Monthly Archives: August 2013

There has been a lot of hype surrounding Google’s new venture, Google Glass.   If you are not aware, (and have been hiding under a rock for the last couple of months!) Google Glass is a wearable computer that displays information in a smartphone-like hands-free format that can interact with the Internet, take pictures, take videos and make calls via voice commands.

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Not a day goes by without a story about hacking but mostly people are oblivious to the threats around them. It falls to corporations to protect hapless users online.

How could an individual hope to secure this?

I for one, think these companies deserve a bit more thanks than they currently get. Microsoft and its security partners take on the global botnet problem regularly – a botnet is a network of hacked computers linked together to provide computer power for nefarious means.

How many computers does this affect? One Botnet called Citadel was at a conservative estimate believed to be 1.9 million machines before it was brought down.

Microsoft didn’t just disable the command and control centre of Citadel, it also created a sinkhole in its place which responded to infected machines and removed defences of the malicious program which allowed anti-virus software to remove it.

Someone actually criticized Microsoft for doing this because when they removed the virus’ defences they were doing just as the criminals had done and modified a computer without the owner’s permission. I don’t understand this criticism … I mean yes in abstract theory a computer giant abusing its power to modify files without a user’s permission is bad. But in this specific case it was the right thing to do.

There may be non-philanthropic motives, Microsoft has become the face of modern computing and makes a living from Windows being trusted. These attacks are often not due to a fault in Windows but still reduce trust in the system especially as other operating systems make exaggerated claims to being virus free.

I, however, choose to believe that there is a beneficent motive behind this, since Microsoft must accept that no one else could do this as effectively. Their security team stands by default as the Guardians of the Internet for the common user which is something worthy of our gratitude.

Not to mention that after this happened spam watchers at Symantec saw a 25 per cent drop in spam across the internet… the whole internet…

So rather than being critical, I’ll just say thanks!

You may find yourself rolling your eyes at those who use language more lazily than you do, but the chances are you also get annoyed at those uptight prigs who judge you for being sloppy with your own punctuation too.

The art of the wordsmith

The challenge to all those would-be wordsmiths in the communications industry is to be literate without being too judgmental.  We all need to have a certain amount of patience with those who play loosely with language; but on the other hand we must realise that in certain circumstances traditional rules do still apply.

Let’s be clear here, this isn’t about phrases or words getting lost in translation, or even regional pronunciations such as ‘holding down the fort’ or ‘erbs’; it’s about things that are likely to make you look foolish in front of clients, or lead to cases against you for crimes against the English language.

Below are some of my favourite examples to be aware of:

Irregardless: regardless of context, irregardless is not a word. You just mean regardless.

Loser and looser: go to any Internet message board and you’ll see some sledger ridiculing a rival as a ‘looser’.  This person is in fact the true loser

Antidote vs. anecdote: you share an anecdote with someone if you’re chatting. You only share an antidote with them if they’ve been poisoned

Specific and Pacific: one relates to something identified or particularized, the other, to a large body of water separating the US and Japan

You’re and your: this one is so common an error that I can almost imagine it becoming acceptable English. The former is you are, whereas the latter refers to something belonging to you

Its and it’s:  its/it’s is viewed even less negatively than your/you’re, mostly because auto-correct is more likely to be your accomplice in the linguistic delinquency

Mixing up adjectives and adverbs:  If you say, “I feel badly for you,” this suggests you’re not very good at feeling people. The use of badly arises because, ironically, some people think that it sounds more polished and that it thus must be correct.  In most cases, though, people use adjectives instead of adverbs out of laziness: “you run fast” being a typical example

So there you have it; there’s a subtle line to tread between sounding like a wise arse, or simply an arse, but for those in the communications sector it is an important one to be aware of and negotiate with care!

One of the most interesting aspects of working in the technology sphere for me is seeing how new innovations are affecting and influencing our everyday lives.

Augmented Reality (AR) is one such technology, and it is increasingly creeping out of the online world and into the real one.

IKEA’s new 2014 catalogue app, released this week, is one such example of a truly innovative use for this technology. Allowing customers to envision what a certain piece of furniture would look like in their homes through interacting with the company’s physical catalogue; this app shows how AR technology can help consumers.

This application of AR technology is far from alone, however. Clothing and footwear companies have been using it to allow customers to try out a certain colour or size so that they don’t purchase the wrong size. Tesco also famously opened a ‘virtual store’ in Gatwick Airport last year, where customers could order food that would be delivered by the time they arrived home, ensuring they would not return to an empty fridge.

Away from shopping, the potential of this area is still being explored and expanded. From gaming to translation tools, AR is rapidly becoming a way of making our everyday lives smoother.

The headlines surrounding Google Glass have brought this kind of technology into the forefront of many people’s minds, as it could potentially offer a connected life once seen only in the realms of science fiction. People whose previous encounters may have encompassed cheesy Virtual Reality headsets a decade or so ago would be surprised to see how much this technology is proposing to do.