Facebook guided burglars

If you plan to log into your Facebook account and announce you’re heading to the beach for the weekend, you might want to append the update with a warning that your home is under 24-hour surveillance 140-pound Rottweiler who hasn’t eaten in a week.

If you don’t, your personal belongings could be fodder for tech-savvy burglars.

Facebook addiction could lower students' grades

London: Students who are logged on to Facebook while studying get significantly lower grades than those who do not, according to psychologists.

A study has found that the exam results of that the exam results of those who used the social networking site while working, even if it was on in the background, were 20% lower than nonusers.

According to researchers, the findings put a dent in the theory that young people's brains are better at multitasking on digital gadgets.

Traffic cops; FB page filled with complaints

Not Net-Savvy? Social networking site visitors post 410 photos of offenders ask cops to reply to queries and take action on their complaints

Fifteen days after the launch of the Mumbai traffic police's officials page on the social networking site, Facebook, an overwhelming number of Netizens have expressed their unhappiness over the poor response to their comments.

The traffic cops, however, claim they have taken steps to address most of the complaints.

The Facebook page is flooded with photographs of policemen and citizens flouting traffic rules. Till Sunday, 410 photos of law offenders had been posted on the webpage.

Are Pakistani youth giving up Islam?

Facebook group for Pakistan's agnostics and atheists has more than 100 members

Islamabad:

A handful of Pakistani Muslim youths are beginning to question the existence of God and in the process giving up Islam to become atheists. Still a small number, the trend seems to be telling of pressures that the image of militant Islam has had on them.

A Facebook group has been floated for Pakistan's agnostics and atheists by Hazrat NaKhuda, a former Pakistani Muslim. At last count, the group had over a 100 members.

You can tell cops how to ensure a smooth Ganpati

Mumbai: This year, you can tell the Mumbai traffic police how to manage traffic effectively during the Ganesh festival.

The have invited suggestions from citizens for better traffic management during the 10-day festival that starts on Sept 11. The department, on Tuesday, posted a message on its official web page on Facebook asking people for ideas on how to minimise commuters' woes. By Wednesday evening, at least 51 people had responded. most urged the responded. Most urged the plice to shut down pandals that encroached upon roadals and blocked traffic.

Ready for a 'Facebook in-law'?

...or a 'Facebook hickey? welcome to New age love

we live in strange times, where people invest more time and energy online than they do in real time. They chat with relatively unknown or completely random strangers tagged as 'friends'. fight, flirt, confess, bitch, even break-up and make up with them. With loneliness and isolation being two of the, it's not surprising to find people taking refuge in the virtual comfort of strangers - boasting of having 5,000 friends online while a reality check might prove otherwise.

So, are you a 'Tvoyeur'?

...a Twitter voyeur, that is. It's a breed of peeping Toms at large on social networking sites

There are those who like to watch, and then those who like to watch. And when it comes to a social networking site like Twitter - the former may include folks who have joined up to catch up with pals and speak their own minds, while the letter those who like nothing better than to look into the lives of others, prying as much as is possible. So, how does one deal with 'Tvoyeurs'.

An online forum for your dental enquiries

While most people use social networking sites, as merely a tool to stay in touch with friends and catch up with what's happening in their lives, Dr Akash Akinwar had a different idea.

The 31-year-old periodontal surgeon (gum specialist) and implantologist from Mumbai created a profile on the popular social networking site Orkut about five months ago, with the idea of using it for a social cause.

City in splits over Kalmadi's 'joke of the decade'

It was a rather quiet week, with no major trending topics of national or local significance keeping city's tweeple occupied. A few of them, however, got together on Saturday evening at Zenzi Mills at Bandra to discuss how to use social media to daring about change. Besides that, the Twitterati finally found some fodder to chew on over the weekend as the Commonwealth Games (CWG) saw some announcements.

No one's old for Facebook

Networking site now attracts older people with young hearts


Houston: Social networking groups are no more an exclusive domain of teenagers or youngsters as it was a few years back. It is now catering to all those who are older, but are young at heart.

The phenomenal growth of Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites in thee past year has come in part because of a surge in adoption by older members, with a national poll released on Friday providing a surprising new measure for how fast baby boomers and seniors are adopting online social networks to bridge generation gaps and geography.

