Hackers; One Step Ahead of the Law

With the Rise of the Technology Age, emerges a new type of crime that no person or organization is safe from; Hackers. Everybody knows that hackers are out there with skills that can infiltrate the most secure internet sites. But the truth is, most people, with their busy schedules and tiresome lifestyles, do not care to pay much attention to the issue until they wake up one morning, check their online bank account statement, and notice that they have no more money in their funds. Most hacking, though, occurs against organizations confidential customer credit card information and are extorted. So the big question is, what can be done to fight against this type of criminal activity? Why is it that there are no major hackers on the nightly news being sent to jail? The truth is, hackers are more skilled in the business of computers and cyber-infrastructure than any law official specialists wil ever be. Some may even call it a world-class business. The tracks of a hacker can be covered up in a way where no trace can be found by a security system. The secret is speed and termination of the log files that are tagged onto their access to the websites. Cyber-crimes are always going to occurr, but the Government, local and federal, should know that the only way to fight fire is with fire. Employing skilled hacker teams would seem pretty weird since those are the type of people that they're trying to catch.

Future Laptops: Pentops?

NEC Design, Ltd. have created a new innovation of where portable PC's may go in the future. At the moment, a prototype of the product, in the shape of a simple-looking pen, is being tested in the NEC Design labs and was estimated to cost about $30,000 to develop. The device includes a virtual projection of a screen interface and a virtual keyboard (not solid) that the user interacts with. It is a new type of technology that NEC Design calls "Pen-style Personal Networking Gadget Package." Projection keyboards are offered by other companies such as Virtual Devices and Lumio. This new emerging technology is just a peek at what kinds of future innovations can arise from what we are accustomed to.
Some concerns a designer may have while developing would be the durability against all types of damages a regular pen may encounter. It is extremely expensive to develop, it should be able to survive being crushed, dropped, bent, and immersed in liquids, without being completely damaged. But the concept of having the size of a pen as your personal PC is pretty much the most innovative at the moment. It literally puts networking and customization right at your fingertips, just as laptops were for desktops.

Wikipedia being Sued by German Politican?

Wikipedia Germany had files charged against the site by a deputy leader of the Left Party, Katina Schubert, for the argument that the site contains too much Nazi Symbolism that has a particular focus towards the Hitler Youth Movement .
It is illegal to use any Nazi symbolism or imagery in Germany, except for the basis of educational purposes. Schubert argues that it is not an issue of restricting any freedom of speech, it is the issue of understanding what the limits are regarding to illegal contents. Despite the suit being filed against Wikipedia Germany, the comments were denied by the site. The situation brings back a familiar event of China and it's Google Problem in which China had banned particular topics and keyword searches that the country had deemed illegal to speak/learn about.
It is said that some neo-Nazis are conspiring against Wikipedia for the their version of portrayal of Nazi Symbolism. That is probably one main reason why Schubert filed suit against Wikipedia Germany.
Some may say though, that if the site clearly has no bias with the information that it hosts, that the problem lays with how the people use the information. Yet, on the other hand, one can argue that hosting a site that explains how to create a bomb--without bias--can truly have devastating affects to any society.

Another Way to view File-Sharing

It's no big mystery to see that file-sharing of music major music artists is very common and that the sharing has an adverse impact upon the total revenue of record sales. There have been many cases against companies that harbor file-sharing via Peer-to-Peer (P2P) connections, the most notable being Napster. Besides all of legalities, what affects would it have upon the artists themselves? As a famous and successful Rap artist, 50 Cent made a couple statements about the whole situation. He stated that the millions of fans that listen to his music would not like him any more or less, had his music been heard through a store-purchased record or illegally downloaded via the internet. 50 Cent says that the music industry evolves just as music does. What should be realized is the need for the industry to recognize the changes of the main revenue accrued is shifting from record sales to concerts and merchandise. The downside though, is that although the music is appreciated by his fans, it is harder for a younger audience to understand the whole development of the music artist, which is how they were able to reached the level of fame in the first place.
Although it may seem more of a morally controversial issue, illegally downloading music is just what it is. Yet problematic enough for almost everyone to do right from their home computer or any public internet access gateway. The best thing to do, according to 50 Cent, is to understand how the music industry doesn't have control over all music distribution and maximize all other means of the abilities of the artist to gain revenue.