Facebook Promotions No Longer Need Explicit Approval From Facebook

This morning we were forwarded an email from a Facebook sales representative which suggested that new Facebook Promotions guidelines will soon be released. In contrast to before, where promotions would need to be explicitly approved, promotions will no longer need prior written approval from Facebook.

While the email claims that the promotions must still follow the company’s Promotions Guidelines (found here), the changes have not yet been reflected in those guidelines. We’ve reached out to Facebook for confirmation, however it would seem strange that this Facebook sales representative would misrepresent the new changes. Here’s is the complete email that was sent from a sales representative:

We have some exciting updates regarding the administration of Promotions, Sweepstakes and Contests on Facebook that will help to streamline the process and make your lives a bit easier:

1. We no longer require prior written Facebook approval to administer a promotion on Facebook.
2. We no longer require a minimum media spend investment to support the promotion.

This means that you are not required to have a media campaign on Facebook to run a promotion, nor do you need to ask for approval on the contest T&Cs from the Facebook team. Please note that all promotions are still subject to our Promotion Guidelines (http://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php) and Facebook Platform Policies (http://developers.facebook.com/policy/), and that brands are responsible for ensuring that all contests fall within those guidelines.

In November of 2009 Facebook first announced changes to the promotions guidelines, requiring any company to get explicit approval from Facebook first. This does not mean that promotions which were previously rejected can now operate. As such, the following types of promotions are still not allowed:

• Photo contests which require profile photo manipulation
• Status update contests which require posting status updates for entry
• Contest entries once a user has become a fan

While we have no idea when these changes will take place, we’re assuming it’s imminent since this email was sent out this morning. We’ll have further updates once we hear back from Facebook.

ALERT: Massive Profile Spy Scam Strikes Again

It appears as though Facebook users can’t stop falling for the scam which claims to make it possible to let you see who has viewed your profile.

Despite warnings posted by sites around the web, thousands of users continue to be duped by the ProfileSpy scam. This is a multi-pronged attack, taking place from landing pages around the web, as well as Facebook applications, Facebook Pages, and more. There have been numerous attacks like this in the past, however this one is comprehensive and appears to have slipped past Facebook.
We’re watching hundreds of people, by the second, install the application and click on the app based on the activity going through Facebook search right now. In contrast to previous scams which have leveraged various like-jacking techniques, this new scam actually uses the Facebook Platform to get permission from users to post to their profile. It just goes to show that most people don’t pay attention to the Platform authorization screen, they just proceed if there’s a significant enough incentive.
All you need to do is avoid installing any application that claims to let you know how to view who has viewed your Facebook profile. Also be sure to share this article with other users so they can avoid getting hit by this scam.

Facebook Flames Spark Real-World Stabbing

People take Facebook postings very seriously. Sometimes to excess, like reacting violently to posts. That led to a stabbing in Toledo, Ohio this week.
Aaron Calhoun wound up in Toldeo Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after 20-year-old Taresa O’Neal hit him with a frying pan and followed that up with a stabbing.
The 25-year-old Calhoun had gone to O’Neal’s home upset about a Facebook posting concerning his sister.
Calhoun was attacked by O’Neal and her male partner, who were both arrested afterward.
I suspect they’ve gotten some good legal advice in the mean time. Repeated searches for posts including the aforementioned names, plus Toledo, don’t turn up.
O’Neal may have had some amount of privacy protection cloaking her Facebook posts before the fight broke out, but she probably got more conservative with her profile after the arrest.
That assumes she and her partner got released on bail. If not, she could have shared her Facebook password with an attorney or family member via telephone or in person visit.
But these details aren’t as interesting as the fact that a real-world fight broke out over an online post. Usually fisticuffs erupt from real-world provocation, and law enforcement efforts to keep the peace happen offline.
A fight that begins online might beg the question: Should the cops police social networks to anticipate potential violence in the real world? Readers, do you think we’ll see more fights that start on Facebook and become in-person brawls? How can law enforcement nip this problem in the bud?

One in Five Divorces Now Involve Facebook

It used to be the tell-tale lipstick on the collar. Then there were the give-away texts that spelled the death knell for many marriages.

But now one in five divorces involve the social networking site Facebook, according to a new survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. A staggering 80 per cent of divorce lawyers have also reported a spike in the number of cases that use social media for evidence of cheating.

Flirty messages and photographs found on Facebook are increasingly being cited as proof of unreasonable behaviour or irreconcilable differences. Many cases revolve around social media users who get back in touch with old flames they hadn’t heard from in many years.

Facebook was by far the biggest offender, with 66 per cent of lawyers citing it as the primary source of evidence in a divorce case. MySpace followed with 15 per cent, Twitter at 5 per cent and other choices lumped together at 14 per cent.

The survey reflects the findings of a UK law firm last year showing that 20 per cent of its divorce petitions blamed Facebook flings.

‘The most common reason seemed to be people having inappropriate sexual chats with people they were not supposed to,’ said Mark Keenan, managing director of Divorce-Online.

Friends Reunited faced similar claims when it was launched to help people reconnect with old classmates, but the 23 million plus people now using Facebook in Britain means it is having a much bigger effect on rising divorce rates.

‘Desperate Housewives’ star Eva Longoria recently split from her basketball player husband Tony Parker after alleging that he strayed with a woman he kept in touch with on Facebook.

An American minister also made the headlines recently when he called Facebook a ‘portal to infidelity’ and insisted that his congregation delete their accounts after revealing that 20 couples attending his New Jersey church had been led astray through the site.

But Rev. Cedric Miller was forced to take a leave of absence after his own non-Facebook transgressions were revealed in an admission that he took part in three-way sexual trysts in the past.

‘Going through a divorce always results in heightened levels of personal scrutiny. If you publicly post any contradictions to previously made statements and promises, an estranged spouse will certainly be one of the first people to notice and make use of that evidence,’ said American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers President Marlene Eskind Moses.

‘As everyone continues to share more and more aspects of their lives on social networking sites, they leave themselves open to much greater examinations of both their public and private lives in these sensitive situations,’ she added.

Marriage counsellor Terry Real said he believes some users go on Facebook to create a fantasy life and escape the drudgery.

‘There is nothing more seductive that the ‘one that got away’ fantasy that’s always better than someone who is up to her eyeballs in bills,’ he told ABC News in the U.S..

But he said Facebook is not really to blame.

‘Before it was email, then before that it was the phone. The problem is not Facebook, it is the loss of love in your marriage,’ he said.

Global Crises Overshadow Obama's Economic Message

WASHINGTON – Foreign policy challenges are intruding on President Barack Obama's promise to focus on the economy after the Democrats' election debacle and threatening to knock the White House off message altogether.

The escalation of tensions between North and South Korea this past week capped a postelection period that included two presidential trips abroad, discussions about America's future in Afghanistan and a debate in Washington over Senate ratification of a nuclear treaty with Russia.

The risk for Obama is that the capital and energy spent on a foreign crisis can undermine the perception that he's working on the public's top priority: finding jobs at home for Americans.

White House officials say the international focus hasn't diminished the amount of time Obama spends working on the economy. Aides acknowledge that events abroad can make it more difficult to spotlight Obama's economic message — one of an economy on a slow but steady march toward recovery, and a president aware that his political future rests on his ability to speed that recovery.

Take Obama's trip to Kokomo, Ind., last Tuesday, his first domestic trip since the Nov. 2 elections.

By the time Obama arrived at a Chrysler plant to promote the revival of the U.S. auto industry, attention had turned to how the White House would respond to North Korea's artillery attack against a South Korean island.

"You learn quickly as president that there are events that happen like North Korea that you have to address as they happen, not how you would plan for them to happen," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Obama aides say they see opportunities for the president's economic message to break through, starting with a bipartisan meeting with lawmakers this Tuesday. The top issue will be what to do about the Bush-era tax cuts set to expire at year's end. Obama also plans to take a few more domestic trips through the end of the year to discuss the economy.

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said he doesn't believe the public is looking for the president to take an all-or-nothing approach to the economy.

"The American people understand that we have both domestic and international issues that have to be dealt with," Pfeiffer said. "The public expects that's what he's doing."

The recent burst of activity on the foreign policy front comes after an election that saw international issues seldom discussed, and a year that saw Obama spend just three days abroad, having traveled to the Czech Republic and Afghanistan in April.

Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary for President George W. Bush, said it's too soon to tell whether a November filled with foreign policy following an election focused on the economy will hurt the current administration. But he said the ease with which world events can trump an administration's agenda is "a vivid reminder of how much more complicated and multifaceted governing is than campaigning."

While incidents such as North Korea's attack on South Korea were out of the administration's control, some of the shift toward foreign policy has been of the White House's making, most notably Obama's 10-day, four-country trip to Asia. Officials hoped Obama could use his popularity abroad to improve his standing following his self-proclaimed "shellacking" in the vote this month.

Former presidents have used a similar playbook, in part because political opponents at home traditionally refrain from criticizing the commander in chief while he's representing the U.S. on foreign soil.

But Obama's trip to Asia produced mixed results at best. While he made progress toward the U.S. gaining a foothold in emerging economies such as India and Indonesia, he failed to secure a highly sought-after free trade agreement with South Korea and couldn't rally wide-ranging international support for action against China's currency manipulation.

Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said Obama could have better kept the focus on the U.S. economy when he was overseas if he had delivered on some of those objectives.

"It's OK to send the president abroad if he brings back agreements that are good for the U.S.," he said. "The president's problem was that he wasn't able to bring back the good news he had hoped."

The White House was more pleased with the results of the recent NATO summit in Portugal, where Obama was seen as playing a pivotal role in the alliance securing agreements on the Afghanistan war and missile defense. Obama also received overwhelming international support for Senate ratification of a new arms control treaty with Russia.

Yet that treaty has proved to be another example of foreign policy threatening to trump Obama's message on the economy. Despite the White House's insistence that the lame-duck session of Congress would focus on initiatives to help the recovery, much of the conversation in Washington now is about whether lawmakers will hand Obama a victory on an issue he says is vital to the future of the U.S. relationship with Russia.

Happiness is...

For years, people have assumed their happiness was tied to things like personal success, good health, inner peace, or perhaps the ability to finally fit into a pair of size 4 jeans.

Now new research suggests a person’s happiness — or lack thereof — may actually depend on something else entirely: their spouse.

According to a study in the latest issue of the American Psychological Association’s journal Developmental Psychology, a person’s individual happiness is closely tied with that of their spouse — at least when it comes to long-term married couples.

Happiness waxes and wanes
“What we saw over a long period of time is that if one spouse changed in terms of increasing happiness, the other spouse’s happiness would go up,” says Christiane Hoppmann, professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia and lead author of the study. “And if there was a dip in happiness, this dip would also affect the respective spouse.

Data for the happiness study was gleaned from the Seattle Longitudinal Study which, since 1956, has followed more than 6,000 individuals, tapping them for insights into their life satisfaction, personality, and health issues. Researchers at UBC, the University of Washington and Penn State sifted through the data to find responses from 178 married couples — some together as long as 35 years — and compared their happiness ratings.

For better or for worse, the couples’ happiness jibed. Hoppmann says this new research could help future studies better understand the underpinnings of what actually makes a person happy.

“Oftentimes, large surveys will ask individuals of different ages ‘How happy are you?’ and ask other kinds of things that might contribute to happiness,” she says. “What we’ve shown is that when you ask people about their happiness, you need to involve significant others, meaningful others who share important experiences, who live at the same place, who might be stressed by similar stressors.”

But the research also brings up additional questions.

“Right now, we know that happiness is tied in marital relationships,” says Hoppmann. “But we don’t know yet whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. We can’t tell if one spouse lifts up the other when there’s trouble or whether one spouse drags the other down. It could be both.”

Ups and downs
Silvana Clark, a 57-year-old professional speaker from Bellingham, Wash., says it’s usually been the former when it comes to her 33-year marriage.

“I’d say 90 percent of the time we’re both upbeat,” she says “But there are times when we’re down. When he’s kind of down, I pick him up a little bit and when I get to feeling down, he does the same for me.”

Rochelle Peachy, a 46-year-old entrepreneur from Orlando, Fla., says she experienced the opposite effect in her first marriage (she’s been happily remarried for 10 years).

“My ex-husband and I were together for seven years and he was very moody,” she says. “He would come into the house miserable and would just schlump around. And I’d be like, ‘What’s wrong?’ and he’d be like ‘Nothing.’ It would drive me crazy. He would have this grumpy face and I wouldn’t know why and would keep asking. Until in the end, I didn’t care what was wrong.”

Hoppmann says while her study solely focused on long-term married couples, she is curious what her findings might mean with regard to people who divorce or who stay single.

“It’s a key question in a world where not all relationships last,” she says. “We’ve looked at a certain group of individuals who happen to be long-term married and this is what we found. But it’s only the first piece of the puzzle. It’s quite possible that this phenomenon could happen in friendships or with individuals who share a lot of joint experiences. But it’s pure speculation at this point.”

Up to the individual?
Alan Clark, a 59-year-old property manager (and husband of Silvana Clark) says he’s not all surprised to learn that long-term married couples’ happiness waxes and wanes together.

“I’ve seen where couples will grow alike as they grow older,” he says. “They’ll have the same mannerisms and will almost start to look similar after being married a long time.”

But he also believes true happiness is, in the end, up to the individual.

“I figured out early in our relationship that I was not responsible for my wife’s happiness,” he says. “I was responsible for setting up all the conditions for her to be happy – being kind, respectful, interesting, doing the things she likes to do, etc. But there’s nothing I can really do to force her into happiness. And the same goes for her.

“It’s not her job to make me happy,” he says. “She can lay down all the circumstances for me to be happy. But it’s my responsibility to have happiness within my heart.” 

Hillary Clinton Ordered U.S. Diplomats to Spy on UN Leaders

Hillary Clinton ordered American officials to spy on high ranking UN diplomats, including British representatives.

Top secret cables revealed that Mrs Clinton, the Secretary of State, even ordered diplomats to obtain DNA data – including iris scans and fingerprints - as well as credit card and frequent flier numbers.

All permanent members of the security council – including Russia, China, France and the UK – were targeted by the secret spying mission, as well as the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon.

Work schedules, email addresses, fax numbers, website identifiers and mobile numbers were also demanded by Washington.

The U.S. also wanted ‘biographic and biometric information on UN Security Council permanent representatives’.

The secret 'national human intelligence collection directive' was sent to embassies and consulates around the world.

The request could break international law and threatens to derail any trust between the U.S. and other powerful nations.

Requests for IT related information – such as details of passwords, personal encryption keys and network upgrades - could also raise suspicions that the U.S. was preparing to mount a hacking operation.

It is set to lead to international calls for Mrs Clinton to resign. The fishing expedition was ordered by Mrs Clinton in July 2009, but followed similar demands made by her predecessor, Condoleeza Rice.

The secret documents were simply signed 'Clinton' and 'Rice'.

Mrs Clinton called for biometric details ‘on key UN officials, to include undersecretaries, heads of specialised agencies and their chief advisers, top SYG [secretary general] aides, heads of peace operations and political field missions, including force commanders’.

She also wanted intelligence on Ban Ki-Moon’s ‘management and decision-making style and his influence on the secretariat’.

Cables were sent to U.S. embassies in the UN, Middle East, Eastern Europe and Latin America. America has always handed over information about top foreign officials to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

But the request by Mrs Clinton paves the way for officials to be more closely spied upon, with even their travel plans tracked by U.S. diplomats.

In what could discredit the U.S.’s role in the Middle East peace process, missions in Israel, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt were asked to gather biometric information ‘on key Palestinian Authority and Hamas leaders and representatives, to include the young guard inside Gaza, the West Bank’.

Details of the US spying mission were sent to the CIA, the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI under the heading ‘collection requirements and tasking’.

International treaties ban spying at the UN. The 1946 UN convention on privileges and immunities states: ‘The premises of the United Nations shall be inviolable. The property and assets of the United Nations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference, whether by executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action.’

The American ambassador to Britain, Louis Susman said he ‘condemned’ the disclosures and that the U.S. government was ‘taking steps to prevent future security breaches’.

He also claimed the disclosures had 'the very real potential to harm innocent people" but insisted the cables ‘should not be seen as representing U.S. policy on their own’.

He said the leaks were ‘harmful to the U.S. and our interests’ adding, ‘However, I am confident that our uniquely productive relationship with the UK will remain close and strong, focused on promoting our shared objectives and values.

