Other

General

Who needs to know about this law?

Anyone who makes use of commercial electronic messages, is involved with the alteration of transmission data, or produces or installs computer programs needs to be aware of this law.

Alteration of Transmission Data

What is an example of altering transmission data?

An example is when an individual causes an electronic message to be sent to a destination that is different from that which the sender intended.

What are the general requirements for altering transmission data?

Express consent will be necessary before transmission data in an electronic message can be altered. There are other requirements that will need to be met when requesting consent, such as clearly and simply describing why, and for what purpose, consent is being requested, as well as the identity of the requester.

These requirements will apply when the alteration of transmission data occurs in the course of a commercial activity.

Commercial Electronic Messages

What is a commercial electronic message?

A commercial electronic message is any electronic message that encourages participation in a commercial activity, regardless of whether there is an expectation of profit.

What are the general requirements concerning the sending of commercial electronic messages for which the CRTC is responsible?

Generally, the sender will need to obtain consent from the recipient before sending the message and will need to include information that identifies the sender and enables the recipient to withdraw consent.

When Canada’s anti-spam law comes into force, what law will govern consent with regard to commercial electronic messages: Canada’s anti-spam law or the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act?

Once in force, Canada’s anti-spam law will set out the rules regarding consent with respect to commercial electronic messages.

Enforcement Agencies Roles and Responsibilities

What are the activities that fall under the CRTC‘s mandate pursuant to Canada’s anti-spam law?

There are three broad activities that will engage the CRTC. They are:

• sending of commercial electronic messages without consent;
• alteration of transmission data in an electronic message without express consent; and
• installation of computer programs without express consent.

The underlying principle is that these activities can only be carried out with prior consent and that such consent may be withdrawn.

What compliance tools will be available to the CRTC?

The CRTC will have a number of compliance tools; one such being administrative monetary penalties (AMPs). The maximum AMP is $1 million per violation for an individual and $10 million per violation for entities, such as corporations.

Where can I get more information on my responsibilities with respect to the Competition Act?

For more information on ensuring compliance with the false or misleading representations provisions of the Competition Act, please consult the Competition Bureau’s website, at www.competitionbureau.gc.ca.

What is the Competition Bureau’s role with respect to Canada’s anti-spam law?

The Competition Bureau will investigate and take action where appropriate against false or misleading representations and deceptive marketing practices in the electronic marketplace, including false or misleading sender or subject information and web links, as well as website content. The Competition Bureau, as an independent law enforcement agency, ensures that Canadian businesses and consumers prosper in a competitive and innovative marketplace.

What changes have been made to the Competition Act?

The new law amends the Competition Act in two key areas.

First, it modifies certain provisions in the Competition Act so that the Bureau can more effectively address false or misleading representations online and deceptive marketing practices, including false or misleading sender or subject information and web links, as well as website content.

Second, it includes technology-neutral language that catches emerging technologies. This will assist the Bureau in enforcing provisions in the Competition Act as technological threats evolve.

What is the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s role with respect to Canada’s anti-spam law?

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada protects the personal information of Canadians. The new law will allow the Commissioner to enforce the legislation with respect to two types of conduct:

• the collection of personal information through access to computer systems contrary to an act of parliament;
• electronic address harvesting where bulk email lists are compiled through mechanisms; including the use of computer programs that automatically mine the Internet for addresses.

Installation of Computer Programs

What are the general requirements for the installation of computer programs?

Generally, computer programs may be installed only after express consent has been obtained. There are also requirements that will need to be met when requesting express consent, such as clearly and simply describing the function and purpose of the computer program, as well as information enabling consent to be withdrawn.

These requirements will apply when the computer program is to be installed in the course of a commercial activity.

Do these requirements have to be met every time a computer program is installed?

Not necessarily. For example, updates or upgrades will not trigger these requirements when express consent has already been obtained.

Does express consent need to be obtained in all cases?

Not necessarily. Express consent is considered to have been given in the case of computer programs such as cookies, HTML code and Java Scripts where it is reasonable to believe from their conduct that the person wants the program to run on their computer.

