Here are the results:

jQuery

Prototype

I am sure Facebook's dudes need to rethink the whole concept and come up with something more sensible.

Jeff - here are the links for you:

Google Contacts API: http://code.google.com/apis/contacts/
Yahoo! Contact API: http://developer.yahoo.com/addressbook/
Windows Live Contact API: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb463989.aspx

I'm glad these malpractices are getting more attention, they deserve to get the bad wrap on their wrist for these kind of infringements of respecting users' data.

Stefan Fountain on June 5, 2008 05:37 AM

More specifically, meet my MacDreamy. :-)

Featuring two of the most awesome cyber thrills today: my blog and Twhirl. Haha!

It also comes with this. (PowerMac Centers offers this special promo until April 30th. :)) Double yay!

I originally wanted to name him Gandalf (y'know, the White Wizard. But it's just so tacky and corny (I know already!) Plus I don't want to wallow too much on my LOTR geekdom for once.) After not so much thought really, the idea of MacDreamy came up and turned out to be so right in the money. This baby has been my MacDream for all my Mac-SoYearsOf-life. And I've been working so hard so I wanted to make sure that I've saved up for something so MacWorth it.

Okay enough about that. The last thing I wanted to do is sound like Meredith Grey. I don't even have the energy for Grey's Anatomy anymore, what with all the soap opera crap they've been showing. (House FTW!) I just watch that freakin' show because of Sandra Oh (Points for the rhyming.).

Dear Shonda Rhimes, whatever happened? Please quit the whole hospital staff doing each other and sleeping with someone's wife, husband, boss, janitor, mailman and godknowswhoelse storyline. We already get that doctors have personal lives, okay? Get on with the icky medical cases. It's still good TV, you know.

Anyway, I have to thank my mom for lending me around 1/4 of the money I needed for this. I actually planned to settle for the laptop which I can afford on my own. When I told her it's because I still lack around so bucks to actually buy the one I really wanted the most, she offered to pay up for the rest. She didnn't want me to buy something just because it's the next best thing. In her own words, magsasawa ka lang agad at di mo masyadong pahahalagahan pag tumagal. (Even though sometimes I hate it when she's always right, I've appreciated it this time. Have I also mentioned how much I love my mother? Hehehe But of course, not solely because of this reason. Hmp.) I'm gonna pay her though. Every effing cent. That's the rule now. No more freebies from parents. They're now called LOANS. :P

The thanking the sponsor segment of this show ends here. :D

So yeah, I'm still exploring this new love and I'm actually getting the hang of it already. I've been a Windows junkie since the 6th grade and it is an adjustment. The file transfer itself was hell. (Effing Itunes doesn't recognize my Windows-supported Ipod so I have to manually transfer my music files to and fro. That's modern politics, ladies and gentlemen.)

Hopefully, I won't be a MacIdiot for long. So move over, Carrie. It's the inner computer dweeb in me who will get to influence the world this time. :P

Okay, first of all, PinoyExchange is very much alive and kicking. I’m not saying goodbye to it nor is it saying goodbye to us.

This particular entry just merits my sheer love and appreciation for the longest-running Pinoy online community, which has become an influential avenue for Filipinos all over the world to “speak their mind” (as their previous tagline suggests) about various issues talked about and dealt with in the society. These issues range from the most serious and pressing matters shared within the political, religious, professional and academic circle to the lighter and more personal topics that revolve in a typical Filipino way of life.

Obviously, it’s about Pinoys exchanging ideas, thoughts and interests by interacting with, fighting with, and teaching/learning from each other.

Founded by Dr. Michael Nolledo (username: "batanguliran") in 1999, PinoyExchange (or PEX for the more familiar) has grown to become more than just an online forum over the years. It does not only offer key information and valuable knowledge on different “topics under the sun” but also serve as a significant channel to unite Filipinos in interest-sharing, critical thinking and unabashed assessing on the most challenging issues of the modern times.

