Website & Internet Development

Tim Adams (The Observer) in his article ‘How the internet created an age of rage’, details his argument that the internet has created a cloak of anonymity, allowing its netizens the freedom (or deindividuation) to descend into new levels of hatred.

Here is an excerpt of the article:

“The worldwide web has made critics of us all. But with commenters able to hide behind a cloak of anonymity, the blog and chatroom have become forums for hatred and bile. … The psychologists call it ‘deindividuation.’ It’s what happens when social norms are withdrawn because identities are concealed. The classic deindividuation experiment concerned American children at Halloween. Trick-or-treaters were invited to take sweets left in the hall of a house on a table on which there was also a sum of money. When children arrived singly, and not wearing masks, only 8% of them stole any of the money. When they were in larger groups, with their identities concealed by fancy dress, that number rose to 80%. The combination of a faceless crowd and personal anonymity provoked individuals into breaking rules that under ‘normal’ circumstances they would not have considered. … One simple antidote to this seems to rest in the very old-fashioned idea of standing by your good name. Adopt a pseudonym and you are not putting much of yourself on the line. Put your name to something and your words are freighted with responsibility.”

For the full article, visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jul/24/internet-anonymity-trolling-tim-adams

Philip Zimbardo is an American Psychologist, best know for his work on the Stanford Prison Experiment. In this TED video, Philip presents  a seemingly positive message encapsulated within a disturbing view of human nature & psychology.

Warning: This video contains graphic imagery of a disturbing nature

Imagine you were one of the millions of account holders which were recently compromised when sony’s security was breached by hackers! It was not simply credit card details which were stolen, but personal details as well. Unfortunately, events like these are becoming increasingly common.

Protecting your online presence extends beyond simply thinking about what information you share on social media sites.  So what exactly can each of us do to ensure that we protect our privacy online? the answer to this is simple:

• Limit the personal information you reveal. Just because a website is asking for personal details, that doesnt mean you are obligated to provide that information. In fact, you make it easier for identity thieves when you make lots of information about yourself public.
• Think about how you are disposing of your personal documents – A shredder is a cost-effective way to safely destroy personal documents, and the resulting waste can be easily recycled or even used in the garden as mulch.
• Avoid making online purchases or checking banks or investment websites on a public Wi-Fi network (ie. free internet at mcdonalds or your favourite coffee shop, internet cafe’s etc).
• NEVER use the same passwords between websites. If the details from one website or organisation is compromised, then your banking and social media accounts such as facebook or twitter may also be compromised as well.
• Check online privacy settings so you are aware of how your information is used – Find out what someone else intends to do with your information, exercise your right to choose who sees your posts when social networking and ‘opt out’ of receiving marketing material from third parties (if you choose to).

For help choosing suitably strong passwords for your favourite websites, checkout the following youtube video titled ‘How to choose a strong password – simple tips for better security‘.

One would not have first thought that the amazing world of cicada spawning cycles and web design have anything in common at all. However, through this insightful article, Alex Walker shows us that irregularity in our designs can lead to beautiful solutions.

“when you notice a distinctive feature — for instance, a knot in some woodgrain — repeating at regular intervals, it really breaks the illusion of organic randomness. Maybe we borrow some ideas from cicadas to break that pattern?”

To read more, visit:
http://designfestival.com/the-cicada-principle-and-why-it-matters-to-web-designers/

MIT cognitive scientist Deb Roy, started a project five years ago, upon bringing his newborn son home from the hospital, to record his family’s movement and speech inside their house. Since then, Roy has used various techniques to analyze and distill the 200 terabytes of raw data into useful and interesting visualizations.

“For example, Roy was able to track the length of every sentence spoken to the child in which a particular word — like ‘water’ — was included. Right around the time the child started to say the word, what Roy calls the ‘word birth,’ something remarkable happened. ‘Caregiver speech dipped to a minimum and slowly ascended back out in complexity.’ In other words, when mom and dad and nanny first hear a child speaking a word, they unconsciously stress it by repeating it back to him all by itself or in very short sentences. Then as he gets the word, the sentences lengthen again. The infant shapes the caregivers’ behavior, the better to learn.”

