Found this on You Tube. I Laughed a Lot. Its Supposed to be a Cool Way to Learn Dewey Decimal System.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
What I am: a Statement
Well...
I am a librarian. I am a professional dedicated to bringing more information and exchange of information and ideas. I am a gate keeper. I am more than a gate keeper, I am of a culture and its history. I help to help other professionals work to a common goal, the idea of library as a philosophy and not simple a building or place where the books are.
I am an extension of those ideas. I am those ideas. I am also an individual with talents, who has given his professional ambitions to a common interest and not to personal goals alone. I write, I read, I play the guitar, I draw, and I live for learning about the world and share my love of learning with others.
I look on the profession of librarianship as a living experience which evolves to the purposes of its culture and champions that cultures finest values. I consider the role of the librarian central to all cultures who wish to prosper from reflection and exchange of thought. The thought of a world without us is impossible to me.
I believe in technology and its place in my profession and as a tool to create new opportunities to create physical and virtual environments for all users to enjoy and learn and discover in. I believe in the ability of this technology to keep me alive and dynamic as a learner and user of technology. I believe in its endless possibilities and not in limits.
I look on the world and celebrate its diversity and invite other professionals from other heritages and backgrounds, other races, religions, and cultures to come and share with me their thoughts on librarianship, and what it means to be a librarian to their people. I wish to learn from them.
I want to share with others my beliefs and inspirations. I want to share my ideas and be part of ideas like my own.
I want to learn and learn everyday, I want to be evolving like the needs of my patrons and to invite them to the dialogue of what they believe library and librarian is.
Any thoughts?
Monday, March 17, 2008
Stop that Man! He's too Advanced!
Who is In Charge Here?
The suspiciously thin, port-free laptop sends airport security into a tizzy, until cooler heads prevail.
Maybe it's time for some tech briefings at the TSA, no?On his blog, programmer Michael Nygard (by way of the Unofficial Apple Weblog) writes that during a recent trip through the airport, his solid-state MacBook Air stopped TSA agents—puzzled by its lack of rear-facing ports or a standard hard drive—in their tracks.
Nygard said the agents put him and his suspicious "device" in a holding cubicle as security staffers huddled nearby, looking at X-ray printouts of the sinister-looking Air and scratching their heads.
A younger TSA agent—who, apparently, was aware of Apple's newest laptop—tried explaining to the group that the Air uses solid-state memory in place of a traditional hard drive.
The senior staffer, however, was still reluctant to let it go: "New products on the market? They haven't been TSA approved. Probably shouldn't be permitted," Nygard writes.Finally, after booting up the Air and running a program, the agents let Nygard go, he said—but only after he'd missed his flight.
I've been hearing stories like these all too often, which leads to the question: how exactly are TSA agents being trained, anyway? How about, I dunno, some regular briefings on the latest gadgets that might be making their way through security checkpoints? And while TSA agents are wasting time fussing with laptops, undercover investigators with bomb parts in their bags have been sailing though security checkpoints. Anyone else out there get stopped by airport security because of a "suspicious" gadget in their luggage? Feel free to vent right here.
This story amazed me too. The spots on TV for these ultra thin notebooks have been splattered all over TV for months now. I suppose these particular security agents were acting with the best intention, I think this may have been a case of profiling, however.
A couple months back I sent a friend who works in a nearby library a list of the expected technical skills that a librarian should have. She was stunned by a long list of knowledge in operations, networking, hardware and trouble shooting, software, programming and markup languages, social software, the universe of gaming, and oh, yes, how to download on every piece of the latest cellphone or IPhone that every kid walks in with.
No trouble? Then your ahead of me. I cannot afford most of the toys out there today. And because we live in this seemingly beta mode of life, what was hot two months ago is as old as microfische. Or so it seems that way. As fast as it seems to be moving it also has a saturation point. At a certain point fascination with the new toy is given over to buyers remorse. Consider Windows Vista, and the IPhone. Both were pushed on a busy market and people lined up to get their's. Then all the nasty bugs, the unpleasant surprise when, for example, travelers using their IPhone got a nasty shock on reaching home. A bill for hundreds of dollars for surfing the Net on their new toy. The point is that human folly has a price. Error in programing, hidden fees, and a general disregard for the old axiom "Caveat emptor" will lead to misunderstanding. If you want to lead the pack it may you cost you more than you think.
