Social networking

We all, at one time or another, fail to think straight when under pressure. However, when we decide the time has come to rob a bank, arrow-like mental functionality is imperative for our tool belt.

I mention this only because of the tale of Garry Lee Damon. Damon is currently being subjected to the police's careful hospitality on suspicion of having robbed a Citibank in Santa Clara, Calif.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the police looked at surveillance photos of the robber and wondered who he might be.

They showed the photos to a parole officer, who seemed … Read more

Let us be frank. Frank will do anything for sexual pleasure. So will Harry, Dilbert, and Freddie. Yes, and perhaps even Mao.

I have come to this revolutionary conclusion thanks to a story that will undoubtedly go down in legend--if it didn't already start there.

You see, a number of reports from across the world are suggesting that the Web in China is being stressed to distraction by Chinese men searching for a very particular sexual distraction indeed--Chako Paul City.

Should Chako Paul be less familiar to you than, say, Chaka Khan, might I tell you that legend has … Read more

It is not easy to feed the egos of Hollywood celebrities. It is not even easy to merely feed their intestines.

This seems to be the conclusion one reaches from the story of Jon-Barrett Ingels, waiter to the stars. Well, now former waiter to the stars.

You see, Ingels was merely an extra in the vast set that is Beverly Hills. He would be still or sparkling, depending on his audience. And occasionally, he would turn his Twitter account into a diary of how hard it was to make his daily bread.

According to the delightful Los Angeles Times blog … Read more

May I begin with a message to the Federal Trade Commission, which is demanding that bloggers now reveal if they have been paid or incentivized by a company they are reviewing?

I have not been given any money by Amazon. I have not consulted for Amazon. And the only thing that Amazon has ever given me for free is free Super Saver shipping when I clicked that very button on the checkout page.

There.

So please now let me tell you about a certain experience with the Kindle-bearing online seller.

While traveling through Europe over the last month, I decided … Read more

Spiffbox is looking to shake up social networking by rewarding its users with cash for participating. Recognizing that today we are inundated with friend requests, messages, and e-mails, Spiffbox supposed that people could be motivated to respond quickly by offering a financial incentive for doing so.

Spiffbox utilizes Facebook Connect and Twitter and is meant to build on top of pre-existing social networks instead of trying to build their own unique user base. Instead of trying to be another communication platform for you and your friends, it is intended to help you engage with people outside of your social graph. … Read more

Drew Olanoff has drawn a short straw. But he wants to make it into a long one.

He started raising money by launching Blame Drew's Cancer, which lets you accuse his pesky Hodgkin's Lymphoma of being the cause of everything that is wrong in your life.

His latest charitable poke in the eye to life's vicissitudes is to auction his Twitter name. You see, Olanoff was clever enough to declare himself to be @drew in the microblogging macroworld.

And there can be few places in the world more replete with munificent egos than Twitter.

So it is … Read more

Should you be one of those who believe that men are neanderthal, socially awkward hairy animals while women are socially aware, smoothly sensitive beings, then I have some statistics that might increase your estimation of your own superior judgment.

According to research by Brian Solis, sourcing his data from Google's Ad Planner, the majority of functioning beings on almost all social networking sites are women.

Published on Information Is Beautiful, the numbers might create an encouraging belief that if social networking is the future, then the future is female.

Solis's figures suggest that there is only one major … Read more

There's something quite sad when people fall out over Internet porn.

However, relationships do not appear to be anywhere closer to a consummated hug at Ireland's Green Isle Foods pizza-making plant.

Should you not have been arrested by this pulsating tale, Green Isle Foods dismissed three workers after accusing them of enjoying Internet porn on the job. Thirty-five pizza-producing people went on strike. This was five weeks ago.

Now, according to the Leinster Leader, the workers are trying to seduce the management into some making up and kissing.

The Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union, which represents the workers, … Read more

LONDON--Could Twitter Labs prevent drunken tweets like Google Labs hinders drunken e-mails? Here's hoping.

Britt Selvitelle, Twitter's user experience and front end engineering lead, said here Friday that the company will soon launch Twitter Labs. The service will let developers create add-ons and other functions for the microblogging site. Of course, developers can already do this with Twitter's API, but this will make Twitter a formal participant in the process.

Selvitelle announced the project at the Future of Web Apps conference in London. He did not offer many details, but it sounds similar in function to Google … Read more