Roy also compiled videos showing each time his son used certain words over a period of many months, clearly illustrating how those parts of the child’s linguistic capabilities evolved over time.

Click here for the full length article

An awe inspiring collection of some of the most creative examples of paper art! what can you make with paper?

For the full post, visit: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/masters-of-paper-art-and-paper-sculptures/

Thanks to a cross-post from jasco, I found a fascinating and thought-provoking article delving into the concept of deindividuation. According to wikipedia, Deindividation is ‘immersion in a group to the point at which the individual ceases to be seen as such‘ (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Deindividuation).

According to David RcRaney, the misconception is that ‘people who riot and loot are scum who were just looking for an excuse to steal and be violent’, where in fact the truth is that within a group ‘you are prone to losing your individuality and become absorbed into a hivemind under the right conditions’.

David McRaney writes:

Police and firefighters are well aware of this tendency for crowds to gather and taunt, and this is why they tape off potential suicide scenes and get the crowd out of shouting distance. The risk of a spontaneous cheering section goading a person into killing themselves is high when people in a group feel anonymous and are annoyed or angry. It only takes one person to get the crowd going. Those are the three ingredients – anonymity, group size and arousal. If you lose your sense of self, feel the power of a crowd and then get slammed by a powerful cue from the environment – your individuality may evaporate.

Within a crowd like this many will retain their sense of right and wrong. Some are able to maintain their composure. Many who witnessed these events felt terrible about what happened and condemned those who encouraged the jumpers, going so far as to condemn humanity itself after seeing such a dark display. What they didn’t realize, and what the people yelling didn’t anticipate, was the predictability and regularity of the behavior.

This is going to be hard to believe, but this sort of behavior could be inside you as well. Under the right circumstances, you too might yell “Jump!”

The full article is available via the URL:
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/02/10/deindividuation/

According to a recent article posted on the Globe and mail website:

In September, a privately held and highly secretive U.S. biotech company named Joule Unlimited received a patent for “a proprietary organism” – a genetically engineered cyanobacterium that produces liquid hydrocarbons: diesel fuel, jet fuel and gasoline. This breakthrough technology, the company says, will deliver renewable supplies of liquid fossil fuel almost anywhere on Earth, in essentially unlimited quantity and at an energy-cost equivalent of $30 (U.S.) a barrel of crude oil. It will deliver, the company says, “fossil fuels on demand.”

Whilst it is an obvious step forward in terms of technology and zero dependence of raw materials, agricultural land, crops (ie. ethanol) or fresh water, i’m not convinced this is a step in a positive environment-oriented direction. It is essentially (as the globe and mail suggested) liquid hydrocarbons on demand.

For the full article, go to:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/a-brave-new-world-of-fossil-fuels-on-demand/article1871149/

Phones may be getting smarter with virtual keyboards and fantastic new features, but they are no match for fat fingers!The website Damn You, Autocorrect collects the funniest and most embarrassing text messages you never meant to send. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some chicken to masturbate

Prey is an open source anti-theft solution for Mac, PCs & Phones. According to the official website:

“Prey lets you keep track of your phone or laptop at all times, and will help you find it if it ever gets lost or stolen. It’s lightweight, open source software, and free for anyone to use. And it just works.”

Some of its features include:

• 100% Geolocation aware
• Wifi Autoconnect
• Small footprint
• Full use of laptop / phone camera for evidence collection
• Allows access to screenshots of active sessions
• Keeps passwords and email safe
• Render the PC useless by fully locking it down
• Hardware scanner
• Self updating

To download or get more information about prey, visit:

http://preyproject.com/

There is also a youtube video available, which will take you through downloading, installing and configuring prey:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OomHeFt9j44