Beaming: James Cameron may have been onto something with “Avatar”

Posted on May 15, 2012 by | Leave a comment
A family dressed as the avatars

Photo Source: Federico Campoli (CC BY-NC-SA)

Last week we saw the parallels between ourselves and superheroes as seen in “the Avengers.” However, it appears as though we may soon have more in common with Academy Award winning “Avatar” instead.

According to BBC News, the European Commission is funding a project to

“investigate how a person can visit a remote location via the internet and feel fully immersed in the new environment…[where] the visitor may be embodied as an avatar or a robot, interacting with real people.”

At this year’s Coachella, an extremely realistic hologram of the deceased Tupac came back to join Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre in a mind-blowing performance that few words can explain. Soon after, jokes were made about Coachella 2013’s “all-ghost” lineup. But with also deceased Freddie Mercury set to make a similar virtual appearance in London next Monday, it seems as if this I’m-here-but-not-really-here technology is indeed here—and here to stay.

The article describes how teleconferencing, overseas relationships, education, and the medical field would be transformed by this advancement in augmented reality that has already successfully “beamed” people from Barcelona to London. However, it also raises concerns about the heightened risk of deception and crime, especially in the areas of sexual harassment and identity theft. Just like how you will be able to craft your avatar’s appearance however way you please, (OMG gurl, blue skin really brings out your eyes!) there will be virtually (pun unintended) nothing you can do from stopping a hacker with all your personal information from generating and posing as you in avatar form.

So do the pros of this promising new technology outweigh the cons? Or vice versa? You tell us.

Will it allow us to better align our true selves to our online alter egos? Or will we instead be compromising our information and our privacy? Will it allow us to connect better with our world and our community? Or rather will we be, as in Sherry Turkle’s Ted talk, more “connected, but alone?”

We want to know what you think. In the meantime, for prepatory purposes, I’ll be painting myself blue.

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Posted in Connect, ConnectUpdates, Outwit Identity Theft, Protect, Protect Yourself, ProtectUpdates, Social Media, Social Networks, Studying and Collaborating Online, Updates, Wireless Safety

The Avengers, the Internet, and YOU

Posted on May 10, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Captain America is yelling at a frisbee

Photo Source: Andy Roth (CC:BY)

Last weekend, superhero movie “The Avengers” grossed $207, 438, 708 (via BoxOffice Mojo).

If you’re like me, and have yet to see this movie, don’t worry. The premise is simple: a bunch of regular folks with alter egos come together and are forced to co-exist for the greater good. Awesome. Except… wait a second. This sounds a little too familiar. Not in a hey-isn’t-this-like-every-other-superhero-movie-in-existence? kind of way, but in a hey-isn’t-this-what-I-do-everyday??  kind of way. See, when we participate on the Internet, we accomplish exactly what the premise of “the Avengers” offers: a bunch of regular folks (check) with alter egos (check) coming together (check,) forced to co-exist for the greater good (check).

Again, I haven’t seen “The Avengers,” but based on what I know of superhero movies, one of the larger plot points always concerns the contradiction of the superhero’s regular-day identity and his/her superhero identity. For us, this is also a growing concern; it’s inevitable that our true selves will creep into our online alter egos. Which raises the question of the Guardian’s Aleks Krotoski, “which is more important, “authenticity, or anonymity?” Suleika Jaouad of NYTimes Blogs believes that “”in a world of social media, [where] we are our own self-portraitists…there’s a liberation in the type of public honesty you can engage in on social mediawriting. ”

But how much authenticity is too much? Do we want to reveal all that we are on the internet? With the rise in demand for online verification services such as the MiiCard, with the aim tor help you prove “I am who I say I am” and control your own digital identity, it is clear that too much authenticity/personal information can give an adversary the tools to disarm us (see Superman; kryptonite.)

But then, what of anonymity? Do we want our online presence to be that much different from our true selves? Are we ready to back up the things we do under pseudonyms, should our masks come off? Defamatory statements, even posted under fake names, are not protected as free speech. $13.8 million dollars was recently won by Mark and Rhonda Lesher in a case against “masked” internet trolls.

And though the Password Protection Act of 2012 is being introduced in order to better ensure your privacy in banning employers from demanding their employees’ Facebook passwords, there is no harm in being a mindful and careful online citizen. So get informed! Learn how to protect yourself, connect with others, publish your work, and work on your professional appearance in a safe and responsible way.

