Digital Media

It used to be said that mamas shouldn't let their babies grow up to be cowboys.

In olden times, mamas were right. A cowboy's life can be lonely. You often commune more with animals than people. And then there's the problem of riding a horse in very tight Wranglers.

However, these days, cowboys don't merely pick blackberries, they send raunchy texts on them, too (on BlackBerrys, that is). So some enterprising bejeaned geniuses came up with CowboySyndicate.org.

It's an odd choice of name, sounding as if John Wayne and Marlon Brando had gotten drunk one night and merged their family businesses. Indeed, it's an extension of an already existing marketing company run by Chris and Kelly Cooper. And, disappointingly, not Gary.

This husband-and-wife posse told the Austin American-Statesman that they recognized a need for cowboys to be cowboys in their own private online saloon. Their common interests Chris Cooper described as "rodeo, equine interests, music, fashion, agriculture, and so on."

Cowboys are social networkers,too.

(Credit: CC Greenbroke/Flickr)

However, this isn't your mama's cowboy world any more. Chris Cooper described his network's vision as the "New Western Order." Which might, for all I know, refer to a military coup cowboys are ready to stage in Texas.

The membership appears to have taken to the intimate exchange of online chatter. But far more interesting to the noncowboy are the topics that the site covers. Goat tying, for example. And the incomparably descriptive "mutton busting."

Kelly Cooper told the Statesman that participation comes from parts far and near: "Our members range in age from 16 to 75 and hail from all over the world--the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Japan, Sweden, Australia, France, and more. All of our members, no matter where they come from, have a love for both Western and mainstream lifestyles."

While you contemplate the main differences between "Western" and "mainstream" let me tell you that on the CowboySyndicate forum, you'll find a lady cowboy poet, who helpfully explains: "Can't call myself a cowgirl poet because I write most poems in the male gender." You'll also find cowboy DJs and even a discussion about the Trail of Painted Ponies. You know, those cute figurines of horses on your mama's mantlepiece.

I could find no postings from cowboys who were looking for someone to complete them, but I feel sure that CowboySyndicate will be an important forum for the future development of a culture whose values have had such a profound effect on recent world history.

Everyone is talking security these days. Does this include Facebook?

I ask because a group called "Kill Obama" was on the social-networking site for more than a month before Facebook's attention was drawn to it by CNET late Monday evening.

The group, which appears to have been created in Alberta, Canada, had 122 members and five administrators. Its existence originally caught the eye of Brian Cuban, brother of tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban.

Brian Cuban, who has long criticized Facebook for its attitude toward Holocaust denial groups, used his blog, the Cuban Revolution, to point out the apparent criminality of the "Kill Obama" group: those found guilty of a threat to kill the president could face up to five years in jail.

The "Kill Obama" group, which was active since November, was entirely open and set out its goals like this: "We are going to kill Obama. Ten of us will surround the capital, armed with sniper rifles. Mr. Hope And Change just made his last speech."

(Credit: CC Jay Cameron/Flickr)

Facebook's response might strike some as peculiarly confident. Andrew Noyes of Facebook's public-policy group in Washington, D.C., told me via e-mail:

The group in question, which was created by an individual user, was brought to our attention on Monday and was removed promptly. As for the broader issue of controversial content that may appear on Facebook, I wonder how a phone company would answer a question about preventing threatening phone calls or how the postal service would respond about preventing threatening letters? And Web mail providers about threatening e-mails?

Some might feel that the difference is that Facebook can better see and hear what is on its site than phone providers or the U.S. Postal Service. This communication was entirely public and had been on the site for a while. The impression Facebook gives, however, is that it is doing more than most communication platforms to fight misuse.

Noyes continued:

Just as none of those communications platforms can guarantee their tools won't be misused, neither can we. However, different from those platforms, Facebook is committed to enhancing our already-robust reporting and review infrastructure, and reducing our response times in removing content that violates our policies. When we find egregious violations, we'll kick people off for good and prevent them from committing further offenses. Again, this is something that the other communication platforms can't do nearly as effectively as we can or at all.

The robust reporting and review infrastructure seems to have not been terribly robust in this instance. Facebook can give the impression that it is more attuned to removing images of breastfeeding than policing hate and threat.

Given that the company is so able and keen to collate information in order to help advertisers, some might wonder whether one member of its "porn police" might be reassigned so that Facebook might exercise a little more vigilance in the area of threatening and possibly criminal activity.

Indeed, one might have thought that Facebook would have security in place that would immediately monitor groups using such obvious keywords in their names as "Kill" and "Obama." However, Facebook's view is, according to Noyes, that there could be "millions" of possible permutations of these two words.