If I could, I would live blissfully in the printed age. With my copy of the Golden Bough or sermons by John Donne I have the sweet and familiar footing and no roaming charges or threat of hackers. Nor do I have to worry about phishers, cookies, viruses, or my mother board blowing (the last having happened to me). Its just there.
But I am linked to computers because I live in the 21st century. I have a social need for them and they have come to represent in my consciousness a vital part of my link to the world around me. I could unplug them and go and live on an Island, but according to recent ads on TV you can get Internet access even on Gilligan's Island.
So what's the point of this? Well, I suppose to turn the damn thing off once and awhile, and go for a walk. Go to a cafe, or a bookstore. Go and see a movie or call someone up and invite them over for a home cooked meal or go out to dinner. Remember that they are here to serve us.
We should not become slaves to our technology. That is the old lesson that even tech savvy Jones' can learn. In some small way we are part of something else. Someone else is leading us around when we spend hours hammering away at a keyboard or shrieking when are hard drives crash. Who is the master is the question. Or:
Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to His Royal Highness
I am his Highness' dog at Kew;
Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?
--Alexander Pope
Any thoughts?
Here is a link to the story above:
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/14047
The suspiciously thin, port-free laptop sends airport security into a tizzy, until cooler heads prevail.
Maybe it's time for some tech briefings at the TSA, no?On his blog, programmer Michael Nygard (by way of the Unofficial Apple Weblog) writes that during a recent trip through the airport, his solid-state MacBook Air stopped TSA agents—puzzled by its lack of rear-facing ports or a standard hard drive—in their tracks.
Nygard said the agents put him and his suspicious "device" in a holding cubicle as security staffers huddled nearby, looking at X-ray printouts of the sinister-looking Air and scratching their heads.
A younger TSA agent—who, apparently, was aware of Apple's newest laptop—tried explaining to the group that the Air uses solid-state memory in place of a traditional hard drive.
The senior staffer, however, was still reluctant to let it go: "New products on the market? They haven't been TSA approved. Probably shouldn't be permitted," Nygard writes.Finally, after booting up the Air and running a program, the agents let Nygard go, he said—but only after he'd missed his flight.
I've been hearing stories like these all too often, which leads to the question: how exactly are TSA agents being trained, anyway? How about, I dunno, some regular briefings on the latest gadgets that might be making their way through security checkpoints? And while TSA agents are wasting time fussing with laptops, undercover investigators with bomb parts in their bags have been sailing though security checkpoints. Anyone else out there get stopped by airport security because of a "suspicious" gadget in their luggage? Feel free to vent right here.
This story amazed me too. The spots on TV for these ultra thin notebooks have been splattered all over TV for months now. I suppose these particular security agents were acting with the best intention, I think this may have been a case of profiling, however.
A couple months back I sent a friend who works in a nearby library a list of the expected technical skills that a librarian should have. She was stunned by a long list of knowledge in operations, networking, hardware and trouble shooting, software, programming and markup languages, social software, the universe of gaming, and oh, yes, how to download on every piece of the latest cellphone or IPhone that every kid walks in with.
No trouble? Then your ahead of me. I cannot afford most of the toys out there today. And because we live in this seemingly beta mode of life, what was hot two months ago is as old as microfische. Or so it seems that way. As fast as it seems to be moving it also has a saturation point. At a certain point fascination with the new toy is given over to buyers remorse. Consider Windows Vista, and the IPhone. Both were pushed on a busy market and people lined up to get their's. Then all the nasty bugs, the unpleasant surprise when, for example, travelers using their IPhone got a nasty shock on reaching home. A bill for hundreds of dollars for surfing the Net on their new toy. The point is that human folly has a price. Error in programing, hidden fees, and a general disregard for the old axiom "Caveat emptor" will lead to misunderstanding. If you want to lead the pack it may you cost you more than you think.
If I could, I would live blissfully in the printed age. With my copy of the Golden Bough or sermons by John Donne I have the sweet and familiar footing and no roaming charges or threat of hackers. Nor do I have to worry about phishers, cookies, viruses, or my mother board blowing (the last having happened to me). Its just there.
