2. September 2010 by admin.

Marine Groups, and others probably, on LinkedIn - are being infiltrated by Fake Users with Fake Lives … in order to Spam!

An original story By Alan Spicer of Alan Spicer Marine Telecom - 09-01-2010

——————————————————————————————–

I am a member on the contact and connection (social networking) site called LinkedIn. There are also groups on LinkedIn that you can join either automatically or after being approved by the group owner or a moderator. I also run a group on LinkedIn called “Marine Telecom (Communications)”. I’ve been on there for quite awhile (User since August 19, 2004) well that would be 6 years. I am also a member of a lot of groups on there, most of them Marine and Telecommunications related.

I’ve noticed recently, as have other group members of marine / maritime groups, that there is an influx of users that join a group with the sole purpose of posting spam discussions. These are discussions that have nothing to do with the charter or purpose of the group where they post these discussions. But also lately I have noticed, as have others, that the members that spam are not real people.  They are not who they say they are. In fact some of them have multiple identities that are all used to perpetrate their spam attempts.

Morpheus, in the movie The Matrix, told Neo - “Welcome to the Real World”. The reason that I quote that is because many of these spammers are creating their own fake worlds or lives on LinkedIn. Now there are some online games where you can be a virtual person (The movie Avatar) in a virtual world. You can have a job, or a business, … you can buy property and own real estate. You can spent virtual money on virtual things, funded by real money that you pay into your account. My brother even owns a yacht in one of these virtual worlds. Real Yacht People out there, imagine that? You didn’t have to spend millions of dollars on a real yacht. I’m sure my brother got his for a few dollars of spare change.

Anyway the point being that these users on Linked in create real sounding names … many of them sounding almost too real. One today almost sounds like “Daisy Duke” from that TV show The Dukes of Hazzard. Her supposed name is actually “Dixie Ford”. Her web site http://www.computertipsntricks.info/ seems legitemate enough … it actually has some real content and web applications that seem to work. Even a whois Internet Domain lookup tool that I used to look up *their* own domain name. Which is registered to someone in Jaranwala, Pakistan. So you see they are creating fake web sites for their profiles, fake companies, fake employment - work - or business histories, etc. etc. Things and people that don’t really exist … not in the REAL WORLD. Only in the fake matrix of LinkedIn.

Maybe this is a trend … in general … in Social Networking? With these forums and Facebooks and Myspaces, etc. being used to create non-real persons and non-real lives … in order to “Social Engineer” their way into peoples Friendships and Groups in order to feed the masses SPAM (Read: Matrix: In order to turn a human being into one of these [a BATTERY].) They must be getting paid by someone to do this? Or why else would they go to so much trouble to do all of that? It would interesting for someone to take a case study … pick a fake person … and find out what it is they are spamming about. Then track that back to who paid them to spam about that.

Anyway I would be interested to hear comments from others about this. I am trying to keep my group spam free. Which means being a little bit harder on new member applications that I receive. But if you don’t have a life … if you don’t have a history … and especially if you don’t have a boat, don’t captain a boat, don’t work in marine at all, then chances are you don’t belong on my Marine Telecom Group … or on any marine group for that matter.

Oh, also, I just found this: http://blog.linkedin.com/2009/03/27/how-to-report-abusive-behavior-on-linkedin/ while searching with google.com to see if I could find any more talk about these fake LinkedIn users.

How to report abusive behavior on LinkedIn

Reid Hoffman March 27th, 2009

From the day we launched, LinkedIn has been about helping professionals build and maintain trusted relationships online. Over the past six years, we’ve seen millions of professionals gravitate towards this concept and members are signing up for LinkedIn in unprecedented numbers.

Today over 37 million professionals on LinkedIn believe that bringing our real-world professional relationships online will help all of us work smarter. While the network grows rapidly, we want to make sure that we preserve the user experience – for every user – by maintaining the integrity of the site. Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that a very small number of users tarnish the experience for some members of our community.

This extremely limited but abusive behavior violates our Terms of Service.  This includes examples such as not using a real name/person as the profile owner, falsifying info, creating fake profiles, trying to use someone else’s account, massively inviting people they don’t know, and using the data in a way not authorized or intended by LinkedIn’s Terms of Service.  This behavior, though infrequent, strikes at the very root of a trusted professional network.

