OMG

Facebook Now Allegedly Being Used to Hire Hitmen -- Awesome!

Posted by Maressa Brown
on Feb 22, 2012 at 3:54 PM

meredith lowell animal activistThe days of Facebook being used by horny college kids to hook up with one another are long, long gone. In 2012, the social network has been hijacked by people with much less sympathetic intentions: Money and murder. Why else would we be talking about a woman by the name of Meredith Lowell today?

Lowell, you see, is reportedly an animal activist who planned to pay a hitman $730 to gun down a random person wearing fur outside of a Cleveland library. She allegedly posted on a Facebook page established under the alias Anne Lowery: "I would like to create an online community on Facebook which would allow me to find someone who is willing to kill someone who is wearing fur toward the end of October 2011 or early November 2011 or possibly in January 2012 or February 2012 at the latest."

Yesterday, Lowell was arrested on one charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

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Tech Talk

Unsettling 'Nightline' Tour of Apple Factory Won't Make Me Ditch My iPhone (VIDEO)

Posted by Emily Abbate
on Feb 22, 2012 at 3:03 PM

Nightline inside Foxconn Apple factoryI've never questioned where my precious white iPhone came from. I guess after going to one-too-many Apple stores, I envisioned a similar operation on a larger scale, based in China, where the workers are happy, playing with iPhones all day, and wearing matching royal blue T-shirts. Thanks to ABC's Nightline, I now know I was very wrong. Tuesday night Nightline correspondent Bill Weir took viewers on the first-ever tour of Foxconn -- the plant where Apple products are made. It was anything BUT the Apple utopia of my dreams.

In the factory, thousands work 12-hour shifts. They're overtired and get paid $1.78 an hour. Most of the Apple products are handmade, and it takes five days and roughly 325 sets of hands to assemble one iPad. What's worse? Outside of Foxconn, there are suicide nets.

Horrifying? Yes. Did it make me think the company needs to improve its working conditions? Of course. However, knowing about Foxconn doesn't make me want to stop being a dedicated Apple customer.

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Tech Talk

Man Sues Over Unflattering Facebook Photos and Loses -- Surprise!

Posted by Nicole Fabian-Weber
on Feb 22, 2012 at 2:20 PM

gavelYou know how sometimes, after a party or an event or any place you've had too much to drink, you dread logging on to Facebook the next day because, if memory serves you correctly, there were a lot of photos being snapped? And then when you do finally log on, and you see the little red number of notifications on the left hand side of your screen, your heart sinks a bit, because you know there's bound to be some super unflattering pics of you blasted across the site? Yeah, well, apparently this is something we're all going to have to live with for all eternity, because a judge just surprisingly ruled that a man can't sue his uncle for tagging crappy photos of him on Facebook.

I'm just kidding, that's not surprising at all -- who sues over unflattering Facebook photos? This guy, apparently!

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Tech Talk

4 Tools for Sharing Photos and Files Other Than Facebook

Posted by John Biggs
on Feb 21, 2012 at 4:39 PM


Sure, it's fun and easy to send every little thing to Facebook, but then it's kind of stuck on Facebook. And what if Grandma and Grandpa don't want to use all that social media stuff and what about Auntie in China who can't log in?

Sharing big files with family members has traditionally been fairly difficult. Most email servers won't take files over 25MB, and services like Facebook and Twitter are great for posting a shot of the wee ones covered in chocolate syrup after Sundae Night but aren't so great at offering a general "dump" for important files and media.

Here are some cool tricks you can use to share almost anything with anyone in a few simple steps.

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Say What!?

Billboard That 'Knows' You're Female Isn't as Creepy as It Sounds

Posted by Maressa Brown
on Feb 21, 2012 at 3:00 PM

plan uk screenshotIt's bad enough that we now have billboards on highways that play video and distract us from driving. Now, advertisers can incorporate facial recognition technology into their sidewalk billboards and target a certain consumer group based on what the technology concludes about your appearance. A billboard that does exactly this is being tested right now in the UK. It uses a high-def camera to determine if a passerby is a man or a woman (with a 90 percent accuracy rate), and then it tailors its content to you depending on your gender. For. Real.