U.S. State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said Mrs Clinton had warned leaders in Britain, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and China about the cables, revealed by investigators at the Wikileaks website. Canada, Denmark, Norway and Poland had also been warned.

ALERT: New Facebook Revolving Images Scam Spreading

A new scam is spreading through Facebook via the use of small javascript code snippets which users are enticed to enter in order to reveal a “Facebook revolving images” feature.

  For those interested in how the exploit works, it’s relatively straight forward. The user is promised a “revolving images” feature as pictured below. All they need to do is copy and paste a piece of javascript into their browser. While they do receive random revolving images of their friends, in the background the script goes to find their “Email Upload Address”.

Right now the scam appears to be spreading via the following sites:

• http://revolvingimages.info/fb/
• http://kewlpics.tk/
• http://itsmajic.tk/

While the damage is currently limited, Aditya Punjani, a developer, sent us the following code which illustrates how the new exploit can produce greater damage. While this scam doesn’t appear to be generating any massive damage, limiting updates to users’ statuses, this could evolve into a bigger scam over time. We’ll be interested to see how this evolves.
Make sure not to click any of the links which offer the “Facebook revolving images” feature!

Indonesia's Cultural Heritage Needs Preservation

JAKARTA - UNESCO has pointed out that many forms of intangible cultural heritage are in danger of extinction. Therefore, governments, non-governmental and local organizations are encouraged to appraise, protect and utilize their national heritage in order to maintain the cultural diversity of all countries, within the overall trend of globalization.

And for Indonesia to protect the objects involved and to prevent them from being claimed by other countries, it should have a cultural heritage data center. Damos Dumoli Agusman, Indonesian consul general in Frankfurt, Germany, said here on Friday a cultural heritage data center was needed not only for data collection or archiving but also for protecting Indonesia’s intellectual property rights.

"The data center is needed to protect our cultural heritage and intellectual property rights and to prevent them from being claimed by other countries," said Damos, who is Indonesia to attend a national seminar on intellectual property rights in Bandung, West Java, on November 25-26, 2010.
   
According to Damos, the seminar was organized in cooperation with the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Culture and Tourism Ministry, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The World Intellectual Property Organization - created in 1967 to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world - is one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations.

According to Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, WIPO currently has 184 member states, administers 24 international treaties, and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. WIPO was formally created by the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, which entered into force on April 26, 1970.

Under Article 3 of this Convention, WIPO seeks to "promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world." WIPO became a specialized agency of the UN in 1974. Therefore Damos said Indonesia has been cooperating with WIPO in a bid to protect and preserve the national cultural heritage through capacity building and transfer of technology.

Indonesian cultural heritage items which have been recognized by UNESCO include  Batik, the Angklung (traditional musical instrument made of  bamboo, Wayang (traditional Javanese puppets featuring in shadow plays), Gamelan (tradition percussion music instrument from f Bali and Java). In October 2009, UNESCO officially recognized Batik as an Indonesian cultural treasure.

During a meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Intangible Heritage, held from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2, 2009 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, UNESCO  made public its decision to recognize Batik as a unique hallmark of Indonesia’s heritage. In February 2010, UNESCO  awarded Indonesia four certificates, three stating that it recognized three intangible cultural heritages and one stating its recognition of the country’s efforts to preserve its culture.

The three intangible cultural heritages were batik, a method of decorating fabric with a special dyeing techniques producing specific patterns, wayang, a traditional shadow puppet play, and kris, a traditional ceremonial dagger. The certificates were symbolically handed by Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, to Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik and Coordinating Public Welfare Minister Agung Laksono.

After the awards were given, Agung said, the country should preserve the heritage to prevent the recognition from being withdrawn.  Then at the fifth Session of the Inter-Governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (IGC-ICH) in Nairobi, Kenya, on Nov 17, 2010, UNESCO decided to include Angklung in its list of intangible cultural heritage.

The angklung now joins the wayang (the Javanese shadow puppet theater), the keris (the Javanese ceremonial dagger) and batik among the Indonesian representatives in the list. I Gusti Ngurah Putra, a spokesman for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said the government welcomed the recognition granted by the UNESCO.

"The reason the angklung was inscribed to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity is because it has deep philosophical values for humanity, such as cooperation, respect and social harmony," he said.
  
In addition to the four items Indonesia now boasts on the list of intangible cultural heritage, the country also has seven sites on Unesco’s list of world heritage sites.
  
Three of them -- the Borobudur monument, the Prambanan temple complex and the Sangiran Early man site, all in Central Java -- are on the list of world cultural heritage. The other four -- the Komodo, Lorentz and Ujung Kulon national parks, as well as the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra -- are listed as world natural heritage.
  
In the light of all these, Damos Dumoli Agusman said all elements in Indonesia should realize the importance of archiving and the national cultural heritage.
 
"We should begin to realize the importance of archiving our national cultural objects to make other countries think twice before wanting to claim them," Damos said.
   
He said the government was currently collecting data on national cultural  heritage items from Sabang to Merauke using  WIPO methods.

Global Crises Overshadow Obama's Economic Message

WASHINGTON– Foreign policy challenges are intruding on President Barack Obama's promise to focus on the economy after the Democrats' election debacle and threatening to knock the White House off message altogether.

The escalation of tensions between North and South Korea this past week capped a postelection period that included two presidential trips abroad, discussions about America's future in Afghanistan and a debate in Washington over Senate ratification of a nuclear treaty with Russia.

The risk for Obama is that the capital and energy spent on a foreign crisis can undermine the perception that he's working on the public's top priority: finding jobs at home for Americans.

White House officials say the international focus hasn't diminished the amount of time Obama spends working on the economy. Aides acknowledge that events abroad can make it more difficult to spotlight Obama's economic message — one of an economy on a slow but steady march toward recovery, and a president aware that his political future rests on his ability to speed that recovery.

Take Obama's trip to Kokomo, Ind., last Tuesday, his first domestic trip since the Nov. 2 elections.

By the time Obama arrived at a Chrysler plant to promote the revival of the U.S. auto industry, attention had turned to how the White House would respond to North Korea's artillery attack against a South Korean island.

"You learn quickly as president that there are events that happen like North Korea that you have to address as they happen, not how you would plan for them to happen," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Obama aides say they see opportunities for the president's economic message to break through, starting with a bipartisan meeting with lawmakers this Tuesday. The top issue will be what to do about the Bush-era tax cuts set to expire at year's end. Obama also plans to take a few more domestic trips through the end of the year to discuss the economy.

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said he doesn't believe the public is looking for the president to take an all-or-nothing approach to the economy.

"The American people understand that we have both domestic and international issues that have to be dealt with," Pfeiffer said. "The public expects that's what he's doing."

The recent burst of activity on the foreign policy front comes after an election that saw international issues seldom discussed, and a year that saw Obama spend just three days abroad, having traveled to the Czech Republic and Afghanistan in April.

Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary for President George W. Bush, said it's too soon to tell whether a November filled with foreign policy following an election focused on the economy will hurt the current administration. But he said the ease with which world events can trump an administration's agenda is "a vivid reminder of how much more complicated and multifaceted governing is than campaigning."

While incidents such as North Korea's attack on South Korea were out of the administration's control, some of the shift toward foreign policy has been of the White House's making, most notably Obama's 10-day, four-country trip to Asia. Officials hoped Obama could use his popularity abroad to improve his standing following his self-proclaimed "shellacking" in the vote this month.

Former presidents have used a similar playbook, in part because political opponents at home traditionally refrain from criticizing the commander in chief while he's representing the U.S. on foreign soil.

But Obama's trip to Asia produced mixed results at best. While he made progress toward the U.S. gaining a foothold in emerging economies such as India and Indonesia, he failed to secure a highly sought-after free trade agreement with South Korea and couldn't rally wide-ranging international support for action against China's currency manipulation.

Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said Obama could have better kept the focus on the U.S. economy when he was overseas if he had delivered on some of those objectives.

"It's OK to send the president abroad if he brings back agreements that are good for the U.S.," he said. "The president's problem was that he wasn't able to bring back the good news he had hoped."

The White House was more pleased with the results of the recent NATO summit in Portugal, where Obama was seen as playing a pivotal role in the alliance securing agreements on the Afghanistan war and missile defense. Obama also received overwhelming international support for Senate ratification of a new arms control treaty with Russia.

