Joe Hackman — Page 28

Facebook makes big changes to Pages Interface

February 10, 2011 by Joe Hackman 12 Comments

Facebook has long neglected the Pages interface but that all changed today with some big changes. The best way to summarize the changes is that your Facebook page will function more like a user profile does. A couple of the extremely welcomed new features:

The ability to comment on your page as yourself and not the page.
Notifications via Email when users comment. (Cool but Hyper-Alerts is still better!)
A cleaner more familiar user experience.
A news feed for your home page.

This is the image that greeted me tonight when I logged into my page:

I will be providing a lot more data on this, but this ought to get you started with this new feature.

Save travel and searching time with a custom Traffic Map

February 8, 2011 by Joe Hackman 3 Comments

DC Traffic photo credit: Joe Shlabotnik

While spot checking traffic on Google Maps today I went to refresh the map I’d created and it disappeared. I then realized that you need to create a link using the Google maps interface in order to be able to refresh the window correctly. It dawned on me that others are encountering a similar issue and might find a simple effective link easier to use. This video demonstrates that and will save you travel and searching time. I’ve found that often here in the Bay Area you can save a lot of time by waiting 15-20 minutes especially coming out of peak times. I also will use the custom traffic map to decide which way to go depending on where the worst traffic is at the time. Hopefully this will also save you time.

More from the idea farm… what else can you do with this?

For starters you can use your URL shortener like mine to create a really simple link that you can reference at any time from any device (where you have not already bookmarked the link) For example I turned this messy link:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=37.589207,-122.140503&spn=0.582183,1.742706&z=10&layer=t

into this simple link:

http://msol.us/b

Email it to your smart phone
By emailing this link to your smart phone such as my Motorola Droid, you will be prompted to open it using either a browser or Google Maps. By selecting Google maps you will be able to quickly and easily view the map on your phone without fumbling around. You could also create and send a link to a friend or loved one travelling to the airport, etc. I ran into a similar situation several weeks ago when my Podcast guest @dcfemella was running late in DC traffic. I was able to relay a little bit of information to her. Next time I find myself in that situation, I will mail them a link to their smart phone.

Do you have other ideas about how you could re-purpose this Traffic Map link?

Rich Price appears on Press:Here and will join me live Wednesday night

February 7, 2011 by Joe Hackman 2 Comments

You might have read my post a few weeks ago about the “Chain of Life 2.0“. Since then this story has received (rightfully so, and certainly with little to do with my post!) a lot of coverage. Yesterday Rich and the app were featured on Press:Here on NBC. He was joined by Ben Parr of Mashable and Kym McNicholas contributor to Forbes. This Wednesday night he will join me, Adriel Hampton and Louis Gray on my Blog Talk Radio program to talk more about the app, and the implication of this app in tech, open source and gov 2.0. We will be live at 7PM PST and I would be happy to relay questions you might have for Rich, Adriel or Louis about this incredibly exciting new application.

Check out this video to learn more, and please join us Wednesday as we discuss the Worlds First Location Based Life Saving Mobile App.

(Disclosure: The San Ramon Valley Fire Protection district is a client, but I am not being paid to promote the app I am doing that because I personally support what they are doing.)

Episode summary Interview the Interviewer Episode 2 – Jennifer Neeley (Podcast)

February 3, 2011 by Joe Hackman Leave a Comment

This is the second episode of a new monthly feature on my podcast where I interview “interviewers” in this case The A-List host Jennifer Neeley. Jennifer interviews social media and journalism influencers and thought leaders about what they do, how they got there and the passions that fuel their journey. Jennifer is a social media strategist, speaker and new media pioneer, who spearheads a variety of social media functions and programs for her clients – committed to helping them achieve maximum benefit from their social media investment. An Emmy-nominated media veteran who has worked for the “Big Three” TV networks, she earned her Masters from Columbia School of Journalism and Bachelors from Cal Berkeley. Jennifer brings her passion for interviewing to the program.

Highlights

What can you expect by listening to this podcast?:

Learn a bit of what it is like to work in the news business
Some great cultural experiences related to her involvement in the Peace Corps
What Jennifer does professionally
Some tips about not blocking apps on Facebook
The value of great assistants

Listen to Interview the Interviewer Episode #2:

[audio:http://www.blogtalkradio.com/joehackman/2011/02/03/interview-the-interviewer-episode-2–jennifer-neeley-the-a-list-host.mp3?localembed=download]

Jennifer Quotables:

Regarding a particularly chaotic experience in the news business.

“Broadcast news on crack.“

Find Jennifer Neeley online

On Twitter @jennifered
Her blog at jenniferneeley.com/

Listeners, who should I interview next?

Windows and Mac both vulnerable to potential USB Vulnerability

January 31, 2011 by Joe Hackman 3 Comments

USB (in)security

There are bulletins at us-cert.gov today for both Windows and Mac OS X being vulnerable to potential Human Interface Device (HID) functionality over USB exploit. The simplest way to explain this vulnerability is that both OS X and Windows lack a warning when you connect a USB connected device such as a smart phone when it is given keyboard or mouse capability. This could lead to a number of different compromises of the host system. This vulnerability has existed since USB HID support was added to both operating environments but was only publicly demonstrated recently. An example was demonstrated at the Black Hat DC conference, Cnet ran an article about it on January 19th.

Other USB related risks

USB connected devices have become a more common source of virus and malware infections. In 2010 there was actually a worm that spread via USB memory sticks called “Conficker” worm. As early as 2008 USB was becoming recognized as a much more common vector for virus propagation.

Protecting yourself

Since USB devices involve user interaction, it is an area where user education and caution is key. We can count on Apple and Microsoft to respond to this HID issue, but we can also say with certainty that there will be others that will come up in the future. Here are some simple suggestions to prevent becoming a victim:

Tips for individuals

Store your USB storage devices in a safe place.
Use memory sticks only from extremely trusted sources.
Do not allow others to use your computer to charge their USB devices.
Purchase memory sticks from trusted sources in clearly sealed packaging.

Extra tips for businesses

Include an area that governs USB devices in your Acceptable Usage Policy (AUP).
Do not allow third parties to use USB devices or charge phones on your corporate systems.
Consider implementing software or software policies that control access to USB ports on your systems.

You might also want to read these related articles on how you can function more securely:

Education: the Answer to Zero Day Exploits
Good Personal Choices – the most powerful Information Security Tool