Category Archives: We Let Them In

This blog series is where I get to put on my bad guy hat, and point out flaws in internet security and social media practices that invite complete strangers into our lives without even knowing it. It’s time to examine what it is we do and learn how to project ourselves.

It’s not Zuckerberg’s fault that Google+ sucks.

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Like so many, I've been watching what is going on with Zuckerberg's Congressional Hearings. Let's face it, here is a man who had a brilliant idea to take advantage of the internet and the way things were changing to help people connect with others all around the world. In the last month, a few sticky wheels got oiled in a big way, and Zuckerberg got massive amounts of poo thrown at him for breaches in privacy, security issues and general business practices. I like, everyone else, wants to know what is going to happen with the popular social media platform. And we also want to know what Zuckerberg has to say about all of this mess.

Do I think he deserves to be summoned before Congress? Well, that's not for me to say either way, but I do believe that some heads need to roll over this massive privacy breach that hit mainstream media in recent weeks. Do I think he need to go to jail, like some are suggesting? Hell, no!

I want to say that you can't blame the guy for making this up as he goes along, but that really isn't an excuse. He's been at this for fourteen years. He should know the rules by now. But I don't think he should lose everything that he's worked for either.

Facebook might appear to be a monopoly, but it's not Zuckerberg's fault that Google+ sucks.

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Criticism and Sharing Writing Tidbits

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There are times in our lives when we will come up against naysayers, the ones that want to shoot us down, those that believe we have no right to be where we are. For the most part, these people will be those who we don’t know from a bar of soap, and will likely be the ones to give a writer a negative review. Some will veil personal attacks under the guise of trying to better things for all, but you know the truth. They’re there, so we have to accept it. And for those wanting to be professional writers, criticism is just part of the journey.Read More→

Social Media: Is it the end of society?

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Walking through the mall with my children, going to the grocery store, and one thing has become blatantly obvious to me: smartphones are everywhere. And it’s not just the youth.

Not that long ago, my husband, daughter and I decided to enjoy a nice lunch together out.  At the table next to us was a couple in their 60s and both of them were busy texting, or doing whatever, on their smartphones. Even my daughter commented on how they weren’t talking to one another.

“Don’t they like talking with one another, mum?”Read More→

Cyber-Safety

Social Media: The Dangers that Writers Never had to Think About Before

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In a recent post, I made note of the changes that our world has seen in terms of work philosophies. However, in that post I commented about how social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, has transformed our world into something that no longer resembles the world that I grew up in. Systems such as Skype and Google Hangouts have bridged the gap between continents so that those on opposite sides of the world can do more than just talk to one another over the phone — they can now see each other, have a face-to-face conversation. It was something that was proposed in science fiction, but society as a whole never believed that such a thing could be possible. When I was a child, it wasn’t.Read More→