Yet that treaty has proved to be another example of foreign policy threatening to trump Obama's message on the economy. Despite the White House's insistence that the lame-duck session of Congress would focus on initiatives to help the recovery, much of the conversation in Washington now is about whether lawmakers will hand Obama a victory on an issue he says is vital to the future of the U.S. relationship with Russia.

Facebook Launches New Friend Browser

In an effort to help people discover more of their friends, Facebook has updated their find friends browser. The tool, which allows people to find existing friends, has gone through a number of changes in the past few months.

This latest version is clean and is extremely effective at browsing through friends based on various Facebook profile details, including the schools you attended, your hometown, and more. The new tool is currently accessible here. While Facebook previously suggested friends, the model has evolved to enable users to more efficiently discover friends that they already know.
By default the browser shows those individuals who you are most likely to know, most often ranked by mutual friends as well as other factors that aren’t clear. The most significant aspect of this new page is how fast it loads. You simply load it up and can just scroll through indefinitely, browsing through people who you are most likely to know. It’s a pretty slick tool and it’s one that I’m sure many users will find to be useful.

North Korea Ready to Annihilate South Korea

North Korea on Friday (11/26/2010) through its official media warned, the U.S.and South Korean naval training plan will bring the peninsula closer to war.

North Korean communist regime on Tuesday, firing cannons and rockets into the South Korean island Yeongpyeong that killed four people.
Pyongyang claimed that the shots that were a reply after South Korea held military exercises.
U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington on Friday toward the Korean peninsula where the U.S. and South Korea plans to hold naval exercises during four days in the Yellow Sea began Sunday.
Washington said the war games had been designed before the attack happened on Tuesday.
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in his article on Friday, commenting on the plan that the war exercises with the sentence-war imperialist forces like the U.S. and Korean dolls and exercises intended to incite war.
The media also wrote"The situation on the Korean Peninsula inched closer to the brink of war because the reckless plan."

U.S. Airport Security Staff Singled Her out for Her Breasts

Singled out: Eliana Sutherland, pictured at Disneyland, claimed she was subjected to additional security screening because of her breasts

A woman has complained that new US airport security measures saw her picked out for further screening because of her breasts. Eliana Sutherland was flying from Orlando International Airport and said she felt violated by security workers.

It was the latest revelation to hit the Transportation Security Administration which imposed the checks and whose officers have been on the receiving end of a series of allegations. Her claims come after thousands of Americans reacted furiously to the imposition of new airport security measures, including full body scans and hands-on patdowns.

And experiences like those described by Sutherland could see increased support for boycott of the TSA's controversial checks. Sutherland told her local news station that two male TSA workers had been staring at her chest and singled her out for additional screening.

'It was pretty obvious. One of the guys that was staring me up and down was the one who pulled me over,' she said. 'Not a comfortable feeling.'

Privacy-invasion claims like Sutherland's have become increasingly common since the TSA introduced the full body scan. Colleen Moskaly went through a full body scan recently while her security agents performed a pat-down on her infant son.

She said, "I'm not good with people touching me and touching my son. The only person that sees the screen is the security guy."

The TSA has stressed that people are chosen for additional screening at random and strictly for security reasons. Many travellers had threatened to boycott the security measures as part of a National Opt Out Day organised by a number of protest websites.

Protests - coupled with widespread snow and storms - could have led to major disruption for Thanksgiving passengers. But reports from airports across the U.S. suggested passengers had chosen not to take part in the planned protests.

The apparent calm at followed a plea from the head of the Transport Security Administration's (TSA) plea to passengers not to boycott airport body scans. John Pistole has said he understood public concerns about privacy in the wake of the TSA's tough new airline boarding security checks.

But he said that only a small portion of the 34 million people who have flown since the new procedures have taken effect have had the body patdowns. He has pledged to review security procedures but says the TSA must balance people's demands for privacy with the need to protect passengers from terror threats.

U.S. Secreary of State Hillary Clinton waded into the row earlier this week by saying she would avoid a TSA patdown if she could. The former First Lady said she understood 'how offensive it could be' for airport passengers and called for less intrusive procedures to be introduced.

President Barack Obama has also said he understood the frustrations of passengers, though admitted he does not have to submit to the TSA procedures himself. According to a new USA Today/Gallup poll, 57 per cent of air travellers are 'bothered or angry' about the TSA pat-downs and dislike the alternative of a full body scan.

Moving Speech about Diana at Prince William's Wedding

 

Tribute: From left, Earl Spencer, Prince William, Prince Harry and Prince Charles look at the coffin of Diana, during her funeral. William has asked the Earl to represent his mother at his wedding  

Earl Spencer is planning to make a speech at Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton, the Daily Mail has learned. At William’s request, Charles Spencer will talk about his late sister Diana during the ceremony, the earl’s daughter Lady Kitty Spencer has told friends.

Lady Kitty, 19, could also be made one of Kate’s bridesmaids as the prince tries to heal the rift between the Spencers and the royals, the teenager has claimed. It is not clear whether the earl’s words would be delivered at Westminster Abbey on April 29, or during one of two receptions afterwards.

But the spectre of him returning to speak at the Abbey 14 years after he used his sister’s funeral to launch a blistering attack on the way he believed the Royal Family treated her is likely to fill the Queen with foreboding.

In thinly-veiled digs during the 1997 eulogy, he spoke of how Diana, who had been stripped of her royal status, ‘needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic’ and said her sons should ‘not simply (be) immersed by duty and tradition’.

William, 28, will check the wording to ensure there is no repeat of the speech, a source said. Lady Kitty, a student, told a friend in her home town of Cape Town that William wants her father to ‘represent his sister, and to talk about her at the wedding’.

A source close to Lady Kitty – the eldest of the earl’s six children – told the Mail: ‘Kitty said Charles Spencer and William have a good, solid relationship and it’s very important for William that his mother is at his wedding, so to speak. He made the point by giving his mother’s ring to his future bride.’

It is understood that royal aides are due to meet the 46-year-old earl and members of the Spencer family in London before Christmas to discuss their involvement.

William and his brother Harry are friends with the earl’s four children by his marriage to Victoria Lockwood – Lady Kitty, 18-year-old twins Lady Eliza and Lady Amelia, and the Honourable Louis Frederick, 16. After splitting from his first wife in 1997, he remarried four years later. He had two children with Caroline Freud before he filed for divorce in 2006.

A St James’s Palace aide said: ‘The Spencers will inevitably have a prominent role at the wedding as guests – they are blood family after all. At the moment anything else is speculation, as Prince William and Miss Middleton have yet to make these sorts of decisions.’

Earl Spencer, through his solicitor, declined to comment yesterday. But last week he described the engagement as ‘wonderful news’.

Andi Arief Twitter Account Hacked

Indonesia, Many Twitter users surprised since this morning saw chirp (tweet) Andi Arief, Special Staff of the President Division of Natural Disasters. Because, the sentences are unlike usual and not informative as usual delivered via accounts @ AndiAriefNew.

"Wow this account apparently hijacked yes?" write @ ndorokakung aka Wicaksono. According to him, since at 04.00 pm, Andi Arief account the timeline a bit strange. "What wrong with your account, it's really weird? Hacked?" write @ Fadjroel, Fadroel Rachman's account.

How not strange, Andi Arief was suddenly writing "Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk", "Merapi error, cold bromo rights," "Life cayus uh Gaius", and even sentences that make fun of Andi Arief and harsh words. Moreover, it even wrote, "Tomorrow, tsunami hit Jakarta."

Supriyatno Akuat staff of Andi Arief, wrote "Since dawn this twitter account owned by Andi Arief, Special Staff of Presidential Affairs and Disaster Bansos, hacked by someone. A lot of untrue messages written by the hacker. Please inform the other. Thx."

He also requested that the hacker who hijacked the account to immediately return it. "You, who hack Andi Arief twitter account, please return it! You're not playing politics with elegant! Coward!"

Andi Arief diligently to update the disaster-related information. From early warning information, earthquake prediction, the status of the volcano, including disaster response efforts that are underway. He also occasionally use those accounts to inform their activities and communicate with other Twitter users.

