Life lessons from exciting film on Facebook founder & world's youngest billionaire Mark Zuckerberg

An article by Wilson Lee Flores

Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally. - David Frost

Life is nothing without friendship. - Marcus Tullius Cicero

Instead of indicating that you "like", will "accept" and "friend" the Hollywood film The Social Network, the author of this article urges you to turn off your Facebook and your computer, go to the cinema and watch this surprisingly excellent, well-crafted, funny, witty and immensely entertaining movie about the enigmatic founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg.

Here are some life lessons learned from this movie:

• People yearn for true friendships.
• Dream big and think long-term.
• Ideas change the world.
• Invest wisely.
• Be "cool".
• Be kind to all, never underestimate anyone.
• Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.
• Have passion!
• No matter who we are or become, don't be an a-hole!

Zuckerberg is incredibly smart, driven, hardworking, wily and eventually successful, yet his weaknesses, as shown in this movie at least, his often being too self-centered and lacking a balanced life. His remarkable success and personal pathos should be a reminder to those among us who may have forgotten the correct priorities in life.

Read the full article here.

Five Ways the iPad Will Improve Teaching

By Steve Goldenberg (Interfolio) – Apr 22, 2010

As an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business and the CEO of Interfolio, I know that there’s nothing worse than teaching a class or presenting an initiative than looking out to see not one set of eyes looking back at you; everyone is staring blankly at their laptop screen. As if this wasn't annoying enough, Apple recently introduced a new product that is destined to end up in the hands of many students: the iPad.

If you're afraid that this new product is going to make a bad situation even worse, I'd like to offer some comfort. I believe it will be a boon to student learning and engagement and it will even help us all teach better. Here are five ways that the iPad is going to improve teaching:

It's active, not passive. Unlike a laptop, where you passively scroll through content, the iPad forces you into an active modality that feels much more engaging. For example, when browsing a web page, most people scroll with a mouse wheel to move down the page – a simple, single-finger movement. With the iPad, you "pinch", "flick", and "tap" your way to consume the information and connect more interactively with the content. Try it and you'll see what I mean.

It's a lot like paper. The new technology of the iPad was designed with an old technology in mind; paper. The screen has a ratio of 4:3, almost exactly like regular paper (US Letter size, anyway). This means that the content looks very much like it's on the printed page.

It's full of sensors. The iPad is filled with wonderful electronic sensors that will power some fascinating learning tools as developers build them. The tilt sensor would let a student "pour" chemicals in a chemistry class, for example. Some developes re-created Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland for the iPad in a way that truly underlines the value of the device for younger learners as well. It really is breathtaking and this video shows why.

It's single minded. On the iPad, any application you run takes over the full screen. So, when you launch your note-taking app for class it's the ONLY thing you see. It improves focus and makes it more difficult for our easily-distractable students and employees to browse away to Facebook.

The angle is better. Because of its design, the best way to use an iPad is flat on a table or tilted up at a slight angle, similarly to how you might prop up a book. This eliminates the physical and visual barrier that most laptops create between the students and teacher.

So, once your classroom or conference room is full of iPads, you will have a new challenge to overcome – eyes staring blankly at you instead of at the screen. Regardless of what we manage to come up with, I believe the iPad will provide an exciting new way to learn.

iPad tuleb ja õppimine võib hakata lastele meeldima!

Heidit Kaio (EE) – 22. oktoober 2010

Riigi raha eest koolilaste õpikute asendamine tahvelarvutitega muudaks õppimise lastele huvitavaks ja koolikotid kergeks.

Teisipäeva hommikul kaalus mu neljanda klassi tüdruku õpikute ja töövihikute pakk 1,8 kilo. Mulle meeldib mõte, et ta oleks oma kotti pannud hoopis 600 grammi kaaluva tahvelarvuti. Koolis avaneksid sellest talle vajalikud raamatud.

Kujutan ette tulevast keemiaõpikut ja seal Mendelejevi tabelit. Näpupuudutusega avaneb ekraanil pilt voolavast elavhõbedast, kõrval arvandmed. Liigutades näppu ekraanil nagu dirigent keppi, saab kullakamakat uurida eest ja tagant. Juttu võib kuulata kõrvaklappides või ise lugeda, olulisemaid kohti arvutis alla kriipsutada ning lisada märkmeid. Tekstile lisatud videoklipilt saab vaadata keemiakatseid. Sealsamas on ka ülesanded, mis tuleb lahendada otse tahvelarvutis. Siin on raamat ja töövihik üheskoos, vajalik on vaid ühendus internetiga.

