This is an observation for people with blogs, and commercial sites or any links that have evolved past the basic HTML though this could apply to any site really. The topic of today is the issue of updating and security leaks. With WordPress’ hack first reported by the Huffington Post it truly brings to light the issue of vulnerability in today’s age. Every installation of these free tools should come with a reminder that we need to update them as soon as the cores change. The developers work hard to provide these updates for us so why not update especially when it pertains to security issues. This is not limited to WordPress but also E-Commerce solutions such as Magento and OSCommerce and Zen-Cart which all trace back to similar core engine. Remember, anything that has a script running possibility can and will be exploited. The web is very easy to use and many times we begin to take things for granted. The main issue of this post is to bring a conscience about security and the far reaching effects it has. When there is a security leak that is being exploited it means that your readers or customers or visitors are exposed. And IF it is a hack that could have been curtailed by a security update well then that becomes negligence on the administrator’s part. Another example of this negligence is with our shiny smart phones. A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine was looking into new smart phones and asked my opinion to go with iPhones or an Android based phone, now personally I am not an Apple guy, I love what they can do but I just don’t really dig the “cult” part of it, but, I do appreciate that they keep tight control over the software that is distributed. In the case of the more open Android platform we don’t have that central control so now we have to wade through shoddy programming and of course malware and we see Android attacks rising. So I recommended the Apple platform citing safety issues and also the rising popularity of mobile banking, the next day I learned they went with Android. Oi! Well of course hurt, I asked why they had gone against my suggestion and they said that security was not a real concern because they never do banking on their phone and they liked the looks of this phone better. Fair enough… In the real world of the information age it’s not JUST the online banking that is sensitive information, think of ALL of the information that we store on phones now. All of our contact information, calendars, emails, text messages, Facebook, Google apps, locations everything is on our phones and everything can be potentially harvested. So when we are pretty much handed a security update and asked to update please take the time not only for you but for everyone else that you know.
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How much is too much technology?
I mean granted we are a technology company but the more that time passes by with Twitter, Facebook, uh Myspace, blogs (oh the irony), and not only that it has lost the exclusivity of the computer at least in the past it used to be a situation where you could “go check e-mail” and you did and you were done. But now we have it in our hands, and more and more we will have it on our have satellite? Chances are it already let’s you access your Facebook and Twitter as well as PhotoBucket and Flickr accounts. With all of this information saturation, when will we just say enough? Now don’t get me wrong this is a subject that has been beaten to a pulp by many online. But it just seems that the more we talk about something the more we deem it necessary to be “in it” Look at me this is the very first blog that I have ever written for (poorly I know) but it fascinates me to see how much time we spend texting or checking our messages in the middle of family time in the middle of dinner with a loved one or else. I do it, they do it and chances are that you do it too! This post came to me when my brother from another mother and I in an impromptu meeting, were out when all of a sudden we made the choice to flip our phones off. It was necessary to do so and I am not going to lie for a minute there was awkward silence and that’s ok! But it forced our brains to think about what we wanted to share and not what was being dictated by what so and so said in the last message they sent which was probably responded to by “k” or “lol”. Going further back, about a month ago I had to check into the DMV, and 4/5 people chose JIF Peanut Butter, ok ok I am getting silly here but no the point was that 4/5 people were on their phones at any given moment, until my number was called. I luckily took a copy of Jane Eyre amazing, I got to at least the awkward meeting with Mr. Rochester before my number was called. Imagine if we all read two pages of a book for every time we check our phones? Now I understand this is just a rant now, and I am not gonna call it otherwise. But my point is that we should all really just take a moment to really just unplug it’s difficult and it is awkward but again it’s ok. That sensation is feeling coming back to a numb brain.