Not only this time official account was hijacked hackers. Previously, facebook account of former Chairman of the Constitutional Court Jimly Ashiddiqie also hijacked and used to sell laptops.

Hugo Chavez Twitter Account Hacked

There's some suspicion that hackers have penetrated a Twitter account Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

"These accounts have shown irregularities since 22 September 2009 and at least three messages in @ chavezcandanga not written by President Hugo Chavez," said El Aissami Tareck, Interior Minister of Venezuela.

"They entered without permission," added the minister.

Disturbances in Twitter account is being repaired so that President Chavez of Venezuela was able to continue sending the message, on the eve of important elections in order to renew the National Assembly of Venezuela.

Venezuelan officials have requested the help of the United States to conduct an investigation by the administrator of the famous social networking.

Chavez received hundreds of messages on Twitter every day and has more than 850,000 followers.

Expose Abusing Boyfriend on Facebook

This 19-year-old first pressed charges against her (ex) boyfriend and then uploaded pictures of her bruises to her profile. The idea, she says, is not only to expose him to all their friends, but to also encourage other girls undergoing abuse to stand up for themselves.

Daiana Sperdutti, a 19-year-old from Mendoza, Argentina, was at the park last Friday night when her boyfriend, Rodrigo Zapata, began going through her text messages. He flew into a rage, accused her of betrayal, and attacked her. It would be the last time. Daiana reported him to the authorities, but then she did something else: she uploaded pictures of her bruised body to Facebook, set her profile picture to one of them, and wrote: “Someone who claims to love you cannot do this to you. I’m uploading these pictures to give courage to other girls who have gone or are still going through what I’ve been through.”

According to an Argentinean national newspaper, La Nacion, Rodrigo is a player of the Deportivo Maipu soccer team in Mendoza, and Daiana is the daughter of the president of said team. Their relationship had been abusive for a while, but Daiana’s family was unaware of the violence until now. Her father has commented that Mr. Zapata is no longer part of the Deportivo Maipu.

Daiana also told Argentina’s public television broadcaster, Canal 7, that she hadn’t spoken out before because she “was afraid” and thought “he would change.” Since publicly exposing him on Facebook, dozens of strangers have been messaging her and telling her their stories. “They should speak out too,” she urged them.

On her wall, friends and strangers flocked her page to give her their support and encourage other abused girls to speak out. One of her friends said, “Dear friend, I love that you had the courage and strength to expose this and say that it isn’t right. No one has the right to hit someone else.”

Animal Abuse on Facebook

 

Authorities are investigating an animal control shelter after photos of workers mistreating the animals were posted to Facebook.

The photos, which were posted to Facebook back in August, were only recently brought to the attention of investigators after a member of an animal advocacy group noticed them. One photo shows a ferret without any of its fur and the caption “Someone thought it would be funny to Nair” the ferret. Another shows a cat with a cigarette in its mouth and a knife between its paws. The third photo shows a cat with a pen in its mouth and the caption “Angry kitty wants to write you a note.” The animals appear to be tranquilized in the photos.

Both cats were euthanized, according to a police spokesperson, though it’s not clear whether the euthanasia occurred before or after the photos were taken. The ferret was later adopted.

Susan Boyer, a vet technician at the clinic, defended the photos, saying, “There was not one bit of animal cruelty involved with that,” and that the photos were just instances of “bad judgment” by good workers. ”I compare that to if you’ve ever put your dog or cat in a Halloween costume. You’ve done the same thing.”

But Samantha Laine, a local animal rescuer who was involved in exposing the case, disagrees. She, along community members and supporters reaching as far as Europe, have created an online petition to demand reform at the shelter.

Facebook has been making headlines recently as an increasing means for authorities around the globe to launch investigations. Just this week we wrote about the Israeli Army using Facebook to catch draft-dodgers.

Patrick Cannon, Charlotte’s Mayor Pro Tem, said that his office has been receiving hundreds of calls and emails from concerned locals. Disciplinary actions against the workers involved cannot be disclosed until Monday at the earliest, according to police attorney Mark Newbold.

What people do on Facebook varies by gender, at least among college students and recent graduates, a new study finds.

Both groups share content and communicate about it, but young women focus on friends and family, while young men address pop culture, news and current events.

While many of the recent news stories about this study suggest that the gender patterns apply to all age groups, no such thing appears anywhere in the findings posted online by Professor S. Craig Watkins of the University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Radio, Television and Film.

This study co-authored with PhD candidate H. Erin Lee has a very specific focus that got buried in a lot of the press reports:

We focus on a key period in many young people’s lives: the transition from college to the paid workforce. In that relatively short window of time a number of life changing decisions are on the horizon: career, where to live, and starting a family just to name a few.

That gives an important context to these findings, and makes me wonder whether these gender patterns apply to people over, say, age 25.

When I was the same age as the people targeted in the study, my communications habits conformed to the pattern typical of my gender — except that during the late 80s and early 90s, we were doing this mostly offline and a limited amount of email. But now the way I communicate on Facebook is proably a mix of both gender patterns identified by the researchers.

Who knows whether the way I use Facebook is typical for my age and gender? No one can know without further study. And that’s what I’m calling out here: Research focused on a specific age group probably doesn’t provide conclusive evidence about people of all ages.

That ought not minimize the coolness of these study’s findings. They certainly give marketers a goldmine of information on how to appeal to young people. I’d just like to see research on what the rest of the Facebook community is doing.

Obama's Custom Social Network

The recent years have seen a lot of entrepreneurs moving to online platforms to grow their business. Specifically, by using social media websites to establish a profile and brand for their company online. The importance of using social networking sites has become apparent to business owners, but unfortunately a lot of bad advice is out there on how to grow a custom social network.

I've spent five years studying and participating in social networking websites, and can tell you that most of the "new" advice out there on social media marketing is wrong! In fact, "experts" are having you chase around things that can have little growth affect on your business. So what's the key to social media success? To use social networking websites to build and foster a community!

One of the most important justifications I've ever seen behind this was with Barack Obama's 2008 political campaign. The election was the first to massively use social networking sites to connect with people. No matter what your political views are, his case is a case worth studying when trying to figure out how to launch your social networking campaign.

His campaign leaders recognized the importance of social networking (which later polls would show was one of the key reasons he won) early on in the election. They went out and actually hired one of Facebook's co-founders, Chris Hughes, to run the online portion of their campaign. Now remember, we are dealing with a people who had millions of advertising dollars at hand, and almost unlimited resources and technology to reach out to people. Hughes, however, knew what Facebook (and all social networking sites) was designed for and launched a different campaign idea.

His main focus was to build a strong social community around Obama. He set up the main website for Obama as its own custom social network, allowing people to register and design profiles based around the candidate, and to invite their friends to participate. Hughes knew the importance of viral marketing, and the importance of giving people the controlled power to promote their thoughts and ideas (centered on the candidate's ideas). Hughes made sure that all of Obama's Facebook, Twitter, pod casts, and other social media forums reflected the same goal, to build an online community for the offline election.

Now, Hughes did use paid advertising on Facebook, but only after the initial community had been set up. The secret to Barack Obama's online success was through building an online community around his ideas and campaigns. Hughes knew that social networking websites were designed for people to interact in online communities, and structured Obama's presence accordingly. When you build a community around your business, you're giving people the power to do all the work for you, like in Obama's case.

As Obama's campaign ended, Chris Hughes came forward with the numbers he generated for the campaign. The users on his website had created more than 2 million profiles, partook in the planning of over 200,000 offline events, formed 35,000 separate groups, posted nearly 400,000 blogs, and raised $30 million on 70,000 personal fund raising pages.

Instead of trying to sell to the community that is already online looking for your product or service, you need to become a part of that community, as the expert (or a expert) in your niche. Once you have established a community around your business, you will be able to grow (and sell) your business in ways that people only imagined before.

US Warships Sent in to Support The South

 

The nuclear-powered USS George Washington leaves Yokosuka U.S. Naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, November 24, 2010. The U.S. aircraft carrier will join a U.S.-South Korean military drill in waters off the west coast of the Korean peninsula, Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday, quoting the South Korean Defense Ministry. 