Although it sounds like it's something straight out of 1984 or The Hunger Games, you have to hand it to the global children's charity, Plan UK, that is behind this one particular billboard. They actually managed to figure out the perfect use for discriminating facial recognition.

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GossipMonger

Chris Brown’s Tweet to Rihanna Was So Not Innocent

Posted by Nicole Fabian-Weber
on Feb 21, 2012 at 12:19 PM

chris brownChris Brown has been garnering all sorts of crazy publicity lately -- some good, some, like, super bad, some that's fueling rumors of a Rihanna reconciliation. And apparently he likes it, because he's continuing to do things, besides merely existing, that are getting him more and more press. Like wishing ex-girlfriend Rihanna a Happy Birthday. On Twitter.

I know, right?

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Eye Roll

Watch Out, Cars Without Drivers Are Headed Down a Road Near You

Posted by Maressa Brown
on Feb 17, 2012 at 4:47 PM

inside a car on a nevada roadBeing that we're only three years out from "the future" depicted in Back to the Future II, some of us want to know where our Hoverboards, self-drying jackets, and most importantly, flying DeLoreans are? It seems unlikely that we'll see any of those products before 2015, but there's one consolation: We're getting closer to having cars that drive themselves.

Believe it or not, Google and GM are both testing self-driving cars as we speak! Google's got its hands on a self-driving Toyota Prius (of course!), which uses radar functionality, sensors, and computers to map the terrain, allowing it to drive on autopilot. Google is currently testing a self-driving Toyota Prius. It uses radar functionality, sensors, and computers to map the terrain, allowing it to drive on autopilot. And Nevada wants to be the first state to embrace this technology. It recently became the first state to create regulations for companies interested in testing self-driven cars on public roads.

Wild, huh?

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LOL

10 Seriously Weird Craigslist Postings From This Week

Posted by Nicole Fabian-Weber
on Feb 17, 2012 at 3:49 PM

craigslistWithout Craigslist, I would have spent the better part of my 20s in unfurnished apartments. And even now, in my 30s, I still use the site. The glass coffee table I'm typing on right now? Craigslist. The IKEA Expedit Bookcase in black-brown that's no longer sitting in my dining room? Craigslist. It's an unbelievable website that I could kill myself for not inventing, and I'm yet to meet a person who's never at least perused it.

Not everyone logs on to search for Anthropologie rugs and mid-century chairs, though. In fact, I'm willing to bet that the majority of people poking around on Craigslist are there for other, weirder reasons. In fact, I know they are because one of my hobbies happens to be poking around on Craigslist to see what weird shit I can dig up. And, friends, it never disappoints. Here are 10 of the weirdest (non-R-rated) Craigslist postings from this week.

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Tech Talk

5 Things That Make You Look Creepy on Twitter

Posted by Mary Fischer
on Feb 17, 2012 at 2:16 PM

Are you totally and completely addicted to Twitter? I think it's safe to say that the majority of us are these days. I mean -- where else can you follow the conversations of your favorite celebrities, get valuable business information, chat with your friends, and get breaking news on whatever the hot topic of the moment is on any given day all in one place?

Twitter is definitely a huge part of our lives, but as more people join and begin engaging with us on the site, it gets harder and harder to tell who is truly legit and genuine and who is super shady and simply looking for a way to latch onto unsuspecting people.

And if you aren't following proper Twitter etiquette, then you may wind up looking pretty creepy to the people you interact with, even if you are a normal, cool person.

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Tech Talk

10 Pinterest Accounts You HAVE to Follow

Posted by Emily Abbate
on Feb 17, 2012 at 2:15 PM

20 best Pinterest accounts to followIt took me a few weeks, but now I can't get enough Pinterest. You've heard of it, right? You definitely have. It's that virtual online pinboard your friends are all buzzing about! You know, the one where users can "pin" loads of fun things from around the web like yummy recipes and inspirational quotes? Right. Well, in short -- Pinterest is a fun (and ADDICTIVE) way to gawk at and bookmark a bunch of things you like online in one place.

Everyone is jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon these days, I mean it. Not just them fashion types, either. Mark Zuckerberg, for one! Oh and get this, the U.S. Army even has their own account.

Want to be inspired? Take a look at our list of 10 must-follow Pinterest users, here:

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