The hubze Blog (in this message: 2 new items)

Your Biggest Fan: Why Homeland Security is Watching Social Media

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 03:34 PM PST

Hey Hubzers,

Created after the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is responsible for protecting the United States from disaster, both natural and man-made.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security spent $66.4 billion trying their darnedest (i’m sure) to pick-up the pieces after disasters like Irene, and weed out the extremists from the minutemen, the patriots and all those citizens in-between.

One tactic in preventing attacks is the monitoring of social media. After-all, Twitter is an invaluable source for real-time information regarding current events both nationally and internationally.

Everything from the trivial, to the informative, to the incriminating (that which resembles a bomb threat) has been contributed to social media.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, who is all-out Web 2.0 with a Facebook page, Twitter, and YouTube channel (most government agencies have quickly adopted a social media presence) is on the look-out for the good the bad and the ugly, who make-up the diverse arena of social media where free speech is alive and kicking.

According to an article by Mark Hosenball, on the Huffington Post, “The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s command center routinely monitors [...] Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks and news and gossip sites [...] according to a government document.

The government document Hosenball refers to is “a privacy compliance review” explaining that social media has been under the DHS microscope since June 2010. And I wonder if the they, over at the DHS, “like mah status.”

Apparently the government is browsing social media pages and feeds constantly in order to ‘collect information used in providing situational awareness and establishing a common operating picture.’

In “more plain language” the DHS is using social media to stay in-tuned with developing current events.

Which brings to light that the government probably has full access to even private Twitter accounts and all Facebook pages– no the government probably doesn’t have to be your friend to see large photo albums starring your very talented cat.

Let’s take the conspiracy theory down to a simmer, the DHS isn’t interested in your company Christmas party…right? For security’s sake!

What does big brother have to say for himself?

Apparently the command center is monitoring websites that are “publicly available and… all use of data published via social media sites was solely to provide more accurate situational awareness…”

O.K.

This is particularly ambiguous only because this “data” is not specified as “publicly available.”

What happens to the data?

According to Hosenball, rules are rules in the program and “the DHS official said that [...] the department would not keep permanent copies of the Internet traffic it monitors.”

On the other hand, problems arise in the definition of “permanent” according to the DHS:

per-ma-nent [pur-muh-nuhnt] adj. The DHS “will retain information for no more than five years.”

Apparently one online privacy group is suing the DHS over their monitoring and recording of social media, check-out this video from FOX NEWS (whether you like these guys or not):

Click here to view the embedded video.

Comment and let us know what you think about the DHS perusing social media: protection or invasion of privacy?

Tech Thursday: The Hubze Squad’s Top Mobile Apps for 2011

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 09:00 AM PST

It seems that everybody else is coming up with his or her own list of top mobile apps, so we polled ourselves to come up with our favorite mobile apps that came out in 2011. With this list, we tried to veer away from the usual suspect of best mobile apps. Instead, we chose those who we think are great replacements if you do not like Instagram, Angry Birds or other popular mobile apps.

These are not really social media related, but these are the mobile apps that we think you should try at least once. But beware though, you might like them so much that they’d stay in your iOS device forever!

1. Doodle Jump

Forget Plants vs. Zombies and Angry Birds, everybody’s played them anyways. Take a look at Doodle Jump, instead.

Doodle Jump is one of the top-selling game apps on iTunes. You basically guide Doodle the Doodler by tilting your iPhone or iPad, shoot monsters, pick up things and avoid black holes. You get 9 different worlds, no finish lines and hours and hours of game play!

Download for 99 cents: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doodle-jump-be-warned-insanely/id307727765?mt=8

2. Bump

For those who attend conferences and other networking opportunities, Bump is a godsend. This app allows you to wirelessly exchange contact information with another user. You just literally bump your phone against another and your name, photo, Facebook URL, contact numbers and e-mail address get stored in the other phone’s contact list.

Bump is also great for sharing other files such as photos, audio and video files. You could even send messages for free! And no, it is not powered by near-field communication technology either!

Download for free: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bump/id305479724?mt=8

3. Photoshop Express

If you want to do basic image editing on the run, then you should go for Photoshop Express. It literally gives you some of Adobe Photoshop’s most used editing tools in the palm of your hand. You can crop, rotate, flip your photos, play with colors, apply some filters and effects, and add some borders. If you love Photoshop but hate having to carry your laptop wherever you go and have to edit your photos while in a hurry and on-the-go, then this should be a good app for you. We dare say that the filters, effects and features are much better than those you find on Instagram.

Download it for free: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adobe-photoshop-express/id331975235?mt=8

4. Lose It!

For those who are trying to healthily lose weight, especially now that you probably put ‘shed some pounds’ at the top of you New Year’s resolutions, this could be the app that could help you succeed.

Lose It! asks for your current stats and your target weight. It then graphs your progress to help you know if you’re succeeding or not. The app gives you a “calorie budget” to make sure that you are on track. You can also keep track of your friends’ weight loss success to help you stay motivated!

Download it for free: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lose-it!/id297368629?mt=8

5. Mixology

The hubze squad are party animals too. We love our parties and one of the mobile apps we can’t live without is Mixology.

This app has thousands of drink recipes and would allow you to input what you have on hand and it suggests the best drink you could make from it.

Ran out of margarita? No problem. Just check out where the nearest liquor store is with its built in locator!