I know that there are many mathematically skilled readers here, so perhaps they might offer a view on these millions of permutations. My nonmathematical methods just revealed to me that by searching "Kill Obama," there were only 571 results. These results didn't appear to offer anything as overtly threatening as "Kill Obama." Indeed, the top group, with 143 members, was "Don't Kill Barack Obama."

In September, Facebook removed a "Should Obama be Killed?" poll, again after it had been noticed by the media. Indeed, Facebook's view seems to be that the policing of the site is largely down to, well, you.

Noyes told me:

No system is perfect, but we believe this is the best system, and we're always working to improve it. With extremely few exceptions, our user base has proved to be vigilant in flagging content that should be taken offline.

Perhaps there are more users concerned with naughty pictures than threats to kill the president. However, when asked if Facebook had given the personal details of the "Kill Obama" group to the authorities, Noyes said, "We don't comment on investigations, but we're in regular contact with the Secret Service."

All's well that ends well is one philosophy of life, of course. But not the only one.

BeautifulPeople.com, a social-networking and dating site for "attractive people," announced on Monday that it has removed 5,000 members from around the world for putting on too much weight over the holiday season.

According to the site, "many members posted photos of themselves celebrating Christmas and the New Year--revealing that they have let themselves go. Vigilant members, who take pride in the standards demanded by the site, called for action."

Greg Hodge, the site's managing director, said in a statement that the service "responded to complaints by moving the newly chubby members back to the rating stage. This is the same as having them re-apply. Their re-applications were reviewed by existing members and only a few hundred were voted back in. Over 5,000 were rejected."

The United States led the list of ousted members with 1,520 people being told to leave the social network. The site also let go of 832 people from the U.K. and 533 from Canada. Russia lost the fewest people with just 88 being told to find a new social network.

"Every year we see that some of our members from western cultures eat and drink to excess over the holidays and clearly their looks suffer," Hodge said in a statement. "The USA has been grossly over-indulging since Thanksgiving--it's no wonder that so many members have been expelled from the network. We hope they will be back after shedding the festive pounds."

"As a business, we mourn the loss of any member, but the fact remains that our members demand the high standard of beauty be upheld," BeautifulPeople.com founder Robert Hintze said in a statement. He went on to say that allowing those members to stay on the site "is a direct threat to [the company's] business model and the very concept for which BeautifulPeople.com was founded."

Now it's time to hear from you. Did BeautifulPeople go overboard? Is the site itself troubling, since users are judged by their looks? Let us know in the comments below.

It can't be easy being a policeman.

Every day you're forced to be in contact with some of the lower beings of the world. Sometimes you have to punch them or shoot them, when you'd rather be out with your lover or at least surfing the Web for a little fun.

As a matter of fact, I have just learned from the very learned Daily Mail that an average of nine police officers and support staff from every British police force have been fired or warned after transgressing the police's IT regulations.

To view one's screen, one must remove one's riot helmet.

(Credit: CC Stuff and Nonsense/Flickr)

In all, the Mail said that its figures, obtained under the UK's Freedom of Information Act, show that at least 439 police officers and support staff were fired or disciplined for viewing material online that they ought not have been viewing on police time; that includes anything from viewing porn or using social-networking sites while on the job, to doing individual background checks for personal use or posting unauthorized video online.

I know there will be some who, on hearing this information, will feel angry. They will say policemen are hypocrites who, in showing us the stiff arm of the law, demonize us for questionable behavior while partaking of questionable practices themselves.

Perhaps, though, others might feel something akin to relief. Policemen are humans, after all. They have weaknesses, vices, and foibles. Perhaps you might share that psychological insight with the next policeman who stops you for speeding and finds a week-old spliff in your glove box.

One assumes it didn't happen by text.

But, according to The New York Times, AT&T has announced, in a very brief statement, that it will no longer associate its fine name with Tiger Woods.

Accenture, Tag Heuer, and Procter and Gamble have already distanced themselves from the world's greatest golfer after he crashed his car and became associated with as many alleged extra-marital affairs as there are clubs in his bag.

Yet it's interesting that AT&T should choose New Year's Eve as the time to announce its decision. It has been a tough year for the carrier, with Verizon deriding its coverage and a survey showing that more than half of iPhone users are unhappy with AT&T's service.

AT&T was a founding partner in the Tiger Woods Learning Center.

(Credit: CC Zeetz Jones/Flickr)

It's almost as if AT&T would dearly love to slap 2009 with a 9 iron, in the hope that it will have a better relationship with 2010.

