Tech Talk

Anyone who ever said Twitter was just a waste of time and used only by the self-absorbed should look to one if its newest users.  It could very well lead to inner peace.

The Dalai Lama joined Twitter Monday, the official Tibetan Government Official Web site announced Tuesday:

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has joined the social networking line to keep in touch with his followers.

Evan Williams, the CEO of the social networking site, tweeted Monday:  

Met the Dalai Lama today in LA. Pitched him on using Twitter. He laughed.

But apparently he took the invitation to heart and accepted.

So far, His Holiness has posted a half dozen tweets linking to videos, photos and webcasts.

Previously there was a fake Twitter account claiming to be the religious leader, but it has since been removed.  And those concerned that this account is another fake can rest assured knowing that the account of the 14th Dalai Lama has been verified by Twitter.

If there was any question that Twitter is here to stay, it should be gone.

Facebook, according to at least one news report, is taking down fan pages that support the man who allegedly crashed a small plane into a Texas office building.

The social networking giant could be setting a dangerous precedent by restricting the speech of its users if the report disseminated by the reputable Breaking News Twitter account attributed to NBC News is true. As Facebook becomes the modern-day water cooler across America and around the world, it is becoming increasingly important to foster conversations — of all perspectives.

While Tech Talk would never condone the alleged actions of Andrew Joseph Stack, simply stating opinions should not be restricted.  In fact, such actions will likely make the situation worse as users could feel further ostracized and go further underground.  It would be better to have such conversations carried out in open.

It has been widely reported that Stack crashed a plane into an Austin office building with federal offices around 11 a.m. ET Thursday.  At least eight people were injured, according to the Statesman, and at least two people died, possibily including the pilot.  The newspaper reported that officials said the incident “appears to be an intentional act, appears to be by a sole individual, and it appears this individual was targeting federal offices inside that building.”

While it is still not certain what exactly the respective groups are stating, if they are simply discussing the act of domestic terrorism and not encouraging similar actions, it seems that they would not pose a threat to national security. 

America is founded on the freedom of speech, and such expression should be protected whether it is favorable or not, so as long as it does not encourage violence.

Google has announced its entry into the social networking arena, and confirmed the reports Tech Talk cited Monday.

Mashable has all the details and screen captures on Google Buzz.

Check them out now, and check Tech Talk later for analysis.

Google will launch a new feature as early as this week to make sharing media and updates with friends easier, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The new module, which will be integrated into Gmail, is intended to make the e-mail application “more social” by allowing users to “view a stream of status updates from people they choose,” the newspaper reported.

The new feature seems to expand off of the Google Talk application currently integrated into Gmail. 

I regularly update my Google Talk statuses to reflect what I am doing, and utilize the application to communicate with friends and colleagues — as I once did on AOL Instant Messenger.

The difference, according to the Journal, is that the development will include an area where users can sift through a stream of updates — that includes the Google-owned YouTube and Picasa services —  in a similar timeline view as on Twitter and Facebook.  It remains uncertain if updates from non-Google entities will be included.

If the development goes across networks, Mashable notes:

[T]he new features could be thought of more like a TweetDeck or Seesmic, looking to provide an aggregate view of your friends’ social media activities along with the ability to push status updates to the services you use from inside of Gmail. If not, it could be thought of as a major competitor to Twitter and Facebook as Gmail looks to covert its millions of email users into users of a whole new breed of social media service.

When I received an e-mail recently with the subject, “Please change your twitter password,” supposedly from the popular social network, I was suspicious. After all, many scammers seeking to seize sensitive information make similar claims.

Nonetheless, I read the e-mail, which began:

Due to concern that your account may have been compromised in a phishing attack that took place off-Twitter, your password was reset. Please create a new password by opening this link in your browser: [with a link here]

This will reset your password. Remember to choose a strong password that is a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Do not reuse your old password.

Although everything looked legitimate, I remained skeptical about its authenticity.

So I decided rather than clicking any of the links, I would attempt to log into my Twitter accounts.  One of my accounts made me change my password immediately, which seemed to confirm the contents of the note.

Since then I have read Internet reports confirming the authenticity of the e-mail.

John Paczkowski of All Things Digital received the following statement from Twitter:

As part of Twitter’s ongoing security efforts, we reset passwords for a small number of accounts that we believe may have been compromised offsite. In one case, a number of accounts posted updates indicative of giving their username and password to untrusted third parties. While we’re still investigating and ensuring that the appropriate parties are notified, we do believe that the steps we’ve taken should ensure user safety. We’ll continue provide updates as warranted at @safety and @spam. We do, as always, encourage our users to read our help pages on what to do if your account is compromised: http://twitter.zendesk.com/forums/10713/entries/31796 and how to stay safe on Twitter: http://twitter.zendesk.com/forums/10711/entries/76036.

