Results tagged “internet”

Sex offenders love networking on Facebook and MySpace just like everybody else, but a 2008 law called the Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP) put tight restrictions on their Internet use—especially if their prior offense involved a minor. In the first major crackdown since the law went into effect, 3,533 registered New York state sex offenders have been purged from Facebook and MySpace, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday.

How come Times Square gets all of the perks? First it got all of those free chairs, then it got free bathrooms, now it gets free WiFi! From now through next year, Yahoo will provide free wireless internet service to those who visit the pedestrian island on Broadway between 43rd and 44th streets. Passersby who aren't carrying their computers can even borrow laptops on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the Daily News. Two years ago, CBS launched a similar promotion in a wider swath of Midtown — minus the free computers.

One day, you're anonymously trashing a woman who badmouthed you to your boyfriend. Months later, because the woman is upset about being called a "psychotic, lying, whoring..skank," your identity has given up by Google! Unmasked Skanks in NYC blogger Rosemary Port tells the Daily News about her planned $15 million suit against Google (her website was on Google-owned Blogger), "When I was being defended by attorneys for Google, I thought my right to privacy was being protected. But that right fell through the cracks. Without any warning, I was put on a silver platter for the press to attack me. I would think that a multi-billion dollar conglomerate would protect the rights of all its users."

How did the YouTube Symphony Orchestra get to Carnegie Hall? Internet, internet, internet (and we suppose some practice, too). Last night an orchestra comprised of musicians from 33 countries came together under one roof to perform for a sold out audience, and they all auditioned via YouTube. The Daily News reports that they met in the city for the first time just 5 days prior to the big night, and practiced 12 hours a day until the curtain went up.

Noting that President Obama has said that a librarian helped him find his first job as a community organizer, New York Public Library President, Paul LeClerc, recently told The NY Times, “We’ve been in the job-search business for decades. This is a continuation.” The paper takes a look at the local libraries and how, as of late, more unemployed folks have been flocking to them en masse (and not just to breastfeed). Free resources, computer classes, Internet—it's all very appealing during the economic crisis. And while circulation is up, "libraries are facing steep cuts in the mayor’s proposed budget for next year, and have other economic woes." Hours are already being cut, but hopefully the Internet access will remain: One branch remarked that it's the most common service being sought, and not just by job seekers, but "more and more teenagers are showing up to sign on, saying their parents have canceled Internet service at home." This does not bode well for Facebook.

After believing that 16-year-old Tiana Rice of the Bronx was still missing for a month after police had found her body, her family has now learned that the details of the teenager's death were more gruesome than they could have imagined. A medical examiner's report determined that Rice was murdered while being raped inside a Brooklyn apartment that is known for its "drug-fueled parties."

Here's the proposition: Print a newspaper of and then distribute it for free! That's what Chicago startup The Printed Blog is doing, starting next Tuesday in Chicago and San Francisco. Founder and publisher Joshua Karp tells the NY Times, "We are trying to be the first daily newspaper comprised entirely of blogs and other user-generated content. There were so many techniques that I’ve seen working online that maybe I could apply to the print industry.” The Times adds that the Printed Blog has received permission from 300 blogs "to publish their work for a share of the ad revenue, including small-audience bloggers in Chicago and nationally known blogs like Daily Kos," which helps cut down that hefty cost of the newspaper business—reporters! The Printed Blog also says it "reads and functions like a web feed—yet can still be enjoyed on the train or spread across the breakfast table, for an uninterrupted, pleasurably tactile experience." AND readers' comments will be included! Next: Time to learn hot type!

Maybe you saw the segment about the NJ woman who has launched a website to find a husband on the local news last night, but now Neenah Pickett has taken her search to the national stage, with an appearance on Good Morning America. "Pickett said like many women who work in New York City, she was extremely focused on her career in her 20s and 30s and didn't spend time looking for Mr. Right." The 42-year-old media consultant runs 52 Weeks to Find My Husband, where men can suggest Pickett date them or others can weigh in on her dates. She adds, "I don't think I come across as desperate on the Web site. I think once they get to know me, I'm pretty easygoing, I'm a fun person. But if that's the perception they want to take away, I can't really do anything about that." And if she's out of luck by December 31, 2009, she'll take a sabbatical from dating (and, we guess, write a book).

Jimmy Fallon is easing his way on to America's televisions, where he'll eventually land next year when he takes over hosting duties for Conan O'Brien. Until then, he's on the internet. Yesterday the former SNL cast member put up his first "blog, or vlog, if you wanna use that word" which, as Gawker points out, had a 1:36 runtime which "was far short of the 5 minute target." During that short time he announced that The Roots will be his house band, and he'll officially be taking over Studio 6B come March 2nd. In the meantime, more Jimmy is promised each night at 12:30 a.m., to be delivered right here.