We take these violations very seriously and will not tolerate this behavior. We’ll be contacting these users with a warning and any subsequent violation will result in the restriction or the termination of their account.

Moving forward, we’ll continue responding to complaints of abuses. We’ve also created an email address for you to report inappropriate behavior. Please email us, should you notice abusive behavior on LinkedIn.

And thanks for making LinkedIn a great network of professionals.  We really appreciate it.

* Alan Spicer’s additional note - That email address is: abuse @ linkedin.com. Which is quite different from the online “Customer Service” contact method that I tried previously… and met with disappointing results over my report. They didn’t seem to understand what I was talking about at all.

Note: abuse email addresses used to be pretty common for web sites. Through: http://www.abuse.net/ you can find the abuse contacts for a lot of web site domain names. That is if they have registered on there. Another old abuse contact has always been “postmaster” … but from having been a domain “admin” or “root” user guy before - I know that the “postmaster” mailbox often gets ignored most of the time because it just gets too much email traffic. (By the way I should be *good* in www.abuse.net for my domains such as wifiyacht.net and marinetelecom.net, and have been for *years*.)

—

Alan Spicer

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

http://www.marinetelecom.net - http://www.wifiyacht.net

communications @ marinetelecom.net

+1 954-683-3426

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2. September 2010 by admin.

I think that Non-Tasked NOAA Flight (Earl8) - that while it was not tasked, seemed to fly patterns over Hurricane Earl, and now the eagle seems to have landed in Tampa, Florida.

Google Earth screen shot showing Non-Tasked NOAA Flight (Earl8) flew some patterns over Hurricane Earl…

… And later seemed to have landed in Tampa, Florida

—

“We copy you down, Eagle., You’ve got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot.”

(that’s actually an excerp from Nasa Communications during the Apollo Lunar Landing. But then again we often joke about The Eagle has Landed in a lot of situations.)

 Interestingly… that’s an awful lot of dropsondes and data for a “non-tasked” flight. We thank you! NOAA Earl8 … “She sure was a good ship!”.

—
Alan Spicer
 
DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting…
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)
 
* Cost Savings and Integration of Multiple Internet Technologies
on board Sail and Motor Yachts * Documentation, Operating
Instructions, and Support after the Sale *
 
* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
* http://www.internetforyachts.net/
* http://www.wifiyacht.net/
* 954-683-3426
 
Mobile Internet! Step up to the HSPA 3G Fast Internet!
 
Ericsson W35 released in the USA. This you’ve gotta SEE!!
Better looking presentation than W25 (you might not want to
hide this one in the Doghouse!) + High Speed Upload which
the W25 did not have.
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/ 
 

Livewire: Access Controller (Service Selector):
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Livewire_Service_Selector/

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1. September 2010 by admin.

Yes, we’re worried about Atlantic Tropical Weather right now … Now you know why a lot of people run away from South Florida this time of year. Some heading for the Northeast US. But what if the storms go up northeast????

Hurricane Earl in Google Earth - with the Weather overlay on … next up is Hurricane Hunter Mission #10 USAF in this same view…

Hurricane Earl in Google Earth - with the Weather overlay OFF - Hurricane Hunter Mission #10 USAF

Google Earth - Wider view, what’s up with this? People are often looking for unusual things in Google Earth! What’s up with the BIG RED “X” over TD 10 right now?

Google Earth - BIG RED “X” again with it more centered in the program. Yes it was really there! Was TD 10 cancelled by Google? You know they are very powerful!!!! Was that whole part of the world… where these storms come from cancelled by Google Earth? I hope so! I couldn’t agree more. These storms should be cancelled!

Google Earth - BIG RED “X” - a little bit later it seemed to have disappeared???? What was up with that? Did it mean the data was in error in that area? Or what???? (Conspiracy theory begins …)

—
Alan Spicer
 
DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting…
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)
 
* Cost Savings and Integration of Multiple Internet Technologies
on board Sail and Motor Yachts * Documentation, Operating
Instructions, and Support after the Sale *
 
* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
* http://www.internetforyachts.net/
* http://www.wifiyacht.net/
* 954-683-3426
 
Mobile Internet! Step up to the HSPA 3G Fast Internet!
 
