Fact x Importance = News

[Emasher]

Because the media don't know what they're talking about.

[Dannyboy-the-Dane]

Because the media don't know what they're talking about.

Ah, right.

[Dante]

North Carolina Kids Get Porn!

- A cable TV spokeswoman says preview clips for adult programming appeared on two channels dedicated for kids in North Carolina because of an "equipment failure."

 

Time Warner Cable Inc. spokeswoman Melissa Buscher said the problem lasted about two hours Tuesday morning in areas around Raleigh, and several parents called to report it.

 

Buscher said it happened on two "Kids on Demand" channels that were showing viewers a list of children's programming such as Dora the Explorer. The titles listed didn't match up with the preview videos in the right-hand corner of the screen, which showed a preview of adult programming instead of kids programming.

 

Buscher said the company regrets the glitch and has fixed the problem so it won't happen again.

Edited March 16, 2010 by Dante

[Emasher]

Dante, do you mind putting gifs like that in spoiler tags, they freeze up browsers on older machines.

[Ellmeister]

Funny people up north :p

 

A man who assaulted a female police officer with his penis has been fined.

 

Marium Varinauskas, 28, tried to strike the officer on the head with his penis when she was called out to his flat, but she got out of the way.

 

Lithuanian Varinauskas admitted a charge of assault at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and was fined £600.

 

The court heard he had been drinking heavily and could not remember committing the offence at his home in Aberdeen.

 

Police were called to his home by his girlfriend, who had complained about him being drunk last November.

 

They arrived to find the self-employed engineer sitting on the sofa wearing a pair of underpants.

Fiscal depute Elaine Lynch said: "The accused got to his feet and was standing over the police officer exposing his penis and thrusting it in her face, forcing her to take evasive action to avoid getting struck."

 

Defence solicitor John Hardie said: "He was sitting on the couch drunk with his pants on.

 

"He can't remember anything but accepts that if that's what the police say then that's what happened.

 

"He has never been so drunk before that day and accepts he has to take full responsibility. He apologises profusely and is extremely embarrassed."

 

His not guilty plea to committing a breach of the peace by uttering offensive and sexual remarks was accepted by the Crown.

 

Sheriff Annella Cowan was told that the Lithuanian had now quit binge drinking because of the incident.

 

Found this hilarious. If he went for the head he must have been jumping in the air or something like a forward leap. Either that or she's incredibly short and he isn't (in both sense of the word ).

[Dan_Dare]

Facebook urged to include 'Panic Button' to report pedophiles.

 

 

I appreciate the sentiment but, really, this will be the most abused feature on any website of all time. Anyone who's ever been involved in either side of a 'frape' will know how quickly law and order breaks down when you can influence other peoples profiles.

[Happenstance]

Related to that:

 

Daily Mail Vs Facebook

 

On the one hand, you have what many regard as Britain's most influential daily newspaper; on the other, a social network with more than 400 million members and global reach. The Daily Mail and Facebook are at war, with new media accused of failing to protect children - and old media in the dock for shoddy journalism.

 

Daily MailThe Mail has never been a great fan - "How using Facebook could raise your risk of cancer" was one headline last year - but it was an article on Wednesday that brought relations to a new low. The network has been having a terrible week in PR terms, following a high-profile murder case with a Facebook connection and its refusal to put the Child Exploitation and Online Protection panic button on its site.

 

The Mail's coverage of this story featured a front-page report, an editorial and a big spread which included an article by a child-protection expert Mark Williams-Thomas. The opening paragraph read:

 

"Even after 15 years in child protection, I was shocked by what I encountered when I spent just five minutes on Facebook posing as a 14-year-old girl. Within 90 seconds, a middle-aged man wanted to perform a sex act in front of me."

 

He went on to describe how a series of men approached him and made sexual suggestions, painting a chilling picture of the dangers for teenagers using Facebook.

 

It has to be said the story never sounded very convincing - unlike some other networks or instant messaging services, Facebook is actually place where it's rather difficult to conduct random chats. If you were to set up a profile and just wait for "friends" to arrive, you would be likely to have to wait for days, not minutes. What's more, the company says that its privacy settings mean that a 14-year-old girl could not receive a message from someone unless they were a friend or at least shared a school network.

