NEW YORK: Matching mullets, regrettable tattoos, metal mouths and goofy grins. Such long-lost looks were never meant to be seen by anyone except those flipping through the pages of an old family album or studying the photo frames on the fireplace mantel.
But now, Americans who grew up long before the Internet opened private lives to the world are digging up dusty boxes for photos to share on Facebook and other sites — sometimes to the chagrin of family members and schoolmates appearing in group shots.
Most people sharing photos from their past are simply having fun, and it can even serve as some form of collective healing.
“There’s definitely a bit of exhibitionism involved,” said Brandon Van Der Heide, an Ohio State University professor who studies the social implications of the Internet.
“It’s a way for people to connect to something that’s familiar and laugh at themselves.”
Nikki Smith, a 37-year-old Facebook user from Paducah, Kentucky, flipped through the scrapbooks she pieced together as a teenager and began scanning the old photos into her computer. The images took her back 20 years to the days of big hair, oversized sweaters, Air Jordan sneakers and aviator sunglasses.
“I had really, really bad hair in my senior year,” Smith said. “But everyone knows. Everybody was there.”
Smith said posting the photos on Facebook “gave everyone a good laugh.”
It also put her back in touch with many of her old high school classmates. One photo, which shows Smith posing with her high school dance troupe in matching blue and white leotards and knee high boots, garnered more than 40 comments alone from other Facebook users.
“I don’t think any of them are really awful,” Smith said. “It was 20 years ago, who cares?”
But some people do care, especially when someone else has uploaded an unflattering photo or video.
The frightful past
Los Angeles screenwriter Mike Bender, who runs AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com devoted to such photos from the past, said a woman who shared a family photo later wrote to say that she was drunk when she submitted it and that her family was upset with her. Bender removed the picture immediately but it was already all over the Internet.
What happens online can have a direct effect on someone’s real life reputation, Van Der Heide said, yet people posting photos of others aren’t giving them a chance to respond or control how they appear. He said unwarranted photos, videos or comments made about you could potentially “assassinate your credibility.”
Online photos also have the “potential to hang around,” getting copied and redistributed such that deleting your original might do little to erase the embarrassment, said Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Facebook does give users limited control over photos shared by their friends. Users can remove “tags” that identify them in individual photos, which would make it more difficult to find the photo in a search.
Facebook spokesman Malorie Lucich said users should “keep an open dialogue with their friends so they can discuss what type of photos they’d rather not see posted.”
Bender, of AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com, suggests making sure everyone in the photo is in on the joke before posting something seemingly funny and harmless.
“We’re not looking to humiliate anyone,” Bender said. “We really want people to have fun with it.”
Not picture perfect
More than 100,000 visitors a day now browse photos on his site, which Bender and fellow screenwriter Doug Chernack launched in April.
You can laugh at the silly holiday photo where the entire family has dressed up in oversized Christmas gift boxes, or cringe at the teenager’s dark eyeliner and punk hair ruining the family’s studio portrait.
And then there’s the family dressed in matching Winnie the Pooh outfits for a studio portrait — the father is on his hands and knees in a furry, blue Eeyore suit, his baby, dressed as Tigger, sits on his back, and mother Winnie stands nearby.
A similar site, LaserPortraits.net, celebrates the awkward school portrait — specifically, the ones from the 80s and the 90s with the fluorescent lasers in the background.
Olivia Rea submitted her fourth grade school portrait. A young Olivia looks up and off to the right with a shy, expecting gaze, sporting black Harry Potter-esque glasses and a mouthful of braces.
Her caption: “At the time this picture was taken I wanted to grow up to be a model. I wrote letters to every supermodel I could think of seeking their advice. In each letter I included a copy of this photo. I never heard back from any of them ... I wonder why?”
Today, Rea is a high school math teacher in St Louis, having given up her modelling dreams. “It’s making fun of myself, letting the world know we’ve all had embarrassing moments,” she said.