Personal Information

What is “address harvesting”?

This refers to the collection of email addresses through the use of things such as:

• “Web crawlers,” which are computer programs that scan websites, usenet groups and social networking sites, trolling for posted electronic addresses; and
• “Dictionary attacks,” in which a computer program guesses live email addresses by methodically trying multiple name variations within a particular group of common email domains, such as Hotmail or Gmail.

Once collected, email addresses are often sold to spammers as destinations for unsolicited electronic messages.

How can I know if my email address has been harvested?

It may be very hard for you to determine if your address has been harvested. However, you can still help in the effort to fight back against this activity by reporting suspicious electronic messages to the Spam Reporting Centre when it opens.

What is meant by “collection of personal information through access to computer systems contrary to an act of parliament”?

Generally, this refers to the collection of people’s personal information from a computer through illicit means such as criminal hacking or spyware.

How can I know if my computer has been infected with malware such as spyware which can collect my personal information? And if it has been, what should I do about it?

Here are a few common signs that your computer may be infected:

• It is functioning far more slowly than usual;
• Your Internet homepage has been reset without you having done anything;
• When examining your file system, you notice a program there which you have not installed yourself.

If you notice any of these signs, you should get in touch with an information technology expert for necessary cleaning or repairs.

Reporting Spam

What should I do with the spam I receive now?

At the present time, we recommend that you simply delete the spam messages you receive.

For information on how to protect yourself from spam and other electronic threats, visit How to Protect Yourself Online and While Mobile.

Does Canada’s anti-spam law deal only with spam?

No. It also deals with other electronic threats to commerce, such as the installation of computer programs and the alteration of transmission data, without express consent. These threats also include the installation of malware, such as computer viruses.

What does “spam and other electronic threats” mean?

Under Canada’s anti-spam legislation, there are various types of violations including the sending of unsolicited commercial electronic messages, the unauthorized alteration of transmission data, the installation of computer programs without consent, false and misleading electronic representations online (including websites), the unauthorized collection of electronic addresses and the collection of personal information by accessing a computer system in contravention of an Act of Parliament.

These violations include, but are not limited to, spam, malware, spyware, address harvesting and false and misleading representations involving the use of any means of telecommunications, Short Message Services (SMS), social networking, websites, URL’s and other locators, applications, blogs, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and any other current and future internet and wireless telecommunication threats prohibited by Canada’s anti-spam legislation.

Timing

When will the final regulations be posted?

Final regulations from the CRTC were posted on March 28, 2012 and can be found on the CRTC website.

The Governor in Council draft regulations were open for a 60 day consultation period that ended on September 7th, 2011. The Government of Canada is in the process of analyzing all submissions and developing options for consideration. Next steps will be determined in the near future.

The Governor in Council draft regulations can be found on the Canada Gazette website.

When does the law come into force?

Canada‘s new anti-spam law was passed in December 2010 and will enter into force following a Governor in Council order. A specific date for coming into force will be set in the coming months.

Regardless of the date set for coming into force, will there be a phase-in period for compliance to allow businesses and organizations time to implement the requirements within their systems in order to ensure they are compliant with the law? In other words, will the coming into force date and the compliance dates be different?

The coming into force date will be the date for compliance with the legislation. However, businesses subject to the Act should start reviewing their existing activities now to prepare for compliance and coming into force. Once the regulations are published in final form, there will be a period of time between that date and the coming into force of these provisions, which will enable businesses and organizations to have time to comply with the requirements set out in the regulations (such as what information needs to be included in a commercial electronic message).

There is also a 3-year transitional period that starts when the legislation enters into force during which consent to send commercial electronic messages is implied in the case of pre-existing business and non-business relationships. Similarly, consent is implied for the same period for the installation of updates and or upgrades to computer programs. Note, however, that this period will end if the recipient of the commercial electronic messages says that they don’t want to receive any more commercial messages or if the person on whose system the update or upgrade have been installed withdraw their consent to such installations (section 66 and 67).

