More Contradictory Thinking

The HBO channel was showing the film "The Green Lantern." As the Green Lantern was the only comic-book I read with regularity in my youth, I watched this movie for a brief period. HBO's brief summary of it read "A test pilot becomes the first human to join a band of warriors sworn to preserve [...]

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Mitt Romney Says He would ?Have to Consider? Paul Ryan for Vice-President ? Audio 3/30/12

Here is audio of Gov. Mitt Romney telling Wisconsin radio station WTMJ he would “have to consider” Wisconsin GOP Rep. Paul Ryan as a Vice-Presidential nominee. Ryan endorsed Romney for President this morning. Romney said he did not want to be presumptuous since he has not secured the nomination, and he said he has not [...]

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What's the Big Frigin' Difference?!

Can you spy with your two eyes the hidden differences in these celebrity photos?**HINT -- There are THREE differences in the above photos!**

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Obama's Oil Demagoguery

Larry Kudlow, Investor's Business Daily
As Ronald Reagan famously said, "There you go again."Of course, Reagan was blaming Jimmy Carter for launching false attacks during a debate. And that line was so effective, it not only helped Reagan win the debate, but a presidential election that would change American history.But "there you go again" can apply equally to President Obama. Once again this week, the president was out on the campaign trail bashing and oil and gas companies. And he continued to spread major falsehoods about this industry, which I guess is the polite way to put it.Obama is...

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New iPad ? 4G and WiFi versions

The new iPad 3 comes in two versions: one which connects only via WiFi and one which can also use the 4G network. Choosing one of these options can be a puzzler. Before choosing one you should consider the difference carefully and understand how it will impact your intended use of the iPad. You will need to think about where you are likely to want to use the device, for what purpose, and you will also need to take your [...]

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Erasing the Internet, One Site at a Time

Site by site, you now have the power to erase the entire Internet. Now just figure out where you want to start.

Erasey Page, a new Web-based project conceived by artist Jillian Mayer in collaboration with Eric Cade Schoenborn, ask Internet users to take back their lives by erasing the Net, one site at a time. At first glance, this feels like just another gimmicky Internet spoof site, an idea that you wish you probably thought of at one point or another but were too busy surfing the Web to actually execute. But look beyond the parody feel of this project, and you'll find something that's a bit - dare we say it? - darker. Most readers of ReadWriteWeb couldn't imagine a life without the Internet, let alone what it would mean to enjoy a more "real-time reactive lifestyle."

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Erasey Page isn't live to the public yet, but Mayer gave ReadWriteWeb a sneak peek. The reception for Erasey Page takes places at Miami Beach's Bass Museum of Art on April 6. The artist wanted to see reactions to the project in IRL, at the museum itself. It will be live on the Internet in a few weeks.

Mayer greets visitors to Erasey Page. She is smiling, glossy in appearance and demeanor. She opens with a few questions: "Are you tired of hearing about the Internet? Are you bored of things that end in dot-com? Do you dislike the idea of space that's cyber?" Sit and nod your head. The artist agrees: "Me too," she says.

This journey feels like a combination of a late night infomercial mixed with the tinge of a gimmicky product marketing video. But Mayer's idea sticks: Why not try experiencing a real-time reactive environment that isn't mediated by keyboards, glass and various emoticons? A life outside of the Internet and social networks is possible. Like any online game, the choice is yours.

To begin, just click her hand. And remember that you are in full control, Internet user. So before you start erasing sites, sit and think real hard about the site that you most wish wasn't on the Internet. The site that sucks away at least two hours of your day. The site you can't stop checking. The site that you have contempt for. Perhaps it's the site that you can't live without - and for that reason, you hate it.

Erasey Page aims to "make your life better" with the click of a button, much like social networks and smartphone apps promise to do. In an Internet of targeted adverting and personalized search, where you are a brand on social media and your privacy is up for sale, life without the Internet might not just be different - it could be much, much better.

As one of a team of two ReadWriteWeb writers covering Facebook (my other half in Facebook coverage is Dave Copeland), I decided that erasing it from the Internet forever would probably be a good call. I type Facebook.com into the bar, and Erasey Page finds it. Using a giant eraser, like one you would find in MS Paint, I went right ahead, literally erasing Facebook from the Internet.

Already, I am feeling less connected to my 1,000-ish Facebook friends, whom I lovingly refer to as my "Facebook Village." I rely on them for smart, informed answers to certain questions I deem important. Ah well, it's too late. They are gone.

"I think you made the right choice," Internet Robot Jillian tells me. "I would have done it, too."

After hearing her soothing, stewardess-like voice, I breathe again. I feel a sense of relief. Never again will I have to type in the Facebook.com URL, login to the world's largest social network, and hope that I have notifications waiting for me to answer. It's almost like quitting Facebook, just without the agony of actually doing it. Erasey Page took care of all that for me.

The artist tells ReadWriteWeb that the actual online experience might be different than the one described above. Stay tuned.

EraseyPage.com is open to the Internet wilds beginning April 6, 2012. Come back and visit soon! We'll also have a follow-up story with the artist and other Internet experts. But if you do decide to erase ReadWriteWeb.com from the Internet, please let us know.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and David Castillo Gallery/Bass Museum of Art.