But I am linked to computers because I live in the 21st century. I have a social need for them and they have come to represent in my consciousness a vital part of my link to the world around me. I could unplug them and go and live on an Island, but according to recent ads on TV you can get Internet access even on Gilligan's Island.
So what's the point of this? Well, I suppose to turn the damn thing off once and awhile, and go for a walk. Go to a cafe, or a bookstore. Go and see a movie or call someone up and invite them over for a home cooked meal or go out to dinner. Remember that they are here to serve us.
We should not become slaves to our technology. That is the old lesson that even tech savvy Jones' can learn. In some small way we are part of something else. Someone else is leading us around when we spend hours hammering away at a keyboard or shrieking when are hard drives crash. Who is the master is the question. Or:
Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to His Royal Highness
I am his Highness' dog at Kew;
Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?
--Alexander Pope
Any thoughts?
Here is a link to the story above:
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/14047
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
You Educated?
You Tube Open Source Format a Boon for Free Exchange
The need for open source exchange software and formats is a great idea for teachers and librarians here is an example that is leading the way:
You Tube has opened up its application programming interfaces (APIs) to the world. This will let developers build what amounts to their own mini-YouTubes on their Web sites, blogs or Wikis.
"We now support upload, other write operations and internationalized standard feeds," wrote Stephanie Liu of the YouTube APIs and Tools Team on the YouTube blog.
Users will also get APIs for the video player and what's called a "chromeless player" -- a bare-bones player using Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) Shockwave Flash that can be customized and controlled with the player APIs to provide the look and feel the user wants.
Users get two types of authentication to control who logs into YouTube accounts on their Web sites, blogs or Wikis. One is AuthSub, for Web applications, where the Web application can acquire a secure token, and the other is ClientLogin, for installed applications.
The authentication capabilities let Website owners retain their users: "Your users can upload to YouTube, comment on videos, manipulate playlists and more all without leaving your site or app," Liu said.
So universities and schools can set up entire web universities that keep its users on sight and they will not be steered away to ads or bothered by unrelated content. Entire course loads of professors and there lectures can be posted.
Users can tag and comment, create favorite play lists and do everything else they can on You Tube on any site now.
Pretty cool, huh?
Any thoughts?
Here is the link to the story:
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/YouTube-Gives-Developers-Video-Takeout-Option-62093.html
The need for open source exchange software and formats is a great idea for teachers and librarians here is an example that is leading the way:
You Tube has opened up its application programming interfaces (APIs) to the world. This will let developers build what amounts to their own mini-YouTubes on their Web sites, blogs or Wikis.
"We now support upload, other write operations and internationalized standard feeds," wrote Stephanie Liu of the YouTube APIs and Tools Team on the YouTube blog.
Users will also get APIs for the video player and what's called a "chromeless player" -- a bare-bones player using Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) Shockwave Flash that can be customized and controlled with the player APIs to provide the look and feel the user wants.
Users get two types of authentication to control who logs into YouTube accounts on their Web sites, blogs or Wikis. One is AuthSub, for Web applications, where the Web application can acquire a secure token, and the other is ClientLogin, for installed applications.
The authentication capabilities let Website owners retain their users: "Your users can upload to YouTube, comment on videos, manipulate playlists and more all without leaving your site or app," Liu said.
So universities and schools can set up entire web universities that keep its users on sight and they will not be steered away to ads or bothered by unrelated content. Entire course loads of professors and there lectures can be posted.
Users can tag and comment, create favorite play lists and do everything else they can on You Tube on any site now.
Pretty cool, huh?
Any thoughts?
Here is the link to the story:
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/YouTube-Gives-Developers-Video-Takeout-Option-62093.html
Bigger and Bigger and Still Bigger
The Ever Expanding Digital Exchange
The "digital universe" of data was bigger than expected in 2007 and continuing to explode in size, according to a new study from IDC.
The study, sponsored by EMC (NYSE: EMC) and titled "The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe: An Updated Forecast of Worldwide Information Growth Through 2011," found that there were about 281 billion gigabytes (or 281 exabytes) in the digital universe in 2007, exceeding original estimates by about 10 percent.
With a compound annual growth rate of almost 60 percent, meanwhile, the digital universe is also growing faster than was previously thought, and is projected to increase tenfold over the next five years to reach nearly 1.8 zettabytes -- or 1,800 exabytes -- in 2011, the study's authors predicted.
