Hackers install maleware on Alicia Keys MySpace Page

MySpace pages of several musicians, including the personal page of R&B songstress Alicia Keys, were targeted this week by hackers. Experts warn that they're now very dangerous places to visit online.

Among the attacks being served by Keys' page (and those of French funk band Greements of Fortune and Scottish rock band the Dykeenies) are Trojan horses disguised as new video codecs.

When someone tries to access one of the hacked sites, an exploit first attempts to install malware on the visitor's computer. If that doesn't work, the user is next asked to install a fake codec to view a video posted on the page, according to the Times.

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Web 2.0 technologies could trigger boom

Web 2.0 technologies could trigger a boom similar to the dot.com bubble of the 1990s.

John Chambers, chief executive of Cisco systems, said that the technology behind sites such as Bebo, Facebook and MySpace would improve productivity and dramatically change the way businesses work.

"We are at the very beginning of the next phase of creativity that will last, I think, a minimum of 10 years," he told the Financial Times..."


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LatinosCorner.com - latino social networks launched

LatinosCorner.com latino social networks has been launched. There you’ll find video, audio, photos, blogs, messsage board.

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Defense Dept. Blocks MySpace, YouTube, BlackPlanet

The U.S. Department of Defense is set to block websites including MySpace, YouTube, Metacafe, IFilm, StupidVideos and FileCabi; the photo-sharing site Photobucket; other social networks BlackPlanet and Hi5; and music services Pandora, MTV.com, 1.fm and Live365. on its worldwide networks, citing a need to protect information and lessen the strain on bandwidth.


"This recreational traffic impacts our official DoD network and bandwidth ability, while posing a significant operational security challenge," Gen. B.B. Bell, the U.S. Forces Korea commander, said in a memo sent on Friday.

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Facebook plans to allow embed widgets.

Facebook plans to allow its users to embed widgets from third-party providers, Wired reported, citing an unnamed source.
Rival MySpace has drawn criticism from some for banning third-party widgets from certain companies including a high-profile widget from Indie911and Photobucket.

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MySpace Blocks Photobucket Videos and Images

MySpace has started to block its users from uploading videos hosted by Photobucket, which also hosts many of the images posted by MySpace users.

MySpace previously blocked third-party content from sites including Revver, Stickam and Vidilife.

"We are not happy about this and we're pretty sure you're not happy either," Photobucket said in a company blog post.

School Principal Sued Students for MySpace Fake Profile

A high school principal sued four former students for a fake MySpace page they had created about him. Among his many alleged vices, the profile said the principal “smoked pot, kept beer at school and liked having sex with students"

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Run your own MySpace or YouTube

KickApps Corporation today announced the launch of KickApps Version 2.0 (KickApps 2.0), a hosted platform designed to quickly and easily add social media experiences to any Web site. Unlike other platforms, KickApps provides sites of all sizes with a full range of building blocks that include user-generated content, social networking, video players, Web cam applications, Widget-building, media/member management and reporting.

KickApps 2.0 is the only social media platform offering three levels of customization. Consumers can use KickApps’ preconfigured set of building blocks to quickly create social media-enhanced Web sites. Developers can create uniquely branded solutions through the platform’s extensive component library and reach even higher levels of customization through KickApps’ standard APIs.
“With this latest release of our platform, we continue to broaden an already robust set of building blocks necessary to transform existing destinations into live community-oriented open portals,” said Alex Blum, CEO of KickApps. “Very quickly these building blocks will be thought of as core elements for all Web sites rather than optional add-ons.”
Specific enhancements to KickApps 2.0 include:
Premium Player Widget – The fastest way to deploy programmable video players on any Web site.
Video Enabled Message Boards and Private Messaging – Members can post text, audio and video messages on community message boards and in private messages to peers.
New Widgets – 25 new Widget options are now available, including Forum, Slideshow, 3D Cubes and a variety of HTML-based List Widgets.
One-Click Home Page – Anyone can create their own community site with one click.
Updated Member Profiles and Roles – Community members can be designated “editors” to enable them to view and approve media.
Webcam Video Upload – Members can instantly post videos with no editing skills or software required.
Advanced Tagging and Categories – Sites create their own tag and category hierarchy for selective display media and members.


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Law Enforcement utilizes social networking resources

There are over 300 known social networking sites on the internet. Myspace.com has over 110 million users and Facebook.com adds 20,000 new users each day. Too often, investigators overlook or underutilize this valuable resource.