I’ve been a member of PEX since 2003. But prior to that, I was already a member of our university’s own online community, which first introduced me to the world of online forums. Right then, I was easily fascinated with the exchange of ideas and preferences between various types of people. The feeling was altogether thought-provoking, overwhelming and fun as you go along with it. It was even addictive at times as it demands all your attention, away from homework and weekly readings for school. Along the way, I realized my fellow Thomasians clearly are an opinionated lot. We were talking about school and student affairs, the ridiculously difficult (and often unnecessary) subjects, the professors we respect or frown upon and other issues around the country and the globe which we think merited a student’s point of view.

However, I felt that the avenue I was in was too “constrained” for my taste as I only get to converse with people who were studying or studied at the university. In the most opportune times, a friend introduced me to PinoyExchange, which at that time was where he’d particularly spend a lot of time dissing and teasing haters of the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe (for which my friend and I were both fans of.) He told me to join him so we can both kick a freakin’ ass or two.

Of course, I was curious enough to check it out. FYI, I wasn’t intending on the possibility of waging war with other university students. They were bitter. Period. That was all I knew and wanted to point out to my friend. I was most convinced to join because it seemed like the perfect opportunity to extend my online forums heydays to a notch. This time, it’ll have a wider coverage, encompassing thousands of people not just living in the Philippines but also abroad. It’s a welcome change as being a daughter of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) also sparked my interests to know more about how the Filipinos are doing on the other side of the planet.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, PinoyExchange has become more aggressive at promoting this unique hub for quality thinkers, opinion makers and key influencers in the country. It now has 249,398 members, 302,860 threads and 24,873,894 posts. Loads of corporate advertisers have recognized its effectiveness in terms of reaching out to their targeted publics. (I’ve forgiven the frequent downtime because of the availability of avatars. I know, shallow. :D)

Through PEX, I’ve come to know great people along the way and even made friends with some of them. These people I came across with in various topic threads where we share our random POVs. My frequently visited threads delve on basic interests like In The Zone, Music and Radio, International TV and Movies and Arts and Literature; "scholastic" matters like The Realm of Thought, The Academe, Local And Foreign Issues; daily social and personal affairs like Love Courtship and Marriage, Buhay Pinoy and Family Friends Society and interactive threads like Campus Chat and Small Talk. In Small Talk, we also get to enjoy a little Petiks time with its array of short Q&As and games. Once, I also signed up and was chosen to participate in a Survivor online fantasy game based on the popular reality TV show. I was busy with school, though, and didn’t last longer than I had hoped for. (Benj was a co-player during that installment. In fact, he was the one who got me voted out. LOL Remember your “my tribe” declaration? :-P During the game, he kind of had a reputation with everyone. I won’t elaborate anymore. Haha!)

PEX also triggered my once-closet fangirlism. Sometimes, I hate myself for being so gaga over someone or something that it seemed almost ridiculous. But knowing that there are people like you who also get obsessed over a show or something, it makes you feel normal around these people. It makes your excessive fixation forgivable.

I only got a few encounters of abrasions from the flames and the trolls who only post at PEX for the stupidity of it all. A heated (sometimes too personal) argument is an unfortunate staple in this community. The longer your patience and the tougher your composure, the longer you’ll survive. Just like life in general.

Although at one point I did take a hiatus over PEXing around 2006, I always find myself checking it out once in a while during that time (read: LURK). However, I started actively posting again the moment I realized that I feel like I’m missing out on something. (Once you’re a member, you’ll get to appreciate the fact that sometimes PEX (pre-blog phenomenon) gets faster and more comprehensive information than our national dailies.)

When I came out of the said hiatus and went back, I discovered how much I’ve changed, judging on the previous and current posts I made. Looking back at previous threads and re-reading my previous comments, some of those beliefs I shared before were no longer intact with me. Those issues I used to disagree with, I now employ in my life. It’s part of the big change, I guess. And it’s nice to know that PEX has the technology to keep your thoughts when you need to reassess at one point in your life.

