A lot of water has passed under the proverbial bridge since I first blogged about Cardspace in June 2006.  You’ve gotta love Paul Madsen’s commentary on Cardspace’s current status:

This reminds me of my favorite quote from the novel and movie, The Scarlet Pimpernel:

We seek him here, we seek him there,
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven? — Is he in hell?
That damned, elusive Pimpernel.

Makes you wonder … just how will we remember Cardpace and all that was said about it?

Can you hear the  solitary bugler playing Taps across the cold, forlorn blogging graveyard, just as I am making a valiant effort to rejuvenate my blog?

GigaOm reported this week:

Blogging is on the decline, according to a New York Times story published this weekend — citing research from the Pew Center’s Internet and American Life Project — and it is declining particularly among young people, who are using social networks such as Facebook instead.

However,

according to the figures used by the New York Times itself, blogging activity is actually increasing, not decreasing. And as the story points out, plenty of young people are still blogging via the Tumblr platform, even though they may not think of it as “blogging.” What blogging is really doing is evolving.

… So what we really have now is a multitude of platforms: there are the “micro-blogging” ones like Twitter, then there are those that allow for more interaction or multimedia content like Facebook, and both of those in turn can enhance existing blogging tools like WordPress and Blogger. And then there is Tumblr, which is like a combination of multiple formats. The fact that there are so many different choices means there is even more opportunity for people to find a publishing method they like. So while “blogging” may be on the decline, personal publishing has arguably never been healthier.

I like that final observation … that personal publishing has never been healthier.  So, as I rejuvenate my blog, I will also try to leverage Twitter and Facebook to engage people out in my corner of cyberspace.  If you are so inclined, feel free to come along for the ride.

I recently stumbled across an interesting site, Klout.com, which analyzes a Twitter account’s history and assigns a “Klout Score,” which is purported to be a “measurement of your overall online influence.

Of course, my inquisitive nature as it is, I had to try it for my Twitter account, @mgd.  The results were not great, but respectable, I suppose:

By contrast, the Klout Score of my favorite Phoenix Suns tweeter, Jared Dudley, was 70.

The three major components of the score are:

• True Reach – the real size of your engaged audience.
• Amplification Probability – the likelihood that your content will be acted upon.
• Network Influence – the influence level of your engaged audience.

Additionally, Klout offered a categorization for my twitter account.

I am certainly not a celebrity, but I do try to be consistent and focused.  I have a small number of followers who seem to be fairly well engaged.

For example, after I had received my Klout store, I joked on Twitter,

“Let’s hope that low @Klout doesn’t mean low worth.”

An “engaged” Twitter follower responded with this encouraging note:

“@mgd I’m sure our worth as human beings is not related to Klout. :)”

That was certainly good news.  I am glad that my intrinsic worth really isn’t dependent on my Twitter Klout score.  I was reminded of the profound observation printed on a framed picture my wife gave me many years ago:

“In a hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the type of house I lived in, or the kind of clothes I wore.  But the world may be much different, because I was important in the life of a child.”

The bottom line? Klout is interesting, but has little to do with my value as a human being and the impact I can make on things that really matter.

Did you ever find yourself in the same dilemma as Hagar the Horrible?  Makes you wonder what is down below!

Source: Hagar the Horrible comic for February 23, 2011.

The NASA Picture of the Day site featured this incredible view of the Milky Way galaxy captured earlier this month over Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

The words of Psalm 8:3-5 come immediately to mind:

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

IT World Canada reported last week:

Malicious hackers who may be based in China managed to fool Canadian federal IT staff into providing access to government computers, leading to severe Internet restrictions at Treasury Board and the Finance Department. …

In what the CBC described as an “executive spear-phishing” attempt, hackers used bogus e-mails to pass themselves off as senior executives to IT staff at the two federal departments and request passwords, while other staff received e-mails with virus-laden attachments.

Although it appeared that the attacks came from Chinese servers, it was not certain that the cyber-attackers were Chinese.  The attacks could have originated elsewhere and been routed through Chinese servers.  Not surprisingly, Chinese government officials quickly denied any connection to the attacks.

Whether the attacks originated with a foreign government or not, this highlights the vulnerability of people, more than technology.  If indeed people divulged passwords to email requesters and opened attachments infected with viruses, it shows that people, not technology, are the weak link in cyber security.

