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Filed under: Social Software, web 2.0

Twitter can get you out of jail - sort of

Twitter has so many useful usesIf you have a decent social network but still haven't jumped onto the Twitter bandwagon yet, here's another reason to get on: when you find yourself arrested in a foreign country that may not offer you contact with the outside world, send a tweet out before you get taken down. Like James Karl Buck, who tweeted himself out of jail in Egypt.

After getting arrested for taking photos of a demonstration, Buck tweeted the word "ARRESTED." His friends, obviously knowing what that meant, talked to the right people, because the next day Buck walked out with an attorney paid for by U.C. Berkeley while having the U.S. embassy on the phone with him.

This story of a Twitter emergency use highlights two things: 1) using Twitter on a cellphone can be a great way to let a lot of people know fast that something is wrong, and 2) it's probably only as effective as the social network in your Twitter-sphere. Which is really just a guess, but an emergency tweet is unlikely to carry the same amount of weight with people that you don't know.

Although probably no one should rely on Twitter as an emergency service, it's nice to know that it's there in case we need to let everyone know we're in trouble. Thanks Twitter.

[via Techmeme]

Filed under: Security, Text, News, E-mail

Email behind bars, good or bad for inmates?

UK email in prisonPrisoners in the UK may be getting text-only email as part of a new plan concocted in the UK's criminal justice system. The prisoners will not be able to send messages to more than their approved list of contacts, and cannot send pictures or attachments of any kind, nor receive them. Text-only messages will be allowed. The system has not been put into place, and won't be until certain safeguards are put in place to stop abuse of the system. The idea may work out, but I wondered if the inmates would end up getting spam or not. Hypothetically, being sure inmates get the kind of SPAM problems most of us get would frustrate them to no end as it does for those of us on the outside I imagine. I guess SPAM isn't a good way to help the convicted pay their debt to society, but at least it would level the playing field at least in email-land and teach those inside what to expect once they get out. SPAM, a new form of corporal punishment? You decide.

Filed under: News

Software pirate goes to jail for seven years

iBackup.net go to jailDoes not pass go, does not collect $200. iBackups.net owner Nathan Peterson received an 87 month sentence for software piracy, which is a record for sentences to date. For those of you who don't feel like doing the math, that's seven years and three months. Nathan also has to repay $5.4 million in restitution in $200 monthly payments after he gets out of prison. iBackups.net damages were reportedly $20 million instead of the usual for most cases, which sits at $9 million. Peterson used Google's AdSense to find customers for his pirated software. The FBI seized homes, half a dozen cars, and even a boat from Peterson, which he had obtained using money from what the court called a federal offense. So, I guess the lesson here is the next time you are about to pirate software, don't.

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Graveyard Shift - zombie-busting Time Waster

With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

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