Monday, January 30, 2012
How should one approach an effective social media strategy? * Sherilynn Macale
I can’t help the twinge of irritation I feel when I’m told, “Social media is so easy, a monkey could do it.”
Well, sure it is, in the sense that you can basically be anywhere and have a “presence” regardless of what sort of content you post. But to make that content profitable or return some sort of positive result — that’s where actual business strategy comes in. Encyclopedic research, constant testing, and aggressive networking through these channels, not to mention the ability to quickly and easily adjust to organic change in the social market — it’s all relevant.
On a phone call the other night with an old colleague of mine who remains within the small group of individuals I’ve grown to respect, I was describing a brief and tiny segment of social strategy that I know, through experience, to be both highly profitable and extremely effective. And while I normally respect his opinions on most things — including the odd bit of relationship advice — I found his response to my explanation to be somewhat ignorant.
How should one approach an effective social media strategy? * Sherilynn Macale
Anonymous And The War Over The Internet
This article is the first in a two-part series tracing the development of the amorphous online community known as Anonymous, pranksters who have become a force in global affairs.
Late in the afternoon of Jan. 19, the U.S. Department of Justice website vanished from the Internet. Anyone attempting to visit it to report a crime or submit a complaint received a message saying the site was unable to load. More websites disappeared in rapid succession. The Recording Industry Association of America. The Motion Picture Association of America. Universal Music. Warner Brothers. The FBI.
By nightfall, most of the sites had come back online, but the people responsible for the outages had made their point. They'd landed what they hailed as the biggest blow yet in an escalating war for control of the Internet, and in one of their online command centers, "Phoenix" and his associates were celebrating.
Anonymous And The War Over The Internet
Pro-government hactivists deface Al Jazeera coverage of Syrian violence
The Al Jazeera English website was attacked and defaced on January 29 by hackers supporting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Targeting the news organization's "Syria Live Blog," which has been providing ongoing coverage of the Arab League's observer mission to Syria and developments in the ongoing unrest in the country, the hacker group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army posted pro-Assad and pro-Syrian government images to the site.
The relationship of the Syrian Electronic Army to the government itself is unclear. However, the group's domain was registered in May of 2011 in Tartous, Syria, and its site is hosted on servers maintained by the Syrian Computer Society—a group Assad was the head of before assuming Syria's presidency, and which introduced the Internet to Syria in 2001.
Pro-government hactivists deface Al Jazeera coverage of Syrian violence
Reinventing Textbooks: A Hard Course - NYTimes.com
Reinventing Textbooks: A Hard Course - NYTimes.com
Finding Our Way
It took me some effort to be a "know it all" and explain about the role light houses played in coastal navigation. How at night, their lights were often timed to identify each of them, and alert sailing ships of the reefs and sand bars. How, if you could identify one, you knew approximately where you were, and could figure how far from the coast you were by geometry and taking sightings from both the fore and aft of the ship you were on...
I also had learned a bit about the problems of navigating the open sea from both history lessons about the search for a time keeping piece that would function well aboard a ship (the first wind up clocks with free wheels instead of pendulums), and from reading James Clavell's Shogun, in which the "Pilot's log" of a captured Portuguese navigator figured prominently. Latitude, I knew, was calculated by use of a sextant to measure the angle of elevation of charted stars and planets, listed in a celestial log called an Ephemeris. Knowing the latitude of position, knowing direction of travel (via compass) and knowing time elapsed in travel allowed a navigator to plot the Cartesian coordinates on a Mercator map system of charts. This system of navigation was never very precise, and prone to error (failure to account for deviation of magnetic from true north, failure to account for changes in distance scale along latitudes, etc.) but was reliable enough to function for 3 centuries or so...
Of course, orienteering lessons while in the Boy Scouts taught me about magnetic deviation and map reading, but never taught me much about how to use other methods to determine true north, nor what to do when lost amid a forest, concealing land marks. This inadequacy cost me some when I became separated from a hiking group on the Presidential Range in N.H. without a map. Fortunately, following a stream down hill lead me back to one of the main trails...
I knew about geographic survey maps that gave topographic details, but didn't know how to find them until I had a job with the Yankee Atomic Labs that required my fetching them. They are usually available at sporting goods stores, along with state atlases that contain regional topographic maps.
Somewhere along the way, I became interested in private sailing craft, and the skill sets required for solo voyaging. That's when I began to learn about LORAN Sets that used land based radio broadcast signals to triangulate position for both sea and air craft.
This brings us up to the "now" of GPS, and smart phone guidance, using cell tower signal locations to track relative position. We have Mapquest and Google maps, as well as satellite images, to show us the terrain and give us reasonable directions. I have a hand held GPS unit that cost about $40, a Blackberry that cost me $99, but is now about $50, and has a Verizon navigator app. I can down load maps on line..But, i haven't thrown out my compasses, nor my maps, yet...
Newton teacher advertised with babysitting website - Boston.com
January 24, 2012|By Deirdre Fernandes, Globe Staff
David Ettlinger, the Newton teacher charged last week with possession of child pornography and sexually assaulting a minor and filming it, advertised his babysitting services with a national website.
Ettlinger had an account with Sittercity.com, a spokeswoman with the company confirmed Tuesday.
