Mrs. Mecomber's Scrapbook

When you connect to the Internet, you not only receive information, you release information. Your computer has identifiable data that is displayed for others to see (mostly advertisers and tracking counters such as Google Analytics or StatCounter). Some information is necessary, such as the web browser you use. This information helps the website properly load [...]

Yikes. According to CNet, more than 2 million computers in the the United States host botnets! Botnets are malicious programs that infect computers. They are spread through viruses and worms, and are controlled by a “master” somewhere on the Internet. Botnets spew out spam, more viruses and worms, and phishing attacks. Computers under the control [...]

I’m not too pleased with this one. It messed up my computer! That’s too bad, because I think it is, overall, a very effective program when it works correctly. A discussion by young mothers on Twitter caused me to look into Internet filtering software again (see my brief review of Blue Coat K-9 software). Their [...]

Yikes. Did you know that photocopiers store images of every single document copied on the machine, on a huge hard drive? Did you know that this data is filled with medical records, sensitive information, Social Security numbers, bank information, and more? And did you know that these copiers are often resold to buyers, both foreign [...]

Wow. Unbelievable. Unbelievable that Google would do this, and even more unbelievable that so little is done to stop them. Google Street View logs WiFi networks, Mac addresses Google’s roving Street View spycam may blur your face, but it’s got your number. The Street View service is under fire in Germany for scanning private WLAN [...]

I’ve seen the government do a lot of stupid things; this is way up on the list. Library of Congress to House Entire Twitter Archive The U.S. Library of Congress, which archives many forms of media for their cultural and historical significance, has announced it will keep a digital archive of every public tweet that [...]