Fresh Out of Ideas, Young People Take Up "Owling"

A young man "owling" at his [former] place of employment.

I must be getting old. Apparently, there is an "owling" craze taking place right under my nose, and here I am utterly oblivious to the whole thing.

The bizarre internet craze of ‘planking’ is set to lose its cult online status to the increasingly popular trend of ‘owling’.

Hundreds of young people in America, Australia and now, Britain, have taken up the new ‘owling’ craze.

It consists of nothing more taxing than crouching on one's haunches and staring into the middle distance, like an owl.

Participants then take photos of themselves and post them on Facebook or on other social networking sites.

Extra kudos is earned for those who do it in unusual situations.

The trend is a development of the popular craze of ‘planking’ in which people would take pictures of themselves lying face down in strange locations.

However, in recent months ‘planking’ has become increasingly mainstream - and thus less popular on the trend-conscious internet.

Last month the celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay posted pictures of himself planking - a development that prompted trend-watchers to declare the craze ‘officially dead’.
‘Owling’ is believed to have started in Australia within the last few weeks.

Indeed, it is so new that the Wikipedia entry for ‘owling’ describes the practice as being a term used in the Middle Ages to describe the ‘the smuggling of sheep or wool from England to another country’.

Despite its relative youth, the owling craze already has two popular Facebook groups dedicated to it, onto which more than 1,000 people are listed as members.

More pictures here.

Cross-posted. Hat tip: Drudge.

Great News: The Internet Will Destroy the Planet

Now how exactly will Al Gore's masterful invention go about destroying the planet? Why, by giving climate change "deniers" a voice to oppose the environmental wackos.

The planet may not be so lucky. It's increasingly apparent that the internet may bring about the death of human civilisation, beating out previous contenders such as nuclear holocaust and the election of George W. Bush.

The agents of this planetary death will be the climate-change deniers who, it's now clear, owe much of their existence to the internet. Would the climate-change deniers be this sure of themselves without the internet?

Somehow I doubt it. They are so damn confident.

They don't just bury their heads in the sand, they fiercely drive their own heads energetically into the nearest beachfront, their bums defiantly aquiver as they fart their toxic message to the world. How can they be so confident, in the face of so much evidence to the contrary?

It's the internet, of course, and the way it has given climate-change deniers the perfect forum — one in which groups of quite dim people can swap spurious information, reassuring each other there's no evidence on the other side, right up to the point they've derailed all efforts to save the planet. Call it ''mutually reassured destruction''.

In decades past, the climate-change deniers would have swapped theories in the pub or at a barbecue. But at the barbecue there was always one person willing to put a contrary view, to say: ''There's another side.'' And unless the barbecue was particularly nutty, there was no one handing out gestetnered sheets of dodgy science for people to take home.

The net allows the climate-change deniers to bleat about the scientists and whine about a price on carbon without fear of ever hearing a different voice, right up to the point of planetary collapse. To reformulate T.S. Eliot: ''This is the way the world will end — not with a bang but a whinger.''

On the upside, when it all does end it'll spare of from reading nonsense like that.

Dems Are Sure To Want Control of Internet Now

At least Speaker Boehner is making an effort to embrace new technologies and use 21st century solutions. Everyone always assumes that conservatives are some how stuck in the past when in fact they have been at the forefront of many inovations especially when it comes to using web based services.


The big example I can think of comes from August of 2008. The Republicans were trying to bring an energy policy bill, which would have addressed many of the problems we are having today and if it had been implemented we wouldn't be having these problems, to the floor for a vote. Nancy Pelosi was not having any of that and with a scheduled break coming up decided to literally turn out the lights, shut off the mics and cameras and post guards at the door and do what has become a staple of Democrat politics ever since, leave town. The Republicans immediately took to Twitter, a service heretofore unknown to me to get out their message. Another congressman fired up a live stream feed using something called Qik. While the Dems tried to shut them up, even posting guards to keep Americans out of the house chambers and visiting these congressmen the message was getting out. Overnight the Tea Party gained even more recognition and as they say the rest is history.

