This Blog is intended to collect information of my various Intrests,pen my opinion on the information gathered and not intended to educate any one of the information posted,but are most welcome to share there view on them
When a company as large and dominant as Facebook stands up for something, people take notice. When Google, Dropbox, Twitter, Github, and Walmart Labs join in on the stand... things get serious.
That's exactly what's happening with the new TODO Project (Talk Openly, Develop Openly). This consists of a group of power players who are coming together to help improve how open-source projects are managed and organized. Why is this necessary? Because open source turned a major corner when large companies started depending on projects like MySQL, Apache, PHP, and Linux. Once the big players in the enterprise had a need for open source, and they started examining the whole of how open source works, it became clear there was room for improvement:
how open source is developed
how open-source projects are started
how open-source projects are managed
The plan is to step in and help the open-source community to develop best practices that will, in the end, benefit all.
Sure, we can see through the veneer and understand this project has but one overriding goal in mind -- help make the business of business better. In the process, however, this project will go a very long way to help make open source better.
The TODO Project is primarily a forum for companies who are passionate about contributing to open-source software. This is not an open-source developers' group. If you step back a bit, you can see that this is exactly what open source needs at exactly the right moment.
Open source, for a very long time, has struggled to gain any momentum in enterprise business. Over the last few years, that has changed. When the likes of Facebook, Amazon, and Google took it upon themselves to champion the use of open-source tools, all bets were off. Even still, open source struggled to be taken seriously as a whole... especially in the small- to mid-sized arena. With the advent of TODO, open source will not only enjoy a newfound sense of credibility, but it will also benefit from the wisdom handed down by major players in the world of business.
This is something open source very much needs.
Why do I say that when open source is really coming into its own? The open-source tools used in the enterprise have reached a certain level of business acumen. They get it... and they know how to navigate the deeper, swifter waters. The vast majority of open-source projects have not benefited from this relationship -- but the TODO project could change that.
While the TODO Project will probably focus the majority of its might on self-serving needs (such as LAMP), this knowledge will trickle down to the smaller projects. How? TODO will help to organize and manage open-source projects and, by the very nature of open source, that knowledge will be handed down to the smaller pieces of the puzzle. Imagine the likes of LibreOffice, The Gimp, Ubuntu, Mint, Peach OSI, Calibre, Audacity, and more gaining the knowledge and tools handed down by the TODO Project.
It doesn't end there. This new project doesn't aim to only focus on helping open-source projects better their software. TODO has another set of goals:
Make it easier for companies to embrace and employ open-source software
Help kick off new open-source projects
Yes, TODO is very much in its infancy, and it's not perfectly clear how the benefits of the organization will affect the open-source community from top to bottom. What is clear, however, is that open source now has an ally with the power of billions of users behind it... one that clearly intends on improving the whole of open source and driving it forward with serious momentum. If handled properly, with information and tools made available to all open-source projects, this could be that which propels open source into the limelight.
Companies that are looking to help guide and promote open source can join TODO. Remember, this group is in its infancy, so there's a lot of baby steps to get through before the real benefits become clear.
When you think of ad blocking tools, you tend to think in terms of the usual suspects -- web browser ads. But when you're on the Android platform, you have to retrain your thoughts to look elsewhere. In fact, ads can show up within aps (which is very common) and on your home screen (which is also common, but lesser known).
At one point, it was perfectly fine to have in-app ads. After all, those ads helped make the apps free... right? Right. Like everything else, however, the playground has been spoiled. Advertising systems intent on nefarious doings have managed to crop up and spread their special flavor of "bad" through in-app ads and home screen "ad launchers."
Prior to these showing up, the in-app ad was little more than an annoyance, sometimes taking up enough screen real estate to cause the user to pay the price of entry to remove the ad. But now, that annoyance has become a possible danger.
How can you avoid such a disaster? You can load up an ad blocker to help stop these compromised ad networks from gaining purchase of your system. I've found a few such ad blockers that do the job. Let's take a closer look.
The AppBrain Ad Detector is one tool you should definitely have, even if only to know what ad networks are present on your system. AppBrain is not actually an ad blocker, but it's something you should have in order to know as much about your Android device as possible. This app helps you to be informed about:
Push notifications that can place spam icons on your home screen and have the ability to access your location
Android ad networks such as Admob, Millennial Media, MobClix, Tapjoy, AdWhirl, and more
Detect libraries like Google Analytics, Flurry Analytics, Google Play in-app billing, and more
Detect apps that have push ads
AppBrain Ad Detector is very easy to use, but how you act on the information is up to you. This app will not remove anything from your device. However, if you hear of an advertising network that turns out to be one of the many dangerous systems, you can open up AppBrain, tap on the Show Concerns button in the main window (Figure A), swipe to the Ad Networks tab, locate the ad network in question, and find out what apps are included in that network. Figure A
AppBrain Ad Detector running on a Verizon-branded LG G3.
The Easy Ads Cleaner app helps you to find the cause of spam ads. With the tap of a single button, you can scan your device for apps containing spam ads. After the scan completes, the listing will display all possible spam ad apps, in the order of their risk. Many apps will show up as mid-risk (Figure B). Most of these are just apps that include ads but aren't part of dangerous ad networks. Should you spot a high-risk app, do not hesitate to uninstall the app. Figure B
Easy Ads Cleaner quickly spots apps with built-in ads.
To uninstall questionable apps, select the app(s), and tap the Uninstall button. High risk ads are those that:
The TrustGo Ad Detector app does a great job of protecting you from potential privacy leaks via the most commonly known ad networks. Tap the Scan button, and the app will analyze every application on the device and report back the behavior of the known ad networks. Possible behaviors range from leaking identity information to downloading files when you click an ad. Once you tap on a behavior, it will list out all the apps that fall into that category (Figure C). You can then tap the X to uninstall that particular app. Figure C
Apps that can possibly leak identity information.
Although you may not be concerned with privacy leaks, you should be. Using TrustGo Ad Detector will go a long way to prevent such leaks from your Android device. Make sure, however, that you go through the apps listed after the scan. If you see anything you don't use or didn't install, uninstall it immediately. You'll also find apps that include multiple ad networks (for example, Slacker Radio uses AdMob, Millennial, and MoPub). If you see anything suspect, do a bit of research and remove if warranted.
Finally, there's no substitute for adding an anti-malware app to your Android device. Install either Malwarebytes or Lookout to help keep your Android smartphone and/or tablet safe.
