Christmas Without the Need for Social Media

It’s been over 14 Christmas’s now, running a blog while tracking the rise and fall of every social media platform. From AOL to Myspace, Facebook, twitter, Instagram and more, social media has made me hyper aware of the world around me and the many, many, many struggles people go though in my neck of the world and beyond. And as the years pass, more and more people figure out how to use social media to make the world around them a better place. I hope that trend continues. (more…)

Facebook Enters the Darkweb. Can Google be far Behind?

The big news I’ve been watching over the week is Facebook’s move into the Deep Web (also known as the Darkweb), or the anonymous internet that so many of us now use. No other big Silicon Valley Giant has dared to take this step but does it make sense for the Privacy Robbing Giant to move to the Deep web?

If Facebook wants to grow their platform they will need China, one of the biggest internet markets, if not THE biggest internet market on the planet. Facebook is going to have to get around “The Great Firewall of China” in order to draw in Chinese users and a Deep web address will hopefully be great bait.

Having an address on the Deep web will allow Chinese Users to circumvent the Great Firewall of China and use Facebook to communicate with the outside world.

The Deep web is an anonymous internet, which many people use to remain anonymous while using the internet, which seems to contradict the very reason Facebook is on the planet.. to rob everyone of their privacy. So having Facebook available on the anonymous internet is an oxymoron. You just don’t go through the process of using the anonymous internet to connect to a privacy robbing site like Facebook. The only upside is that Facebook will not know your location when you are communicating using their platform, but they will know the content of your communications.

Facebook’s Deep web address – https://facebookcorewwwi.onion/ (Only accessible through a Tor Browser).

With Facebook, the largest privacy Robbing site on the planet on the Darkweb, can Google, the largest data collector on the planet be far behind?

Next up: Is the Borg (Google) buying Greece?

Net Neutrality. Dems Move to Regulate the Internet

Democratic FEC Vice Chair Ann M. Ravel announced plans to begin the process to win regulations on Internet-based campaigns and videos, currently free from most of the FEC’s rules. “A reexamination of the commission’s approach to the internet and other emerging technologies is long over due,” she said. –

(more…)

Microsoft Windows 10 Terms State They Get Access to Everything on Your Computer

I just finished up listening to this almost 3 hour talk about Electronic Privacy and security and got really interested in it when the talk turned to Windows 10 and how Microsoft has it buried in its terms that they have complete access to any and all files on the computer. (more…)

I have 2 Secure Email Accounts to Give Away

Goodbye Gmail! At least for the important stuff.

For those of you who follow the blog (Thank you!) you know I had mentioned I had been beta testing the Startmail Encypted Email service since April. They finally came out of Beta and offered the email address to me for $60 a year. I found that I was using the email quite a bit for secure communication so I kept it. Here is the blog posting from April reviewing the Startmail service – https://daviddaniels.com/2014/04/startmail-a-secure-alternative-to-gmail/. I would recommend it. (more…)

China Takes Down Instagram to Quell Hong Kong Protests. Now the Chinese Are Protesting!

“Protests in Hong Kong in support of greater autonomy and democracy (dubbed Occupy Central) are heating up and facing a greater crackdown from authorities. Mainland Chinese have not really been preoccupied with the protests until Beijing decided to shut down Instagram.” Not a smart move. (more…)

@Yelp Doesn’t Like My Profile Pic. Won’t Let Me Respond to Customers Until It’s Changed

Yelp is at it again. They clearly don’t like bloggers, especially ones who refuse to participate in their Yelp programs, scamming small business’s out of thousands of dollars every year.

A recent email from Yelp, which I found in the trash, states I will have to change my profile pic before I can talk to customers. Apparently they require a “REAL” photo of me. Really Yelp? (more…)

Facebook Privacy Issues Driving More People to Instagram… which is Facebook!

Today the blogosphere was lit up by the latest Facebook data collection tool called “Messenger” and it’s “Unique” ability to access everything on your phone, including photo’s, contacts, your camera, your location, etc… Facebook responded to the rampant privacy robbing rumors with a well crafted “Get the Facts” marketing campaign that is now rolling out. If you have not seen it you can find that here… (more…)

@Yelp Won’t Stop Their Desperate Sales Calls!

I have been doing Social Media consulting with small business’s on Long Island for about 3 years now. There are many, many, many options for Digital Marketing and Yelp is just one of those options. The only problem with Yelp is that I have always been able to prove I cannot get a return on investment (ROI) (more…)