See jutt pole ulme, vaid tänane päev – sellised tahvelarvutid on poes müügil 10 000 krooni eest, raamatud on veel ingliskeelsed. Esialgu on tahvelarvutid kallid, kooliõpikutena võiksid nad olla mõeldavad 2000- või 3000kroonistena. Siis pole ka hirmu, et vargad lapsi vidina pärast ründaksid.

Loe lähemalt.

Week 6: Ethics and Law in New Media

October 18-24

Topic 11: From Hacktivism to Cyberwar

Find and blog about an illustrative case of hacktivism.

What is hacktivism?

If hacking "as illegally breaking into computers" is assumed, then hacktivism could be defined as "the nonviolent use of illegal or legally ambiguous digital tools in pursuit of political ends. These tools include web site defacements, redirects, denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, information theft, web site parodies, virtual sit-ins, virtual sabotage, and software development. It is often understood as the writing of code to promote political ideology - promoting expressive politics, free speech, human rights, or information ethics. Hacktivism is a controversial term, and can often be misconstrued as cyberterrorism. What separates hacktivism from cyberterrorism is a distinctly political or social cause behind the "haction".

TheHacktivist.com: What is hacktivism?

An illustrative case of hacktivism on the almighty Echelon

Hacktivists attempted to disrupt Echelon (the international electronic communications surveillance network we learnt about in a previous lecture) by holding "Jam Echelon Day" (JED) on October 21, 1999. On the day, hacktivists attached large keyword lists to many messages, taking advantage of listservers and newsgroups to spread their keywords further. The idea was to give the Echelon computers so many "hits" they overloaded. It is not known whether JED was successful in actually jamming Echelon, although NSA computers were reported to have crashed "inexplicably" in early March, 2000. A second Jam Echelon Day (JEDII) was held in October 2000, however the idea never regained its initial popularity. JED was partly denial-of-service attack and partly agitprop.

Some recent hactions of hacktivism

On August 1, 2009. The Melbourne International Film Festival was forced to shut down its website after DDoS attacks by Chinese vigilantes, in response to Rebiya Kadeer's planned guest appearance, the screening of a film about her which is deemed "anti-China" by Chinese state media, and strong sentiments following the July 2009 Ürümqi riots. The hackers booked out all film sessions on its website, and replaced festival information with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans.

On February 10, 2010. Anonymous DDoS-attacked Australian government websites against the Australian governments attempt to filter the Internet.

On July 23, 2010. European Climate Exchange's website was targeted by hacktivists operating under the name of decocidio #ϴ. The website showed a spoof homepage for around 22 hours in an effort to promote the contention that carbon trading is a false solution to the climate crisis.

Topic 12: Social Engineering in Social Networks

Blog about a good case of social engineering. Formulate some measures which can reduce the effectiveness of social engineering attempts.

What is social engineering?

Social engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information, rather than by breaking in or using technical cracking techniques; essentially a fancier, more technical way of lying. While similar to a confidence trick or simple fraud, the term typically applies to trickery or deception for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or computer system access; in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-face with the victim.

The best way to obtain information in a social engineering attack is just to be friendly

One morning, a stranger walked into a Swiss Bank and walked out later having access to the entire corporate network. How was it done? By obtaining small amounts of information, bit by bit, from a number of different employees. First, he did research about the company for two days before even attempting to set foot on the premises. For example, he learned key employees' names by calling HR. Next, at the front-door he pretended to service the companies Lexmark printers, and the front-desk allowed him to access the building. When entering the third floor secured area, he had "lost" his identity badge, smiled, and a friendly employee opened the door. Once at the Lexmark printer, a wireless access point was placed on the local network. Thus, leaving the internal network to be accessed from the street, where some more criminals were waiting to gain access to the internal network. From there, they used common network hacking tools to elevate privileges and to gain super-user access on critical system.

