The Christmas holiday brings peak attendance for most churches, and an increasing number of U.S. religious groups are using the boom time to wow parishioners with virtual choirs on YouTube and Instagram advent calendars.

More than 500 churches will stream Christmas sermons online this year, up from just a handful in 2007, said DJ Chuang, host of the Social Media Church, a podcast with church leaders about social media. Hundreds more started Instagram and Pinterest accounts this year to post photos of baptisms and quotes from the gospel, he said.

“Instagram is like the modern day stained glass window,” Chuang said. “They use it to tell the stories of the church.”

Read it all.

Cybercriminals generally fall into one of three categories, he says. First there are the “Anonymouses of the world” or the hacktivists””people who expose information about a company or government they morally oppose. Second is organized crime. “They’re realizing there’s far more money in cybercrime than prostitution,” Mr. DeCesare says. “You can buy somebody’s I.D. for less than $10 online.” Third are activities funded by states and other political groups. “Every government has a cyber division,” he says, including the U.S. But cyber dangers now stretch beyond state lines to groups such as al Qaeda. “Cybercrime is a lot like that””[the country is] almost not relevant anymore,” making it difficult to hold governments accountable.

From a consumer standpoint, Mr. DeCesare knows from personal experience how easy it is to be fooled online. One of his three children once clicked on a site that turned out to be pornographic. “A Selena Gomez site was not what it was advertised to be,” he remembers. Mr. DeCesare now cautions his children against going to celebrity-related websites, which are common points of attack. The “bad guys,” he says, often build their own sites around popular stars.

Read it all (emphasis mine).

A third [friend of Erin Wurzel]…posted her holiday table setting in Paris, complete with burning candles, rolled napkins with napkin rings, an open Champagne bottle, a huge centerpiece of fall flowers and the illuminated Eiffel Tower framed in a casement window.

“I let out an ”˜Oh, my God!,’ like a little kid who wants something they cannot have,” said Ms. Wurzel, a program analyst in Philadelphia who uses the Instagram handle likewantneed. “You’re searching through your feed and a picture will hit you, like that Paris shot. It’s just so perfect. You just think, ”˜I want that, I want that life.’ ”

It’s called Instagram envy, and Ms. Wurzel had it bad.

Read it all.

Truth has never been an essential ingredient of viral content on the Internet. But in the stepped-up competition for readers, digital news sites are increasingly blurring the line between fact and fiction, and saying that it is all part of doing business in the rough-and-tumble world of online journalism.

Several recent stories rocketing around the web, picking up millions of views, turned out to be fake or embellished: a Twitter tale of a Thanksgiving feud on a plane, later described by the writer as a short story; a child’s letter to Santa that detailed an Amazon.com link in crayon, but was actually written by a grown-up comedian in 2011; and an essay on poverty that prompted $60,000 in donations until it was revealed by its author to be impressionistic rather than strictly factual.

Their creators describe them essentially as online performance art, never intended to be taken as fact. But to the media outlets that published them, they represented the lightning-in-a-bottle brew of emotion and entertainment that attracts readers and brings in lucrative advertising dollars.

Read it all.

A Frenchman who has lived half his 49 years in the United States, [Luc] Vincent was never in the Marines. But he is a leader in a new great game: the Internet land grab, which can be reduced to three key battles over three key conceptual territories. What came first, conquered by Google’s superior search algorithms. Who was next, and Facebook was the victor. But where, arguably the biggest prize of all, has yet to be completely won.

Where-type questions ”” the kind that result in a little map popping up on the search-results page ”” account for some 20 percent of all Google queries done from the desktop. But ultimately more important by far is location-awareness, the sort of geographical information that our phones and other mobile devices already require in order to function. In the future, such location-awareness will be built into more than just phones. All of our stuff will know where it is ”” and that awareness will imbue the real world with some of the power of the virtual. Your house keys will tell you that they’re still on your desk at work. Your tools will remind you that they were lent to a friend. And your car will be able to drive itself on an errand to retrieve both your keys and your tools.

