Monday, May 24, 2010

FCC Ban of Microphones

To all my friends in Internet land
I want to tell you of an FCC ban
After June 12th, 2010
Microphone use will begin to end
Not all mics, now here's the dirt
Only those within 700 MHz
This rule occurs in urgency
Affecting bandwidth used for emergency

To see if the law affects your mic, go to: www.fcc.gov/cgb/wirelessmicrophones/manufacturers.html

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Privacy and The Internet

I am perplexed by the notion of privacy on the Internet. The law in the United States protects against illegal search and seizure, the law does not apply to data. The Internet is designed to broadcast throughout the world. One would not seek confidentiality in a place intended for sharing. There is knowledge that has remained buried for many years; it was never placed on the Internet. Governmental, medical, business and educational institutions are responsible for securing our personal data that is input onto their networked systems. Nothing, once it leaves you, is sacred. The best use of the Internet is to broadcast and to share data. In an earlier discussion we stated that, 'Nothing should be done on the Internet, that would not be done in a court of law'.
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Google and privacy-the government has access to all data searched on Google. After 18 months, Google anonymizes data, but a person can still be tracked through discarded records. All searches are connected to your IP address. Googles states that no one owns posted data.
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InPrivate is Microsoft's answer to privacy, but it entails numerous keystrokes. Every keystroke is recorded by the computer, even deletions. The computer stores deleted files until they are written over.
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Seek privacy within yourself, not on the Internet. The Internet hold numerous breach opportunities, even with encryption.

What are your thoughts on Privacy and The Internet?

Wednesday, May 12, 2010


Ms. Saxton is demonstrating how to search the http://www.ssa.gov/ site, while students follow on hicap laptops.

Today, May 12, 2010

Ms. Shirley Saxton from the Social Security Administration is here at HICAP explaining how to make an appointment by calling 800-772-1213. She helps students access the multi-lingual page, so that they can source information and publications in Cantonese, Spanish and English. The site supports approximately 15 other languages. Another way to access Socical Security is through http://www.youtube.com/ with help from Patty Duke an ssa.gov spokesperson. To assist the legally blind, Ms. Saxton shows students how to enlarge the site's text. Her session ran an hour or more overtime. The seniors did not want to leave. Gift bags were given to all attendees.

Monday, May 3, 2010

The Month of May

  • This month we will review what we've learned
  • Prepare a PowerPoint Presentaion of class pictures
  • We will record the voices of students for 'In Our Own Words' series
  • Invite Social Security Administration and a local business to demonstrate ease of accessing their site via the Internet
  • Prepare for June 24, 2010 Graduation