Note that some parts of the law have already come into force, particularly some provisions involving the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). For more information, please see the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

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Segment Real-Time data to learn about campaigns as they launch

In your Real-Time reports, click on a page element to segment your data by different dimensions. Segmenting your Real-Time data can help you measure which content is most popular in large metro areas, observe how social media is impacting site traffic from an industry conference and more.
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Case studies and education

Watch Multi-Channel Funnels webinar to learn how to improve your marketing campaigns.

With an in-depth look at Multi-Channel Funnels, you can learn the importance of marketing attribution and how these reports reveal details about customer journeys. Better understand your customers interactions across different digital media to improve your campaign performance. Watch and enjoy »

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Case study: Food retailer slices shopping cart abandon rates for a 70% increase in online orders.

LaTienda learned that shipping rates greatly impact shopping cart behavior

and abandonment rates. For key regions, they were able to offer a lower flat-rate shipping option to users, and with advanced segments, they observed a

70% increase in order completion for those regions. Read the full case study »

Craigslist seems determined to destroy sites like Craiggers and Padmapper.

Timothy B. Lee
Other

A third-party site that relies on Craigslist data has accused the classified giant of changing its policies in an effort to kill it off. Craigslist has reportedly told major search engines to stop indexing its users’ ads. That could leave 3taps, which operates the site Craiggers and re-publishes the data for use by third parties such as Padmapper to use, out in the cold.

“At approximately noon on Sunday August 5, Craigslist instructed all general search engines to stop indexing CL postings,” says a statement on the 3taps homepage. Because 3taps had been harvesting Craigslist data from cached copies offered by Google and Bing, the move to block search engines means Craigslist is “effectively blocking 3taps and other third party use of that data from these public domain sources,” 3taps claims.

“We are sorry that CL has chosen this course of action and are exploring options to restore service but may be down for an extended period of time unless we or CL change practices,” the company says.

3taps seems slightly confused about when the block started. Its website states it began on Sunday, August 5, but the Verge noticed a tweet, published early Tuesday morning, that says Craigslist changed its policy on Monday. We’ve asked 3taps for clarification and will update when we have it.

The search engine block would be only the latest step Craigslist has taken to shut down competing services. Two weeks ago, the firm filed suit against 3taps and Padmapper, accusing them of copyright and trademark infringement. Last week, Craigslist beefed up its terms of service in an apparent effort to shore up what experts have told Ars is a flimsy legal case.

But the lawsuit would become all but irrelevant if Craigslist prevents third parties from crawling its site in the first place. That would also be a serious loss for users who prefer the more sophisticated interface of sites like Craiggers or Padmapper to Craigslist’s “old and busted” look.

We’ve asked Craigslist for comment and will update the story if they respond.

Update: A couple of readers have pointed out that Craigslist has set the NOARCHIVE robots meta-tag, but not the NOINDEX tag. So Craigslist posts should still show up in search results, but 3taps will be deprived of the cached copies of those posts it was using to build its own database.

 

Craigslist seems determined to destroy sites like Craiggers and Padmapper.

Timothy B. Lee
Other

A third-party site that relies on Craigslist data has accused the classified giant of changing its policies in an effort to kill it off. Craigslist has reportedly told major search engines to stop indexing its users’ ads. That could leave 3taps, which operates the site Craiggers and re-publishes the data for use by third parties such as Padmapper to use, out in the cold.

“At approximately noon on Sunday August 5, Craigslist instructed all general search engines to stop indexing CL postings,” says a statement on the 3taps homepage. Because 3taps had been harvesting Craigslist data from cached copies offered by Google and Bing, the move to block search engines means Craigslist is “effectively blocking 3taps and other third party use of that data from these public domain sources,” 3taps claims.

“We are sorry that CL has chosen this course of action and are exploring options to restore service but may be down for an extended period of time unless we or CL change practices,” the company says.

