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Twitter Hacked

When a respected Business Link adviser informed me that,

hi, i’m 24/female/horny… i have to get off here but message me on my windows live messenger name Paris545love@hotmail.com

I knew deep down that government agencies had boundaries to their marketing strategies. When I found that I had DM’d myself through Twitter I had a Homer Simpson moment,

..doh!

Twitter Advice

Due to concern that your account may have been compromised in a phishing attack that took place off-Twitter, your password was reset.

Please make sure to:

  • Scan your computers for viruses / malware, especially if unauthorized tweets continue to be posted in your accounts even after you’ve changed the password.
  • Check the Connections page at http://twitter.com/account/connections and revoke the access privileges of any third party applications that you do not recognize.
  • Avoid providing your username and/or e-mail and password to untrusted third-party sites.
    Remove any updates that you did not post personally.
  • There is also a specific help page here.

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Building 43 (Google it)

Building 43

But just as Google isn’t ready to rest on its laurels, its competitors aren’t ready to concede defeat.

Google’s search algorithm is a work in progress — constantly tweaked and refined to return higher-quality results. Here are some of the most significant additions and adaptations since the dawn of PageRank.

Google’s synonym system understood that a dog was similar to a puppy and that boiling water was hot. But it also concluded that a hot dog was the same as a boiling puppy. The problem was fixed in late 2002 by a breakthrough based on philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s theories about how words are defined by context.

Steven Levy wired.com

An interesting article offering insight into the changing face of search engines.

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Virtual Revolution: The Great Levelling

I heard this on t’wireless last night, World Service. It’s worth a listen just to remind ourselves of the phenomenal change that has happened since Sir Tim Berners-Lee started the ball rolling in 1991.

(A great quote by Andrew Keen around the 18.25 mark.)

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Hey Bright Spark Twitter can add value to your business

twitter-logoI recently shared the experience of the Brit Awards with a number of people on Twitter including Cheryl Kerl. Now, I would like to make it clear, I am not knocking the Brits, Zeberdizzie and Florence (all a bit Magic Roundabout?) were great etc… But, I am happy to share the funny side and am a little intrigued to be doing it with others who I have never met.

Some time ago whilst working in a Pupil Referral Unit I, along with the deputy head teacher, Googled ‘LOL’. Shameful but true, we were trying to decipher a bullying letter that was thrown in the bin. On the evening of the Brits I can genuinely say that I did LOL on a number of occasions. For me this is one level that Twitter works, just a bit of fun, Mr Brydon, just a bit of fun.

Hei an Ah wasn’t meimin eitha. It’s them new TVs that yiz have. They sort uv make the pickchaz jorky leike man pet an that. Cheryl Kerl

Ah’m ganna sack mei horstyleist t’neet! Coz wei didden Ah get a well mentil horsteel leike Ladee Gawgaw and Lily Allen’s got? Cheryl Kerl

The day after the dialogue continued on Facebook. A friend commented that she didn’t get the British love of the ‘simeon one’. I at once knew that she was referring to ‘he who nods to camera with furled eyebrows’. My what a Facebook onslaught this opened up from offended fans.

Twitter adding value to your business

However if you choose Twitter can add value to your business. Recently attention has been drawn to the potential security risks of Twitter with the Please Rob Me site. I suspect caution rather than fear is the best response here but the simple point is that these micro blogs are searchable, and they can and do get searched.

Last week I attended a local networking group. I was invited to attend because one of the group’s active members had read my tweets and as a result looked at this blog. She messaged me directly through Twitter and commented how she thought that the down to earth approach was what the group were looking for. This has to be seen as a result even though initially the contact presented opportunities rather than confirmed business.

Techserv HS_4000 Plasma Cutter

Techserv HS_4000 Plasma Cutter


This weekend I uploaded a website for Techserv, a CNC Plasma company in Yorkshire. The site was uploaded on Saturday, I have included a twitter feed and within a day Techserv’s Twitter feed was being followed by CNCInformation. Again this has to be seen as an opportunity. Techserv trade globally, they have a machine suitable for the education market and CNCInformation are discussing amongst other topics, CNC in education.

I still get a bit knocked out by this technology. It genuinely excites me that within a matter of hours, someone has offered some sort of response to a new website and that the response came to the customer.

I realise though that for many this is all a bit difficult to buy into. However if one looks at it as a new ingredient that is part of the mix, adding too rather than replacing then it becomes easier to understand. In an ideal world we would open our metaphorical doors and wait for the customers to come to us. I believe that Social Networking can help guide people to your open doors.

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Steel is Cool though many will not understand this obsession with bicycles

Sat in my hallway is a nice (old) Gazelle Reynolds framed road-bike. Elsewhere there is an even older Dawes Super-Galaxy, again Renyolds framed, this one with a Brooks saddle. There is also an old-school Diamondback BMX.

I like bikes, I like them a lot, preferably steel, or titanium, and they don’t need to be too new either. For me a simple bike is a thing of beauty that combines engineering, design and minimalism.

Cinelli Track Bike

Cinelli Track Bike

As a teacher I used to do a design lesson where I showed pupils pictures of things I liked the design of; Guzzis, Porsches, Minis, Trangia cookers… The common link was design. I knew I was getting through when a Year 9 girl saw the Cinelli track bike (shown) and said “that’s dead sexy that is”. She meant it, she was correct too.

I love going to London in part because of the cycling scene there. Twenty (plus) years ago, as a student, I was a cycle courier, I guess it was a relatively new thing then. At the time I rode a mix of bikes: Rory O’Brien, Holdsworth, Ellis-Briggs and latterly an early Ridgeback. Sadly in the first week I crashed the Ellis Briggs, I rode into the back of a Ford Granada stopped outside Kings Cross station. I ended up lying on the guy’s boot and can still remember the look of surprise as he looked in his rear view mirror, fortunately he had checked before diving away with me there. The frame needed re-building and I had the pleasure of using Tom Board who was at the time making Paris cycles, this honour made the accident almost worthwhile.

classic-fixed-gear-road-bike-blue-boy-by-forty-one-thirty

The London scene is vibrant and organic. Recently we have sat outside pubs in Islington and watched as cycle polo teams have returned en-masse riding a selection of unique machines. On one occasion I was almost tempted to pull the classic Bob Jackson from the pile to protect it from damage. There is a range of styles and approaches but, once again, steel is king, whether it is an original or a fixie, and, if it is adorned by leather and a bit of canvas then so much the better.

Sometimes it is difficult to tell the recreations from the re-builds not that this is an issue. There are a number of boutique dealers such as Tokyo Fixed in Soho where you are likely to find all manner of classic machinery.
(more…)

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The Robinhood Tax campaign for a new deal between banks and society

The Robin Hood Tax campaign is a movement bringing together dozens of organisations that work to reduce poverty in the UK and overseas, and campaign to tackle climate change. They have come together during the economic crisis to campaign for a new deal between banks and society.

More info here

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