While no one can say exactly how we will get from the current moment to that Jetsonian future, one thing for sure can be said about location-awareness: maps are required. Tomorrow’s map, integrally connected to everything that moves (the keys, the tools, the car), will be so fundamental to their operation that the map will, in effect, be their operating system.

Read it all.

1. Emergence of the Mobile Cloud

Mobile distributed computing paradigm will lead to explosion of new services.

Mobile and cloud computing are converging to create a new platform””one that has the potential to provide unlimited computing resources. Mobile devices are constrained by their memory, processing power, and battery life. But combined with cloud computing, data processing and storage can happen outside of mobile devices. What IDC calls the “Third Platform” will allow for better synchronization of data, improved reliability and scalability, increased ease of integration, anytime-anywhere access to business applications and collaborative services, rich user experiences, and an explosion of new services.

IEEE Computer Society resources: Rock Stars of Mobile Cloud, scheduled for 6 May in Boston, will cover insights into this emerging paradigm shift from leaders in the field.

2. From Internet of Things to Web of Things

Need connectivity, internetworking to link physical and digital.

Read it all.

I love Twitter. You might have already guessed that, since I just finished tweeting the entire Bible, but I just felt the need to say it out loud.

A big part of why I love Twitter is the real-time exposure it gives me to interesting people, including writers whose work I have enjoyed. Here are ten Christian writers who have offered me something marvelous or cool or significant or funny in Birdland, in alphabetical order by last name.

Read it all.

Less than five percent of current world languages are in use online, according to a recent study by prominent linguist András Kornai — and the Internet may be helping the other 95 percent to their graves.

Those startling conclusions come from a paper published in the journal PLOSOne in October titled, appropriately, “Digital Language Death.” The study sought to answer a question that’s both inherently fascinating and little-discussed: How many languages exist online? (And, on the flip side, how many don’t?)

For reference, at least 7,776 languages are in use in the greater offline world. To measure how many of those are also in use on the Internet, Kornai designed a program to crawl top-level Web domains and catalog the number of words in each language. He also analyzed Wikipedia pages, a key marker of a language’s digital vibrancy, as well as language options for things like operating systems and spell-checkers.

Read it all.

Do you know what it is? Read it all.

In the early predawn hours of Thanksgiving, Jason Goldberger huddled with his team on the 20th floor of a Target Corp. building in Minneapolis to make sure everything was ready at the chain’s most important store: Target.com.

The stakes were high. Online shoppers accounted for 40% of the $59 billion in sales racked up over the four-day Black Friday weekend last year, up from 23% in 2006, according to the National Retail Federation. Store traffic this year has been sluggish

Mr. Goldberger, who runs Target’s website and mobile business, arrived at 2 a.m., His staff split into two conference rooms. One held a technology team responsible for the workings of the site. The other had people comparing Target’s deals with offers from Amazon.com and Walmart.com.

Read it all.

While automakers and dealers lament that younger buyers have neither money nor brand loyalty when it comes to buying a car, a host of services are looking to the crowd to help them save for what could be the biggest purchase they will make for several years.

Geared toward first-time buyers, these services, like BoostUp, a Detroit-based company that Ms. Frandsen and Mr. Burris used, are trying to turn car-buying into a social experience.

Toyota and Google, for example, are announcing on Wednesday the Toyota Collaborator, a social car shopping tool where potential Corolla buyers can discuss decisions with friends and family in real time using Google Hangouts.

Read it all.

Read it all.

While her husband’s health-care plans founder, Michelle Obama is pressing ahead with her own. Last month, joined by Rosita, a turquoise Latina muppet, and Elmo, a shaggy red one, she announced that Sesame Street’s puppets would promote fruit and vegetables rather than sugary and fatty fare; Cookie Monster may need to find himself a new job. Mrs Obama’s fight against childhood obesity has several fronts (she calls it “Let’s Move!”) but marketing is an important one. In September she convened the first White House meeting on marketing food to children. Their preferences “are being shaped by the marketing campaigns you all create”, she told the assembled executives. “And that’s where the problem comes in.”

