Steve Woda's blog

links for 2010-02-26

• DIY LBS: Create Your Own Foursquare - Advertising Age - DigitalNext
  Looking beyond the web, marketers are considering location-based services as a way to extend their reach and engage consumers in the "real world." Some, including Bravo, HBO and Warner Brothers, are partnering with consumer-facing location-based services (LBS) like Foursquare to do so. Others are seeing a benefit in creating their own communities and geo-apps, though this can be a development-heavy and costly process. Through a new DIY platform, Socialight hopes to make this a much simpler proposition.
  (tags: socialight lbs geolocation)
• Stancl gets 15 years in prison in Facebook coercion case - JSOnline
  Anthony Stancl, who used the social networking site Facebook to deceive and coerce fellow New Berlin Eisenhower High School students into sexual acts with him in 2008, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison and another 13 years of extended supervision. Waukesha County Circuit Judge J. Mac Davis imposed the sentence because he said Stancl had proven he was manipulative, excessively self-centered and could still be dangerous. "I am afraid of what he can and might do," Davis said. In a case that attracted national media attention, Stancl, 19, of New Berlin, posed as a female on Facebook and persuaded at least 31 boys to send him naked pictures of themselves. He then used the pictures - and the threat of releasing them to the rest of the high school - to blackmail at least seven boys, ages 15 to 17, into performing sex acts.
  (tags: children sexting security kidsafe)

links for 2010-02-24

• Technology Review: Blogs: Feld Thoughts: When I Decided Not To Become A Doctor
  My folks stayed at my condo in Boulder the last few nights with me so I was inspired this morning to write a quick post in the Letters to my Dad series that I’m writing with my father (he’s calling his posts “Father and Son.”) In my dad’s last post, Father and Son #3, he wrote about our overthrow of the administrative regime in my high school at the start of my senior year when they botched the AP course schedule because of a “computer glitch.” He calls it a “lesson in leadership and self reliance” and tells a great story of how we (him and I) quickly mobilized about 60 parents and students in 24 hours to get together, proposed a solution to the problem, presented the case the superintendent and principal, and then fixed the problem. We all got to take more than one AP class (even though school was over for me my senior year at lunch time since there were no other classes to take) and I even wore a tux to prom.
  (tags: life family)
• VeriSign Launches Seal Of Approval For Non-Transactional Sites
  In a gambit to extend beyond SSL certificates, VeriSign introduces the Trust Seal today. The trust mark service seeks to increase confidence, traffic, and transactions for sites that do not require SSL certifications, including sites that outsource shopping cart or payment functions and do not collect sensitive personal information. Though not designed specifically for small and midmarket companies, VeriSign's Fran Rosch, Senior Vice President Authentication, says that SMBs are the most likely customers for the new service. He says, "Based on our market segmentation research, we expect the initial adopters to be smaller companies that use shared payment [services] for their e-commerce, but we also expect interest from non-profit companies, professional services such as legal and medical practices, and franchises."
  (tags: Verisign trust seal)

links for 2010-02-21

• School-issued laptops used to spy on kids - Philadelphia Inquirer

  Lower Merion School District officials used school-issued laptop computers to illegally spy on students, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court. The suit, filed Tuesday, says unnamed school officials at Harriton High School in Rosemont remotely activated the webcam on a student's computer last year because the district believed he "was engaged in improper behavior in his home." An assistant principal at Harriton confronted the student for "improper behavior" on Nov. 11 and cited a photograph taken by the webcam as evidence. Michael E. and Holly S. Robbins, of Penn Valley, filed the suit on behalf of their son, Blake. They are seeking class action status for the suit.