E-mail can also be used for more direct means of gaining access to a system. For instance, mail attachments sent from someone of authenticity can carry viruses, worms and Trojan horses. A good example of this is the AOL hack. In that case, the attacker called AOL's tech support and spoke with the support person for an hour. During the conversation, the attacker mentioned that his car was for sale cheaply. The tech supporter was interested, so the attacker sent an e-mail attachment with a picture of the car. Instead of a car photo, the mail executed an exploit that created a backdoor connection out from AOL through the firewall. This allowed the attacker to remote control its victim.

Education is the only defense against social engineering attacks. Employees need to be educated about what a social engineering is and what to do if they are in certain situations.

Creating and maintaining a security-aware culture

Social engineering attacks are personal. Hackers understand that employees are often the weakest link in a security system - they are susceptible to trickery, and their varied responses can give attackers many opportunities for success. One of the greatest dangers of social engineering is that the attacks need not work against everyone. A single successful victim can provide enough information to trigger an attack that will affect an entire organization. Creating a security-aware culture requires the commitment of the executive staff, the involvement of all employees, and effective security policies and procedures for everyone tied to the organization, including vendors and partners.

Top-down security culture. Executive commitment is vital to a security-aware culture. When security awareness is emphasized by the top levels of management, employees are more likely to view security as a business enabler instead of a hindrance to productivity. An executive staff that takes the initiative to be informed and involved in security issues, rather than off-loading responsibility to a security team, will encourage a security culture that is collaborative, structured, and ingrained throughout the organization's processes and people.

Security-awareness training. Most employees do not cause security problems intentionally. Accessing unsecure websites, deploying unauthorized wireless access points, or falling victim to social-engineering ploys are common employee actions that result in security breaches. The best way to avoid unintentional security problems is to provide all employees with regular security-awareness training. This training must inform employees of new threats and refresh their understanding of how to identify and avoid social-engineering attacks. An annual seminar or occasional memo is not an effective approach; organizations must treat security-awareness training as a normal, enduring aspect of employment.

With proper training, every employee should understand the company's physical security measures, know how to handle and protect confidential data, and be able to recognize and respond appropriately to social-engineering attempts. Employees in higher risk positions for social-engineering attacks, such as help-desk staff and network administrators, may benefit from specialized training. An ongoing risk assessment that tests the resistance of employees to social-engineering attempts and techniques can help assess the validity of the training program and further raise security awareness.

Emma Loves Pink: The first Estonian e-book for children

Many of us probably haven't heard, but the first Estonian e-book for children has already been published. That happened soon after iPad came out in April 2010. The i-version of the book from the award-winning Estonian artist Piret Raud was published in cooperation with WingedChariot Press on 25 May 2010. The lovely app of a little hare is available for iPhone, iPod and iPad in Estonian, English and Japanese.

WingedChariot is a young British publisher of picturebooks and a pioneer in digital development of stories and pictures on various touchscreen handheld devices.

A charming story with stickers to play with

Welcome to Emma's fantasy world of pink. Join the adorable little hare as she takes you through an imaginative and comic catalogue of her favourite colour.



First review

I have twin girls who are almost four. The book is utterly charming and the young narrator is adorable and lovely. Keep up the good work.

Survey: Children like e-books, parents not so much

By Hillel Italie (AP) – Sep 28, 2010

NEW YORK – Children are ready to try e-books, with some thinking that a bigger selection of electronic texts would make reading for fun even more fun, according to a new study. But a solid majority of parents aren't planning to join the digital revolution.

The 2010 Kids and Family Reading Report, released Wednesday and commissioned by Scholastic Inc., offers a mixed portrait of e-books and families. Around six out of 10 of those between ages 9 and 17 say they're interested in reading on an electronic device such as the Kindle or the iPad. Around one out of three from the same age group say they'd read more "for fun" if more books were available on a digital reader.

Among the books that can't be downloaded: the "Harry Potter" series, published in the U.S. by Scholastic. J.K. Rowling has said she prefers her work to be read on paper.

The e-market has grown rapidly since 2007 and the launch of Amazon.com's Kindle device, from less than 1 percent of overall sales to between 5 to 10 percent, publishers say. But the new report is also the latest to show substantial resistance. Just 6 percent of parents surveyed have an electronic reading device, while 76 percent say they have no plans to buy one. Sixteen percent plan to have one within the following year.

