My group decided to go with Identity Theft as our topic. One of the members recommended we read the book "Free" by Chris Anderson, which is the idea that businesses can make more money by giving away products and services rather than charging for them. This interested all of us, but in the end we decided to go with identity theft because that was the topic we covered that week in class. Once our topic was chosen, we then split it into four parts, giving all of us something different to talk about. The four parts ended up being the history of identity theft (the past vs. the future), how identity thefts obtain personal information, what you can do to protect yourself and an example of a large business that had someone break into their system and steal valuable information. My focus was the history of identity theft. I would talk about what it is, how it emerged and how it differs now compared to the past.
A definition of identity theft that I found on the website http://101-identitytheft.com/idtheft.htm states, "Identity theft occurs when someone, without your knowledge, acquires a piece of your personal information and uses it to commit fraud." The website also explains that credit card theft is the most common infraction committed. Some other categories listed included employment, tax retures, social security, medical and many, many more. The list is pretty much unlimited. If someone gets your personal information, whether it's your credit card number or your social security number, they can do some serious damage.
Obviously, identity theft is an ever-growing issue because of the expansion of the internet. Many people conduct payments only online, from online banking to christmas shopping. When this is the case, they are at high risk for identity theft. Although, many websites are credible and trustworthy, that does not mean a theif cannot gain access to all your information. No website is 100% secure because there is always someone out there that can outsmart the system. So I Googled the history of identity theft and the website http://www.spamlaws.com/id-theft-history.html explains how it evolved. They claim that identity theft actually emerged from theives physically going through dumpsters or tapping in on phone calls to steal information. Although any type of identity theft is serious and scary, at least through the internet it's a lot less personal. If someone was listening in on my phone conversation or digging through my garbage, I would feel a lot more violated.
Another huge issue regarding identity theft is the fact that credit card companies send out millions of credit card applications to homes. If a theif got their hands on that card, application and your name and address, they could open an account under your name and do some serious damage. Overall, identity theft is a huge issue among Americans, especially those involved with online shopping and banking. Identity theft will never stop, but then again, Americans will never stop posting their information online. Something needs to be done in order to protect both ourselves and the banks that serve us. I'm sure something or someone will figure out a way to minimize the effects, but until then we will all just have to be careful who we trust.
Here are some statistics from http://www.spendonlife.com/guide/2009-identity-theft-statistics on identity theft:
1. Identity theft is on the rise, affecting almost 10 million victims in 2008 (a 22% increase from 2007)
2. Victims are spending less money out of pocket to correct the damage from ID theft. The mean cost per victim is $500, and most victims pay nothing due to zero-liability fraud protection programs offered by their financial institutions.
3. 71% of fraud happens within a week of stealing a victim’s personal data.
4. Low-tech methods for stealing personal information are still the most popular for identity thieves. Stolen wallets and physical documents accounted for 43% of all identity theft, while online methods accounted for only 11%.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
A Visit From Erik Hanberg
The other day, Erik Hanberg came in and talked to our class. He works for mostly nonprofit organizations, except for his wife's graphic design website MaryHolsteDesign.com. It was a really good presentation and he knew a lot about what he was talking about. He first talked about salary/hourly work vs. scalable work. Salary/hourly you have a fixed income that is consistent. Scalable work is completely different. There is no fixed hourly pay and it doesn't matter how many hours you put in or don't put in. You basically do something that will either make you a lot of money or it wont. Some of the examples of scalable work included real estate, commission, web design and stocks/assests.
Hanberg then transitioned into this idea of the internet being a "black swan." It means that the past doesn't necessarily predict the future. Hanberg's example is that he has written 9 novels and JK Rowling has written 7, but only she is a billionaire. Although I agree with most of what Hanberg talked about, and maybe I don't have the credentials to critique his work, but I felt like he had a biased opinion on the black swan. He kept saying, "It's all about luck" and "It's all about getting discovered by the right people at the right time." Yes, this is true, if you are in the right place at the right time you can get very, very lucky. However, when it comes to hard work and employment, I don't necessarily think it's about luck. I think if you work hard enough and really try to get people to notice your work it will pay off; that has nothing to do with being lucky. If I write an incredible novel, but don't try to get it published then nobody will know I have written something amazing. I agree that maybe JK Rowling got a little bit lucky. She was on welfare and someone just happened to pick up her muddy rough draft of Harry Potter, which made her millions and millions. But how do we know that if that wouldn't have happened that she wouldn't have tried to get it published anyways?
