How the "Facebook knows you cell name" works

Much of technology is the modern-day equivalent to a vaudeville magic act in so many cases.  It uses lights, a flashy gimmick, and the audience (that's you and me) sits there stunned, shocked and amazed at what is actually something pretty simple.

Today, I bring you the wonders of the latest Facebook "feature:" Facebook Knows Your Cell Phone's Name.

Here is the premise: By entering the last three digits of your cell phone into a carefully, and purposefully, crafted formula, Facebook will return the "name" of your cell phone.  If you haven't seen it, here are the steps:

1. 1st step: from your mobile number number, take the last 3 numbers. Example- 780-496-9684 , take "684"only
2. 2nd step: Write this @*[684:0] in the comment box below, replacing the 3 numbers with your own. 
3. 3rd step: remove the * sign and press enter in the comment box.

Now, go ahead and try it. Open a new browser tab, window, whatever. I'll wait for you...

Scary, right?  Not really.  The formula simply provides a shortcut to a Facebook ID, returns the user's real name, and provides it to you.  The ":0" at the end removes the hyperlink to the user's account/page.

So, if you do NOT add the :0 in there, you will actually get a link (or should, anyway) to the page that matches your three digits.

It also works for many, but not all, 4-digit numbers, 5-digits, etc.  Why?  It ties back to a Facebook ID, remember?  We *all* have Facebook IDs.  That's how FB keeps track of its users.  

Now, the next part took a bit of thinking, and I am not 100% sure it's right, but I'd be willing to bet it is: Where did your "cell phone" go to school?  I bet Harvard.  Or, Harvard is in your "cell phone's" network, anyway.  Well, so long as you only use the last three digits.  How do I know this amazing information?  Is it magic!?  Some kind of weird sorcery? No.

Take the digits you used to find your cell phone's "name," and add it to this:

1. Open a  new tab, window, whatever in your web browser
2. Copy the following URL into your newly opened web browser tab, window, whatever: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=XXX, 
3. Replace the XXX with your numbers. Ex: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=123
4. Press enter

Did you get someone's page?  Did they have Harvard listed in their networks? Probably. Why? How?

Stop and think a moment. Where was FB developed?? Harvard. So, who would have low-number IDs? Harvard students. Anyone *not* in the Harvard network either removed Harvard at some point (early FB required a school network, remember?) or was an outside invite in the very early days, though that is highly unlikely - it was specifically for Harvard students to rate each other, remember?  TheFacebook was a knock off of "Hot or Not."

Oh, and if you try the last 4, 5, or all 10 digits and come up empty?  Most likely, that user has either completely deleted themselves from Facebook or that number just hasn't been used yet.

Ah, yes, I know - I just pulled the curtain back on the ol' wizard.  

Beware MJ Facebook Scam

There is apparently a new scam going around Facebook that claims to have video footage that Michael Jackson faked his death on June 25, 2009. The link appears with the title, “Did Michael Jackson fake his death? Look at this video!”

According to security firm Sophos, a click on the link takes users to a photo of the King of Pop wearing his trademark white sparkle glove. But following the scam directions won’t take users to a video, but rather to a page that asks people to install a fraudulent application.

The application then asks permission to search the Facebook account holder’s profile and list of friends. In the end, victims are left with their personal information compromised, and no video of Jackson at all.
Source: MJFC / msnbc.msn.com /

Apple talks Flash and Jersey Principal bans Facebook at home

Yesterday, Steve Jobs posted an "open" letter regarding his (er, Apple's) position on Flash.  While the article (here: Apple Article) is very thought-out and well-articulated, I think there is at least one point he tries to make that falls way short of be forthcoming: openness.  He talks about how Flash is closed but that Apple is open.  Maybe it's just me, but any system that requires an "approval process" for applications to be developed for it does *not* qualify as "open."

