Internet

Charitable Giving Online Becoming the Trend: Infographic

August 5, 2023 by dave

Donating to charitable institutions has become fast and easy in recent years owing to the advancement in internet technology. Thanks to organizations that have established websites, online charitable giving is now made possible in just a few clicks. In 2010 alone, online giving experienced a surge although experts still see social giving to grow more in 2011-2012. The human service sector receives a large chunk of donations done online followed by health and public benefit, international, education, animal and environment, arts and religion. Specific charity websites were recipients of more than half of online donations in 2010. Other donors prefer to use certain sites including social networks that provide a list of various charities.

What Kind of Hacker Are You?

August 4, 2023 by noemi

Hacking and its proponents have been in the forefront lately, what with hacking “groups” being more active and aggressive in their activities. The general public probably does not have an accurate idea as to what hacking really entails and what hackers really are like. Then again, I think that I am correct to assume that you know a tad more than your average joe. You might even have an experience or two to back you up. If this is the case, then you will definitely be interested in finding out just what kind of hacker you are. (Using the term rather loosely, I know.)

Well, wonder no more as the guys at IEEE Spectrum ((Source)) have done their utmost best to provide the only hacking chart you’ll ever need. That is, a hacking chart that will help you determine whether you are involved in activities that are good, bad, or neutral.

This chart is the result of the consolidation of the 25 biggest (and best) stories about hacking that have been published at IEEE Spectrum. They took both the good (those who hack to express themselves creatively without doing harm to others) and the bad (motivation: money, power, politics, and mischief), and of course, the ones that fall in between. They identified two parameters: innovation and impact. Using these parameters, they came up with this chart.

In the chart above, you can see the complete range of hacking activities covered by the site. In case you only want to do good, here is a simplified version, with only the good hacks displayed.

You can visit the site and play around with the options (even though there are only three). Now, you have to realize that the chart has been created by people with their own perspectives and opinions, so you might not necessarily agree with their assessment of the activities. In any case, you are totally free to let them know what you think about their assessment.

The bigger question is this: given that chart, where do you think your activities (if any) fall? Care to share?

Four Steps to Going to the Dark Side (of the Internet)

August 1, 2023 by noemi

The recent spate of hacker attacks on high profile web sites have spawned a renewed interest in the “dark side of the Internet” – if the interest has waned at all. I don’t know much about being a hacker except for what I hear from other people and what I read online. And if there is one interesting article that you ought to read on hackers and hacking, it’s this recent one published on the BBC by Jane Wakefield.

Now I don’t know just how accurate the details are, but coming from BBC, one would expect the article to be well-researched and verified. So if you want to go over to the dark side of the Internet – not that I am encouraging you to – there are four steps to follow. ((Source: BBC))

Start lurking in different underground hacking forums.
Become an active participant in topics.
Bring some ‘proof’ of what you’ve said – for example ‘I’m posting for free five credentials to Paypal. Want more? Call me up!’.
Earn a reputation and you’re in.

I don’t know if there are any of you out there who will verify these steps, but go ahead and start a discussion if you wish!

The article also covers the “human” side to hackers. They’re secretive but social – as long as they operate within their circles, I suppose. They also like to talk philosophy, apparently, and they are keen on literature. They’re also a collaborative community, with a structure akin to the mafia.

If anything, this article makes one’s interest level spike as to what the life of a hacker really is. What makes them tick? What makes them do what they do?

Photo via The Tech Herald

Les Paul Google Doodle – Cool BUT Costly!

August 1, 2023 by noemi

So last week, how much time did you spend playing with the Les Paul Google Doodle? Arguably, that Doodle is the second best that Google has come up with. I personally prefer the Pac-Man Doodle although it seemed to me that more people voiced out their appreciation of the more recent Doodle.

And it also seems that more people spent time actually staying on Google’s home page – not to do anything else but play with the virtual guitar and record their handiwork! According to ExtremeTech ((ExtremeTech)), the “simple” Doodle cost the world a whopping 10.7 million man hours. Imagine countless people stopping work to play their favorite tune using the Doodle. Imagine the same people conducting searches to find out which strings to “pluck” in order to get their desired tone. It’s easy to understand just how many hours were spent playing on the guitar all over the world.

Now let’s talk money. Those 10.7 million man hours – how much does that cost? Working on the assumption that the average Google user earns $25 per hour, those hours translate to $268 million. Oh please don’t let the executives read these figures or they just might ban Google. Then again, who is to say that those executives didn’t spend their fair share of time on the Les Paul?

And speaking of money, the Doodle didn’t come free for Google. The guys at ExtremeTech seem to love doing math, so they went ahead and calculated the cost of the Les Paul Doodle – a mere $15,000. Well, it’s not a small sum but comparing it to the cost in productivity, it’s a drop in the bucket.

Google, you may be a productivity killer at times, but you still rock!

The Evolution of Bloggers

July 23, 2023 by noemi

Do you consider yourself a blogger? To be honest, blogging (and all other derivatives of the word) is an overused term, and you may find a lot of people hard-pressed when asked to give a clear definition of what blogging is. One thing is for sure, what started as an online extension of one’s personal journal/diary has gone through a lot of changes. Blogging has indeed come a long way.

In case you’re into in all things “blogging”, here’s an interesting infographic about the evolution of bloggers – the people behind these things we call blogs.

Note: The info is focused on the UK. Click for a bigger image.

Significant stats include:

There are more male bloggers than female bloggers: 2/3 of all bloggers are male.
Not a lot of people read blogs – only 13% of Brits. Now the question is, do all the people included in the stats know what blogs are?
Not a lot of people blog – only 2% of UK Internet users.