via Are downloads really killing the music industry? Or is it something else?.
FaceBook Quizzes – Another Reason Facebook Suck
Yes, the people who write quizzes for Facebook are imbeciles.
Joke review boosts T-shirt sales
This sort of thing makes me love the Internet more.
“The Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt gave me a +10 resistance to energy attacks, +8 Strength… and I have successfully solved 7 crimes in my city”.
YouTube Is Out To Get Me
YouTube has implemented a three-phased attack to thoroughly rid me of any reason to ever talk nice about it again. They have succeeded.
Phase I – Google Search Drops My Site
It started in late December. I run a site called TheBestOfYouTube.com which is just a blog I use to feature random videos I find on YouTube. I write a little about them, and link to the video. No harm done, and this is completely acceptable (and encouraged through video embedding) by YouTube.
For two years, a search for “best of you tube” or “you tube best” would show my site either first or second in the search results. There is another site similar to mine (though more succesful) at bestofyoutube.com which would be right there at the top of the search results with me.
One day in late December, that all changed. I was nowhere to be found for those searches, but bestofyoutube.com was still there. If I searched Google for “thebestofyoutube.com” it would still show the site. Using Google’s Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics, it was revealed the site was still being indexed by Google.
There didn’t seem to be any sandboxing of my site, as it’s still findable, just not using those important keywords. Needless to say, my traffic dropped by about 85%, and thus my ad revenue fell with it. Curiously, in December, I had received my largest-ever payment from Adsense, as the site had been steadily gaining traffic the previous couple of months.
In case you were late to the meeting and didn’t hear, Google owns YouTube.
Was this a penalization of some sort by Google? Did the bestofyoutube.com guys do something to get my site unlisted for those keywords? I have no idea, and I have no idea how to figure it out. Either way, the fact that my site is still in Google’s index leads me to believe it was something that targeted me specifically.
Phase II – The Empire Strikes Back
On January 18, I received a letter from YouTube stating that Warner Music Group was claiming infringement on my “Star Wars on a Banjo” video. This was simply a video of me loosely interpreting the Star Wars theme on my banjo. It had been up for over 2 years, had garnered over 1.5 million views, and was featured on the front page of sites such as Fark.com and Metafilter.com. It led to me being interviewed by the local paper.
So they yanked it down, and I inquired about what to do on both Reddit.com and Metafilter.com. I received many varied responses, but the general consensus was that people were supportive of me, and that YouTube was overreacting.
Even though Warner claimed infringement, the video could easily be considered a parody, in which case it falls under fair use. Still, YouTube has to take things like this down if a copyright holder complains, just to protect themselves under the DMCA laws. The procedures state that it is now my turn to file a counter-claim, which might get my video back online if Warner doesn’t respond in 10 days.
I have filed the counter claim with YouTube, and am hoping to see the video return. Stay tuned.
Phase III – Shock and Awe
This morning, I got another email from YouTube. This time, they were letting me know that my Fingernail Collection video had been yanked for violating the YouTube Community Guidelines.
I guess that a video of someone licking fingernail clippings is considered a “shock” video. The funny thing is, in my opinion, it is completely ironic that people get grossed out by it. What is the difference between biting your fingernails while they are on your finger and merely touching your tongue to them when they are off your finger?
I just don’t get it.
The video has been up for nearly two years, and for this to happen just a few days after my Star Wars banjo video takedown got a lot of attention in the Internet press, seems too coincidental to me.
In Summary
I have been disheartened by all of this. I’ve always been a big fan of Google and their ventures (YouTube included), and to get the triple smackdown in three different areas has been quite demoralizing.
I do plan on contesting the Star Wars On A Banjo and fingernail video takedowns.
If the person at the other end of the line has an iota of reasoning abilities, they will hopefully see my point of view and put the videos back online.
I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this matter. Please comment!
Resurrection: Geekamongus.com
I decided to resurrect my old Geekamongus.com site. Instead of filling this personal site with loads of technical blog posts no one cares about, I thought I’d dedicate a site to computers, the Internet, security, and anything else geeky. It made sense to use Geekamongus.com to do this.
So, look forward to more posts about personal things and whatever I’m thinking about here, and head to Geekamongus.com for the geeky stuff.
I intend to keep the new site on a ‘lay person’ level, providing articles to help people with computers and the Internet. I figure there are a lot of people who could use free advice, and it makes it fulfilling to think I might be helping someone.
So go tell your friends!
Practical Security : Using Email on Public Wifi
In my revised capacity at my current job, I’ve been handling a lot of
security issues: hardening of systems, software, and processes. I’ve
also been studying for the Security+ certification, so needless to say,
security has been at the top of my mind the last 5 months, and I wish it
would be at least a little closer to the tops of the general public’s
mind.
I’m going to start a new series of blog posts here called Practical
Security in which I will pass on some of the more relevant best
practices relating to the typical internet user, in hopes of helping to
raise awareness amongst anyone who happens to read this blog. (Yes, all
4 of you).