As Uncle Ben once told Spiderman, “with great power comes great responsibility.” No words could be truer in our digital age today.

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Posted in Be Findable, Connect, ConnectUpdates, Employers Dig for Dirt, Got a Job?, Learn, LearnUpdates, Outwit Identity Theft, Protect, Protect Yourself, ProtectUpdates, PublishUpdates, Social Media, Social Networks, Uncategorized, Updates, WorkUpdates

London 2012 O(ffline)lympics

Posted on May 7, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Photo Source: David K.K.

The Olympics are a magical time. Those of us lucky enough to have been in the city during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics know this as fact. There are truly no words to describe this event. But if you’re in London for this year’s Summer Olympics and are hoping to capture a few pictures that say the thousand words you can’t find to account for your experiences, and then share them, say, with your 800 Facebook friends, you may run into some difficulty.

According to this article, the rules for Olympic-goers are pretty clear: There is to be no social sharing of any photos or videos taken at the Games. Yes, that means Facebook/Twitter/Instagram//Flickr/YouTube…even Google+! In other words, what happens in London, stays in London. Or at least, stays off the Internet.

The very bottom of an extensive Ticketholders Terms and Conditions states: “Images, video and sound recordings of the Games taken by a Ticket Holder cannot be used for any purpose other than for private and domestic purposes and a Ticket Holder may not license, broadcast or publish video and/or sound recordings, including on social networking websites and the internet more generally, and may not exploit images, video and/or sound recordings for commercial purposes under any circumstances, whether on the internet or otherwise, or make them available to third parties for commercial purposes.”

And according to this report, security guards have already been trained to deter professional photographers. So yes, they are very serious about this. Which brings up the very obvious question of implementation: other than brash security guards, how exactly are they going to be able to monitor this? History tells us that despite prohibition, prohibited activity never truly ceases. What more, over an uncontrolled medium such as the Internet? And in the free-for-all Internet that we have come to know and love today, is this kind of prohibition a violation of our rights to connect as we please and publish what is ours? Has control over what is posted on the Internet grown beyond our reach?

What do you think? Leave your comments below.

One thing’s for sure, if we lived life according to this popular internet meme, then the London 2012 Summer Olympics would be as existent as the Canucks’ Cup run this year (hey, at least I can make jokes about it now.)

 

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Posted in Connect, ConnectUpdates, Copyright, Creative Commons Licensing, Media Sharing, NewsAndEvents, Protect Yourself, Publish, PublishUpdates, Social Media, Social Networks, The Fine Print, Updates

Justin Bieber: How His Social Media Strategy Ensures His Fame Lasts Longer Than “One Time”

Posted on May 4, 2012 by | Leave a comment

 

Photo Source: Heather Sokol

If you despise (love) Justin Bieber, here’s one more reason to despise (love) him some more: he’s a social media genius.

His new video “Boyfriend” (click to watch!) made its YouTube debut last night and has already surpassed 3 million hits in less than 24 hours.

Bieber first made his way onto the music scene in 2008 in a (then) unlikely way: through discovery on YouTube. One might make the argument that his rise to fame was based solely on tremendous musical ability. Okay, fine. But it would be difficult to argue social media has not played an influential role in helping him maintain his spot as a top dog in the ever growing, ever changing food chain that is the music industry.

At 2:45pm today, Bieber’s twitter boasted 21, 302, 796 followers.  And now, 25min later, that number has grown to 21, 305, 407.  That suggests approximately 104.4 people are following @justinbieber per minute. And Bieber is doing everything right: tweeting actively, responding to  fans, and promoting his new song, which now happens to be the #1 video on iTunes.

The Justin Bieber Facebook page is also very much abuzz with life, with over 42 million likes and plenty of posts, videos and photos. As for his roots, YouTube, Bieber had been posting short videos– sneak peaks of “Boyfriend” leading up to last night’s great reveal. In our digital age, staying relevant and staying connected appear to be almost interchangeable, both of which Bieber and his team seem to have a great handle of. Bieber’s frequent interaction keeps his fans engaged and interested, ensuring he will stay newsworthy for a long time.

