Facebook worm exposing you to chaos

Okay, chaos is a bit strong. Still the worm is gaining strength. How do you sop it? Simple - don't engage it.

Amplify’d from www.zdnet.com

Facebook infested with new worm; More proof site is insecure?

Facebook is littered with a worm, seemingly the same one under different names, created by randomly generated developers, which is spreading links all over the site.

Applications like S22BZ5 created by randomly assigned pseudonym ‘Jackson Lasseter’ has nearly 300 people under the grips of the worm. Others, such as replicated application B5DA8G, 9IHJ35 and AU0ZVE have just under 1,000 people inadvertently spreading the worm.

Just in the last 24 hours, I have seen my own friends’ list infiltrated by these worm applications which set status messages via the application without the knowledge of the profile owner, through a shortened link service with an infected GIF file. Read more at www.zdnet.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/grgd

Weaponized virus has already done its job?

You may have heard of weaponized virus programs. The great fear is that one will somehow escape the laboratory or storage and be unleashed on the people of the world. What you may not have heard of is that one has already been released and has been carefully controlled. It has also already performed its duty and succeeded marvelously. Think this has anything to do with the 70+ "copyright violating" websites seized by the Department of Homeland Security? (Read about that activity here - http://ht.ly/3gQAb)



Wait, what does that question have to do with a virus? Because this is a particularly powerful computer virus. Read on ...

Amplify’d from www.foxnews.com

Simply put, Stuxnet is an incredibly advanced, undetectable computer worm that took years to construct and was designed to jump from computer to computer until it found the specific, protected control system that it aimed to destroy: Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.

The construction of the worm was so advanced, it was “like the arrival of an F-35 into a World War I battlefield,” says Ralph Langner, the computer expert who was the first to sound the alarm about Stuxnet. Others have called it the first “weaponized” computer virus.

ut that

But that didn’t happen, because within minutes all the alert sites came under attack and were inoperative for 24 hours.

“I had to use e-mail to send notices but I couldn’t reach everyone. Whoever made the worm had a full day to eliminate all traces of the worm that might lead us them,” Eric Byers, a computer security expert who has examined the Stuxnet. “No hacker could have done that.”

Mystery Surrounds Cyber Missile That Crippled Iran's Nuclear Weapons Ambitions Read more at www.foxnews.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gqj2

No Due Process = Revolution

Look. I really don't care about your viewpoint if you disagree: the DHS under Janet Napolitano is completely out of control. If this story is true that there was no due process, no service on the owners, and these sites were "confiscated" the resounding impact from the general public must be swift and overwhelming. Just as it has been over the treatment of good citizens wanting nothing more than to fly without having their genitals photographed or fondled.



Then again I'm all for common sense - which is in question about Ms. Napolitano. Read the story for yourself ...

Amplify’d from mashable.com

Homeland Security Seizes 70+ Websites for Copyright and Trademark Violations

The U.S. government’s crackdown on file sharing and counterfeiting has taken a new and disturbing turn.

Yesterday, we reported that the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement office had seized Torrent-Finder.com, a site that linked to other sites that hosted and shared torrent files of copyrighted material. The news itself was not too unusual; what struck us as out of order was that the site had been shut down without the owner being notified and without a court conviction or, to our knowledge, any other legal proceedings. Read more at mashable.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gohx

Leslie Nielsen is gone.

Ya know, the older you get the more people you have known (of) for many years check out. 4 high school friends, 1 church friend and 2 ActiveRain friends gone this year. Not to be a bummer - we celebrate their memory.



Guess I'll watch Airplane soon.

Amplify’d from www.people.com

Leslie Nielsen Dies

Leslie Nielsen, who made audiences laugh with his ridiculous seriousness and deadpan deliveries in the absurd scenes of comedy films like Airplane! and The Naked Gun has died. He was 84. Read more at www.people.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gogf

How to choose Twitter follows

Actually the article explains I don't say it that way. What this short post does is tell a little about how I choose whom to follow. Keep in mind you are not me and your needs, wants and desires are likely unlike mine. How's that for specific direction?

Amplify’d from thekencook.com

Whom do I follow and why?

