March 2009

Facebook Changes it's Status

Instead of asking it's users "What are you doing right now?" facebook has changed its question and is asking, "Whats on you mind?"
These changes are due to Facebook feeling threatened by Twiter who is becoming more and more popular.
Facebook's also adding filters so people can choose which of their friends to keep up with and which to silence.
Next week there will be a new homepage that lets users receive updates all the time instead of every 10-15 minutes.

Sunday 15 February 2009

Police and ICT

Derbyshire police officers are now swapping their note pads for a small memory card, this means that hours of film can be recorded on the card and fingerprints can also be gathered as evidence. This technology had be tested before and is said to be a great way of tracking down criminals.
Head cams are being worn by police officers with new computer stystem. This new technology has enabled officers to store and retrieve footage more quickly and easily.
An officer claimed that, "Everything I see and hear is recorded onto this memory card and we can look at it back at base."
"Officers can now record emotions and dramatic situations, to present the very best evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service to secure convictions."

Sunday 1 February 2009

Google problems

Google has recently been suffering with technical problem resulting in users not being able to access search results. On Saturday, all search results were flagged as harmful to your computer. Users were told to pick a different search results, one which is less likely to harm your computer - though all were classed as harmful.
Google claimed that all users were affected by this problem for about 40 minutes.
Google described the problem as a "Human Error."
Now Google has said that they will, "We will carefully investigate this incident and put more robust file checks in place to prevent it from happening again,"

Sunday 11 January 2009

YTF

England and many other countries now recognise the digital divide internationally and have set up charities to minimize this divide.
For example, Youth for Technology Foundation is a non-profit organisation that provides for the less developed countries, i.e = Africa.
The main problem is that there are so many countries that lack equipment, training, education etc, so YTF aims to provide these people with the resources which will enable them to use technology effectively.
YTF believes that through the power of technology it will help reduce poverty, crime, violence and unemployment.

Thursday 11 December 2008

Koobface

There are around 120 million people who use facebook and they are now being targeted by a virus. This virus has been designed to get hold of personal information like credit card details etc...

The virus is known as, “Koobface,” and is spreading across facebook into people’s inboxes; the message is pretending to be from a friend, this results in people opening the message therefore opening the virus. The message is a trick, it usually says, “You look funny in this video, or You look awesome in this new video.” Once users have clicked on the link they are asked to look at "new videos by Tom."

To watch the video users have to download Adobe Flash Player, once this is done the virus starts to spread into your computer getting hold of personal information. from your cookies or they get you to try and buy something.

Sunday 7 December 2008

Teenage Hackers

Computer Security professionals have found many net forums where teenagers populate and swap credit card number, give each other phising kits and hacking tips. Security say that they will be caught and arrested.

Forums are firstly made with people sharing files and even sharing stolen data. Some people look for exploits and virus codes that can be run against social network sites where there are many young people.

Though teenagers have been said to creating virus' and hacking, experts say they have very poor IT skills, "They do not even know enough to get a simple phishing or attack tool right," said Kevin Hogan.

Many of the hackers post what they have done on sites such as youtube and sign on like they would if they were going to hack a site, by running a phishing attack or writing a web exploit.
Some are even stupid enough to leave their personal details, making it really easy for computer security's to track them and shut them down.

TV Screens

With new plasma TV becoming more and more popular old CRT's are being replaced.
Though there is a new TV screen being made from Organic Light-Emitting Diodes, which promise better pictures, lower power consumption and lighter screens.
SONY is the producer of this screen and is releasing OLED screens in Japan in December month and worldwide in 2009.
The OLED screen is only 3mm thick and is very energy efficient as it doesn't need a back light, unlike Plasma and LCD screens.
The price of a OLED TV is currently priced at about £3.500.