So if you have any ideas you want to share with Speaker Boehner visit the website he mentions and drop your suggestions. Or follow him on Twitter:

Great News for Nanny-Staters: Age Ratings for Internet Sites

Just what we need, another massive government bureaucracy to monitor websites for content.

In the real world, parents are responsible for what sites they choose to block. The last thing we need is another bloated government-controlled monster scouring websites to see what should or should not be deemed appropriate.

Offensive or indecent websites will be branded with cinema-style age certificates in a Government crackdown on dangerous online activity.

In a bid to limit the ease to which 'unacceptable' material is accessed, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, last night called for 'clearer standards' in cyber space.

He said it was his 'absolutely categorical' view that there was material on the web -including beheadings - which should not be available to anyone.

Plans are also underway to discuss new policing methods for English language websites with the President-elect Barack Obama.

I'm all for the government security services monitoring online jihad sites and those who foment terror. But standard website should not be rated or come under any government domain. There are sites that indeed show beheadings, but this is done as a means of demonstrating what animals the jihadists are, and every site I've come across that shows them carries a clear warning.

Self-policing of the Internet is fine. The last thing we need is Barack Obama's minions out there rating web content.

Mr Burnham confirmed one of the proposals being considered by ministers to protect children and vulnerables from harmful material was the introduction of age-ratings for websites.

'That would be an option. This is an area that is really now coming into full focus,' he said.

A separate option under consideration was imposing requirements on internet service providers to offer a service which would give access only to websites which are suitable for children.

Mr Burnham refuted the proposals were an attack on freedom of speech amid a stark warning that some material on the web has breached the boundaries of taste and decency.

'If you look back at the people who created the internet they talked very deliberately about creating a space that governments couldn't reach. I think we are having to revisit that stuff seriously now,' he said.

Of course they're doing this under the guise of protecting the children, which again is the responsibility of parents, not the government. The next thing you know they'll be in the business of taxing websites that aren't government approved.

This is a can of worms best left sealed.

Sign of the Apocalypse: U.S. Adults Want Internet More than Sex

I surmise this may be true if they're into online porn, of course. Not that I would know anything about that.

A new survey finds that most U.S. adults find Internet access more important to daily life than watching TV...or having sex.

A new survey conducted for Intel by polling firm Harris Interactive finds that most U.S. adults find Internet access more important to their daily lives than watching TV…or having sex. According to the survey results, some 65 percent of adults said they could not live without Internet access, and some 71 percent said they fee it is important or very important to have Internet-enabled devices (whether laptops, phones, or whatever) that can keep them up to date on important information.

And, 46 percent of the women surveyed—and 30 percent of the men—said they would rather go without sex for two weeks than go without the Internet for two weeks. Age played a factor too: some 39 percent of men aged 18 to 34 would rather give up sex then the Internet for two weeks; among women 28 to 34 it was 49 percent, and 52 percent for women aged 35 to 44.

The survey also found the Internet is more popular than TV: 67 percent of adults between 18 and 34 would rather give up TV than the Internet for two weeks. However, those numbers decline a bit with age: 57 percent of adults 35 to 44 would give up TV for the Internet, and just over half the adults over 44 (52 percent) would make the same decision.

The survey, blandly titled "Internet Reliance in Today's Economy," also focused on how respondents use the Internet to save money. Some 64 percent of respondents believe they have saved money by shopping online, 65 percent said they've saved money by using the Internet to look for coupons, discounts, and promotions, and 84 percent believe they've saved money by shopping online to compare prices and find deals.

I'm waiting on the poll to see how many users can live without their CrackBerries.

Pwned! When Hackers Get Hacked

They had no idea it was happening.

In the end, it was hackers at DefCon that got hacked.

After three days of software cracking duels and hacking seminars, self-described computer ninjas at the infamous gathering in Las Vegas found out Sunday that their online activities were hijacked without them catching on.

A standing-room crowd cheered admiringly as Tony Kapela and Alex Pilosov showed them how they were "pwned" by a simple technique that could be used to "steal the Internet."

