Gmail reads my emails. … so they can serve me targeted ads. Amazon analyzes my book buying habits. …to serve me up ads via recommendations. Facebook studies my posting habits and likes. …to sell my profile to advertisers so they can target me with ads. Google collects and analyzes my search habits. …to serve me […]
Read more5 Reasons Why Vine Will Destroy the World
Are you sick of Vine yet? Expect to be as the social media set opines about its latest love affair – six second videos that can instantly be embedded and shared on social networks (most notably Twitter). Here are 5 reasons why Vine will ruin everything. 1. If you think your friends were oversharing photographs […]
Read moreThe Merits & Perils of Social Search
What is social search? It’s when you enter a search term in a search engine and it delivers not just search results, but the opinions, commentary and actions of your family, friends and co-workers. So, for example, if I decide to go to a movie and I might search on the “Capital Theater” in Arlington, […]
Read moreWhy You Hate Privacy
You’re lazy. Sorry, but it’s true. But you’re not alone. We’re all lazy. We have consciously – or unconsciously – decided that convenience trumps privacy. We opt in to social networks without reading the terms. We let algorithms read our email. We allow search engine companies to save and archive our searches. We reveal all […]
Read more5 Ways to Avoid the Oversharing Epidemic
Only you can decide not to publicly share details about your bowel movements. Yet for many people – yes, Al Roker, we’re referring to you – oversharing has become a disease. An epidemic really. So for those of you still unsure of what you should or should not share, here’s a handy list of five […]
Read more3 Scary Facts about the Internet
Ah, the good ole friendly Internet. Hanging with your pals on Facebook. Tweeting funny quips with co-workers. Shopping for books on Amazon. Reading blogs. And, of course, stumbling upon child pornography, criminals stealing your credit card information, and viruses infecting your laptop, malware infiltrating your personal information and spam bursting your email inbox. Ah, […]
Read moreFacebook is NEVER Private
“Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” – Benjamin Franklin, statesman Facebook gives users the illusion of privacy. You get to choose your friends and have the ability to regulate your content. Some people can see this. Others can see that. But regardless of how you direct traffic on Facebook remember […]
Read moreGoogle Decides to Kill Privacy
Remember when Google adopted “Don’t Be Evil” as its unofficial motto? You’ll find that little ditty at a yard sale next to a Bay City Rollers album and a skinny leather tie decorated like a piano. Because this week Google announced it was drastically changing its privacy policy and the side of sharing – and […]
Read moreInvasion of the Privacy Snatchers
There is a new technology TV commercial airing that unfolds this way: A family is gathered together for a holiday The “uncle” is playing a music-themed video game that requires him to dance in a funny way The niece and nephew secretly film him with a mobile phone and quickly loaded the video onto […]
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April 4, 2013 


HighTalk Readers Engage: