Students Punished for Posts
Facebook’s 500 million users are slowly becoming aware that the web is not private space. The BBC recently reported that 16 high school students in India were each given three month suspensions for making ‘rude’ statements about a female teacher through the comment section on their profiles. Examples like this are more common than people […]
The “Panic” Button has arrived
Along with a whole slew of simplified privacy settings, Facebook has added another safety-made-simple feature: the panic button. The button is an application that is available to those whose age on their FB profile says they are a minor. [linebreak] The button links youth directly to a reporting and resource agency where they can enquire […]
Are we as connected as we think?
A great article appeared on the BBC website this past week discussing the most recent TED talks in which Harvard academic, Ethan Zuckerman, said that the Internet is not living up to its ‘promise.’ His argument is an interesting one. [linebreak] Highlighting social behavior on the net, Zuckerman said the social world of internet users […]
Fired for Tweet
Hold that thought. No really. Hold that thought. We all have opinions. At the water cooler an opinion is between you, the person beside you, and the hearsay network of the person who cares enough to repeat your ranting. Twitter, however, is not a person, it is a broadcast network, something people often forget when […]
Anonymity tested – Wikileaks under fire
Gone are the days of uncontested truth. Hegel’s thesis – antithesis – synthesis is unfolding in front of our eyes as the continued evolution of the information society unfolds. If we consider media conglomeration and state surveillance as the thesis stage of a new era of social organization, Wikileaks just might be its antithesis for […]
Editing the controversial – Wikipedia taking new steps
Wikipedia announced recently that it will make it possible for a broader swath of users to edit controversial subjects on the site whose pages are locked due to abuse and political manipulation. Generally, any reader can edit a page, but there are certain people and topics that the Wiki masterminds do not allow ‘editing’ of […]
Facebook Privacy in one click
The new one button, one page, one click, approach to Facebook privacy has arrived. [linebreak] Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will be simplifying its revamped privacy settings so that users no longer have to wade through the nearly 200 individualized options in order to secure the information they post is not distributed without their […]
Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Who Cares?
In the past few months Internet users have been bombarded with stories about government espionage and privacy loopholes on the most popular social networking sites and search engines. While we can be assured that our on-line banking purchases and credit cards are safe (unless you get phished), the information about what we buy, where we […]
Scaling the Great Fire Wall one donation at a time
The United States government is set to donate 1.5 million dollars to a Falun Gong affiliated Internet freedom organization, Global Internet Freedom Consortium (CIFG), a recent story on the BBC has claimed. CIFG provides free technologies to people living within Internet repressing states, allowing users to circumnavigate censor code and access outlawed sites. [linebreak] China […]
Cows on Twitter
“Dying to get into the pen for a milking. Not happening yet.” [linebreak] That’s what Jersey cow, Charge Mabel, tweets as she waits with the rest of the bovines to get into the milking pen. One-third art, one-third gimmick, and one-third awareness campaign, an Ontario farmer has allowed a group of students and faculty from […]
