Recent Stories with tag wi-fi

Sure you have a firewall, but what about people photographing you through the window? Thanks to Flickr pool member mangpages!

It's like the Los Angeles Times only cares about Seattle if we're jumping off bridges or exposing ourselves to cybercrime. The story now is one of those virally successful PR efforts, based on computer crime busters Symantec rating 50 U.S. cities "using 24-million security sensors that monitor malicious-attack activity around the globe."

They counted up PC attacks, viruses and worms, and bot-infected computers used to send spam or transmit malware, checked the frequency of the attacks, and weighed behavior like connecting to public Wi-Fi shopping online without a secure connection.

Says Symantec, Seattle is top of the charts on almost every risk factor. But let's take this with a grain of salt. I asked Mark Rushing, systems analyst and open-source pusher at Orbis Lumen, for his take. Mark would have wanted to confirm that we're talking about actually illegal acts, rather than the sexy, all-purpose "cybercrime," and to know more about the role of false positives in "attacks" reported by virus software. But here are his initial responses.

So, cybercrime mecca Seattle: hooey or not hooey?

Probably a little of both. It's marketing. You're supposed to be scared and buy Norton/Symantec products. I notice that Fox News seems to have taken the largest interest in this story.

Is security even possible any more?

Complete security has never been, and will never be, possible. You can only take precautions. The more precautions you take, the more inconvenient and impractical your experiences can become. And interestingly, the more privacy you seem give up.

What are some basic precautions people just don't "get around to"?

The best protection is increasing your awareness. If you want to be safer, you must be aware of your environment. Learning is the best thing you can do. Alas, people prefer packaged conveniences, it seems, so they buy Norton/Symantec products, or buy AVG products (or use their free one). But this lets them observe all you and your computer is doing.

Better to use an operating system that is based upon best practices in the underlying science and technology, rather than predominantly marketing forces. Your conveniences always come at a cost, and those conveniences are rarely the best (and often not even the simplest) way to do things.

And of course, don't use the same password for every site. Use unique, harder passwords for sites with access to your bank accounts. Don't install software from places you do not know or trust. Etc., etc....

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For more than a decade, Seattle has prided itself on its robust economy and unmatched blend of innovative, successful companies. We’ve had it all. So it’s particularly hard to see a local, homemade Seattle company get whacked and weakened by punch after punch from its competitors.

Starbucks [SBUX] is having a rough recession. They’ve had to close hundreds of stores due to declining sales and have seen their market share shrunk by the likes of McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.  

Today, they’ve taken another smack to the gut from the boys behind the Golden Arches. Starting in January, McDonald’s will be offering free Wi-Fi. What this means is that the company behind the guy in the clown outfit has out flanked Starbucks yet again and gone directly to consumers with something they want and, frankly, demand.

For years Starbucks has stubbornly stuck to the notion that people like their stores and products so much that they will pay for an Internet connection they can find for free at a local café down the street (or now at a fast food chain with much cheaper lattés). In all fairness, Starbucks does offer free Wi-Fi, but only to AT&T Internet subscribers, or if you have a Starbucks card--otherwise, you pay for your time.

This might have made sense four years ago when wireless Internet first made its move towards ubiquity. But the world has changed and customers demand access as a prerequisite for settling down with a hot cup of Joe.   

Everyone else, it seems, has recognized that having people stay in your store and probably buy more than one drink, a donut, juice, or a Happy Meal is a very good thing. They probably realize that the income they generate from those incremental sales will pay for the cost the store incurs from an Internet connection.

The bitter irony, pun intended, is that Starbucks invented the concept of the coffee-house-as-office. They created the idea of a comfortable, cozy place to have an espresso and get a little something done. One could argue that the rapid rise of 3G phones is a direct response to people wanting tools that would allow them to be productive while sitting in someplace very much like Starbucks.  ...

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Photo courtesy of WSDOT

I just read over at the WSDOT blog that the Amtrak Cascades line is getting a makeover, scheduled for March 2010, once the Winter Olympics are done with.

Besides Wi-Fi and an upgraded video system (the existing video set-up has a charming Soviet-era quality)--hold back the tears, business travelers!--there will be an complete renovation of the bistro and lounge cars. Above is the proposed new look for the bistro car, sort of a Jetsons-meets-the-Rialto-concession-stand vibe.

WSDOT invites you to leave comments and suggestions on their post. Apparently they have some sway with Amtrak. I don't know that I'd put the water fountain at what looks like the entrance to the car. Seems like you turn around with your cup and BLAM! the guy in a hurry smacks you on his way past.