 

Daily MailFacebook says when it contacted Mark Williams-Thomas, he had a rather different story. He had been contacted by the Mail which had provided him with the material about the fake profile, but he had corrected it to make it clear that it involved not Facebook but another social network. By late yesterday, the story on the Mail's website had been amended; although it still featured a Facebook picture, it included this apology:

 

"In an earlier version of this article, we wrongly stated that the criminologist had conducted an experiment into social networking sites by posing as a 14-year-old girl on Facebook with the result that he quickly attracted sexually motivated messages. In fact he had used a different social networking site for this exercise. We are happy to set the record straight."

 

I contacted Mr Williams-Thomas to check a few facts, and he confirmed that the story had indeed been "ghosted" by a Mail reporter. He says he got back to the paper with a number of changes before publication, but although they acknowledged receipt of his alterations, they were not acted on.

 

Daily MailThis morning the newspaper carried a apology on page 4, quite a rare occurrence for the Daily Mail. So does the matter end there? I've seen a very strongly-worded letter from Facebook's lawyers saying their clients are considering what further action to take in relation to the "false and defamatory statements in the article".

 

Somehow, though, I get the feeling that after a week of battling Ceop, ministers, and the media over its child protection policy, Facebook may decide that it does not really want to go to war with the Daily Mail.

 

Update 1044 12 March: Well, it seems I might be wrong: Facebook is not stepping back in its battle with the Daily Mail. Last night the company challenged the paper to name the social network used in the experiment:

 

"We should all be concerned that their refusal to name the network they did use for the experiment is not helping to expose the real places where people are vulnerable online. We are in discussions with them and have not ruled out legal action."

 

I've just spoken to the child-protection expert Mark Williams-Thomas, who conducted the experiment, and he says he did not tell the Mail which network was involved, though he made it clear it wasn't Facebook.

 

So why wouldn't he identify it? "It would be irresponsible to name the network," he told me. "It would generate the wrong kind of traffic to the site - and could endanger attempts to improve its security." Mr Williams-Thomas went on to tell me that he thought Facebook's security, while not perfect, is among the best of the social networking sites in this regard.

 

Dont have the source though unfortunately, got it off another forum

[The fish]

Related to that:

 

Daily Mail Vs Facebook

 

Dont have the source though unfortunately, got it off another forum

 

Yeah, that's gonna end badly for the Daily Fail...

[Ashley]

Facebook urged to include 'Panic Button' to report pedophiles.

 

 

I appreciate the sentiment but, really, this will be the most abused feature on any website of all time. Anyone who's ever been involved in either side of a 'frape' will know how quickly law and order breaks down when you can influence other peoples profiles.

 

What I find absurd about the recent furore about this is that it came to a head last week with that story about the girl who was unfortunately killed and people are saying "WE NEED A PANIC BUTTON." Given that she believed he was 16 (or 18 or whatever it was) and never seemingly expressed any concern, or panic, the only time she would have needed it was in his house.

 

It's a nice idea but often it would only be of use too late in the game. Besides, the feature already essentially exists.

[The fish]

What I find absurd about the recent furore about this is that it came to a head last week with that story about the girl who was unfortunately killed and people are saying "WE NEED A PANIC BUTTON." Given that she believed he was 16 (or 18 or whatever it was) and never seemingly expressed any concern, or panic, the only time she would have needed it was in his house.

 

It's a nice idea but often it would only be of use too late in the game. Besides, the feature already essentially exists.

 

I don't quite see the need to a panic button, even as an easier to find/use version of the current Facebook reporting system. Teach your kids (who if they're old enough to use Facebook should be able to do the following) to, the moment someone says something you'd otherwise use a panic button for, to hit Print Screen and come and find mummy or daddy, and they'll deal with it. That, if anything, prevents the inevitable abuse. Facebook rape is annoying, whilst Facebook pedo-labelling is just plain mean.

[Raining_again]

well a 14 year old shouldn't really be on the internet without some sort of parental supervision, even an adult in the room. Jeez, it's always anyones fault but the parents!

[Dannyboy-the-Dane]

well a 14 year old shouldn't really be on the internet without some sort of parental supervision, even an adult in the room. Jeez, it's always anyones fault but the parents!

