Social Networks

The charges against Garrett Joseph Grommesh, 21, stemmed from cyber tips from Tumblr, a social networking website, that prompted a Moorhead police investigation in 2019, according to court documents. Garrett Joseph Grommesh (Clay County Jail) Under a plea agreement, Grommesh pleaded guilty to three charges of possession of child pornography and one count of dissemination. Six other counts of possession of child pornography were dismissed. When questioned during a court hearing Monday about specific details pertaining to the charges, Grommesh said he has memory issues. “I’ve had two strokes in my life and I’ve had numerous neurosurgeries,” said Grommesh, who attended the hearing remotely. “I’ve been in two medical induced comas in my life, and I went into septic shock the second time." At times during the hearing, Grommesh could not remember details, but also didn’t deny that the incidents occurred. In 2010, the spotlight shined on Grommesh and his family when they were featured on the home improvement reality show “Extreme Makeover." More than 4,000 volunteers helped the TV show’s crew build a 5,200-square-foot home for the family. The home was made accessible for Grommesh, who used a wheelchair after being diagnosed with spina bifida. The birth defect prevents…

A Lancaster University PhD Student and video artist has received international recognition for her work this month. Tess Baxter’s doctorate was awarded the Rieger Award by the International Visual Sociology Association, for the innovative way in which it connected how we use the internet with everyday life.Her work combines writing with 40 pieces of video art, and printmaking as well, to explore how people used the online virtual world of ‘Second Life’.Tess said: “I was interested in Second Life because it has now existed for 18 years, which is almost an eternity on the internet, and people have formed communities there. “Creativity is important, and very much shared among users, so I was able to use it creatively for my video art, which, in turn, I shared. “I feel very honoured to have been given this award. I would like to thank Professor Charlie Gere and Dr Jen Southern at Lancaster University for supporting me to do this. It’s been such a wonderful experience”. Tess’s video art can be seen on her account on Vimeo, where she uses her pseudonym vimeo.com/tizzycanucci, and all her work can be seen on www.tessbaxter.com. Tess is a video artist and printmaker who blends different…

WhatsApp had released version 2.21.140.11 beta on TestFlight. This update brings a new call interface and a few more tweaks to this function. According to WABetaInfo, when WhatsApp beta testers make a call using the app, they will see a new interface similar to FaceTime. It also adds a new Ring button as well, which easily lets someone in the call ring a person again if they were unable to accept it. Another feature introduced in this version of WhatsApp beta is the ability to join an ongoing group call if the user didn’t respond at the time the call was made. When can you join group calls? If you temporarily ignore to participate in a group call, and you open WhatsApp again after some time, if the group call is still ongoing, the app might present you an alert if you want to quickly join the call, without asking other participants to add you again.  With the “Tap to join” banner in the call tab, the user just needs to click there to participate in the conversation. Recently, WhatsApp also started to test multi-device compatibility on the desktop app. Also according to WABetaInfo, users will be able to add…

Initially launched in a handful of countries, YouTube Shorts is now rolling out globally, with the number now way over 100. YouTube Shorts is Now Rolling Out Globally to more than 100 Countries YouTube Shorts has been around for a while and it is a direct competitor to TikTok. You get the same vertical style video format which is shorter in length, meant to grab quick engagement from the user. That service, is still in beta right now, but YouTube is making it available to more than 100 countries, after being initially available in around 26, including the United States and United Kingdom. TikTok has been around for quite a while now and everyone has tried their hand at emulating the same success. Will YouTube will be able to catch up with Shorts now that it is available in pretty much every country where the service is accessible? Only time can tell. Instagram tried their hands with Reels but it was nothing but a poor execution. Rather than putting Reels front and center in the Instagram app so that users can access it instantly, just like YouTube Shorts, Reels has been keenly tucked away which is nothing but a recipe…

Dennis Rodman’s outlandish behavior and personal demons unfortunately overshadowed his greatness to an extent. And he was legitimately great. But he really did have a lot to deal with. He had a very difficult childhood and adolescence, and never was on anyone’s radar for greatness. Rodman’s father left the family and measures his children by the dozens. It’s somewhere between two and four dozen. Rodman basically never knew him. His father’s name? Philander, believe it or not. He graduated high school when he was about 5-11 and his mother told him to get a job or get out and he was on his own for some time. Then he grew suddenly to about 6-7 and ended up playing ball at a Community College and then for Southeastern Oklahoma State and then finally was drafted by the Detroit Pistons. He was an odd talent who, somewhat like Bill Russell, was happy to focus on defense and rebounding. And he was far more intelligent than people realized. As you’ll see here, in this list of his Top Ten Blocks, he’s not always bigger or stronger than his opponents. It’s just that he’s in the right place at the right time. His sometimes…