In a recent Harris Poll of adults, 80 percent said they were not likely to get an e-reader.

"I'm not surprised to know that. I think we're still at the beginning of e-books," said Scholastic Book Club president Judy Newman, adding that the expense of digital devices was a likely problem for potential e-book fans.

The 2010 report shows, as other studies have, a decline in reading for fun as children grow older. More than half read for fun between ages 6 and 8, but the percentage drops to around 25 percent by ages 15 through 17 and just 20 percent for boys in that age group. Newman sees technology as both a problem and possible solution.

"We know that around age 8 children start to lose interest in reading," Newman says. "Obviously, digital media is competing for kids' attention. It's very important that we as publishers make sure we're engaging kids in reading for fun. There's an opportunity to use technology to engage kids. We can have great content presented in a digital way."

The Kids and Family report was compiled by the Harrison Group, a marketing and research consulting firm. The survey was conducted in the spring of 2010, with 1,045 children and 1,045 parents interviewed. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

The 2010 Kids and Family Reading Report

One in four children has read an eBook...

% of kids who have read a book on each device

Desktop computer 17%
Laptop computer or netbook 13%
Handheld device like an iPod Touch, PSP, cell phone, Nintendo DS, etc 8%
Electronic device made just for reading digital eBooks (like a Kindle, Nook, or Sony Reader) 7%
Apple iPad 3%

...and many more are interested in doing so.

% of kids (age 9–17) who are interested in reading a book on each device

Electronic device made just for reading digital eBooks (like a Kindle, Nook, or Sony Reader) 38%
Apple iPad 36%
Handheld device like an iPod Touch, PSP, cell phone, Nintendo DS, etc 34%
Laptop computer or netbook 32%
Desktop computer 30%

Highlighting unique and innovative educational uses of Apple's iPad

Browsing the web, I came across a WordPress site iPad in Schools. Michael Kaufman set up a blog to profile and highlight the use of Apple's iPad in schools. He plans on writing reviews of applications, showing the iPad in use, and feature unique and innovative educational experiences using the iPad.

Week 5: Ethics and Law in New Media

October 11-17

Topic 9: The Hacker Ethic in a Networked World

Browse The Jargon File. Write a small blog entry about a term/definition which was the most intriguing for you. Write a short analysis about the hacker ethic found in today's world (is it there or not, how much of it, etc).

It comes with no surprise, because this is what The File is all about, but the definition of hacker is what I found important to further explicate here. Contrary to the mainstream media use of hacker (someone who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer network or file, or a programmer who breaks into computer systems in order to steal or change or destroy information as a form of cyber-terrorism – TheFreeDictionary), the term hacker originally and authentically means someone who is proficient at using or programming a computer, who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary. They program enthusiastically (even obsessively) or simply enjoy programming rather than just theorizing about programming. The correct term for the malicious hacker described above is cracker. True hackers subscribe to a code of ethics, known as hacker ethic, and look down upon crackers. However, the code empowers "ethical" cracking. It may be one of the highest forms of hackerly courtesy to (a) break into a system, and then (b) explain to the sysop, preferably by email from a superuser account, exactly how it was done and how the hole can be plugged.

Almost all hackers are actively willing to share technical tricks, software, and (where possible) computing resources with other hackers. Huge cooperative networks such as Usenet, FidoNet and the Internet itself can function without central control because of this trait; they both rely on and reinforce a sense of community that may be hackerdom's most valuable intangible asset. True hacker ethic is essential in today's networked society to promote freedom of word and thought and resist censorship. As we learnt in previous lectures, if we pass a law that regulates information production too strictly, then we will have not only too little consumption of information today, but also too little production of new information for tomorrow (Yochai Benkler). Hacker money ethic says that hackers tend to view money as a means to something more valuable, not as a value per se. Many central things of today's infrastructure would have been impossible without it. The same applies to the future, the spread of technology can best continue with the best practice of hacker ethic. Though the values of hacker ethic have changed or evolved in time (as described in Himanen's book "The Hacker Ethic"), the code still exists and determines the hacker culture. Stephen Wozniak or "Woz" (famous for being the "other Steve" of Apple), Timothy Berners-Lee (credited with inventing the World Wide Web) and Linus Torvalds (best known for having initiated the development of the FOSS Linux kernel) are some excellent examples of ethical hackers (or white hats) in today's world.