Some of the PEXers I knew are also some of the smartest people I’ve come to know in my sweet existence. Those who are not only intelligent, logical and eloquent but also who have shared a wonderful story of success or failure that have inspired me. In PEX life, it’s not just about the braggadocio of knowing a thing or two about something. It’s not just about vanity. It’s not just about getting extensive information on the latest Cinema Francaise films or the US Presidential campaign. It’s not even about having the best-viewed and top-commented threads.

It’s also about being able to share what you know because you want to and you need to. It’s also about helping someone make sense of certain situations and letting them know that there’s another way out. It’s about having your experiences teach someone so he/she can learn from them.

It’s not just about conversing with strangers. It’s about communicating with people.

Disclaimer: Hah. This is hardly a commercial for it. @_@

Just for you... Here is a sneak preview of the new Phantom of the Opera set in The Purple Rose. Rehearsals are starting in earnest as we really want to get this off the ground and get going with it.

To have a recap on my thoughts from yesterday, I have been doing some Google searching (other search engines are available) on SL relationships, and I still have not found a positive relationship article. All the information is on how SL breaks up RL relationships, families, ruins RL lives... I attended a SL wedding recently. The occasion was perfect, the setting was perfect and it was a great example of RL love in a SL setting. Now I know that they are not the only couple on SL to be in love in RL too... So why is the Internet full of tales of SL being the end of RL love, life and relationships?

I have another couple who I am friendly with. This couple are partnered in SL, and have known each other for a number of years. Yet they have no need or want to meet in RL and their RL relationships are not disrupted by the SL love they have for each other. Is it so rare to find people who are so well grounded that they know the difference between SL and RL relationships and can manage both without forsaking the other? Love in SL, if you are perfectly able to manage it, doesn't need to spill out and destroy your RL.

A lot of my SL friends have their own theories on this. I recently shared an article I found in a UK newspaper amongst my friends, an article which (once again) blamed a SL relationship on the breakup of a RL relationship. The most popular reaction to this? "idiots". Maybe I am fortunate enough to have incredibly intelligent well grounded SL friends, whom I hope none of will fall into the SL relationship trap. Or is it that even with our seriousness of SL we know how to differentiate between the fantasy and the reality?

In my own experience, my RL partner knows what I do on Second Life. He watches me performing at the Rose occasionally, he listens to the music when I'm hosting an event in Dublin, and until recently he watched my avatar hang around with an avatar of the opposite sex. He has read the articles I have found and yet he has never assumed that it will happen to our RL relationship. Maybe he trusts that my psychological training will hold fast against this trap, but he is perfectly happy to let me continue to explore SL, and to be honest I think it annoys him that I can play and also listen to his conversation and reply coherently...

until next time...

On a more sombre note, I have been doing some reading into SL relationships. There was a story in the paper yesterday entitled “Second Life destroyed my Family”. Basically, there are people out there who are taking their SL relationships out of SL and into the RL. In this particular story, the man had met another ava in SL, struck up a partnership and eventually got so taken up into the fantasy of it that he flew across the world to meet her in RL, leaving his wife and child behind. If you type in the words “Second Life Partnership” into Google, up comes a multitude of stories of Second Life Widowers or Widows, people who have been left out of RL time with their other half's because of SL.

Now, I have a theory about this. I talk to a great variety of people in my SL travels, and a lot of people are like me, I go onto SL to provide a distraction when my RL gets on top of me. I have many problems in RL and SL gives me a release. However, if it started to affect my RL relationship with R in the way that these people have left it, I know I would have to cut away from it completely (yes, cold turkey, imagine the pain). Second Life Ava's and even LL themselves have been sued in RL for the breakup of RL partners, for the emotional trauma SL can inflict on someone and for all sorts of other stuff, and if thats the way people feel they need to go then they should.

