http://mindofjay.com prepare for a brain dump Mon, 10 May 2010 00:48:39 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I was reading a post titled "Persistence Pays Parasites" about internet security by Cory Doctorow and it got me thinking how people are now perceiving more & more that shortened URLs are potential security risks, given the growing complexity of all the interwebs and all the angles that phishing attacks ... http://mindofjay.com/2010/05/09/making-shortened-urls-safe/ Even when you "opt out" of Facebook''s new "Like" button program, here's how Facebook still exploits your privacy. While you have the new feature of "Like Everything" or "Instant Personalization" (or whatever they're call it) set to "on", you will be alerted at least once per site whether you want to ... http://mindofjay.com/2010/04/22/how-facebook-will-be-exploiting-your-private-info-in-the-near-future/ I've been on an anti-Google tear recently (privately, Facebook, nothing really public).  The more time that goes by, and the more the company is observed, the more they are observed go against their self-proclaimed "don't be evil" creed. An example from about 7 months ago is a blog post by Matt ... http://mindofjay.com/2010/01/25/google-nofollow-like-an-evil-taunting-uncle/ I hope I'm not re-inventing someone else's wheel... While coding a new page design, I finally got fed up with calling external JavaScript code which would use any form of document.write() method, since the page won't "finish" loading from a client perspective until the JavaScript is finished being downloaded & executed.  ... http://mindofjay.com/2009/12/30/an-idea-for-speeding-up-web-page-loading/ Facebook recently updated their privacy features which were supposed to enhance member privacy, in particular who might be able to see you in the context of networks as well as who has access to see your friend list. One public relations issue they had was with the confusion of the description ... http://mindofjay.com/2009/12/12/why-facebook-privacy-settings-arent-as-private-as-you-think/ Right now I'm on Sprint.  After getting my new Acer Aspire One (AA1) super-mobile mini laptop, I went to sprint and upgraded my Pantech PX-500 broadband data card to a Sierra Wireless USB broadband data card.  Normally the card is $249.99 but I got it for $0 by extending my ... http://mindofjay.com/2008/11/21/why-i-wont-get-an-iphone-or-att/ I've been thinking about getting a "netbook" (sub-notebook) for a while, as a secondary laptop, and it's a good thing I waited because recently Acer has added a new product line called Acer Aspire One with versions utilizing non-solid-state drives (in other words, regular 2.5" hard drives) which allows them ... http://mindofjay.com/2008/11/12/aspiring-to-greatness/ It's been a long time coming.  It was hard the past 8 years to not have a huge feeling of disenchantment over what the US had become and what it was starting to become.  My family immigrated us here with the hope of unlimited opportunities, with the notion that ... http://mindofjay.com/2008/11/04/my-faith-in-my-country-is-renewed/ I got back home last night to a power outage. The whole building is out. Apparently some circuit on the main cross street nearby blew and LA DPW is working on it now. They said they would be done by 10am but it's after 1pm and still no power. ... http://mindofjay.com/2008/10/20/power-outage/ If you see this then I've successfully blogged using my phone. So, what kind of phone do I have? It's an HTC Apache, aka "PPC 6700" on Sprint. I'v got a clunky browser on it now, and I'll soon put Opera Mobile on it. http://mindofjay.com/2008/10/19/blogging-from-my-phone/