Syber News

It’s a prime example of a suicide caused by cyberbullying, the streaming online of a sexual encounter between 18-year-old Rutgers student Tyler Clementi as well as the Tweeting about the incident. At the same time, however, it appears Clementi reached out for help, on the Web, in the days prior to jumping off the George Washington Bridge.

While it cannot be 100 percent confirmed, a thread on JustUsBoys.com, a forum for gay men, was started by a user named “cit2mo.” That thread described a situation with “college roommate spying…..” and a scenario identical to Clementi’s.

Additional evidence found by Gawker included the fact that cit2mo’s IP address resolved back the Rutgers. Additionally, Forbes’ Kashmir Hill positively identified cit2mo as Clementi, based on an August 22 Tweet from Dharun Ravi, Clementi’s roommate, saying”Found out my roommate is gay,” and linking to a thread on JustUsBoys that Ravi said was Clementi.

Unfortunately, it seems the advice Tyler Clementi may have gathered from the Web didn’t offset the pain given to him by the Web. After a Facebook farewell, Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge and into the Hudson River. On Thursday, authorities positively identified a man’s body found on Wednesday as his.

Clementi’s roommate, Dbarun Ravi, 18, and another student, fellow Rutgers freshman Molly Wei, also 18, have been charged with invading Clementi’s privacy. Prosecutors say that the pair used a webcam to transmit a live feed of Clementi having sex Sept. 19th and that Ravi tried to webcast a second encounter on Sept. 21, the day before Clementi’s suicide.

Those charges would carry a maximum of five years. However, prosecutors said that hate-crime charges are possible in the case. In order to do that, prosecutors must establish that the defendants were motivated because of Clementi’s homosexuality. That is not always easy to prove.

While the decision to pursue a hate-crime charge is, of course, the purview of prosecutors, some seem to have made up their minds. Rutgers student Lauren Felton, 21, said,

“Had he been in bed with a woman, this would not have happened. He wouldn’t have been outed via an online broadcast, and his privacy would have been respected and he might still have his life.”

http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/09/tyler-clementi-web-as-both-bane-and.html

What a difference a few months makes, in terms of demand for the iPhone. While Apple is selling a ton of iPhone 4’s, interest among future prospective buyers continues to move in the direction of Android.

In ChangeWave Research’s latest consumer survey for Mobile Operating System Preferences fort future purchases, completed Sept. 23 among 4,000 respondents, the iPhone took a real dive from the last such survey (June), when 50 percent said they wanted their next smartphone purchase to be an iPhone. Now that number is only 38 percent.

However, that figure was expected, said Paul Carton, Vice President of Research at ChangeWave. The huge number of those interested in the iPhone in June is a natural representation of the excitement over a new product launch. It was bound to drop off.

At the same time, Google’s Android rose from 30 percent in both March and June to 37 percent now. That figure represents a 6x increase from a year ago. Despite the fact that the iPhone drop was expected, this is the closest Android and iPhone interest has ever been in a ChangeWave report.

RIM’s BlackBerry devices were preferred by only 6 percent of survey respondents, up from 5 percent in June. That could be a response to the launch of the BlackBerry Torch and BlackBerry OS 6.

Meanwhile, Windows Mobile is down from 2 percent to 1 percent, while webOS is statistically a big fat zero. It will be interesting to see how Windows Phone 7’s impending launch will affect the survey, if at all.

The report also looked at customer satisfaction. iOS continues to lea with 74 percent of saying they’re Very Satisfied while 65 percent of Android users feel the same. Apparently, even in terms of satisfaction, Android is seeing improvements in the way customers view the OS.

Meanwhile, things really fall off after that, with very satisfied users of PalmOS / webOS numbering 32 percent, BlackBerry OS at 31 percent, and Windows Mobile dead last at 24 percent.

http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/09/interest-in-android-surges-among.html

Flintstones, meet the Flintstones. It is the first part of the theme song to the 60s animated sitcom “The Flintstones,” and Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010 was its 50th anniversary, Google reminded us that day with its latest Google Doodle.

Google is famous for using the Doodles on its homepage to celebrate special events. Sometimes, they are mystery Doodles, but not this one.

The Flintstones debuted as a prime-time animated comedy series on ABC on September 30, 1960. It lasted six seasons on television, and it spawned numerous spin-off and sequel animated shows, two live-action movies, theme park characters, and even chewable children’s vitamins.

The Fred and Wilma Flintstone were a family living in the Stone Age, along with their neighbors, Barney and Betty Rubble. Although they were prehistoric, they had cars and another modern technology, but fashioned in a Stone Age manner. For example, a can opener might be a bird, whose bill was used to open the can (indeed, there should have been no cans, we are aware of that).

The show became such a hit that, much like the Simpsons of today, celebrities would guest voice on it. Examples included Tony Curtis (who played Stony Curtis) and Ann-Margret (Ann-Margrock). The Flintstones and Rubbles were voiced as follows:

• Alan Reed – Fred Flintstone
• Mel Blanc – Barney Rubble
• Jean Vander Pyl – Wilma Flintstone
• Bea Benaderet – Betty Rubble
• Gerry Johnson – Betty Rubble, season 5 and 6, after Benaderet’s illness due to lung cancer

For five episodes (the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 9th) during the second season, Daws Butler replaced Mel Blanc. At that time, Blanc was incapacitated by a near-fatal car accident.

There were kids and pets, too: Pebbles Flintstone, the super-strong Bamm-Bamm Rubble, Dino and Hoppy.  Watch a little video of the Flintstones, and Yabba Dabba Doo, it’s 50 years, too!

http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/09/yabba-dabba-doo-google-celebrates-50.html

Flintstones, meet the Flintstones. It is the first part of the theme song to the 60s animated sitcom “The Flintstones,” and Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010 was its 50th anniversary, Google reminded us that day with its latest Google Doodle.

Google is famous for using the Doodles on its homepage to celebrate special events. Sometimes, they are mystery Doodles, but not this one.

The Flintstones debuted as a prime-time animated comedy series on ABC on September 30, 1960. It lasted six seasons on television, and it spawned numerous spin-off and sequel animated shows, two live-action movies, theme park characters, and even chewable children’s vitamins.

The Fred and Wilma Flintstone were a family living in the Stone Age, along with their neighbors, Barney and Betty Rubble. Although they were prehistoric, they had cars and another modern technology, but fashioned in a Stone Age manner. For example, a can opener might be a bird, whose bill was used to open the can (indeed, there should have been no cans, we are aware of that).

The show became such a hit that, much like the Simpsons of today, celebrities would guest voice on it. Examples included Tony Curtis (who played Stony Curtis) and Ann-Margret (Ann-Margrock). The Flintstones and Rubbles were voiced as follows:

• Alan Reed – Fred Flintstone
• Mel Blanc – Barney Rubble
• Jean Vander Pyl – Wilma Flintstone
• Bea Benaderet – Betty Rubble
• Gerry Johnson – Betty Rubble, season 5 and 6, after Benaderet’s illness due to lung cancer

For five episodes (the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 9th) during the second season, Daws Butler replaced Mel Blanc. At that time, Blanc was incapacitated by a near-fatal car accident.

There were kids and pets, too: Pebbles Flintstone, the super-strong Bamm-Bamm Rubble, Dino and Hoppy.  Watch a little video of the Flintstones, and Yabba Dabba Doo, it’s 50 years, too!

http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/09/yabba-dabba-doo-google-celebrates-50.html