What if her students saw that photo online? “I think it would be funny,” she said. “It’s good for my students to know that it’s OK to make mistakes.” — AP
Sunday, September 27, 2009
NEWS: Future leaders
THE government is in the process of drafting a strategic plan to groom about one million students at higher learning institutions to become future leaders of the country.
International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, who is also Kelantan Umno Liaison Chief, said the move was necessary to groom sincere and knowledgeable leaders, as they will be the ones to determine the future direction of the country.
“This is a challenge that about one million students at higher learning institutions in the country must shoulder,” said Mustapa at a meet-the-leaders session in SMKSultan Ismail (SMKSI), here on Wednesday.
In order to equip themselves with additional knowledge, he urged students to be actively involved in non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including student councils, as a means of broadening their horizons.
“They (students) must also be role models and mentors to those under their tutelage in order to help the country achieve the developed nation status by 2020,” said the former Higher Education Minister.
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin, Kelantan Federal Development Department director Datuk Mohd Shukri Salleh, and Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Zainal Mohamed were among the other leaders who attended the session. — Bernama
International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, who is also Kelantan Umno Liaison Chief, said the move was necessary to groom sincere and knowledgeable leaders, as they will be the ones to determine the future direction of the country.
“This is a challenge that about one million students at higher learning institutions in the country must shoulder,” said Mustapa at a meet-the-leaders session in SMKSultan Ismail (SMKSI), here on Wednesday.
In order to equip themselves with additional knowledge, he urged students to be actively involved in non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including student councils, as a means of broadening their horizons.
“They (students) must also be role models and mentors to those under their tutelage in order to help the country achieve the developed nation status by 2020,” said the former Higher Education Minister.
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin, Kelantan Federal Development Department director Datuk Mohd Shukri Salleh, and Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Zainal Mohamed were among the other leaders who attended the session. — Bernama
NEWS: Watch and learn
SCHOOL CHILDREN can expect to learn in a more fun and interactive environment following the launch of a partnership for Kampus Astro Bersama Komuniti Sekolah between the Education Ministry and Astro recently.
Under the partnership — a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by Astro — the TV operator will supply 10,000 primary and secondary schools, including Teachers’ Activity Centres, in Malaysia with free personal video recording equipment, TV sets, and access to 12 learning channels during the campaign period.
The key objective of the programme is to support the ministry’s goal to offer a holistic learning experience to young students through greater exposure to world-class educational and informative content.
Astro is committed to investing RM30mil over a period of three years to implement this programme in all schools nationwide.
Muhyiddin launching the partnership for “Kampus Astro Bersama Komuniti Sekolah” while Rohana (left), Badri and Education Ministry director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom look on.
Teachers and students residing in remote areas will not be left out, as they will also get to enjoy the same access to the educational TV programmes.
The 12 channels available to the schools are Astro TVIQ, Astro Awani, Astro Ceria, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Science Channel, Animal Planet Channel, The History Channel, Disney, TV1, TV2 and BernamaTV.
To ensure that more students can benefit from the partnership, certain channels have language options like English, Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese.
Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was invited to launch the partnership in Johor, commended Astro for its efforts in collaborating with the ministry to help develop innovative and inquiring young minds through the programmes on the learning channels.
The event was also attended by Astro chairman Datuk Badri Masri and chief executive officer Rohana Rozhan.
According to Rohana, Kampus Astro Bersama Komuniti Sekolah reflects Astro’s commitment in providing Malaysian children with a holistic approach to learning.
“Astro has made education a priority for all Malaysians.
“Kampus Astro takes on a whole new approach via four main pillars -- Academic Content, Life Skills, On Ground Events and Community Projects -- to make learning fun for Malaysians.
“We are happy to bring Kampus Astro to the schools via Kampus Astro Bersama Komuniti Sekolah, which will see over 5.2mil students from 10,000 primary and secondary schools in Malaysia benefiting from it,” she said.