"Society is already feeling the early effects of the world's digital information explosion," said Joe Tucci, chairman, president and CEO of EMC. "Organizations need to plan for the limitless opportunities to use information in new ways and for the challenges of information governance."
45 GB per Person
In 2007 the digital universe was equal to almost 45 gigabytes of digital information for every person on earth, IDC said, or the equivalent of more than 17 billion 8 GB iPhones.
Accelerated growth in worldwide shipments of digital cameras, digital surveillance cameras and digital televisions are among the factors behind the information explosion, IDC found.
Other fast-growing corners of the digital universe include those related to Internet access in emerging countries, sensor-based applications, data centers supporting "cloud computing" and social networks comprised of digital content created by many millions of online users, the study found.
The Digital Shadow
Of the wealth of data that exists about individuals, IDC found that the majority is now created by entities other than the individuals themselves, the study found.
"We discovered that only about half of your digital footprint is related to your individual actions -- taking pictures, sending e-mails, or making digital voice calls," explained John Gantz, chief research officer and senior vice president with IDC.
"The other half is what we call the 'digital shadow' -- information about you -- names in financial records, names on mailing lists, Web surfing histories or images taken of you by security cameras in airports or urban centers," Gantz added. "For the first time, your digital shadow is larger than the digital information you actively create about yourself."
New External Focus
With so much data in general and so much information about virtually every individual on the planet, security, privacy protection, reliability and legal compliance will all draw increased attention, IDC said.
For corporate IT departments, one of the biggest transitions will be from focusing purely on internally generated data to also managing data that comes from outside the company, Dave Reinsel, group vice president for storage and semiconductor research with IDC and a coauthor on the study, told TechNewsWorld.
"All of a sudden, companies providing structures for Web 2.0 or other service-oriented architectures are becoming custodians for someone else's data," Reinsel explained.
More Unstructured Data
Expiration concerns will be among those that emerge as a result, he said.
For example, "if a customer wants data deleted, it will have to be removed off the primary database but also through the entire infrastructure," he said.
An increasing proportion of unstructured data, meanwhile, will make it difficult to maintain relevancy, Reinsel added. "With structured data, it's nicely organized, but when it's unstructured, many times we don't even know where it is," he explained.
IDC also found that the number of individual information packets is growing even faster than the simple amount of information, Reinsel noted. "Managing that influx is going to be very difficult," he warned. "Companies will need protection schemes and good information management to understand what that data is."
Privacy Concerns
Privacy advocates, not surprisingly, worry about the effect of all this data on individual privacy.
"My big concern is that pretty soon these organizations that have collected so much information about us will know more about us than we do about ourselves," Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), told TechNewsWorld. "We need to start thinking about this, particularly as ID theft becomes more widespread."
Possible approaches to protecting privacy could include limiting the amount of data retained, making companies more transparent in the information they collect, and also making it more difficult for companies to collect it in the first place, Rotenberg said.
"We don't think the 'notice and choice' approach is correct," he added. "Information needs to be made less personally identifiable
After digesting this I felt like hiding under my favorite blanket in bed. You could get nervous just thinking too hard about it all.
With the ever increasing amount of surveillance that goes on in America today, and the increase of ways people who are dishonest may steel your private or sensitive information, it becomes a question of how can we regain some of the comforts of the printed world where there seem to be more privacy.
I think it goes beyond any one social trend or history of one particular kind or another. It seems to be an outcome of our need to find ourselves in the whirlwind of technology as it is. Social software is a grand marker of what we thought we should fear most, meaning that it makes things too easy and dangerous for our youths, and yet kids today are not given enough credit for understanding the technology or how it affects their own lives.
When it comes to the question of "Digital Shadows" and the like then it only seems to be a matter of common sense. You think of operating a computer as being one sided, yet there is an endless trail of information that is out there. Does that mean it is being used always? Certainly not! I think that as a matter of record it falls to the hands of individuals to think about there actions.
1. Use good sense. Avoid shopping on line if you can. Or, only use proven and known vendors and pay centers like Paypal for example.
2. If you do not want people to know things about you, don't do them online. Propriety is a matter of self control. If there is some personal information about you and your lifestyle, and you wish it to remain a secret then do it off line!
