Web Security 101

As some of you may recall, my WoW & gmail accounts were hacked a while back. Recently, I've also heard of a spate of email and facebook accounts being hacked. Just about anyone can become a victim now.

Especially with sites like facebook out there, which may have less than adequate privacy measures, it seems that a person's information (and even one's identity) is less safe than ever. (By the way, if you use facebook you should follow the instructions on this site to make sure your information is secure.)

Not a week goes by that I don't hear about one of my friends or acquaintances being the victim of a hacker. The days of lax web security are over.

Let's review some basics when it comes to web security. Passwords should always contain both letters and numbers. Have a different password for every account you have; you don't want all your eggs riding in one insecure basket, no?

Also, try to make your passwords not be a single word, and not be a logical association of words. "God" is a terrible password... extremely easy to guess by a hacking program, and statistically this is a common password. "GodIsGreat" would be another bad choice... a logical association, and no numbers. "GodTaco164Cheetah9" would be a wonderful password, though it might be a bit too long for some accounts. Regardless, you get the idea; random and illogical = secure.

Also remember to be extremely wary of seemingly legitimate messages, even if it appears to be from people or websites that you know. Many times, people can fake who it appears to be sent from. (This is called "spoofing".)

The official-looking email might ask for your account information and password, or perhaps your credit card number. Often they will threaten something if you don't respond quickly. If there is a harsh threat included, be extra careful... that's almost a sure give-away that it is a scam email. (This practice is called phishing.)

Often times, suspect emails will include a link to the official website. You might click on it, and it certainly appears to be the legitimate website... but appearances can be deceiving. What you need to do is be very careful about trusting links. Compare the web address from a link with the one you have bookmarked. Often, though the sites look identical, you can spot a minor difference in the web address. Instead of www.yourbankwebsite.com it might be www.youbankwebsite.com ... which of course would lead to your account information being handed over to hackers if you tried to log in at the latter site.

Remember, some virus programs are even able to send you email from your friends computers (if they've been infected) or else appear to have been sent from someone you know. You must always be very vigilante if you get an email that doesn't make sense, or only contains a line of text and a link. "This is hilarious: (link)", for example, would be very suspicious and I wouldn't click on it until I contacted my friend and confirmed they really did send it.

One last tip: make sure your web browser and operating system is fully up-to-date. (In case you don't follow, a web browser would be Internet Explorer and an operating system would be Windows XP, for example.) Often times, updates will repair some flaws in the security of these programs... so you always want to have them completely updated.

The days of being able to keep your head down and remain lax about your internet security are over. Make sure you're not the next victim!

Piracy Isn't Hurting Any Companies!

At least, that's what 45% of the GameFAQs community believes.


Recently, their daily poll featured this question: "Do you believe piracy is a real problem for the video game industry?" Over 31,000 responders feel that piracy is OK because "they're still making billions". Another 6,000 feel that stealing games somehow makes the victim-company more money than if their product wasn't stolen. I can't say that I'm surprised, given the human capacity for rationalizing something that we want to believe.

Smaller developers can suffer and even go under if their games are pirated. Furthermore, even if the bigger companies won't be hurt too bad by piracy, rampant theft of their product only encourages them to come up with increasingly more draconian DRM measures... this ultimately hurts legitimate customers. That's right, piracy doesn't only hurt the developers and the publishers... it hurts your fellow gamers.

Sure, we can bitch and moan and say that the big companies shouldn't treat their legitimate customers like the enemy, (and I will no longer buy from certain companies precisely because of such an attitude,) but at the same time I don't think its entirely fair to get mad at a company that's just trying to protect its product from being stolen. The responsibility rests with those who steal.


The poll results can be seen here.

The ills of technology

I found this article very interesting. Its about how constant multitasking can rewire our brains, and gives an example of a young tech guru who has lost the ability to focus his attention on any one thing. He's constantly looking for "something else" to the detriment of his family-life and even his work.

Now, I do believe that this family represents a good example on the extreme end of things and I fully admit that heavy use of technology can rewire a person's way of thinking. I have no particular beef with the findings of this article whatsoever.

On the other hand, it seems like they got a really dysfunctional / scatterbrained married couple who just happen to be heavily into technology.

That said, some people will read an article like that and think "technology is bad". Maybe people like these parents who are upset about how an educational video game is being used in New Mexico schools. The game is successful enough that the kids actually want to play it, even though it requires the understanding and use of mathematics.

