More often than not, seniors, perhaps with eyesight problems or limited manual dexterity, are limited in the activities they can undertake on the internet. They face serious obstacles, not because of a lack of desire or understanding of modern information and communications technology, but because the software and hardware they need to use to access ICT tools are generally designed by younger people for younger and do not take into consideration the problems would be silver surfers might face.

The researchers have investigated the degree to which many elderly people are marginalized by modern technology. What fit, youngsters enjoy as slick touch screens and tiny keyboards often represent an insurmountable barrier to many other users. It is, of course, an issue that can face anyone with a disability or health problem, whether young or old, but is particularly apparent to the growing sector of society represented by the elderly.

“The elderly represent an increasing proportion of the population, yet scant attention has been paid to them in terms of access and use of ICT related products,” the team explains in the International Journal Intercultural Information Management.

To put it another way, it’s all very well handing over the keys to a new car* to someone, but if their feet don’t reach the pedals or they cannot see over the steering wheel, it is useless technology to them. Unless they hire a chauffeur, of course.

A few elderly have access to a digital chauffer (sometimes a grandchild). But, more often than not, in an increasingly fragmented society where family ties are not quite as strong as the ties that bind Twitter buddies, this is often not the case. Moreover, it is not necessarily technical skills that are lacking, while the desire for independence is as strong as ever.

McMurtrey and colleagues suggest that finding ways to remove the obstacles to ICT use for seniors is not an issue the industry should ignore. Indeed, given the shifting demographic towards a greater and greater proportion of people living well beyond retirement age thanks to medical advances and improved nutrition** forward-thinking manufacturers of hardware and software should see that the senior sector of society represents a potentially rapidly expanding market.

Many elderly have more resources than their younger counterparts that they can spend on ICT. If products tailored to seniors and their specific needs are designed a readymade market of eager silver surfers awaits. For the wily marketer, disenfranchised could become franchised quite readily. But, it is more than that, of course.

“Ignoring our seniors contributes to the so-called ‘grey digital divide’ between older and younger computer users,” the researchers say. It is not just about improving their quality of life, it is not just about cashing in on a new market, it is about giving everyone the opportunity to take part and reap the rewards of the digital age.

McMurtrey, M., McGaughey, R., & Downey, J. (2009). Seniors and information technology: A potential goldmine of opportunity? International Journal of Intercultural Information Management, 1 (3) DOI: 10.1504/IJIIM.2009.025371

*Increasingly limited options given GM’s current status of course

**Unfortunately something some young ICT users seem to want to reverse through burger and cola addiction.

The simplest and most insidious form of spyware are so-called “cookies” although not all cookies are bad. These tiny pieces of computer code are loaded into your browser when you visit a site. They are usually required to let you login to an ecommerce site, such as Amazon, or a social networking site like Facebook. They are a necessary evil in such cases, without them login would not necessarily work, but they also allow the owners of various sites to track your browsing on that site.

At worst, however, a cookie might be planted by a less than ethical site that traces your activity across different sites. Modern browsers have built in controls that allow you to control which sites can install cookies. They also let you automatically delete cookies when you close your browser and retain the ones you need on an ad hoc basis.

Spyware, however, is more than crumbling cookies. When the term was first coined in the 1990s it usually referred to a small program that was installed on your computer when you installed another program, such as a freeware or shareware drawing package, text editor, or other application.

Examples of programs that contain spyware include: Bonzi Buddy, Dope Wars, EDonkey2000, Grokster, Kazaa, Morpheus, RadLight, Sony’s Extended Copy Protection, WeatherBug, WildTangent, and SpyEagle. This is not a current or comprehensive list and many of these programs are no longer widely used.

These hidden programs can run in the background when you start your computer and send all kinds of information about your computer activity to a central server owned by the spyware creator.

Initially, such spyware may have been undesirable but it was not necessarily malicious, usually being used simply to gather information about consumer behavior and so produce more targeted advertising campaigns. However, the line between spyware and malicious software (malware) has become very blurred and malware is now commonly used by criminals to steal private information, such as bank details and logins, rather than simply spying on the websites you visit.

Indeed, malware of this kind can not only steal your personal and private data but can surreptitiously manipulate your computer, often without you even knowing anything is wrong. It might, for instance, install additional software or redirect your web searches to specific sites. Spyware/malware often changes computer settings, which can slow your connection speed, change your browser home page or add new and unwanted bookmarks to your favorites list. Occasionally, your computer may accumulate so much software that you lose Internet connectivity or functionality altogether. Rather than refer generically to spyware or malware, the term privacy-invasive software was coined.