3. A good friend of mine is a banker advises me to do my banking in person at a branch and never online. She has related horror stories concerning identity theft. The funny thing is, she explains, sometimes it is not a complete stranger. Sometimes it is not someone phishing on line, but a neighbor digging through your trash! Lesson here: shred all financial document before tossing them out.
4. Don't assume that you have privacy anywhere in a public setting. Assume you are being watched. There are security cameras and people with phone cameras.
5. Information has changed itself. Everything seems to be up for grabs. Granted, this does not make it right or fair. The point, finally, is to use good sense.
Any thoughts?
Here is a link to the story:
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Study-Dark-Data-Shadow-Follows-Everyone-62096.html
The "digital universe" of data was bigger than expected in 2007 and continuing to explode in size, according to a new study from IDC.
The study, sponsored by EMC (NYSE: EMC) and titled "The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe: An Updated Forecast of Worldwide Information Growth Through 2011," found that there were about 281 billion gigabytes (or 281 exabytes) in the digital universe in 2007, exceeding original estimates by about 10 percent.
With a compound annual growth rate of almost 60 percent, meanwhile, the digital universe is also growing faster than was previously thought, and is projected to increase tenfold over the next five years to reach nearly 1.8 zettabytes -- or 1,800 exabytes -- in 2011, the study's authors predicted.
"Society is already feeling the early effects of the world's digital information explosion," said Joe Tucci, chairman, president and CEO of EMC. "Organizations need to plan for the limitless opportunities to use information in new ways and for the challenges of information governance."
45 GB per Person
In 2007 the digital universe was equal to almost 45 gigabytes of digital information for every person on earth, IDC said, or the equivalent of more than 17 billion 8 GB iPhones.
Accelerated growth in worldwide shipments of digital cameras, digital surveillance cameras and digital televisions are among the factors behind the information explosion, IDC found.
Other fast-growing corners of the digital universe include those related to Internet access in emerging countries, sensor-based applications, data centers supporting "cloud computing" and social networks comprised of digital content created by many millions of online users, the study found.
The Digital Shadow
Of the wealth of data that exists about individuals, IDC found that the majority is now created by entities other than the individuals themselves, the study found.
"We discovered that only about half of your digital footprint is related to your individual actions -- taking pictures, sending e-mails, or making digital voice calls," explained John Gantz, chief research officer and senior vice president with IDC.
"The other half is what we call the 'digital shadow' -- information about you -- names in financial records, names on mailing lists, Web surfing histories or images taken of you by security cameras in airports or urban centers," Gantz added. "For the first time, your digital shadow is larger than the digital information you actively create about yourself."
New External Focus
With so much data in general and so much information about virtually every individual on the planet, security, privacy protection, reliability and legal compliance will all draw increased attention, IDC said.
For corporate IT departments, one of the biggest transitions will be from focusing purely on internally generated data to also managing data that comes from outside the company, Dave Reinsel, group vice president for storage and semiconductor research with IDC and a coauthor on the study, told TechNewsWorld.
"All of a sudden, companies providing structures for Web 2.0 or other service-oriented architectures are becoming custodians for someone else's data," Reinsel explained.
More Unstructured Data
Expiration concerns will be among those that emerge as a result, he said.
For example, "if a customer wants data deleted, it will have to be removed off the primary database but also through the entire infrastructure," he said.
An increasing proportion of unstructured data, meanwhile, will make it difficult to maintain relevancy, Reinsel added. "With structured data, it's nicely organized, but when it's unstructured, many times we don't even know where it is," he explained.
IDC also found that the number of individual information packets is growing even faster than the simple amount of information, Reinsel noted. "Managing that influx is going to be very difficult," he warned. "Companies will need protection schemes and good information management to understand what that data is."
Privacy Concerns
Privacy advocates, not surprisingly, worry about the effect of all this data on individual privacy.
"My big concern is that pretty soon these organizations that have collected so much information about us will know more about us than we do about ourselves," Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), told TechNewsWorld. "We need to start thinking about this, particularly as ID theft becomes more widespread."
Possible approaches to protecting privacy could include limiting the amount of data retained, making companies more transparent in the information they collect, and also making it more difficult for companies to collect it in the first place, Rotenberg said.
