While I’ve written about the impact of culture on technology before, I was amazed by this information graphic from Information is Beautiful which maps various culture’s perception of color. While we often hear of the aesthetic importance of colour in web design, it is good to be reminded of the role of colour’s cultural meaning and how it impacts use.
We all have to create and remember passwords and the temptation is to use the same one repeatedly, even though we know this isn’t a good idea!
An interesting solution is provided by PasswordCard, a free application that allows you to create and remember complex passwords. How does it work? Well…
Enter PasswordCard
A PasswordCard is a credit card-sized card you keep in your wallet, which lets you pick very secure passwords for all your websites, without having to remember them! You just keep them with you, and even if your wallet does get stolen, the thief will still not know your actual passwords.
How does it work?
Your PasswordCard has a unique grid of random letters and digits on it. The rows have different colors, and the columns different symbols. All you do is remember a combination of a symbol and a color, and then read the letters and digits from there. It couldn’t be simpler!
Make sure to read the precautions and frequently asked questions for further details on how to keep your passwords safe.
Mockingbird is an online wireframing tool that allows you to easily create an outline of a website or application and share the URL of your design with anyone. The wireframe can also be exported as a PDF or PNG. Should be of interest to any librarian involved in web design!
Young adults, far from being indifferent about their digital footprints, are the most active online reputation managers in several dimensions. For example, more than two-thirds (71%) of social networking users ages 18-29 have changed the privacy settings on their profile to limit what they share with others online….
“Search engines and social media sites now play a central role in building one’s identity online,” said Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist and lead author of the report, “Many users are learning and refining their approach as they go–changing privacy settings on profiles, customizing who can see certain updates and deleting unwanted information about them that appears online.”
When compared with older users, young adults are more likely to restrict what they share and whom they share it with. “Contrary to the popular perception that younger users embrace a laissez-faire attitude about their online reputations, young adults are often more vigilant than older adults when it comes to managing their online identities,” said Madden.
If you are interested in examining the issue in more depth, specifically focusing on how teens manage online identity, I’d suggest reading the recent literature review Youth, Privacy and Reputation by Alice Marwick, Diego Murgia-Diaz, and John G. Palfrey.
Considering the recent privacyissues with Facebook and the increasing use of online screening as a formal requirement of the job hiring process, it may be worthwhile giving some thought to how librarians can educate ourselves and our users on this particular issue.
In my presentation at this years OLA Superconference I spoke about the impact of data visualization and information aesthetics on search. I just came across a beautiful demonstration of this, Pivot from Microsoft.
…Pivot, a new way to browse and arrange massive amounts of images and data online. Built on breakthrough Seadragon technology, it enables spectacular zooms in and out of web databases, and the discovery of patterns and links invisible in standard web browsing.
Check out Gary Flake’s presentation from this years TED conference.
