CourseCast of the Week

Episode 0078, 12/06/2008

Title/Description: Social Networks Connect, Free Internet

Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the week, Episode 78, recorded December 6th, 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.cengage.com/coursetechnology for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions.

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Story 1 - Social Networks Connect

Facebook released Facebook Connect to third party online businesses this week. The service allows Facebook users to use their Facebook username and password to logon to other Web sites like the Discovery Channel and The San Francisco Chronicle, the social news site Digg, the genealogy network Geni and the online video hub Hulu. Once logged on with a Facebook ID, users can connect their Facebook friends with their activities on the outside site. The service extends the social aspects of Facebook to many other sites which Facebook thinks that its users will appreciate. Companies that make use of Facebook Connect will benefit from the free exposure their products get on Facebook. Facebook benefits from the additional marketing information it is able to harvest about its users - which will be valuable to its advertisers. So everybody wins right? Almost right, Privacy groups are criticizing Facebook Connect saying that it will give the company too much insight into users online habits.

Facebook Connect will be competing with the free OpenID developed by Google, MySpace and Yahoo and also a new service provided by Google called Friend Connect, which is nearly identical to Facebook's Connect but for Google users.

Google, Facebook Move Closer To a Single Log-In [NewsFactor]
Video: Daily Debrief: Facebook Connect aims to simplify, monetize [c|net]
Privacy Advocates Wary of Facebook Connect [NewsFactor]
Facebook Aims to Extend Its Reach Across the Web [NYTimes]
Facebook to Google: my Connect is bigger than yours [VentureBeat]
Facebook, Google launch data portability programs to all [Computerworld]

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Story 2 - Free Internet

At its December 18th meeting, the FCC will vote on a proposal from FCC chairman Kevin Martin, to assign some wireless frequencies for free Internet access. The proposal is being criticized by the cell phone industry, whose business would be directly impacted by government sponsored free Internet. It is also being criticized by free-speech advocates for placing a condition on the free service that would filter adult content from minors. Kevin Martin is anxious to push the proposal through prior to losing his position when the new administration takes over in January. If his proposal is rejected, it is expected that the Obama administration will implement its own national broadband.

Since the US has fallen way behind other countries in delivering broadband Internet to its citizens, many individuals and groups are pushing for a national broadband policy that will provide all U.S. citizens with high-speed access to the Internet. Recently a group of companies and nonprofits including AT&T, Google, unions and public-interests groups have called for a national broadband strategy that makes access more affordable to US citizens. A group known as the Benton Foundation, has put forth a report entitled "Using Technology and innovation To Address Our Nation’s Critical Challenges" which emphasizes the importance of high-speed Internet access to the country. Whether Kevin Martin's filtered INternet plan is approved, or not, it looks likely that 2009 will see some agressive and progressive Internet policies under the new administration.

Free Internet Access Plan Now Has Two Versions [NewsFactor]
FCC To Vote on Free Broadband Across U.S. [NewsFactor]
FCC to mull free Internet plan at December meeting [Reuters]
FCC to vote on smut-free wireless broadband before Christmas [Reuters]
Telecoms and advocacy groups unite over broadband "stimulus" [Ars Technica]
Groups push for Net neutrality in Obama administration [Computerworld]
Using Technology and innovation To Address Our Nation’s Critical Challenges [Benton Foundation]

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And that brings us to News Briefs.

• A new form of malware was discovered by BitDefender that masquerades as a FireFox plugin, to run each time FireFox is started. The malware searches your hard drive for login details to financial institutions and send the info to a server in Russia. Update your virus and malware protection to safegaurd your computer against this attack and as always, don't install software from questionable sources.
  New trojan targets Firefox, masquerades as Greasemonkey [Ars Technica]
  Firefox users targeted by rare piece of malware [Computerworld]
• If you are still interested in the ongoing Yahoo soap opera, this week, Microsoft hired, former Yahoo executive Qi Lu to run its online services business, and has offered to buy Yahoo's search engine business for $20 billion. Also, Former AOL Chief Jonathan Miller is working to raise $28 billion to purchase Yahoo, a little more than half of what Microsoft offered in January.
  Ballmer: Yahoo search deal better sooner than later [c|net]
  Microsoft in $20bn Yahoo deal [Times Online]
• Facebook users should be wary of any message received on Facebook suggesting that they are in a video. If you click on the link provided, you will be taken to a realistic video page that requires you to download a plugin to view the video. Don't do it! The player will infect your PC with the Koobface virus.
  Worm spreads on Facebook, hijacks users' clicks [Computerworld]
• A recent cyber-attack on US Defense Department computer systems is believed to have originated in Russia. President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were briefed on the attack that one official describes as significant.
  Cyber-attack on Defense Department computers raises concerns [LA Times]
• Looking to give or get an iPod as a present this holiday season? Better act soon as it looks like retailers are selling out.
  http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=63403 [NewsFactor]
• Amazon has released an application for the iPhone that makes mobile shopping much easier. The app also includes an interesting tool, that allows iPhone users to snap photos of merchandise, which are then stored and analyzed, then the user is provided with the Amazon price for the item. This takes comparison shopping to a new level.
  Amazon Builds a Shopping App for Apple's iPhone [NewsFactor]
  Amazon Mobile for the iPhone shops—and remembers [Ars Technica]
  Editorial: Does Amazon's iPhone app go too far? [Ars Technica]
• China is requiring its Internet Cafes, where many Chinese access the Web, to install government developed operating systems that can keep a closer watch on what citizens and Internet cafe owners do on the computers.
  China Internet Cafe's Switching to Chinese OS [NewsFactor]
• NewsFactor reports that "A congressionally created commission has warned that China is stealing vast amounts of sensitive information from government and corporate computer networks in the U.S., including those of the nation's top defense contractors."
  China Stealing U.S. Computer Data, Says Commission [NewsFactor]
• A new huge an growing botnet known as Downad.a, Conficker.a, and Downadup takes advantage of a Windows vulnerability that was patched on October23. The attack has tech analysts wondering if it's time to force updates on Windows users for the greater good of the Internet.
  Time for forced updates? Conficker botnet makes us wonder [Ars Technica]
  New Windows worm builds massive botnet [Computerworld]
• Windows Live continues to receive new social networking features and other improvements that are worth checking out at home.live.com
  Windows Live gets its social makeover [c|net]
• The Obama transition Web site at change.gov has adopted the Creative Commons license for material on the site, making the Web site content more open to use and reuse than traditional copyrighted allows.
  Coalition urges Obama to adopt open transition [c|net]
  Obama team changes Change.gov copyright policy [c|net]
• AT&T announced that it will eliminate 12,000 jobs over the course of the next year, and Adobe is laying off 600.
  AT&T to cut 12,000 employees through 2009 [Computerworld]
  Adobe to cut 600 jobs, lowers revenue guidance [Computerworld]
• Australian citizens are taking to the streets to protest the governments plan to filter all Internet content that it has defined as illegal and indecent.
  Anti-content-filtering rebels take to Australia's streets [Computerworld]
  Australia's Internet filtering too ambitious, doomed to fail [Ars Technica]
• The Microsoft Windows monopoly has dropped to less than 90 percent, and Internet Explorer less than 70 percent as Mac and Firefox gain market share.
  Windows market share dives below 90% for first time [Computerworld]
  IE share slips under 70%; Firefox surges past 20% [Computerworld]
  
  

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 coursecasts.course.com. 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!