If I were as arrogant as some of the people I do not follow, but may relegate to some obsequious list, I would instead say, “Who you should follow and why”. But I don’t follow those people because they are arrogant. Then again…

Here’s the drill from my point of view: You can do whatever you want. You can follow as many as you want or as few as you want. What I do encourage you to do if you have not is to evaluate your purpose from being on Twitter. For my purposes there are five reasons to be on Twitter. I’m sure you can create a chart with a dozen more or 100 more but these are the major categories as I see them: Read more at thekencook.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/getc

Clickable, hot spot links in images

I admit it took me a second to think of what to type other than "image mapping tool". For those of you who are familiar with image maps but did not know there was an online tool you'll love this. For those of you who always wondered how people put different links inside of one image you'll be blown away.



Thanks to my friend and regular contributor to REtechRadio.com, Dean Oullette @deanoullette, for sharing this free, online resource with us.

Amplify’d from www.image-maps.com

Basic Online Image Mapping Tool

Basic online html image mapping tool. No software to download. Use images from the web or your PC. Load the image, map out your links and get the code! The Best and most Simple online image mapper and free. Now outputting CSS style image maps with HTML image maps.

Welcome to http://www.image-maps.com. An Image map is a graphic image designed in a way that allows different areas of the main image to be click-able by users. These click-able areas then link to different destinations that usually relate to the part of the image the user has clicked on. Aside from being very useful in web development, image maps are also very useful for images and banners being used on social networking sites such as facebook, twitter and myspace. Read more at www.image-maps.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/g7dg

A Foursquare badge for your "package"

From time to time something comes along that unites the left, right and anarchist. Well thank you Janet Napolitano and the TSA for feeling up little children, old men and pretty girls. Now you can get a Foursquare badge for the humility of it all.



I think if they want to feel me I'll just drop trou and let everyone have a good look. Either that coat myself with peanut butter so the feel around for a really long time wondering what that gooey, sticky mess is. Actually that's all tongue very firmly in cheek. I am highly opposed to the way Napolitano and the TSA have handled passenger checks from day one. Fire her, prosecute them, get someone with some actual intelligence and common sense to handle the process.



Oh, you want to know how to get the badge ...

Amplify’d from thekencook.com

Baggage handler badge on Foursquare

Have you seen it? Now you have! I was surprised when I checked in at Hartsfield International Airport (still in protest of them adding the Jackson to it so I omit it by design) and thanked the TSA for taking the time to “grope my package”. Although I was not personally assaulted I thought it would be a smart-ass thing to say. Then I got a badge! Read more at thekencook.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/fz3e

Big changes in computer memory?

I get excited watching technology advance. Which pretty much means I stay excited. This particular change is very interesting to me because I have wondered, instead of correcting the issue, why computer architects have not started replacing hard-drives with flash type memory.



Other than the price tag and the equal or slower writing speed this seems like a better solution. Of course if you're the type who enjoyed hearing your modem dial into Compuserve and who likes to hear the whir of your spinning disk drive you may think this move is an infringement on your ability to hear your computer grinding through electrons ...

Amplify’d from news.cnet.com

Fusion-io tries rewiring computer memory

Fusion-io builds flash memory onto PCI Express cards that plug into server expansion slots, letting customers move beyond hard drives' physical enclosures and SATA interface. That means data can be written and read faster overall, in part because SATA has worse overhead--in other words, bandwidth that must be used to run the communication protocol rather than for the actual data being read or written.

The current third-generation version of SATA has a maximum bandwidth of 6 gigabits per second, though that's reduced by the overhead. Fusion-io's lower-end ioDrive matches that rate, it's ioDrive Duo doubles it with 12Gb/sec, and its newest product, the ioDrive Octal, is eight times higher, at about 50Gb/sec. (Note, though, that those are speeds for reading data; writing data is anywhere from the same speed to two-thirds the speed, depending on the model and how much memory it has.)

The ioDrive is modest in scope, with capacities of 160GB, 320GB, and 640GB. The Duo reaches 1.28TB, and the Octal--which is twice as wide--comes in 2.56TB and 5.12TB sizes. Read more at news.cnet.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/fukv

Great gift idea: $25 restaurant certificates for $2 each!

