dragons_live

Class Assignment: Comments

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:40:15 GMT

I commented on two of my classmates bloggs:

Renee M

http://reneemee.livejournal.com/

and

Christina M

http://monmouth2011.blogspot.com/

about the Keyword Challenges.

Another Class Assignment (Edited)

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:29:59 GMT

For my Information Technology class I have to post a review of "challenges" that test your internet knowledge.

They are at: http://21cif.imsa.edu/tutorials/challenge/Q2Q/KeywordChallenge.swf

I did the "Great Wall Challenge", and the "Stamp Collectors Challenge both gave information which is meant to help people use and understand internet searches.

I personally found them to be boring and dull, but they could be helpful for some people.

Another Class Assignment

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:10:02 GMT

For my info tech class (IT100-12HY) I have to review an article called Phishing Game Aims to Teach Online Safety and the game it is about. The article text and inages of the game is below.

"Dealing with phishing attacks is no lighthearted matter, but preventing one before it happens can be. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) developed a Flash-based online game called Anti-Phishing Phil its creators hope will raise awareness about the scourge of phishing by making learning about prevention fun.

CMU researchers say more traditional anti-phishing measures such as eBay's spoof e-mail tutorial or even the FTC's phishing prevention guide are excellent but are often ignored by Web surfers. CMU researchers says its' Anti-Phishing Phil game is more apt to be used by Web surfers and therefore is a more effective tool in promoting safe surfing.

Go Phish

As a tiny fish in the big-bad ocean in Anti-Phishing Phil you swim around and eat legit Web addresses or reject phishy ones. You can also ask your "father" for advice. For every URL you devour or reject, an end-of-round synopsis explains why the URL was legit or a scam. Additionally, good ol' dad will school you between each round offering anti-phishing tips such as one which says plug questionable URLs into Google to see if they turn up authentic sites.

The game is simplistic. But despite its cartoon-ish style, Anti-Phishing Phil is a serious attempt to prevent Web users from falling for some of the most common phishing scams out there.

The Phil Effect

Developed by CMU's Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory, the game coincides with a CMU study (PDF) that found playing Anti-Phishing Phil was more effective at teaching people not to bite a phishing lure than traditional anti-phishing measures.

The CMU study consisted of showing two groups of people real and fake URLs and asking each group to determine the real ones. One group was trained by Anti-Phishing Phil and the other by more traditional anti-phishing training methods.

According to CMU user education is key to preventing phishing attacks. Researchers state people are often reluctant to read tutorials or training materials, such as eBay's spoof email tutorial or even the FTC's phishing prevention guide. Researchers are careful to point out both eBay and FTC's anti-phishing efforts are surprisingly effective, but only when people actually read them.

In the end, Anti-Phishing Phil hopes to be "an effective approach to user education," say researchers. CMU's CyLab will detail its entire study on eCrime research at a summit early next month."

Class Assignment: Internet Security Threat Report

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:53:24 GMT

For my Information Technology Class (IT100-12HY) I have to put a review and my thoughts on the Symantec Internet Security Threat Report.

The link is provided below:
http://www.symantec.com/business/theme.jsp?themeid=threatreport

The article, or the next installment of an ongoing series with Symantec, states:

“Today, the threat landscape is arguably more dynamic than ever. Identity theft is an increasingly prevalent security issue, particularly for organizations that store and manage information that could facilitate identity theft. Compromises that result in the loss of personal data could be quite costly, not only to the people whose identity may be at risk and their respective financial institutions, but also to the organization responsible for collecting the data.

Data breaches that lead to identity theft could damage an organization’s reputation, and undermine customer and institutional confidence in the organization. Underground economy servers are used by criminals and criminal organizations to sell stolen information, typically for subsequent use in identity theft. This data can include government-issued identification numbers (such as social security numbers), credit cards, bank cards, personal identification numbers (PINs), user accounts, and email address lists."

Class Assignment: "Nabbing Video Pirates: Who Needs Google?"