But it is a game of sorts, there may not be a start middle and end to SL, but it doesn’t have to be the be all and end all of RL too…

Which brings me onto another point.. Everyone knows about the underlying Sex Trade of SL, you cant go many places without seeing attachable penis’ and what not, even a fairly innocent search will bring up a multitude of “Free Sex” places… However, there is a darker side to it, a lot of places offer Rape, Violence, Murder and some even offer Pedophilia fantasies. Now, you can argue that its probably better for people with these tendencies to keep them within the Virtual World as they are less likely to spill out into the RL… but, I don’t think that any such fantasy like that can be kept solely to the fantasy SL, people that have those urges may have them fulfilled for a short while by SL, but what happens when the urge gets greater and they need more?

There doesn't seem to be any sort of legislation on SL to prevent these RPG sims from being operational. I just hope that some day SL doesn't get sued by a victim or a victims family for allowing the predator to live out his fantasy first on SL… I predict there will be some nasty repercussions from this. I know LL work to try and keep Adults away from the Teen Life pages, and vice versa, but can they really stop either lying about their age to gain access to either SL? If they had to make the Age Verification by way of a passport of driving license compulsory instead of an optional part of the Sign Up process hopefully that will keep each age group to each world.

I'm not saying cut out the RP aspect of SL completely, I'm just wondering why, if these things are illegal or a crime in the RL they are allowed to be committed freely in the SL…

More on this another time

Tampilan depan halaman situs Komisi Pemilihan Umum (KPU) telah disusupi sebuah pesan cinta.

Pesan cinta layaknya yang sering diungkapkan anak-anak sekolah tersebut, telah bercokol di bagian kanal berita KPU sejak pukul 10.22 WIB, Minggu (16/3/2008).

Demikian cuplikan pesan tersebut di dalam bagian beritanya:

Minggu 16 Maret 2008 10:22 WIB
I Love Renny Yahna Oktaviana

Ren..
rumah kamu pindah kemana sih....
aku ga tau kamu sekarang pindah rumah kemana ???

hehehhe
jangan cemberut terus dong.....
senyum kamu kan manis .....

aku disini kangen sma kamu,,,,,
di sini sepi..

nanti hari selasa aku ke sekolahan kamu ya...
aku tunggu ya....
hehehhe

E.L.R 0x0001 , , ,
(E.L.R)

If you are trying to contact me on Facebook, please don’t. My account has been “disabled” for breaking Facebook’s Terms of Use. I was running a script that got them to keep me from accessing my account. I’m appealing. I’ll tell you what I was doing as soon as I talk with the developers who built what I was using and as soon as I talk with Facebook’s support (I sent an email in reply to the one below, but haven’t heard back yet).

...

I am working with a company to move my social graph to other places and that isn’t allowable under Facebook’s terms of service.

While they wrote their own screen scrappers so they can read all your contacts and friends that stored in the addresses books at gmail or hotmail or live.com, and many others. They blocked Robert Scoble's account for running a script that (as far as I can read between the lines) exports his own friends list.

It is pretty clear now why Facebook preferred to go along with Microsoft instead of Google.
It is even more clear why they don't join open social.
I can see what they thought at the first place when they released that cursed Beacon, and I don't buy the apologizes that came after the rush.

Here is a short description of [Windows|Facebook] (you choose) platform.

• It is a closed source system that comes with a set of APIs, which let third parties develop new applications.
• If a user wants to use a third party application he must install that application.
• If a user decided to uninstall a third party software.
• When a user run the uninstall process, most of the data might remain in the system.
• You never know who has access to your private data.

the following:

<h2 id="foo">Click Here</h2>
<script>
    $('foo').click = function(){alert("Hello")};
</script>

is better than:

<h2 id="foo" onclick="alert('Hello');">Click Here</h2>

and the following:

<style>
body{
    background-color:#ffffff;
    color:#000000;
    margin-top:3}
a{color:#0000cc}
a:visited{color:#551a8b}
</style>
<body>....</body>

<script>
$(document).ready(function(){
    sf();
    if(document.images){
        new Image().src='/images/nav_logo3.png';
    });
</script>

is far better than:

<body bgcolor=#ffffff
text=#000000
link=#0000cc
vlink=#551a8b
alink=#ff0000
onload="sf();if(document.images){new Image().src='/images/nav_logo3.png'}"
topmargin=3 marginheight=3>....</body>

and last but not least: Using HTML tables for layout-ing is evil.