I first discovered these about 4 or 5 years ago and since then @myracook and I have personally used a couple dozen of these and we have given dozens away as closing gifts, door prizes and personal gifts to friends and families.



Since they just introduced the gift "card" instead of gift certificate I just order 50 of them for $3 each and I'm really looking forward to including them in some Christmas cards and gift baskets. (Hint: the best restaurants sell out first so don't wait too long

Amplify’d from myracook.com

Great Holiday gift opportunity: $25 Restaurant Gift Cards for $3 each

Good at thousands of restaurants nationwide!

Pardon me for the “spammy” interruption but I think you’ll find the “meat” is in this deal. Myra and I buy and use gift certificates from this group all of the time. This is something new in that it is a gift card – not a certificate. But here’s some really great news: the gift certificates are available for $2 each (for $25 certificates). Read more at myracook.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/fq0n

How many Facebook accounts belong to the dead?

Interestingly enough I said goodbye this year to 3 friends and one "acquaintance" on Facebook. Two high school friends passed away; one suddenly and one after weeks in a coma. One wonderful church friend passed after a short week with pneumonia and one acquaintance from the real estate world passed after losing a battle with brain cancer.



Now I understand I am getting older and chances are I will be saying goodbye to an increasing number of friends over the years. The truth, however, is if it had not been for Facebook I would not even have known of the passing of Stick Norwood or Kim Riggs, two friends from high school and I may or may not have known of the illness and passing of Joe Ferrara from my Real Estate world. In fact I would likely only have known of the passing of Sylvia Rhoden, my golden voiced friend of many decades.



What is the common denominator? They all left behind Facebook accounts that are still active. In fact, people still post to them. People includes me.

Amplify’d from 1000memories.com

The rise of the dead: How many ghosts are on Facebook?

What is the fastest growing group on Facebook? One of the most surprising phenomena of 2010 is the encroachment of death onto Facebook. Just like Toy Story 3, the blissful youth of Facebook is suddenly faced with the passing of time and the first inklings of mortality. However, beyond the anecdote of an awkward experience, surprisingly few facts exist about the prevalence of death on social media. Is this an occasional curiosity or a looming tidal wave for which existing social media sites are unprepared?

We decided to do the math and estimate how many of these “social media ghosts” are living on long beyond their real-life equivalents. Read more at 1000memories.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/foui

TweetBig Twitter Rocket Fuel! - Sponsored Post

Get 1,000's of new quality targeted Twitter followers every month with these amazing tools.

10 blog topics to spike your traffic

It's a favored question at events where new users and seekers can be found: what should I blog about? Without stopping at anything here are some top ranking questions. Keep in mind if you get 10 visits a day a "spike" in traffic could be a day with 14 visits. These topic won't raise your blog to notoriety by their selves but they can definitely help.

Amplify’d from thekencook.com

10 topics to blog about

If you have ever been to one TweetUp, Barcamp, or any type of social media event where a lot of entry level bloggers gather you have heard this question, “What should I write about?” The ubiquitous answer, of course, is “whatever you like – whatever you enjoy”.

Agreeably that is the correct answer in most cases. If you like to snow ski write about it. If you like to knit write about it.

The next question is, “how often should I blog”? That answer is almost always, “it doesn’t matter so long as it is regularly”. Again, I agree. In fact those are my answers. With this short post we can take it to the next step with a few questions a little research says are important to the average American family that you can blog about right now and increase your traffic.

To increase your traffic write you blog then come back here and put the link in a comment – it’s one of the few times you can get away with linking in comments! And now, without further adieu, are 10 topics to help make your general purpose blog zing: Read more at thekencook.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/fkmv

Share every click - automatically?

Of course it's manageable ... or is it? What if it shares *every* click? What if it shares more ... then again, what if it makes you the next @scobleizer or @guykawasaki?

Amplify’d from mashable.com

Automatically Share What You Browse with Friends [INVITES]

Quick Pitch: Share your click stream with friends in real time and increase your influence score by discovering good content first.