HE US President, Barack Obama, and the South Korean President, Lee Myung-bak, have agreed to hold joint military exercises this weekend as a first response to North Korea's deadly shelling of a military installation in the South.
The US and South Korea are both struggling for the second time this year to keep a North Korean provocation from escalating into war. The announcement came as the bodies of two civilian men in their 60s were found on the island attacked by the North, taking the death toll to four.
The joint military exercise in the Yellow Sea, not far from where the shelling occurred, will include sending the aircraft carrier George Washington and a number of accompanying ships into the region. This is to deter further attacks by the North and to signal to China that unless it reins in its unruly ally it will see an even larger US presence in the vicinity.
The decision came after Mr Obama attended an emergency session in the White House Situation Room and then emerged to call Mr Lee to express American solidarity and talk about a co-ordinated response.
The decision to send the aircraft carrier came as the South Korean military went into what it termed "crisis status". Mr Lee said he would order strikes on a North Korean base if there were indications of new attacks.
The South's Defence Minister, Kim Tae-young, said the country would deploy more artillery on the island. ''We have six K-9 self-propelled guns deployed at Yeonpyeong island and we plan to bring in more of them,'' Mr Kim told parliament.
''We will also replace 105mm howitzers with self-propelled guns which have a longer range,'' the Yonhap news agency quoted the minister as telling parliament's defence committee. The South also said it was suspending flood aid to the North.
The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, called on China to use its influence to force North Korea's dictatorial regime to resile from its ''provocative'' military acts.
Her comments came as the Foreign Affairs Minister, Kevin Rudd, held a meeting in his parliamentary office with the Chinese ambassador, Chen Yuming, about the shelling. ''I am, and the government is, deeply concerned by [the] artillery attack on the Republic of Korea, which is a great friend of Australia,'' Ms Gillard said.

North Korean artillery shells fell on Yeonpyeong Island, a fishing community whose residents fled by ferry to the mainland city of Inchon, the site of South Korea's main international airport.
A senior US official said that an early assessment indicated that about 175 artillery shells were fired by the North and by the South in response on Tuesday.
A US official who had looked at satellite images said there was no visible evidence of preparations for a general war. Historically, the North's attacks have been lightning raids, after which they back off to watch the world's reaction. This one came just hours after the South Koreans had completed a long-planned set of military exercises, suggesting that the attack was a "premeditated" response, a senior American official said.
Yeonpyeong Island lies between the 1953 armistice line and the Northern Limit Line set by UN and US forces. The North has never agreed with this line and considers the armistice line as the border. Both Tuesday's shelling and the sinking of the South Korean navy ship Cheonan on March 26 occurred in territory claimed by the North and South.
The South put its fighter planes on alert, but, tellingly, did not put them in the air or strike at the North's artillery bases.
Just 11 days before, North Korea had invited a US nuclear scientist to Yongbyon, its main nuclear site, and showed him what was described as a just-completed centrifuge plant that, if fully operational, should enable North Korea to enrich uranium into nuclear fuel and add to its arsenal of eight to 12 nuclear weapons.
Taken together, the nuclear demonstration and the attack were widely interpreted as an effort to bolster the credentials of Kim Jong-un, the heir apparent, as the country's leader.
"They have a 60-year history of military provocations - it's in their DNA," said an Obama administration official. "What we are trying to do is break the cycle."

Indonesia May Withdraw Garuda Flights if Glitch Persists

Indonesia may withdraw Garuda Indonesia's rights to operate some flights if the national carrier fails to fix a system glitch by Thursday which has resulted in the cancellation of some services, said a senior official at the Transport Ministry.

“We still give them time until tomorrow, but if the problems persist we will take firm action...We will cut their (number of) flights, and this also goes for all airlines,“ Director General of Air Transports Herry Bakti told reporters Wednesday.


He didn't specify whether the measures, if put in place, would be temporary or permanent, or which flights might be targeted. Garuda has had to cancel twenty flights since Sunday due to a glitch in its crew rotation system that occurred when it switched to a new system, according to an airline spokesman.

He also said that they 80% of the problem has already been resolved, and the airline is on track to meet Thursday's deadline. Garuda Indonesia currently operates a total of 980 flights each week, and is eyeing a $400 million initial public offering next year.

Facebook Used to Trace Israeli Women Pretending to be Religious

About 1000 Israeli women who tried to avoid military service by pretending to be religious have been caught out through their Facebook accounts, an army spokesman said on Tuesday.

By using the popular social networking site, the Israeli military has managed to track down hundreds of women who lied about being religiously observant, Captain Arye Shalicar said.

One woman was caught out after she posted a photograph in which she is seen eating in a non-kosher restaurant, while others were caught wearing revealing clothing, he said. Others were caught out by accepting invitations to parties on a Friday night - which were sent out as bait by firms of private investigators paid to sniff out the fakers.

"If you see someone updating their account on shabbat, it tells you she is using a computer, and probably talking on the phone and watching TV, which is forbidden," he said.

"Today, Facebook is very common and it really helps you see what youngsters are up to," he said, pointing out that eight companies of private investigators were involved in the business of checking out if someone was genuinely observant. Military service is compulsory for Israelis over the age of 18, with men serving three years and women two years.

However, women who sign a declaration saying they eat only kosher food and do not work on the sabbath, are exempt. When a woman submits a statement declaring herself to be religious, the army has 60 days to challenge it.

Indonesian Carrier Fixing Glitch, Flights Grounded

Indonesia’s national carrier is scrambling to fix a computer glitch that has grounded domestic flights for hundreds of passengers.  Garuda Indonesia spokesman Pujobroto said Wednesday the problem started over the weekend when the airline tried to upgrade software for work schedules of its 2,800 pilots and cabin crew.

He said a technician failed to plug in a data cable before the switch and that wiped the system clean. At least 26 domestic flights have been canceled since Sunday.

International flights so far have not been affected.  Garuda has 81 aircraft and operates around 2,000 flights weekly.

Acer Unveils Range of Tablets

Acer, the world's number two PC manufacturer, has unveiled a range of tablet computers to help it compete with Apple's iPad, wading into the fast-growing market. The tablet computer market is becoming crowded as more companies produce the new devices, which fall between traditional PCs and smartphones.

Chief executive Gianfranco Lanci announced at a news conference in New York on Tuesday that the tablets would have 5-, 7-, and 10-inch screens, running on Google's Android software. A second 10-inch tablet will run on Microsoft's Windows.

The company said the Wi-Fi-only models of the tablets would come out in April 2011, while the third-generation (3G)-capable models would arrive about a month later. The 5-inch tablet doubles as a smartphone.

Separately Tuesday, Acer's rival Dell announced a new tablet that runs on Microsoft's Windows software. Acer, based in Taiwan, said it was in talks with US phone carriers for 3G connectivity for its tablets. No prices had been set for the devices, the company added.

"It's a gold rush right now," said NPD analyst Ross Rubin. "Everyone wants to get a tablet product out there."

Apple's iPad, a touchscreen tablet that began selling in April, still has an overwhelming lead in the fledgling market. It controlled 95 per cent of the tablet market in the July-to-September quarter, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

"PC vendors and hardware vendors are looking at this market and saying 'how will I compete with Apple?'" Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said.

Tablet sales are expected to grow to 54 million units in 2011 and to more than 100 million units in 2012, according to a forecast by research firm Gartner.

Acer also unveiled a screen laptop with two 14-inch LCD touch screens called the Iconia, along with a media store and software called Clear.fi that lets customers stream content on different Acer devices.

Dell's new 10-inch touchscreen Inspiron Duo looks and runs like a portable tablet but can also be popped into a laptop shell and used like a traditional notebook, similar to one of the new Acer tablets. The Duo starts at $US550. Dell has already released the 5-inch Streak tablet.

Throwing Eggs at Chariman of House's car

Chairman of the House of Representatives Marzuki Alie car that sweet parked in front of Parliament House Nusantara III, Tuesday (23/11/2010), pelted with rotten eggs by a number of activists calling itself the Petition 28.

They threw eggs after staged a protest "Gaius Wig, SBY's Wig, and House of Representatives's Wig" in the Parliament press room. Dozens of activists stepped out of the room and then go to front yard of Nusantara III Building, where a number of cars parked by high ranking officials. "Parliament is no longer the House of Representatives, but the Council of People's Fraudster. As a symbol, we will throw eggs to the House," shouted Coordinator Petition 28, Harry Roesli.

