So Regency, So Regency, My Dear

My thoughts and prayers go out to all those touched by the recent atrocity in Mumbai/Bombay.

I visited the city in 1991 and since then I am sure much has changed, not least of which is its offical name. I’d been aware of the name change but was unaware of the origins of the city’s names and reasons behind the change. So I decide to poke around a little to see what I could find.

The name Bombay derives from western influences. It is an anglicised version of the original Portuguese name Bombaim, meaning “little bay”. Gujarati and Marathi speakers called the city Mambai or Mumbai.

In 1996, the city was officially renamed to the Marathi pronunciation of Mumbai in accordance with government policy to rename former colonial entities with names derived from local history.

Reading recent accounts in western newspapers, it seems both names are used in equal measure.

Adrienne Bailon received a lot of exposure recently.  And probably a little more exposure than she’d have wished for. 

From the current series of rumors circulating the story seems to be thus.  Bailon lossed her laptop at JFK at the end of October and promptly informed the Port Authority of the loss.  Shortly after, someone called her record label informing them they believe they had her laptop and requested USD 1000 for its safe return.  A rendezvous was arranged, and the cash and laptop changed hands.  At this point, a marked sigh of relief was probably registered within earshot of Bailon.  However, (there always seems to be a pivotal “however” in these tales) shortly after semi-nude pictures of Bailon from the laptop were offered to several media outlets.  And, lo and behold! much to the disgruntlement of frustrated teenage males everywhere, they are now plastered all over the ‘net.

Although many may applaud the interesting viewing resulting from Bailon’s apparent lack of diligence in securing her laptop, others might be pondering the consequences should something similar happen to them.  What can one do to secure a laptop?  As a long time laptop owner, here are a few suggestions.

There are usually two distinct assets you may wish to protect:  the physical device, and sometimes more importantly the data contained on it.

In order to protect the physical laptop:

• Be aware of the whereabouts of your laptop at all times.  Train stations, airports and similar large, crowded, public spaces are known hotspots for laptop theft.  Be particularly vigilant in these places. 
• Use a shoulder strap to carry the laptop as much as possible.  This reduces the likelihood you’ll put your laptop down when distracted (for example, to search for and answer your mobile phone).
• Alarm options use a more conventional and cheaper means of alerting people to a stolen laptop.  Some offer cables or tags that when tampered with emit an incessant eardrum piercing shrill.

Loss of the data on the laptop can sometimes have more serious and costly implications than the loss of the machine itself, particularly in consideration of corporate and government owned machines, or when the machine holds pictures of your boyfriends half-unwrapped birthday gift.  If this is the case, then consider the following:

• Some Windows (and other) operating systems have an inherent encrypted filesystem.  This prevents your files being read even if a person has physical access to your laptop. If you elect to use these features, be sure to fully understand the implications (for example, if you do not have a backup of the encryption keys and you lose them then you are locked out of your files too.)
• Alternative proprietary encryption systems have been available for a long time but remain underused.
• Tracer technology allows a laptop to register its whereabouts when connected to a network.  This means that if the thief puts your stolen laptop on the internet, it broadcasts its whereabouts enabling you or a third-party to locate it.
• The kamikaze approach is also available via remote kill options.  This might be useful in a corporate setting.  Essentially, it allows the option to destroy the drive contents via a remote trigger.

With greater prevalence of expensive mobile technologies, laptop theft has become a sad modern day inevitability.  Adhering to some basic laptop security practices can help keep your privates private.

Probably not, I hear you all say.  But I couldn’t help noticing recently the power of rumor for generating web traffic.  Poking around at Google, I ran across the part of their site that reflects current trends in web searches, called Google Trends.  I was particularly interested in the headline “Taylor Swift Pregnant” which seems to have started early morning (before 6am) PST on November 5th, peaking around 7pm PST with a 250-fold increase on normal search volume, before tailing off to normal levels within 6 hours.

So, if you want to generate a lot of good quality Internet traffic hastily (and relatively easily), then begin a creative rumor mill on newsworthy topics. (”Prince William in Shotgun Wedding!” or “Warren Buffett Files Chapter 13 Bankruptcy” etc.)