Using a browser add-on, you can choose to either select certain sites that you want your friends to see or, if you set the service to automatic, to block from view what you want to keep to yourself (whose Facebook () profile you’re visiting 12 times a day, for instance). Read more at mashable.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/fif3

Seems to be a theme this week, eh @bnix?

My friend Brad Nix put his toes in the Mac pool last week. I used to swim in the Mac pool but several years ago left, never to return. My leaving was more of a reflection on the Steve Jobs attitude toward life than a complete disdain of the overpriced, under-served product. On fact one of the main reasons I left was because of the cost of feature/results per feature/results software available for Mac vs PC. When I found out most professional video studios preferred PC to Mac that was good enough for me so I donated the last of my Macs and never looked back.



It doesn't mean *wouldn't* own a Mac, it just means I have no intention of every *purchasing* a Mac and seriously consider using it for any real purpose. The features that made Brad write a check are not important to me but they may be important to you so here is Brad's article:

http://bradnix.com/i-bought-a-mac-but-i-didnt-go-mac/?utm_source=kencook+amplify



And here's the ZDnet article below:

Amplify’d from www.zdnet.com

I'm switching to a Mac. Here's how (and why)

It’s true. I’m switching to a Mac. Of course, I’ll be switching back to a PC shortly after, and then switching back to the Mac sometime later, and then back and forth - switching from Mac to PC and vice versa - for the foreseeable future.

See more at www.zdnet.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/fcvv

Final Social Media Breakfast Atlanta of 2010

This Thursday join us for the final Social Media Breakfast Atlanta of 2010 - RSVP for FREE! Nominate for the PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD for Social Media Breakfast 2010.



RSVP from:

http://smbatl11-2010.eventbrite.com/

Amplify’d from smbatl11-2010.eventbrite.com

Diana Adams of Adams Consulting! Sometimes people are so excited about what they do you simply cannot resist getting excited just watching them. Diana is another one of those people we want to know! Much like our past presenters who simply make you Want To Listen she has that ... BAM factor and I am very excited to hear what she brings to us this month. My first exposure to Diana was through her writing at http://www.bitrebels.com/ where her wide variety of topics are tackled with all the excitement and glee of a winning sports team who has that confidence they are going to win regardless of circumstances. From an interview on http://askaaronlee.com "Her true understanding of social media using twitter is remarkable. Behind the great smile is a great person who’s heart is gold helping people when in need. Diana is one of those people I consider knows how to use twitter to the fullest. No wonder she is one of the top most retweeted person under the category of Tech having nearly 60,000 retweets according to Chirrps. I recommend you follow her if you have not already." "In social media everything is amplified.  Since all we have is text, and we don’t have the benefit of hearing someone’s voice or making eye contact, you really have to remember to give people the benefit of the doubt in certain situations.   Always remain humble." - Diana Adams from that interview Join us on THURSDAY November 18th at 8:00 AM for yet another fantastic guest and your opportunity to nominate "The People's Favorite" of 2010 to be announced at our first event in 2011. Let me take this moment and thank you all for making 2010 a great year of growing and getting to know each other more and more. In 2011 I'm hoping for even more opportunity to learn HOW to use social media, WHAT to do to get more from social media and WHY to be a part of the biggest movement in the digital age.  Focused Charity This month is Homelessness Awareness Month and my friend Katheryn Preston is the long time director of The Georgia Alliance to End Homelessness http://www.gahomeless.org/ and your donation of $10,000 is greatly appreciated just as your donation of $5 in a check made payable to Georgia Alliance to End Homelessness, Inc. I know the work these people do and have had the wonderful pleasure of knowing them, seeing them function and watching their results since 1999.

Sometimes people are so excited about what they do you simply cannot resist getting excited just watching them. Diana is another one of those people we want to know! Much like our past presenters who simply make you Want To Listen she has that ... BAM factor and I am very excited to hear what she brings to us this month. My first exposure to Diana was through her writing at http://www.bitrebels.com/ where her wide variety of topics are tackled with all the excitement and glee of a winning sports team who has that confidence they are going to win regardless of circumstances. From an interview on http://askaaronlee.com "Her true understanding of social media using twitter is remarkable. Behind the great smile is a great person who’s heart is gold helping people when in need. Diana is one of those people I consider knows how to use twitter to the fullest. No wonder she is one of the top most retweeted person under the category of Tech having nearly 60,000 retweets according to Chirrps. I recommend you follow her if you have not already." Read more at smbatl11-2010.eventbrite.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/fabe

Drugstore.com $20 Gift Card for $10 - today only - Sponsored Post

$20 Drugstore.com Gift Card for $10 at TaDa - limited quantity daily (got mine!)