To market anything that might appeal to young consumers is to risk a scolding. Advertising entices children to drink and smoke, makes them fat and sexualises them early, its critics allege. To tout even wholesome products to children, some claim, is to exploit their naivety and thus to deceive them. Crusaders like Mrs Obama have helped embarrass companies. Coca-Cola said in May that it would not advertise to children younger than 12 anywhere in the world. Last year Disney promised not to promote junk food on television programmes for children.

Such gestures make the best of an increasingly constraining climate….

Read it all.

A pastor walks into a Costco.

He sees a Bible in the fiction section. He tweets a picture of it. It ends up on Drudge. Christians are outraged. Again.

Only problem: there was no need to be.

Again.

Read it all.To Mr. Stezer’s comments I would only add something we have said again and again–just because you read it or hear it, doesn’t mean it is true, so learn to CHECK it yourself. Remember the Bereans? They are in the New Testament for a reason–KSH.

17. While the average religious leader can expect one retweet for every 500 followers, the average musician only sees one retweet for every 30,000 followers.
18. 64% of consumers have made a purchase decision based on social content.
19. 91% of 18-34 year olds using social media are talking about brands.
20. 60% of U.S. smartphone owners now visit their favorite social networking sites on a daily basis, up from 54% in 2011.

Read it all.

In recent years, Chris Yaw noticed a trend among acquaintances in construction and engineering as well as members joining his church, St. David’s Episcopal in Southfield: They went online for education and career advancement.

Society’s increasing reliance on computer-based interactions coupled with the changing habits of Metro Detroit churchgoers inspired Yaw to explore creating an educational platform that would connect communities.

After developing the idea with a design team and partnering with Forward Movement, a Cincinnati-based publisher, the website he envisioned, www.churchnext.tv, debuted in August.

Read it all.

The National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world, according to documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and interviews with knowledgeable officials.

By tapping those links, the agency has positioned itself to collect at will from hundreds of millions of user accounts, many of them belonging to Americans. The NSA does not keep everything it collects, but it keeps a lot.

Read it all.

Jake Belder ”@jakebelder
A big thank you to the #gafcon2013 delegates! All of us confessing Anglicans are grateful for your faithfulness and your work this past week [This elf seconds this tweet!]

Canon Jack Lumanog ”@CanonLumanog
After the #GAFCON2013 statement was read and received, I got a high five and an enormous hug from Archbishop Ben… http://fb.me/SKpw7I9Z

Canon Jack Lumanog ”@CanonLumanog
#gafcon2013 “You have been on the Mount of Transfiguration. It is time to return to your homes and the… http://fb.me/2RuhYK8Hy

David Martin Hanke ”@dmhanke
‘Lift high the cross!’ Closing Eucharist. #gafcon2013 http://instagram.com/p/f7XvvUlhcD/

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
Closing with Stand Up For Jesus #GAFCon2013

Rev. Anson Ann ”@revansonann
++Wabukala thanked the Kenyan police force by giving them a bible… this will never happen in the West. #GAFCON2013 pic.twitter.com/n1CuZVeAks

Nigel Fortescue ”@nigelfortescue
The Police are presented with a new Bible by AB Wabukala in thanks for helping 2 keep us safe. #gafcon2013 “Now go read it to your friends!”

Nigel Fortescue ”@nigelfortescue
PFJ [Abp. Peter Jensen] gets a standing ovation. Now Martyn Minns too. #gafcon2013 pic.twitter.com/774vwESs0p

Nigel Fortescue ”@nigelfortescue
Lots of thanks. Especially to the Kenyan church who have cared for us and bolstered security with government help. #gafcon2013

Nigel Fortescue ”@nigelfortescue
Thunderous applause. Standing ovation. Spontaneous singing. PFJ crying. Statement has an impact! #gafcon2013 pic.twitter.com/91NqfjIN0F

Helmut Paul Wambi ”@wambipaul
@gafconference it has been a success here in Nairobi. #gafcon2013

Rev. Anson Ann ”@revansonann
After the final Nairobi Communique was read out, there was a standing ovation and singing broke out. #GAFCON2013 pic.twitter.com/447VxPpRcN

Nigel Fortescue ”@nigelfortescue
Dr Senyonyi x2 [John & Ruth] come forward to read the GAFCON 2013: The Nairobi Communique. #gafcon2013 This will be a moving moment.