Using Email on Public Wifi (and the high level of risks
therein)
Question:
How often do you stop at a coffee shop to check your email with your
laptop, or leech that open ‘linksys’ network while sitting at a traffic
light with your PDA to shoot off a quick note to your boss? OK, maybe
I’m the only one who does that at traffic lights, but you get my point.
If you have a portable device that can access the Internet, my guess is
that your answer is “quite often”.
Question:
How many of you have configured your email to use some sort of
encryption? (Cue the crickets chirping).
As this excellent StopDesign
article explains:
What you may not realize is how easy these low security settings
allow someone else on the same network to spy on the data passing around
on that network. Just because you’re the only person who can see your
laptop screen, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the only one who can see
the email message you just got from a friend. Just as easily as someone
could sit near you in a quiet cafe or library and overhear your entire
verbal conversation with another person, so could they “listen in” on
all the usernames, passwords, and messages passing to and from your
computer. (And everyone else’s computer for that matter.)
Kinda scary, huh? If you think about it, once they have your email
account password, it’s not too hard to go to your bank and generate a
“lost password” request, which will get sent to your email address,
which they now have control of. Or they might simply decide to send a
breakup letter to your boyfriend on your behalf if they are not feeling
so malicious. Or maybe they thought it would be funny to email your
boss and tell him how good he looks when he gets out of the shower.
By default, email is not secure!
Yes, this includes you, Mac user. Yes, this includes you,
Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail/AOL user.
Make sure your email is on a secure connection!
The Lowdown
If you use a webmail service such as Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Gmail, or the
like, make sure your web browser (Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox,
etc) is in “secure” mode by looking for the lock icon. Alternately (or
additionally), look at the address bar of your web browser to make sure
the address showing starts with https and not just http.
If you use Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Mac Mail, or any other
‘program’ on your computer to manage your email, there are ways to set
up these applications to run only on secure connections using SSL, TLS,
SSH, and other methods. You may need to consult your local IT guru or
read the rest of the StopDesign
article, or this well-written article entitled “5 Steps to Make Your Email Secure“.
Whatever you do, stop checking your email at Starbucks unless you know
it is secure!
Al Gore Did Not Create The Internet
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard people laugh about how Al Gore said he created the Internet. Not that I’m sticking up for him or anything, but he never really claimed to have invented the Internet, so it irks me when people perpetuate that myth.
As this cool Neatorama article entitled 10 Things You Should Know About the Internet explains, Gore actually had a hand in helping to legislate initiatives that allowed the Internet to proliferate, though he never claimed to have invented it. The article is well worth the read, as it explains a bunch of neato things that you should know about the “information superhighway” (a term that Gore actually <em>did</em> invent).
OMFG it’s WordPress for iPhone/Touch
Out of all the awesome, free applications (and the crappy ones too) I’ve been trying out in the new Apps Store with my iPod Touch, the best by far is the Worspress app. I’m using it now to write this post.
It supports tags, categories, editing previous posts, post status, images, AND multiple blogs. I was floored when I read all that, and am more floored now that I’m using it.
Wow is all I can say!
Thingitudes
Some random goodness to fill up your Sunday afternoon.
Ever wondered what this RSS stuff is all about? Venture over to Mashable’s “Ultimate RSS Toolbox“, then learn how to keep tabs on just about anything on the Internet as it happens.
And speaking of getting organized, I’ve been toying with Essential PIM the last week or so, and have found it working itself into my daily workflow. Even the free version is very robust, but I’m considering a purchase of the version that will let me run it off a USB drive.
I was pleased to find out that Sitescore thinks relatively well of this web site. Plug in your URL to see what might be keeping you from reaching as many people as possible.
If you find yourself with a nagging itch to play video games, then you must visit 100 of the Best Legal Free Full Version Games You Can Download Online.
Simple Spark is a nicely organized catalog of online web applications, ranging from free to subscription. It is easy to find an application to help you do anything from word processing to accounting to chatting with friends. Pretty slick in and of itself, and it leads you to all the fresh Web2.0 goodness (or crappiness, depending on your point of view).
Enjoy.
Links and News
According to W3Counter, which maintains a pretty good cross sampling of web site users (from what I’ve hear, anyway), the use of Firefox for web surfing has risen to an impressive 25%. That is so great to hear, as Internet Explorer is and continues to be the bane of web developers and designers everywhere. Good riddence, another 10% of IE users!
I have long been a scavenger for the best deals on items I am seeking to purchase. I was pleased to find one tool that encompasses many of the bargain-hunter sites I am used to visiting. Before you buy anything online, be sure to stop at Dealighted.com!
I discovered an excellent streaming radio station at pigradio.com. They play a delectible sampling of alternative and indie music. If you are into that sort of thing, then check it out.
More to come…