Unexpectedly, the egg leads to a Toyota Crown Royal Saloon black plates RI 6, which is the official car of Marzuki, and another black sedan next to her plate number B 1732 RFS, which is the official car of the Deputy Chairman of Parliament Pramono Anung.

There are at least five activists who threw the eggs. At that time, Security officer of(Pamdal) House of Representatives immediately securint Harry and his colleagues. They were taken to the Pamdal's post at the front of the Building Complex MPR / DPR / DPD RI.

Petition 28 staged a protest by wearing a colorful wigs when he read the statement. Some of them also wore a face mask with picture of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. They think the law and parliamentary politics has become SBY tools to maintain power and enrich himself and his family.

Mount Bromo Change Status to beware

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Activities of Mount Bromo in Probolinggo, East Java, has increased, from Alert to Beware, on Tuesday (11/23/2010) evening since at 16.30 WIB. This information is conveyed from Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation in the site.

Previously, the status of this mountain with peak reaching 2329 meters above sea level is only increased from alert to beware on Tuesday morning at 08.00 am.

Volcanic earthquake activity in the (VA) and shallow volcanic earthquake (VB) in the area continue to rise. Since November 8, 2010, volcanic tremors can be felt.

November 23, 2010, at 3:00 pm, continuous tremor earthquake with the maximum amplitude of 10-15 mm and 11 mm domination. At 6:51 pm, the tremor earthquake occur continuously with a maximum amplitude of 15 mm. Since at 15:40, an tremor earthquake recorded continuously with a maximum amplitude of 30 mm.

In connection with this Beware status, Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation recommended, for the communities around Bromo to calm and not provoked the issues concerning the eruption of Bromo. Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation is always coordinated with the Provincial Government of East Java (BPBD) and the Government of Probolinggo (as Satlak PB) on the activities of Bromo.

In addition, in order to reduce the risk of Bromo eruption disaster, the community and visitors or tourists or hikers are not allowed to approach within a radius of 3 km from the active crater. Sand sea of the caldera area within a radius of 2.5 km from the active crater must be sterile and closed from community activities and tours.

The Meaning of Assertiveness

Early in the morning, a student came facing the teacher. His faces looked haggard lack of sleep. But his spirit is still burning, it was clear from his eyes. The teacher saw his studnet caming earlier than usual, make him wondered. Especially seeing his faces which clearly seen look haggard. "What is it my student?", The Teacher greet.

"Good Morning Teacher. I'm sorry I came early in the morning. There are student things which student want to ask. Student can't sleep all night because student can not remember the story of Master's yesterday. I agree that the cruel and despotic leaders said to be more evil than the tiger. Tiger prey only when it stomach feel hungry or it life threatened. But humans are more distant than that. Cruel. Greedy. But the students could not understand how a mother chose to stay in the woods, with a very high risk of death. "

"Just because you are thinking about yesterday's story did not sleep all night my disciple?", Asked his teacher. "Oh, certainly not about the story was just Teacher, but linkages. Pupils confuse about assertive, hard and cruel. Leadership is not necessarily smooth, just comply with what the people wants, just become a nice people and so on. Pupils even read the story of Kong Zi Ren Sheng who annoyed and beat feet Yuan Rang, his own old friend whose behavior outrageous and not worthy of praise. "

"Alright my students, one by one I will answer your questions. The mother preferred to live in the jungle with the risk devoured by tiger for three reasons. Firstly as you have to say myself, tiger prey only when disturbed or hungry. But man is more evil, let alone a leader who prey on anyone because of greed and arrogance. "
"Second, the heaviest risk if she meet the tiger is dead. But the die is sheer physical. If she meet someone who is evil, next to death she can also lose her pride and even honor.

For a woman especially. There are many stories about womanizer ruler who casually snatch the honor of the girls and wives of people ", said the teacher continued. Meanwhile, the Crown Prince sat still and listened to teacher.

"Third, this is the most important, the mother and also those of others, often ignoring all danger, when they was already losing hope. What good are living longer thought the mother, when seeing the people who she loved most die one by one? While hopes have died seized by the Lord of cruelty? ".

"Student now understand. Hope is the most important in the life of a human being. People who have lost hope, actually died, although his body was still alive. Living his physique, but his soul is dead. Thank you, Master, today's students receive a new wisdom pearl from the teacher. Being a leader, he must be able to bring hope for who he led. To be able to bring hope, of course, first he must be trusted by all, especially by the one he led ".

"Good, youare a good learner. Every informed about one point, you are able to develop and diligent search for the other three points" Praise The Teacher, citing one of Kong Zi Ren Sheng greeting that very famous, which in essence it was a form of advice for if we were told or given a lesson about something, we must learn it well and continue to be develop it, so the result will be optimal.

"Now I will give examples of the difference between a firm leader, and the leader of the hard and cruel leader. The leader of the firm, sometimes act tough, which might by some people even considered cruel. But between the firm and hard and cruel, no line distinguishing clear, namely: the values, norms, rules, or law. "


"The leader of the firm, courageous decision, though perhaps his choices all heavy and difficult. He dared to take risks, but things would have been through a thorough consideration and measurable, based on the values, norms, rules, and laws. The leader of the firm could make the decision to float sometimes. Not because he hesitant or indecisive, but because he believes that the floating is required at least temporarily, as a strategy to finalize the situation. "
"The hard leaders are a little different. He was more like to make hard decisions, rather than a soft approach. However, although his action is hard, he was not a cruel leader, for all his actions are still based on the values, norms, rules, and laws . Well, beyond that, the only arbitrary with no basis, just wants everything for his own, that's a cruel leader. "

Sugar Cube's Wisdom

Zi Gong or Cu Khong is one of the main student of Ren Sheng Kong Zi. Teacher-pupil relationship is also very close. I was so close, when the death of Kong Zi, Zi Gong lived beside the tomb of his teacher for six years.

While the other disciples who lived in the area of maximal only tomb for three years. If we made a pilgrimage to the tomb of Kong Zi in Qufu, Shandong Peninsula, China, we can see Zi Gong is still stand. Even a tree planted by Zi Gong in the year 479 BC, still remains to this day, though it was in a not intact state. At one point in his life, Zi Gong zi Kong once asked about how one should behave in life. Kong Zi did not respond with mere words. He called Zi Gong went into the kitchen. When Zi Gong confused wait, the teacher was busy preparing the fire and began cooking water. when water begins to boil, Kong Zi out of the house and then go back sarnbil carrying a rock. Then the stone was put into the water when it begins to boil. Kong Zi boiling rock! Zi Gong inwardly wondering about the strangeness of the Master. But he has not dared to talk and silently waiting. After a time of Kong Zi remove the stone and put it on the table. Suddenly, Kong Zi said, "You do not like a stone." Zi Gong gaping mouth, "This stone is so hard, boiled in the boiling hot water make it no less hard. People who like rock, very stiff, feels they are the most right, most whiz and can not be changed. And life is always changing. On top of tall trees There are still clouds. Above the clouds the sky is still there. Above the sky is still there Tian "How can we, ordinary people, may feel themselves the most perfect? "

Zi Gong realized, the teacher was giving a lesson through a simple example. This is what often makes Zi Gong and his brothers so admired the way the Sage taught. The lesson that is so complicated can be desribed very simple. What a great human Guru. He thinks it's make sense why The Sage received a Bachelor and Master's Supreme Court Humanity.

After Zi Gong thoughtful for a moment then asked, "Teacher, how I have to behave?"
Like before, this time Kong Zi was not answered. Adding wood into the fireplace and once again he moved out of the house. Soon after he took a hunk of hardened snow. Without saying a word chunks of snow that inclusion into the turbulent water hot. Within seconds, the snow was melting. Disappeared from view, melted into water. Then Kong Zi said, "You do not like a lump of snow. It seems harsh, character, very principled and unwavering stance, but when tested briefly, everything disappeared. Like criticize others who are not honest, valid sanctimonious, but when faced with a life real, all the idealism destroyed without trace, and finally follow-up corrupt. "

Zi Gong realized. He is now faced with two extremes: hard head versus no opinion. Got a rigid principle versus very flexible principle. He now remembered the advice of the Master before. Too bad the left. Too right is also not good. Too fast is not right. Too slow is not good too. Too advanced, needs brakes. Too slow, need to be encouraged. It is best to Zhong. Middle, right. If possible Zhong Yong, the Perfect Middle.