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Commission votes to close eight schools, keeps two open

The Philadelphia School Reform Commission voted Thursday night to close eight public schools - but it spared two high-performing schools whose communities have rallied for months to save them.

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A Rise in Homicides After 'Stand Your Ground'

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Puck Hits Sidney Crosby?s Face In Islanders Game

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby left Thursday night?s game temporarily after getting hit the face with a puck.

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Britney Spears Sells Home For Huge Price -- Will Move in With Fiance Jason Trawick

Britney Spears has sold her Beverly Hills estate ... TMZ has learned, but that's not the big thing.  Get this ... it was listed at $2,995,000 and real estate sources tell us it sold for $4,253,000.We're told Britney's people listed the house at…

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Amory Lovins: Cars need to go on a diet (video)

Rocky Mountain Institute's chief scientist says he believes that cars would be simpler and cheaper to build if they were made out of ultralight materials like carbon fiber composites.

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Former Penguin Comments On Importance Of 3 Quality Scoring Lines

Former Pittsburgh Penguin Larry Murphy joined The Fan Morning Show Thursday to share his opinions as the Pens gear up for the final two weeks of the regular season.

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Verizon confirms Jetpack MiFi 4620L will be available April 12th for $50 on-contract

It's taken considerably longer to roll out than the few weeks that were promised back at CES in January, but Verizon has now confirmed that the Novatel-built, LTE-capable Jetpack MiFi 4620L will be available on April 12th for $49.99. That's on the usual two-year contract, of course, and after a $50 mail-in rebate. In addition to supporting up to ten WiFi connection, it also notably has a removable battery that can be swapped out for a higher capacity 3000mAh unit (double the capacity of the included the one). Look for it at Verizon stores and Verizon's website initially, with a roll out to Best Buy locations following shortly thereafter.

Update: We've received word that the Jetpack has begun arriving at reseller locations, and if you ask nicely you might just be able to take one home early.

Verizon confirms Jetpack MiFi 4620L will be available April 12th for $50 on-contract originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DJ Rig Is a House Party in Your iPhone

The term DJ can be applied to practitioners of any number of disciplines. From those who spin at clubs and hip-hop shows to mash-up artists hacking together tracks to (at least in a classical sense) radio talent, “disc jockey” serves as an apt descriptor. Yet while those within these disparate groups certainly have strong feelings [...]

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2012 IRTA MotoGP Jerez Test Day 2 Round Up: Rain, the Tire Saga, and Cost-Cutting vs Increasing Income

"What we should do," the Jose Maroto, the Spanish editor of Motociclismo said to me, "Is organize MotoGP in Ethiopia, or anywhere they are having a drought. It hasn't rained here in Jerez for 70 days, and this is what happens when we arrive." It had happened in Sepang, and it happened at Jerez, the weather was the major protagonist on the second day of testing at the Spanish circuit, with high winds and heavy rain dominating much of the day.

It almost had a remarkable effect. Avintia Racing's Ivan Silva was one of the few riders who went out early in the morning while the track was still dry, and it looked for a long time like the Spaniard would end the day on top of the timesheets, a first for the FTR Kawasaki CRT bike. But the weather cleared up in the last few hours of the test, leaving an almost dry track for the final 30 minutes, and seeing most of the riders go back out to prepare some work for Sunday. In the process, they stole Silva's chance of glory, demoting him to 6th spot at the end of the day.

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Autodesk Launches New Versions of Entertainment Content Creation Software

Carolyn Giardina
The software developer will bundle Maya, 3ds Max, Softimage, MotionBuilder and Mudbox.

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Health care overhaul, year 2: What's here, what's coming

By Mary Agnes CareyKaiser Health News
Friday marks the two-year anniversary of the 2010 health care overhaul law, and despite an upcoming challenge in the Supreme Court, it has already begun to be implemented.
While some of the key features don’t kick in until 2014, the sti …

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Forums: Retina optimized games, Web browsers, Draw Something

• Favorite Retina-optimized game titles?
• [Question] Charging iPhone + Mophie Juice Pack Plus
• Favorite web browser?
• Traveling to Europe -- Any Money-Saving Suggestions?
• What's your Draw Something ID?
• 2012 iMore community Twitter user name exchange

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Empires Then and Now

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts – Great empires, such as the Roman and British, were extractive. The empires succeeded, because the value of the resources and wealth extracted from conquered lands exceeded the value of conquest and governance. The reason Rome did not extend its empire further east into Germany was not the military prowess of [...]

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Links for 2007-11-23 [del.icio.us]

• Hayden Panettiere is GQ’s Obsession of the Year
  Heroes star Hayden Panettiere has been named Obsession of the Year in a recent issue of GQ. The teen celebrity is photographed by Ellen Von Unwerth. She is adorable in the photos and actually now that she?s eighteen, it?s okay to look at her ?in tha

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The GeekDads Podcast Cancelled This Week

Due to several of our usual podcasters being too busy at the moment, we are, alas, forced to cancel this week’s GeekDads podcast, which we would ordinarily record tonight. HipTrax will be back next week on schedule, though, and the GeekDads podcast will record again on the night of April 10th. We hope you can [...]