In partnership with the National Science Centre, the Kampus Astro-on-Wheels community outreach programme is an extension of the Kampus Astro Bersama Komuniti Sekolah.
A 25-foot mobile truck housing learning-based activities will be visiting rural and suburban schools on weekends to support the students’ learning needs.
Under the partnership — a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by Astro — the TV operator will supply 10,000 primary and secondary schools, including Teachers’ Activity Centres, in Malaysia with free personal video recording equipment, TV sets, and access to 12 learning channels during the campaign period.
The key objective of the programme is to support the ministry’s goal to offer a holistic learning experience to young students through greater exposure to world-class educational and informative content.
Astro is committed to investing RM30mil over a period of three years to implement this programme in all schools nationwide.
Muhyiddin launching the partnership for “Kampus Astro Bersama Komuniti Sekolah” while Rohana (left), Badri and Education Ministry director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom look on.
Teachers and students residing in remote areas will not be left out, as they will also get to enjoy the same access to the educational TV programmes.
The 12 channels available to the schools are Astro TVIQ, Astro Awani, Astro Ceria, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Science Channel, Animal Planet Channel, The History Channel, Disney, TV1, TV2 and BernamaTV.
To ensure that more students can benefit from the partnership, certain channels have language options like English, Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese.
Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was invited to launch the partnership in Johor, commended Astro for its efforts in collaborating with the ministry to help develop innovative and inquiring young minds through the programmes on the learning channels.
The event was also attended by Astro chairman Datuk Badri Masri and chief executive officer Rohana Rozhan.
According to Rohana, Kampus Astro Bersama Komuniti Sekolah reflects Astro’s commitment in providing Malaysian children with a holistic approach to learning.
“Astro has made education a priority for all Malaysians.
“Kampus Astro takes on a whole new approach via four main pillars -- Academic Content, Life Skills, On Ground Events and Community Projects -- to make learning fun for Malaysians.
“We are happy to bring Kampus Astro to the schools via Kampus Astro Bersama Komuniti Sekolah, which will see over 5.2mil students from 10,000 primary and secondary schools in Malaysia benefiting from it,” she said.
In partnership with the National Science Centre, the Kampus Astro-on-Wheels community outreach programme is an extension of the Kampus Astro Bersama Komuniti Sekolah.
A 25-foot mobile truck housing learning-based activities will be visiting rural and suburban schools on weekends to support the students’ learning needs.
NEWS: RIM renews call to ban illegal downloaders
PETALING JAYA: France is going to disable the Internet accounts of citizens who download illegal copies of music, movies and PC games, and so should we, said the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM).
RIM wants the Malaysian Government to emulate France’s latest move to clamp down on Internet piracy.
News agency AFP reported that the French parliament has approved an Internet piracy bill which has a provision to ban illegal music, film and computer game downloaders from the Internet.
Repeat offenders can now be cut off from the Web in addition to facing existing but rarely applied legislation that stipulates a fine of up to 300,000 euros (RM1.5mil) or two-year jail term.
Also, AFP reported, Internet account holders found guilty of “negligence” for allowing a third party to pirate music or films using their web connection, would risk a 1,500-euro (RM7,500) fine and a month-long suspension.
RIM chief executive officer Tan Ngiap Foo said this matter was brought up to the Malaysian Government about three months ago.
“As our Government is aware of these developments, we are hopeful that it will adopt such a law,” he said.
Tan said the Government is in the midst of amending the Copyright Act 1987 to cover the Internet and hopes this can be finished by March.
“With the MSC Malaysia given such prominence there is no reason for our country not to adopt such a law. Copyright is paramount to the growth of the initiative,” he said.
MSC Malaysia was kicked off about 13 years ago to help build the nation’s knowledge economy. It involves hundreds of foreign and local companies that develop multimedia and communications products and services for home and international markets.
1-2-3 you’re out
RIM suggested a “three-strike warning” for illegal downloaders.
“First-time offenders could perhaps be sent a warning, advising them that it is illegal to download copies of pirated material,” Tan told In.Tech.