When the teacher looked at him, smiling. Zi Gong jolted from her reverie. While bowed, Zi Gong again asked, "I understand the explanation of Teachers. But I have not found an answer on how I should respond to life. Please Teacher is pleased to provide further instructions."
As before, Kong Zi was also not answered. Now he got up from his seat and immediately moved. Not to the front house, but to backyard. Not much later the Guru carried two eggs in his hand. One eggs then broke in front of Zi Gong. Zi Gong immediately could see the eggs that had been melted liquid wetting the table. Liquid but thick. The second egg and then incorporated into the boiling water. After a silence long enough, all of a sudden Kong Zi take the eggs out and peel it off. Immediately a fragrant aroma of boiled eggs can be smelled and the cooked egg look white. Eggs are initially liquid and viscous at the time it still raw, has now turned harder after mature. Then Kong Zi said, "You also should not be hard-boiled eggs. Just learn a little, had felt able to master all. Just understand a bit of holy verses, felt it was legitimate to monopoly on truth, and became arrogant."

One by one of his friend's face came to Zi Gong's mind How difficult to find a true learner, who diligently studied tirelessly, able to apply knowledge in everyday life well and remain humble. Not arrogant. He imagined one of the smartest brother's face; Yan Yuan. Presumably he alone deserves to be called a true learner. Nothing wrong if the teacher was so fond of Yan Yuan. He figured Yan Yuan is definitely not a hard-boiled eggs told the Master. To be honest, he was still have boiled egg element. Sometimes int the subconscious, he still likes to boast occasionally. He had to change. The Teacher had been tease him indirectly. Once conscious, his face flushed and then Zi Gong teacher smiled when seeing the smile at his face. As if already konw all the secrets of his heart. But why be ashamed? Is not the Master is already fully understand all the strengths and weaknesses? Without waiting for Zi Gong questions , Kong Zi again rushed to the rear. He picked up a carrot from the garden. As before, and he put the carrots in boiling water. After a time, carrots were also lifted from the cooking water. Along with that Kong Zi was then said, "Zi Gong, you also should not be a boiled carrot."

Zi Gong has a pensive moment. He holding the boiled carrot while trying to test it. Carrots are initially hard, have now become soft. Yet it still can be recognized as a carrot. Why did the teacher say that? Are not carrots symbolizes the versatility, flexibility, yet at the same time not lose solidity to maintain identity? Zi Gong mouth want to excite a lot of words, millions of argument; Yet somehow as if locked.

The Teacher still smiling. "Zi Gong, carrots are flexible, flexible, able to adapt. Amazingly he did not lose him himself. Symbolize how a man hold a firm principle but not stiff. Good 'But, try to see the water. This water remains unchanged. There is no added value. What does it mean? The carrots sacrificed in vain. No change in anything.,,
Zi Gong wide eyes widened, his face radiates joy. He again received enlightenment from a very wise teacher. He really - really lucky to have teachers who are so wise and prudent.

Now Gong zi already do not feel curious again. He seemed satisfied enough with the four examples given teacher. He did not realize that the Guru had already replaced her water, adding fuel wood and water started to boil again. He had regained consciousness when his teacher put a lump of rock sugar in boiling water. Shortly afterwards the Master said, "Be like a sugar cube, my disciple. Her body was crushed like chunks of snow, but not because he did not have principles. It appears that he lost, but actually it was he who wins, the master, which makes the water turn sweet. Let people thought they were a win away, but in fact had been defeated in a clever and subtle. If you can take in and appreciate the philosophical meaning of this rock candy, you will be able to apply in any area throughout your life. That's the answer to the original question, how best attitude in of life. "

Zi Gong's eyes suddenly alight thousands of watts. He was really enlightened. With tears emotion Zi Gong prostrate before the Guru. He held Kong Zi tight legs " Today he has get the priceless pearl of life. He promised to himself, determined to use it in his daily lives and spread it all over the world. Sheng Ren Kong Zi smiled. He looked forward to his disciples, especially Zi Gong and Yan Yuan. In their hands, the future of teaching is expected to grow. He always looked forward to the young generation. Kong Zi expectancy about his students largely come true. Especially about Zi Gong, he grew to be a very successful, both in society, in government and also as a businessman. All that can not be separated from its supple, flexible, yet still hold to the principle. The ability of his diplomacy even several times can cool the situation that occurred in the relationship between kingdom at that time. Not infrequently when Kong Zi was named Minister of the Kingdom of Lu, Gong zi often sent to deal with important matters, serious problems. He was a reliable student.

The Cutting Cloth

Meng Zi, Bing Cu or Mencius, was the great-grandson student Ren Sheng Kong Zi. Master Meng Zi, Zi Si, is a disciple Zeng Zi and Zi Kong as well as biological grandchildren. Zeng Zi himself is a disciple Kong Zi. Meng Zi Ru Jiao is known as an enforcer or Confucianism and regarded as the second wise man in the history of China after Kong Zi.

Meng Zi have great respect for both parents, especially her mother. He has been criticized for committing grand mourning ceremony at her mother's death, beyond a similar ceremony for his father. What actually happened was not differentiate. When his father died, Meng Zi was still immature.

Although with such objective conditions, can not be denied that what Meng Zi has done at least prove two things. The first asserted that there was no difference in treatment of fathers and mothers. Second, the mother of Meng Zi's very role in her children's education. Just as Kong Zi which received great attention from the Holy Mother Yan Zheng Zai in terms of education, the role of Meng Zi's mother to her child's education is so big.

It is reported that Meng Zi's mother decided to move house three times, just because she feel that their home environment is not suitable for the development of the soul and future of her children. Though Meng Zi and her mother lived at the period of 2300 years ago.

Meng Zi's first house adjacent to the burial complex. Because he often play in the complex, as do the children in general, Meng Zi often imitate the behavior of people who are mourning, grieving relatives of loved ones left behind. When her mother saw her child behavior, she began to feel anxious and worried. His mother then decided to move home. This time Meng Zi complex new homes are near the location of the market. Not long after stay in the market environment, the behavior of Meng Zi who like to imitate people who are mourning was gone. His mother was very happy.

But soon the behavior of Meng Zi who likes to be imitated people reappeared. This time he likes to imitate the behavior of sellers and buyers in the market who offer each other with harsh words and sometimes dirty. The situation is certainly make his mother very concerned, who then decided to move again soon to find a better home environment for his son's education. This third house near the school environment. The Mother thinking that she has choose the right environment for the development of the soul and future of their children. The happier her heart when her son started seeing imitate the way people learn. Especially when the child starts to be interested and ask her mother that he want to go the school.

In addition to diligent, Meng Zi is a very intelligent child. His achievement in school is very prominent. Every morning he leaves for school and return to study diligently. But children always want to play, sometimes come a lazy nature. He started playing outside her mother's knowledge. In fact, sometimes he went home before the school day ends. He began to feel bored at school. At first her mother, who every day busy with work weaving cloth, believe it when she hears the reason why his son came home early.

Meng Zi said, because his duties had been completed, then he was allowed to go home early. But the instinct of motherhood finally catch the lie of the Son. She investigates to school and knew that his son had lied. His mother was so disappointed, though she had guessed that her son who has high intelligence often feel bored when faced with the slow process of teaching and learning.

As a wise mother, the mother did not want to reprimand loudly. He knew Meng Zi basically a good kid and very intelligent. An inappropriate reprimand can actually be dangerous. Wisely and patiently she waited for the right moment. That morning, the awaited moment arrived.

As usual the mother is weaving. The result of her hard work has produced a long cloth. When the mother weaving, Meng Zi went home early. The Mother asked why Meng Zi's home early?. As always Meng Zi lied and said he allowed to go home because his job has been completed. Mother smiled wryly and suddenly, in front of Meng Zi, the Mother immediately to cut the fabric she weave into small pieces and become useless.

Seeing her mother's peculiarities, Meng Zi said, "Why such a good fabric and has been done painstakingly cut so that it becomes useless stuff? The Mother replied," This is what your future would be, if you frequently skip school and ignore your education " . In short, flat, but right to his heart.

Meng Zi bowed embarassingly and prostrated himself wanted an apology. Her mother smiled wisely, stroking his son's head. The mother knew her child would be changed. Thanks to the wisdom of her mother, Meng Zi grow into a wise man second only to Kong Zi.