3taps seems slightly confused about when the block started. Its website states it began on Sunday, August 5, but the Verge noticed a tweet, published early Tuesday morning, that says Craigslist changed its policy on Monday. We’ve asked 3taps for clarification and will update when we have it.

The search engine block would be only the latest step Craigslist has taken to shut down competing services. Two weeks ago, the firm filed suit against 3taps and Padmapper, accusing them of copyright and trademark infringement. Last week, Craigslist beefed up its terms of service in an apparent effort to shore up what experts have told Ars is a flimsy legal case.

But the lawsuit would become all but irrelevant if Craigslist prevents third parties from crawling its site in the first place. That would also be a serious loss for users who prefer the more sophisticated interface of sites like Craiggers or Padmapper to Craigslist’s “old and busted” look.

We’ve asked Craigslist for comment and will update the story if they respond.

Update: A couple of readers have pointed out that Craigslist has set the NOARCHIVE robots meta-tag, but not the NOINDEX tag. So Craigslist posts should still show up in search results, but 3taps will be deprived of the cached copies of those posts it was using to build its own database.

If you’re buying for an amateur photographer, or a child learning French, gift-giving now easier

Gillian Shaw
Other

1 CABO INSIDER, IPHONE, IPOD TOUCH, IPAD, $2.99

If you’ve already had enough of winter and are packing to go south, here’s a handy app for Los Cabos, Mexico. It comes courtesy of West Vancouver travel writer and photographer Janice Mucalov, who has teamed up with Sutro Media to create the Cabo Insider. Just looking at the app’s photos and videos will banish the winter blues, but when you get to Los Cabos, the municipality that is home to Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, the Insider will help you find the best restaurants, special deals, interesting tours and other activities. Find every-thing from the best places on cruise stops for free Internet, to money-saving tips and special discounts for Cabo Insider users. All you need to remember is the sunscreen.

2 MY HOUSE BY MARIANNE DUBUC, IPAD, $2.99

Whether your child is French-speaking, in French immersion or you’d just like to expand their reading with Canada’s other official language, this charming iPad app based on Marianne Dubuc’s book Devant ma Maison (In Front of My House) bills itself as the first truly bilingual app for the iPad. I haven’t tested that claim but it is certainly one of the first, and it takes your child on a wonderfully illustrated tour with pencil artwork by Dubuc. If you’re looking for a little e-stocking stuffer for an iPad-using child in your life, put My House on your list.

3 ADOBE TOUCH APPS, ANDROID $9.99 EACH

Just in time for holiday photography, Adobe has launched its family of Adobe Touch Apps for Android tablets. The lineup, from Adobe’s Creative Suite, has apps that will appeal to everyone from the amateur photographer to the advanced pro who is creating websites and more. It includes Adobe Photoshop Touch, for editing photos; Adobe Collage for making – you guessed it – collages, although creations that combine images, drawings and texts are now also known as “moodboards.” There is also Adobe Debut for making presentations; Adobe Ideas for sketching; Adobe Kuler for inspiring colour themes; and Adobe Proto, an app that lets you create interactive wireframes – the skeletal framework for a website – and prototypes of sites.

4 FILMIC PRO, IPHONE, IPOD TOUCH, IPAD 2, $2,99

Thanks to a tip from one of my editors, I got the Filmic Pro when it was on a free promotion recently. Apologies that the promotion’s ended, but still, it’s worth the $2.99 for this app, which takes your iPhone videography up a notch. Or two. It takes the simple point-and-shoot iPhone or iPad 2 and gives the videographer, whether you’re a total amateur like me or not, the tools and settings of a much higher-end camera. It has three shooting modes, four resolutions you can choose from, 26 variable frame rates and a number of other features that take your iPhone video far beyond simply clicking the record button. The cool thing about the iPhone video camera is that it’s always available in your pocket or purse, so you capture a lot of great video that you’d otherwise miss.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

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TINTON FALLS, N.J. – Brion Sever received an automated voice mail message on his cellphone last week that caught him off guard.