This one day (8 hour) course provided by our Cyber Crime Training Division, is designed for police officers, detectives, and criminal analysts.

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Friendster looking to capitalize on its patents?

Since Friendster has failed in comparison to rivals MySpace and Facebook, it is looking for a strategy to make money out of their patents. Friendster gets another social networking patent; third in last 9 months, which makes you wonder.... They don't charge anyone now yet, but my feeling is theat they will. Time will show...

The company says the patent covers adding friends, personalizing a profile through arranging, ordering and classifying connections made in an online community, and managing these connections at will.

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Spammers, hackers target sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

Because of MySpace, Facebook, YOuTube incredible growth in recent years, many spammers, hackers and other crooks are trying to take advantage of it. "What happens in the virtual world . . . is very (similar) to what happens in the physical world," ... Where a lot of people congregate, at some point you're going to have a bad element that shows up and tries to do bad things."

Scammers often set up fake profiles on MySpace, Friendster, Facebook and similar sites and then go about inviting people to become their Internet "friends."

In doing so, they can glean personal information about their potential targets — like their ZIP codes, age or gender — that can be used to fashion legitimate-sounding spam or phishing attacks.

So, watch out!


P.S. Tips for safe networking

• Limit the information you give about yourself.
• Don't automatically assume something sent from a 'friend' is legitimate.
• Be careful about adding strangers to your friends list.
• Don't use links in embedded e-mails to go to any unfamiliar site.
• Set limits on what people can see, you profile, etc

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Should a newspaper be a social network?

In light of USAToday's re-design, should a newspaper be a social network?

1. Yes, newspapers should become social networks

2. No, leave the social networking to MySpace, Facebook, KickApps

Judge Dismisses Online Predator Suit Against MySpace

A federal judge has granted MySpace's motion to dismiss charges of negligence, fraud and negligent misrepresentation filed by the family of a girl from Austin, Texas who was assaulted by a man she met on the website, Reuters reported.

"To ensure that Web site operators and other interactive computer services would not be crippled by lawsuits arising out of third party communications, the Act provides interactive computer services with immunity," Judge wrote in his ruling.

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Social Networking sites to be banned in schools, libraries?

A new bill introduced by Illinois Senator Matt Murphy (R) proposes that schools and libraries to block access to social networking sites.

Murphy considers his bill as a "proactive" move to "protect kids" from potential new threats such as sexual predator looking for victims on sites such as MySpace.

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Barack Obama launches his own social networking website

U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who recently announced his intention to run for President, has become the first candidate to launch his own online social networking website.

While many campaigns have created profiles for their candidates on sites like MySpace and Facebook for previous elections, Obama appears to be the first to launch a social network on his own site.

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Fastest-growing companies making use of Social Network

The nation's fastest-growing private companies are making use of social media — including blogs, social networking and podcasts — at a rate more than twice that of Fortune 500 companies, according to a new study.

P.S. For the social networking solution, try KickApps. It could be branded or changed as needed.

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YouTube to remove 100,000 unauthorized video clips

Viacom Inc., asked YouTube on Friday to remove more than 100,000 unauthorized clips from its video-sharing site.

Viacom said in a statement that after several months of talks with YouTube and its corporate parent, the online search leader Google Inc., "it has become clear that YouTube is unwilling to come to a fair market agreement that would make Viacom content available to YouTube users."

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YouTube to pay users for their content

Video-sharing site YouTube plans to pay users for their content, says the company's cofounder in a video displayed on the site.

"In terms of paying users revenue against content they're uploading, we're definitely going to move in that direction," says Chad Hurley, YouTube's cofounder and chief executive, in a video that appears to be shot during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

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MySpace Sues Spammers

MySpace announced that it has filed suit against a number of spammers for posting millions of spam "bulletins" to MySpace users' accounts.

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MySpace infested with spammers and other losers

MySpace.com has trully become a place where spammers rule. They lure users to sexually explicit sites, clog mailboxes with spam messages, and exploit users' trust when speaking to "friends" to obtain passwords that could lead to identity theft.

One recent scam works this way: A spammer posts a number of phony profiles featuring pictures of cute women, often promising nude photos.

A "friend request" with the woman's photo is sent to hundreds of users.

Once the fake profile loads, a blue screen descends, saying the profile is protected by the "MySpace Adult Content Viewer."

Unsuspecting users who try to download the viewer instead get a worm that installs adware on their computers.

Although MySpace tries to fight it but it is a lost battle because there are millions of spammers against dozens of MySpace employees.

Consider yourself warned when you use MySpace.

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