Blog
Blogger Hounded By Airport Security
America’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has set its sights on a prominent travel industry blogger who leaked the agency’s new airport safety directives following the failed terror attempt aimed at blowing up a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day. Christopher Elliott used his blog, Elliott.org, to upload the TSA’s formal directive in the midst of the airport chaos that the Nigerian would-be bomber caused, after he attempted to blow up a transatlantic flight scheduled to land in Detroit. But little did Elliott know that simply publishing a document that might quell the confusion among hundreds of thousands of stranded passengers would result in a surprise visit from federal authorities at his home.
Escaped Convict is Using Facebook
Craig Lynch, a 28 year old Briton with a seven year sentence for burglary, not only managed to escape from his Suffolk prison more than three months ago, but he continues to evade police despite posting daily status updates and photos on Facebook. Most of Lynch’s more than 9,600 Facebook “fans” must be scratching their heads, wondering why British police have been unable to catch the escaped felon, even as he taunts and teases authorities on the world’s most popular social networking site. Characteristic of Lynch’s brazen manner, the escapee recently posted a photo of him with an extended middle finger and a status update in which he noted that English police “couldn’t catch themselves a cold.” Lynch also uses Facebook to discuss his favourite meals while on the run, to ask the social networking site’s users to create fan t-shirts for him and—rather ironically—convince British authorities to hand down hefty prison sentences to anyone convicted of cruelty to animals.
Texas DA Names & Shames on Twitter
With New Year’s Eve around the corner, the customary array of ads and public service announcement aim to ensure that party-goers do not sit behind the wheel after a night of drinking. But authorities in Texas have decided to take a controversial step in order to stop drunk driving and are now using Twitter to shame those who are charged with drinking under the influence (DUI). The District Attorney (DA) for Montgomery County will now start publishing the names of both offenders and suspects in Texas who have yet to be formally charged, so as to shame them in the world of micro-blogging.
Does Facebook lead to divorce?
With the holiday season upon us, one of the topics of discussion around the family dinner table may be Facebook and whether constant use of the popular social networking site increases the odds of divorce. Research conducted by Divorce Online offers some surprising results. The study claims that almost 20 percent of all divorce cases are the result of a Facebook addictions or secret online romances. But it’s not just the amount of time that a spouse spends on Facebook which may cause a problem. More often than not, divorce lawyers interviewed as part of the study suggested that flirtatious wall posts and cheeky messages that rekindle old high school romances or spark new flings can cause serious damage to existing, real-life marriages.
Blogs leak FBI secrets
The FBI, one of the world’s most reputable and powerful intelligence agencies, was put on the defensive this week, when it was revealed that a translator working for the department had access to confidential files and leaked these to an anonymous blogger. At the centre of the FBI blogging scandal is Shamai Leibowitz, who worked on a contract basis as a linguist for America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation. But what the professionals at the FBI curiously overlooked was the linguist’s less than innocuous past. As an Israeli citizen and lawyer, Leibowitz went as far as to leak information on a judge in his home country, resulting in his immediate dismissal. Even more troubling for the FBI is how they could have possibly missed the warning signs, when a simple Google search reveals controversial aspects of Leibowitz’s past, most of which would disqualify him for work involving a top secret security clearance.
Anti-Prostitution Facebook Group Shut Down
A Facebook group devoted to tackling the growing problem of prostitution and drug abuse in one of Montreal’s poorest neighbourhoods has decided to shut down, due to concerns that members of the group might face harrassment or abuse from those opposed to their message. The French-language group, entitled “Prostitution en Plein Jour” (Prostitution in Plain Sight), had hundreds of members according to a report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and enlisted local residents of the working class district of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve to add pictures documenting the problem of prostition in their neighbourhood.
When is the Correct Time to Tweet?
A mother in Florida sparked a passionate debate earlier this month, when she decided to tweet about her son’s death, less than an hour after she found that he had drowned in the family’s swimming pool. Shellie Ross was at home with her two young sons and was doing some gardening in the backyard. She reportedly lost sight of her two year old son for a few minutes, during which time the toddler fell into the pool and drowned. Paramedics arrived to the scene at 5:38pm, and Ross was already back on Twitter tweeting to her followers about the accident at 6:14pm. Ross asked her Twitter followers to “pray like never before.” But it was too late—the toddler was pronounced dead and only two hours later, Ross was back on Twitter in order to inform her followers that she was “remembering her million dollar baby.”
Concern about Privacy Settings on Facebook
The world’s largest social networking site might have thought that the new privacy options it introduced last week would finally quell criticism that it does not adequately safeguard personal information provided by users. But it looks like Facebook’s newest changes have only increased privacy concerns with at least one major organization filing a formal complaint with America’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The Electronic Privacy Information Centre was infuriated when Facebook’s widely publicized privacy enhancements actually ended up putting more private information in the public domain than ever before.
Blogger Aims to Dump Breast Cancer Spokesperson
Bloggers are getting increasingly passionate about the raging health care debate in the United States and it looks like Independent Senator Joe Lieberman’s wife has become the centre of negative attention from liberals in the Blogosphere. Jane Hamsher, a prominent liberal blogger in the US, has called on the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation to fire its spokeswoman, Hadassah Lieberman, because of what her husband thinks about President Barack Obama’s health care reform initiative. Lieberman, formerly a Democrat, is a centrist senator who has consistently opposed the more extensive universal health care package—including a publicly-run insurance system—that liberal Democrats have so keenly supported. In fact, the Democrats need 60 votes in the senate to block a Republican filibuster and delay tactics, but Lieberman has been reluctant to help the government avoid this situation.
Prominent Male Blogger is a Woman!
James Chartrand, a popular blogger and experienced freelance writer who publishes a site entitled Men With Pens revealed that he is not a man after all. A Canadian woman in her early thirties is actually the one blogging behind her male pseudonym about the ins-and-outs of copywriting and online freelancing. Chartrand is hardly the first female writer to mislead her readers about her gender. Nineteenth century authors such as George Sand and George Eliot were actually women, but few would have thought that web and media-savvy women in the 21st century would have to take up a male name in order to succeed.