"We are feeding the addiction of these children to video games," said parent Marlene Perrotte. Indeed, we should abandon an incredibly effective tool that actually gets kids excited to learn about math. Because, as Marlene so eloquently put it, "We are feeding the addiction of these children to video games." I shudder.

And before you go, make sure to check out this test to gauge how well you can filter out distractions. Even though I would be considered a high multi-tasker, I scored perfectly. This just furthers my belief that this article took an extreme worst-case example family just to make the story sexy.

Replay Value

Replay value is generally thought of as a good thing. With that in mind, my obsession for 4X sandbox games means I'm an incredibly frugal buyer. Three years later, I still play Civ4 regularly. That's a good investment!

This does have a side-effect, however. It leaves me with very little time to explore more traditional "play until you complete the story-line" games. Throw in my having recently fallen off the griffin, and I barely have time to sleep! (Yes, that's right, I'm back on WoW these days.) I purchased Tropico 3 recently and have really enjoyed playing it when I get the chance, but I just can't seem to break away from the endless replayability of 4X games.

Which brings me to the question: To a hardcore gamer, is "replay value" actually a misnomer? I have plenty of free time and yet constantly feel like I'm growing even more behind on the list of games I mean to play.

This list... it includes PS2 titles. And even one or two PS1 games! So let me tell you, I am seriously starting to shy away from games that are said to contain "high replay value". Of course with me not having a job, I'm also shying away from games that cost more than $5.

Ah, the troubled life of a hardcore video gamer with too many games and too little time. Some days I can't even manage to get out of bed in the morning.

Luckily, my computer is right beside my bed, so that doesn't cut into game time!

Sixty-six years ago today...

Today is June 6th, 2010. It is now a little after 11 in the morning.

Sixty-six years ago, today, a young man from West Virginia such as myself might not have just finished enjoying a Tudor's biscuit and coffee for breakfast. Instead, he might have already spent more than five hours on a beach in Normandy, France, as part of the largest amphibious assault landing in all of history.

Here's an excerpt from the speech read to all the troops involved in the D-Day operation.

"You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you."

It was written by General Eisenhower, leader of the Allied armed forces. You can see the full speech at this website. If you're interested in knowing more about the actual invasion as told by the men who were actually there, I encourage you to check out this wonderful website put together by the United States Army.

I can't imagine what the world would be like today if those brave men hadn't fought and died in order to secure liberty for their sons and daughters. Nor can I imagine how terrible the atrocities would have been if the Nazi regime been allowed to remain in control of Europe. We already know that in the short time they were in power, they left a terrible legacy in the Holocaust. How much worse might it have been without the ultimate sacrifice given by many young men around the world?

Today is a day of remembrance. Today is a day to honor those who laid down their lives so that you and I might live in freedom.

Concise.

I don't normally do this, but I'm feeling very worn out and I really found today's Penny Arcade comic to be hilarious. So, please enjoy.

"May you live in interesting times"

The title of today's post is an ancient Chinese curse. You see, to the Chinese "interesting times" meant a lack of stability. In other words: chaos, starvation, sorrow, and death.

As a child, I would always love to watch World War II movies with my dad. I grew up on stories about the war as told by my grandfather, a veteran who fought under Patton in the Third Army. Even as recently as high school, I recall thinking to myself about how amazing it must have been to live through such momentous events as those that transpired from the Great Depression up through the Cold War.

Of course, I started to reconsider my opinion that I would never experience anything like that shortly after 9/11.

Nowadays, with North Korea and Iran developing nuclear weapons, the former's increasing saber rattling, and Israel losing Turkey's good will (not to mention the increasing loss of world opinion) along with America's purposeful backing away from staunchly supporting Israel... let's just say I'm no longer convinced that I won't live in equally monumental times of change.

As a side note, I think this woman is the perfect example of what I hate about modern litigation. I think that even though Google is providing directions, it still falls upon the user's shoulders to use some common sense.

It is a tragedy that she got struck by a car, and I don't even particularly mind that she's suing the person who hit her (though I don't necessarily believe she ought to win... if she was walking on a road without a sidewalk, it might be her fault,) but to sue Google for "careless, reckless and negligent providing of unsafe directions" is beyond ridiculous.