CourseCast of the Week

Episode 0062, 08/16/2008

Title/Description: Geo-social networks, DNS in peril

Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the week, Episode 62, recorded August 16th, 2008.

This is Ken Baldauf bringing you this week's technology news and information.

This CourseCast is brought to you by Course Technology. Check out www.course.com for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions.

Story 1 - Geo-social Networks

Using GPS technology, cell phone technology, WiFi networks, and IP addresses, it’s become relatively easy to determine a person's location while "online" within at least a city block. Many new cell phones, including the very popular iPhone 3G come equipped with GPS capability. These cell phones are referred to as geo-aware devices. Many of the new iPhone Apps take advantage of that functionality to link your location information to Internet applications. There are Apps that provide you with information about your locale. They help you find your way around town or point you to nearby restaurants, places to shop, and fun things to do. Other Apps allow you to share your location with others. A program called Loopt uses location information to create a geo-aware social network. Users know where their friends are at all times, allowing them to more easily get together.

This week Yahoo released its "geo-aware" platform called Fire Eagle at fireeagle.yahoo.net. Fire Eagle provides a platform for users to record their location, either manually or using GPS, and distribute that information to friends through a variety of applications. Using Fire Eagle, location information can be shared through most of the popular social networking and blogging sites.

The obvious concern with "geo-aware" technologies is over privacy. You certainly wouldn't want everyone in the world knowing where you are at all times, especially the psychopathic stalkers. Geo-aware technologies address these concerns by providing options that allow you to specify the individuals with whom you wish to share your location information. Still privacy advocates are concerned about the service providers having access to your location information. Will they use that information to push location-specific advertisements to your cell phone? Would that be a good thing or bad? Will Yahoo and others track your movements to determine your habits and interests and share that information with marketers and others? There are all kinds of businesses, government agencies, and law enforcement agencies that might benefit from knowing where you are at all times.

As these technologies emerge, users need to be aware of the benefits and dangers and ere on the side of caution when it comes to allowing access to location information.

Source: "Keep Track of Yourself with Yahoo's Fire Eagle" [NewsFactor]

Story 2 - DNS in Peril

I've avoided this story the past few weeks in fear that it may be a little two "techie", but the story persists in technology headlines and has become a matter of social importance, so here goes.

The Domain Name System, or DNS is a very important fundamental component of the Internet. When you type in a URL or email address, the first stop that your Internet packets make is a server that hosts the DNS. The DNS is used to translate the address you typed, such as www.course.com, into a numeric IP address like 69.32.142.109. Your data packets can then make their way from router to router to their destination.

Last month security expert Dan Kaminsky discovered a security flaw in the DNS that could allow a hacker to hijack Internet packets to have them go anywhere the hacker desires. So for example, a hacker could change the system so that whenever a person typed www.course.com, rather than going to the official Course Technology server, the packets could be redirected to a hackers site that infects the users PC with malware. Once exploited by hackers, this DNS security hole could turn the Internet into chaos. The entire addressing and routing scheme would be undermined. No packet would reach its intended destination.

Dan Kaminsky worked with the big technology companies to develop a patch for the problem, a patch that most Internet service providers have now implemented. However, Kaminsky and many other experts feel that the patch is only a temporary fix. It is only a matter of time until hackers can figure out a way around it. These experts are recommending the addition of an encryption technology called DNSSEC to more fully protect the Internet. Countries around the world are anxious to apply the new technology. However, the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), has so far refused to go along. Since the NTIA oversees ICANN, the Internet addressing organization, no change can take place without its approval. Some feel that the NTIA is concerned over losing its control over core Internet technologies. NTIA says that it simply wants to consider all of its options.

Source: "Experts Accuse Bush Administration of Foot-Dragging on DNS Security Hole" [Wired]

And that brings us to News Briefs.

The battle between Russia and Georgia has moved online. Attacks based out of Russia are threatening to take down Internet access in Georgia. It is unclear who is behind the attacks. Security experts have been imported from Estonia and Poland to assist the Georgian government in shoring up its network infrastructure.[Ars Technica]
A study conducted by FindLaw.com found that roughly half of 18-24 year old drivers text while driving. Texting drivers should know that when accidents occur, records obtained from cell phone service providers are often used to incriminate the texter resulting in a suspended license. OMG! [Wired]
Microsoft surface computing has made a splash in Vegas Casinos, now its moving into Sheraton hotels across the country. Sheraton guests will be able to use the table top, touch sensitive computer interface to explore the city, listen to music, and virtually tour other Sheraton hotels around the world. [VentureBeat]
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was fired up last week for the first time, and has so far proved the fear mongerers wrong - it hasn't created a black hole that swallows the Earth. The Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest particle accelerator designed to unlock the secrets of the universe, and explore the very creation of the Universe - the Big Bang. The creators of the LHC assure us that it will do so relatively quietly. [Venture Beat]
A recent study that examined average Internet connection speeds around the world found the US to place 15th, with a median download speed for high-speed Internet users of 2.3 Mbps. [Ars Technica]
Despite economic hardships in the US, salaries for IT workers continue to rise, and are expected to continue in the trend. [vnunet]
UK researcher at the University of Reading have developed a robot that is controlled by a biological brain made up of some 300,000 neurons taken from the neural cortex of a rat fetus. [engadget]
Japanese researchers have developed a special kind of "e-skin" for robots that will allow them to have a more human-like sense of touch. [engadget]

That's it for this week's CourseCast. Links to this week's stories and many more news and information resources are provided at the CourseCast Web site at www.course.com/coursecasts. Email us with your suggestions for the show at course.coursecasts@cengage.com. Until next time have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!