Tweeting Police

Looks like the cops are now using Twitter (and maybe other stuff) to try to do the whole community policing thing in a more 21st Century sort of way.

There's a BBC article that explains all this and focuses on a jolly nice police person called Ed. He is not, as far as I am aware, a duck. Which is good.

"Posting a message on Twitter warning about a spate of burglaries in an area is a similar concept to pinning up a poster on the local parish council noticeboard."

"Doing either in isolation might be fine, but by doing both we can spread that warning even further."

Almost certainly useful for Jan10 exam.

And...

Greater Manchester police have been signing up users to get Facebook updates on crime in their area. More than 25,000 people seem to have signed up. Sign up! Get the updates!

Some of the links from these articles might be handy to take a look at as well.

Your mum on Facebook?

This kinda made me laugh more than anything when I first saw it.

Stanford University is running classes in how to use Facebook - for parents.

Stanford is a top class uni by the way, this isn't some local community college running a class. The class (which is also a research project interestingly) deals with the Six Stages of Facebook Mastery amongst other stuff.

There is a serious side (other than the research bit) of course, connected to internet safety, the longer term risks of publishing those oh so funny photos (err, job application time anyone?) and whathaveyou.

Shouldn't Facebook be private though? Should your mum be able to have a handle on what you're saying online? Hmm...

Some parents worry about joining Facebook because they don’t want to intrude on their child’s privacy. They see it as spying in their kid’s bedroom. This view -- Facebook as private bedroom -- is not accurate. This is not a good way to think. Why not?

#1 - Strangers don’t enter a kid’s bedroom. But on Facebook, kids can interact with strangers.

#2 - In a bedroom, acts are not observable by hundreds of people. In contrast, what your child does on Facebook is widely observable.

#3 - Finally, what goes on in a bedroom is not recorded online, potentially forever, as it is on Facebook.

In short, we believe that if you view “Facebook as private bedroom” you will make mistakes in parenting.

From Facebook for Parents

Interestingly a group of parents came up with a list of 10 "commandments" for Facebook users. I wonder what you think of it:

1. “Friend” your family members on Facebook. If your child won't friend you, have at least one parent/guardian friend your child.

2. Teach your family about privacy settings. Discuss settings often.

3. Help loved ones think about the ramifications of posting & tagging photos.

4. Use Facebook so you understand it.

5. Turn "questionable actions" you see by others on FB into teachable moments for your family.

6. Help loved ones protect reputation by teaching that everything on FB is potentially public.

7. Look at the Facebook Walls of family members.

8. Review privacy settings monthly & share what you are doing with your family.

9. Help loved one see that FB is a public place where strangers can visit.

10. Talk often about FB with your family.

From: Facebook for Parents, Top 10 Ways to Protect Your Family on Facebook

My mum's not on Facebook though. And I should think that if she was I'd be looking to migrate to the next cool thing in social networking. Tweet anyone?

Scammers and Young Tweeting

Hmm, so it seems that it's news that scammers take advantage of dodgy internet links to persuade people to click links and download oh so helpful anti-virus software.

I did kinda think that the days of people actually clicking on those buttons that appear as ads on web sites were over perhaps? Maybe not...

Anyone clicking on a booby-trapped page is then instantly re-directed to the site hosting the links to the fake security software.

Once they arrive, visitors are bombarded with pop-ups warning that their PC is infected. To clear up the infection, users are told, they must download and pay for anti-virus software which typically costs about $50 (£34).

'Scareware' scams trick searchers, BBC website 23/03/2009

I guess it's maybe the use of search engines that makes this a newer thing - up by over 200% in 2008 apparently.

Maybe teaching primary school kids how to use blogs and twitter will improve things? You'd hope so anyway.

The Ills of Social Networking (sniff)

Feeling a bit under the weather? Can't shake off a sniffle?

Hmm, so maybe it's all that social networking you've been doing.

Lots of reports about this just now, with an 'expert' claiming that social networking sites could harm your health because they limit your face to face contact with other human beings. I guess that what you make up with in not catching their germs, you lose by, well, this:

...evidence suggests that a lack of face-to-face networking could alter the way genes work, upset immune responses, hormone levels, the function of arteries, and influence mental performance.

This, (the expert) claims, could increase the risk of health problems as serious as cancer, strokes, heart disease, and dementia.

Blimey! Good job I'm old and we didn't have all this internets stuff when I was growing up.

So, if you're tweeting on facebook all the time, maybe you should think of your health a bit more? Do you think??

Mind you, it seems even the trees are getting in on this social networking larch. There's an Activity Forest park in Devon that's got a Facebook profile.