Eat Twinkies, lose weight?

Well, I'm the walking testimony of the potato chip and Vienna sausage diet.

Amplify’d from www.cnn.com

Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds

For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too.

His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most -- not the nutritional value of the food. Read more at www.cnn.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/ewbu

URGENT: Missing Daughter (Evansville)

Please help find this girl. Your information could be crucial in the search.

Amplify’d from thekencook.com

URGENT: Missing Daughter (Evansville)

This is from a Facebook connection who is desperately seeking your assistance. Evansville Indiana.

The text:

PLEASE CROSSPOST…URGENT! My daughter, Jackie Buyher, has been missing from the northwest side of Evansville, IN since Wednesday, Nov. 3rd. She is 16 years old, about 5′ 6″ tall, sandy brown hair (straight, shoulder length), hazel eyes, and weighs approximately 120 lbs. Friends that I am in contact with, as well as school officials, have not seen her since that day. A missing person’s report has been filed with the Evansville Police Dept., and recently has expanded to a nation-wide alert. If anyone has seen her, or think they may know her whereabouts, please dial 911 and report any information you may have to the Evansville PD. Read more at thekencook.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/ew83

iPhone, Android, Blackberry: your next phone?

Actually there is something a little skewed and interesting about this chart that I'm confident will change over the next few months or even weeks. What do you think that may be? Looking forward to having @briancauble on http://socialmediaedge.com in the near future to discuss.

Amplify’d from www.marketingcharts.com

iPhone, Android Most Under Consideration

Data from “Going Mobile” indicates 49% of mobile phone users are considering an iPhone for their next phone. The only other mobile phone platform approaching the iPhone in popularity was Android (40%).

Blackberry followed at 22%. Only 8% of respondents are considering a Windows smartphone, meaning it has the same popularity as a standard cell phone. A tiny fraction of respondents (1%) are considering an HP/Palm-based smartphone.

See more at www.marketingcharts.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/evn4

That photo you just tweeted may lead directly to your home

Really I'll let these guys explain - after all, they created icanstalkyou.com in an effort to educate people about the dangers of geotagged images posting to the open web.



While they are not the only people onto this and it's certainly not "news" they did take the time to create a website with an eye-catching name. In fact here is another, older site, with good info about image geotagging:



http://gdgtgrl.net/2009/07/13/is-your-gps-enabled-camera-phone-sharing-private-info/

Amplify’d from www.icanstalku.com

I Can Stalk U

Raising awareness about inadvertent information sharing

Did you know that a lot of smart phones encode the location of where pictures are taken? Anyone who has a copy can access this information.

Mayhemic Labs is an independent security research team whose primary goal is "to do cool stuff." Among their specialties are vulnerability and malware research, penetration testing, reverse engineering, breaking fault tolerant systems, cloud security, static software analysis, code development, surveillance and counter-surveillance, and business logic attacks. More about their projects can be found at mayhemiclabs.com Read more at www.icanstalku.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/ep4a

Mobile is not "next" it's now - Nielsen numbers

We talk about it regularly on http://socialmediaedge.com the podcast: if you're not developing for and marketing to mobile users you're missing on a hug market segment. The number of people going "mobile only" is growing and the number of "first searches on mobile" is growing very quickly.



If you want to know how to make sure you're reaching these people call me 877-7000-KEN (877-700-0536) or get me on Twitter http://twitter.com/thekencook

Amplify’d from www.marketingcharts.com

3 in 10 Mobile Subscribers Have Smartphones

Twenty-eight percent of US mobile subscribers have smartphones as of Q3 2010, according to data from The Nielsen Company.

In addition, 41% of recent mobile phone acquirers have smartphones.

See more at www.marketingcharts.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/efy8