We've been posting a lot lately and we want to make it easy for you to find what you're looking for. Today, we've launched the GadgetGrounds Site Search. GG's Site Search integrates with Google so you can find the content you want via a familiar interface. Go ahead! Try it!
Our friends at Gizmodo have written a few articles about super-nasty, bank-account-stealing ATM card skimmers lately. Fitted gingerly into the card slot on an ATM to read your card's data, card skimmers were once upon a time thought to be a thing of movies and urban legend. Now, they're being spotted in the real world.
Luckily, the folks over at The Consumerist have shared a how-to guide to spotting them. Check it out here.
Yawn... If you can't tell, I've been irritated with Facebook lately. Not only are they trying to convert me to Christianity, they're trying to lull me into a false sense of security about their terms of service.
At least I don't deal with Facebook drama and, thanks to Alice and Timmy, I've got a good idea on how to avoid it!
Since Facebook announced their Facebook Site Governance campaign, global privacy watchdog Privacy International has taken an interest in the initiative—and they're calling "B.S."
Privacy International has released an article detailing the campaign and comparing it to some of the lackluster "votes" Facebook has had in the past. The results of the Site Governance vote are only valid if 30% of the active Facebook "population" participates (which is higher than the 25% cited earlier this year). Privacy International's Director, Simon Davies claims that Facebook is fully aware that they will never achieve a 30% response, considering that recent votes on issues such as site design only brought in a fifteen to twenty percent response rate.
As of the time of this posting, only 283,109 of the approximately 45 million required have voted. Voting closes on April 23.
While Privacy International makes a very compelling argument that Facebook is pulling a fast one on us, there is one very important objection I have to the statement. Rather than whine about the issue, why not encourage Facebook's members to vote? Not only have I read the new documents, I've voted and so should you. Click here to log in and vote.
As part of an effort to make Facebook a more democratic community, their Site Governance Vote is now underway. The new documents, the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and Facebook Principles, will replace the site's current terms of use, which were last updated nearly seven months ago.
In Facebook's words:
Quote:
Vote on which documents you think are best to govern the site using the Facebook Site Governance application. Voting begins on April 16 at 12:01pm PDT and ends on April 23 at 11:59am PDT.
If you signed up for a Facebook after February 26, you have to wait until the next voting opportunity to join in.
I think this is an important step in the evolution of social media and social networking sites. Facebook has over 200 million users. To put that in perspective, only four countries in the world have more than 200 million users residents. Naturally, democratic governance is necessary, especially when you have PR nightmares like these.
Two days ago, Apple released the latest update to iPhone OS 3.0 Beta: Beta 3. QuickPWN Beta 3 was released this afternoon, enabling jailbreaking of the update.
This is an unofficial release, meaning it wasn't developed by the iPhone Dev Team. If you're interested in unlocking your phone to use it on unauthorized carriers, wait for the
official release.
According to the QuickPWN Team:
Quote:
The latest iPhone 3.0 beta 3 firmware has noticeably improved in speed and performance so it’s worth the update.
I know that Facebook has its benefits and drawbacks... It's great at suggesting friends, making new connections, and helping you expand your network, but now it apparently thinks that I am heathen.
MySpace never tried to convert me to Christianity... Of course, MySpace is full of spammers and webcam whores, so I'm in fair company when I'm over there.
Here's an old post from Freshome that has some pretty creative bookshelf ideas. Some are admittedly more creative than others, but I could totally see myself with the "Magnetique" shelf in my study. Check out more at the link below!
Computer Science students beware! In today's society, "typing command prompts" just might get your possessions confiscated.
Let's set the scene. At Boston College, an email was sent to an email list alleging that a student at the University was gay. Officials promptly launched an investigation in which computer science student Riccardo Calixte became a suspect. The grounds for such accusations, it seems, were that he fixes laptops and uses Linux... Lame.
As a result, the investigating officer filed a search warrant application to seize the student's computer, flash drives, and any other media in his possession. The warrant was granted and now the student's personal property has been seized and the student himself has been suspended from his job pending the investigation.
Honestly, how can simply using "command prompts" be sufficient to warrant search and seizure? Aren't citizens protected from such heinous abuses of our rights? Granted, the guy may have sent the email, but I highly doubt he did and any evidence gleaned from this investigation would likely be immediately thrown out if the matter were to go to court.
I find it deplorable that gross misunderstandings can yield such costly outcomes when it comes to errors in judgment.
When a drug dog alerted on a shipping box for a new TV set, officers must have assumed that the pooch was just interested in watching Wishbone reruns. Upon closer inspection, however, they uncovered $50,000 worth of bona fide marijuana packed inside the TV set.
No word whether the TV set, which was wrapped in cellophane and Tabasco sauce, is still functional or whether it's just hungry.
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