Over the weekend, users of Google owned social-networking service Orkut were singled out in a scam offering up Malware that would compromise the user’s computer. The Malware kills off anti-Malware applications, thus allowing additional software to be loaded onto the system.

Orkut is used mostly in Brazil and India, according to TrendLabs, which reported the new scam. As of January, the site sees about five million hits monthly on average. The user base, and the fact that social networks are popular targets for criminals, are just two of the reasons Orkut has been targeted.

The scam is relatively simple: An Orkut member receives an e-mail alerting them to suspicious activity on their account. The e-mails warns that the user’s account has been flagged for containing illegal information. To address the issue, they are offered a link to download software, which is said to contain more information on their account. Naturally, the software is malicious.

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The interactive nature of several web applications have revolutionised the way people connect, share and express their thoughts. If you are a social science teacher, vast scope exists to make use of web applications to enthuse your students to participate in projects related to your subject.

Many students are members of online social networking sites like Facebook or Orkut and are aware of the features and utilities of such portals. As a Social Science teacher you can make students participate in discussions, allow them to upload and share photos, videos and music, write blogs and much more.

To have your own online social networking site connect to the Internet and type ning.com in the address tab. Ning.com is a portal where you can create your own social networking site with your own logo and design theme, free of cost. Chose an appropriate name for your network and fill the columns to sign in.

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 Indian boys come up with shortcuts to Google, Orkut etc. Now English people can use internet more quickly, non English can use the internet & illiterates can also use the internet through Atoall.com's Angle Theory.Want to access the popular search engine Google? Just type gghhjj.com .Wish to login to Orkut? Then type ookkmm.com.

These are a couple of the many keyboard shortcuts brought out by eight "Net-Savvy Youth" from India using their "Angle Theory".According to them, the whole concept is to overcome the language barrier while surfing. English net users will feel more comfort, non English user can use the internet and illiterates can also use the internet.

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People want to be social on the web, whether it is to share things about themselves through a personal profile or to discover other people with similar interests. It’s also a great way to attract traffic that is focused on a specific topic or set of topics. What’s been difficult for many websites that could benefit from such interaction (and we’ll talk about why that includes ecommerce sites) is the amount of development it takes to implement something like that.

To that end, many ecommerce sites have been leveraging external social media sites. It’s not unusual to see even small websites with a presence on MySpace or a fan page on Facebook. But what if a website wants to offer interaction on their own site? Google Friend Connect.

The much-anticipated social media “plugin” for websites – has been made available to the public. Unlike Facebook or MySpace, this platform allows one to add social media interaction to just about any website with just an added snippet of code.

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The makers of Fring - the popular Voice over IP app for mobile phones - have just given their Symbian S60 users something to listen to other than their friends voices with the addition of buiilt-in Last.fm streaming to their already well-stuffed app.

The Fring client already comes with support for numerous VoIP and instant messaging protocols like Skype, MSN, Google Talk, etc. as well as a a growing number of social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Orkut and so on). The Last.FM add-on lets users listen to music from Last.FM’s ‘Internet radio’ streams. 

Just like the desktop Last.FM client, you can rate tracks and send your preferences back to Last.FM, which will use them to modify the music it queues up in your personal radio channel.For now, only S60 phones can use the add-on, which is a shame.

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Six pubs in Mangalore, including Amnesia, which hit national headlines, have witnessed a sudden dip in the flow of patrons since Sunday. Many owners of beer joints in the city grudgingly admit to a decline even in the section of patrons who swore by their unflinching loyalty to beer.

Night Flight in Moti Mahal before the attack was a popular haunt of students. “There is no sign of students since Sunday,’’ says a spokesperson for Night Flight. Club Kinose in Abhinandan Palace, which entertained a small number of clients due to limited space, also complained about a dip in visitors.

The pinch, intensely experienced by beer joints, is in the absence of women patrons. Froth on the Top near Juice Junction and Liquid Lounge near Amnesia were particularly patronised by women.F roth on the Top attracted women for its chicken biryani and it was music that attracted women to Liquid Lounge.

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A techie on Tuesday filed a complaint with suburban police commissioner S R Jangid claiming that someone had created his profile on Orkut, a popular social networking site, and inserted information suggesting that he was a pimp.

The profile included his telephone number because of which he was getting quite a few enquiries, he alleged.Srinivasan (name chan­ged), a resident of Madipakkam, had finished his BTech from a city college last year and was waiting for his placement. He was also helping fellow students with engineering projects.

About a week ago, Srinivasan, 21, started receiving calls from unknown people, who wanted to know what kind of women he could offer for their pleasure. At first, he dismissed it as a prank but when he started getting six-seven calls each day for a week, he realised something was wrong.

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Social web applications (Wikis, Blogs, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Orkut, etc.) aim to support end users' content production and to allow for social networking of internet users. Since these new technologies (often also referred to as "Web2.0") enhance users' possibilities to direct and active participation in collaborative web content creation, they are looked upon as promising means for democratization while also enabling conditions for unprecedented domination and power.

The work of transnational social movement organizations and protest networks is highly dependent on social networking, trust-building and strategic alliances. These NGO networks are addressing political issues which cause global problems and challenges to cope with (e.g., human/women/childrens' rights, poverty, ecological and environmental issues like sustainable development, pollution etc., fair trade, international democratization, peace, health and other problems that are mainly interconnected with implications of globalization).

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In spite of living a life sans luxuries, these slum kids in Khanpur know about computers, internet and are now striving to learn English.Three-year-old Sonam, probably one of the youngest students in the class says, "Mujhe padhao, mujhe bhi padhna hain." Leaving behind ongoing wedding festivities, household chores and the all so important playing with friends these kids gathered for their noon class.

They demanded the Teach India volunteer to teach them English and basic computer. Nothing can stop if there is a will and this surely proves right here. Though this kids are underprivileged and have never experienced the luxuries of life, they know about social net-working sites like Orkut and Google.

And, so their teacher Dr Zarin Desai does just what the kids want teaches many words in English. She helps them with the pronunciation by breaking the words and explaining with actions. She gradually proceeds to simple sentences. "hu chu in English is"..."I am," and the class repeates.

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ORKUT IS among the most popular social networking sites. These days, Orkut has become best friend to more than 70 per cent of youngsters, who spend their time on such sites, as they consider Orkut to be a great source of friendship.

Orkut, basically, emerged as a website that allows users to create an account on the site that enables them to share their photos, videos and testimonials with the rest of the world. The site is a medium where a person can get connected with many unknown friends and communities.

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