  (tags: computer security kidsafe)

links for 2010-02-20

• iPhone Owners Intentionally Break Old iPhones For Upgrades
  According to SuperCover Insurance, iPhone owners smash their old iPhone on purpose when a new model is announced in order to get a free upgrade. SuperCover also says that 40% of all claims are suspicious. Is the iPhone that addicting?
  (tags: apple iphone)

links for 2010-02-19

• More than 75,000 computer systems hacked in one of largest cyber attacks, security firm says - washingtonpost.com
  More than 75,000 computer systems at nearly 2,500 companies in the United States and around the world have been hacked in what appears to be one of the largest and most sophisticated attacks by cyber criminals discovered to date, according to a northern Virginia security firm. The attack, which began in late 2008 and was discovered last month, targeted proprietary corporate data, e-mails, credit-card transaction data and login credentials at companies in the health and technology industries in 196 countries, according to Herndon-based NetWitness.
  (tags: security)

links for 2010-02-18

• Full Nelson: Mobile World War Breaks Out In Barcelona -- InformationWeek
  At least several hundred exhibitors are here this week in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress. Each of them seems to be launching either a new app store or a new operating platform. What these inescapable announcements fetch in buzz and inventiveness, they misjudge in audience tolerance. The impact goes beyond mere ennui, of which there is plenty, and touches at the heart of what makes a corporate mobile strategy nearly impossible to birth: There are too many choices. Make no mistake: The platform wars will rage for years, and the corporate IT manager could suffer the casualties. Not only must IT choose a platform its user base will be happy with, and that it can adequately support and manage (securely), but it must also choose based on the company's overall mobile strategy. If it ignores the last part, it will miss a major opportunity to increase productivity by extending its applications to those mobile platforms -- an easy task when a single platform becomes the corporate standard.
  (tags: mobile aps gsma)
• Cell phone subscriptions to hit 5 billion globally
  On a planet with around 6.8 billion people, we're likely to see 5 billion cell phone subscriptions this year. Reaching 4.6 billion at the end of 2009, the number of cell phone subscriptions across the globe will hit 5 billion sometime in 2010, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The explosion in cell phone use has been driven not only by developed countries, but by developing nations hungry for services like mobile banking and health care. "Even during an economic crisis, we have seen no drop in the demand for communications services," said ITU Secretary-General Dr. Hamadoun Toure at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, "and I am confident that we will continue to see a rapid uptake in mobile cellular services in particular in 2010, with many more people using their phones to access the Internet."
  (tags: mobile)

links for 2010-02-17

• John Phillips, CEO of Aristotle, Regarding the Change in Executive Leadership at MySpace
  Yesterday's resignation by former CEO Owen Van Natta is not totally surprising, given MySpace's continued losses in advertising, search revenues, and traffic. What is shocking, however, is that the senior leadership at NewsCorp and Fox Interactive remains in positions of power despite the significant mishandling of the scandal involving the discovery of more than 90,000 convicted sex offenders on NewsCorp's flagship social networking site. MySpace could have taken the steps to notify any parents whose children were contacted by convicted sex offenders, including changing terms of service to allow greater disclosure of sex offenders' conduct. That's what a responsible company with responsible management would have done. To my knowledge, they didn't, presumably afraid of the negative publicity.
  (tags: myspace security kidsafe)
• Child Online Protection Service - COPS
  Last year, 29,000 Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs) were discovered on MySpace, after initial reports that the number was only 7,000. The number is now 90,000, and reflects only those registering with truthful information. We seek to limit risk to minors that stems from users — particularly RSOs — registering with false information on social network sites (“SNS”). The Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking, comprising 50 state Attorneys General, asked the Task Force to find and develop online identity authentication tools primarily for social network sites in the United States. The Attorneys General also asked the Task Force to establish specific and objective criteria that will be utilized to evaluate existing and new technology safety solutions.
  (tags: myspace security kidsafe)

links for 2010-02-16

• Ted Leonsis... He really is an interesting person. Good article. "Keys to Leonsis's success: Networking and dedication to work, no matter how menial" - washingtonpost.com
  Former AOL mogul Ted Leonsis is riding high.

  His Washington Capitals are the hottest team in the National Hockey League, selling out every game and setting franchise records for television viewership.

  Leonsis, 54, and another former AOL guy, Steve Case, each pocketed tens of millions of dollars when they sold their Revolution Money start-up to American Express last year.

  Now comes Leonsis's book "The Business of Happiness," which details his rise from a lower-middle-class Brooklyn, N.Y., kid to super-rich entrepreneur, sports team owner and documentary film producer.