Some information doesn’t go out of date quickly.  This afternoon I stumbled across a post by Wilma Colon-Ariza who published a helpful article entitled “Identity Theft and Phishing Scams” last January.  Its content is still timely.

She first notes:

The federal government reports that identity theft is now the fastest-growing financial crime. Every 79 seconds, a thief steals someone’s identity and opens accounts in the victim’s name.

I don’t know what the current statistics are, but guess they are worse.

After commenting on an “Identity Theft Prevention Act” which took effect in New Jersey, on January 1, 2006, Wilma proceeded to provide a very practical outline of how consumers can protect themselves against Identity Theft and Phishing attempts. 

Finally, if you become a victim of Identity Theft, you can refer to specific steps Wilma provided to get things back in order.

Thanks, Wilma, for an informative and practical post, even it took me a long time to read it!

This post was triggered by a tweet from my son-in-law, Garry Bartle:

LOL! I doubt consumers, the tech industry, or more especially the criminal element want things slowed down just so the FBI can keep pace! RT @cnnbrk: FBI complains communication technology outpacing its ability to wiretap

CNN’s article, “Action needed to assure new technology can be wiretapped, FBI says” stated:

Rapid advances in communications are eroding police departments’ abilities to conduct wiretaps, and Congress needs to take steps to ensure that new telephone, computer and wireless systems are designed to allow lawful police access, FBI and police officials told Congress Thursday. …

At issue is the diminished capability of law enforcement agencies to conduct quick wiretaps in an age of Twitter accounts, Facebook and MySpace pages, BlackBerrys, Androids, iPhones and iPads. The Justice Department calls the phenomenon "going dark."

Well, it might be harder to place wiretaps, but I saw some technology from Cisco at the RSA Conference that sensed and interpreted Facebook traffic from mobile devices and automatically blocked content that violated company policy.  Maybe the FBI should touch base with Cisco.

Certainly, we want bad folks apprehended and punished, but there is ample evidence that the government has increased, rather than decreased surveillance over the past several years.  It just might not be the real crisis that is being portrayed.

My Twitter response to Garry?

@LittleG77 Garry … your message was just intercepted. Next … analysis and remediation. You’ve been had! (JK, but it could happen)

Dearth: “an inadequate supply; scarcity; lack”

A nagging pet peeve of mine regards the dearth of power outlets in most airport waiting areas.  In a time when almost every traveler carries one or more power-hungry devices with too-small batteries, it would seem that each airport would at least consider providing a much larger supply of easily accessible power outlets.

This problem is exacerbated by flight delays, such as the one I am experiencing tonight at San Francisco International airport.  I was fortunate to find one obscure electrical outlet hidden behind a garbage can, where I could plug in, recharge my batteries and get some work done.  But alas, when I took a much-needed bio break, I ceded my prized spot to the next power-hungry traveler.  I am now relying on battery power alone.

If things go well, my laptop battery will expire just about the time I board my 2.5 hour late flight.  Who knows, if the flight is delayed further, I might have to resort to reading a real book!

Please join us for a set of informative discussions about Information Security in the Oracle Security Online Forum, sponsored by Oracle and Accenture, where leading industry executives and Oracle product experts will come together to discuss security trends, best practices, and proven solutions for your business.

The illustrious lineup includes:

• Mary Ann Davidson, Oracle’s Chief Security Officer—on industry-leading standards, technologies, and practices that ensure that Oracle products—and your entire system—remain as secure as possible
• Jeff Margolies, Partner, Accenture’s Security Practice—on key security trends and solutions to prepare for in 2011 and beyond
• Tom Kyte, Senior Technical Architect and Oracle Database Guru—on how you can safeguard your enterprise application data with Oracle’s Database Security solutions
• Vipin Samar, Vice President of Oracle Database Security Solutions—on new approaches to protecting data and database infrastructure against evolving threats
• Nishant Kaushik, Oracle’s Chief Identity Strategist—on how organizations can use Oracle Identity Management solutions to reduce fraud and streamline compliance

Additionally, security solution experts will be on live chat throughout the event to answer your toughest questions.

You can register for the event here.

Hope to “see” you there.