Gelattina

The world of online applications has been recently shaken to it’s core by the now famous Twitter security scare. Covered by tech-sites, news-sites, and even Perez Hilton, news of the hacking of Twitter has spread like wildfire in the web and has many concerned about how frail online protection really is.

It’s not that Twitter is particularly unsafe. It’s that Twitter is just a part of a much larger “community” of online applications that we use daily, and as many say, “a chain is just as weak as it’s weakest link”…and that weak link may be us.

A little background on how the hack happened:

A young, talented hacker, known as “Hacker Croll” wanting to test the mettle of Twitter’s security got a hold of some email addresses of some Twitter employees. After trying to hack one of their Gmail accounts, and failing, he has told that a new password would be sent to the user’s alternate email. He was then able to deduce the guy’s Hotmail email by some clues Gmail left. The Hotmail account was nonexistent, so he set it up again and got the password resent to it. After that with pure logic and cunning he as able to get access to Twitter, various e-mail accounts, Paypal, Amazon, you name it.

That’s because we humans can’t seem to remember passwords. Once he got a hold of a couple of them (because we leave them in obvious places) he has access to a wealth of dangerous information, both personal and professional, which could have cost Twitter it’s business and it’s millions of users their privacy.

As expected, people are out-raged. Sure, it’s the company’s fault too, as the holes in the various apps security measures are apparent, but we have to be careful too. Since the dawn of time, people have been fascinated by theft, by entering forbidden places, desecrating ancient tombs, or just reading your crush’s diary.

The online age is no different, and we should be as careful in the virtual world as we are on the real world. Sure, it’s a bother, but if you care for your privacy, you could take some extra steps to ensure your peace of mind (and avoid those pesky identity thefts). 

I HATE traffic. I dread going back home at 7 o’clock because I know that even tough it could enjoy a zippy 7-min drive home, I’ll probably take about 30 minutes to get there instead. Blame it on bad city planning, rush hour, whatever. But the main culprits are undoubtedly us. If you clear your mind from the bad humor caused by the honks and bothersome traffic offenders, you’ll notice one disturbing trend: most of use ride alone.

There probably lies the source of our problem. Thanks to the amenities of the modern economy (and probably because of the not so stellar public transport system) a lot of us have a car. Naturally, if you have your own, you probably think the most practical thing is to use it. And to be honest, it is. But when millions of commuters throughout the city do the same, it’s not longer really practical. Neither is it healthy or cheap. We spend money on gasoline, pollute the air, and cause long cues in everywhere.

Surprisingly, we have this little thing called “Carpooling”. You’ve all probably done it. Maybe when you were in elementary school, when the bus came for you, or when all the nearby neighbors or friends were dropped off at school by the same car . It’s not the most comfortable thing for our ego. We have to wake up early, be ready, and depend on others. But we also get to save money, save the planet and share our traffic frustration with others. So, I know carpooling isn’t a very standard practice among us (at least in Monterrey), but maybe it’s worth a shot to talk it out with your fellow co-workers, friends or classmates. If all of us did it a lot of our traffic woes would surely disappear.

Here @ Gelattina we want to contribute if a little bit to the improvement of our world ecology (and economy) so we’ve created a nice little hand made video further explaining why carpooling is right for you. Check it out here , or at the end of the post. We also have a list of useful resources if you do decide to take part in it at our site.

Hope your enjoyed it. Over/Out!

Or at least it’s attempting to. You see, Google announced today they’re developing their own operating system, dubbed the “Chrome OS” to bring firstly to netbooks and possibly to full scale PCs later next year. In a nutshell, it can be said that it takes as foundation the same philosophy that permeates all of Google’s recent projects: simple, usable and web-based. As mentioned it will debut primarily on netbooks, and will be Linux-based. I could go on writing about the specs and other data, but you can probably answer all your questions here.

So, what’s gonna happen now that Google, arguably Microsoft biggest rival, attacks them head on? Opinions are split, some day it signals the beginning of the end for Bill Gate’s baby while other just predict Google to fall flat in it’s face.

I’m actually a Mac user, so I guess I’m not necessarily the target market of either OS anymore (I think I’m a full convert), but I find it extremely interesting that Google is risking so much into this. I believe they are real innovators, and dare say, the Microsoft of these times. I love Google Docs, Gmail and everything, but I do have one speck of a doubt about their new OS being completely web-based.