“If they persist, the next step could be to suspend their Internet accounts temporarily.”
After that, he said, recalcitrant downloaders could be permanently cut off from the Internet and taken to court. “This would be a stiff deterrent to others who pirate copyrighted material online,” he added.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, which is industry regulator, and the Motion Picture Association could not respond to calls for comment by press time due to the Hari Raya holiday season.
According to the AFP report, the bill is one of the toughest ever drafted in the global fight against the illegal downloading of films, music and computer games.
AFP also reported that in Sweden, a similar law has led to a sharp drop in illegal downloading although critics predict the effects will be shortlived and argue that it is an excessive breach of personal privacy.
RIM wants the Malaysian Government to emulate France’s latest move to clamp down on Internet piracy.
News agency AFP reported that the French parliament has approved an Internet piracy bill which has a provision to ban illegal music, film and computer game downloaders from the Internet.
Repeat offenders can now be cut off from the Web in addition to facing existing but rarely applied legislation that stipulates a fine of up to 300,000 euros (RM1.5mil) or two-year jail term.
Also, AFP reported, Internet account holders found guilty of “negligence” for allowing a third party to pirate music or films using their web connection, would risk a 1,500-euro (RM7,500) fine and a month-long suspension.
RIM chief executive officer Tan Ngiap Foo said this matter was brought up to the Malaysian Government about three months ago.
“As our Government is aware of these developments, we are hopeful that it will adopt such a law,” he said.
Tan said the Government is in the midst of amending the Copyright Act 1987 to cover the Internet and hopes this can be finished by March.
“With the MSC Malaysia given such prominence there is no reason for our country not to adopt such a law. Copyright is paramount to the growth of the initiative,” he said.
MSC Malaysia was kicked off about 13 years ago to help build the nation’s knowledge economy. It involves hundreds of foreign and local companies that develop multimedia and communications products and services for home and international markets.
1-2-3 you’re out
RIM suggested a “three-strike warning” for illegal downloaders.
“First-time offenders could perhaps be sent a warning, advising them that it is illegal to download copies of pirated material,” Tan told In.Tech.
“If they persist, the next step could be to suspend their Internet accounts temporarily.”
After that, he said, recalcitrant downloaders could be permanently cut off from the Internet and taken to court. “This would be a stiff deterrent to others who pirate copyrighted material online,” he added.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, which is industry regulator, and the Motion Picture Association could not respond to calls for comment by press time due to the Hari Raya holiday season.
According to the AFP report, the bill is one of the toughest ever drafted in the global fight against the illegal downloading of films, music and computer games.
AFP also reported that in Sweden, a similar law has led to a sharp drop in illegal downloading although critics predict the effects will be shortlived and argue that it is an excessive breach of personal privacy.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
NEWS: France approves bill to cut off Net pirates’ access
PARIS: France’s lower house of parliament approved a pioneering bill Tuesday allowing authorities to cut off Internet access to people who download illegally, a measure that entertainment companies hope will be a powerful weapon against piracy.
Critics, meanwhile, complain the bill threatens civil liberties, and questions remain about exactly how it will be enforced.
The bill has garnered attention beyond France, both from music and film industries struggling to keep up official revenue and from privacy advocates who worry about government intrusion.
The Culture Ministry has estimated that 1,000 French Internet users a day could be taken offline under the bill. Pirates who ignore e-mail warnings and a registered letter could see their Internet connections cut for up to a year, and they could also face up to 300,000 euros in fines or jail time.
Even parents whose children download illegally could be targeted for neglecting to police their online activities -- after warnings, the family’s Internet service could be shut down for a month, and they could be slapped with a 3,750-euro fine.
An original, more muscular version of the bill was shot down earlier this year as unconstitutional. The Senate approved a compromise version in July, and the National Assembly followed suit Tuesday, with a 285-225 vote.
