Police in Canada?s capital city, Ottawa, went undercover on Facebook to arrest a man who possessed an unlicensed handgun. The suspect pleaded guilty in court this past weekend. In stark contrast to the United States, Canada has strict firearm laws, requiring the registration and appropriate storage of any gun owned by a civilian. According to media reports, Christopher Huxford tried to illegally acquire a handgun for his protection and then decided to post pictures of himself brandishing what resembled a weapon on his Facebook profile. The 24 year old man had reportedly made his profile completely open for all to view?thus removing all privacy restrictions--and as such, police received a tip back in the summer from someone who had seen these photos on the site.</p> <p>Authorities then proceeded to use the social networking site to make an arrest. An officer reportedly created a fake Facebook profile and then added Huxford as a friend. The uncover cop soon received a message from Huxford asking if he would be willing to sell him a gun. The 24 year old Facebook user agreed to meet his new online friend in person and even brought $800 in order to purchase a firearm from the uncover detective. He was arrested on the spot and will be sentenced in January 2010.</p> <p>When asked why he used Facebook to buy a handgun, Huxford indicated that he thought it would be ?cool.? The defendant?s attorney argued that photos of Huxford apparently holding what appeared to be a gun on Facebook were actually fake and that police may have known that these were not real weapons. But the most interesting aspect of the story pertains to Huxford?s past experiences with weapons. The 24 year old man was actually the victim of a shooting at Ottawa?s Rideau Centre shopping centre in 2004, where he was shot in the neck.

When Maryland resident Dana Hanna stood at the altar and looked lovingly into his fianc</p>

Facebook is getting ready to go through another makeover, and this time the main issue of contention will be privacy. The world?s largest social networking site?counting a staggering 350 million users?has decided that it would make information posted on profiles more secure and also give each user more control over privacy settings. The issue of privacy has been front and centre in recent days, with reports?including on this site?of a Canadian woman who had her sick benefits cancelled based on the photos she posted to her Facebook profile. As part of these changes, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social networking site will be eliminating all privacy networks, including those based on schools, regions or cities and companies.</p> <p>Previously, members of any given city?s network, or fellow students at a university could by default view the profiles of all other network members, unless the individual user decided to strengthen his/her privacy settings. The change will come into effect in a matter of weeks and all account holders will receive a message asking them to verify their profile?s privacy settings.</p> <p>But Facebook is planning other changes as well in the next few weeks. For example, users will soon be able to place more stringent limitations on what photos, status updates and comments individual friends will be able to see.</p> <p>Previously, many Facebook users have been adamantly opposed to changes made to the social networking site without their input. As such, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook?s CEO, took the extra step this time around of communicating these changes to each member and also implementing a testing period for some of these changes?such as regional networks?this past summer.

When you think about, it writing good web content is a little bit like assembling a hamburger. You want the reader to get to the "meat" of what you are trying to say, but it needs to fit in between a good quality introduction and a conclusion. These two components are the two buns that hold the meat in place.

One of the most popular topics in the Blogosphere focuses on gastronomy. A growing number of people realize that bloggers from a myriad of countries and cultures can offer a wealth of information of culinary treats from all over the world. This is why one of the leaders of online recipes, Foodista, has decided to launch a major competition, inviting bloggers to submit their best recipes to the site. The organization will then involve readers to select the top 100 recipes and these will be published in the form of the world?s first major cookbook written exclusively by bloggers.</p> <p>Entitled ?The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook?, this publication will be the first time that the vast majority of participating bloggers see their culinary ideas published in print. With the competition formally launched earlier this week, the book will appear in stores in late 2010. Barnaby Dorfman, Foodista?s founder, told journalists that the innovative cookbook would serve as a ?snapshot? of the remarkable diversity and creativity that one can witness when reading the thousands of food blogs published in English. Dorfman noted that using blogs to spread recipe ideas is an ?emerging? form of food writing, and one that he finds especially impressive.</p> <p>Foodista is an online culinary encyclopaedia which, like Wikipedia, relies on users to generate and edit all relevant entries. Based in Seattle, Washington, the site was originally associated with Amazon, as most of the company?s founders and first editors worked for the online retail giant.

Twitter?the world?s most popular microblogging site?will soon get a run for its money, with computer technology experts predicting that 2010 might be the year of Foursquare. Just as Facebook took users away from its predecessor, MySpace, Foursquare will likely appeal to Twitter user and it is already catching on in major American and European urban centres. Foursquare?s goal is not only to encourage users to discover new friends, but also to have those that sign up share a wealth of information and reviews on the social, recreational and nightlife of given cities. Users are asked to map their current location in their home town at any given time using their smartphone, and in exchange they earn points (?badges?) and online rewards. The biggest reward is becoming the ?mayor? of a specific location or destination.</p> <p>The only way to be come the mayor of a popular location or venue is to frequent it more often than anyone else on Foursquare. While this prize may keep users coming back to Foursquare and broadcasting their location, they also end up providing valuable information to other users on hidden cafes, restaurants, clubs, attractions and businesses that may be largely undiscovered and missing from tourist guidebooks.</p> <p>Kathleen Versteegt, of Edmonton Canada, told Canwest News that she became a regular Foursquare user almost instantly. Verstgeet uses the site to find out which restaurants, cafes or pubs other Foursquare users happen to be at, in order to decide whether or not she wishes to go there as well and join a group of online acquaintances. Foursquare is continuing to expand its network in major North American and European cities.

IKEA has long been known for using creativity to save on operating costs and offer clients trendy, but inexpensive furniture. From discount Swedish meat balls in the cafeteria to disassembled dining room tables in paper boxes, IKEA is seen by some as the fast-food equivalent of the furniture world. But the Swedish chain also showed this week that it is technologically savvy, by using Facebook to attract new customers. When IKEA opened a new store in Malm</p>

In a surprising turn of events, New York City police arrested pop music icon Justin Bieber?s colleague and label representative after he failed to use his Twitter account in order to help authorities calm a crowd of 3,000 fans. When the singer?s associate, James Roppo, was asked by police officers to broadcast a tweet to fans, the singer and his colleague refused to cooperate and this led to the latter?s immediate arrest. Roppo was taken into custody and will likely be charged with a range of offenses, including engaging in criminal nuisance and obstruction.</p> <p>Bieber?s Twitter account has more than 14,800 followers. Earlier in the day, the pop singer posted a tweet in which he informed his Twitter fans that he would be providing autographs at a New York-area shopping centre. The problem, however, was that Bieber was later informed that he would not be permitted to enter the mall, due to the rowdy crowd that gathered outside. Bieber finally used Twitter to inform his followers to go home, unless they wanted to see their pop music idol and potentially dozens of his fans arrested. He also informed his fans that police officers had already arrested one of his colleagues, namely Roppo, and that they would not hesitate to take more people into custody. In the end, Twitter was successfully used to disperse a rowdy crowd and ensure public order.</p> <p>But police noted that Bieber?s initial refusal to cooperate with authorities by telling his Twitter fans to disperse put lives at risk and that Roppo?s arrest was justified. In fact, since many of Bieber?s 3,000 fans are underage, Roppo might even face charges related to endangering the welfare of minors. The event?s irony is that Bieber himself is still a minor?the iconic pop singer from Stratford, Canada, is just 15 years old.

Nathalie Blanchard, an IBM employee from the Canadian province of Qu</p>

When you are operating an online venture, you don't want to be seen as someone who lacks expertise. Instead, you want to be known as the "go to" person when people are looking for information. Establishing yourself in this way will take some effort, but it is well worth taking the time to do so.