It is important to remember that if you ever receive an e-mail that does not seem right, or that you are suspicious of, not to click any links in the e-mail. I would recommend verifying the information from said e-mail by accessing the site directly rather than clicking a link.  If you have further issues, I would recommend attempting to contact the respective company or organization directly.

This is also a good time to remember the importance of having strong passwords unique to each respective account that contain special characters.

Bank of America’s Web site was reportedly down for the vast majority of its customers Friday afternoon.

An estimated 80 percent of customers were not able to access their accounts at 5 p.m. ET as a result of a “major Internet outage,” the Boston Globe reports.  Issues were first reported to the nation’s largest bank around noon.

The bank tweeted early Friday afternoon: “Our website is available. However, some customers are having intermittent issues with access. We are working to determine the root cause.”

By 6 p.m., the bank was personally assuring users that “[t]here should not be any impact to the use of your debit card,” and that “[we] are working to resolve [the issue].”

A bank spokesman told the paper a cause was still not yet known, but a cyber attacked had been ruled out.

By 7 p.m., Tech Talk was able to access bankofamerica.com, although other users still reported outages.

Apple has unveiled the much-hyped and highly anticipated tablet device – known as the iPad.

“It’s a giant iPod Touch-looking device, just like we thought. Same home button, same bezel,” Erica Ogg wrote in a live-blog from within the tablet’s unveiling for CNET News.

The device, which can be oriented in either landscape or portrait mode like its iPhone cousin, could be utilized to surf the Web using the familiar touch screen navigation, Ogg wrote.

Like on the iPhone, there is a calendar an address book and access to Google Maps and, of course, the iTunes Store.

Videos could be watched, Ogg wrote, through YouTube and other sites.

It appears that it is very similar in operation to the iPhone — in terms of zooming, scrolling and syncing with computers, based on Ogg’s description. It also has a built-in iPod.

The iPad is WiFi enabled, Ogg wrote. Models will also have 3G, Ogg reported.

There will be two plans, according to CNET: 250MB of data every month for $15 or unlimited data for $30 per month. AT&T will continue to serve as the carrier. Both plans are pre-paid and require no contracts, Ogg wrote.

There are also groovy accessories — including a keyboard, Ogg reports, for folks who need to do a lot of typing.

Steve Jobs, Apple CEO and founder, said the iPad is much more intimiate than a laptop, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The Journal reports that the thin device looks like a larger iPhone:

More on the looks: Thick black border on all sides. The background of the home screen is a photo that you can set for yourself. Jobs has finished the demo and is now talking about the hardware. It’s a half-inch in thickness and features a 9.7-inch IPS display, with multi-touch sensors.

The device, which comes with as much as 64 GB of flash storage, has WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities standard, the Journal reports. It also has 10 hours of battery life and more than a month of standby life, Jobs said.

The New York Times created an app for the iPad that, according to the Journal, “looks more like a newspaper than the iPhone app — you can resize fonts, and it flows along columns. Videos accompany the stories and can be watched along side.” No mention of price, though.

iBookstore was also unveiled by Jobs, according to the Journal.  Penguin, Harper Collins, Simon Schuster, Macmillan and Hachette books will be available. CNET reports that text books will also be available.

New York Times’ Brad Stone was really impressed with iBook:

The iBooks store looks neat — plenty of colors, vivid book covers. Mr. Jobs is showing “True Compass” by Edward Kennedy, a book that was not available in the Kindle store for weeks after its release.

Among the cooler items on the device is iWork, which according to CNET, allows users to create presentations “with touch input only.” Spreadsheets could also be crafted.

16GB iPads will cost $499, Ogg reports. 32GB models will cost $599, 64GB models will cost $699; devices with 3G with cost an additional $130.

Shipments will begin in 60 days, she said. 3G models will begin shipping in 90 days.

Stone notes some of the more significant short-comings of the iPad:

• No ability to play Adobe Flash animations
• No camera
• No non-Internet phone function
• No removable battery for a device that can suck a lot of power
• No removable storage

Bottom line: The iPad looks cool and has a few neat new features, but will it be worth the price — particularly if you already own an iPhone 3GS and have a small laptop?

The New York Times announced Wednesday that it would charge frequent visitors to its Web site to view content.

Visitors to the most popular newspaper site in the country will only be permitted to view a still to be determined number of articles at no cost beginning in January 2011, according to the Times. Readers wishing to view additional articles will have to pay a yet to be announced flat fee for unlimited access.

Print subscribers to the Times need not reach for their checkbooks.  They will continue to enjoy full access to the site at no additional charge, the newspaper reported.

The Times will be among but a few major newspapers in America to put a considerable amount of content behind a pay wall.  The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Newsday are among the few other large papers in the country that currently charge for content.

However, like the Journal, readers who find an article on a search engine will not face reader fees, according to the Times.

Tech Talk applauds the Times’ decision to charge. While some analysts and readers may criticize the decision, Tech Talk recognizes that newspapers need to find additional revenue to continue to consistently provide comprehensive coverage.  We hope additional newspapers follow suit.