Nigel Fortescue ”@nigelfortescue
There’s been too much caution. Anglican caution has brought us to today! Bishop of Recife, Brazil #gafcon2013

daveclancey ”@daveclancey
The armor of God is the gospel. #GAFCON2013 #eph6 #ArmorofGod

daveclancey ”@daveclancey
“Everything starts with prayer. And ends with prayer.” Bp Miguel Uchoa. #gafcon2013

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
Key moments and decision moments are prayer moments – Bp Ochoa #GAFCon2013 #Preach

Rev. Anson Ann ”@revansonann
+Ochoa: Be strong in the Lord (Eph 6:10). Don’t depend on yourself. Don’t even try. #GAFCON2013 pic.twitter.com/UY0Ug8T1uW

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
Say to the Lord, “Let me never walk in my presumption” – Bp Ochoa #GAFCon2013 #BoldPrayer

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
Each challenge we face, no matter how big, has our God who is much bigger – Bp Ochoa #GAFCon2013 #Eph6 #Truth

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
Don’t even try to live a Godly life on your own. Depending on the Lord means less of you more of Him – Bp Ochoa #GAFCon2013 #Eph6

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
The All Saints children’s choir blessing our socks off w In Christ Alone #GAFCon2013”¦ http://instagram.com/p/f7HWqFl3rW/

daveclancey ”@daveclancey
Gafcon is a movement. So we must move ahead. Bp Miguel Uchoa of Recife. #gafcon2013

Rev. Anson Ann ”@revansonann
Our beloved #ANiC bishops at #GAFCON2013. pic.twitter.com/CNDABq8G3h

Zane Elliott ”@squeakycog
Hallelujah thine the glory, hallelujah amen, hallelujah thine the glory, revive us again. The cry of #gafcon2013 the heart of #Anglicans

gillian davidson ”@gfdavo
Final church service of #gafcon2013 a time of personal and corporate repentance.

gillian davidson ”@gfdavo
Bp Kanuku, Kenya on Eph 6 urging #gafcon2013 to humbly, in repentance put on the breastplate of God and face the fight that confronts us.

Canon Jack Lumanog ”@CanonLumanog
Last day of #gafcon2013 and my body has just about had it! The spirit is willing – but the flesh is weak.

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
Yesterday my Rwandan sister, Vivian, told me I dance like an African! #Yessss #Arrived #GAFCon2013 @ThornhillMA @grod125

Anglican Future ”@gafconference
Thankful to All Saints Cathedral and ACK for gracious hospitality and Christ-like love to #gafcon2013 delegates #anglican

(in reverse chronological order, from most recent to earliest)

David Ould ”@davidould
Africa; it’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you. #gafcon2013

David Ould ”@davidould
last night in Nairobi. Will be very sad to leave this country where we have been so wonderfully looked after #gafcon2013

Sam Allberry ”@SamAllberry
The Kenyans should lead the singing at all Christian conferences. It’s been a wonderful week! #gafcon2013

David Ould ”@davidould
Hearing from the sole #gafcon2013 Pakistani delegate about how they Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus. #thestrifewillnotbelong

Jeff Walton ”@jeffreyhwalton
More communique: Fort Worth: affirm Anglo-Catholics. Quincy: mention Eucharist alongside Gospel as unifying #Anglican

Jeff Walton ”@jeffreyhwalton
More N. Amer. #GAFCON2013 communique suggestions: change evangelizing West to “areas where Gospel has been obscured.” #Anglican

Jeff Walton ”@jeffreyhwalton
Suggestions for #GAFCON2013 communique heard in North American discussion group: more on sanctity of life, unborn. #Anglican

Jeff Walton ”@jeffreyhwalton
“Integrity & authority of Gospel is fundamental. Go wrong with them, everything will go wrong in the end.” -Archbp Peter Jensen #GAFCON2013

Canon Jack Lumanog ”@CanonLumanog
Served as secretary of @The_ACNA caucus here at #GAFCON2013. Working out the final communique in working groups organized by Province.