It contained an alert that his Wells Fargo bank account had been compromised.

Sever knew better. As a Monmouth University criminology professor, he has studied scams. But the one that surfaced Oct. 9 left him both impressed and spooked.

“For the first 5 seconds, you’re like, ‘Oh no!’ You’re caught off guard, and that’s what they’re trying to do,” he said. “It was an automated computer voice and very well done, very sophisticated.”

Sever experienced a spreading high-tech con known as “smishing.”

Smishing is like phishing, a technique that uses emails that look legitimate to trick victims into handing over vital information, only in smishing identity thieves ply their scam through messages to a mobile phone, not a computer.

With attacks recently happening in the western United States, law enforcement and consumer affairs officials have expressed concern that similar large-scale attacks could happen elsewhere.

As for Sever’s call, Wells Fargo – informed Monday – has received no reports of any other similar activity in New Jersey, a spokesman said.

But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. People are so used to deleting phishing scam messages that the phony text or voice mail messages are easy to dismiss without reporting.

The message Sever received is an open case, an FBI spokesman said.

In the recent spate of scams out West, identity thieves sent text messages en masse to random cellphones that read: “WELLS FARGO NOTICE: Your CARD 4868* has been DEACTIVATED.” The message listed a phone number.

People who dialed the number were asked for account information, Social Security numbers and personal identification numbers, officials said.

The crooks cast a broad net. Many people other than Wells Fargo customers received the messages.

Kevin Friedlander, spokesman for Wells Fargo, said the messages popped up on mobile phones in Washington, Oregon, the Dakotas, Utah and parts of Colorado. The attacks began in August.

The bogus messages also arrived via automated voice mail and emails to smartphones, he said.

“Wells Fargo would never ask a customer for personal or account information using these methods, and that’s the common thread with these scams,” Friedlander said.

Friedlander is urging anyone receiving similar messages to report it to Wells Fargo by calling (866) 867-5568 or at www.wellsfargo.com.

The FBI is advising targeted people to report the messages to www.ic3.gov, the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center.

The slang term smishing, sometimes spelled SMiShing, is a combination of the abbreviation for text messages – SMS, or Short Message Service – and phishing. Smishing is also known as vishing.

The scam itself is nothing new, just the method of delivery. While con artists used to hang around banks looking for a victim in the old scam known as the pigeon drop, the technology has transformed these operations into major criminal enterprises, Sever said.

Wells Fargo is not the only bank that has been victimized in the smishing scam. The text messages in the scam out West also claimed to be from Bank of America, Chase, Citibank and Capital One, according to the Washington state Attorney General’s Office.

And credit unions have also been hit in the past few years. The smishing scam artists have sent messages out to specific area codes covering the locations of the credit unions, according to the FBI.

“People’s phones are becoming their computers,” said Tim Ryan, supervisor of cyber investigations for the FBI’s Newark division, based in Franklin, N.J.

Identity thieves began to key in on smartphones in a big way between 12 and 18 months ago, he said, although smishing scams have been around longer.

Brian Krebs, a writer who focuses on security and technology, detailed a smishing scam that happened in March 2008. The banks and credit unions victimized were in Western states and Illinois. The Federal Trade Commission listed it as an emerging threat in 2007.

The scam works like this: Criminals set up an automated dialing system to text or call people in a particular region or area code. Sometimes they use stolen customer phone numbers from banks or credit unions.

With a victim’s information in hand, the crooks can drain bank accounts, buy things with a charge card or set up a phony account.

Smartphone users inadvertently have downloaded malware, designed to mine personal information, by responding to emails on their phones.

While consumers have become widely aware of phony lottery notices coming via email in phishing schemes, smishing can easily catch people off guard, both because it’s relatively new and designed to trigger a sense of alarm.

“They play on a person’s flight or fight reaction,” Ryan said. “They want you to click on or answer something without thinking. They get a person to instantly react.”