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Foxconn short 20,000 factory workers to make iPhone 5

Now that the new iPad is out the door, Foxconn has started hiring to build the next iPhone. According to fresh reports, Foxconn is short 20,000 pairs of hands to handle Apple's production demands for the iPhone 5 (or whatever it's going to be called).

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Facebook, Passwords, Employers and a Business Opportunity

Some folks are getting riled up over employers asking job seekers for Facebook passwords, others think it might be OK. Me? I think there's a business opportunity being overlooked in catering to employers' concerns about social media.

Monitoring social media is already a business, but that applies to public posts.

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Let me be very clear, in almost all situations, I'm against employers asking to monitor or interfere with employees' social media usage outside of work. Monitoring official company profiles is, of course, entirely reasonable. It's also reasonable for employers to restrict usage of social media sites during work hours. But asking to nose into workers' social media usage outside of work is entirely unreasonable for most of the workforce.

As Fredric Paul pointed out last week, sometimes it might be legitimate to request access to nonpublic interactions on Facebook and elsewhere.

I'm not entirely in agreement with the situations that Fredric lists here. For example, my job involves using social media – but there's really no legitimate argument for a publication to ask for access to my nonpublic use of Facebook and other social media. Any concerns that a publication has should be addressed with education, and I'll get to that in a moment.

We're in alignment, as they say in the boardroom, on national security and public-safety issues. If you have top-secret clearance, for instance, it might be appropriate for an employer to ask to monitor your social media use.

One group he misses, however, is high-profile employees that can quickly damage a company's reputation. Here I'm thinking of C-level executives, celebrities, politicians and positions of trust. If you're the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company, it can cause a lot of headaches if something untoward comes out of your use of social media. What's more, given the level of compensation at stake, it's reasonable to ask a C-level executive to provide more access to their personal life than one might ask a $30,000-a-year security guard. If you're giving me an eight-figure compensation package, I might be willing to provide some access to my Facebook discussions to ease your mind about whether or not there's a scandal brewing.

Show me a system that can monitor social media traffic with very little human intervention, and no involvement from anyone at the employer unless there's a possible infraction, and it might be acceptable.

The tl;dr version is this: While it might be nice to say this is an all-or-nothing issue, it's not. There's a gray area where employers have some legitimate reasons for wanting access, even if most of the time it's overreaching to ask.

Training for Employees and Employers

One business opportunity for addressing concerns is social media education. Instead of monitoring or snooping on employees, organizations should be educating their employees on acceptable and unacceptable behavior on social media.

Before companies take a heavy-handed approach to trying to play Big Brother, they should talk to their employees about what their expectations are. What's permissible to say or share on Facebook, even if it's not directly in public view? What, in short, is going to get an employee fired if it becomes public?

The flip side of this is educating employers on social media. Employers need to understand what they can, and can't, control via social-media monitoring. Education could go a long way in correcting some of the wrong-headed ideas that hiring managers and human resources have toward Facebook and social media.

Let's say requiring Facebook passwords becomes common. A lot of folks are going to be looking to create two accounts – one for their employer, one for real life. (Bonus: You can save time and effort by friending your parents using your work account, saving headaches at home and the office...)

But employers need to realize that the conversations and information passed on Facebook is not unique to Facebook. Employees have been talking and passing information around via email, phone, and even (gasp) face-to-face communication. You cannot have perfect control over what employees say and do, even during business hours. Get over it.

Password, Schmassword: Use OAuth

Facebook has already reminded users that it's against its terms of service to share a password with employers. Facebook says "you will not share your password... let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account."

However, Facebook has no problem allowing applications to access user data with OAuth authentication.

So here's a perfect business opportunity for some savvy Facebook developer. Write an application that gives an employer access to a Facebook account without having to turn over the password. Job applicants and employees can grant access to the application without turning over the password. More importantly, they can revoke the access at any time.

Monitoring

Some companies already offer services monitoring public posts by employees, and if I'm not mistaken there's software for monitoring email communications too. It wouldn't be difficult to extend the model to monitoring nonpublic communications as well.

Would I turn over my Facebook password or even give permission to an application that allowed an employer the ability to view my posts on Facebook that aren't marked public? Hell no. (Barring the C-level salary mentioned above, at least.)

Would I give permission to an application monitored by a trusted, audited third party that looked for very specific infractions? Maybe. Show me a system that can monitor social media traffic with very little human intervention, and no involvement from anyone at the employer unless there's a possible infraction, and it might be acceptable. But it would have to be audited by an organization users can trust. I'm thinking the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), though I'm not sure they'd sign off on any system that monitors users even if it was well-designed to protect privacy.

In the end, it might be too much trouble and cost to do this kind of monitoring right. I'm OK with that, too. If employers want to snoop that deeply into employees lives, it should be expensive and it should require a maximum of care to protect employees. Employers shouldn't be able to do it lightly, and most employees should never face a request for their nonpublic communications anyway. But if the demand is really that great, there's a business opportunity just waiting to be snapped up.

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