In Your Facebook

Monday, January 9, 2006

AS far as Kyle Stoneman is concerned, the campus police were the ones who started the Facebook wars. "We were just being, well, college students, and they used it against us," says Mr. Stoneman, a senior at George Washington University in Washington. He is convinced that the campus security force got wind of a party he and some buddies were planning last year by monitoring Facebook.com, the phenomenally popular college networking site. The officers waited till the shindig was in full swing, Mr. Stoneman grouses, then shut it down on discovering under-age drinking.

Mr. Stoneman and his friends decided to fight back. Their weapon of choice? Facebook, of course.

Once again they used the site, which is visited by more than 80 percent of the student body, to chat up a beer blast. But this time, when the campus police showed up, they found 40 students and a table of cake and cookies, all decorated with the word "beer." "We even set up a cake-pong table," a twist on the beer-pong drinking game, he says. "The look on the faces of the cops was priceless." As the coup de grâce, he posted photographs of the party on Facebook, including a portrait of one nonplussed officer.

A university spokesman, Tracy Schario, insists that noise complaints, not nosing around Facebook, led the police to both parties. But, she says, "it's sort of an inevitability that if a party is talked about on the site, word of it will reach the enforcement people, who then have no choice but to investigate." In fact, two campus police officers and the chief's assistant are among the 14,000 Facebook members at George Washington.

The stunt could be read as a sign that Facebook has become more than a way for young people to stay in touch. Started in 2004 by Harvard students who wanted to animate the black-and-white thumbnail photos of freshman directories, the site is the ninth most visited on the Internet, according to Nielsen/Net Ratings, and is used by nearly five million college students. Facebook is available at most of the country's four-year colleges, and many two-year colleges, too.

Because of its popularity, though, the site has become a flashpoint for debates about free speech, privacy and whether the Internet should be a tool for surveillance. It has also raised concerns from parents, administrators and even students about online "addiction." "There are people on this campus who are totally obsessed with it, who check their profile 5, 6, 20 times a day," says Ingrid Gallagher, a sophomore at the University of Michigan. "But I think that more and more people are realizing that it also has a dark side."

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One-Eyed Cat Had Medical Condition

PORTLAND, Ore. - A photo of a one-eyed kitten named Cy drew more than a little skepticism when it turned up on various Web sites, but medical authorities have a name for the bizarre condition.

"Holoprosencephaly" causes facial deformities, according to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health. In the worst cases, a single eye is located where the nose should be, according to the institute's Web site.

Traci Allen says the kitten she named Cy, short for Cyclops, was born the night of Dec. 28 with the single eye and no nose.

"You don't expect to see something like that," the 35-year-old Allen said by telephone from her home in Redmond in central Oregon.

Allen said she stayed up all night with the deformed kitten on her recliner, feeding Cy a liquid formula through a syringe. She says she cared for the kitten the next day as well, until it died that evening.

Allen had taken digital pictures that she provided to The Associated Press. Some bloggers have questioned the authenticity of the photo distributed on Jan. 6.

AP regional photo editor Tom Stathis said he took extensive steps to confirm the one-eyed cat was not a hoax. Stathis had Allen ship him the memory card that was in her camera. On the card were a number of pictures - including holiday snapshots, and four pictures of a one-eyed kitten. The kitten pictures showed the animal from different perspectives.

Fabricating those images in sequence and in the camera's original picture format, from the varying perspectives, would have been virtually impossible, Stathis said.

Meanwhile, Cy the one-eyed cat may be dead, but it has not left the building.

Allen said she's keeping the cat's corpse in her freezer for now, in case scientists would like it for research.

She said one thing's for certain: "I'm not going to put it on eBay."

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Scary Dolls

Hmmmm, I see some xmas ideas here. *snicker*

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IPOD Bed.

Presenting the world’s first iPod compatible bed by DesignMobel. “Pause”, as it was named, features an integrated iPod Dock and can accomodate a Bose Speaker Systen. The bed is crafted from solid New Zealand Rimu with aluminium detailing. Now you can bring some style and function into the bedroom.

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Two 360s taken in Virginia armed robbery

Consoles taken at gunpoint just hours ago; thief apprehended, consoles recovered.

A Stafford, Virginia, Electronics Boutique store was the scene of an armed robbery this morning. According to sources, the perpetrator made off with two Xbox 360 systems, forcing the store manager to hand them over at gunpoint.

Sources tell GameSpot the local police responded quickly, cordoned off the store, and immediately pursued the thief. The thief was apprehended shortly afterward.

Because the police consider the heist an ongoing criminal investigation, store employees were reluctant to discuss details of the robbery. But as of press time, the store is open, and all systems are back to normal.

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Xbox 360 snagged at gunpoint

A Jonesboro (Georgia) woman was robbed at gunpoint outside of her home early Tuesday morning after returning from Best Buy with a newly purchased Xbox 360. Patsy Springer, a 53-year-old widow, had waited nearly nine hours to secure her son’s coveted Christmas gift.

When Springer reached her home she was approached by a man who pointed a gun at her face and grabbed the shopping bag containing the Xbox 360 and additional accessories & software (valued at roughly $600). The man then fled to his car, at which point Springer attempted to pursue him in her own car—she eventually gave up. The attacker likely followed Springer from the Best Buy parking lot.

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The Deadly Kiss

Christina Desforges a teenage girl died due to Peanut allergy after her boyfriend kissed her after having a peanut butter.

Desforges is from the city of Saguenay, though she received a dose of adrenaline soon after the kiss she could not be cured of the hypersensitivity reaction and died a week after the kiss. The exact cause of the death is being investigated and an autopsy has been planned for Christina Desforges.

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HOLY CRAP!

Fun Little Puppet

This is really fun. Navigate yourself to the puppet page.

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Flaming Bag of Poo

Click here for a fun little poo game.

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Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks, 92, Dies

DETROIT - Nearly 50 years ago, Rosa Parks made a simple decision that sparked a revolution. When a white man demanded she give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus, the then 42-year-old seamstress said no.

At the time, she couldn't have known it would secure her a revered place in American history. But her one small act of defiance galvanized a generation of activists, including a young Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and earned her the title "mother of the civil rights movement."

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This woman left a legacy. :o)

Divorce Magazine....

Omg, check out the cover of the magazine. Ugh.

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Complaint from seat 29e

Literally, a complaint written to Continental Airlines. I laughed out loud...hysterical.

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The Banana Guard

Are you fed up with bringing bananas to work or school only to find them bruised and squashed? Our unique, patented device allows for the safe transport and storage of individual bananas letting you enjoy perfect bananas anytime, anywhere.

The Banana Guard was specially designed to fit the vast majority of bananas. Its other features include multiple small perforations to facilitate ventilation thereby preventing premature ripening and a sturdy locking mechanism to keep the Banana Guard closed. The Banana Guard is of course dishwasher safe for easy cleaning.

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This is one of those websites that has me asking...are they serious?
Honestly, I think I like the colors best:

• Ravishing Red
• Outrageous Orange
• Mellow Yellow
• Sublime Green
• Skyhigh Blue
• Brilliant Blue
• Passionate Purple
• Pretty in Pink
• Glow in the Dark