In light of the recent uproar about data mining by unscrupulous people exploiting a hole in the viewer media system, I thought it might be helpful to include a few ways to protect yourself.

These are not ideal by any means, but until Linden Labs bans these and any other data mining systems and fixes the security hole(s) they exploit, options are limited.

Imagine this scenario:

You are visiting a local shopping mall or favorite nightclub.

As you walk in the door, a rather shady private detective hired by owner to catch shoplifters, collects your name, address, age, financial information, what car you drive, takes a picture, and then sends all of that information to his (not the owner’s) home office.

All of this without your consent, or even knowledge it has happened.

Since the detective doesn’t have very good eyesight, he thinks that nearly everyone is shoplifting.

As if that wasn’t enough, if someone wants to, they can call on this detective, who gladly provides them with the information and tools to stalk you or even smack you around.

[NOTE: This is a repost of an article from way back in 2008. Some things are too funny to let go.] Our newest “OH Crap” moment comes courtesy of my favorite feline, George.

Someone recently asked why I prefer Linux systems over “another operating system” and one of the things mentioned during this conversation was software management.

As I was catching up on a backlog of RSS feeds, I ran across Linden Labs plans for rolling out a new “Community Platform” starting in March.

According to the article, it seems nearly all avenues of communicating with Linden Labs are undergoing a major overhaul.

Is this an upgraded way for Linden Labs to ignore it residents?