Con artists try to fool Facebook users by posing as friends in need
Ars Technica Nov 12, 08 6:53 CST
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Nigeria's notorious cybercriminals are looking for some buddies, Ars Technica reports. The conmen have infiltrated social networking sites like Facebook by filching passwords and contacting users in the guise of a friend who suddenly, urgently needs funds. Internet security experts fear the new tactic could prove a lot more effective that the standard scamming emails, as it hijacks the identity of someone the target knows.
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Fervent web surfers face electro-shock treatments
Guardian (UK) Nov 12, 08 1:45 CST
(Newser)
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China is about to become the first nation in the world to officially declare "internet addiction" a clinical disorder, reports the Guardian . Citizens hooked on the web may face treatment that includes military-style discipline, hypnosis, electro-shock therapy and drugs, reports the Guardian. The totalitarian Chinese authorities have repeatedly attempted to suppress internet use, and the latest move appears to be another means of doing so, observers say.
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Virgin and British Airways workers land in trouble for Facebook comments
Guardian (UK) Nov 2, 08 4:16 PM CST
(Newser)
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Virgin Atlantic has fired 13 cabin staffers for mocking passengers and joking about engine safety on Facebook, the Guardian reports. The online messages quipped about cockroaches on planes and referred to passengers as "chavs," a British term for "white trash." The airline publicly chided the workers, saying they could not uphold standards "that Virgin Atlantic is renowned for if they hold these views."
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Cell phone push in last days of campaign
New York Daily News Oct 29, 08 7:01 CDT
(Newser)
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Over the next seven days the Obama campaign will ratchet up its ongoing text messaging blitz, which has kept supporters in the loop and likely helped to pump up numbers at the 100,000-strong rally in Denver last week. Those who have opted in will get info about polling places, local Obama appearances, and even names of voters who might need a nudge, the New York Daily News reports.
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19-year-olds post photos on social site after partying in St. Tropez with U2 frontman
Australia's News Network Oct 27, 08 11:48 CDT
(Newser)
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Sorry, Bono fans, Facebook doesn't lie. The married U2 frontman spent a night in St. Tropez partying with two 19-year-olds, Australia’s News Network reports after the girls posted pics—and details—on their Facebook pages. But Bono didn't cross the line. “For somebody who's much older than I am … no thank you,” writes American fashion student Andrea Feick.
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ANALYSIS
Tools like Twitter complement, rather than replace, traditional blogging, argues blogger
Fast Company Oct 23, 08 8:13 PM CDT
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A recent Wired magazine article argued that blogging is out, that mainstream media have taken the practice over, and one-time bloggers have moved on to social networking tools like Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr. Not so, responds Allyson Kapin on Fast Company. Witness the 175,000 new blogs created daily and 570,000 posts a day.
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Chicago Tribune Oct 22, 08 1:49 PM CDT
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A 25-year-old Chicago stockbroker was sentenced yesterday to 35 years in prison for soliciting sex from minors on Facebook, the Tribune reports. Facebook said this appears to be the first case of a sexual predator using the social networking site. Michael Macalindong posed as a girl to lure a teenage boy, and then blackmailed the teen with video of their encounters.
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Criminals use chat features on social, game sites to hide conversations: authorities
Guardian (UK) Oct 15, 08 2:17 PM CDT
(Newser)
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With social-networking, gaming, and video sites offering stealth chatting that criminals and terrorists exploit, the British government is moving to require such websites to collect and provide user data to authorities. Accessing chat contents would still require a specific warrant, but demographic information could help find pedophiles, kidnappers, drug traffickers, and terrorists, the Guardian reports.
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Hundreds of students made ill for days
Inside Higher Ed Oct 7, 08 2:22 CDT
(Newser)
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Noroviruses are sweeping US colleges, delivering severe cases of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The same crowded conditions which allow noroviruses to thrive on cruise ships give them free rein on campus, reports Inside Higher Ed . There have been recent outbreaks at Georgetown University, the University of Southern California and colleges in Oregon, Connecticut, Colorado, and New Jersey.
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Experts mine online profiles for background on jurors' views
Los Angeles Times Sep 29, 08 11:55 CDT
(Newser)
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Get called for jury duty these days, and you can expect attorneys to know a lot more about you than they let on. Trial consultants who used to specialize in legwork—visiting neighbors and friends to gather clues to potential jurors' views—are now expert Web surfers, tracing things like spending habits, campaign contributions, letters to the editor—not to speak of the personal info on your Facebook page, the Los Angeles Times reports.
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Get ready to rock and roll
Guardian (UK) Sep 29, 08 10:55 CDT
(Newser)
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Single, love rock 'n roll and lip piercings, and seeking employment as 007 . That could be exactly the kind of Facebook profile Britain's spy agency is seeking as it tries to recruit a more "diverse" type of spook with a new ad campaign on the social networking site. Three different pop-up ads target university grads, those bored with their jobs, and people with a hankering to "influence world events," reports the Guardian .
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Vain Facebook users can be identified by friend count, photos
LiveScience Sep 26, 08 4:30 PM CDT
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If you’re a narcissist, even the relative anonymity of the Internet can’t hide your true colors, LiveScience reports. A new study shows Facebook pages are an accurate predictor of personality, with narcissists having on average more friends and posts, and more considered photos of themselves. Authors gave some 130 Facebook users personality tests, then examined their pages to find a correlation.
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From work dodging firemen to jail happy juniors, some things should not be shared
PC World Sep 18, 08 10:18 CDT
(Newser)
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A picture may have been worth a thousand words before Facebook and YouTube came along, but in the Internet age the price can be much steeper for going public with one’s—er—privates. PC World presents 12 online photos that cost their owners dearly: “A defense attorney’s worse nightmare”: Two weeks after causing a serious crash while drunk driving, college student Joshua Lipton turned up at a Halloween party in an orange prison jumpsuit. When the pic made its Facebook debut, the judge awarded Lipton’s wit with a 2-year term.