How to Win Friends and Influence People in the 21st Century - Take Two

By Hector Cisneros 

Courtesy of Flickr

The last 50 years have seen sweeping changes in our society. We have gone from people having a face-to-face relationship to a society that prefers social networking. We have cyberfriends we have never met in person. Younger people today would rather text you than actually speak to you n real-time..  Facebook is now running commercials showing that people would rather be on their Facebook phones, reading their news feed, than interacting with their families at the dinner table. The fact is, we live in a cyber-enabled world. So, if you want to build strong relationships and get ahead, you need to learn how to make friends and influence people in the 21st century.

The Ever-Changing Faces of Facebook

By Hector Cisneros

Courtesy of Pixabay

More than a billion subscribers use Facebook. It is the most widely used social network in the world. Facebook tells us that they are working hard to improve the user experience. They also say that they are working to provide a business friendly advertising medium. Facebooks' founder makes new promises every year about upgrades and added features. In fact, they add new features so often that it makes me wonder why they feel they need this constant tweaking. They are currently twice as big as their nearest competitor.

When Will Computers Out Think You?

By Carl Weiss 

Courtesy of pxhere.com

As I sit here thinking about artificial intelligence, I am reminded of all the amazing motion pictures that predict the evolution of computer to thinking and self replication machines. Some of my favorites are "Terminator," "iRobot," "War Games," and "Battle Star Galactica." In all of these movies, the computers become more powerful than the people who created them. Some have happy endings, other not so much.

Spring Cleaning Means Taking Out the Cyber Trash

By Carl Weiss

Courtesy of Flickr

It's spring time and that means time for Spring cleaning. I don’t mean wiping down your desk or even your computer screen. I’m talking about getting rid of undesirable followers in your social media, cleaning up your website, blog and Social profiles so they are current, accurate and devoid of sensitive personal information. I’m talking about taking the time to scan all your internet-enabled devices for malware, viruses, trojans and the like. Yes, it’s Spring-cleaning time and you had better get to it!

Browser Wars – Then and Now

Courtesy of Flickr

By Carl Weiss

Are browser wars real? Are the Internet giants really fighting for the hearts, minds and eyeballs of computer users worldwide? Does it matter which browser I use? Aren’t they all the same? Who cares which browser is used the most? The real answer to this and other important internet questions are raised and explained in this telling tale of Browser Wars, the ongoing saga of the fight between Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Google's Chrome, Mozilla's Firefox, Apple’s Safari and Opera.

How To Avoid "Getting Gamed"

By Carl Weiss

Courtesy of Flickr

In 2012 we wrote about how the public's "app-etite"  for free games and other apps could bring with it lots of serious consequences.  In that article we, (and the radio show from the same time) we wrote about the dangers of free android apps. Now many gaming app developers are targeting your kids as well.  Would you give your eight year old a credit card?  Of course not.  But that is what in essence has happened to many parents who allowed their children to play “free” game apps online, only to discover the following month that they had been billed hundreds or even thousands of dollars. 

Chinese Hack Attack!

English: Air Force Flag of the People's Republic of China (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Carl Weiss

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the Internet, a news story breaks about how foreign governments are now hacking us companies, even going after their employee's computers.  This time it wasn’t inspired by teenage pranksters on the prowl.  Nor was it the Russian mob trying to break into financial institutions once again.  No, this time the culprits were state-sponsored hackers who wore military uniforms and lived in military barracks.  What I’m talking about is the latest hack attack by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, which came to light to the nation at large on Monday, March 11, when Tom Donilon, President Obama’s national security adviser stated in a speech in New York City: 

“Increasingly, U.S. businesses are speaking out about their serious concerns about sophisticated, targeted theft of confidential business information and proprietary technologies through cyberintrusions emanating from China on an unprecedented scale. The international community cannot tolerate such activity from any country.” (Click here to read the slate.com blog.)

The New Crash Course on Copyright Laws

By Carl Weiss

Courtesy of Flickr

If you work the web you need to be cognizant about copyright issues. What most people who publish blogs and social posts online do not realize is that for the most part, the writer relinquishes all rights to the publisher when it comes to online publications.  That's right, Virginia, all the blogs and tweets you sent out to the Internet now belong to the folks at Google and Twitter and Facebook.  Add to this the fact that you can still be held liable for copyright infringement or even sued for libel for anything you post and this adds up to double indemnity for everyone online.