StarMars Online » social

Follow me on Twitter

StarMars — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:31:58 +0000

I recently added the official Twitter widget on my sidebar. Twitter is the social network I am most active in so not having it here kinda makes my blog incomplete.

I started using Twitter on October 11, 2008 with my first Tweet “I’m starting my twitter.” At first, I was just curious about how this service worked. It was rapidly growing in popularity back then and I just had to try it.

I use Twitter mainly for short messages. So-called microblogging, these posts are too short for a full blog post. It suits me well because I do not like writing wrong sentences and paragraphs. Oh, I do love one-word tweets.

I love sharing links I find on the web. Twitter is like a bookmark. There are times when I go back to my past tweets to find an interesting link I shared before but have forgotten.

Twitter is my online diary. When I want to remember a particular event, I make a tweet — same purpose as marking a calendar with special events.

Lastly, I do answer the question “What are you doing?”. I may tweet the food I am currently eating, my current mood and the website I am reading.

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Nerd Venn Diagram

StarMars — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:45:30 +0000

This Nerd Venn Diagram tries to differentiate terms similar to the word “nerd.” Geek, dork, dweeb or nerd? Take it however you want but it’s fun to give it a thought or two.

The three criteria do not need much explanation. Intelligence is how smart a person is. Obsession is the extreme passion for intellectual activities. Social ineptitude pertains to limited social and communication skills.

To be in the diagram, you must possess at least two traits. We would all agree that being intelligent is a good trait. Obsession has a negative connotation but having more knowledge as a result of your obsession is a good thing. Social ineptitude isn’t necessarily bad, but it is stereotyped and perceived as such.

Giving it some thought…

and removing my previously perceived ideas of these words…

A geek is someone who is always on the pursuit of knowledge and has the brains for it. Thus, he learns quickly.

A dork is the kid at the corner, buried in his books. He isn’t noticeably good at anything.

A dweeb is mysterious. You don’t see him study or mingle often but he gets high grades.

A nerd is a smart, talented man. His obsession to learn more leaves him no time to socialize.

For the sake of this post, let’s say that the diagram is true. Which part of the diagram do you belong in? I, myself am at the mid.

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My chat with a hacker

StarMars — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:31:29 +0000

A few days ago, the instant messenger of my friend got hacked. The hacker sent me a message linking me to a website. He was acting weird so I caught the hacker easily. We had a little bit of a chat before he finally stopped messaging me. I’m publishing this so readers would know the situation when they encounter it.

My friend likes to download “free” stuff from the internet so that’s probably how his account was jacked. I was surfing the web when I got a message from Long (English translation of my friend’s Vietnamese name and that’s how I call him). His greeting was

Long: hey are you around?

I think the hacker sent this message to all contacts of the account to see who’s online at the moment.

StarMars: ?

Long: hahahaha, I’m in SHOCK right now..

That sentence was meant to catch my attention and it did.

StarMars: why

Long: http://somesite.com – WOW use that real quick and tell me its not crazy..

StarMars: …

Long: they are soooo right! lol what’s it saying for you?

At this point, I was having suspicions already. He sounded different. My Vietnamese friend does not speak straight English.

StarMars: wtf rofl

StarMars: i see nothing

Long: uh oh, you must of made a mistake

StarMars: blocked by my firewall

Long: DO IT! I DARE YOU…

I actually clicked the link he sent me and it was blocked by my firewall or Firefox. He knew he can’t trick me so he said “I dare you” to sway me into accessing the site. Too bad for you, I’m not your regular internet guy who can be easily tricked.

StarMars: who are you?

StarMars: whats ur name

Long: real funny, be back later lol

Long: guess…c’mon u seriously dont know who this is?? lol i gotta run

He was out of options and this was his escape phrase. He knew his identity was exposed.

StarMars: whats my name?

StarMars: idiot

StarMars: who are you

StarMars: noob

Long: lol funny..i gotta run

Long: real funny, be back later lol

StarMars: idiot

StarMars: u cant spam me

StarMars: noob

Long: plz u have to tell me, fill it out..I have to know if your results were as crazy as mine lol

And I thought he gave up already…

Long: nah, I am a vegetarian… no spam for me! haha

StarMars: i have firewall and firefox extensions

Long: k

StarMars: that block ur phishing site

Long: hahahaha, I’m in SHOCK right now..

That was the last message of the hacker. I was feeling a little bit evil and playful so I teased and taunted him just for the lulz. xD

StarMars: hows life?

StarMars: u there?

StarMars: hello

StarMars: im in SHOCK right now too

StarMars: rofl

When my real friend logged on, I told him what happened though I was surprised the hacker didn’t change the password. He wasn’t aware of it and he just laughed it out. I don’t know what else the hacker did. Who knows if one of the other contacts fell for it. I certainly hope that Long does have a different password for his important accounts like ebay, paypal, etc.

Hacking/phishing attempts like this are called social engineering and are very dangerous. In my case, the hacker assumed the identity of a trusted friend so he got me to visit his site. It pays to have an online protection. People who always use the internet should be aware of this.

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