Is Hacking Really a Bad Thing?

I recently watched this TED talk about hacking. For those of you who don't know, TED talks are recorded presentations in front of live audiences where a person talks about some topic of their choice, and hacking is the act of breaking into a computer or system. The talk in particular was about the moral compass of hacking and how something considered "evil" could be used in a constructive way. The speaker of this talk was justifying the idea of teaching people how to break into a computer or security system, and use the information gained for good.

I want you to imagine you've somehow gained access to the inner workings of some website that deals with personal information. Information that would be harmful if it got into the wrong hands (say, your credit card number). Let's say you stumble across a password database and the company has failed to encrypt the passwords with some algorithm to prevent you from stealing them. What do you do?

This is where your morals come into play, do you steal the passwords and people's money, or do you report it? Would you be able to admit that you broke the law so that the company can fix their mistakes? Some system admins may have different feelings towards you breaking into their system, regardless if you stole any info or not. I would say the majority of the people you run into would forgive your slightly illegal actions, and may even offer you a job.

People with a hacker's mindset are in short supply because hacking has a bad name. This ironically makes people who think like a hacker really popular for jobs in online security. Security systems can be better developed by those who question how to break the system. The speaker in the TED talk put it well, ask yourself how you would break into your own house, then fix the breach.

Reading for the Visually Impaired

A new gadget is on the way for people who are visually impaired. It's called the FingerReader and it's being developed by scientists at MIT. The device is a sensor that attaches to the pointer finger and scans text any that you're pointing at. The text scanned by the machine is spoken audibly in any language you want making the device double as a language translator. FingerReader is currently still a prototype and still needs to be engineered into a more suitable product before it hits store shelves. 

The FingerReader is a continuation of the same groups previous project on a device called EyeRing which functioned similarly for the visually impaired, but not as advanced. Like I said before, MIT is taking their device into a new direction with a point-to-translate style language translator that will help tourists and second language learners. 

Currently the device must be attached to a computer, but they plan to switch to a more mobile platform later once the device has been refined. MIT doesn't have a product timeline yet, but they suspect it will take 1 to 2 years to turn the project into a product after it has been fully completed. MIT believes in the future of wearable tech such as smart glasses, watches, bracelets, etc. So they've designed this device to be seamless and less disruptive than a tablet or cell phone. It will make it easier to use and get information without "running into a telephone pole or getting into an accident" they say.

Where do Your Snapchats Go?

After you send that 10 second picture to your friend it gets deleted, right? If you haven't figured it out yet let me be clear: NOTHING on the Internet can be deleted, including Snapchats.

You shouldn't just be worried about people screen-shotting your picture, because the photos can still be accessed anyways on your phone in a hidden folder with the file extension .NOMEDIA which prevents it from being viewed. However, digital forensics companies have figured out how to access the folder and edit the file name to turn it back into a viewable image. One company in particular, Decipher Forensics, is charging money ($300-$500) to recover a phone's collection of Snapchat photos.

That may seem like a lot of money, but it proves the point that no-one is private on the Internet. This post will be on here forever and no matter how much I try to get rid of it, there will still be a way to recover it; the same goes for anything you post online. I'm not saying the Internet is a bad thing, because its far from it. I'm saying that in this day and age if you're connected to the Internet, you stay connected to the Internet. Snapchat's policy of "permanently deleting your photos" is very misleading and it pushes people to believe that they live a private life even if they're active on the Internet.

Just as an experiment, type your full name into Google along with your current city/state and see what pops up, you'll be surprised what you can find. This will be your digital image for the rest of your life, are you satisfied?

The New Way to Write

Echo Smart Pen has released a  device they're calling the Livescribe Smart Pen. Any notes you take on a piece of their Dot paper are automatically saved to your computer where they can be sent via email like any other document. The pen has the unique advantage of being able to write symbols and pictures that you can't do with a normal computer, and you can organize it the way you want without running into formatting troubles on a Word document.

That's not all this pen can do, it has a built in recording device which stores up to 200 hours of audio. If you can't write fast enough, the lecture can be recorded and replayed later. The device accepts 3.5mm audio (Same as your headphones) So you can playback your recordings. The recordings themselves can also be stored on your computer.

Echo's easy-to-use software helps you organize your notes into notebooks and uses handwriting recognition technology to provide you with a search bar for your notebooks. The software also has features allowing you to share your notes with other people easily. The software is free and the units start at around $150 with the most expensive being $200. There are also cheaper alternatives ranging from $100-$120 with fewer features. The Dot paper is around $20 per four notebooks with varying styles of books. More gadgets like these are hitting the market and are going to revolutionize the way we write.

How Anonymous are You?

With the rise of social media, a method called doxxing has become a popular mean for a cyberattacker to steal you identity and anything digitally connected to it. Doxxing is the process of stealing private information from an individual and publishing it publicly. So how vulnerable are you?

I'm assuming that the majority of you reading this have an account on some social media website, Let's use Facebook as an example. If your account settings are on public and anyone can see your posts, then a doxxer can attempt an account sign in and click "Forgot my Password." Most sites, like Facebook, are set up to prompt security questions that only you would know the answer to, but someone who can see your public Facebook profile can also gather some of the personal info you post on the site. Using this information, someone has a good chance to guess your security question and steal your password. 

From there, they can find the email address you link to Facebook and (let me guess) you have the same password for Facebook and your email. It doesn't end there, do you use the same email for something like a bank account? Or even worse, the same password? Now this cyber-thief has access to your credit card and your personal information like your phone number or mailing address. Just one small breach of one account on one site has leaked all of your personal information. If the attacker decides to, he can publish your information on the internet for the whole world to see. 

Do you feel safe? I'd check your passwords.

Note-writing Robots

A new piece of technology has been developed that will write in your handwriting! A robot developed by Bond will learn your handwriting and write a letter for you. The robot is designed to hold a pen and is programed with a sample work of an individuals handwriting. The sample piece is digitally mapped by calligraphists, after which the robot can handwrite a typed letter and send it to any address of your choice.

The service hasn't been brought to stores yet and is only provided through mail in order. The customer sends in a typed letter with the recipient's address and a sample of their own handwriting. The robot will write and send your letter for you.

CEO and founder Sonny Caberwal designed the robot to bridge the physical and digital world saying "Its not to say that Snapchat is bad, but certainly if there's room in the world -- there's a time and a place when you want your message to disappear, I find a use case where I want something to stay forever."