You may or may not have heard about various apps for the iPhone family that have been denied.  Most famously is the one showing political cartoons.  Of course, once the creator of those cartoons was given an award, Apple changed it's mind.  Still, there are apps for sexual positions that are freely available by searching for "education."  Yes, do a search for educational tools, and what do you find? Sex.  Ridiculous.  At the same time, however, hundreds (perhaps thousands?) of apps have been denied by Apple.  Do a Google search for things like "Rejected iPhone Apps" or "Apple rejected my app" and you'll find far too many examples of the Gestapo that is Apple.

Mr. Jobs, you have some very legitimate arguments for not using Flash.  But, watch the finger-pointing and quit taking lessons from the Clinton Dictionary of Common Terminology.

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Also yesterday, I was pointed toward a  New Jersey Article which reports that a principal is telling his parents they should ban their kids from Facebook, Twitter, and all other social networking sites... AT HOME!  Are you kidding me with this!?  What I allow my child to do or not do AT HOME is not the business of anyone other than law enforcement or child protective services.  No, I do not do anything that would warrant either of those, but that's my point.  If I allow my children to communicate through Facebook, Twitter, etc, then that is my right and my choice as my child's parent. 

The main reason for this outrageous request is to "keep them safe."  Bull-ony.  This is like saying kids should stay off the playground because they might fall off the slide, or get hit with a swing, or maybe trip and fall while walking.  As parents of a student that uses Facebook, I can tell you what we do.  We watch our child's posts.  We also talk to and educate our child when he posts something he shouldn't or joins some dumb group.  The point is - we EDUCATE him. 

Do tell our children they cannot go outside and play?  No, we EDUCATE them on the dangers: passing cars, stray dogs, random strangers.  We teach them to play in the yard.  We teach them not to run into the street between two parked cars.  Do they always listen?  Of course not.  But, with each mistake, a lesson is learned.  When I was a child, I *did* run out between two parked cars.  I nearly got run over.  It scared the crud out of me and to this day, I will look both ways more than any normal human does.  Did I burn myself on the stove when I was kid? Of course.  What did I learn? The stove was HOT!  Did I cut myself with a shaving razor when I was young?  Yeap.  What did I learn? Razor blades are sharp, and I should be careful.

Watching our children online is no different.  Banning them from social media is not the answer.  The answer is to EDUCATE the students, the parents, the community.  Teach them how to use Facebook and Twitter (and whatever other social networks come down the line) responsibly and effectively.  We protect our children as best we can, and much of that comes through educating them.  Sometimes, that education comes from life's experiences.

As Dory in Finding Nemo said, "Well, you can't never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him."

The memory-lane side of reconnecting on FaceBook

I recently reconnected with a childhood friend, Kim Smith, on FaceBook.  It thought it was pretty cool to get back in touch with someone I hadn't seen in who knows how long.  What I didn't know is that she seems to have a never-ending collection of photos that were taken at various times during our lives.  For example, I am the skinny kid on the left in the photo below:

If memory serves, that picture was taken between her grandparents' house and my grandparents' house.  You may be able to see the date: July 1979.  I was ten.  We played nearly every summer together whenever her folks would come over and my parents would take us to grandma and grandpas, which was pretty often.  There are two memories that really stand out about us being kids and hanging out together back then.

The first is when we lived in my grandparents' basement.  They had converted the basement into an apartment - living room, dining area, two bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom.  Brian (on the right above) and I shared one room as our bedroom.  I remember listening to the "Grease" album with Kim in our room.  It was a lot of fun, and was one of those things that always stuck with me.

The other one is of us hanging out with her sister in her grandparents' basement listening to, don't shoot me (though I expect some laughter) "The Village People."  I think we even had roller skates on, skating around their basement to the music.

Of course, she doesn't have just one picture from our younger days...