  
  
  (tags: leonsis)
  
  

links for 2010-02-13

• Google, Apple pile pressure on phone world - washingtonpost.com
  At next week's mobile trade show in Barcelona you can find a program that measures how high you can throw a Nokia smartphone, an apt metaphor for Nokia's efforts to raise its game. But gravity might not favor the world's biggest maker of cellphones, as the focus of the $169 billion industry shifts to software and services, the "mindshare" that is lifting nimble competitors such as iPhone maker Apple and Google. For the first time, Nokia has opted out of the Mobile World Congress this year, another trend set by Apple, which eschews industry get-togethers in favor of its own, carefully choreographed events. Nokia will host some meetings nearby, but is reported not to be planning any new phone launches.
  (tags: mobile google apple nokia)
• Michael B. Mukasey - Where the U.S. went wrong on the Christmas Day bomber - washingtonpost.com
  It seems to me unlikely that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab will be known to future generations of lawyers for generating any groundbreaking legal principle or issue. But when it comes to illuminating our public discourse about the "global war on terror," he is right up there with Clarence Earl Gideon, Ernesto Miranda or even Jose Padilla. His case presents in one tidy package virtually all the issues that arise from the role intelligence plays in this struggle and compels us to examine what the law requires and what it doesn't.
  (tags: politics security)

links for 2010-02-12

• PayPal Blames India Regulators for Service Suspension
  PayPal said it temporarily suspended certain transactions to India so it could respond to inquiries from the Indian regulators, specifically questions on whether personal payments constitute remittances into India. Over the weekend, PayPal suspended personal payments to and from India as well as transfers to local banks in India. In addition, merchants were unable to withdraw funds in Rupees to local Indian banks.

  On Tuesday, the company published a blog post stating it was working with the regulators and PayPal's bank processing partners in India to get the issue resolved as quickly as it could. "We realize that this is causing considerable inconvenience to our customers and I want to reassure you that this is a top priority for the leadership at PayPal."

  
  
  (tags: paypal eBay,)
  
  

links for 2010-02-09

• For SMBs, PayPal Could Mean Risky Business
  Many small businesses that deal with PayPal do so because they don't see any viable alternatives. In some cases, however, I wonder if these companies are really aware of the risks they are taking. Do a little digging, and you will discover that PayPal's customer service record is nothing short of horrific. The company is notorious for quietly jacking up its transaction fees, and a small army of Web sites are dedicated to publicizing complaints about the service. PayPal's pat response to such complaints reminds me of Lily Tomlin's spoof of The Phone Company: "We don't care. We don't have to." For small businesses that rely upon PayPal, however, this is a deadly serious business. Many complaints involve cases where PayPal has frozen seller accounts without warning or explanation. These incidents can take weeks or months to sort out -- and if a cash-strapped business doesn't survive the appeals process, well, that's just too bad.
  (tags: paypal)
• Linus Torvalds: Google's Nexus One First Mobile Phone I Don't Hate - washingtonpost.com
  Linus Torvalds, the inventor of the Linux kernel, has an absolute disdain for mobile phones. All of the ones he has purchased in the past, the man writes on his personal blog, ended up being "mostly used for playing Galaga and Solitaire on long flights" even though they were naturally all phones run on open source operating systems. Things have changed now, he adds, now that he has caved and bought Google's Nexus One a couple of days ago. Torvalds has owned a number of phones before, including Google's G1 device and 'one of the early China-only Motorola Linux phones', but it took for Google to add multi-touch capabilities to the Nexus One before he finally broke down and bought one from the company's web store. And he's loving it:
  (tags: google nexus mobile android)

links for 2010-02-07

• Historic snowstorm in D.C. leaves a mess to be reckoned with - washingtonpost.com
  The Washington region was paralyzed by a blizzard that dumped more than two feet of heavy snow on the area by late Saturday, knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people, toppling trees and reducing many streets to pedestrian pathways. Almost 218,000 homes and business were without power at the outages' peak, and many had no heat midday Saturday at the height of the storm. By late last night, about 140,000 were still in the dark. Pepco advised customers to seek other lodging, saying it could take days to restore power to everyone. Some residents abandoned their cold, dark houses and checked into hotels. Others were trapped on side streets as snowplows concentrated on keeping major arteries clear.
  (tags: snow)
• Acacia: The Company Tech Loves to Hate - BusinessWeek
  For a company that makes no products, Acacia Research (ACTG) spends a lot of time fighting over patents in court. Acacia has filed at least 337 patent-related lawsuits in its 18 years. To make money—sales are expected to rise to $68.8 million this year, from $34.8 million in 2006—Acacia acquires patents from inventors and then seeks fees from companies that it says infringe on those patents. Because Acacia licenses technologies it doesn't design or distribute, it is known as a "nonpracticing entity." Executives at many tech companies—and their investors—call Acacia and its peers a different name: "patent trolls."
  (tags: patent trolls ip acacia)