"Pwned" is popular computer and video game culture slang playing off the word "owned" and is used to describe someone being totally dominated or humiliated online or in-game.

"It's a nearly invisible exploitation," Kapela said while revealing a hack that exploits fundamental Internet routing procedure to hijack online traffic unnoticed. "A level of invisibility that is unparalled."
The beauty of the technique presented by Alex Pilosov and Kapela is that hackers don't need to break into websites or plant malicious computer code to control and tamper with data travelling the Internet, the presentation showed.

Instead, the Internet is duped into sending people's data to hackers.

"Someone can passively intercept traffic," Kapela explained. "We can store, drop, filter, mutilate, grope, or modify data heading to you."

The tens of thousands of networks handling traffic on the Internet are programmed to trust each other for the best routes for data.

The choice of optimal routes is made instantly; decided by a network claiming the longest numerical Internet addresses for data destination.

A hacker can hijack traffic to and from websites of choice by adding enough numbers to computer addresses to have his or her network automatically deemed the best path for the data.

"We construct the man-in-the-middle attack on the Internet," Kapela said, referring to a classic hack in which someone gets between a computer user and their online destination.

"Internet routing is inherently trust based. We told the route that we know the best way to an address. A hacker could blast a lot of spam or launch a lot of phishing attacks."

Are Your Ready for .xxx Domains?

A major shakeup is upon us as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) has approved new web suffixes, a development a long time in coming.

The internet is set for a radical shake-up after the organisation that oversees website names gave the green light to plans for a new way of creating web addresses.

The decision means that as well as millions of existing website addresses which end in .com or .co.uk, surfers will also be able to choose from sites with suffixes such as .bank, .sport or .bet.

A marathon meeting of the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), which administers the development of the internet, ended in unanimous approval for the introduction of a new set of "top level" website addresses, bringing nearly three years of debate and planning to an end.

The process, which will begin in 2009, was described by the organisation's chairman, Paul Twomey, as "the biggest change to the way people find each other on the internet since its inception".

At first it is likely that new suffixes will be limited to businesses and other major organisations such as city councils, with cities such as New York and Berlin keen to create a whole selection of .nyc and .berlin addresses.

Naturally, the most popular searches on the web (you know who you are) will be heading for .xxx sites, assuming those are approved. Oddly enough a guy named Butts quotes a guy named Peters in the story.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is discussing the possibility of creating a triple-X domain for pornography.

Bob Peters of Morality in Media believes relegating pornography to a triple-X domain will not work on two levels. First, he argues, it is not mandatory, and secondly, it requires parents to use filters -- and many parents will not. Finally, he adds, children can gain access on computers outside the home that are not filtered.

Peters stresses protection of children from pornography is a major concern, but it is not the only one. "There are other harms that pornography causes, particularly to marriage," he points out. "[A]nd certainly there are connections to sexual exploitation of children, sexually trafficking, prostitution in general -- and putting this stuff in a XXX zone is not going to protect marriage. It's not going to protect society overall," Peters argues.

If implemented, switching to a XXX domain by pornographers would be on a voluntary basis. The decency advocate finds the idea that pornographers could continue operating their .com domains troubling. "Originally as it was proposed ... people who ran the XXX domain were going to expect some somewhat ethical behavior on the part of pornographers," says Peters. "You talk about an oxymoron."

Live debate: Digital politics and the US election

The discussion is being hosted by the Financial Times.

A series of discussions on the 2008 US elections will be hosted by the US embassy in partnership with the FT and YouGovStone. The inaugural event, which takes place on Thursday May 15 in London between 6.30 and 8.00pm will be chaired by Gideon Rachman, the FT’s chief foreign affairs columnist.

The time appears to be London time which would make it 1:30 PM EST in the US, and you can participate.
Go here to get the details.

Too Much Internet = Mental Illness

The latest plague consuming the world: Too much time on the Internet.

I blame Al Gore.

People who are addicted to the internet may have a mental illness, a leading psychiatrist claims.

Too many hours spent online gaming, viewing porn or emailing can cause a compulsive-impulsive disorder, Dr Jerald Block says.

