Mike McBride Online

Security

This Was Entirely Predictable – Hackers Tricking People Into Facial Scans
ByMike McBride February 29, 2024February 28, 2024 Reading Time: 1 minute

Collecting all of that information to verify the age of website visitors creates an extra-large target for that biometric information. When I applied online for unemployment, I had to provide copies of my social security card, driver’s license, and a live facial scan. Remember that this is the same state government with the entire DMV driver’s license database sitting on MoveIt when that tool got hacked, requiring me to store even more of my identity online with a third-party service.

The risk level is outrageous.

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Tech

AI Junk Already Ruining Dating Apps?
ByMike McBride February 28, 2024February 27, 2024 Reading Time: 2 minutes

Tinder Using Video Selfies to Verify User Identities Because of AI Selfies

Of course, the problem is that short videos are going to be easy enough to create using AI as well, so what will be the next step dating apps have to take to verify the identity of their users and make sure customers aren’t spending all their time on the app talking to fake AI-generated profiles? Or is this the end of that entire business model?

Don’t think dating apps are the only thing at risk with AI. Any online service based on contributions by authors, artists, musicians, etc., is at risk of being overrun by AI junk. In some cases, it’s probably already happening.

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Career | Training

Linked – Promotion? No Thanks!
ByMike McBride February 21, 2024February 20, 2024 Reading Time: 2 minutes

I wonder how many survey responders watch their managers struggle and/or fail because they weren’t prepared for management. Why would we be surprised that so many are happy not to bring that upon themselves?

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Tech

Linked – Google gets its way, bakes a user-tracking ad platform directly into Chrome
ByMike McBride February 19, 2024February 19, 2024 Reading Time: 1 minute

We can’t trust Google. It’s been a long time since they tried to live up to the original mantra of “Don’t be evil.” A LONG time.

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Tech

Linked – The Making of a Myth: Big Tech, Billionaires, and the Wild West
ByMike McBride February 13, 2024February 15, 2024 Reading Time: 3 minutes

When Big Tech bros talk about being the cowboys of the modern age, the myth is what they want you to believe. They want us to believe that they are so brilliant and creative that they succeed without assistance and will solve any problem without needing oversight or regulation. They’ll forget to mention that the Internet they are building on only exists because of government programs or that many of them have gotten plenty of handouts from government and private equity. They will also not like to be reminded of the many ways they have overstepped and done real harm.

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Career

Australia Close to Becoming the Next to Recognize a “Right to Disconnect”
ByMike McBride February 12, 2024February 11, 2024 Reading Time: 2 minutes

Will it benefit employee’s mental health? Based on what we’ve seen in other countries, it’s undetermined. The language is often vague, and there are exceptions for emergencies, which there should be. But that opens up loopholes in who gets to define “emergency.” (I have worked with lawyers for years; their definition of emergency might be anything that prevents them from billing time right this very second.)

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