Moses Kimani ”@SirMosesKimani
Listening to the amazingly good Nairobi Communique of the #GAFCON2013 Conference at All Saints Cathedral. Applause! Applause! Applause!

Rev. Anson Ann ”@revansonann
John Guernsey+ just read out the draft of the Nairobi Communique. It was very well written and exceeded my expectations. #GAFCON2013

ACNA ”@The_ACNA
Bishop John Guernsey of @The_ACNA serves as Chairman of Communique Team at #GAFCON2013 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BXa18BECAAAakgI.jpg:large ”¦ #Anglican #Episcopal #GAFCON

Mel Lacy ”@lacymel
Significant afternoon for all those at #gafcon2013 as we consider the draft Nairobi communique in our provinces pic.twitter.com/jAZKlpTyGX

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
Our task is not to recreate the Jerusalem statement, our task is to put our shoulder to the wheel to move the GFCA forward #GAFCon2013

Canon Jack Lumanog ”@CanonLumanog
In Nairobi – is it possible to feel like coming home to a place I have never been before? #GAFCON2013

Nigel Fortescue ”@nigelfortescue
The most important moment of #gafcon2013 has arrived. @ All Saints Cathedral http://instagram.com/p/f42sQuKA6k/

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
Thanks to John Thorpe for a great session on Teaching Others to Teach the Bible #ChildrenAndYouthTrack #GAFCon2013

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
@lacymel Train your leaders, Teach Bible study skills, Disciple them, Be culturally aware, PRAY #GAFCON2013 #ChildrenAndYouthTrack

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
@lacymel Teach the Word, Build Christian worldview, Support parental discipleship, Live out the Word, Teach signif. of Church #GAFCon2013

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
Great session yesterday by @lacymel on discipling vibrant young people who follow Christ #GAFCon2013 #ChildrenAndYouthTrack

David Martin Hanke ”@dmhanke
I really enjoyed visiting with the delegation from Myanmar this morning. #restorationva #gafcon2013 http://instagram.com/p/f4sa1dFhfk/

Canon Jack Lumanog ”@CanonLumanog
Canon Jack at a Tweetup over tea during #GAFCON2013 of social media folks from America, Australia and England. http://fb.me/2NFzEdSYZ

Jeff Walton ”@jeffreyhwalton
Islam changes wrld by power gain, Chrstns change wrld by willingness to give up power -Bishop Nazir-Ali http://bit.ly/18ibbVj #gafcon2013

Canon Jack Lumanog ”@CanonLumanog
“Christ’s cosmic victory erupts in visible expression in the local assembly.” Rev. William Taylor #gafcon2013

Nigel Fortescue ”@nigelfortescue
When headship and submission are on display in marriage, so is the cosmic victory of God in Jesus Christ. #gafcon2013

David Ould ”@davidould
Marriage mirrors the gospel to the world – Willy Taylor #ephesians5 #gafcon2013

Canon Jack Lumanog ”@CanonLumanog
“The western church, at best, has been asleep. At worst, has been deceived.” Rev. William Taylor #gafcon2013

Nigel Fortescue ”@nigelfortescue
If you sleep walk into partnership with those who court the world, you’ll be eaten alive by a crocodile. #gafcon2013 William Taylor on fire.