Overall though, I liked Erik's speech and I thought he did a good job at explaining working in a virtual world.
Hanberg then transitioned into this idea of the internet being a "black swan." It means that the past doesn't necessarily predict the future. Hanberg's example is that he has written 9 novels and JK Rowling has written 7, but only she is a billionaire. Although I agree with most of what Hanberg talked about, and maybe I don't have the credentials to critique his work, but I felt like he had a biased opinion on the black swan. He kept saying, "It's all about luck" and "It's all about getting discovered by the right people at the right time." Yes, this is true, if you are in the right place at the right time you can get very, very lucky. However, when it comes to hard work and employment, I don't necessarily think it's about luck. I think if you work hard enough and really try to get people to notice your work it will pay off; that has nothing to do with being lucky. If I write an incredible novel, but don't try to get it published then nobody will know I have written something amazing. I agree that maybe JK Rowling got a little bit lucky. She was on welfare and someone just happened to pick up her muddy rough draft of Harry Potter, which made her millions and millions. But how do we know that if that wouldn't have happened that she wouldn't have tried to get it published anyways?
Overall though, I liked Erik's speech and I thought he did a good job at explaining working in a virtual world.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Scavenger Hunt
The other day in class we were given a packet that included a plethora of questions we were required to find and answer. The tricky part is, the answers were all online and some were not so easy to find. My team (there was three of us) split the packet into thirds and began searching. I personally love doing scavenger hunts. No matter the topic, they are always fun. Although, this one was slightly frustrating just for the fact that sometimes I wasn't sure if I had found the correct answer or if I just thought I did. In the end, my group found everything on the list in the alloted time.
The most difficult question for me was planning a Disneyland trip for two adults and two kids. The family had to stay at a specific hotel that was only available in the year 2010. However, when you go to book the flights, they can only be within 331 days from the day you book them. So I had to find a day when the hotel was available and the flight was within limits for the question to be correct. As well, the Disney website was running slowly because at least 15-20 students were accessing it at one time, all in the same room.
Overall, it was a fun and successful activity. It taught me that when searching for things on the internet, you need to be exact and precise in order to find exactly what you are looking for.
The most difficult question for me was planning a Disneyland trip for two adults and two kids. The family had to stay at a specific hotel that was only available in the year 2010. However, when you go to book the flights, they can only be within 331 days from the day you book them. So I had to find a day when the hotel was available and the flight was within limits for the question to be correct. As well, the Disney website was running slowly because at least 15-20 students were accessing it at one time, all in the same room.
Overall, it was a fun and successful activity. It taught me that when searching for things on the internet, you need to be exact and precise in order to find exactly what you are looking for.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Convergence?
When the professor started talking about "convergence" I will admit I was completely lost. I had no idea what he was talking about, even after the lecture was over. He kept reiterating that we needed to remember this word and its definition, but I didn't even know what that was! So I was slightly relieved when he told us to blog about it, which gave me a better understanding of what it really is.
So naturally, I Googled the word "convergence". The first link that showed up was "Welcome to CONvergence!" which is a "General SF convention held in the Twin Cities area in early July." Apparently it's a hotel that offers a ton of activities. I won't lie, it sounds like a lot of fun. But this didn't really solve my definition dillema. So I went to the next link which happened to be Wikipedia. Wikipedia offered two links to the word convergence. The first was a general definition of the word which is, "...the approach toward a definite value, a definite point, a common view or opinion, or toward a fixed or equilibrium state." The second link was to "technological convergence" which is, "...the tendency for different technological systems to evolve towards performing similar tasks.Convergence can refer to previously separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications) and video that now share resources and interact with each other, synergistically creating new efficiencies."