This one is from my older teen-aged days.  This would be around 1986 or so, during my "messy hair" days.  Others prefer to call it my "mullet" days.  I don't even think I knew that word back then.  I liked to wear my hair short in the front with a lot of gel to make it messy.  The long hair was being grown out to eventually have a 'tail' made out of it.  I had also planned to have the longest earring I could find.  I am thankful THAT never materialized.  

Some people have bashed FaceBook for being some kind of place that only desperate "would-have/should-have" dreamers and wishful thinkers hang out.  I even know of one tech that blocks FaceBook at school based on the sole reason that his/her teachers don't need to be trying to rekindle old flames on school time.  I agree with the last part, but FaceBook (or any truly 'social' network) is much, much more than that.  For me, the images you see above are just two of the million reasons why I think the ideas behind sites like FaceBook make them incredible tools in today's world.

If you have pictures from your childhood and you've reconnected with folks on social networks, post the picture(s) out there and tag the folks.  Trust me, they'll laugh, cry, and most importantly THANK YOU for doing it.  But, mostly, they'll laugh at themselves.  And, that is a wonderful gift.

Time keeps on tickin, tickin, tickin...

Wow, I cannot believe how quickly time slips away from me!  A lot of that is because of how busy these past few days have been.  Monday, we had yet another break in at work.  It's gotten to the point that I bought a security system to install at work.  We're putting in up to 12 cameras with a DVR.  The cameras are all indoor/outdoor and infrared, so we should be able to at least get anyone coming in on video.

Today (Tuesday), I got the first camera up and running, I had to, er, um, test it, so I did a few wild gestures in order to trigger the motion detector.  Of course, I could have just walked in, but what's the fun in that?  Well, after we figured out how to replay the video, my co-workers said we should put it on youtube, or America's funniest videos... Great.

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Jeff (from Hope schools) and I helped during a workshop today in which administrators received iPaq handheld Windows machines.  Things went pretty well, except that the software they are using (CWT from Teachscape) has a SERIOUS design flaw!  The program does not actually fully stop running when you click the "X" to close out of the program!  What the heck?  Tech support told us that the users MUST use the Actions > Exit, then Actions > Exit again to fully close out of the program.  This seems to only affect the Windows mobile version of CWT.  The "fix" is to go into the "running programs" setting and end all programs, then the software will launch as it is supposed to.  OY!

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After I left there, I ran over to the early childhood classroom because they were having trouble with their Smart Board.  Turns out that a USB extender that was under a carpet behind some equipment became disconnected.  Nice, easy fix!  I love those!

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From there, I ran over to Spring Hill though I had forgotten what I was going to help with.  I was quickly brought up to speed: two routers, two networks, want to be on one domain.  That is a little beyond my expertise, so I called Jeff for some help and insight.  It turns out, this is a bit more complicated that we anticipated because of the way the state has things set up at the two different locations.  My next step is to call in the folks at DIS and get them to help us out.  They set it up this way, they can help us get it working correctly, right!?

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Shan was asked to lead a bunch of girls (who have NEVER twirled batons before!) in a program for Homecoming.  She has been staying after school this week for Friday's big event.  She and Michelle worked out a routine, and tonight (at home) she showed me the routine set to music.  It is WAY COOL! The girls are going to go NUTS when they finally put the routine to music.  They all look like they are having fun!

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Need a reason to have Twitter or Facebook for your school district?  How about this: create a group, then have faculty, staff, students, parents, etc join the group.  Use the group to post announcements of upcoming events, network status (campus down, issues, upgrades, etc), or other district news.  Keep the posts short and sweet with links (if needed) to more information.  Include pictures as applicable.

An extension of this would be a tech-specific twitter/facebook group for your district.  In this group, include key campus personnel, all the techs in your district, perhaps your service area technology coordinator.

This idea is not mine, but is rather the brain-child of Jeff at Hope schools.  He comes up with some seriously great ideas!  I just try to help implement them. :-)

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Hanging out with a wizard, troubleshooting flash drives, and Ellen on Idol???