The bill must clear at least one more hurdle to become law, gaining approval from a small committee of lawmakers tasked with harmonising the two versions.
President Nicolas Sarkozy, the husband of model-turned-singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and friend to powerful French media figures, supports the bill.
Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand applauded lawmakers, saying, “Artistes will remember that we at last had the courage to break with the laissez-faire approach and protect their rights from people who want to turn the net into their libertarian utopia.”
David El Sayegh, general manager of France’s National Union of Phonographic Publishing, also praised the effort, saying, “It’s extremely urgent to have regulation on the Internet to make users responsible.”
But opposition Socialists and several members of Sarkozy’s conservative party are against it, largely because of the powers it grants a new agency, called Hadopi, that would sanction those who illegally download copyrighted material.
Efforts to pass the bill have been tortuous. It was rejected in April, then adopted in May, then rejected by the Constitutional Council in June because it would have allowed the agency to cut off Internet connections of repeat offenders. The version voted on Tuesday leaves it to a judge to order Internet connections cut.
Socialist lawmaker Bruno Le Roux called the back-and-forth an “endless soap opera” that has become “grotesque.”
“This project is totally unenforceable today,” he said, echoing the concerns of some Internet experts.
Exact details about enforcement were still being worked out. Internet subscribers would be asked to install special software to enable authorities to track down and identify those suspected of illegal downloads, but sceptics say such programs are not ready to be rolled out.
Opponents also say the legislation misses the point by targeting downloads rather than illegal forms of “streaming” -- an increasingly popular approach where music and videos are played over the Internet, rather than downloaded and saved onto a user’s computer. -- AP
Critics, meanwhile, complain the bill threatens civil liberties, and questions remain about exactly how it will be enforced.
The bill has garnered attention beyond France, both from music and film industries struggling to keep up official revenue and from privacy advocates who worry about government intrusion.
The Culture Ministry has estimated that 1,000 French Internet users a day could be taken offline under the bill. Pirates who ignore e-mail warnings and a registered letter could see their Internet connections cut for up to a year, and they could also face up to 300,000 euros in fines or jail time.
Even parents whose children download illegally could be targeted for neglecting to police their online activities -- after warnings, the family’s Internet service could be shut down for a month, and they could be slapped with a 3,750-euro fine.
An original, more muscular version of the bill was shot down earlier this year as unconstitutional. The Senate approved a compromise version in July, and the National Assembly followed suit Tuesday, with a 285-225 vote.
The bill must clear at least one more hurdle to become law, gaining approval from a small committee of lawmakers tasked with harmonising the two versions.
President Nicolas Sarkozy, the husband of model-turned-singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and friend to powerful French media figures, supports the bill.
Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand applauded lawmakers, saying, “Artistes will remember that we at last had the courage to break with the laissez-faire approach and protect their rights from people who want to turn the net into their libertarian utopia.”
David El Sayegh, general manager of France’s National Union of Phonographic Publishing, also praised the effort, saying, “It’s extremely urgent to have regulation on the Internet to make users responsible.”
But opposition Socialists and several members of Sarkozy’s conservative party are against it, largely because of the powers it grants a new agency, called Hadopi, that would sanction those who illegally download copyrighted material.
Efforts to pass the bill have been tortuous. It was rejected in April, then adopted in May, then rejected by the Constitutional Council in June because it would have allowed the agency to cut off Internet connections of repeat offenders. The version voted on Tuesday leaves it to a judge to order Internet connections cut.
Socialist lawmaker Bruno Le Roux called the back-and-forth an “endless soap opera” that has become “grotesque.”
“This project is totally unenforceable today,” he said, echoing the concerns of some Internet experts.
Exact details about enforcement were still being worked out. Internet subscribers would be asked to install special software to enable authorities to track down and identify those suspected of illegal downloads, but sceptics say such programs are not ready to be rolled out.
