An Israeli hacker, who calls himself Hannibal online, has once again obtained tens of thousands of Facebook credentials (e-mail addresses and passwords). This time he’s claiming to have access to over 100,000 Facebook accounts belonging to Arabs. He has also announced he will not be posting again because “the Arab hackers are gone”...

The ongoing saga between pro and anti-Israeli hackers continues to escalate as pro-Israel attackers use distributed denial of service attacks to take down the websites of three notable Saudi banks. In addition, hackers have released over 4,500 Saudi credits card numbers complete with expiration dates, names and addresses — data...

A Southern California girl who became a nationally recognized face of child cancer with a blog that chronicled her fight against brain tumors has died. Jessica Joy Rees was 12 years old.

Jessica’s family announced her death on her Facebook page, stating that her 10-month battle with brain cancer ended Thursday. Tens of thousands of people responded by posting updates to the page in a show of support that includes “likes” and prayers.
By Friday afternoon the outpouring surpassed Jessica’s goal to get one “like” for each of the estimated 50,000 American children with cancer.

The Orange County seventh-grader, called “Jessie” by family and friends, began her blog and Facebook page after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in March. A second tumor was discovered in September.

While some of her posts discussed her struggles as she underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments, others urged readers in dozens of countries to support pediatric cancer research and to pray for other children with the illness.

She always signed her posts with the acronym “NEGU” (NEE’-goo), short for “never ever give up.”

Also, she and her parents started The NEGU Foundation, a nonprofit organization to raise awareness of pediatric cancer, support sufferers and raise money for research.

The foundation sold and provided thousands of “JoyJars” stuffed with candy and toys to sick children. More than 3,000 were sold and distributed in 27 states last year, according to the NEGU website.

After her diagnosis, Rancho Santa Margarita youngster received tickets to “American Idol” and arrived with signs that read “NEGU Casey” to support contestant Casey Abrams, the Orange County Register (http://bit.ly/yJwyF3) reported.

Co-host Ryan Seacrest also allowed her to announce country singer, and eventual winner, Scott McCreery.

Jessica wrote on Facebook that her mission was “to encourage kids fighting cancer to Never Ever Give Up by spreading hope, joy and love. A cheerful heart is great medicine.”

A celebration service was scheduled for Wednesday at the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, where her father, Erik Rees, is a pastor.

A few days ago Namco Bandai surprised many with its very edgy and possibly NSFW Soul Calibur V promotional poster. They got plenty of attention, and tried the trick once more, with another edgy render of one of the in-game characters. But it appears that they took it too far this time. The poster, which you can see above, was published on their Facebook page, and apparently it was so offensive that many folks complained. And Namco took it down.

Can you imagine a world without Google or Facebook? If plans to protest the potential passing of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) come to fruition, you won’t need to; those sites, along with many other well-known online destinations, will go temporarily offline as a taste of what we could expect from a post-SOPA Internet.

Companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter, PayPal, Yahoo! and Wikipedia are said to be discussing a coordinated blackout of services to demonstrate the potential effect SOPA would have on the Internet, something already being called a “nuclear option” of protesting. The rumors surrounding the potential blackout were only strengthened by Markham Erickson, executive director of trade association NetCoalition, who told FoxNews that “a number of companies have had discussions about [blacking out services]” last week.

According to Erickson, the companies are well aware of how serious an act such a blackout would be:

This type of thing doesn’t happen because companies typically don’t want to put their users in that position. The difference is that these bills so fundamentally change the way the Internet works. People need to understand the effect this special-interest legislation will have on those who use the Internet.

The idea of an Internet blackout should seem familiar to anyone who’s been paying attention to the debate so far. In addition to a blackout already carried out by Mozilla, hacking group Anonymous proposed the same thing a couple of weeks ago, suggesting that sites replace their front pages with a statement protesting SOPA. That suggestion itself came a week after Jimmy Wales had asked Wikipedia users about the possibility of blacking out that site in protest of the bill.

As a way of drawing attention to the topic, it’s something that will definitely work. Just Google alone going dark would cause havoc online, but the idea of it happening at the same time as Facebook, Twitter et al. follow suit seems almost unimaginable.

The question then becomes how to translate the inevitable confusion and outrage from those who don’t know what SOPA is into activism. The key, I assume, lies in the execution of the blackout: Will the sites that voluntarily go down be entirely unavailable or will they follow the Anonymous-proposed model of replacing the front page with a statement explaining what is going on, why and how users can best become involved in the discussion? If the sites do go entirely dark, is the hope that the resulting outrage will be enough to fuel news stories about the reason behind the decision? And that users will not transfer their frustration to the sites themselves, as opposed to the bill they’re protesting?

The fact that Facebook and Twitter are both said to be considering taking part in the blackout is simultaneously heartening and worrying. The former because, well, they’re standing up for what they collectively believe in — and that’s a good thing. But the latter because the lack of availability for social media on the proposed blackout day feels like it’s giving up the best chance to harness the frustration and energy people will feel about the temporary loss of the Internet as they know it, and a great possibility to focus and direct that energy into productive activism against SOPA. Then again, it may take losing Facebook and Twitter to really drive home how dramatically SOPA could affect the Internet.