Appropriately given the Disruptive Innovator award early last week, Justin Bieber has truly revolutionized the music industry, successfully making a lasting name for himself on the Internet.

Let’s just say this: if he was your boyfriend, it would be all over the Internet. And based on what we know about that–it’d never let you go.

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Posted in Be Findable, Blogs, Connect, ConnectUpdates, Media Sharing, Social Media, Social Networks, Uncategorized, Updates

What you should know about CISPA

Posted on April 28, 2012 by | Leave a comment

U.S. Congressional Attempts at legislating the digital realm were stunted back in January by widespread protests of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) — measures that sought to prevent online piracy. Even still, efforts live on in the most recent House Resolution — the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) — which passed the House of Representatives by a margin of 248 to 168 on Friday.

CNET News recently offered a thorough FAQ about the new measure, explaining the basics and how the average Internet user might be affected.

In sum, CISPA seeks to grant Internet companies permission to share personal user information with federal authorities in the name of preventing or halting breaches in cybersecurity. Seems reasonable enough at first glance. But, as Declan McCullagh reported for CNET, “…it would usher in a new era of information sharing between companies and government agencies — with limited oversight and privacy safeguards.”

Unlike the anti-SOPA and PIPA  movements, which saw online giants like Facebook and Wikipedia leading the charge, the passage of CISPA is widely supported by Internet companies. And this is where your online privacy becomes a factor.

Even if you are well versed in the intricacies of protecting your online identity and privacy, a piece of legislation like CISPA has the potential to compromise your autonomy when it comes to shared information between Internet companies and government authorities.

Educate yourself about CISPA and gauge where you stand on the issue.

 

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Posted in ConnectUpdates, ProtectUpdates, Uncategorized, Updates

New cloud technology — Google style

Posted on April 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Wired magazine recently reported the release of a new choice in cloud storage platforms to augment the current options like Dropbox and Apple’s iCloud.

Google Drive is the online giant’s newest gadget and offers storage capabilities of up to 5GB for free. Wired reported that this latest addition to the cloud space seeks to offer another option to the USB thumb drive — that tiny little mobile device that we often find ourselves hastily searching for in a digital jam.

Platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox offer digital hosting option for files that can be shared between users. The concept of cloud storage  seeks to eliminate that bottomless feeling in your stomach when your computer crashes, taking all of your documents and work with it. By hosting files and documents in a digital realm, it means your data still exists even if you can’t access it from your computer. It also enables multiple users to access, edit and share files on a digital platform.

The convenience afforded by cloud storage platforms should be tempered by the reasonable questions of privacy that come along with digitally sharing information. What happens to your data once it’s online? How easy is it to remove your information? How secure are cloud storage platforms?

Check out our website for more information on how you can be sure that your information is safe on the cloud.

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Posted in ConnectUpdates, Uncategorized, Updates

All-in-one identity

Posted on April 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Technology news site, Betakit, recently reported an advancement in the business of streamlining — online identity streamlining, that is — with the recent $7 million investment in the digital identity service,  OneID.

As OneID CEO Alex Doll told Betakit, “Many experts consider online identity to be the most important problem to be solved on the Internet today. OneID is here to introduce a brand new service for managing user identity both online and offline.”

The company essentially offers a high-tech alternative to that post-it note stuck by your computer listing all of your online passwords. By saving all of a user’s information, including account passwords, shipping information and credit card payment details, a OneID account is literally comprised of your entire “digital identity,” as the company refers to it. Once enabled, a user can sign-in with their OneID account to expedite the log-in and check-out processes.

OneID accounts can be device specific and accessed by a private PIN number. All financial information is encrypted and can only be decrypted upon request.

While the convenience afforded by an all-in-one identity account is attractive, the  fact remains that putting so much information in one place is a little unsettling for some online users. One of the company’s goals with the new venture capital funding will be to convince consumers that their service is secure — and safer than their competitors.

As online passwords continue to rule our Internate interactions, the challenge of monitoring their security and the business of managing that security will continue to evolve. In the meantime, it’s wise to be aware of how you can protect yourself from online identity theft and decide which devices are the best for ensuring that protection.