The point is that the code above is taken from Google, Facebook and Yahoo.
Yep! All the majors seems to be caring less on standards and more for their own interests.

None of them are valid HTML and Google.com uses a table to align the two buttons (Google Search and I'm felling Lucky) in the middle of the page.

— Annie Hall (1977) by Woddy Allen

I have been thinking allot recently about some significant decisions I have to make regarding my career, many times I found myself summarizing: I would, but I need the salary... ♥

MK Gandhi

Konferensi Iklim virtual ini digelar di sebuah pulau di second life, dan ramai dikunjungi para avatar (sebutan untuk penduduk second life) yang menjadi delegasi Konferensi virtual ini.

Tidak tanggung-tanggung, delegasi hajatan maya ini mencapai 7 JUTA ORANG!!! Seperti dilansir detikcom, konferensi itu bisa dilihat di alamat ini: slurl.com/secondlife/SecondNature/218/213/28.

Rz: im-not-virtual-yet

mulai dari menang lotere, minta bantuan yg aneh2, jualan, dan hal2 aneh lainnya.

walaupun dah di filter sebagai spam , tapi setiap hari ada aja spammer baru.

Kemaren ada spam yang lumayan kocak:

Campur2 tuh... ada yahoo, msn, bahkan google

The Conscience of a Hacker (also known as The Hacker Manifesto) is a small essay written January 8, 1986 by a hacker who went by the handle (or pseudonym) of The Mentor (born Loyd Blankenship). It was written after the author's arrest, and first published in the underground hacker ezine Phrack in Volume One, Issue 7, Phile 3 of 10. Today it can be found on countless websites.

It is considered a cornerstone of hacker culture, and it gives some insight into the psychology of early hackers. It is said to have shaped the hacker community's view of itself and its motivations. The Manifesto states that hackers choose to hack because it is a way for them to learn, and because they are often frustrated and bored in school. It also expresses the satori of a hacker realizing his potential in the realm of computers.

To this day, the Manifesto acts as a guideline to hackers across the globe, especially those new to the field. It serves as an ethical foundation for hacking, and asserts that there is a point to hacking that supersedes selfish desires to exploit or harm other people, and that technology should be used to expand our horizons and try to keep the world free.

The article is quoted in the 1995 movie Hackers, although in the movie it is being read from an issue of the hacker magazine 2600, not the historically accurate Phrack. It is also reproduced inside the CD case of the computer game Uplink.

"A Hacker Manifesto" is also the name of a book written by media studies professor McKenzie Wark.

The Mentor gave a reading of The Hacker Manifesto and offered additional insight at H2K2.

From: http://www.phrack.org/archives/7/P07-03

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The following was written shortly after my arrest...

                       \/\The Conscience of a Hacker/\/

                                      by

                               +++The Mentor+++

                          Written on January 8, 1986

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

... ... ....

This is our world now...

the world of the electron and the switch,

The beauty of the baud.

We make use of a service already existing without paying

for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run

by profiteering gluttons,

And you call us criminals.

We explore... and you call us criminals.

We seek after knowledge... and you call us criminals.

We exist without skin color, without nationality,

without religious bias... and you call us criminals.

You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat,

and lie to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good,

yet we're the criminals.

Yes, I am a criminal.

My crime is that of curiosity.

My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think,

not what they look like.

My crime is that of outsmarting you,

something that you will never forgive me for.

I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto.

You may stop this individual,

but you can't stop us all...

after all, we're all alike.

