BC candidate drops out over Facebook profile
Two years ago, BC NDP candidate Ryan Lam withdrew from an election race in Vancouver over “inappropriate” photos that he posted on Facebook. See here and here. Today Alan Saldanha, a Green party candidate from a district that includes Surrey, has dropped out after content on his Facebook page was discovered – specifically a quote Saldanha listed […]
Online network education for kids – Doctorow style
Cory Doctorow talks about kids, privacy and social networks In a recent TEDx presentation, the Canadian blogger and science fiction author, Cory Doctorow, proposes a new type of “network education” for kids online. His views stand in contrast to those suggesting that filtering internet content in an effort to keep kids safe is the way […]
The Best Social Media Statistics for 2011
Over at Ragan’s PR daily, Adam Vincenzini has released an interesting collection of social media statistics for this year. Among my favorites: 80% of internet users participate in groups, compared with 56% of non-internet users. Moreover, social media users are even more likely to be active: 82% of social network users and 85% of Twitter […]
Blogs shift with the times
A recent article in the New York Times, highlights an interesting shift in how people are sharing online. Self-published blogs, once a primary means for sharing personal stories, opinions, and, well, anything that strikes one’s fancy, appear to be on the wane, at least among young people. According to a survey from the Internet and […]
Facebook Now Adding a Secure Connection
Big news in Facebook security settings. And it’s positive! Last week, Facebook announced they will offer users a more secure connection – encrypted HTTPS protocol instead of HTTP protocol. Similar to the type of secure connection you have when you do online banking, this protocol prevents others from capturing your “cookie” and accessing your account when you […]
Posting from home gets workers fired
Social Networking has expanded the reach of employee/employer relations. Two workers at a BC car dealership were recently terminated for making abusive and defamatory comments about their boss on their Facebook pages while outside of work. Yahoo.ca noted that the employee’s boss caught wind of the comments through the extended networks of the Facebook friends […]
Illegal downloading prosecutions over? Think again
If you thought there was nothing to worrying about, you’re wrong. In a Minnesota courtroom this past month, single mother Jammie Thomas-Rasset, was ordered to pay 62,500 USD per song for 24 songs she illegally downloaded from KaZaA, a popular file sharing site. AFP reported that the total fine given was an astronomical 1.5 million dollars. […]
Controversial South African threatens to shut Twitter
Phweeter: an imposter tweeter Julius Malema, the controversial youth leader of South Africa’s governing ANC (and recent hate speech convict), is battling a new front to salvage his reputation – this time against Twitter. The divisive politicien has threatened to shut Twitter down if it does not address the not one, not two, but 12 phweeters tweeting in […]
“Could you patent the sun?”
Despite all the ink dedicated to open access as a new publishing model it is in fact an old way. Take for example, Dr. Jonas Salk. Unknown thousands, maybe even you, owe their ability to walk to Dr. Salk. How so? He invented the vaccine for Polio in 1952. The research, creation, and funding of […]
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