 

 

 

 

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Posted in ProtectUpdates, Uncategorized

Time to re-think notions of privacy

Posted on April 5, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Take a minute to think about how you share information everyday: online purchases, web banking, emails, text messages, ‘checking-in’ on Facebook, tweets, blog posts, etc. Almost no one is immune to digital transactions of personal information on a daily basis these days, and with each of these seemingly mundane dealings comes a certain degree of responsibility and accountability.

Earlier this week, an article in the Vancouver Sun called into question the protections that are in place to ensure that the benefits and perks of an online lifestyle outweigh the risks associated with a traceable routine.

Several experts chimed in and the consensus was seemingly one of inevitability. People want to be involved in the digital world, they want to feel included in social media networks and they want the convenience of utilities such as GPS location and digital records.

But what the experts also agreed upon was the need for the public to hold companies and organizations accountable for the protection of their information.  Ours is the first society to rely so heavily on the online realm in nearly every facet of our lives; professional, personal and financial. As such, it is crucial to remain vigilant when it comes to password protections, checking online bank statements and maintaing the integrity of your online image.

There’s really no way to be certain how this transparency and newfound desire to share information will impact our notion of privacy in the long term, but for now it’s safe to say that we’re shaping that future with every click of the mouse.

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Posted in ConnectUpdates, ProtectUpdates, Uncategorized, Updates

Peeked interest: on campus and anonymous

Posted on March 23, 2012 by | 2 Comments

The new online dating website, Peeked Interest, is raising some questions around privacy and security in an increasingly digital world.

Darryl McIvor, a recent graduate of the global business program at UVic, is teaming up with Frans Kouwenhoven, a UBC software engineering student, to introduce the new style of online courtship.

At this stage in development, the site is only open to people with a UBC email address. Content depends on registered users snapping anonymous photos of people they find attractive — on the bus, in the Student Union Building, or in the library —  and then uploading those photos to the site. Others can then browse the online gallery, identifying any photos of themselves that they might come across.

The individual can then choose to either immediately click on ‘Report’, which will result in the photo being taken down from the site, or can confirm ‘This is Me’, putting them in touch with the person who posted the photo.

The idea is that people who might find approaching someone in person a little too intimidating can instead find solace behind the protection of their iPhone, hoping that the powers of curiosity and the Internet are enough to connect them with that special person. Critics of the site, however, are worried that encouraging people to take unsolicited photos of others, and furthermore suggesting that those unsolicited photos be posted online, borders on an invasion of online privacy.

Whether you think this style of e-dating verges on stalker-ish behaviour, or find yourself overcome with curiosity at the prospect of a secret admirer — the bottom line is that you should know how to date safely online before venturing onto this site or any other online dating forum. While it’s true that Peeked Interest is only available to individuals with UBC email addresses, it’s still important to be cautious of unwanted attention — even from fellow students.

Being aware of how to protect your online identity and privacy helps to ensure that you have a good experience with cyber-dating, guaranteeing that the connections you make are the connections you want.

 

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Posted in ConnectUpdates, ProtectUpdates, Uncategorized, Updates

Ownership in an online world

Posted on March 12, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Perhaps one of the most beneficial off-shoots of an online world is the ability to market yourself relatively free of charge. Whether it be through blogging, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter or personal websites, the opportunities for individuals to create their own brand are seemingly endless.

But what happens when that brand, which often comprises your online identity, is compromised?

A recent story on The Opinion Pages of The New York Times addresses this exact hypothetical in very real terms.

Delia Ephron is an author who relies heavily on web traffic to sell books and promote upcoming projects. When she recently noticed that her domain name was “for sale,” she was quickly forced to come to terms with the fickle nature of online branding.

A family member who had been tasked with managing her website let the renewal deadline pass and as a result, the domain name was snatched up.

“Someone else owned my name,” she said in The New York Times piece. “Someone could use it to say or show pretty much anything they wanted. I felt violated,” she said.

Ephron goes on to chronicle her experience of losing and re-gaining her domain name. She discusses the claim that she filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization essentially asserting, in her own words, “that my name was well enough known to be, in effect, a trademark.” The WIPO agreed with her and ordered that the rights to the domain name be transitioned back into her hands.

Moral of the story goes something like this: know your rights when it comes to intellectual copyright and online publishing. Be vigilant when it comes to renewing domain names and be sure to Google yourself every now and then. You might be surprised by the results.

 

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Posted in ProtectUpdates, PublishUpdates, Uncategorized, Updates