06-02-2012 15:16 Multiple sclerosis patients use social media to engage in an unprecedented battle with the Canadian medical establishment for access to a controversial treatment. http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episode/ms-wars-hope-science-and-the-internet Thursday February 9 at 8 pm on CBC-TV
Read more:
The Nature of Things: MS Wars: Hope, Science and the Internet- Preview - Video
Safer Internet Day is marked mostly in Europe, but there are events around the world
(Credit: Safer Internet Day) You don't hear much about it in the United States, but today is Safer Internet Day across Europe, with some events planned in Asia, Latin America, Australia, and the United States.
The annual event started in 2004 as an initiative of the European Commission's Safer Internet Programme. It features school assemblies and major conferences in many countries.
I'm in Moscow to speak at Russia's Safer Internet Day conference. Several members of Russia's parliament, along with other government officials, are expected to participate along with educators, Moscow area schoolchildren and representatives of technology companies including Google and Microsoft. Here's a transcript of my speech.
This year's theme is "connecting generations," and to that end, Microsoft is releasing a study it conducted with the AARP that found that 83 percent of teens, young adults, parents, and older adults said going online is helpful in terms of family communication," according Jacqueline Beauchere, Microsoft's director of Trustworthy Computing. "For some," she added, "that translates to a deeper understanding of one another." Beauchere, as you might expect, is bullish on Internet for youth and seniors, but stresses the importance of "thinking before you post online and being very cautious about your personal information." Microsoft provides safety and security advice at its Safety & Security Center.
Goolge is using Safer Internet Day to launch its new digital literacy portal called ThinkB4U. The project, which is a collaboration between Google and its nonprofit safety partners, Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely.org and the National Consumers League, features "choose-your-adventure" style videos along with targeted safety tips from the nonprofit groups. The videos depict a family's use of media throughout the day with a variety of scenarios that could turn out OK or not so good, depending on members' choices. The viewer gets to pick the choices and help determine the outcome.
"The Parkers"is a stereotypical extended family that makes its share of online mistakes. Users get to determine how their day turns out.
(Credit: Google)
Here in Russia, as in the United States, there are some in government who want to put restrictions on the Internet to limit material that is "harmful to children." At a conference ahead of Internet Safety Day, several legislators and government officials questioned whether sites that depict pornography or advocate the use of drugs, alcohol, or political extremism should be blocked for all Russian citizens. Other speakers, including a representative from Google, advocated self-regulation and consumer education.
(Disclosure: Larry Magid serves as co-director of ConnectSafely.org, a non-profit Internet safety organization that receives funding from Google and consulted on the development of Google's ThinkB4U program.)
Originally posted here:
Safer Internet Day focuses on Net safety for families
05-02-2012 20:50 Save The Internet - The Web of Life Boycott SOPA Supporters - View Companies docs.google.com Your Money is your Vote. ~ One Love One Race
Read the rest here:
Samsung Galaxy Note Super Bowl Ad Commercial HD 2012 - Thing Called Love - Video
6 February 2012 Last updated at 20:22 ET By Emma Kasprzak BBC News
After being diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer in 2008, teenager Rosie Kilburn decided to keep an online diary about her life.
She died in September at the age of 19, but since then her mother Jo has continued to update the blog.
"Rosie decided that rather than feeling crushed by cancer she would do something about it," Mrs Kilburn said.
"Her blog gave her an avenue to share what was happening. It opened up a whole new network."
Academics have found increasing numbers of vulnerable adults and seriously ill young people like Rosie have turned to social networking to communicate with their friends - and to make new ones.
Dr Emma Bond, senior lecturer in childhood and youth studies at University Campus Suffolk, has carried out research on cyber bullying and cyber abuse among young people and vulnerable adults but said the positive effects of social networking could equally not be ignored.
She said that while there were plenty of stories in the media of cyber bullying and children being groomed online by paedophiles, it was worth considering the positive impact the internet could have for young people.
"Something we're becoming more and more aware of is vulnerable adults using social media," Dr Bond said.
"One thing that is emerging is that people with Asperger syndrome and autism find it easier to communicate using sites like Facebook and are heavy users of social media."
She added: "That can be a problem if they don't access those sites carefully and we are looking at doing more research in that area."
'Less shy'
Emma Thompson, who has Asperger syndrome and manages an online community for other people with the condition, said social networking could be good - but warned there were risks.