"We don't think the 'notice and choice' approach is correct," he added. "Information needs to be made less personally identifiable
After digesting this I felt like hiding under my favorite blanket in bed. You could get nervous just thinking too hard about it all.
With the ever increasing amount of surveillance that goes on in America today, and the increase of ways people who are dishonest may steel your private or sensitive information, it becomes a question of how can we regain some of the comforts of the printed world where there seem to be more privacy.
I think it goes beyond any one social trend or history of one particular kind or another. It seems to be an outcome of our need to find ourselves in the whirlwind of technology as it is. Social software is a grand marker of what we thought we should fear most, meaning that it makes things too easy and dangerous for our youths, and yet kids today are not given enough credit for understanding the technology or how it affects their own lives.
When it comes to the question of "Digital Shadows" and the like then it only seems to be a matter of common sense. You think of operating a computer as being one sided, yet there is an endless trail of information that is out there. Does that mean it is being used always? Certainly not! I think that as a matter of record it falls to the hands of individuals to think about there actions.
1. Use good sense. Avoid shopping on line if you can. Or, only use proven and known vendors and pay centers like Paypal for example.
2. If you do not want people to know things about you, don't do them online. Propriety is a matter of self control. If there is some personal information about you and your lifestyle, and you wish it to remain a secret then do it off line!
3. A good friend of mine is a banker advises me to do my banking in person at a branch and never online. She has related horror stories concerning identity theft. The funny thing is, she explains, sometimes it is not a complete stranger. Sometimes it is not someone phishing on line, but a neighbor digging through your trash! Lesson here: shred all financial document before tossing them out.
4. Don't assume that you have privacy anywhere in a public setting. Assume you are being watched. There are security cameras and people with phone cameras.
5. Information has changed itself. Everything seems to be up for grabs. Granted, this does not make it right or fair. The point, finally, is to use good sense.
Any thoughts?
Here is a link to the story:
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Study-Dark-Data-Shadow-Follows-Everyone-62096.html
Monday, March 3, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
100 Posts! Wow Everyone Will be Thrilled!
100!
It helps not to have any social life. Never go out or go to work. Stop returning phone calls. Cancel subscriptions. Toss your TV out. Stumble on a blog page. Hmmm....you begin to wonder.
How has the world existed without the witty observations and profound insights that I alone can offer?
The answer is clear-IT CANNOT.
So without considering the time spent or the cutting and pasting, the long hours thinking of catch phrases and goofy titles, you dive in.
And then it happens. The great trickle. A nerve wracking, eye popping flood of comments. Prepare yourself: I get one or two comments. I know, don't these folks have a life? After all who is running the libraries?
At first it was hard, but I reminded myself that it was about ME ME ME ME ME ME! and then I felt better.
Plus I love being a librarian. I love it. Also, I want to be the center of the universe because I am afraid to die and think world domination is fun career choice. I will do it one library at a time! Ha ha ha!
OK, that is out of my system.
Sorry.
I can't figure out why more people don't adore me.
Guess I will just have to go back to posting news.
Later...
The Bloggable Librarian
It helps not to have any social life. Never go out or go to work. Stop returning phone calls. Cancel subscriptions. Toss your TV out. Stumble on a blog page. Hmmm....you begin to wonder.
How has the world existed without the witty observations and profound insights that I alone can offer?
The answer is clear-IT CANNOT.
So without considering the time spent or the cutting and pasting, the long hours thinking of catch phrases and goofy titles, you dive in.
And then it happens. The great trickle. A nerve wracking, eye popping flood of comments. Prepare yourself: I get one or two comments. I know, don't these folks have a life? After all who is running the libraries?
At first it was hard, but I reminded myself that it was about ME ME ME ME ME ME! and then I felt better.
Plus I love being a librarian. I love it. Also, I want to be the center of the universe because I am afraid to die and think world domination is fun career choice. I will do it one library at a time! Ha ha ha!
OK, that is out of my system.
Sorry.
I can't figure out why more people don't adore me.
Guess I will just have to go back to posting news.
Later...
The Bloggable Librarian
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Hacking You
Worthy of Hollywood, or at Least Cable Access Hijinks
For a couple of hours on Sunday last You Tube IP Address was hijacked. Below is a link for the stories. There is an excellent link in the article of this story marked "Time Line"(http://www.renesys.com/blog/2008/02/pakistan_hijacks_youtube_1.shtml).