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:19:07 GMT

For my IT class I had to read an article titled:

"Nabbing Video Pirates: Who Needs Google?
YouTube is working on software to spot copyrighted postings, but content owners may not wait for—or want—the system it has in mind"
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2007/tc20071016_876447.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

Now I didn't find this article intrusting at all. This is mainly because I don't use YouTube and believe that YouTube is highly over rated.
Yet this was part of a class assignment so I read the article and will comment on it.
The article deals with a plan of YouTube to find and deal with copyrighted material. This comes as a response to companies demanding that copyrighted material be removed from YouTube. The article states that, "Content owners could insist that the clips be removed from a site, allow them to be viewed as a promotional vehicle, or even let the clips be shown with ads—creating revenue-sharing opportunities between the owner and the site."
Yet this new program to protect copyrighted material comes to late. Google has already come up with a system to find and remove copy righted material. Because of this, "Content owners could insist that the clips be removed from a site, allow them to be viewed as a promotional vehicle, or even let the clips be shown with ads—creating revenue-sharing opportunities between the owner and the site."

I believe that this issue is different then copyrighted music. This is because you cannot download and keep the copyrighted content that is shown on YouTube. You can only view it when you have the site open. But with copyrighted music you can download and keep the material. Since you can keep it and play the music as many times as you want their is no incentive for you to go and by the music from the production company. Downloading copyrighted music decreases the profits of the producers of that music. Yet when you view copyrighted content on YouTube you cannot keep the content, so their is an incentive to go and buy the copyrighted material. So their is no proven and lasting lose of profit for the produces of copyrighted material found on YouTube.

Terry Pratchett!!! :D

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:56:25 GMT

I love Terry Pratchett!!! He is my favorite author!!!
I think his best books are the ones about the Discworld. "It consists of a slightly convex disc (complete with edge-of-the-world drop-off and consequent waterfall) resting on the backs of four huge elephants which are in turn standing on the back of an enormous turtle, named Great A'Tuin, as it slowly swims through space." It is a world that parallels our own and Tarry Pratchett uses the discworld to point out the successes and flaws of our world.
I now have all the books he published in America and a few he didn't. :D
I just got the science of discworld books and good omens from a British book store, thebookdepositor.co.uk, and they have tons of books not published in America. They also offer free shipping so it makes up for the pound to dollar conversion.
I finished reading the science of discworld and it is so interesting. It has a story about the wizards of the unseen university (the UU) and their creation of round world (earth) mixed in with a satirical commentary on science and its development. It is a fun and thought provoking read.
Though I would not recommend for your first Terry Pratchett book to read. If you have never read Terry Pratchett and want to I would recommend the Am-morpork City Watch and Samuel Vines. It includes Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, Night Watch, Jingo, Feet of Clay, The Fifth Elephant, and Thud! They have the least magic and are personally my favorite.
I have just started reading good omens and so far it is amazing. It deals with a demon, who’s not so bad, and an angel, who is not so good, teaming up to stop the end of the world to save the world they have come to love. So to stop it they have taken up the role of “godfathers” to the antichrist so he wont destroy the world.

School

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 19:50:59 GMT

I am a student at Monmouth University

here is Wilson Hall. This is where the english department is. The other department buildings are nice and functional, but not as beautiful as Wilson Hall.

and I live in the worst building on campus, ELMWOOD HALL!

(picture will be put up later)

Some of you may know that the movie Annie was filmed at Monmouth University. But what some of you may not know is that the producers wanted to use the Elmwood dorms as a prison in the movie! Yet the school said no, to use a building as a mansion is good publicity for the school, but to use a building as a prison is not good publicity.

If you go to Monmouth leave me a message, and we can share horror stories of dorm life.

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:02:59 GMT

It is the begining of the spring semester and I have 18 credits and alot of work. So I won't be posting everyday. Maybe once a week.

Intro

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:58:02 GMT

Since this page will be partly about my political thoughts here is some information about me:

I am a Democrat, and proud of it.

I support and will vote for Hillary Clinton in the primary.

I am against the war in Iraq, it is hurting the american people and the american economy.

I believe "the war on terror" is too broad and gives the president to much power.

I believe that the Patriot Act was pushed forward to fast after 9/11 and violates the bill of rights.

I support gay marriage.

I support abortion and the right to choose.

I am against a ban on illegal immigration.

I am against gun ownership. I support the ban on assault weapons. I also believe the lettering of the 2^nd amendment, which doesn’t say anyone has the right to own a gun but that the militias (current day national guard) have a right to be armed.

These are just some of my political view, on the current major political topics. And I can and will defend my political views.

Creation

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:40:50 GMT

This is my new page and I think what my page will be about is random interesting facts and political knowledge and opinions.