Ericsson W35 released in the USA. This you’ve gotta SEE!!
Better looking presentation than W25 (you might not want to
hide this one in the Doghouse!) + High Speed Upload which
the W25 did not have.
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/ 
 

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1. September 2010 by admin.

There is also a NOAA “Non-Tasked Mission” (Earl8) seemingly heading in the direction of Hurricane Earl. It was not tasked by the National Hurricane Center … blah … blah … blah. Sure looks like it’s heading to cross paths with the USAF tasked plane in the vicinity of Earl. Non-Tasked Earl8 is about 113.5 miles northeast (nne?) of USAF Mission #9 that just came out of flying patterns over Earl not to long ago and is currently flying in an ESE direction.

The NOAA Non-Tasked plane appears to have come out of Barbados.

* Non tasked passed by, probably at a similar distance, USAF Hurricane Hunter Mission #2 to Fiona, oh what the heck one more screen shot …

Anyway non-tasked NOAA passed S.W. of Mission #2

* Long range air traffic controllers in the Caribbean must be having a busy night/morning. Although I’m sure that NOAA and the Airforce are perfectly capable of keeping their planes separated.

—
Alan Spicer
 
DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting…
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)
 
* Cost Savings and Integration of Multiple Internet Technologies
on board Sail and Motor Yachts * Documentation, Operating
Instructions, and Support after the Sale *
 
* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
* http://www.internetforyachts.net/
* http://www.wifiyacht.net/
* 954-683-3426
 
Mobile Internet! Step up to the HSPA 3G Fast Internet!
 
Ericsson W35 released in the USA. This you’ve gotta SEE!!
Better looking presentation than W25 (you might not want to
hide this one in the Doghouse!) + High Speed Upload which
the W25 did not have.
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/ 
 

Livewire: Access Controller (Service Selector):
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Livewire_Service_Selector/

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1. September 2010 by admin.

Hurricane Earl might be going to North Carolina? HURRICANE EARL ADVISORY # 26 (AUGUST 31 2010) 5PM

Here is video of HURRICANE EARL ADVISORY # 26 (AUGUST 31 2010) 5PM from YouTube

—
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
+1 954-683-3426
communications @ marinetelecom.net

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1. September 2010 by admin.

Two missions are currently flying into Tropical Storm Fiona (plane out of the island of St. Croix) and (plane out of Biloxi, MS.) See also: http://www.technewsdaily.com/hurricane-hunting-tech-a-brief-history-1107/ Hurricane Hunting Tech a Brief History. … It all started with a dare …

USAF Hurricane Hunter Picture 

Hurricane Hunters - Video from YouTube

Here is a screen shot of Google Earth running the Hurricane Hunter Tracker plug-in. This is Mission #2 into Fiona, the plane appearing to be out of the island of St. Croix, again (like my earlier post.)

And here is a Google Earth screen shot of Mission #9 into Hurricane Earl, appearing to be a plane flying out of Biloxi, MS.

And here is a Google Earth screen shot of the Current WX (Weather) related to these to mission flights.

The flight out of Biloxi, MS., heading towards Hurricane Earl, appear to be on flight path to the Eye of Hurricane Earl. It is interesting and nice to know they are flying these missions to give us the latest data on these storms.

Here is another shot of mission #9 approaching Hurricane Earl. You can see from the chart that the winds are at 50 knots at this point. See the next shot which shows the storm as well…

Here is the same frame in Google Earth as the above screen shot, this time with the Weather setting turned on in Google Earth

No further comment.

—
Alan Spicer
 
DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting…
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)
 
* Cost Savings and Integration of Multiple Internet Technologies
on board Sail and Motor Yachts * Documentation, Operating
Instructions, and Support after the Sale *
 
* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
* http://www.internetforyachts.net/
* http://www.wifiyacht.net/
* 954-683-3426
 
Mobile Internet! Step up to the HSPA 3G Fast Internet!
 
