Everyone Knows Your Name
August 10th, 2008
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Is MySpace Evil?
April 24th, 2008
In my technical adventures I am often asked by parents if there is a way to block MySpace from their PC so their children can not access it. Others will tell me that their children are not allowed to go to MySpace or other social networking sites. I often feel that this is mainly because people do not really know what is actually happening on this web site. You will mainly hear how teenagers will get in trouble and do things they shouldn’t on this site, but like most things you only hear the bad. In this article I am not going to tell you if you should let your child on MySpace or not, that is your decision. What I do want to do is help you make a more informed decision.
Let me state up front that I am not a MySpace power user. I actually do not use it that much. I only opened an account because a friend of mine got married and joined the military. He was stationed in Virginia. He started posting pictures on MySpace and I could only access them if I had an account. I have since found old friends that I had lost contact with and am able to keep up with other friends and family through this portal.
When you set up an account you give some personal information. The information you give is:
Email Address
Password (that you create)
First Name
Last Name
Country
State
Postal code
Birthday
Gender
You can, of course, lie about all of this except the email address. You will be sent an email that will have a link to click on to verify your identity. Be aware that this can be a yahoo or hotmail account. So, as you see, people CAN lie about who they are. For this example we are going to assume you are telling the truth.
After you set up your site you can give as much or as little information about yourself as you like. You can also set up your profile so that it can only be viewed by other members of MySpace. Another feature that I like is you can set up the account so people who “friend” you will have to actually know you – but more of that later. Then you set up a “name” that you can point other people to. Mine is 7ater. So my page is www.myspace.com/7ater
I’m going to go over what is on myspace step by step. You are welcome to go to my site to look at it, but I am also going to present screenshots if you would prefer not to go. There are two different sides of MySpace, the side you see when you log in and the public side. First we will look at the public side.
At the top you will see a banner add. From a tech point of view this is a very dangerous thing. MySpace sells this ad space to other companies. These ads can download harmful malware to your PC, especially if you click on it. Beware of these ads.
Then you will see the picture the person has used to identify themselves. MySpace tries to keep improper pictures off its site, but sometimes things you would not like to see can be posted. You may not particularly like mine.
Under that you will see links to that person’s pics and videos. These are things the person would like to share with others. I have seen spam sites set up where these links will redirect to other adult sites. These are usually taken down quickly by MySpace.
Next you will see the communication box. Here you can send a message to this person, request that they become one of your “friends”, IM (Instant Message) them and several other things. You will have to log onto MySpace to do these.
If you decide to make a person your “friend” and click on this link it will ask you if you are sure you want to make them your friend. This will send a message to the other user informing them of your request. The other person can accept or deny your request. If they accept then you will appear on their friends list and they will appear on yours. If the person has set it up you will be asked a person detail about the person to insure you actually know them. This is usually something like their last name or email address. I have mine set up where anyone can request to be my friend. This is dangerous as I have gotten lots of request from young attractive girls who I don’t know. When you go to their site they will invite me to visit their “other’ page that shows pictures MySpace does not allow. You have the ability to report them as spam if this is the case.
In the upper right corner you will see blog entries. This will be similar to what you are seeing now, just ramblings of the person and what they feel is important enough for everybody else to read. People use this in a number of ways. Bands will give updates on their tours or upcoming albums. People will update everybody on what they are doing or important events. A lot of people use this for those “forwards” like you get in email, you know… the ones where you have to repost them or you will suffer some awful fate, but if you do then you will meet the love of your life. Some people do not realize that when you post here everyone in your friends list can see this post when they log in…..
From here the layout is different on everybody’s page. I have a webpage and a blog (or two), so I don’t really put a lot here. There is a place called “About Me” where people put whatever information about themselves they want here. Some people will put quite a lot here. I choose to just put a Twitter applet here, it updates whenever I put something on Twitter (Twitter is another device that can be use to communicate to others). Then you have a place to put “Who I’d Like to Meet.” This is a place for people to describe who you are looking to meet out there in cyberspace. This is handy for people looking for new friends or relationships. I personally have put a Dilbert widget here. I am not really a sociable person, so this is actually who I’d like to meet.