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
Rev Taylor thanking our brothers and sisters in the global south for “staying awake” #GAFCon2013 #Eph5 # Blamo

David Ould ”@davidould
Biblical truth means we cannot be partners with those who deny it and use deceptive words Eph. 5:6-7 Willy Taylor #gafcon2013

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
Submission to one another is part of bringing all things under the lordship of Christ – W Taylor #GAFCon2013 #Eph5

Nigel Fortescue ”@nigelfortescue
Today we’ll get a look at the draft GAFCON II statement. This is a pinnacle moment. Will it give us a direction to go together? #gafcon2013

Heather Strong Moore ”@StrongHeather
Ain’t no worship like African worship! So grateful for the joyful fervour that our brothers and sisters bring to our Communion #GAFCon2013

David Ould ”@davidould
Picture simply can’t do justice to the joyful music and dancing at #gafcon2013 pic.twitter.com/dqaaG58Lz1

David Martin Hanke ”@dmhanke
Good morning! Afayo! (He is Lord!) #gafcon2013 http://instagram.com/p/f4OFSGFhcA/

Sam Allberry ”@SamAllberry
Next time someone tells you liturgy = dry, send them to All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi. #gafcon2013

***
Note: there were extremely few tweets from Day 4, so we did not do a roundup of Day 4 tweets. Perhaps there were wifi problems…

It has long been a favourite among publicity-seeking celebrities wanting to post “selfies” online but now the Archbishop of Canterbury has joined the photo sharing site Instagram in his drive to spread the Christian message.

In a first for the Church of England, Justin Welby has joined the app’s 150 million users worldwide with an opening message urging churches and communities to support their local credit union.

His statement came as bishops across England and Scotland prepared to mark International Credit Union Day today.

Read it all.

Legendary Pictures LLC, the company behind this summer’s monster movie “Pacific Rim” and a coming film adaptation of the hit videogame “Warcraft,” makes anyone authorized to read one of its scripts purchase a special iPad app that allows them to view it for a only few hours before the digital document, like a “Mission Impossible” assignment, self-destructs.

Read it all.

The Internet of things and the technology ecosystem surrounding it are expected to be a $8.9 trillion market in 2020, according to IDC.

In a nutshell, the Internet of things is the product of sensors, technology and networking all coming together to allow buildings, infrastructure and other resources to swap information. Today, the Internet of things and machine-to-machine data falls under the big data umbrella with projects just beginning.

IDC said the installed base of things connected will be 212 billion by the end of 2020, including 30.1 billion connected autonomous things. Intelligent systems will be installed and collecting data by this point.

Read it all from ZDnet.

The series… [for example] looks at your commute to and from work:

Surveillance cameras in subway stations and on city buses watch you board and depart.
To automatically identify celebrities and regular customers when they enter a store, some retailers reportedly are using another facial recognition technology originally developed in the U.K. for spotting terrorists and criminals.
Meanwhile, smart cards log when and where you travel using public transportation

Read or listen to it all.

It seems not a month goes by without a social media brouhaha involving a high-profile Christian leader.

Such was the case when a prominent pastor tweeted about the recent Oklahoma tornado in a manner that seemed to connect the deadly storm to an act of God’s judgment. In between such controversies, insightful blog posts or “retweetable” phrases also go viral. Social media is creating a new class of religious influencers. If you want to watch the modern Christian conversation unfold, just log onto Twitter or check your Facebook feed. The Christian community’s voice has become a substantial one in the social, digital space.

A new Barna study shows that, in the last two years, there has been a significant leap in the number of pastors and churches engaging social media. More than one in five American pastors (21%) say their churches use Twitter, up from only 14% in 2011. Facebook usage in churches has likewise jumped from just over half (57%) to a full seven in 10. Pastors themselves are also engaged in online communication, with nearly one-quarter (23%) who use Twitter, well over six in 10 (66%) who are on Facebook, and over one in five (22%) who have a personal blog.

Read it all.