Ericsson W35 released in the USA. This you’ve gotta SEE!!
Better looking presentation than W25 (you might not want to
hide this one in the Doghouse!) + High Speed Upload which
the W25 did not have.
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/ 
 

Livewire: Access Controller (Service Selector):
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Livewire_Service_Selector/

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1. September 2010 by admin.

As recommended on LinkedIn…

http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ucq1y7-gdhz0p3e-43/ava/28395835/62537/EML_anet_qa_ttle-dDhOon0JumNFomgJt7dBpSBA/

http://coastguardnews.com/captain-of-the-port-sets-port-condition-zulu-for-the-u-s-virgin-islands-and-eastern-puerto-rico/2010/08/30/?goback=%2Egde_62537_member_28395835

Captain of the Port sets Port Condition ZULU for the U.S. Virgin Islands and eastern Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The Coast Guard Sector San Juan Captain of the Port, Capt. Eduardo Pino, has set Port Condition ZULU at 8 a.m. Monday for all the ports in the U.S. Virgin Islands and 10 a.m. Monday for the eastern ports of Puerto Rico, due to the expectation that gale force winds generated by Hurricane Earl are expected to arrive within 12 hours.

During Port Condition ZULU, the ports of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the port of Vieques, Culebra, Fajardo, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, will remain closed to all incoming and outgoing vessel traffic until directed by the Captain of the Port.

All intra-island ferries in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands transiting ports under Port Condition ZULU must cease operations and be secured at their designated mooring facility when Port Condition ZULU is in place for their respective port.

The Captain has set Port Condition YANKEE at 10 a.m. Monday for the port of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico and he anticipates setting Port Condition ZULU at 2p.m. Monday.

All other ports in Puerto Rico will remain at Port Condition X-RAY until further notice.

Future port conditions cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty, but provided the storm remains on the projected course and track, port stakeholders can expect the established progression of port conditions.

Owners and operators of recreational vessels should follow the small craft advisories from the National Weather Service, and take the necessary measures to safeguard the safety of their vessels.

—
Alan Spicer
 
DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting…
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)
 
* Cost Savings and Integration of Multiple Internet Technologies
on board Sail and Motor Yachts * Documentation, Operating
Instructions, and Support after the Sale *
 
* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
* http://www.internetforyachts.net/
* http://www.wifiyacht.net/
* 954-683-3426
 
Mobile Internet! Step up to the HSPA 3G Fast Internet!
 
Ericsson W35 released in the USA. This you’ve gotta SEE!!
Better looking presentation than W25 (you might not want to
hide this one in the Doghouse!) + High Speed Upload which
the W25 did not have.
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/ 
 

Livewire: Access Controller (Service Selector):
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Livewire_Service_Selector/

Posted in Main | No Comments »

31. August 2010 by admin.

I’ve taken some screen shots again showing the Hurricane Hunter mission on Hurricane Earl. This hurricane is reportedly a Catagory 4 at this time.

Hurricane Hunter - it looks like it came out of the island of St. Croix

Here you see the pattern of the flight through the hurricanes location hear Puerto Rico

And here is another image after I clicked on a Dropsonde to retrieve the data. The dropsonde was dropped into the eye / eye wall area of the hurricane

And here is Google Earth with the “Weather” turned back on showing a wide view of Hurricane Earl and the other storm that’s behind it

And here is Google Earth with the “Weather” turned back on showing a wide view of Hurricane Earl and the other storm that’s behind it … a closer screen shot

—
Alan Spicer
 
DBA Alan Spicer Telcom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
Computer Services, Wired/Wireless Networking,
Cell/Sat/Landline Communications, General Consulting…
Marine, Business, Small Office and Home Office (SOHO)
 
* Cost Savings and Integration of Multiple Internet Technologies
on board Sail and Motor Yachts * Documentation, Operating
Instructions, and Support after the Sale *
 
* http://www.marinetelecom.net/
* http://www.internetforyachts.net/
* http://www.wifiyacht.net/
* 954-683-3426
 
Mobile Internet! Step up to the HSPA 3G Fast Internet!
 
