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Student Sues School District Over Illegal Search of Her Facebook Page

Louis Peitzman · 03/10/12 04:39PM


A 12-year-old Minnesota girl has joined forces with the ACLU to sue her school district. Minnewaska School officials penalized the girl, known only as "R.S.," for information she posted off of school property to her private Facebook page. At one point, she was "intimidated" into giving up her password so that administrators could see the rest of her posts.

The Idiot Who Mixed Up Joseph Kony and Predator's Carl Weathers

Max Read · 03/09/12 11:37AM

Want to have some fun on Facebook? Put a picture of Carl Weathers from Predator on your wall and write "I'll always be on this guy's team." With any luck you can find someone who doesn't look too closely at Weathers' face and assumes they're looking at the mustachioed black guy with a green military cap in the jungle that everyone's been talking about this week: Joseph Kony. As happened in this (ostensibly real, though who knows) screen shot that's been making the internet rounds.

The Tech Industry's Asperger Problem: Affliction Or Insult?

Ryan Tate · 03/01/12 10:00AM

Somewhere north of 15,000 American children are conservatively believed to be afflicted with Asperger Syndrome, a disorder characterized by obsessive and rigid behavior, poor communication skills, clumsiness, and a lack of empathy and reciprocity. Cases of Asperger's and a related disorder, autism, exploded in Silicon Valley over the past 20 years, according to state-funded outreach workers — an assertion that will come as no shock to users familiar with pedantic, apathetic, tight-lipped and self-serving tech companies. How, exactly, does Asperger's work, and has it had a material impact on how the technology sector relates to its customers? Below, find a quick guide to those questions, and a look at why one of the Valley's most famously infuriating pedants, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is rumored to have it.

Facebook Profiles Found to Predict Job Performance

Maureen O'Connor · 02/21/12 11:25AM

Three research universities combined their forces to prove that a person's Facebook page is, more often than not, an accurate predictor of future job performance. Apparently Facebook pages that portray "traits such as conscientiousness, agreeability, and intellectual curiosity" have a "strong correlation" with good job performance.

In Portlandia, Facebook Can Literally Save Your Life (Almost)

Matt Toder · 02/18/12 12:13AM

Tonight's episode of Portlandia was especially strong, crafting great sketches from the subjects right in its wheelhouse: the inability to remain cool as we age and the infantilization of male hipsters. This sketch brought them both together superbly, as Fred and Carrie swapped genders to bring back Nina and Lance. It's a great bit of commentary about our reliance on technology and the power struggle inherent to any relationship. Also, that completely superfluous fart sound effect is perfect.

Bizarre Teen "Twitching" Epidemic: Toxic Chemicals or Brain Chemistry?

Louis Peitzman · 02/12/12 04:30PM


The small New York town of LeRoy has had its fair share of news coverage lately following the unexplained "twitching disorder" of several residents. Since October, 16 people — 14 of them teenage girls — have been struck with uncontrollable physical and verbal tics. And no, it's not Tourette's, which isn't contagious. There are two major conflicting opinions: either the patients' twitching is psychosomatic, or it's the result of environmental factors.

How Mark Zuckerberg Accidentally Endorsed Mitt Romney on Facebook

Ryan Tate · 02/08/12 02:41PM

Sometimes you do something on Facebook — comment, post a link, "like" a status message — and it gets totally misinterpreted. And amid the backlash from family, friends, and strangers, you just have to be, like, "Facebook is fucked up, not my problem." Mark Zuckerberg doesn't have that luxury.

Privacy Death Stars Approved By Congress

Ryan Tate · 02/07/12 05:48PM

Today, it is tricky for governments and corporations to constantly spy on people using drones. By 2015, it wil be much much easier, thanks to a Monday Congressional vote authorizing drones above 400 feet, in the same airspace as commercial airliners.

Why Moms Are Breastfeeding In Facebook's Face

Ryan Tate · 02/07/12 03:45PM

Angry lactivists - that's the term, stop snickering - showed up in front of Facebook's offices in Austin to breasfeed their babies. They were part of a wave of such "nurse-ins," all designed to protest the social network's staggeringly dumb policies on breastfeeding photos.

The Most Awesome Homoerotic Mark Zuckerberg Fanfic

Ryan Tate · 02/02/12 06:26PM

Eduardo Saverin isn't just a Facebook co-founder made famous by The Social Network and set to get very rich off the Facebook IPO. He is also, judging from the burgeoning genre of Mark Zuckerberg fanfic, the college hottie online romance authors most want to see hook up with Facebook's young CEO.