In the Christian tradition, we have a certain understanding that loneliness is inevitable and part of the human condition. We’re created for complete union with God, but unable to fully consummate that union this side of God’s Kingdom. There is an Augustinian element of truth from which we cannot escape no matter how much intimacy we do cultivate. Still, that doesn’t seem like a sufficient response for our loneliness predicament. If anything, it’s an invitation for Christians to communicate more openly about the challenges of the loneliness we are all bound to experience at various seasons of our lives.

In our age of social media, when new “friends” are a click away on Facebook and Twitter users actively form real-time communities around everything from favorite TV shows to breaking political news, we can easily be led to think that loneliness is an outdated phenomenon. But it is not.

Read it all.

In jumping, Rebecca [Ann Sedwick] became one of the youngest members of a growing list of children and teenagers apparently driven to suicide, at least in part, after being maligned, threatened and taunted online, mostly through a new collection of texting and photo-sharing cellphone applications. Her suicide raises new questions about the proliferation and popularity of these applications and Web sites among children and the ability of parents to keep up with their children’s online relationships.

For more than a year, Rebecca, pretty and smart, was cyberbullied by a coterie of 15 middle-school children who urged her to kill herself, her mother said. The Polk County sheriff’s office is investigating the role of cyberbullying in the suicide and considering filing charges against the middle-school students who apparently barraged Rebecca with hostile text messages. Florida passed a law this year making it easier to bring felony charges in online bullying cases.

Rebecca was “absolutely terrorized on social media,” Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County said at a news conference this week.

Read it all.

Twitter Inc. said it has confidentially submitted an S-1 form to the Securities and Exchange Commission to begin the process for an initial public offering, a long-awaited move by the microblogging service.

In a tweet on Thursday, the San Francisco-based company said, “We’ve confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale.”

A Twitter spokesman declined to comment.

Read it all.

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) has launched a free cell phone application or ‘app’ to aid communication between parishes and parishioners in the Province.

The Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in the Polokwane area of South Africa, the Very Revd Luke Pretorius, is also a member of ACSA Media Committee.

“I am excited at what may be a world first from Africa,” he told ACNS, “and [also] for how this app will improve the communication between churches and people by using cell phone technology, an essential and already popular tool in Africa.”

Read it all.

There is something indulgent about boredom. It makes me think of posh people in Russian plays complaining they have nothing to do while other people work their arses off in the field. As Schopenhauer insisted, life for the person of means becomes a question of how to dispose of surplus time. Maybe that’s why boredom feels like a problem especially associated with August and not least with children on long car journeys.

But according to the Norwegian philosopher Lars Svendsen, author of A Philosophy of Boredom, boredom comes to take on a particular and possibly darker inflection with modernity. Having been bored witless writing his PhD about Kant, Svendsen came to see a connection between his subject and his state of mind. With Kant, God is replaced by the self as the ultimate source of meaning. As traditional structures of meaning are wiped away, boredom comes to be regarded as a very personal sort of failing. And in order to avoid it, various distractions are entertained: travel, drink, drugs, the Xbox, sex, transgressive behaviour ”“ all strategies of avoidance, all hinting at a desperate desire to hold off the acknowledgment of meaninglessness. It is, says Svendsen, a problem characteristic of modernity. Whereas boredom has once bragged about as a mark of nobility, now it is the ultimate in personal failing. Those who are bored are losers.

Perhaps this is why the entertainment industry is more important to us that we are often prepared to admit.

Read it all.

Even if we get to see more, why is the post to be regretted if it is only a record of fun at a party or a cuddle in a bedroom or an enticement? It could be healthy fun.

Society cannot tolerate youth having fun on their own terms and with their own ways of broadcasting their adventures. The purpose of the didactic videos is to kill junior sexual feelings with shame. How deplorable that sexually adventurous young women are being punished by society, and constantly being told that they are ”degrading themselves” and have no ”self-respect” by seeking out various sexual expressions.

At a point when girls need autonomy and self-respect, the Commonwealth government promotes shame. Instead of immunising girls against the consequences of viral posts, our educators promulgate fear, disgust and disgrace. We need a program to inoculate us against shame, not cripple us with fear.

Read it all from the SMH.