A game that gives you license to 'kill'

A group of board game junkies is taking their pastime quite seriously, and beyond board, finds Lhendup G Bhutia

Rohini Ramnathan, 25 was sipping coffee early one morning when she got the email. It was titled 'The Target'. There were two attachments. One a photograph, and the other, a bio data of the person in the photograph. She smiled. It would be easy; she knew the person.

Older folks flocking to online social networks: study

San Francisco: While online social networks remain havens for the young, they are also be coming increasingly popular with the over 50 crowd in the United States, a study showed.

"Young adults continue to be the heaviest users of social media, but their growth pales in comparison with recent gains made by older users," said Mary Madden, from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Primary way that older users maintain contact with friends, families and colleagues, but many older users now rely on social network platforms to help manage their daily communications."

Get, set, tweet for a social cause

Is the ease of using Twitter and Facebook giving rise to a growing breed of armchair activists? Does such activism bring about any social change at all?

On Saturday, some members of the city's Twitter community at Bandra came together at a discussion hosted by organisers of the initiative, Jaago Re - One Billion Votes. The campaign was successful in influencing a large section of youngsters to vote during the last assembly elections. NGOs and social institutions, however, have been worried about the Internet's ability to make netizens complacent with lighting virtual candles and signing online petitions.

When getting away means staying in touch

New York: People used to go on holiday to unplug. Now they're demanding to be plugged in. That secluded, desert island - type getaway may soon be as dated as the post-vacation slide show as more travellers use e-mails, Facebook and Twitter to nurture the ties that bind even while they get away from it all.

"For many travellers figuring out how to stay connected is as integral to the travel process as packing sun lotion and swimwear," said Amelie Hurst of travel website Trip Advisor.

Shut down unofficial web page: Traffic police

Facebook confusion Say citizens won''t know where to post complaints against traffic violations

Mumbai: Two web pages on Facebook, both sporting similar names, but one official, the other not, has apparently been creating confusion among the citizens it was meant to help.

The unofficial web page (forum) was created by Ajesh Shah and his colleagues in early August to allow Mumbaiites to voice traffic complaints. Weeks later, on Monday, the traffic police launched their own official web page with a similar motive.

Healthy networking

Social networking sites are often criticised for disrupting one's private life. But I have never had any such bitter experiences from these things. when you strictly stick to clean surfing, chatting and interacting with people you actually know personally, it's not that bad.

Unnecessary logging into cat rooms just to kill time and fantasise about strangers is a foolish affair. It eventually leads to disappointments and frustrations.

Roadies now in Pakistan

First Indian reality show show to be licensed to Europe, New Zealand and Middle East

After borrowing several formats from the West, like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Celebrity Big Brother, Fear Factional Bingo Night, MTV Roadies has officially become India's first homegrown format to be licensed to other countries, including Pakistan.

Parents mull over being 'friends' with their kids on Facebook

New York: To friend or not to friend is the big question facing many parents dealing with teenagers on Facebook.

Three quarters of parents questioned in a Nielsen survey said they are friends with their children on the popular social networking website which boasts 500 million active users.

But a third admitted they are worried they are not seeing everything their children are doing on the web.

US teacher quits after abusing staff, pupils

Washington: A teacher in the US resigned after accidentally Publishing abusive comments against staff and pupils on Facebook. June Talvitie-Siple thought only her friends would see her comments.

Instead, the whole town of Cohasset in Massachusetts read her comments and Talvatie-Siple has resigned. "I'm so not looking forward to another year at cohasset schools. Now I remember why I stopped teaching! Kids... they are all germ bags," Sky News quoted her as writing on her Facebook page. But Talvatie-Siple is justifying herself.

Prune trees, societies told

BMC DIRECTIVE Xavier's girl's accident prompts urgent action against 'dangerous' trees

MUMBAI:

In a bid to avoid a repeat of the July 24 incident, which cost 19-year-old collegian Antara Telang her right foot, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now targeting trees growing wild in private societies.

The civic body will be instructing societies to prune any tree that they believe is dangerous and could endanger life.

The move comes just days after Hindustan Times had reported how the civic body's dilly-dallying in pruning a tree inside the premises of a housing society caused Antara to lose her right foot. A loosely hanging branch of the tree came crashing down on her as she stood under the tree outside the premises.