The second one is the definition I think our professor wants us to remember. Now I understand that convergence is really just taking two seperate ideas and melting them together. Or moreover, taking different technological devices and creating one, big, new device that will bring in millions of dollars. If you haven't caught on by now, I'm referring to the infamous iPhone. Apple took iTunes and a full touch screen phone and morphed them together to get the iPhone. The phone is pretty much an iPod except it makes calls and allows texting. (Of course this is the example my teacher used, but hey, it was a good one.) That's a pretty smart idea, and it turned out to be a hit because millions of people were sold into the idea. I remember going to the mall opening day and there was a line from the Apple store all the way out the doors of the mall itself. That's incredible and insanly ridiculous. No offense, but I'd never stand in a line for a phone. Never, never, never. Not unless of course it does my homework for me and does all my errands. Then maybe in that case I'd be willing to sacrifice my entire day for a peice of technology.
But aside from my ranting there, convergence has caused a lot of useful and awesome technologies to emerge. The word can be complicated, but in essense it's pretty simple to understand. I know more things will come from convergence, and I'm excited to see what the next great idea will be.
So naturally, I Googled the word "convergence". The first link that showed up was "Welcome to CONvergence!" which is a "General SF convention held in the Twin Cities area in early July." Apparently it's a hotel that offers a ton of activities. I won't lie, it sounds like a lot of fun. But this didn't really solve my definition dillema. So I went to the next link which happened to be Wikipedia. Wikipedia offered two links to the word convergence. The first was a general definition of the word which is, "...the approach toward a definite value, a definite point, a common view or opinion, or toward a fixed or equilibrium state." The second link was to "technological convergence" which is, "...the tendency for different technological systems to evolve towards performing similar tasks.Convergence can refer to previously separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications) and video that now share resources and interact with each other, synergistically creating new efficiencies."
The second one is the definition I think our professor wants us to remember. Now I understand that convergence is really just taking two seperate ideas and melting them together. Or moreover, taking different technological devices and creating one, big, new device that will bring in millions of dollars. If you haven't caught on by now, I'm referring to the infamous iPhone. Apple took iTunes and a full touch screen phone and morphed them together to get the iPhone. The phone is pretty much an iPod except it makes calls and allows texting. (Of course this is the example my teacher used, but hey, it was a good one.) That's a pretty smart idea, and it turned out to be a hit because millions of people were sold into the idea. I remember going to the mall opening day and there was a line from the Apple store all the way out the doors of the mall itself. That's incredible and insanly ridiculous. No offense, but I'd never stand in a line for a phone. Never, never, never. Not unless of course it does my homework for me and does all my errands. Then maybe in that case I'd be willing to sacrifice my entire day for a peice of technology.
But aside from my ranting there, convergence has caused a lot of useful and awesome technologies to emerge. The word can be complicated, but in essense it's pretty simple to understand. I know more things will come from convergence, and I'm excited to see what the next great idea will be.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Physical Doctuments vs. Digital Documents
I used to have a Photobucket account, but it was merely to put Googled pictures on my MySpace. It didn't hold any personal pictures that I cared about. As for a physical photo album, my mother started one for each member of the family, but never finished. I have a lot of physical and digital pictures, but I'm not the type of person to prioritize them in an album. My thought is, if you lose them, you can always take more. Yes, I understand that you can never get those memories back, but let's be real, how often do you really go through photo albums?
As for other document types, I do try and save school work digitally and physically. I am a freak about saving school work. I'm terrified at the thought of not having something that I may need in the future. I save stuff not only on my computer, but on my USB drive and also in a folder at home. It makes me feel secure knowing that I will at least have one of those items. Unless of course my house is engulfed in flames and all three are stuck inside (which we hope will never happen!)
I think physical and digital documents both have their ups and downs. I can't really say I prefer one or the other, but I do use both for different reasons. I'm sure someday digital document types will overpower physical ones, but that day is way, way, way in the future.
As for other document types, I do try and save school work digitally and physically. I am a freak about saving school work. I'm terrified at the thought of not having something that I may need in the future. I save stuff not only on my computer, but on my USB drive and also in a folder at home. It makes me feel secure knowing that I will at least have one of those items. Unless of course my house is engulfed in flames and all three are stuck inside (which we hope will never happen!)