In truth, the sponsorship of Woods was not a mainstay of the company's commercial thrust. It involved him hosting tournaments, carrying the AT&T logo on his vast golf bag, and AT&T's involvement in some of Woods' charitable work.

However, AT&T is not in and of sports and Woods was never a central figure in its communications. Though it might have been slightly interesting had the company chosen to have Woods lead its fightback against Verizon instead of the scandal-free Luke Wilson.

Wouldn't it have been lovely to see Woods bouncing a Droid up and down on his 5 iron before smashing it somewhere down a distant fairway? A case of Droid Does meeting Just Do It.

The tech company that has perhaps the most problematic dilemma where Woods is concerned is Electronic Arts. Its Tiger Woods PGA Tour series of games is a strong part of its business. Currently, Woods' image still retains pride of place on the EA site.

Although perhaps the wording might need a little revision. Right now, EA chooses to have some interesting words beneath Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10: Feel The Drama. Indeed.

Birds do it. Bees do it. It's just that these days in India it may be a little harder to watch online images of human beings doing it.

Sex is often a slightly thorny subject (well, maybe except in France). However, varying attitudes around the world to varying sexual practices mean search engines must adjust their positions accordingly.

So it may sadden some to hear of a Guardian special investigation that appears to have unearthed evidence of Microsoft and Yahoo search engines complying with a new Indian law offering severe punishment for the display of "lascivious" content.

I know one man's lascivious is another man's oblivious. But this law, based on a 150-year-old statute (section 292, if you have your Indian penal code tucked about your person) specifically targets access to obscenity.

A picture from Ramoji Film City in Andhra Pradesh. It is the world's largest integrated film studio complex.

(Credit: CC Shashi Bellamkonda/Flickr)

It helpfully defines obscenity as "any content that is lascivious and that will appeal to prurient interest or the effect of which is to tend to deprave or corrupt the minds of those who are likely to see, read or hear the same."

It's a nice word, corruption. One that often seems to have the words "government" and "politician" wrapped around it. Still, we're talking about sex here. Specifically, the vaguely pornographic kind.

The Guardian investigation suggests Microsoft and Yahoo have already taken steps to avoid the rather stiff punishments. If a search engine (or, indeed, Internet cafe) isn't careful about what sites it makes available, its officers might face three years in jail and a fine of up to 500,000 rupees (just over $10,000).

Microsoft's Bing, Yahoo's search engine, and even the Yahoo-owned Flickr have reportedly ensured that the safe search facilities on their sites cannot be disabled, something they also do in the pristine territories of Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

I do not intend to suggest this new law will encourage more Indian professionals to seek employment in Silicon Valley. And I cannot imagine that Indian moral fiber is anything other than sturdy and cleansing. I just sometimes worry when politicians seem to have nothing better to do than to interfere in people's most private affairs.

The Indian media is, according to London's Times, sometimes a little slow in reporting the sexual peccadilloes of, well, politicians--even when their indiscretions are widely known.

Perhaps that will change in reaction to this law.

This week, for example, an Indian television news channel ran footage, allegedly of the 86-year-old governor of the Andhra Pradesh state in bed with several women to whom he was not betrothed. While the governor immediately resigned, you might wonder how it is that this footage was not deemed "lascivious."

Some of you might wish to suggest that the "law is an ass." But perhaps it's best to first search Bing and check whether "ass" might have lascivious overtones in certain parts of the world.

How did you spend Christmas? Hitwise says it knows: the Internet traffic tracker says you spent at least part of the holiday visiting Facebook, making the social network the most popular U.S. site on the Web.

That's the first time Mark Zuckerberg and company have earned that designation--at the expense of Google--but it is in no way surprising. Facebook saw traffic spike last Christmas, too, and that's when it had a mere 140 million users. The user count is now up to 350 million.

So even if tens of millions of them leave the site in a huff over Facebook's privacy changes (and there's no evidence that's happening), it's going to be blowing by traffic records on a regular basis.

Really safe bet: you're going to see a similar story after New Year's.

(Via ReadWriteWeb)

Story Copyright (c) 2010 AllThingsD. All rights reserved.

This is definitely a question reeking of our delightful modernity: if you were an escaped convict, would you regularly update your Facebook status?

This question is significant because Craig "Lazie" Lynch has, according to CBSNews.com, been on the run from a British prison since September. However, his Facebook page, updated with a plethora of bons mots Sunday, has stirred so many who admire freedom and, um, crime.

