Are Hackers Our New Heroes?

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Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It’s not a long segment – about 5 to 10 minutes every week – about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you’re interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I’m really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

  • The hacker group Anonymous is going after ISIS. They have waged an all out computer-driven war on the terrorist group. So far, in what they are calling #OpParis, they have taken down over 20,000 Islamic State-linked Twitter accounts, as they continue their “total war” against the ISIS threat. How do we feel about this? Rogue justice? Computer vigilantes? Heroes? Is this the wisdom of crowds? 
  • Christmas is around the corner. Facebook and Samsung are hoping that millions of people (kids and adults alike) get virtual reality goggles from Santa. Are you willing to strap these computerized goggles on? After my trip to Zeitgeist and experiencing a “virtual field trip” to the Amazon Jungle using Google’s virtual reality, I am here to tell you that virtual reality is going to make the web browser look like 8-track in short order. 
  • App of the week: Apple Pay (which is now available in Canada).

Listen here…