I think physical and digital documents both have their ups and downs. I can't really say I prefer one or the other, but I do use both for different reasons. I'm sure someday digital document types will overpower physical ones, but that day is way, way, way in the future.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Vanity Search
I half expected not to find anything interesting when I did a vanity search in Google. As I expected there really wasn't anything. First I typed in "Whitney Wells, Washington." Nothing came up on the first or second page. Then I tried narrowing it down by adding my middle name "Ann." On the second page I learned that my MySpace page was on there. So then I narrowed it down even more by typing in "Whitney Ann Wells, Burien." My MySpace page was the second option on the first page. The further I scrolled down I realized that there were names of people I knew on MySpace. Underneath their name it listed off friends of theirs and mine was one of them bolded.
This was interesting to me that the search not only brought up my page, but friends that I knew that could lead someone to my page. I was a little surprised however, that my Facebook page did not pop up. I haven't utilized my MySpace account for a month, maybe even a year now, but I am on Facebook a couple times a week. I don't do much online so it doesn't shock me that I only have one thing that shows up. Especially because I would rather not have personal information spewed out on the internet.
Just for fun, I searched my parents and the one for my mom showed a high school reunion site three links down on the first page. My father's name did not produce any results on the first page, which surprises me more than my mother because he works for Boeing and is an active employee in the company. This assignment would be more fun if my parents and I were more popular online - haha - but it still is cool to know what is out there about oneself.
This was interesting to me that the search not only brought up my page, but friends that I knew that could lead someone to my page. I was a little surprised however, that my Facebook page did not pop up. I haven't utilized my MySpace account for a month, maybe even a year now, but I am on Facebook a couple times a week. I don't do much online so it doesn't shock me that I only have one thing that shows up. Especially because I would rather not have personal information spewed out on the internet.
Just for fun, I searched my parents and the one for my mom showed a high school reunion site three links down on the first page. My father's name did not produce any results on the first page, which surprises me more than my mother because he works for Boeing and is an active employee in the company. This assignment would be more fun if my parents and I were more popular online - haha - but it still is cool to know what is out there about oneself.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Our future in the hands of Mark Briggs?
Mark Briggs, co-founder and CEO of Serra Media, spoke about some hot topics the other day in class. The company, Serra Media, allows for people to connect online and form a community based on certain hobbies. Like Newsgarden, it allows users to publish and locate recent news. The same goes for their other product Bargain Babe, which is for shopaholics. These are some great advances in the online world because it is giving new meaning to the term "community." Being able to share and receive information with people who share the same passions as me makes online resources more interesting to use.
Briggs also shared his thoughts on newspapers vs. online publications. His company will support print if it soars or if it fails. With Serra Media's new map-based web applications it is hard to believe that newspapers will flourish though. Newspapers, not only cost money, but are not as convenient as online print. As well, they don't provide interaction like online does. People aren't working together when they read newspapers; online we all come together. I already discussed my opinion on the downfall of newspapers, so I won't get into that again.
Point is, it's people like Briggs, who have taken initiative to improve the way people function. With more people like him and companies like Serra Media, physical print will diminish over time. I think people will come around sooner or later and will actually come to find that they like the transition society has made. It's not really like we have a choice though, technology is going to progress whether we like it or not. It always has and it always will.
Briggs also shared his thoughts on newspapers vs. online publications. His company will support print if it soars or if it fails. With Serra Media's new map-based web applications it is hard to believe that newspapers will flourish though. Newspapers, not only cost money, but are not as convenient as online print. As well, they don't provide interaction like online does. People aren't working together when they read newspapers; online we all come together. I already discussed my opinion on the downfall of newspapers, so I won't get into that again.
Point is, it's people like Briggs, who have taken initiative to improve the way people function. With more people like him and companies like Serra Media, physical print will diminish over time. I think people will come around sooner or later and will actually come to find that they like the transition society has made. It's not really like we have a choice though, technology is going to progress whether we like it or not. It always has and it always will.
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