Beware Online "Filter Bubbles"

Let's guide the Internet the right way.

Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles"

Remember that getting opinions different from your own help you to learn and grow. Be careful of over-personalization.

The History Of The Internet (An Infographic)

There's a bit of a trend I've noticed lately where information is being shared in easy-to-understand infographics. They are sometimes a mix of the humorous and insightful along with a well laid out representation of information. I wasn't even born until 1976, so...

The following graphic is a timeline of the major milestones in the full History of the Internet. Some of this history I lived through and can recall, but much of it happened while I was a little oblivious.

[Source: OnlineMBA.com]

Found via Digg.

Why is My Flickr Pro Account Expiring?!!

First the whole digital television thing and now this. My Flickr Pro account is going away. Yahoo! owns Flickr. Since we've been using Yahoo! DSL for the longest time, I've had a Flickr Pro account available to me that I've abused thoroughly put to good use. It would seem by the yellow alert box that I saw in my account today that this will be downgraded to a standard account soon.

AT&T and Verizon Internet Services have reworked their broadband packages and will no longer be offering Flickr pro to subscribers after January 31, 2009.

You can read more about this in the Flickr FAQs.

Update (2009/03/05): I'm not sure what changed, but it looks like my account is now a Pro account again and it says that it will be free as long as I maintain my Yahoo! service. So, this must have changed. *smile*

Introduction to the Semantic Web (For Noobs)

This got posted internally at work, and I found it important enough to cross-post where applicable.

10 Ways the Internet (As We Know It) Will Die - GigaOM

That's right, the Internet will someday die. All it's going to take are one of 10 or more variably possible catastrophes.

We often think of the Internet as a platform for unfettered global communication, where information flows freely, innovators can launch new applications at will, and everyone can have a voice. But it's unlikely that our children's Internet will look anything like what we have now.

My favorite involves zombies (zombie networks). Check out the full list at GigaOM.com.

The Best Online Tools To Help You Know Everything About Web Sites

A large part of web development is research. Learning how one website works or how it was developed can help lead the direction of another project. Also, while curiousity is bad for kittens, it's fun for the average web worker. Here is a nice article with a few more links for your bag-of-tricks.

How do I contact the owner of a website? How popular is my site on Digg or Delicious? What other websites are hosted on my web server? Is my competitor using WordPress or Drupal? Example.com is loading fast, what is the name of their web hosting company? Is my blog accessible from China or Japan?

If you got questions like these in your mind, here are some of the most useful online tools to help you know each and every detail of any website on the planet.

Here are the list of these tools.

• Just-Ping.com
• WhoIsTheOwner.net
• YouGetSignal.com
• WhoIsHostingThis.com
• SocialMeter.com
• Popuri.us
• BuiltWith.com

I haven't heard of any of these, but I'm certainly going to check them out immediately. There is a much more detailed description of each one at the linked article. Of course, it is not always possible to find out everything you might like to know about how your favorite website works. Inevitably, if this information is freely available, it can leave certain high-profile sites vulnerable to zero day security issues. Most web masters with any sense will take measures to hide or otherwise obfuscate this information. And this is another reason to keep these tools handy so that you know what other people can learn about your site. To find out more read the full article at labnol.org > internet > tools.

Found via del.icio.us {tags: web-developer web-developer/tools community domains internet marketing technology articles blogs}.

Phishing Attempt - TechLifeBlogged

The concept of phishing is hard to explain to those that haven't experienced it or seen it up close. It's a very quick innocuous crime with the speed and dexterity of the pick-pocket, but the victim doesn't even know for weeks or months, if they ever realize it at all. Education is the only preventative. Scott does a good job here-

These kinds of email are a dime a dozen but I thought it might be good to have an example I can point to when trying to educate others.

Read the full post about Phishing at TechLifeBlogged.

Microsoft TechNet

Microsoft maintains a portal site full of information for IT professionals. It's a good resource, especially for Windows server and desktop administrators. Want some recent highlights for IT Pros?

Try System Center Configuration Manager 2007

System Center Configuration Manager (previously Systems Management Server) offers robust capabilities which allow you to manage servers, clients, and handheld devices, across physical, virtual, distributed, or mobile systems--all from a single, familiar console.

Defend your network against e-mail threats

Junk e-mail can overwhelm businesses and undermine the benefits of e-mail as a communication tool. Exchange Hosted Filtering is a single solution that provides anti-spam and antivirus protection, policy enforcement, and basic disaster recovery functionality.

• TechNet Magazine: Wireless Single Sign-On
• Daylight Saving Time help and support center

There is a lot more, including a free magazine. Get your daily dose at the Microsoft TechNet Home Page.

WorldWideWeb - The Birth?

There has been a long historical debate on when the Internet first came about. The first thing you have to do to keep it very straight is to define the terms and whether the debate is talking about the first network, the "World Wide Web" or the larger Internet. Since so many people at all levels of expertise use these terms interchangeably --and their organic terms anyhow-- it can get difficult and confusing.

However, there was a moment on a usenet message board system where an expert in these matters named Tim Berners-Lee first outlined and proposed the WorldWideWeb as a project. Thanks largely to the fact that these mailing lists have been archived in many places, including Google Groups, we can go back and see the message as it was first posted, typos and all.

The WWW project merges the techniques of information retrieval and hypertext to make an easy but powerful global information system.

The project started with the philosophy that much academic information should be freely available to anyone. It aims to allow information sharing within internationally dispersed teams, and the dissemination of information by support groups.

Read the full message on WorldWideWeb Summary.