As with most threats, there are now companies and organizations that have emerged to respond to the threat and address the problem. Anti-spyware software is now available, including the recommended Spybot S&D (don’t be put off by the old-fashioned website, this is a powerful tool), Adaware (don’t be put off by the cheesy photos and marketspeak, this is also a powerful tool), and Microsoft’s Malicious Software removal tool (this time, don’t be put off by the fact that it’s a Microsoft freebie, for once they got something right with this application). Oh, there’s also SuperAntiSpyware, which sounds pathetically naff, but is very powerful.

Keenly priced security suites, from Zone Labs and Mcafee, and AVG, represent good value as they provide antispyware, firewall, and antivirus all in one package. My only reservation about recommending a suite rather than using three distinct products for each category is that if the suite is compromised by malicious software, then all your security is disabled at the same time. Three distinct products for firewall, virus, and spyware, has the potential to keep you protected on two fronts even if the third is breached and you may have time to reinstall and get re-protected before serious harm is done.

Many antispyware tools are free for personal use. But, be warned, unknown popup windows that appear on your computer are usually themselves spyware and entice you to run checks and download antispyware tools. Do not click them, your computer will be infected with worse still. With some of these popups clicking the X to close the box may trigger a cascade of infection events.

The following is a list of “products” that claim to protect and serve, but are themselves malware. DO NOT INSTALL any of these, no matter how credible the advertising, popup box or whatever that suggests you do may seem.

According to Daniel Garrie formerly of CRA International, in New York, spyware has reached epidemic proportions. “Spyware poses a serious threat of privacy infringement to unassuming internet users across the globe,” he says. Of course, the likes of Phorm and other corporate spyware being tested and run by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offers an even more insidious and perhaps inescapable threat to privacy. By the way, Phorm and its ilk are referred to euphemistically by the industry as “behavioural advertising companies”. Spies. Here are a few alleged…ahem…behavioural advertisers:

Predicta BT, AdLINK 360, Adaptlogic, Avail, Boomerang, Criteo, DoubleClick (prior to 2002), Leiki, nugg.ad, prudsys, ValueClick, and wunderloop.

These tools monitor your web surfing habits and send information back to the ISP and its collaborators for market research purposes and so that the company can then provide targeted advertising.

Garrie explains that existing European legislation attempts to protect end-users from unethical processing of their personal data. However, he suggests that the technology used in spyware should be outlawed globally, which echoes recent pleas from Chinese researchers to help counter cybercrime at the international level rather than focusing on national defense.

Unfortunately, on the corporate front at least, that is looking unlikely as the FTC in the US is discussing “self-regulation” of the behavioral marketing business and the UK government has just this week announced that it will not investigate Phorm.

Daniel B. Garrie (2009). Spyware and national privacy laws: consumer education is empowerment Int. J. Intercultural Information Management, 1 (2), 177-190

Related Spyware news

• More Malware on its Way – Protect Yourself (chris.pirillo.com)
• How Do I Protect Against Botnet Infections? (lockergnome.com)
• Top 5 Security Tips (white paper ad) (messagelabs)
• The Riskiest Search Terms On The Internet | WebProNews (menson.wordpress.com)
• Malware – Hate to be Correct (chris.pirillo.com)
• 3 Tools to Test Run your AntiVirus/Spyware Program (makeuseof.com)

SciScoop published a news item about a powerful forensics tool for investigating the contents of the XBox gaming console. The story was picked up widely by the media, featuring subsequently on Discover.com, ScienceDaily, TechRadar, Gizmag, Escapist Magazine, and countless blogs.

The ensuing discussion about the value of such a tool seems to have homed in on the fact that “hacker” tools have been available for many years allowing gamers to tweak and twiddle with the innards of their Xbox hard disk. One commentator went so far as to claim that the research into the Xbox forensics kit was a waste of research dollars. Of course, it isn’t. The following post from the tool’s developer David Collins, at the Department of Computer Science, Sam Houston State University, Texas, explains why not.

The defining difference between XFT and other “hacking” tools is that XFT is designed with the specific purpose of doing forensics on the Xbox; the other tools are not. This may seem to one who is not involved in computer forensics like an insignificant distinction, but is not. XFT is being developed as a fully functional forensic tool. This entails recovery of deleted files, support of hash databases, recovery of data from file and volume slack, robust searching, logging, etc.

Tools like 360Xplorer and other hacking or general purpose file browser tools do not support this functionality, i.e. they are not designed as forensic tools. This is not an attack on those tools or a denial that they exist, simply it is a fact that there is a very important difference, forensically speaking.

Another note: evidence obtained from a suspect hard drive must hold up in a court of law. Do we really want to be doing forensics and writing reports on findings based on evidence obtained with a tool downloaded from a hacker web site? XFT addresses the analysis and legal issues that go hand in hand with computer forensics.

I have received significant feedback from law enforcement about this tool. These guys deal with these issues every day, and the ones who have contacted me understand the need for this tool. These are the people I am concerned with and these are the people I listen to when developing forensic tools, not average gamer enthusiasts.

This work was inspired by and is supported by law enforcement across the US. I initially demonstrated XFT to a visiting group of law enforcement agents, who do computer forensics for a living, several years ago. It was received with much enthusiasm. As of today, I have received requests from the Texas State Attorney Generals Office, The FBI, The U.S. Defense Cybercrime Center, Texas state chapters of the HTCIA, and local and state law enforcement officers who are in the trenches doing forensics every day, and they see this tool as a valuable forensic resource.

I am pleased with the attention that this has received in that it has inspired some needed discussion and debate, but we need to set the record straight on the purpose of this tool and the need for this tool in forensics. This article has been “spun” on blog sites across the Internet in such a way that I think the intent is sometimes lost on the reader. This tool needs no spin; it is a necessary forensic application.

The Xbox ATA key can be easily retrieved without modding the Xbox and without removing the EEPROM chip. A simple ROM reader and a free utility (there are several) for unlocking the drive is all that is required. You can also let the Xbox boot and simply hot swap the write blocker onto the drive. I have used both of these methods succesfully, no mods and no chip removal or modification of the
console whatsoever.

One other thing to note; this is an issue for the original Xbox. If an investigator is examining an original Xbox he or she would need to first unlock the drive via one of the methods I described in my previous email. An Xbox 360 drive is not locked and this is a non-issue for those drives. Although the current version of XFT only works with the original Xbox, the release version will work with both.

In a newly released white paper, Intel suggests that new solar systems would be free of power cables and, of course, being wifi based would have no networking cables either. Such systems could be deployed in the field for countless applications from remote monitoring of earthquakes to patient checking diagnostics in their own home.

The white paper is presented by Bell Microproducts Inc. via SciScoop partner Sciencebase.com. Check it out, it describes different types of embedded solar-powered computing devices and provides design suggestions for Intel Atom processor-based platforms. It covers hardware and software practices for developing ultra-low power devices, and critically for the rapid and inexpensive development in this area, the open source software available to designers.

You can get a free copy here.

One of the main contributors for the marine component of Google Earth 5.0 was Sylvia Earle, a National Geographic Explorer in Residence and author of the book, Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas, it was from this publication that some of the Google Ocean content is derived.

You can download it from Google Earth

Now, I’m not jumping to his defense, but there’s also a line of semantics that seems to have been crossed here too. After all, how can self stimulation in front of a computer screen be described as sex? Presumably, at the base level he was simply masturbating. For it to be defined as sex, surely there has to be actual physical contact between the partners? I guess the word “pretending” in the original news item provides the clue. Come on guys, no matter how hard you try, cybersex ain’t real sex.

Or, am I being terribly old fashioned?

News

Personally, I don’t think any are particularly contrary or controersial. However, the most recent comment from “Lisa” claims that any other activity pursued with such zest would be labeled an obsession.

However, I think all these kinds of discussion miss one important point. Boys (and some girls) are obsessive. It’s in their nature, whether it’s obsessing about cars and flying (my son), football (his best friend), guitar (me), stamp collecting, trainspotting, religion, sport, food, booze, smoking, drugs, work, money…sex.

I think that’s what it almost always boils down to. Sex. We evolved to obsess as it seems to be a good way to become expert in a niche and that generally meant our hunter-gatherer-scavenger ancestors were able to create an environment conducive to finding a mate, keeping a mate, and mating. After all, it’s our genes that drive our instincts whether we like it or not and the rise of the ubergeek in recent years is going to see a boom of babies as these boys discover what it is their obsession is really all about.

These are just my off-the-cuff thoughts, you can read Wayne’s original post here: Video games are bad for kids?

Based on her work, Siegelmann believes that neural networks represent a “super-Turing” computer more comprehensive than even a hypothetical digital computer with unlimited resources. Long-term, Siegelmann said she hopes her model will open up completely new ways of thinking about computing.

Read the whole article – Analog computer trumps Turing model – for the full story

You can transfer images in a matter of seconds between two computers running the software and a 700 MB (about the size of a DivX movie file) transfer takes just quarter of an hour, depending on the computers’ speeds. The approach also allows network gaming without going via a router, meaning players can connect on an ad hoc basis without having to login to a secure wireless network wherever they are.

Not only is the practice cheating buyers out of a fair deal, but its growing prevalence is eroding user faith in online auctions. The practice is illegal in many countries and prohibited by eBay, Amazon etc.

Find out how the Southampton team plans to stop shill bidding using a simple tweak to the auctioneers’ pricing structure here.