Well of course! What, you want people to actually take responsibility? Sheesh ...

[Ashley]

Yeah if more people took responsibility for their actions we wouldn't have problems such as ReZ.

[Dante]

well a 14 year old shouldn't really be on the internet without some sort of parental supervision, even an adult in the room. Jeez, it's always anyones fault but the parents!

 

My 10 year old 2nd cousin has facebook.

[Raining_again]

My 10 year old 2nd cousin has facebook.

 

I said without supervision

[nightwolf]

I think even with parents in the same room its incredibly easy for kids to get away with things.

 

For example I played runescape very young, I paid for it myself using my phone credit, my parents were none the wiser, thought it was a game on the pc itself, which ok again relates to the parents, but its actually very easy for kids to convince their parents their doing nothing wrong! Even strict ones like mine :P

[Mundi]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/7464679/Thai-protesters-throw-blood-at-Prime-Ministers-home.html

Groups of the demonstrators clad in red shirts peeled off from the main march to deliver letters to the embassies of Britain and the US saying the protest's goals had been deliberately misrepresented.

 

The US mission was picked by several thousand people.

But in spite of the sea of red that blocked a major road in a wealthy part of Bangkok near prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's residence, the protest seemed to be losing momentum with numbers down from tens of thousands to just thousands.

 

The anti-government United Front against Democracy and Dictatorship (UDD) has rallied in Bangkok for six days calling on Mr Abhisit to quit, branding his government illegitimate because the previous administration was thrown from office by a constitutional court ruling.

The "red shirt" protesters bused in from poor rural Thailand are fanatical followers of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra – ousted in a 2006 coup – who has addressed the rallies each evening by video-link from his self-imposed exile where he avoids a two-year jail term.

In an unseasonal downpour, the protesters faced more than a thousand riot police near Mr Abhisit's home.

 

But after negotiations a small band were allowed through to daub the gates with blood while others threw plastic bags.

The heavy rains left red-stained puddles, but minutes after the downpour stopped officials clad in white overalls could be seen inside the grounds of the residence removing what remained of the plastic bags of blood from the roof.

Thousands had queued for hours a day earlier to donate a tiny quantity of blood, which was then smeared on the entrances of Government House and Mr Abhisit's Democrat party headquarters.

 

Mr Abhisit, who has been quartered at an army barrack since the weekend for security, flew to Thailand's insurgency-racked south for the day.

He has so far shown no sign he is willing to bow to the demands of the protesters who appear to be running out of ideas and commitment.

 

Couple of days old but, wow..... just wow.

[Charlie]

A man who assaulted a female police officer with his penis has been fined.

 

Marium Varinauskas, 28, tried to strike the officer on the head with his penis when she was called out to his flat, but she got out of the way.

Lithuanian Varinauskas admitted a charge of assault at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and was fined £600.

 

The court heard he had been drinking heavily and could not remember committing the offence at his home in Aberdeen.

 

Police were called to his home by his girlfriend, who had complained about him being drunk last November.

 

They arrived to find the self-employed engineer sitting on the sofa wearing a pair of underpants.

 

Fiscal depute Elaine Lynch said: "The accused got to his feet and was standing over the police officer exposing his penis and thrusting it in her face, forcing her to take evasive action to avoid getting struck."

 

Defence solicitor John Hardie said: "He was sitting on the couch drunk with his pants on.

 

"He can't remember anything but accepts that if that's what the police say then that's what happened.

 

"He has never been so drunk before that day and accepts he has to take full responsibility. He apologises profusely and is extremely embarrassed."

 

His not guilty plea to committing a breach of the peace by uttering offensive and sexual remarks was accepted by the Crown.

 

Sheriff Annella Cowan was told that the Lithuanian had now quit binge drinking because of the incident.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8570398.stm

 

 

I know most of you will have seen this already but it's definitely worthy of a thread in this man's honour. My favourite part is the bolded part (hence the 'do a barrel roll! title'). How did he manage to get on top of her to thrust it in her face?

 

Brilliant stuff.

 

 

Also.....

 

......

 

Anyone else notice the resemblance between that dude and John Hartson?