I also enjoyed browsing the infamous Crunchly cartoons woven into The Jargon Lexicon. Some examples: an early space-cadet keyboard and a really serious case of drop-outs :)



Things hackers detest and avoid

All the works of Microsoft. Smurfs, Ewoks, and other forms of offensive cuteness. Bureaucracies. Stupid people. Easy listening music. Television (with occasional exceptions for cartoons, movies, and good SF like Star Trek classic or Babylon 5). Business suits. Dishonesty. Incompetence. Boredom. COBOL. BASIC. Character-based menu interfaces.

Topic 10: Different People, Digital World

Choose a minority group and describe how they can make use of Internet to reduce alienation and prejudice.

In the early days of the Internet, it was men that dominated the online landscape. Now women are driving a solid majority of Internet usage, being, however, still a minority group in the IT industry. Siobhan Chapman, nicknamed MicroChick, writes on Computerworld UK how women are shaping the web. Women, who make up less than half of the global online population, spend more time online and their behaviour varies wildly from men, especially when it comes to the social web.

Women engage in a host of social activities on the web, such as photo-sharing, gaming, video viewing and instant messaging. According to comScore recent global report on women's online usage, women spend 30% more time on social networking sites than men. They are more likely to use the Internet to stay in touch with friends, and spend an average of 16.3% of their online time per month on social networks. Women are also the primary drivers of online and group buying. "There is perhaps a misconception that women prefer to do more of their shopping in-store while men prefer the instant gratification of online shopping, but in fact that's simply not the case," concedes comScore analyst Andrew Lipsman. Furthermore, health sites show some of the largest overall differences in reach between female and male, with a nearly 6-point gap between global women and men.

Chapman admits the report struck a chord for her. "When my boyfriend goes online, he spends his time looking at football fixtures and the news. I'm more likely to look at fashion and cooking blogs, and fashion social networking sites like Lookbook.nu. The whole social aspect of the web is very attractive to me." There were some findings that raised her eyebrow though. The traditional view is that men are more likely to use the Internet for online titillation. However, comScore reveals online gambling and adult content websites are no longer the exclusive territory of men.

Talking about alienation and prejudice, how can women find help on the Internet? Minorities find ways to live their cultures online, they use it to discuss these cultures, to critique them and to pass their knowledge along to diaspora members hundreds of miles away. For example, The Pink Chaddi Campaign started to raise awareness of and protest the public sexual harassment of women in India. The site gained international press, and received messages of support from people of Indian origin, especially women, around the world. Minorities also use the Internet to find love. BharatMatrimony is one of the world's most successful matrimony portals (recognised as the Best Matrimony Website 2007 by PC WORLD), where Diaspora Indians and Indian nationals find husbands and wives practising the same culture. It is unashamed in its promotion of sharing a culture as a factor in a happy and successful marriage, something many of its users firmly believe. Sepiamutiny is another site, where mostly second-generation Indian Americans discuss their diverse cultural experiences, but also where Indian Diaspora members from across the world visit.

Social networking brings a whole new angle to this cultural dominance online as sites like Facebook offer users the tools to build 'mini-sites' on whatever cultural grouping they choose, reflecting their view of the world. "Lauded as a tool for social mobilisation, the web now offers affluent minorities space to air their views on their own terms, in their own voices. And in doing so is shattering stereotypes – the lascivious Latina is replaced with the intellectual Hispanic American, the demure Indian woman with an outspoken feminist, who has a penchant for channeling Steve Biko," writes Aneshree Naidoo on Memeburn, a website with a particular interest in technology trends in emerging markets.

Related news

Topics we've discussed. A news related to minority groups, cyberbullying and a network of support.

Facebook Forms "Network of Support" to Combat Anti-LGBT Cyberbullying

By Ben Parr (Mashable) – Oct 20, 2010

In order to combat anti-LGBT bullying, Facebook has announced that it is teaming up with MTV, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and others to form a "Network of Support" for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens.

The initiative is a follow-up to last week's partnership between Facebook and GLAAD, but goes several steps further by providing LGBT teens and their parents with information, resources and support to combat cyberbullying. The goal is for this "Network of Support" to help address issues the LGBT community faces in the online world. Read more »