Technociety

SFGate notes a growing trend that I have seen in myself, and am not surprised to find it in others.  More and more, people are going onwhile watching TV and using that to add to their viewing experience.  For example, one person notes that while watching a show, she often wonders what else she has seen that person is in, and immediately goes to the Internet Movie Database to find out.  As she notes, she no longer has to wait for the credits for that kind of information.  (Also posted at Basic Training.)

An email is going around telling folks that their Facebook account has been compromised, and to click on the link to change their password.  Of course, clicking on the link downloads all manner of bad things onto the computer, including a key logger that steals passwords.  A pretty common tactic, but the new wrinkle on this one is that up until now, Facebook users have usually been targeted through Facebook's own messaging system, while this one uses regular email to do its thing.  Given that a fair percentage of Facebook's users are somewhat naive when it comes to safe computing (at least judging by some of the folks I know), this one could spread fairly quickly.

A car dealership in Austin found themselves dealing with a headache when droves of customers started complaining about their cars refusing to start or constantly honking their horns.  Turns out the cars were equipped with a web-enabled technology that let the dealership remotely disable the cars or honk the horns if customers were late with payments, and was viewed as a step that could be taken before repossession.  Problem was, a disgruntled ex-employee got hold of the company's customer database and started bricking cars.  He has since been arrested on computer intrustion charges.

In a blinding flash of the obvious, a new study finds that playing video games hinders learning in boys.  Before we all rush to throw the Playstations into the trash, there are a number of things that make this "study" suspect.  First, it was done with boys because the researchers assumed that girls would naturally play less video games (so much for unbiased research.)  Second, the way it was conducted was that out of a group of children, half were given video game consoles and half were not.  Unsurprisingly, the half given consoles started playing video games, and the researchers found a corresponding drop in other activities and scholarship.  The conclusion:  time spent playing games is less time spent studying.  You have to get an advanced degree to figure this out?  So how do you limit the amount of time on the console?  How about an old fashioned thing called parenting?

Peter Graves, best known for his work on the original Mission Impossible televsion show and, to later fans, the satirical Airplane movies, passed away yesterday at the age of 83 of an apparent heart attack.

We'll miss you, Peter.  One bit of trivia regarding Graves is that he was not the only actor in the family: his big brother, James Arness, starred in the long-running Gunsmoke television series.