Category: Internet
MyID.is online identity security service launches beta
A service by the name of MyID.is has hit beta today with the aim to provide security to your online identity. It’s a pretty ambitious way for a company to claim your id on your behalf and verify all the blog posts, social networking profiles and other accounts set up in your name. It also happens to work as an OpenID.
It’s an excellent idea in theory with only three drawbacks to its success. First, to be really effective, everyone has to start using it, or at least enough people for it to be accepted and used across all major sites and applications.
There’s no reason that can’t happen but, although there are no exact competitors, there are the likes of PayPal who offer something similar in the financial realm and haven’t laid the best foundations with the best public feeling.
Second, is the issue of having to give up all your personal information and banking details to get your account set up in the first place. Now, I’m pretty happy with doing just about everything online but I can’t remember giving up the lot all on one page before. It might be tricky convincing people that it’s a good thing to do.
Lastly, what about the danger of this database being hacked? Well, at least here the company has done as much as they can by sending all the data off into a bank-like security system far, far away without even looking at it. Still not totally reassured by that but I appreciate the effort. I just don’t quite like the idea of having all my eggs in one basket and this vault might prove just too much of a tempting target to hordes and hordes of hackers – a big badge of honour and some serious rewards too.
Still, I do like the sound of what MyID.is does and perhaps once a few more people give it a try, I might pluck up the courage too.
(via TechCrunch)
Palace of Westminster blocks MPs surfing for pr0n
MPs are not allowed to surf the web as free as a bird when sitting in their Commons offices. It turns out that the Palace of Westminster blocks sites considered to be pornographic or inappropriate and, most amusingly of all, this includes the Daily Sport.
We’re led to believe that the block came to light after one MP tried to access a column on the site of the publication self-styled as “world’s most outrageous newspaper” which was written by the Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire, Lembit Öpik.
The official line from Westminster is that all “offensive or illegal content or sources of malicious software” are blocked with a message to contact the Commons Authority if they wish to view the site. The case of the Daily Sport article was probably the first time an MP wasn’t red-faced enough to do so.
On the on hand, I think it’s important for research that all sites are available to MPs. They need to know what’s going on out there. On the other, I’m convinced they’d just be sitting around looking at pr0n all day.
Perhaps what disturbs me most of all is what an MP is doing writing for the Daily Sport at all. I’m not sure any political opinion’s going to be taken very seriously alongside such stories as “I get £20k benefits and can’t be arsed to get dressed”target=”_blank” and Clarkson’s in the sh*t(ter)!
(via BBC)
Prison Officer sacked after friending prisoners on Facebook
There are several no-nos to avoid when you’re a prison officer. Letting the inmates out for a picnic is one. Swapping places with the prisoners and pretending you’re in some kind of Bizarro World is another. Befriending them on Facebook is another equally stupid sounding mistake, but one that a Leicestershire prison officer was sacked over.
An investigation into Nathan Singh was initiated when he was suspected of providing mobile phones and other such banned items to inmates. He was really caught bang to right when it was discovered that amongst his Facebook friends were 13 criminals, even though they didn’t find any evidence of his alleged smuggling. He was sacked for gross misconduct as a result.
Teen paints 60ft penis on roof of parents' house for Google Earth's cameras
When you’re designing a million pound house, there are all kinds of things you need to check. Double glazing? Check. Burglar alarm? Check. 60 ft phallus painted on the roof? Ch… wait, what?
And that expression of surprise was probably comparable to the reaction of Andy McInnes when reporters from The Sun asked him if he was aware of the giant penis daubed in white paint across his rooftop. Unsurprisingly he wasn’t (it’s not the kind of question you answer with “why yes, of course” is it?). Turns out the stunt was his son’s dong doing – having seen a TV programme on Google Earth, he wanted to see if the giant phallus would be picked up by Google’s cameras. The answer? No, the website still shows the original pristine rooftop at the time of writing, despite the artwork being up there for over a year now.
Pirate Bay to offer improved annonymity to bit torrent users
As the Pirate Bay trial comes to its conclusion, bit torrent has once again been dragged, kicking and screaming into the light. The defendants of the case could spend their time worrying about the outcome, but instead they’ve channeled their efforts into adding more protection to keep the long arm of the law away from those who use the service for nefarious purposes. They’ve developed a new service called IPREDATOR, which promises to be better at keeping users’ details a secret than current VPN services.
The service is currently in private beta, and will be gradually rolled out to all users some time around April 1st. The significance of the date isn’t thanks to April Fool’s Day, but because that’s the date when Sweden’s contraversial new Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) come into effect, which grant copyright holders more rights to get their hands on file sharers’ details. You’ve got to hand it to the Pirate Bay – they’ve got a lot of chutspa.
OPINION: Why Google must say 'no' to the big publications
What a wind up! I’m saying that because I’m utterly wound up and it’s going to take me to write this semi-controlled tirade of editorial opinion on the subject of Google indexing to get myself ironed out again.
I know what you’re thinking. No, Google indexing does not sound like a good read nor anything worth getting passionate about, but trust me here. Stick with me a sec and I promise I’ll have your blood boiling by the end of the next para.
Internet Explorer 8 hacked within 24 hours
If you’re going to announce that your new browser is the safest on the market, you’d best be damned sure you’re right. It seems Microsoft releasing Internet Explorer 8 out of open beta yesterday was a red flag to a bull (or a challenge to a hacker), because within 24 hours a new exploit has been found in the browser.
The feat occurred at the annual CanSecWest security conference, which hosted its PWN2OWN hacking contest, where the exploit was found. A German hacker going by the name of Nils found it and claims a prize of $5000 in cash and a Sony Vaio laptop as a prize.
It’s only fair to mention that the same hacker managed to claim an additional $10,000 for successfully hacking Safari and Firefox. There’s still two days left for more browsers to succumb to the hacker’s codey wiles – perhaps Chrome and Opera will let their guard slip as well.
Exploring London's highlights with Google Street View
As Dan reported yesterday, Google has quietly rolled out Street View for a select number of cities in the UK.
Of course, London is one of those included allowing us to explore our immediate surroundings without even leaving the office. Judging from a photo of outside my house, the photography is around eight months old, as I remember moving a table visible in my window shortly after moving into my flat.
Internet Explorer 8 out today
Although we happily use a combination of Chrome and Firefox in the office, a new version of Internet Explorer is still big news. Of course, it’s been in open beta for the last year so none of its new improvements and features are big breaking news – especially as most of these changes will be old news to anyone who has been used Chrome, Firefox, Opera or Safari in the last few months. That said, if you’re in an office where Internet Explorer is the only authorised browser, then there’s quite a lot to be excited about. Well, maybe not “excited about”, but it should make your day slightly more enjoyable at least.
So, what kind of features are in Internet Explorer 8? Well there’s a lot under the bonnet to begin with – better security and malware protection mainly. External sources have estimated that IE8 catches two to four times as many malware attacks as other browsers, which is a really impressive step forward for a browser that has always been seen as vulnerable. Another, more tangibly testable, feature is Microsoft’s claim that the new Internet Explorer is the fastest browser on the market. Of course there are two caveats to that – firstly that we’re talking the difference of a fraction of a second, and secondly that with all the major players working on new versions of their browser this lead may well be short lived.
Google Street View launches in the UK & Netherlands
Late last night Google Street View UK & Netherlands went live. Sneaky old Google for keeping that one quiet. Fortunately, there were a few sharp eyed peeps out there who spotted ground level street views of cities in the UK including:
Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Coventry, Derby, Leeds, Liverpool, London…