"Sittercity was deeply saddened to learn of this situation," Mary Schwartz, the company's director of public relations, said in an e-mail. "As soon as it was brought to our attention, we terminated Mr. Ettlinger's account and notified anyone who may have had contact with him about the termination."
Ettlinger was arrested as part of a federal investigation into Dreamboard, a Website where subscribers posted and distributed child pornography.
Last week, Ettlinger pleaded not guilty in West Roxbury District Court to charges of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and posing a child in a state of nudity. He also pleaded not guilty in Brighton District Court to related charges of possession of child pornography.
Ettlinger was a teacher at Underwood Elementary School and had been employed by the Newton public schools for 12 years. Newton parents have been stunned by his arrest and the allegations that the popular teacher participated in the child pornography ring.
Newton teacher advertised with babysitting website - Boston.com
Overhaul of European Data Protection Law backed by powers to impose substantial fines
30 January 2012
The European Commission has published its proposals for the long awaited overhaul of European Data Protection law.
The new General Data Protection Regulation 2012 aims to help businesses by harmonising Data Protection law across the EC and to eliminate the differences in approach currently taken by individual European countries.
However, in introducing these changes, the Commission has taken the opportunity to introduce a more robust data protection regime with a wider scope of application, stricter conditions, additional obligations, and heavier fines and sanctions than has previously applied in the UK.
Overhaul of European Data Protection Law backed by powers to impose substantial fines
Home & Garden | Traditional shower valves may someday be all washed up | Seattle Times Newspaper
Ed the Plumber: Digital tub and shower valves are catching on fast
Scripps Howard News Service
Q: We're remodeling our master bathroom to include a new modern shower stall with all the bells and whistles. My contractor suggested that we go with one of the new type of electronic "digital" shower mixing valves, instead of the traditional manual-type valve. Can you please give me some additional information on these new electronic shower valves?
— Freddy, Florida
A: Digital tub and shower valves are catching on fast. Partly because the products are becoming affordable, and a lot easier to install and operate. Also, because of all the cool things they can do to enhance the bathing experience.For instance, you can zone off different showerheads and, with the push of a button, change the water direction. Or automatically fill your bathtub to the perfect temperature while you're shaving. Operating controls can also be added outside the shower area, so you can start your shower as soon as you get out of bed, then walk right into a nice hot shower. Bright display screens can show the water temperature and how the water is being controlled.
Bottom line: The gadgetry is wonderful, but just remember that it needs electricity to operate. So in case of a power failure, have a good backup plan so you don't end up "high and dry" in your shower!
Home & Garden | Traditional shower valves may someday be all washed up | Seattle Times Newspaper
Internet cameras to watch presidential elections: Voice of Russia
Jan 12, 2012
Russia’s Central Election Commission is installing web-cameras and computers at all polling stations across the country in a bid to ensure video surveillance at presidential elections to be held on the 4th of March, 2012.
It was Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who proposed to use cameras to fight against possible falsifications at elections in a response to a wave of protests that followed the December parliamentary elections.
The Ministry of Communications responsible for equipping polling stations with cameras says that right now its representatives are choosing, testing and buying the necessary equipment. The Ministry is expected to spend a total of 12 billion rubles.
Each polling station will be equipped with two cameras and a computer. The pictures will be transmitted from each camera to a dedicated Internet site which can be found through a hyperlink from the Central Elections Commission web site. A total of 200 thousand cameras and 100 thousand computers will be needed for this task. The national telecommunications company Rostelecom will be in charge of installing cameras at the polling stations. The equipment will be tested as early as the 15th of February.
Internet cameras to watch presidential elections: Voice of Russia
English Setter 'Risking Extinction': Top 10 Most Vulnerable British Dog Breeds [SLIDESHOW] - International Business Times
January 25, 2012
English Setter 'Risking Extinction': Top 10 Most Vulnerable Breeds [SLIDESHOW]
One of Britain's oldest native dog breeds, the English Setter, has for the first time become at risk of extinction.
The breed only numbered 234 registrations last year, according to Kennel Club registration statistics released today, a 33 percent decline on 2010. There has been a decline of almost two thirds in the number of English Setters today, compared to ten years ago.
A breed is deemed to be at risk of extinction when it numbers less than 300 puppy registrations each year.
Falling significantly below this number, the English Setter is now one of 25 species on the Kennel Club's Native Vulnerable Breeds list.
English Setter 'Risking Extinction': Top 10 Most Vulnerable British Dog Breeds [SLIDESHOW] - International Business Times
Michael Yaremchuk, M.D.: The PIP Affair and Trust in Health Care
Posted: 01/27/2012 5:59 pm
There has been a great deal written recently about the now-banned silicone breast implants made by Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP), a French company which has since closed down. In 2008, French plastic surgeons reported an unusually high rate of rupture -- over five times the expected rate -- for breast implants manufactured by PIP. The high rupture rate prompted French authorities to inspect the PIP manufacturing facility. It was found that PIP substituted industrial grade silicone for medical grade silicone, which led to the closing of PIP's manufacturing facility in the spring of 2010.
Michael Yaremchuk, M.D.: The PIP Affair and Trust in Health Care