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Kids Online Too Much

Here are some shocking and surprising findings from a new survey:  1 in 3 parents say that “kids are online too much.” 

Hmmm.  I think the rest of the results of this survey go something like this:  “2 in 3 parents not paying attention.” 

Of course kids are online too much.  I suppose the next study we’ll see will show that “kids watch too much TV, don’t eat healthy foods, and hate going the dentist.” 

Add this to a long line of studies we didn’t need due to the findings being obvious and undisputed.  I mean, this study even comes from a nonprofit called Common Sense Media (that’s not a joke…that’s really their name).  Sheesh.  I wonder how much time and money this survey cost, because if it was $10 it was probably too much. 

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Convicted Hacker is a Geico Fan

This Information Week  article is called An Interview With A Convicted Hacker, and it’s pretty interesting.  First of all, the hacker in question is 23 years old.  I mean, wow.  To be only 23 and headed to federal prison…I think that’s quite an accomplishment (and why is it that hackers keep getting younger?  That kid who was the first to hack the iPhone was, like, 17). 

Secondly, this dude was part of a scam with VOIP phone services, and did most of the heavy lifting to pull things off.  Yet, he only netted $20,000 for his trouble.  Hey, somebody tell this kid that the local Waffle House pays management trainees almost twice that ($36,000).  Crime really doesn’t pay…at least not very well. 

Lastly, the hacker is quoted as saying, “It was so easy a caveman could do it.”  This makes me think he’s on Geico’s payroll to help push their series of cave man commercials (or ABC’s payroll, to help promote the show they are launching which is based on the Geico commercials).  But here’s the best thing you can get out of this article, and I quote this young felon:

“When you’ve got that many computers at your fingertips, you’d be surprised how many are insecure…I’d say 85% of them were misconfigured routers. They had the default passwords on them.”

People, the days of having default passwords on your computer, email accounts, servers, or wireless routers are over.  Don’t give some young whipper-snapper access to all your files just because you’re too lazy to change the password from “admin” to something more complicated. 

Actually,  Keith Rhodes, chief technologist at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, says it better than I ever could: 

“Default passwords are a silly problem,” said Rhodes, who is widely considered to be the federal government’s top hacker. “But they were able to take a silly flaw and turn it into a business. … It disappoints me, but I’m not surprised.”

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Google Earth Causes US Navy to Redesign “Swa...

One of my favorite new toys is Google Earth.  It gives us amazing aerial views of pretty much anywhere in the world–and it’s free! 

But a lot of buildings weren’t designed with the aerial view in mind.  Prior to Google Earth (and similar Windows Live Earth), these perspectives simply weren’t possible. 

The US Navy, for example, has a barracks building in Colorado that, when viewed from above, resembles the Nazi swastika.  The accidental resemblance was discovered recently by Google Earth users, and now the Navy is going to spend $600,000 remodeling and redesigning the structure. 

I don’t know what’s crazier here:  that someone has enough free time to go looking for offensively-shaped buildings on Google Earth, or that the government is going to spend over half a million dollars to fix something that is clearly not intentional and will be viewed only by bored air travelers and a few obsessive computer users?  You make the call. 

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Apple Kills Hotwired iPhones

Did you hack your iPhone so that you could use it on a non-AT&T carrier?  Yeah, well…it probably stopped working yesterday, didn’t it? 

Apple released an update for the iPhone yesterday that apparently included the company’s response to those users who decided to hack, basically making those hacked iPhones little more than a paper weight.  Those phones now receive an error message telling them they need an authentic SIM (Subscriber Identity Module). 

Now, in fairness to Apple, they warned users a week or so ago that this would happen, but most hacked iPhone fans thought it was just a bullying scare tactic.  Umm…not so much.  Moral of the story?  Don’t mess with Apple, they’re not kidding around. 

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Tech-Savvy Gepetto Creates Artificial Robot Boy

Meet Zeno.  He’s a lifelike robot. 

Granted, he can’t walk or talk yet, but his eyes can track and follow movement.  He’s 17 inches tall and he’s the first of a planned line of “social robots.” 

Eventually, though, robots like Zeno will be able to converse and interact fully with their human counterparts. 

So, yeah…if you want to socialize, but aren’t that into people…get yourself a 17-inch robot for companionship.  Somehow I don’t see this taking off.  But then again, both the “pet rock” and the “digi-pet” have been huge hits, so there’s probably more potential here than I might see.  You can read more about this fellow here.