                               +++The Mentor+++

_______________________________________________________________________

The terms hacker and hack are marked by contrasting positive and negative connotations. Computer programmers often use the words hacking and hacker to express admiration for the work of a skilled software developer (but may also use them in a negative sense to describe the production of inelegant kludges). Some frown upon using hacking as a synonym for security cracking -- in distinct contrast to the larger world, in which the word hacker is typically used to describe someone who "hacks into" a system by evading or disabling security measures.

While "hack" was originally more used as a verb for "messing about" with (e.g. "I hack around with computers"), the meaning of the term has shifted over the decades since it first came into use in a computer context. As usage has spread more widely, the primary meaning of newer users of the word has shifted to one which conflicts with the original primary emphasis.

Currently, "hacker" is used in two main ways, one pejorative and one complimentary. In popular usage and in the media, it most often refers to computer intruders or criminals, with associated pejorative connotations. (For example, "An Internet 'hacker' broke through state government security systems in March.") In the computing community, the primary meaning is a complimentary description for a particularly brilliant programmer or technical expert. (For example, "Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, is considered by some to be a genius 'hacker'.") A large segment of the technical community insist the latter is the "correct" usage of the word (see the Jargon File definition below).

The mainstream media's current usage of the term may be traced back to the early 1980s (see History). When the term was introduced to wider society by the mainstream media in 1983, even those in the computer community referred to computer intrusion as "hacking", although not as the exclusive use of that word. In reaction to the increasing media use of the term exclusively with the criminal connotation, the computer community began to differentiate their terminology. Several alternative terms such as "black hat" and "cracker" were coined in an effort to distinguish between those performing criminal activities, and those whose activities were the legal ones referred to more frequently in the historical use of the term "hack". Analogous terms such as "white hats" and "gray hats" developed as a result. However, since network news use of the term pertained primarily to the criminal activities despite this attempt by the technical community to preserve and distinguish the original meaning, the mainstream media and general public continue to describe computer criminals with all levels of technical sophistication as "hackers" and does not generally make use of the word in any of its non-criminal connotations.

As a result of this difference, the definition is the subject of heated controversy. The wider dominance of the pejorative connotation is resented by many who object to the term being taken from their cultural jargon and used negatively^[1], including those who have historically preferred to self-identify as hackers. Many advocate using the more recent and nuanced alternate terms when describing criminals and others who negatively take advantage of security flaws in software and hardware. Others prefer to follow common popular usage, arguing that the positive form is confusing and unlikely to become widespread in the general public. A minority still stubbornly use the term in both original senses despite the controversy, leaving context to clarify (or leave ambiguous) which meaning is intended. It is noteworthy, however, that the positive definition of hacker was widely used as the predominant form for many years before the negative definition was popularized.

"Hacker" can therefore be seen as a shibboleth, identifying those who use the technically-oriented sense (as opposed to the exclusively intrusion-oriented sense) as members of the computing community.

A possible middle ground position has been suggested, based on the observation that "hacking" describes a collection of skills which are used by hackers of both descriptions for differing reasons. The analogy is made to locksmithing, specifically picking locks, which — aside from its being a skill with a fairly high tropism to 'classic' hacking — is a skill which can be used for good or evil. The primary weakness of this analogy is the inclusion of script kiddies in the popular usage of "hacker", despite the lack of an underlying skill and knowledge base.

Similar, synonymous and related terms, which are not mutually exclusive, or universally accepted:

