Articles and Columns for October 2022

• Presenter’s Guide Series Part III: The Many Benefits of Question Forms – In the third in his series on presentations, Jerry Lawson recommends a simple yet powerful tool that presenters can use to improve presentation quality, especially in some special situations: Requiring audience members to submit all questions in writing.
• 2023 Privacy Guide – The fundamental concept of privacy has changed dramatically as more individuals have shifted most of their data to online platforms. There are however a wide range of personal, professional, corporate and legal issues that present significant barriers to the goal of maintaining privacy on the internet. Online privacy is not a right or even a choice when you use email, browsers and search engines, social media, ecommerce sites, online subscriptions…the list goes on and on. Trying to achieve even a modicum of online privacy now involves the use of multiple applications and services, specific software and hardware, time, due diligence, and flexibility – as the challenges continue to evolve. This pathfinder by Marcus P. Zillman will assist in your efforts to secure additional privacy when using email, conducting research, while on social media, completing online learning programs, transferring health records, shopping online, and with many other online services and system with which you interact daily. Even if you only choose to start using several applications or services that Zillman has referenced, this will establish a foundation on which you can build and execute a more effective privacy and security plan. Think about starting with choosing a new browser, search engine and email provider, and move forward from there. This is a journey, and it will take time, but it is worth the effort.
• Why David Rothman wrote Drone Child: Lemba Adula’s Q&A with him – I, Lemba Adula, happen to be the hero of Drone Child: A Novel of War, Family, and Survival. So here I am, a Congolese villager turned self-taught hacker turned child soldier turned military drone expert turned sea-going pirate turned university student turned entrepreneur turned major industrialist. Just why did David Rothman write what he says is my fictional war memoir? Rather presumptuous, if you ask me. But here’s Monsieur Rothman’s side of the story about that detail and a few others.
• Will Amazon’s new ePub capability help the anti-DRM movement? – David H. Rothman has been writing about the issues inherent in publisher control of e-books and e-readers and the impact of digital rights management for many years. Whether you use personal devices or institutional devices, the issues Rothman raises here will impact you.
• Are war novels too scary for kids? – David H. Rothman is a former poverty beat reporter, founder of TeleRead.org ebook site, veteran tech writer, a staunch library advocate and an accomplished young adult book author. In this brief article he shares his thoughts on age appropriate reading in the content of a war novel and contemporaneous global events.
• Experts grade Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube on readiness to handle midterm election misinformation – Professors Dam Hee Kim, Anjana Susarla and Scott Shackelford are experts on social media. They were asked to grade how ready Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube are to handle the task of misinformation and disinformation in the upcoming election cycles. Social media companies have announced plans to deal with misinformation in the 2022 midterm elections, but the companies vary in their approaches and effectiveness and the result promises to be another jarring challenge to democracy in America.
• DRM On My Mind – Christine Park, Adjunct Professsor of Law, Fordham Law Library highlights risks of and legal restrictions related to digital rights management. LLRX welcomes further discussion of efforts to implement solutions, “before it’s too late.” See also David H. Rothman’s article – Will Amazon’s new ePub capability help the anti-DRM movement?
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 30, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: Thomson Reuters collected and leaked at least 3TB of sensitive data; Criminals are starting to exploit the metaverse, says Interpol. So police are heading there too; Public Entities in Nearly Every State Use Federally-Banned Foreign Tech, Report Says; and Should you log in with Facebook or Google on other sites or apps? Short answer: No!
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 22, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: Weakness in Microsoft Office 365 Message Encryption could expose email contents; How Facebook Became the Internet’s Covid-19 Misinformation Hub; TX AG Ken Paxton Sues Google Over Facial Recognition in Photos; TikTok Parent ByteDance Planned To Use TikTok To Monitor The Physical Location Of Specific American Citizens; and Here’s 5 of the world’s riskiest connected devices.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 15, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: The Uber Data Breach Conviction Shows Security Execs What Not to Do; Protect your privacy and your phone number with Firefox Relay; Pro-Russian hackers take credit for cyberattacks on U.S. airport; and Google Chrome Is the Least Secure Browser, Report Shows.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 8, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: Why your organization should plan for deepfake fraud before it happens; FTC Sues Broker Kochava Over Geolocation Data Sales; Google Chrome Bug Lets Sites Silently Overwrite System Clipboard Content; and Chrome extensions with 1.4 million installs steal browsing data.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 2, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: Why your organization should plan for deepfake fraud before it happens; FTC Sues Broker Kochava Over Geolocation Data Sales; Google Chrome Bug Lets Sites Silently Overwrite System Clipboard Content; and Chrome extensions with 1.4 million installs steal browsing data.