Geek humor ;-)

by Andres Rueda

Did you hear about the guy who cooled himself down to Absolute Zero?
[Via reddit.com: what's new online!]

He’s 0K now.

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Some of the comments are pretty funny also.

Why social networks should not be blocked in London – they help the average citizen

Feature: How the London riots showed us two sides of social networking
[Via Ars Technica]

I watched in disbelief, horror, and dismay as news broke of Londoners laying waste to their—and my—city. My part of South London, Tulse Hill, escaped the riots, probably for want of anything to steal, but businesses were attacked a mile away in Streatham, and widespread looting hit nearby Brixton. For the past four nights, the wail of police and fire sirens has been a continuous feature of the city’s soundtrack.

These events are a godsend for 24-hour rolling news, but they also show its limitations. Like many others, I watched both BBC News and Sky News to find out what was going on. And like many others, I found the TV news incapable of keeping up with the changing situation.

Live text coverage from the BBC, the Guardian, and Sky News fared much better, but it was Twitter—of course—that was the most responsive, most timely source of information about the rioting and looting up and down the country. Raw, uncensored, and unverified though it may be, it was also the best way to learn what was actually going on.

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The British leaders are considering blocking access to Twitter, Facebook, etc.

These sorts of social networks are very important for gathering information about rapidly changing events. Yes, some thugs may use them but then so do many more regular citizens. They learn what is happening where, where to stay away from, etc.

It is the very transparency of Twitter that revealed to the world what was going on in Iran or Egypt during civil unrest. It is doing the same thing now, revealing to the world the actual motives of the rioters. Hard to claim police brutality and government oppression when the tweets are right there for everyone to read.