• Hacker may mean simply a person with mastery of computers; however the mass media most often uses "hacker" as synonymous with a (usually criminal) computer intruder. See hacker, and Hacker definition controversy.
• White hat: An ethical hacker who breaks security but who does so for altruistic or at least non-malicious reasons. White hats generally have a clearly defined code of ethics, and will often attempt to work with a manufacturer or owner to improve discovered security weaknesses, although many reserve the implicit or explicit threat of public disclosure after a "reasonable" time as a prod to ensure timely response from a corporate entity. The term is also used to describe hackers who work to deliberately design and code more secure systems. To white hats, the darker the hat, the more the ethics of the activity can be considered dubious. Conversely, black hats may claim the lighter the hat, the more the ethics of the activity are lost.
• Grey hat: A hacker of ambiguous ethics and/or borderline legality, often frankly admitted.
• Blue Hat: Refers to outside computer security consulting firms that are used to bug test a system prior to its launch, looking for exploits so they can be closed. The term has also been associated with a roughly annual security conference by Microsoft, the unofficial name coming from the blue color associated with Microsoft employee badges. Also see Big Blue.
• Black Hat: Someone who subverts computer security without authorization or who uses technology (usually a computer or the Internet) for terrorism, vandalism, credit card fraud, identity theft, intellectual property theft, or many other types of crime. This can mean taking control of a remote computer through a network, or software cracking.
• Cracker:
  1. A black hat hacker. Often used to differentiate black hat hackers and the general (positive) sense of hacker. The use of the term began to spread around 1983, probably introduced both due to similar phonetic sound and as construction from the historical slang of safe cracker. Also theorized by some to be a portmanteau of the words criminal and hacker.
  2. A security hacker who uses password cracking or brute force attacks. Related to the term safe cracker.
  3. A software cracker. A person specialized in working around copy protection mechanisms in software. Note that software crackers are not involved in exploiting networks, but copy protected software.
• Script kiddie: A pejorative term for a computer intruder with little or no skill; a person who simply follows directions or uses a cook-book approach without fully understanding the meaning of the steps they are performing.
• Hacktivist is a hacker who utilizes technology to announce a political message. Web vandalism is not necessarily hacktivism.

Jakarta - Ini adalah penyakit aneh yang berhubungan dengan Internet. Penyebabnya bukan virus atau bakteri, namun justru karena perilaku pasien itu sendiri.

Istilah cyberchondriac dipakai untuk menjuluki para pengidap hipokondria yang begitu getol berjelajah informasi di Internet. Hipokondria adalah orang-orang merasa dirinya mengidap penyakit parah dan bereaksi berlebihan terhadap penyakitnya.

Pengidap cyberchondriac selalu mencari tahu tentang penyakit dan penyebabnya di Internet. Bagi kelompok ini aktivitas online dapat menjadi pembunuh yang lebih kejam daripada penyakit itu sendiri.

Di negara-negara maju, kelompok ini menunjukan jumlah yang signifikan. Di Amerika Serikat misalnya, menurut penelitian Pew Internet, lebih dari 7 juta orang Amerika online setiap harinya hanya untuk meneliti kesehatan atau mengetahui informasi kedokteran.

"Mereka disebut 'cyberchondriac' dan kelompok ini adalah orang-orang dengan hipokondria yang memiliki obsesi kompulsif kuat terhadap gejala-gejala penyakit yang mereka rasakan," ujar Dr. Brian Fallon dari Universitas Columbia, seperti dikutip detikINET dari ABCNews, Senin (21/5/2007).

Sembilan puluh persen pengidap hipokondria dengan akses Internet, menurut Fallon, menjadi cyberchondriac.

"Cyberchondria bisa menjadi penyakit yang menghancurkan karena pengidapnya hanya terfokus pada gejala-gejala mereka. Mereka akan terus mencari sumber gejala itu di Internet dan hal inilah yang menghancurkan hidup mereka," ujar Fallon.

Terobsesi Dengan Penyakit

Adalah Lee Gardon, seorang pria berusia 47 tahun yang kini telah pulih dari cyberchondriac. Awal mulanya, Gardon tidak bisa mempercayai hasil uji kesehatannya yang dinyatakan baik.

"Saya memiliki gejala tertentu. Bisa saja itu sakit otot biasa atau kumpulan penyakit. Dan akhirnya saya menjelajahi Internet untuk mencari jawabannya," ujar Gardon.

Gardon mengaku dirinya akan terus mengakses Internet selama hampir 4 jam sehari hanya untuk mencari jawaban tentang gejala yang muncul dalam dirinya. Saat itu ia berpikir ia terkena gejala penyakit jantung atau penyakit yang lebih parah.