Lynch's musings are enjoying the attention of more than 3,000, um, friends. They have been regaled with Lynch's dilemmas, thoughts and wishes. This, for example, from Sunday: "Trying to figure out my plans for New Years. I know what I want to do but its not that easy."

Who can but sympathize with his plight? It's tough to get a reservation for dinner at a Gordon Ramsay establishment at such late notice. And if he wanted to take a lover for, say, a night at the Ritz, well, there might be problem with the credit card confirmation.

Lynch was serving a 7-year sentence for aggravated burglary before he slipped out of Hollesey Bay Prison, which is in the rather sleepy and flat part of England to the north-east of London.

An aerial view of the prison and its surroundings. Plenty of fields to hide in, no?

(Credit: CC Babylon Angel/Flickr)

The police are, naturally, not well-disposed toward Lynch's updates.

"We have spoken to Facebook and we are trying to trace him from the information we have, but it's one of those things that we're also asking for help from members of the public," police spokesperson Anne-Marie Breach told CNN.

It seems, though, that late Sunday, Lynch began experiencing a little emotional pain. In what must have been an almost teary update, he posted: "right i'm coming off this page as i have better things to do."

Who might have imagined that, in his mysterious hideaway, Lynch had something better to do than continue his run as a Facebook attraction?

Still, he continued: "In fact due to the nature of some of these comments and the racist remarks that keep frequently poppin up have a dig at me by all means but why be abusive to others due to their colour or race it is petty minded fools who have ruined this site."

Petty-minded, indeed. Some of the world's great artists have suffered when their works have been ruined by unscrupulous, jealous critics, so Lynch's pain is entirely understandable.

However, he wants his supporters to know that he is grateful. For he posted: "Thank you to...all of you serious supporters out there and to my admin staff. To all you haters and hitlers out there i hope you slowly choke in your sleep."

By the way, if you ever wondered about the definition of aggravated burglary it is this: at the time of the burglary, the criminal: "has with him a firearm, imitation firearm, weapon of offense, or any explosive."

You might imagine, therefore, that Lynch is someone who might not always turn the other cheek. This might affect the level of sympathy you have for his Facebook critics.

How do you react, for example, to this update from he Saturday evening?: "Its freezing outside. Another lonely night. So far away from my family and friend. Yet I have so many supporters and haters on here. Thx for your support everyone cause this is a FAN PAGE."

One might conceive that, with the help of the large brains at Facebook, Lynch's Facebook fame might shortly come to an abrupt logout.

But here's the thing that seems a little peculiar. Lynch, according to the BBC, was serving time near the end of his sentence and escaped while he was on day release.

For some, the lure of Facebook fame is clearly uncontrollable.

Ever since someone tried to sell me on the curious notion that Houston was the Manhattan of Texas, I have become fascinated with the place.

So I am blissfully excited that PCWorld has caused my blood to turn my arteries into a NASCAR track with the revelation that police in the Houston-area county of Montgomery have decided to shame drunk drivers in a very modern way.

Yes, if you are caught driving while the special eggnog concoctions are making your nerve endings feel like Christmas lights, you will have your name on an especially festive Twitter page.

This seasonal offer only applies to those arrested between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. And the Twitter page in question will not be one newly set up for the occasion, but rather that of Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon.

Naturally, some are wondering whether this little Twittering experiment might be flying the wrong way down a lane currently occupied by the concept of "innocent until proved guilty."

The Manhattan of Texas. A home of socially-networking progress?

(Credit: CC Eflon/Flickr)

As Houston attorney Paul B. Kennedy says, on his own blog, with a sarcasm that not even a sliver of cabernet sauvignon could dampen: "Of course the police never make wrongful arrests."

However, in Texas they do seem to be quite keen on humiliation as a palliative. No, I am not referring to the bedroom predilections of Texan lawmakers, but rather to Denton, Texas (near the slightly less Manhattanesque city of Dallas), where every arrest gets Twittered.

It has to be said, though, that the Denton Twitter page was originally conceived by an enthusiastic layperson, rather than a zealous arresting officer.

While the Montgomery County drunk-driving information that is being Twittered is not legally confidential, you might wonder whether Twittering humiliation is a reasonable method of enacting the law.

Montgomery County Vehicular Crimes Prosecutor Warren Diepraam told PCWorld: "I sincerely doubt that the fact that I've put someone's name on a Twitter page is going to affect their right to a fair trial."

And I sincerely doubt that Diepraam believes that social networking is anything other than a vehicle for honest and legal communication. However, could he be the same Warren Diepraam from Houston, Texas who, on his Facebook page, wants people to think he looks like the moon? Surely not.