Hey ambitious young (or old!) strivers looking for internet media experience here in New York City: Gothamist is seeking interns to work out of our Brooklyn office. Responsibilities vary widely, hours are flexible. We're particularly interested in applicants with speedy typing skills, an eye for photography, Photoshop skills and a familiarity with blogs. No pay but college internship credit is possible. Please email your resume and any other relevant information to info (AT) gothamist (DOT) com, subject "internship." (No attachments, please.)

Since equipping its aircraft with in-flight WiFi, American Airlines has gotten "a lot of complaints" about passengers using the Internets to enjoy adult entertainment, presumably joining the Mile High Club with a little help from Rosy Palmer and Handjela . Ah, but ain't that American? The airline started offering the service in August for $12.95, but unlike Jet Blue, didn't install Internet filters to block porn. And despite pressure from flight attendants, they have no plans to do so. An American spokesman tells the Post: "Customers viewing inappropriate material on board a flight is not a new scenario for our crews, who have always managed this issue with great success." Besides, passengers who can't bear to be separated from their precious porno for the duration of a flight have always been allowed to bring adult magazines and DVDs on board, so why deprive them now?

Today's NY Times Magazine has a long, intense piece on internet trolls, anonymous users of the internet where "nobody can see anybody, and everybody can claim to speak from the center." The piece follows "Fortuny," a troll who became famous for "The Craigslist Experiment" where he posted on his blog the pictures and identities of a hundred men who responded to his fake ad as woman seeking a “str8 brutal dom muscular male.” At one point he tears up while confessing that his trolling might be because he's trying to save grandfather and three other relatives who molested him at age 5. The other main subject of the article is "weev," who sees trolling as internet eugenics saying, "Bloggers are filth. They need to be destroyed...We need to put these people in the oven!”

Has a Jimmy Fallon-hosted Late Night reality sunk in yet? Well, it's happening, and the ex-SNL cast member will be getting a head start by popping up at a URL near you sometime soon. The NY Times reports that "Lorne Michaels has decided to try to get a jump on things by starting NBC’s next edition of Late Night, with its new host Jimmy Fallon, as a nightly entry on the Internet."

The legal travails of Room Eight, a blog dedicated to NY politics (its name refers to "Room 9," which is where the press corps are located in City Hall), are examined in today's NY Times. In a nutshell, Bronx DA Robert Johnson's office subpoenaed the blog's co-founders Ben Smith and Gur Tsabar, demanding the IP address of an anonymous contributor. And what's more, they were not allowed to even disclose the existence of the subpoena of they “could impede the investigation being conducted and thereby interfere with law enforcement."

Making good on a campaign promise, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (pictured) has put pressure on three major Internet service providers to shut down online groups that share child pornography. Verizon, Sprint and Time Warner have each agreed to cut off access to websites and bulletin boards disseminating the illicit images, with a special emphasis on Usenet, one of the oldest computer network communications systems that uses no central server.

Grand Central Terminal will now feature its own Wi-Fi Internet access to those waiting in the Station Masters Office, one of the few places one is still allowed to sit down at the terminal without being told to get up and move along. The new wireless service will allow as many as 60 users online at a time and should prove an invaluable amenity for commuters to check or send off emails before and after getting off trains. The Station Masters Office is restricted to ticket-holding passengers.

For the first time, tickets for the Public Theater’s free Shakespeare in Central Park shows will be made available online. While most tickets will still be given to those who wait for hours (pictured) in Central Park, a limited number will be available to theatergoers who log on to the Public theater website at midnight before each day’s show and submit a request for up to two tickets.

UPDATE: It appears I may have been punk'd. Bwog is reporting that there was no vote to ban JuicyCampus by Columbia's student council. The university magazine talked to a student council VP of Policy who "claims that a mischievous tipster must have sent in a fake tip to Gothamist and the [New York] Post." No tip was received at Gothamist, but the Post was the source of this afternoon's item, along with background from The Spectator.

If there is no such thing as bad publicity, then we suppose yesterday's Cash Tomato promotion was a resounding success - if a melee as people tried to grab money works for you. The event, which involved giving away $29 to individuals in honor of Leap Year - wait, make that $29 attached to tomatoes, resulted in a Union Square riot with one person hospitalized and police and paramedics on the scene.

The New York Philharmonic Orchestra’s historic concert in North Korea concluded hours ago, marking the first performance by an American orchestra in the impoverished, totalitarian nation. The event also marked a first for much of the press, who are routinely denied access to North Korea and, once inside, usually find their movements tightly controlled. The Times has a stunning slideshow of photos snapped en route from the airport to the center of Pyongyang, something the photographer says is never permitted.