Penyakit cyberchondriac Gardon semakin bertambah buruk. Malam-malamnya diisi dengan perenungan tentang penyakitnya dan kadang terbangun di tengah malam hanya untuk kembali memeriksa gejala yang ia rasakan melalui Internet.

Gardon kemudian pergi ke Columbia, AS untuk mendiskusikan penyakitnya dengan seorang dokter bernama Kelli Harding. Melalui kombinasi terapi dan pengobatan, Harding mengajari Gardon cara untuk mengelola pikiran dan serangan kegelisahannya.

Dan pengobatan tersebut mulai menunjukkan hasil positif. Gardon secara sadar membatasi aksesnya ke situs-situs kedokteran online hanya 20 menit setiap harinya. Istri Gardon pun mulai merasakan hubungan rumah tangganya lebih baik dari sebelumnya.

Namun Harding juga memperingatkan, dengan membanjirnya informasi kedokteran di Internet, apa yang dialami Gardon bisa juga menimpa siapapun yang memiliki kecenderungan mengidap hipokondria.

"Seperti film horor jika anda memiliki hipokondria di Internet karena anda ingin berpaling dari Internet namun anda tak bisa, dan semakin anda melihatnya semakin anda akan ketakutan," tutur dokter wanita tersebut.

Sumber:

Lathiefa Nur Ilma - detikinet

Dari laporan yang dikeluarkan unit Cybercrime Inggris, seperti dikutip detikINET dari AFP, Jumat (7/9/2007), lebih dari 3 juta aksi kejahatan online telah tercatat di negeri Ratu Elizabeth ini pada tahun lalu.

Stefan Fafinski, penulis laporan tersebut mengatakan, meskipun untuk mengukur tingkat kejahatan virtual tergolong sulit, namun bisa dipastikan bahwa sudah banyak kejadian yang melebihi aksi kejahatan 'tradisonal'.

Sementara itu, perusahaan analis sekuriti Garlik menambahkan bahwa pihak yang sering dijadikan sasaran penyerangan cybercrime bukanlah para organisasi atau perusahaan melainkan lebih mengarah kepada individu, dengan tingkat penyerangan lebih dari 60 persen.

Sedangkan bentuk kejahatan yang paling sering dilakukan para penjahat dunia maya adalah terkait penyalahgunaan e-mail dan tindakan pencemaran nama baik yang dilakukan via situs atau chatroom.

Selain itu, kejahatan seksual juga menjadi aksi yang paling sering dilakukan, dengan 850.000 kasus yang tercatat pada tahun lalu. Dimana sebagian pelakunya merupakan penguntit online (cyberstalked) atau pelaku pedofilia yang mencari korban di dunia maya.

Sementara untuk kejahatan lain yang tercatat oleh Garlik adalah kejahatan finansial (207.000 kasus) meningkat 30 persen dari 2005, pencurian identitas (92.000 kasus) serta penyusupan komputer alias hacking (144.500 kasus)
( ash / ash )

Sumber: Ardhi Suryadhi - detikinet

As far as I can tell, in my opinion, firing Aaron Swartz is one of the biggest mistake a software company can make. There aren't many Aarons in the universe, and if you were lucky enough to came across one, and shake his hand, leave your hand at there, that is, don't let the person go. It seems like the guys at Wired probably don't get it.

Making mistakes is one thing, being evil is another.

This is the current page at reddit.com
(http://programming.reddit.com/help/team_reddit)

This is the one I managed to find at Internet Archive
(http://web.archive.org/web/20061222002224/http://programming.reddit.com/help/team_reddit)

Related links:

• http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2007-05-07-n78.html
• http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/fired
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit
• http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/officespace
• http://programming.reddit.com/help/team_reddit
• http://web.archive.org/web/20061222002224/http://programming.reddit.com/help/team_reddit

PS: It would interesting, seeing this post in reddit