An interesting article on HowStuffWorks.com, the leading source of credible, unbiased, and easy-to-understand explanations of how the world actually works, talks about hackers and how hackers work. The message that was forwarded to me was linked to the third page, Hacker Culture, and had an interesting picture of some questionable looking characters.

Since last year’s TJX security breach, online site security and identity theft (two aspects of the Internet that have always been a concern) was suddenly pushed to surface and brought to the attention of the average user. While people were always aware of ID theft, nothing had ever occurred on this scale, or at least hadn’t been as widely published. With more and more people adopting the Internet, and more and more people trying to take advantage of security flaws that allow them to exploit the masses on the Internet, it becomes more difficult to ensure that sites and information is kept safe. Ultimately, the biggest security hole or security risk is still the average user, but carelessness by programmers and IT professionals can still result in huge data breaches and headaches. Passport Canada, a branch of the Canadian government agency, and HM Revenue and Customs and the National Audit Office, two branches of the British government, are perfect examples.

The Passport Canada website had a flaw that allowed users to see the personal information of each other by simply changing a few numbers in the URL when they were viewing their own personal information. Probably not a difficult flaw to avoid and the eventual fix came quickly, but it definitely doesn’t increase the confidence that our neighbours to the South have in the Great White North. In the case of the HMRC, the impact or concern relating to the data breach could have been avoided by stripping the unnecessary information from the file; for example, the address and bank details could have been removed as they were not needed - but this would have cost about $102,000. Probably pennies compared to the eventual cost this will have.

There are always going to be security holes that will be used by those looking to take advantage and exploit them for monetary gain, and as the potential for monetary gains increase, the number of individuals looking for them will also increase. However, by taking the proper precautionary measures, many of them can be avoided. Whether it’s your personal blog, a small E-commerce site, or government-implemented, you are a target and must make every effort to keep your site and information (yours and other peoples) safe.

Sharing photos online is one of the major reasons for being online. I remember about a year ago, one of the biggest anti-Internetters that I know was turned into a believer when, within an hour of her birth, pictures of his beautiful baby girl were in the hands of his rarely-seen relatives in England. He still questions sites like Facebook and the ability to maintain a certain level of privacy on these types of networks, which in my mind is a valid concern, but at least he is coming around to the idea.

Without thinking, I would almost always suggest Flickr for people looking to share photos, however, I know there are other popular options that may be a better choice. Rather than re-inventing the wheel, I’ll link to an article that reviews 7 Alternatives to Flickr. In no particular order, the article reviews the following photo sharing sites: deviantART, Zooomr, Fotki, PBase, Photobucket, Photo.net, and SmugMug.

NOTE: This is an excerpt from an article that was originally posted here.

The ongoing antitrust saga that Microsoft continues to battle with has taken an interesting turn. While those in the Industry are constantly taking shots at the software giant for their inability to evolve at the speed of companies like Google, state antitrust regulators have suggested that emerging technologies like Ajax and companies like Mozilla and Google are not threats to Microsoft in the Operating System and browser markets. Another company that was taken down a peg was Apple - In spite of the advantages of arguably superior products and missteps by Microsoft, Apple has been unable to raise its share of the worldwide installed base of PCs, hovering near 3%.

WTF?! While there is some truth to these statements, anyone who follows the Industry would likely disagree. Apple, Mozilla, and Google have all been gaining ground on Microsoft, and I would be so bold as to suggest that these companies are gaining speed while Microsoft continues to flounder. Microsoft may be its own worst enemy, with release of Vista being suggested as one of the worst products in history, but I’d never suggest that the companies named pose no threat to Microsoft.

The title almost speaks for itself, doesn’t it? In the last few months, I’ve felt a certain disconnect from the events and happenings of the local Tech Industry, and perhaps not having heard anything about this is a sign that I truly am out of touch - or it means that this was a fairly well kept secret and such things aren’t meant to be found out as rumours or in blogs. I’m sure the move will bode well for both companies. From the PRWEB Release:

Web design and development firm Raincity Studios has agreed to acquire long-time partner Bryght in a deal announced November 20, 2007.

The expanded company will continue to create custom web applications and community websites as well as offering hosting and infrastructure support and services to clients around the world. Robert Scales, Raincity Studios’ Founder and CEO says, “Adding the Bryght team’s deep technology expertise in open source and new media is a key step in growing our vision of an open and international company.”

Congratulations and good luck to everyone involved!