Opponents also say the legislation misses the point by targeting downloads rather than illegal forms of “streaming” -- an increasingly popular approach where music and videos are played over the Internet, rather than downloaded and saved onto a user’s computer. -- AP
NEWS: Yahoo! nets RM540m windfall from Alibaba.com sale
SUNNYVALE (California): Yahoo! Inc has cashed out of its investment in China’s leading e-commerce site, Alibaba.com.
The sale, announced on Monday, is expected to generate a pretax windfall of about US$150mil (RM540mil) for Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo!. The Internet company had owned a 1% stake in Alibaba.com.
Yahoo! invested about US$100mil (RM360mil at today’s exchange rate) in Alibaba.com as part of an initial public offering completed in November 2007. The shares have soared since then, and Yahoo! decided it was time to capitalise on the run-up.
Yahoo! still holds a roughly 40% stake in Alibaba.com’s owner, the Alibaba Group.
In a statement, the US company indicated that it intended to hold on to its investment in the Alibaba Group, calling it an “important long-term way to participate in the China market.” — AP
The sale, announced on Monday, is expected to generate a pretax windfall of about US$150mil (RM540mil) for Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo!. The Internet company had owned a 1% stake in Alibaba.com.
Yahoo! invested about US$100mil (RM360mil at today’s exchange rate) in Alibaba.com as part of an initial public offering completed in November 2007. The shares have soared since then, and Yahoo! decided it was time to capitalise on the run-up.
Yahoo! still holds a roughly 40% stake in Alibaba.com’s owner, the Alibaba Group.
In a statement, the US company indicated that it intended to hold on to its investment in the Alibaba Group, calling it an “important long-term way to participate in the China market.” — AP
NEWS: Google hopes readers will ‘flip’ over new format
SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc is testing a new format that is supposed to make reading online stories as easy as flipping through a magazine, a shift that eventually could feed more advertising sales to revenue-starved publishers.
The Internet search leader unveiled the experiment, called “Fast Flip,” on Monday at a conference hosted by TechCrunch, a popular blog.
The service is meant to duplicate the look and feel of perusing a printed publication. The stories are displayed on electronic pages that can be quickly scrolled through by clicking on large arrows on the side instead of a standard weblink that requires waiting several seconds for a page to load.
Readers can sort through content based on topics, favourite writers and publications.
For now, Fast Flip will only show the first page of a story. Readers who want to continue will have to click through to the publisher’s site, where the display reverts to a traditional webpage.
More than three dozen publishers, broadcasters and Web-only outlets have agreed to share their content on Fast Flip. The participants include two major newspapers, The New York Times and the Washington Post, as well as large magazines like Newsweek and BusinessWeek.
The publishers providing the stories to Fast Flip will get most of the revenue from the ads that Google intends to show in the new format.
That’s a switch from Google’s main search page and its news section, where the Mountain View, California-based company keeps all the money from ads shown alongside headlines and snippets from stories. — AP
++++
http://fastflip.googlelabs.com
The Internet search leader unveiled the experiment, called “Fast Flip,” on Monday at a conference hosted by TechCrunch, a popular blog.
The service is meant to duplicate the look and feel of perusing a printed publication. The stories are displayed on electronic pages that can be quickly scrolled through by clicking on large arrows on the side instead of a standard weblink that requires waiting several seconds for a page to load.
Readers can sort through content based on topics, favourite writers and publications.
For now, Fast Flip will only show the first page of a story. Readers who want to continue will have to click through to the publisher’s site, where the display reverts to a traditional webpage.
More than three dozen publishers, broadcasters and Web-only outlets have agreed to share their content on Fast Flip. The participants include two major newspapers, The New York Times and the Washington Post, as well as large magazines like Newsweek and BusinessWeek.
The publishers providing the stories to Fast Flip will get most of the revenue from the ads that Google intends to show in the new format.
That’s a switch from Google’s main search page and its news section, where the Mountain View, California-based company keeps all the money from ads shown alongside headlines and snippets from stories. — AP
++++
http://fastflip.googlelabs.com
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