B is for...BlackBerry, BBM, Browser, BinWeevils, Blog, Boomerang and Botnet

BBM: Exclusive to BlackBerry devices, the BlackBerry Messenger is an internet-based instant message application. It's fairly secure because it uses the BlackBerry PIN system, so you can only use it to communicate with other BlackBerry devices. It's a very efficient and secure way to reach a LOT of people at once. It gained notoriety during 2011 when it was used to 'organise' the riots.

BinWeevils: A 3D interactive game aimed at 7 to 13-year-olds and apparently designed to drive parents crazy. The virtual world enables children to create an avatar (character) for free, make friends, and interact with them online. They must use their social skills to complete tasks and missions, and earn 'mulch' to spend in the 'shops'.

BlackBerry: A range of smartphones or mobile devices, similar to the iPhone, Android and Windows phones. Most BlackBerries have a physical QWERTY keyboard, but newer ones have a touch screen. They have a great Push email service, and their own messenger service (BBM).

Blog: Short for ‘weblog’, a blog is an online journal or diary. Once the preserve of a few dedicated writers, the ‘blogosphere’ expanded to include people dedicated to telling the world about their cats/dinner choices/hobbies. There are still a lot of personal blogs (many of them excellent), but many businesses now maintain blogs, and influential bloggers are a great alternative source of news.

Boomerang (from Instagram): Boomerang is an app built into Instagram for creating short video loops. The simple app combines photos into one-second videos that play forward and backward in a loop.

Botnet: A botnet is a collection of computers connected to the Internet which are all running a piece of software designed to coordinate some kind of repetitive activity. A botnet may be used for legitimate reasons such as forwarding messages in messaging systems but most often these days botnets are associated with malicious activities such as spamming or server attacks. Usually, the owner of the computer is unaware that their computer is part of a botnet and do not know that he software is on their computer. The bonnet software will often have been acquired by the user being tricked into downloading something such as by clicking on an email attachment or a link on a Web site.

Browser: A browser is not an operating system (like Windows) or a search engine (like Google). It’s short for ‘web browser’ and is a computer program that allows you to visit websites and display the webpages you access. Your browser is the gateway to the internet. The four main browsers are Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer.

Written by Safeguarding Essentials on October 26, 2017 12:44


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