links for 2010-02-06

• Google Is Now Selling Signature $300 Designer Scarves - washingtonpost.com
  We all know Marissa Mayer is a tech nerd turned fashionista, and it looks like her taste for designer clothes is rubbing off on the search giant. But unlike the media or mobile industries, the fashion industry appears safe from Google. Google is selling "Google-inspired" scarves and other clothing to the public that were designed by emerging designers. Last year, designers who participated in a Vogue and Council of Fashion Designer program were asked to create a one-of-a-kind item inspired by Google in some way that reflected Google's aura. Google transformed the finalists creations into iGoogle Artists themes but selected three of the designers to produce and sell their Google-inspired couture.
  (tags: google design)
• Google Apps Enterprise Users Get Remote Device Management -- InformationWeek
  Google on Thursday began offering administrators of its paid productivity applications the ability to manage iPhones, Nokia E series and Windows Mobile devices remotely, a feature that may appeal both to business users and consumers. Google charges $50 per year for Google Apps Premier Edition accounts, which are designed for corporate needs. Google Apps Premier includes Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Video, and Google Groups, and comes with 25GB of e-mail storage per employee. The service is interoperable with BlackBerry and Microsoft Outlook and includes business controls like password strength checks, forced SSL connections, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee SLA.
  (tags: google apps mobile)

links for 2010-02-04

• Acacia Awarded $12.4 Million In Patent Infringement Case Against Yahoo - washingtonpost.com
  Nice timing, Acacia Research Corporation. The mother of all patent trolls patent acquisition, development and licensing company, which was profiled in depth by BusinessWeek just two days ago, this morning announced that it has been awarded a total of $12.4 million in a patent infringement case against Yahoo.

  On May 15th, 2009, a federal court jury decided that Yahoo's messenger program with IMVironments ¿ which revolves around interactive backgrounds that users can add to IM conversations ¿ infringes US Patent Number 6,205,432, filed by a trio of inventors and published back in 2001.

  
  
  (tags: acacia ip patent)
  
  

links for 2010-02-02

• On eBay, Twitter Followers Are Worth Less Than A Penny Each - washingtonpost.com
  It used to be that Twitter followers were worth something, or at least people thought they were worth something, which is the same thing. It was only about a year ago when Jason Calacanis was offering $250,000 to buy a spot on Twitter's Suggested User List, which would have guaranteed him perhaps a million followers before Twitter ended up revamping the SUL to be less monolithic. He never got on the list, but if his offer would have come to roughly $0.25 per follower. Today, you can "buy" followers on eBay for less than a penny each. Some of the Buy-It-Now listings include 5,000 followers for $20 (which comes to 0.4 penny/follower), $5,500 for $40 (0.7 penny/follower), $1,100 for $10 (0.9 penny/follower). You are not actually buying followers outright (Twitter doesn't allow people to transfer their followers), but rather services which "guarantee" getting your account up to the promised number of followers through "proven and safe methods."
  (tags: twitter)
• IPhone users can now make Internet-based calls - latimes.com
  Users of Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone may now be able to save money by making Internet-based phone calls over AT&T Inc.'s cellular network. Apple this week allowed new versions of several Voice over Internet Protocol services to begin working on the iPhone, according to those services. Previously, iPhone users needed a wireless Internet connection to make such calls, but the change will allow calls from anywhere that receives a strong enough 3G cellular signal. By using VoIP applications to sidestep the phone's normal calling software, iPhone owners could avoid using up their monthly allocation of minutes from AT&T, potentially allowing them to choose cheaper plans.
  (tags: iphone voip apps)