Questions from Class 2

The following questions were asked after class or on note cards.

Can you talk about Snopes.com?

Snopes is one of the best sites for verifying that some rumor is true. You've all received emails claiming that your cell phone numbers will be added to a public directory this month, what Pat Boone, George Carlin, or Kurt Vonnegut had to say, that a particular type of virus is circulating, an NBC poll about God in America, and the like. A quick check at Snopes can verify that this message has been making the rounds for five years, that it wasn't true then and it isn't true now. (Only one of the previous items is true.)

Can you provide us with more definitions of new terms?

Let's discuss this in class to make sure that we get the terms in context.

How do government block sites, such as in Egypt, Yemen, etc.? Some people reported that they couldn't access sites or that they had been slowed so much that pictures couldn't be posted or uploaded or downloaded.

There are two basic ways that governments can disable Internet access. Both are relatively hard to do because the Internet is designed to be robust.

1. Disable the distributed name servers that translate familiar addresses such as www.google.com into their numeric equivalents (72.14.204.104).
   
2. Physically disconnect the cables leading into and out of a country.
   There are some reports that Egyptian authorities cut or disconnected the fiber-optic cables that go from Egypt under the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
   

You can read more here: How Egypt did (and your government could) shut down the Internet

Why would we have more than one email server (address)?

Some people have different ones for work, personal use, and other associations.

How can I get refunded after being doubly charged by Trend Micro Security after auto renewing? I can't find a phone number. I've tried online, got connected to a complaint site. I left my username (email address), but have not heard from them. My credit card company suggested that I log in to their site.

This page may help: Digital River Customer Service - Find Your Order.

What affect does a large number of email messages (like a thousand) have on your access speed, etc.? Do these need to be cleaned out and deleted?

If you are using a product such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Mac Mail, or other program that is installed on your computer, you might see a slight slowdown when you get to tens of thousands of messages. If you are using GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, or other web-based email service, you're not likely to see a slowdown until you get to hundreds of thousands of messages. I know people who keep 15-20 years worth of email on their systems and are able to use email and their systems with few peoples.

Who owns the Intellectual Property Rights on Facebook if, say, you are discussing an idea with a "friend" and you create something tangible. Do you sign away rights when signing up for a Facebook account.

I am not a lawyer, but ...

1. From the Facebook terms of service agreement:
   You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings.
   
2. You have no more (or less) risk than if you have a discussion in a coffee shop.