Identity Theft: The Online Version

Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace are all new ways of communicating with friends, family, and random internet users. As convenient as it is, people need to use precautions before sending or receiving messages or 'tweets'. Online Identity theft has increased since these communities have been introduced. Many people have had accounts hacked into or had impersonaters pose as them. Is there a sure-fire way to know who we are talking to without talking to someone in person? Not really, but we can use discretion and common sense to reduce the risk of being deceived. For example, United States House Representitive Don Young had his twitter account hacked and one of the fraudulent posts that was posted claimed that Rep. Michelle Bachmann was preparing to introduce impeachment measures against President Obama. Some people took this seriously, when in fact it was some hacker just trying to create panic. Because no accurate method of screening posts and 'tweets' exists, we need to be very careful with what we read and more importantly, what we believe.

Here is a great news article on recent identity thefts caused from Twitter:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518480,00.html

What's in a game?

I am not an online gamer by any stretch of the imagination, but there are a few people who I currently work with who participate in this virtual world. A friend of mine, who I will call Alice, has made many comments about her experience with a certain online game where she chats with people from around the world. From what I understand, one creates or assumes the role of a character. This character then evolves and gains strengths, powers and status as the gamer developes his or her strategy. This is pretty much the extent of my knowledge of how the game works; however this blog isn't about games it is about the people.

As the character of the game one assumes an alter ego. It was through this alter ego that Alice found a new way of communication. Alice has found a new voice and has made numerous friends by using this game to break barriers that were holding her back in the real world. Since the time Alice first began playing her virtual game she has made contact with some of the other characters. Eventually, Alice became more and more brave and made a radical decision to met a few of these characters in the real world. As it turned out, not every contact was a good one for Alice; however, some of the people she met have turned out to be wonderful friends.

Today, Alice claims that even the worst of her experiences were still great experiences. Alice feels she would have never have had the courage to met new people if it were not for the chats in her virtual world that in turn created a link to the real world.

Healthy risk or Risk your health

Flu season is in full effect and with the added pandemic flu H1N1, the barrier we face is how do we differentiate the the conventional flu with the swine flu? Having the flu, most people try staying home and resting while dosing our bodies full of antivirus medications. While at home recovering and watching the local news, we hear about deaths being caused by the swine and can't help but breed panic in our minds wondering if we have H1N1.

Surfing the Internet as most would do trying to look for answers, we type in "symptoms" or "how to diagnose" related searches with H1N1. Search results come up and there are many posts or forums about self-diagnostics or self-assessments. Since when did people with opinions became medical experts? It's quite amusing because most websites or forums eventually in the opinion will all point to one common advice, see your doctor to make sure. Here is an example:

http://www.symptoms-h1n1.com/

So why do we waste endless hours trying to find information that might not be a sure thing when our family doctors will most likely have the answer? We are comforted by a false sense of certainty and while going to the doctor can give you full satisfaction, we must still use our own judgement because there is not always complete certainty.

http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/cityregion/article/863644

Moderators

moderator

Main Entry: mod·er·a·tor

Pronunciation: \ˈmä-də-ˌrā-tər\

Function: noun

Date: circa 1560

1 : one who arbitrates : mediator
2 : one who presides over an assembly, meeting, or discussion: as a : the presiding officer of a Presbyterian governing bodyb : the nonpartisan presiding officer of a town meeting c : the chairman of a discussion group
3 : a substance (as graphite) used for slowing neutrons in a nuclear reactor

— mod·er·a·tor·ship \-ˌship\ noun

Many forums, blogs and chat sites use a moderator or several moderators who work to maintain the credibility of the site. A business with a reputation to uphold will be diligent in making certain that their product is well represented and not degraded. A forum linked to a car manufacturer for instance will want to protect their image so that they can sell as many cars as possible.

Part of a moderater's job is to keep the content of a forum or chat to an respectable level. A person who joins a forum or chat may be angry and uses a forum as a means of venting his or her anger. This person may choose to use foul language to get his or her point across. While this may be this person's way of expressing his or her feelings, it is not an appropriate way to act in public. Forums, blogs and chat groups are public forms of communication so one must be aware that they are speaking to the masses. Depending on what type of site it is, there may even be an approval process prior to the post being accepted thus taking a proactive approach to the content of the chat or forum.

A moderator also keeps everyone on topic. He ensures that those on the forum or chat site obey the rules of the site. Again, depending on type of forum or discussion group it is, the site may state rules such as no religion, no sexist comments, no offensive jokes, no political posts and such. This way the chat on a forum for Yamaha motorcycles doesn't take any other path than that about motorcycles and mainly the Yamaha brand of motorcycles. If someone begins to chat about a near death experience while riding his Yamaha motorcycle and then the conversation goes way off track by getting into a religious debate then the moderator will want to bring the discussion back to Yamaha motorcycles before the discussion gets out of control. Anyone who has been involved in a heated argument over religion or politics can certainly understand why.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/MODERATOR