Internet security news can often be rather bleak and depressing, but every once in awhile, you come across a truly funny news article. CNet came out with an article a couple of days ago that made me laugh/shake my head and I would like to share it with all of you.

A Masters of Fine Arts student named Zach Gage came up with an interesting idea for his thesis. So, he programmed a game that runs on MacIntosh computers. Resembling Space Invaders (Space Invaders gave an entire generation carpal tunnel syndrome), Gage's project has a twist - every time you destroy an alien ship, Zach's game deletes a random file on your computer. Gage is incredibly upfront about this - his web site warns you that you will permanently lose data and the game also warns you of this when you start it!

And today is the day...

After years of speculation, Microsoft officially released Windows 7 today. While Microsoft's site is comparatively low key, bloggers have been lighting up the web with their initial impressions and mini-reviews. One particularly funny Windows 7 article comes courtesy of Scott Stein, who wrote about the Windows 7 Whopper on Crave. Get this - in Japan, for a limited time, you can go into a Burger King and order a Windows 7 Whopper. The Windows 7 Whopper has seven patties and is over five inches tall. If I lived in Japan, I could get a new operating system, buy lunch, and qualify for a triple bypass all in the same day.

Today is the second Monday of October and so Canadians are celebrating Thanksgiving. Sad day for turkeys, but a great day for all of us. So, on behalf of the entire SmartSwipe team, I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a very happy Thanksgiving.

Be safe!

I think that I have the greatest job in the world. Basically, I get to spend all day working on the bleeding edge of internet security. Netsecure is a great company to work for and I'm surrounded by some of the funnest people I know every time I go in to work. And, in my customer support role, I get to meet and make friends with SmartSwipers from around the world.

Certain SmartSwipers stand out to me. One particular gentleman really opened my eyes towards the world of accessibility.

Yesterday, I wrote about two researchers at Carnegie Mellon University who uncovered a way to predict an individual's Social Security Number based upon his or her State and date of birth. This discovery casts down upon how secure Social Security Numbers are and has tremendous implications for the study and prevention of identity theft.  This news likely does not make you very secure, but how would you feel if your Social Security Number were printed and sold with wallets?

Social Security Numbers were all the rage in the late 1930s.  Ushered in as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's famed 'New Deal', by the end of 1937, over 37,000,000 had been handed out.  In 1938, a wallet manufacturer from New York (E.H. Ferree) decided that they would sell more wallets if they showed customers how a Social Security card would look in them.  So, they printed up sample cards and started inserting them with wallets.  Sounds like a good idea, isn't it?

Don Power, our Sales Manager, is originally from Newfoundland, so he has been closely watching news about the tragic helicopter crash that took the lives of 17 people. When I asked Don about the tragedy, he wrote the following in an email:

"I just read that thousands are expected to pack the largest church in Newfoundland for a memorial service for the victims and their families. They did the same thing a hundred years ago after every spring seal hunt and again in 1982 when the Ocean Ranger oil rig went down with all hands aboard. Go to any community in Newfoundland and there are often memorials and plaques in homage to people who have lost their lives on the sea. Whether or not you ever plied the ocean yourself, this becomes a living breathing part of your makeup when you are a Newfoundlander. Where else could three friends grow up together and two of them become bonafide ships' captains? I'm the computer nerd in that group of 3, so directly or indirectly we Newfoundlanders ALL have a profound bittersweet identity with the sea and at times like these we mourn not only for these victims, but the hundreds (thousands?) who've gone before and the inevitable, unfortunate folk who will meet a similar fate in days yet to come." (Don Power, March 18, 2009)