Yeah, I admit it. I am a friend of Selena Gomez (from Wizards of Waverly Place - it's a TV show for kids). Why am I her friend? Because Emily doesn't have FaceBook. So, tonight (Wednesday), Selena had a live webchat via FaceBook and I stopped by to catch some of it. Why not?

First of all, there are a LOT of idiots out there. Participants could see everything everyone was typing. I can only imagine Selena had some kind of filter or delay or something - or maybe she is good at weeding out and ignoring the junk. "You're so hot," "What shoe size are you?" and other questions whizzed by. Lots of people asking for shout-outs, and she complied with lots of them. I actually thought that was kinda neat. If Emily had been here, I would have asked Selena to say "hi" to her.

I was only in long enough to catch Selena laughing hysterically while trying to say, "Sally sells seashells by the seashore" five times. She barely made it through one time. It was very funny.

It also made me wonder just what celebs thought of such venues. I guess a lot of that has to do with how old the person and how 'connected' they are. It amazes me all the things people want to know, but mainly, it seemed to be a way to send a note saying "hi" to a famous person. We all (okay, maybe not ALL) like to do that, don't we? I mean, I met and talked with Danny Glover once (he was in Lethal Weapon, for those that don't know or are too young to remember). Shan has her picture with Bill Clinton. There is just something 'cool' about getting to say you have met or know someone famous.

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John and I were at a school today (yes, the same one with the network problem) swapping out fiber media converters and such, and the tech asked if I would look at a flash drive problem they were having.

The first computer I sat down to work on had all kinds of issues so I moved to another one. John opened the first one up, jiggled a few cables and it started behaving. Weird.

I went to the second computer and plugged in the flash drive. Windows prompted me for a driver disk. Okay, XP does not need a driver disk for flash drives. I poke around online and find a possible solution that involves revealing hidden devices and unplugged usb items. I went through the steps and that did not fix the problem we had. But, it did lead me in the right direction of the "fix," which I will share with you should you ever run into the same problem...

When prompted for a driver disk, select the SECOND option to install from your own location. Click NEXT. On the next screen, click the checkbox that reads something like "FROM THIS SPECIFIC LOCATION: and then fill in the location with C:\WINDOWS\INF and click NEXT. This should make the computer see the fact that a USB device is plugged in. Then, another "new hardware found" window may pop up and you have to repeat the procedure. After that, your drive should appear as a removable drive in My Computer!

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How in the heck was Ellen Degeneres chosen to replace Paula Abdul on American Idol!? Let's see, this is a show about... singing. The contestants have to... sing. The judges have to judge the singers based on their..... singing. Do you see a pattern here? Ellen Degeneres does not sing. She does have an Elaine-esque dance that she does, and she can crack a good joke now and then, but singing is not on her resume'. Even she admitted it. Talk about the end of a good show.... Bye-bye Idol, it was fun while it lasted.

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As a side note, today was a good day for foot-in-mouth disease for me. It started out with a rant to LuLu.com for not being snappy with the tech support. Problem? I had not given them the allotted 24 hours to even respond. In my defence, I hate form-letter replies. I also tasted a bit of my own foot during a conversation that took place on the statewide technology listserv... Let's just say I did not stop and think before complaining about a message that was passed along to a vendor. In my defence, messages posted on a listserv are meant for members of that list only. I don't really care if the Superintendent's wife works for said vendor! And, finally, well, let's be honest... With me, there is no 'finally' when it comes to the number of times I will speak before I think... Heck, I'm not even sure how much thinking I do in general. :-)

Pens win! And an untimely Woot

The Penguins won the Stanley Cup! I managed to watch part of the 2nd and 3rd periods, and I have to say, this was a fantastic hockey game - knockdowns, last-minute rush on goal, a missed goal off the crossbar! Fantastic stuff, and did I mention THE PENGUINS WON!?!? Yeah, Buddy!