While web distribution and total virtual access is the future, I don’t think now is the moment to depend completely on that. Also, web centric applications tend to be dumbed-down versions of full software. But, clearly Google has better information on the subject than I do, and they must have something to win for waging this war. The future will decide if their decision was relevant or a failure they will bury under the carpet some day.

The July 2009 edition of our monthly wallpaper is ready for you to download!

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Here @ Gelattina we’re proud to be able tell others that we’re green. Not because we’re lime flavored, but because we’re an ecologically responsible firm! As consequence to having a “mom & pop” store next door, we consume insane amounts of bottled drinks, most of them made from PET. By chance, our good friend Berenice Montalvo – who teaches @ Colegio San Patricio del Paseo – invited us to be godfathers to her class, 7^th A, in an internal contest at the school which had as objective was to gather large amounts of plastic for recycling. Thanks to the joint effort of the group, their families and us, it was able to win by a landslide at the middle school level. We received a lovely “Thank You” card afterwards, signed by the whole group.

This story yields to positive insights to us:

First and foremost, that schools are really pushing an eco-culture into this generation’s kids, which will surely bring benefits throughout the world in the long run, not only for humans but for all living species.

Secondly, that it’s super easy to be “green”. It virtually requires no extra effort apart from having another pair of trashcans for separating purposes, and begins to imbue another, better, culture about ecological conscience, which then they can transmit to others.

You don’t have to suddenly turn your home or workplace into something completely eco-friendly, but you can start with small steps like separating your trash. Why not make the world cleaner and safer when it’s so easy?

Estamos orgullosos de decir que en Gelattina somos una empresa responsable  con nuestro medio ambiente. Cómo se imaginarán tener una tiendita a lado hace que en las oficinas se consuman cantidades industriales de bebidas embotelladas en todas sus presentaciones, la mayoría de ellas de plástico. Por azares del destino, nuestra amiga Berenice Montalvo – que es maestra en el Colegio San Patricio del Paseo – nos invitó a ser padrinos de su grupo, 7mo. A,  en una competencia interna de recolección de plástico reciclable. Gracias a el esfuerzo conjunto entre ellos, sus familias y nosotros logramos que el grupo ganara la concurso a nivel secundaria. Posteriormente, recibimos una carta de agradecimiento firmada por todos en el grupo, lo cuál nos dio mucho gusto.

De está historia nos llevamos dos cosas positivas:

Primero, que nos da un gusto enorme que las escuelas estén empezando a meter una cultura ecológica en las mentes de nuestros niños y jóvenes, ya que de ellos dependerá que el planeta se mantenga habitable para todas las especies en un futuro.

Segundo, que es muy fácil hacer nuestra parte en esta labor de reciclaje de lo que muchos pensamos. En las oficinas no nos cuesta absolutamente nada juntar las cosas por tipo de basura y luego pasarlo a alguien que pueda hacer algo con ello.

No se tiene que hacer todo, pero  ¿qué te parece si empiezas con una bolsa extra para el plástico? De poco a poco se irá logrando un cambio en nuestra cultura y tendremos un país mas limpio y un mundo mejor.

Ya están disponibles para descarga nuestros wallpapers de Julio 2009.

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Recuerda dejarnos tus comentarios o sugerencias, por medio de los comentarios un poco más abajo o la forma de contacto en nuestra página web, en Twittter o Facebook.

Who would’ve thought that the story of Facebook would reach the silver screen someday? Certainly not me, but it looks like society’s favorite stalking method is coming to a cinema near you someday.

Apparently the Hollywood suits at Sony have hired award-winning scribe Aaron Sorkin (of West Wing fame) to develop the script, while David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) is set to direct. Mark Zuckerberg’s shoes (Facebook’s “official” creator) are supposedly to be filled by either Shia LaBeouf or Michael Cera.

The movie is said to be based on the book “Accidental Billionaires” , which allegedly doesn’t have the most favorable or kind portrayal of the main characters, basically pitting them as lucky, out of touch rich kids.

The name of the film is still up on the air, but the (bland) title “The Social Network” is said to be a probable choice.

While I do think that there’s a ton of better “tech” stories to tell than the origins of Facebook, it has to be admitted that it’s kinda like the Instant Messaging of this era, and that the plot probably has enough frats, sex, and intrigue to make it interesting to the masses. I’m personally looking forward to see how it’ll turn out, if only out of morbidity. How about you?

Over and out!