THE WHAT? BASF, LinkedIn, Natura and Visa are all set to take part in a program designed to promote the social inclusion of transgender people and transvestites in the workplace. SOMA, as the initiative is known, is based on the premise that ‘we are stronger together’ and comprises 10 weeks of training and professional development.  THE DETAILS The program will initially be centred around Sao Paolo’s Casa Florescer, a refuge for trans and transvestite women, offering support and mentoring to the residents. Participants will be able to take advantage of the ChatClass tool developed by BASF to access learning materials.THE WHY? The program is designed to equip participants with all the tools they need to seek a professional placement according to their skillset and interests. BASF Experience Coordinator, Carlos Henrique Almeida explains, “We want to support these people to develop with self-knowledge, receiving practical tools, awakening a sense of autonomy and belonging. And there is also the possibility of involving our ecosystem of partners, expanding the program’s potential.”

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. The Creator Economy Facebook is trying to woo top content creators. But it’s late to the party and lost its halcyon sheen as the spot for influencers and ecommerce brands, reports The New York Times. YouTube is still the backbone of the video creator economy, and TikTok is the unquestioned champion of viral content, with a purely algorithmic feed that rockets video from 10,000 views to more than a million in minutes. TikTok also invested early in creator account tools and marketing partnerships. Snapchat and Twitter are in the mix. Late last year, Snapchat started parceling out more than one million dollars per day to creators for content on its discovery portal. Some individuals have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in a day. Snapchat and Twitter also both introduced tipping features this year. And Twitter is creating a paywall option so some accounts can charge monthly subscriptions for exclusive content.  » Read More

With scrutiny of Big Tech intensifying every single week, an ambitious new book is measuring Facebook's missteps and miseries. As the title indicates, it's not pretty:"An Ugly Truth" is the name of the book, co-authored by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang, both of whom report for the NYT. The book comes out on Tuesday. As I perused an early copy, I was struck by the vastness of the story. Facebook is, as Kang and Frenkel write, an "unstoppable profit-making machine," affecting all of Earth, from the US to Myanmar. The authors have produced a valuable record of what went wrong, when, where, why, specifically in the last five years."No Filter" author Sarah Frier, who was tasked with reviewing "An Ugly Truth" for The Times, says the book documents a clear pattern: "The social media behemoth does as little as possible to prevent disasters from happening, then feebly attempts to avoid blame and manage public appearances." That's why the back cover of the book cleverly lists the company's apologias over the years: "I'm sorry." "We need to do better." "We need to do a better job."The authors conclude that "even if the company undergoes a radical transformation in the coming years,…

The Instagram social media site has refused to take down much of the racist social media abuse directed at Black English soccer players in recent days, including the frequent use of monkey emojis, saying it did not violate terms of service, the Daily Mail reported Monday Facebook and Twitter said Monday they were scrambling to take down racially abusive comments directed at members of the England football team following a heartbreaking loss in Sunday’s Euro 2020 final. The US social media giants said they were taking down racist and hateful content which had prompted condemnation from British political leaders. However, many users who reported racist comments on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, said they were informed that posts that used monkey emojis and the N-word were not considered racist. The Daily Mail quoted several users who said reports of racism were not taken seriously, Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories By signing up, you agree to the terms One user, Emily May, said on Twitter: “I’ve spent an hour today reporting racist accounts. But according to Instagram monkey emojis and the N word are okay.”‘ Another said: “Instagram said that…

The absence of the Prime Minister Scott Morrison in recent weeks as much of the country has been plunged back into COVID-19 crisis-mode with multiple clusters, border closures and Sydney’s ongoing shutdown has been conspicuous. To say Morrison has done the bare minimum is generous.  Morrison has gone several days at a time – at the height of a national crisis – without even speaking publicly. The vacuum of leadership from the Federal Government as the nation struggles, made the reports that Prime Minister Scott Morrison had not made a single phone call to the global chair of Pfizer, Dr Albert Bourla, in the eight months since November 2020, when it became clear that the company’s vaccine was far more efficacious than anyone dreamed, all the more shocking.  That this news broke at roughly the same time the nation was confronted with a terrifying ad that quite cruelly depicts a breathless young woman at the mercy of COVID19, encouraging Australians to go out and get vaccinated, made the damning revelation even worse.   If the PM had picked up the phone to try and ensure adequate supply of vaccines no young Australians would need to fear contracting the virus they can’t…