The basics of this hack is that by order of the Pakistan Government false ads were put up by Pakistan Telecom. Pakistan Telecom responded by broadcasting the false claim that it was the correct route for 256 addresses in You Tube's 208.65.153.0 network space. Because that was a more specific destination than the true broadcast from You Tube saying it was home to 1,024 computers, within a few minutes traffic started flowing to the wrong place.
Within the space of less than a minute a large portion of You Tube traffic was sent off the trail to a dead end. To put this in simple terms legitimate hosts of the You Tube broadcasts were cut out by a bogus claim of Pakistan's ISP hosting the broadcasts.This is not the first time that such a quick switch has been accomplished (http://www.renesys.com/blog/2005/12/internetwide_nearcatastrophela.shtml).
The opinion is that measures should be in affect to double check all changes in addresses. One example suggested is the following: One way to handle this is for network providers to be automatically notified when the virtual location of an Internet address changes, which is what some researchers have suggested in the form of a "hijack alert system." Another is to treat broadcasts with changes of addresses as suspicious for 24 hours and then accept them as normal. Simple filtering of broadcasts may not always work because some networks provide connectivity to customers with thousands of different routes.
Probably the most extensive countermeasure would be a technology like Secure BGP, which uses encryption to verify which network providers own Internet addresses and are authorized to broadcast changes. But Secure BGP has been around in one form or another form since 1998, and is still not a widely-used standard, mostly because it adds complexity and routers that understand will add additional cost.If there is a way to fool people or disrupt service some people of a less democratic frame of mind will find it and use it.
When ideology clashes with human exchanges the result is often something as ugly as terrorism and in a very small way this is terrorism. Granted it is not the murder of innocents people, but it is a violation of the open concepts of the Internet and as librarians is just another in an endless list of reasons for librarians to be defenders and keeps of that which is virtual and not only the print.
Any thoughts?
Here is a link:
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9878655-7.html?tag=nefd.lede
For a couple of hours on Sunday last You Tube IP Address was hijacked. Below is a link for the stories. There is an excellent link in the article of this story marked "Time Line"(http://www.renesys.com/blog/2008/02/pakistan_hijacks_youtube_1.shtml).
The basics of this hack is that by order of the Pakistan Government false ads were put up by Pakistan Telecom. Pakistan Telecom responded by broadcasting the false claim that it was the correct route for 256 addresses in You Tube's 208.65.153.0 network space. Because that was a more specific destination than the true broadcast from You Tube saying it was home to 1,024 computers, within a few minutes traffic started flowing to the wrong place.
Within the space of less than a minute a large portion of You Tube traffic was sent off the trail to a dead end. To put this in simple terms legitimate hosts of the You Tube broadcasts were cut out by a bogus claim of Pakistan's ISP hosting the broadcasts.This is not the first time that such a quick switch has been accomplished (http://www.renesys.com/blog/2005/12/internetwide_nearcatastrophela.shtml).
The opinion is that measures should be in affect to double check all changes in addresses. One example suggested is the following: One way to handle this is for network providers to be automatically notified when the virtual location of an Internet address changes, which is what some researchers have suggested in the form of a "hijack alert system." Another is to treat broadcasts with changes of addresses as suspicious for 24 hours and then accept them as normal. Simple filtering of broadcasts may not always work because some networks provide connectivity to customers with thousands of different routes.
Probably the most extensive countermeasure would be a technology like Secure BGP, which uses encryption to verify which network providers own Internet addresses and are authorized to broadcast changes. But Secure BGP has been around in one form or another form since 1998, and is still not a widely-used standard, mostly because it adds complexity and routers that understand will add additional cost.If there is a way to fool people or disrupt service some people of a less democratic frame of mind will find it and use it.
When ideology clashes with human exchanges the result is often something as ugly as terrorism and in a very small way this is terrorism. Granted it is not the murder of innocents people, but it is a violation of the open concepts of the Internet and as librarians is just another in an endless list of reasons for librarians to be defenders and keeps of that which is virtual and not only the print.
Any thoughts?
Here is a link:
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9878655-7.html?tag=nefd.lede
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