As more people leave the office computer only to log on as soon as they get home, Dr Block argues that internet addiction is now a serious public health problem and should be officially recognised as a clinical disorder.

He has identified several telltale symptoms, including over-use and losing all track of time, neglecting basics like eating or sleeping and cravings and feelings of withdrawal such as anger, tension or depression when a computer cannot be accessed.

Dr Block, a psychiatrist at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, made his claims in an editorial for the respected American Journal of Psychiatry.

He said: "Estimates of the prevalence of the disorder are lacking. Attempts to measure the phenomenon are clouded by shame, denial, and minimization.

"Unfortunately, internet addiction is resistant to treatment, entails significant risks and has high relapse rates."

He said of addicts: "The relationship is with the computer. It becomes a significant other to them.

"They exhaust emotions that they could experience in the real world on the computer through any number of mechanisms: emailing, gaming, porn.

"Computer use occupies a tremendous amount of time in their life. Then if you try to cut the cord in a very abrupt fashion, they've lost essentially their best friend.

"That can take the form of depression or rage."

That's #@&%*@! crazy! How dare you tell me I'm nuts!

Oh, sorry.

Seriously, if people are forgetting to bathe and eat due to surfing for online porn, yes, they probably have a bit of a social disorder, and probably were losers before the Internet came along.

Mapping Online Jihad

Animesh Roul at Counterterrorism Blog has an interesting post on terror and the Internet.

Of late, there is a spurt of literatures regarding the threat of ‘online Jihad’ (threat about the use of internet web space in fueling, fostering Jihadi terrorism). Terrorist organizations and their sympathizers do maintain Web sites taking advantage of the unregulated, anonymous, and easily accessible nature of the Internet. Thanks to Web logs, discussion groups and social networking groups and free upload servers where one doesn’t need to hire a webmaster or to book a server space to run the agenda. It is in common knowledge now that they target a variety of audiences to exploit for raising funds, recruitment, and to spread propaganda, even plan and launch attacks and to publicize their mind-blowing results. Even they have web journals like “Technical Mujahid” (first ever released late November 2006 al-Fajr Information Center) with a detailed know-how of computer and Internet knowledge and security designed for terrorists only.

Read the whole thing.

50% Have Little Use for Internet, Cell Phones

This probably explains why only every other driver on the road is busy yakking it up instead of paying attention.

Media Bias Alive and Well

Just confirming the obvious.

The vast majority of American voters detect the presence of political bias in the mainstream news media, according to a Zogby poll released yesterday in conjunction with the George Washington University Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet.

Sentiment is strong: 83 percent of likely voters think bias is "alive and well." Of that number, 64 percent said the press leans left, while slightly more than a quarter -- 28 percent -- said there was a conservative bias.

Naturally, there's a partisan divide, and a pronounced one. Among Republican respondents, 97 percent said the press was liberal. Two-thirds of political independents agreed with them, with less than a quarter of the independents -- 23 percent -- saying there was a conservative bias.

The antique media responded by scoffing at the poll and calling the public stupid. But we'll have the last laugh.

Meanwhile, the Zogby findings also revealed a trend that may sober the enthusiasm of broadcasters, magazines and newspapers that have rushed to establish an Internet presence, complete with snappy blogs, message boards and interactive features.

FBI Using Broad New Wiretap Method

Let the freakout begin. The levels of paranoia with the nutroots will increase exponentially.

The FBI appears to have adopted an invasive Internet surveillance technique that collects far more data on innocent Americans than previously has been disclosed.

Instead of recording only what a particular suspect is doing, agents conducting investigations appear to be assembling the activities of thousands of Internet users at a time into massive databases, according to current and former officials. That database can subsequently be queried for names, e-mail addresses or keywords.

Such a technique is broader and potentially more intrusive than the FBI's Carnivore surveillance system, later renamed DCS1000. It raises concerns similar to those stirred by widespread Internet monitoring that the National Security Agency is said to have done, according to documents that have surfaced in one federal lawsuit, and may stretch the bounds of what's legally permissible.