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Today's WOOT is a three-piece luggage set. Why is that an untimely woot? Because I leave for Chicago at 5:00 Sunday morning, and then in two weeks, we head for NYC. I have no idea how long it takes for woot purchases to arrive, but I can only assume the luggage would get here as we returned from NYC.

Of course, we have luggage, so it's not like I even need the woot. But, it is little things in life, like the offer of discount luggage just after the time you might have been able to use it, that keep us on our toes - or make us roll our eyes.

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For those of you on FaceBook, you can now reach me at www.facebook.com/davehenderson, for whatever that's worth... :-) Of course, if I don't know you, then I can't promise to be your friend. Basically, let me know you followed me from here and that gets most folks in... Well, maybe. Don't take offense if you don't get added. It's just FaceBook, after all.

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Can you write a story in just six words? I read there is a contest that asks just sort of thing. So, I thought I'd try it:

Jack eloped with Jill. They loved.

Yeah... not so much, huh? Well, here is one more just for fun:

Penguins rally to win Stanley Cup!

Heh-heh... I just made that up. Aren't I clever?

Keeping up

I twitter every once in a blue moon. I FaceBook almost every day or every few days. I write for several card-related blogs every other day or so. Yet, the blog that started it all for me (that would be this one) goes neglected for undetermined amounts of time.

The funny thing is that I don't post on here as much as I'd like to for a couple reasons. First of all, the space between my ears is generally void of anything worth sharing. Really. I mean, yeah, I have a gazillion bits of useless trivia running around in there, but rarely does the occasion come about to actually share any of it. Second, most folks that I know read this are also on FaceBook, which means y'all already know what's happening because I rip off quick little posts about what I'm doing.

But, I have high expectations for myself when posting on here. Okay, maybe 'high' is not the right word. But, at midnight, I don't have a better word. so, I usually 'save up' a few things to write about before sharing them with you on here.

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Shan and I went to see "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" on Saturday. Our anniversary is Monday, and we have way too much going on that day to have a celebration, so we opted to do so early.

The movie is predictable - you know the end within the first scene - but, it is pretty entertaining. Michael Douglas looks like the third-string stand-in for Mickey Rourke in the sequel to "The Wrestler." he looks bad, folks. And, the part with the 'teardrops of girlfriends past' was as cheesy as it gets, though the 'chocolates' part was very funny. For me, the best part of the movie was when the 16-year old girl says 'next, we'll watch a montage of your past girlfriends set to ... cyndi lauper's "time after time"' (or something like that). GREAT stuff!

The movie is all chick-flick and is all what-guys-WISH-they-had-been. I would bet most guys have wished they were the 'player' in their pre-marriage days, and if not, then they have the girl in middle school or high school that they wish they had been brave enough to ask out. Okay, maybe not most guys.

In my case, there was Beth P. Beth was the girl most of my friends talked about and wanted to ask out, but none of them ever did. I did. She was sitting on a hillside during football practice. I did not know that she was dating a football player, and luckily so far as I know he never knew I even existed (otherwise I probably wouldn't be writing this now). I walked up to Beth and asked her something stupid about one of our classes, then took a deep breath and asked if she wanted to go out sometime. I braced myself for roaring laughter. Instead, she smiled and said, "I am very flattered, but I have a boyfriend." I thanked her (not really knowing what I was saying) and walked away.

I think it was in that moment that I decided two things: 1) I might not have been quite as dorky as I has thought, and 2) I was just as dorky as I thought. The only thing I could focus on was the fact that she didn't laugh. It was that very exchange that later led me to ask Shan out, even though I knew she had a boyfriend.

Of course, we tend to get in the way of our paths and I almost never did get to date Shan. And later in life, I got way too far in the way of our own path and nearly lost her forever. I thank God every night before I go to sleep at night that I did not lose her. Sometimes, it takes more than we can see to realize that someone truly can be your everything. And, Shan is (and will forever be) my everything.

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