Ericsson W35 released in the USA. This you’ve gotta SEE!!
Better looking presentation than W25 (you might not want to
hide this one in the Doghouse!) + High Speed Upload which
the W25 did not have.
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35/ 
 

Livewire: Access Controller (Service Selector):
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Livewire_Service_Selector/

Posted in Main | No Comments »

29. August 2010 by admin.

One of my customers commented in email that they didn’t like my web site. “All one page” - Where are the links to sections? and more…

So I’ve spent hours today updating a lot the web pages, making sure that contact information is easy to find. Most importantly there WAS A links section to other pages on this big long page … but many visitors may have clicked off (or fell asleep?) before finding it. So now there is an ANCHOR link very near the top center that can be clicked on and will lead you to the proper section where the MENU is for a lot of the important content on the web site.

If you haven’t been to: http://www.marinetelecom.net in awhile … please go again … and let me know what you think?

THANK YOU! 

—

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

http://www.marinetelecom.net

http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954-683-3426

communications @ marinetelecom.net

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29. August 2010 by admin.

Awhile back I wrote the following document based on something that another consultant had done …

http://www.marinetelecom.net/documentation.html

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom - Got Documentation? Why you should choose Alan Spicer…

There are certain standards and ethics that I believe in - in my consulting practice. Being Honest, Reliable, and Dependable is important in contracting or consulting for any kind of customer and  that includes working for Marine/Yachting Customers. This page is about Documentation and why I provide it on all projects. Documentation and Supporting your Systems and Projects is in my opinion not only an important, but a critical part of the System or Project. There’s just got to be a drawing of what’s installed, and instructions on how to operate it, and probably some troubleshooting instructions. There should be a minimal length of time that the contractor or consultant will support the installed gear if you have questions or problems. There should also be an option of ongoing support - and maybe general consulting offered by the year. I’ve Been There - and I DO THAT. Have a look at:

http://www.marinetelecom.net/consulting.html

I provide full documentation on my projects or “jobs” on yachts (and the occassional home or small business) because it’s the RIGHT thing to do. Some consultants leave things out or don’t provide diagrams or drawings of what they’ve done because they believe that’s a way to keep a customer. I believe the way to keep a customer is to do a good job, provide a good kit or system, support it for a resonable time (and offer yearly support at affordable rates), and always provide sufficient documentation and instructions so that someone else could work on it at a later date without having to call you on the phone. This includes all networking equipment IP Addresses, and Usernames and Passwords. This includes any support contact information and account names/numbers they may need to get help on their own.

So for my vote add GOOD DOCUMENTATION to the list of things a consultant may have that they should be giving a copy of, or the information of, to their customers. Customers should have the ability to change passwords if they want to (Although I recommend they let me know in case they do call me!) or anything else like Wireless Network Names and Wireless Security Protection Codes. Ok, so that having been said, the following has been derived from someone elses write up on consulting/contracting ethics and such. I’ve added my bit about providing good documentation.
Be Easy to Fire
There are several reasons why a customer might find it difficult to fire a consultant:

He does great work and is a tremendous asset
(He hasn’t provided us documentation, only he knows how this stuff works?! — added by Alan Spicer)
He has passwords for everything: will he give us the list?
He has all the source code: will we get it back?
He has access to everything: will he do bad stuff to us?
He hosts our DNS: will he screw with us?

Only the first is a valid reason to keep somebody around, and customers are unnerved by the subtle fear of “what happens if…?” for the others. Consultants ought to structure their arrangements to remove as many of these as possible, and instead rely on their own good work to be their best job security.

From time to time, I give customers “How to fire me” instructions: “Here are all your important passwords”, “Your contact at the hosting center is who”, “Source code is here”, “Revoke my network access by (A), (B) and (C)”, etc. Customers should ask for this from all of their consultants, not only to make them easier to fire, but as a contingency in case the consultant is hit by a bus. Sometimes customers do ask, and it must be met with immediate, full disclosure. It’s not your data, you’re not allowed to hoard it.

—
Alan Spicer
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
Email: communications (at) marinetelecom.net
Tel. : 954-683-3426

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