Phishing, smishing — it’s all the same in terms of the brand of theft. But a message popping up on a mobile phone, as compared with a computer, holds more urgency, Ryan said. And smishing emails sent to smartphones contain links to bogus sites that are not always easy to spot because of the size of the phone screen and other limitations.

“The telltale signs that tell you you’re on a fake website aren’t present on a cellphone,” he said.

Tracking smishing scam artists can be difficult since many operate from overseas.

Friedlander said that under Wells Fargo’s policy, victims’ losses are covered if they notify the bank in a timely way.

Aside from the standard tips issued to prevent people from being identity theft victims, Ryan offered this advice: Call a known, good number if you receive a text message from a bank.

Having your bank’s number already handy in your mobile phone is a good preventative measure, he said. If not, just flip over your debit card, where a number is listed.

Other

Members can now access comprehensive MLS® listing data and search capabilities from their mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, thanks to a new Board service called Kurio.

Kurio is a mobile website built to deliver MLXchange data to members on the go. It is available to members at no cost, and is compatible with all of the major smartphones and mobile devices.

The website was launched on Monday, October 3. To access Kurio, members must visit the Kurio website, www.mlslink.mobi, and complete a one-time registration form. From there, members can login using their regular MLXchange ID and password.

“The ability to bring fresh MLXchange data to REALTORS® in the field who use mobile devices represents another service enhancement that puts our members at the edge of real estate technology,” said Rosario Setticasi, Board president. “We are happy to offer this service to members at no additional cost.”

Designed to be an all-in-one mobile tool for REALTORS®, Kurio allows members out in the field to complete many of the day-to-day tasks they would normally do using a personal computer. It was created with a web 2.0 graphical interface specifically designed for mobile devices with internet access and web browsing capabilities.

Kurio stays connected to live MLXchange data to deliver the most current, up-to-date market information. You can access listing details for new listings, which will be displayed similarly to what you would see on MLXchange, including public and REALTOR® remarks. You’ll also be able to access the latest sales information, upcoming open house information, and the most recent price changes.

There is also a detailed searching function that utilizes GPS technology to find places or listings of interest right in your area. You can search by MLS® number, or by more specific details like the number of beds, baths, or even the square footage.

The search function also offers specific information based on the type of search; for example, open house searches include dates and times of upcoming open houses, and searches for properties that have recently sold include the list price and the selling price.

The contacts roster allows you to call or email colleagues directly from their contact record. You will also have the ability to create branded property flyers that can be shared with your clients via email, Facebook, and Twitter.

Based in Maple Ridge, Kurio is a company that develops mobile technologies for real estate professionals. This marks their first venture into the Canadian real estate market; there are currently over 300,000 REALTORS® in 35 major US markets using Kurio. It will also be released by other Canadian Boards and Associations later this year.

© Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver

Telus
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Lisa M. Krieger
Other

A new study confirms it: Google is altering your brain. More precisely, our growing dependence on the Internet has changed how — and what — our brains choose to remember. When we know where to find information, we’re less likely to remember it — an amnesia dubbed “The Google Effect” by a team led by psychologist Betsy Sparrow of Columbia University. Goodbye, soul-searching; hello, facts-at-fingertips. The finding, published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science, doesn’t prove that Google, Yahoo or other search engines are making us dumber, as some have asserted. We’re still capable of remembering things that matter — and are not easily found online, Sparrow said. Rather, it suggests that the human memory is reorganizing where it goes for information, adapting to new computing technologies rather than relying purely on rote memory. We’re outsourcing “search” from our brains to our computers. When we know where to find information, we’re less likely to remember it — an amnesia dubbed “The Google Effect” by a team led by psychologist Betsy Sparrow of Columbia University. Goodbye, soul-searching; hello, facts-at-fingertips. The finding, published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science, doesn’t prove that Google, Yahoo or other search engines are making us dumber, as some have asserted. We’re still capable of remembering things that matter — and are not easily found online, Sparrow said. Rather, it suggests that the human memory is reorganizing where it goes for information, adapting to new computing technologies rather than relying purely on rote memory. We’re outsourcing “search” from our brains to our computers. “We’re not thoughtless empty-headed people who don’t have memories anymore,” Sparrow said. “But we are becoming particularly adept at remembering where to go find things. And that’s kind of amazing.” In a series of four experiments at Columbia and Harvard, Sparrow and her team found that students are more likely to recall a trivial fact if they think it will be erased from the computer — and forget it if they’re assured it will be there. Similarly, the team proved that people are better at remembering where to find facts, rather than the facts themselves. The students, they found, recalled the names of files where information was stored, rather than the information itself. This creates a mental dependency on instant access to information, the team noted. No wonder the loss of our Internet connection feels like losing a friend, they wrote. Once we become reliant on a huge reservoir of information, it feels uneasy to be away from it, she said. “We must remain plugged in to know what Google knows,” the paper concludes. But in many ways, this is no different than humans’ age-old reliance on the “group memories” shared by friends, families and tribes, noted Sparrow and her colleagues at the University of Wisconsin and Harvard University. We may not recall our aunt’s birthday, the name of a high school teacher or who gave us that nice bottle of wine — but someone we know does. “We all have these people in our lives who know certain things. And we dip into what they know, when we need it,” said Sparrow. “We allow them to be responsible for it.” “I really think we are using the Internet the way we used to use people,” she said. While Google said it could not comment on the premise of the paper, spokesman Gabriel Stricker said, “Search is how Google began, and we’re constantly working to improve it. Search can always get better and faster at helping you find what you want, when you want it, where you want it.” Proving that the Internet is merely an expanded network of people, New York University professor Clay Shirky, author of the book “Cognitive Surplus,” has done the math: The articles, edits, and arguments on Wikipedia represent around 100 million hours of human labor, he calculated. That’s more than 11,400 years. If we quit remembering, “the Internet would grind to a halt,” Sparrow said. “Nobody would be feeding anything into it.” There are losses — unlike their great-grandparents, few of today’s children can recite poems like “The Rime of The Ancient Mariner.” Perhaps this is a skill that, when not practiced, turns rusty. Sparrow disagrees with Nicholas Carr, whose alarming 2008 article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” explains what he sees as the brain-corrosive side effects of digital devices. It doesn’t prove that we’re incapable of thinking long and hard about anything, she said. “And it could be that once we stop worrying about memorizing dates and facts and names, we’re better able to concentrate.” In fact, a wired life may actually open up more creative things to do with our brain, the team said. Psychologists have long known that it is easier to grasp an abstract concept when the brain is not fixated on memorizing facts. “Why remember something if I know I can look it up again? In some sense, with Google and other search engines, we can offload some of our memory demands onto machines,” Roddy Roediger, a psychologist at Washington University, told Science in an accompanying article. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Stolen Mac recovered with help of built-in camera

Other

Joshua Kaufman had his stolen MacBook back in hand on Thursday after the laptop sent clues that led police to the suspected thief. Kaufman won fans online by using Hidden software to capture pictures of the apparent culprit taken with the stolen MacBook’s built-in camera and posting images at his ThisGuyHasMy-Macbook.tumblr.com blog along with commentary. One picture showed a man snoozing on a couch while another featured the same fellow shirtless in bed staring intently at the laptop. Kaufman said he began piecing together clues after the MacBook was stolen from his apartment in the California city of Oakland on March 21. A photo posted to his blog apparently shows the suspected thief driving away with the laptop. “I immediately began to gather photos, network and location information about my stolen MacBook using Hidden,” Kaufman said at his blog. He shared his detective work with police officers who on Tuesday arrested a cab driver said to be the man in the MacBook pictures and found the laptop in the suspected thief’s home. “BOOYA!” Kaufman wrote in his blog, using a local expression of triumphant enthusiasm. “The police used my evidence [email which pointed to a cab service] that he was a driver and tricked him into picking them up.” The story turned out so well that some of those following along online suspected it was staged as a promotion for Hidden, software that spies on laptop thieves and pinpoints their whereabouts. © The Province 2011