Then you can embed all kinds of video and audio into your page. Most people will have the music they embed start when the page opens, so if you’re offended by any type of music you may want to mute your speakers.
You will see in this picture- that there is a place for more personal information. This is all voluntary and you put as much or as little as you wish. Again – there is nothing keeping people from putting false information here – so beware. You can also add apps or other “cute” stuff on your page. I have where you can play Duck hunt online.
You will see in this picture- that there is a place for more personal information. This is all voluntary and you put as much or as little as you wish. Again – there is nothing keeping people from putting false information here – so beware. You can also add apps or other “cute” stuff on your page. I have where you can play Duck hunt online.
Here is a list of comments others will leave for you. You can delete any comments that you would not like on your site.
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Now let’s look at what MySpace looks like when you log in
Again you will see ads at the top as well as all along the side. The same thing applies here, you click on it and you can compromise your PC. There are links to other parts of Myspace like TV and video shows. You can also customize your account, but we will not go into all of that.
You will see your friends status. Here your friends can let you know what kind of mood their in and post a brief blurb about what’s going on in their life.
You will also see the control panel to the left side. This can be used very similar to an e-mail system, but you can only communicate with other MySpace users. You can also maintain you account settings as well as maintain a calendar and address book. Then there are a list of other things you can do like play games, watch shows, look for jobs. And on and on and on.
In the center you can see you friend subscriptions. These are people you choose that you want to be updated when they do something on their page Like add pictures or music. You will only see the ones you choose.
To the right you will see a little applet where you can click and see some internet videos. There are a bunch of different kinds here, but they are generally no worse than PG-13
And that is what MySpace looks like. Is it evil? Not really. Can it be dangerous? Definitely! The problems I usually see as a tech is people clicking on the cute ads slapping the monkey or shooting the ninja. You will not get a free iPod, but you will get malware on your machine. I’ve seen very nasty things posted about other people and this can be devastating for a young person. And it is very very possible for predators to make contact with children and teens through MySpace. It is mostly unregulated and children as well as adults can get in to trouble here as well as any social website. However, if used with common sense and caution it can be a fun as well useful utility.
As I have said before and I will say it again, the best way to keep you children safe on the internet is to be involved in what they are doing. If your child has a MySpace, facebook or any other account in a social network make sure that you have their logon information so you can see what they are doing. A real good thing to do is get your own account and make the child your friend. Then you can monitor when the make updates. However, you can only see their private communications if you log in as them. It’s much like giving them the keys to the car – do you trust them? They may be good kids, but they may not be ready yet for the responsibility. But then again it may be time to let them drive themselves around. Parents have to make the decision themselves.
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Why Do I Get Spam?
April 23rd, 2008
Never post your e-mail anywhere on the Internet. Spammers often go to places on the web such as message boards and other public
forums and collect the e-mail addresses there. Also, every time you sign up for a “joke a day” or other newsletter there is a good chance that your e-mail address will be sold to these advertisers. To save you from having to delete these constantly, sign up for a second e-mail account. There are several free ones such as hotmail.com and yahoo.com. Use this as your address anytime you are not corresponding with your friends and family. Then every now and then check these accounts when you have the time to weed through the junk.
Always use the bcc: field when sending to multiple recipients. The bcc stands for “Blind Carbon Copy” and everyone who receives the
e-mail will not be able to see the other addresses you sent to. This will also help save your buddies if somebody forwards the e-mail to somebody else.
Remove all the header information before you forward. There are several cute stories, urban legends, prayers, poems and so forth that people want to share with everybody they know. If you want to forward these on to your friends be sure to delete all the information at the top that contains everybody else’s e-mail address. Unfortunately these are usually sent out by spammers in hopes that they will eventually get back to them with a list of new people they can flood with e-mails. This is why most of them will tell you forward to at least 10 people or your wish wont come true, you’ll have bad luck, or you don’t love God. In actuality, you are increasing the chances that you and your friends will receive unwanted e-mail. If the e-mail ask you to forward your e-mails so “we can see how many people see this” use your second e-mail or simply use just your name.
frustration. But remember, no one has perfected a way to eliminate ALL spam.
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