"I am more confident and less shy on [the internet] as it's a lot easier to communicate than face-to-face," she said.
However, she said a potential problem was that people learnt to be over-reliant on the internet for communication.
"Individuals don't end up going out ever so they end up staying in, isolated and slowly losing their limited communication abilities that they may have," she said.
Caroline Hattersley, from the National Autistic Society, said social networking could allow people with autism to overcome fears about face-to-face communication when trying to find people with similar interests.
"Social networks can be a stepping stone into better social engagement. It takes away non-verbal expression which some people with autism find quite difficult to understand," she said.
"Social networking shouldn't be seen as an alternative to social engagement but what it can do is help people who find face-to-face engagement hard."
Dr Bond said as well as vulnerable adults, going online could benefit seriously ill children.
'Real lifeline'
She said: "Another thing we're looking at is the link the internet provides to the outside world for children with a life-limiting illness.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
Her blog gave her an avenue to share what was happening”
End Quote Jo Kilburn Mother
"Previously they may have felt locked away in a hospice but the internet can be a real lifeline for keeping in touch with friends and getting them out there sharing their experiences."
Mrs Kilburn said her daughter Rosie had used Facebook and texting to keep updated with what her friends were doing, but added that her blog had given her "a new network of friends who supported her".
She said the family had decided to keep the blog going after Rosie's death because of the community that had built up around it.
"We needed that community as well," Mrs Kilburn said.
"It helped us with our grieving and enabled us to keep her fundraising going."
Tuesday marks the 2012 Safer Internet Day, an annual event designed to encourage people to use internet technology more responsibly.
This year it coincides with the week-long BBC Share Take Care campaign, in partnership with the UK Safer Internet Centre, to raise awareness of issues surrounding safeguarding reputation online.
Dr Bond said that although it was important to be aware of the risks, those who look after young people and vulnerable adults should also be aware of the benefits the internet affords.
She said: "It's about opening up dialogue and raising awareness.
"It's very easy to get caught up in the risks of the internet but it is also a fantastic opportunity."
Original post:
Internet 'proves real lifeline'
6 Feb 2012
The internet is a "fertile breeding ground for terrorism" and plays a part in most, if not all, cases of violent radicalisation, MPs said today.
Internet service providers should be more active in monitoring the sites they host and the Government should work with them to develop a code of practice for the removal of material which promotes violent extremism, the report said.
It comes as four radical Islamists will be sentenced this week for plotting a major pre-Christmas terror attack on the London Stock Exchange after being inspired by the preaching of the recently killed extremist Anwar al-Awlaki.
The nine-month inquiry by the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee found that the internet played a greater role in violent radicalisation than prisons, universities or places of worship, and "was now one of the few unregulated spaces where radicalisation is able to take place".
But it added that a "sense of grievance" was key, and direct personal contact with radicals was a "significant factor".
The Government's counter-terrorism strategy should show that "the British state is not antithetical to Islam", the committee said.
Keith Vaz, its chairman, said: "The conviction last week of four men from London and Cardiff radicalised over the internet, for a plot to bomb the London Stock Exchange and launch a Mumbai-style atrocity on the streets of London, shows that we cannot let our vigilance slip.
"More resources need to be directed to these threats and to preventing radicalisation through the internet and in private spaces. These are the fertile breeding grounds for terrorism."
The al Qaida-inspired fundamentalist group wanted to send five mail bombs to various targets over the 2010 festive period and discussed launching a "Mumbai-style" atrocity.
A hand-written target list found at one of the defendant's homes listed the names and addresses of London Mayor Boris Johnson, two rabbis, the American Embassy and the Stock Exchange.
The police counter-terror operation which led to their arrests was the biggest of 2010.
Mr Vaz went on: "The July 7 bombings in London, carried out by four men from West Yorkshire, were a powerful demonstration of the devastating and far-reaching impact of home-grown radicalisation.
"We remain concerned by the growing support for non-violent extremism and more extreme and violent forms of far-right ideology."
He added that "a policy of engagement, not alienation" would prevent radicalisation and called for the Government's
counter-radicalisation strategy Prevent to be renamed Engage.
The committee also called for better information-sharing between prison bosses, the police and the UK Border Agency (UKBA) following the release of prisoners who have been convicted of terror offences.
But although several convicted terrorists have attended prisons and universities, "there is seldom concrete evidence to confirm that this is where they were radicalised", it added.
Originally posted here:
Internet 'breeds terrorism', MPs say