The Teckki Says

The Internet as we know it is more of a concept than a product or service. It is not like the street we see, giving us the ability to point out to a physical road and explain the dangers of it, nor is it something we can tag or place a warning label on to inform us of its hazards. The Internet is a collection of devices, services and interactions, pieces by themselves that are not dangerous, but in combination, can be lethal.

Because of this, information on usage of the Internet is done either through classes, books, mucking through it and workshops, like one I participated in last month. It was full of information that is important both in personal and business matters. The workshop featured information from the Chicago Police Department, and five distinguished technology experts. I will summarize highlight of the workshop in this article.

Chicago Police Officer Charmaine Strong gave a presentation on Internet Security and children. This one was of particular interest to me since I am battling technology-savvy children of my own. One point struck me, however, is that as much attention as Internet Security is getting, the number of officers assigned to Internet Security at CPD is relatively minuscule, roughly five officers devoted to a city of three million. While identity theft takes up the majority of news press and is definitely more prevalent, these are also the officers that handle Internet predators.

I was impressed with the list of acronyms Officer Strong presented as a part of the texting lingo (see this site for lists) kids use to talk to one another. It reminded me of the days when I was a kid, but maturity level of the texting language in some cases should be rated NC-17. Generations of parents have always tried to figure out what their children are saying. The list helps. DYGT (did you get that)?

George Rumsey, of Computer Resource Center, did an excellent job of moderating a panel of four professionals who offered much to the audience in keeping their computing experiences relatively safe. Richard Buchner, of Hyde Park Systems Group, provided an array of tips to those in the Windows computing world. He discussed the seemingly obvious, such as the money scams we get in emails, to the not so obvious, such as getting emails from people we trust, but whose email accounts have been hijacked. Charlie Havens, of Wooded Isle Consultants, discussed the rather lassie-faire attitude that those with Apple computers take towards protecting them from viruses. An interesting statistic he presented was that for Mac computers, there were just under 300 known viruses. He contrasted that to the almost 300,000 know viruses in the Windows PC world. While it is much more likely that Windows PC users would likely encounter a virus, a Mac user is more likely to be infected by one. Havens also had the latest Apple sensation, the iPad, on display. Look for a future review of his experiences with the iPad in a later post.

Jean Pickering, of The Tecktite Group, covered social media. In her comprehensive coverage of the topic, Jean related how the critical mass of Internet users has already embraced social networking media, making it fully mainstream. She stated that more and more businesses and employers are using the media in many ways from marketing to employee background checks. She also gave a counter to the conventional wisdom that nothing lasts forever, saying that once something is posted to the Internet, it never goes away. This certainly gives pause to think about what you post.

A lot of my input complemented the other panelists. However, I believe that web computing can only be made safe to a point. It's like driving. You trust yourself, and implicitly, everyone else on the road. This trust won't necessarily stop accidents, hit and runs and drunk drivers. Today’s Internet, like driving, will always have some element of danger, but we can only be so cautious.

The audience felt that they were given a lot of good information. The panelists always get a lot out of it. Hopefully, everyone is safer and relatively more secure in navigating the Internet.

A special thanks goes out to Richard Buchner, of Hyde Park Systems Group for organizing the event, to Camille Hamilton-Doyle for managing many of the tasks and coordinating the publicity, and to Elizabeth Kirby, principal, as well as staff at Kenwood High School for hosting the event.