A former math teacher at MS 190 in Forest Hills was arrested for child endangerment after allegedly sending former and present male students lewd instant messages. Bradley Dieffenbacher, 33, of Long Island, had worked at MS 190 since 2000 until his resignation on February 14, when investigators confronted him.

The only way to save Harlem for the benefit of its longtime residents is to economically cripple the neighborhood. So says Dr. James Manning of the ATLAH World Ministry church. He's proposing an economic boycott of the area in Manhattan between 110th St. and 155th St., from the Harlem River to the Hudson River. The plan is that once interloper businesses have been driven out via bankruptcy, Harlem will become a less desirable place to live for people like whites, rising rents will decline, and Harlem will have been purged of the problems that have been driving people out of their homes.

What would Norman Mailer make of a boxer cavorting in high heels, fishnet stockings, and a fur-trimmed tutu? "I respect most boxers because they're violent people who learned to discipline themselves," opined the late writer. Mailer may be dead, but it's doubtable whether the embarrassment that Oscar De La Hoya faces will ever die. The New York Times framed the situation ably, noting the media alert notifying the press that De La Hoya would be in court to confront his former mistress over racy lingerie photos. Unfortunately for the boxer, it was he wearing the lingerie.

A 16-year-old Staten Island girl faces up to a year in jail for sending Myspace friend requests to three people. Melissa Fernino is charged with second-degree criminal contempt, a misdemeanor, because she violated a Family Court order of protection that barred her from contacting a 43-year-old woman and her two adolescent daughters.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: person under a train fatality at Lafayette and Classon Aves. in Brooklyn, another person under a train at 53rd St. and 5th Ave. in Manhattan, and yet another person under a train at Lincoln Ave. and N. Railroad on Staten Island.
  
• The giant apple will be popping up every time a Mets player hits a home run at the new Citi Field ballpark.
  
• If you work at one the top law firms in the country, surrounded by female colleagues who have graduated from the same prestigious law schools you have, it's probably a terrible idea to run a web site where others can rank them by their "hotness."
  
• StreetsBlog has an interesting claymation short demonstrating the concept of raised crosswalks acting as a sort of speed bump. Drivers may not care about running down pedestrians, but no one wants to bottom out his or her car, so at least they'll slow down.
  
• NY State is opening a probe to determine whether the costs of last year's massive steam pipe explosion will be passed on to Con Ed customers. We're 99% certain of the answer already, but won't spoil the surprise.
  
• A former aide to Gov. Pataki agreed to pay a fine of $15,000 for attempting to get the state to appropriate funds to a go-nowhere plan for a women's museum in lower Manhattan.
  
• It's still mid-winter, but it's never too early to start contemplating the fate of the Red Hook ball field vendors.
  
• Shrugging off offers from Microsoft to buy the company, Yahoo! management is now entertaining a possible deal with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which already has a Internet foothold with its ownership of MySpace.
  

A con artist has been using Craigslist to scam gullible apartment seekers out of hundreds of dollars, according to the Daily News. Nothing new here, except this time the scheme so sketchy it’s hard to feel too sorry for the victims. Using the alias JoAnn Rinaggio, a compulsive check bouncer named JoAnne Smith has been posting listings for a fully furnished two-bedroom with a balcony in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. This amazing place can be yours for only $950 – less than half the market value!

As we mentioned yesterday, the writers' strike may be coming to an end. Michael Eisner leaked that we'd be hearing news of it this weekend, and the former Disney CEO was right. Today Variety reports that "the WGA has finalized its tentative agreement with the majors and will present details of the pact to members today in meetings in Los Angeles and New York."

Multiple news outlets are reporting that the WGA strike could be over with professional writers back to work as early as next week. Unnamed sources are saying that a tentative deal between the guild and Hollywood studios and producers has been reached. At issue was revenue sharing between writers and producers over content distributed over the Internet. Alternative distribution methods, like downloading and web-streaming, were leaving writers out in the cold and on the short end of the stick.

Giving business analysts something to talk about besides the economy, Microsoft has made an unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo!. The offer is at $31/share, which is 62% more than Yahoo's closing price.

Before getting back to his grueling practice schedule* today, Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes stopped in to the Late Show last night. David Letterman and Tynes chat about his family and when he learned to kick (as a senior in high school). Tynes, the 29-year-old father of twins, who missed two 4th quarter field goals in the NFC Championship before kicking the game winner in overtime, was not able to escape ribbing from Letterman, "Everybody I know had the same reaction after the second missed kick in the 4th quarter, 'Please don't send him in again! For the love of God! If there's an ounce of mercy in your soul! Don't send him in!!'"