[Ellmeister]

I posted the exact same story and bolded the exact same bit and asked the exact same question (pretty much) half way up this page!

 

Have a bit of a check beforehand at least >_>

[Dannyboy-the-Dane]

It was merged since Charlie had made a thread of its own. Still, he didn't seem to know you had posted it before.

[Charlie]

I posted the exact same story and bolded the exact same bit and asked the exact same question (pretty much) half way up this page!

 

Have a bit of a check beforehand at least >_>

 

Sorry, I had no idea you'd already posted it.

 

It was merged since Charlie had made a thread of its own. Still, he didn't seem to know you had posted it before.

 

I made a new thread because this is a forum and new threads are what keep it alive. Massive threads like this are everything which is wrong with the NE forums right now, no one wants to make a new thread about something because one of these mega-topics will cover it. Just seen a new TV programme? To the "rate the last TV programme you saw" thread! Don't worry that there won't be a conversation about it, because you can still rate it! Want to post about something which has been on the news? This thread is perfect for that! Discussion will be limited but at least someone might see it!

 

If it were up to me I'd do away with all these threads and let people create to their hearts content. Sure, some topics wouldn't get that many posts... But does it really matter? My thread would have made people laugh a bit, perhaps, might not have got many replies but more people will see it out there than they will in here.

 

A bit of common sense is needed; I was pretty certain that my thread would be closed or something because that's just what happens around here. All potential discussion is whisked away to make the place tidy. There are threads on the front page from 4 days ago. A popular forum like this should have a full page of threads which new posts to read in them all the time.

[Ashley]

In fairness, this thread is for trivial news which frankly, that news piece is (amusing as it is). Stuff like the health reform drama in the USA, the impending budget, election etc deserves a conversation (and thus a thread) but think how many different responses can you get to "man cock slaps police officer"?

[danny]

Sorry, I had no idea you'd already posted it.

 

 

 

I made a new thread because this is a forum and new threads are what keep it alive. Massive threads like this are everything which is wrong with the NE forums right now, no one wants to make a new thread about something because one of these mega-topics will cover it. Just seen a new TV programme? To the "rate the last TV programme you saw" thread! Don't worry that there won't be a conversation about it, because you can still rate it! Want to post about something which has been on the news? This thread is perfect for that! Discussion will be limited but at least someone might see it!

 

If it were up to me I'd do away with all these threads and let people create to their hearts content. Sure, some topics wouldn't get that many posts... But does it really matter? My thread would have made people laugh a bit, perhaps, might not have got many replies but more people will see it out there than they will in here.

 

A bit of common sense is needed; I was pretty certain that my thread would be closed or something because that's just what happens around here. All potential discussion is whisked away to make the place tidy. There are threads on the front page from 4 days ago. A popular forum like this should have a full page of threads which new posts to read in them all the time.

 

I said this when this thred was made its stupid.

[Dannyboy-the-Dane]

In fairness, this thread is for trivial news which frankly, that news piece is (amusing as it is). Stuff like the health reform drama in the USA, the impending budget, election etc deserves a conversation (and thus a thread) but think how many different responses can you get to "man cock slaps police officer"?

There's still an inherent disagreement about how strict a thread policy there should be kept on these forums. Some people prefer small threads that may not live very long or contribute much other than simple banter. I, for one, feel that large threads like the music thread etc. are too big for their own good. You go in, you post about your favourite band, the next 5 persons do the same, nothing ever comes out of your post. I'm probably not the one who feels most strongly about this on these forums, but I do feel that the forums are being streamlined a bit too much. Everything that is not able to spark a large and philosophical/ethical/psychological/etc. debate is being thrown into the giant lumps of threads that discourages a lot of debate. Not necessarily debate of higher spiritual importance, but maybe just random chit chat about something silly or funny.

 

It may not work, but why not give it a shot for a time and see how it turns out?

[Ashley]

It may not work, but why not give it a shot for a time and see how it turns out?

 

It didn't work for news related stuff. It just resulted in one of the following responses depending on the 'news' story;

 

ROFL

OMG people are so weird

OMG people are so horrible

That's so upsetting

I don't understand...

 

I'm all for creating a new thread based on particular albums, artists, tv shows, films etc. Contrary to popular belief though I can't make people do what I want.