All of this may come to nothing, of course. The companies may decide not to black out their sites and find other ways to protest SOPA. That could be for the best; collectively closing down the most trafficked sites on the Internet to prove a point will certainly garner a lot of attention, but the effects it’ll have beyond that (and the reactions it’ll cause as a result) are difficult to predict and could easily end up causing a backlash against the sites responsible at a time when they least want it. But still … just try to imagine an Internet without Google, Facebook or Yahoo. Even for a day. Almost makes you want it to happen, just to make people realize how reliant we are on the Internet as we know it now, doesn’t it?

Facebook has worked out a new strategy to try and strengthen its relationship with advertisers and the advertising industry: Flattery.

The social media company is preparing to award the first Facebook Studio Awards, created to recognize the most creative and most successful social marketing on its site, and has just extended the submission deadline to allow more ad agencies to participate.

According to Facebook, the awards will reward “a new kind of creativity,” with the official award site explaining, “Marketing in a connected world requires campaigns that are grounded in social insights, real connections and authentic conversations.” The Facebook Studio Awards have been created “to recognize the agencies and brands that are pioneering this shift.” It’s an idea echoed by one of the judges, Susan Credle, who is Chief Creative Officer at ad agency Leo Burnett North America, who believes that the awards will recognize those trying to bring “creativity and delight and actual storytelling” to social marketing.

Judging criteria for the awards will include how social the marketing campaign is, how much it integrates with both other media and Facebook’s own marketing products (“Does the campaign take advantage of Facebook’s full potential?” as the site puts it, apparently aware of the importance of underscoring its own brand at all times) and how easy it is for people to interact with, and share, the campaign’s content.

Boasting “hundreds of submissions from 40 countries,” the deadline for the awards has been pushed to January 15 in order to allow as many entries as possible, with a panel of judges drawn from top ad agencies (as well as Facebook’s Director of Global Creative Solutions, Mark D’Arcy) meeting next month to select the winners. I doubt I’m the only one secretly hoping for an upset in favor of “Mob Wars.”

Sure, social media sounds like something that increases quality of life, but two recent stories out of the U.K. demonstrate just how easily the opposite could be true: Facebook apparently has the power to not only end your marriage, but also get you fired. Be very afraid.

According to a report in The Guardian, Facebook is partly responsible for the sacking of at least two police officers over the past four years. It’s also let to seven resignations and 150 officers facing disciplinary action after posting inappropriate pictures or comments. An official review into police corruption found there was “significant blurring” between officers’ professional and private lives on social media, and that it was potentially damaging to the reputation of the police force in general. According to Roger Baker, who led the investigation, “Social networking is seen as a risk by all forces and authorities, but there are limited or inconsistent policies around what is acceptable, what you should do [and] what you shouldn’t do.”

Also under fire: Facebook and marriage, lacking “consistent policies around what is acceptable.” A new study by Divorce Online discovered that 33% of divorces in 2011 implicate Facebook in some way, a significant rise from 2009′s 13%. Reasons cited incude: users making inappropriate comments or messages to members of the opposite sex, and users making unpleasant messages or comments about their spouse and Facebook friends reporting on a spouse’s behavior. Mark Keenan, a spokesman for Divorce Online, suggested that Facebook’s increased importance as a communication tool was behind the rise, saying that “If someone wants to have an affair or flirt with the opposite sex, then it’s the easiest place to do it.” (It’s certainly the most common social network: Twitter was referenced as a reason in only 20 out of the 5,000 divorce petitions surveyed, perhaps illustrating how difficult it is to flirt with 140 characters or less.)

Both stories have one thing in common: They’re less about the dangers of social media than they are about the thoughtlessness of those using it. Yes, Facebook can get you fired or cause a divorce, but only if you use it to post stupid comments.

LG has been evaluating its Optimus smartphone range over the past few weeks, in order to see which models would be blessed with an upgrade to Android 4.0. Initially, it was just a handful of phones on the list, but according to a new post on their official Facebook page, several other devices have been deemed suitable too.

However, while LG gives, it also takes away, as those in line for a taste of Google’s new version of Android are potentially in for a long wait. There are going to be two phases to the update, running through the second and third quarters of 2012.

The first wave of updates to Ice Cream Sandwich will consist of the brand-new Prada 3.0, the Optimus LTE, Optimus 2X, Optimus Sol, LG Eclipse and the LG my Touch Q. These will receive the new software sometime between April and June.

Next, LG will be dealing with the Optimus 3D, Optimus Big, Optimus Q2, Optimus EX and the Optimus Black; all of which are in the second wave of updates, potentially beginning in July next year. CNETpoints out that the Optimus Black’s update should cover AT&T’s Nitro HD and Sprint’s Marquee, as they’re essentially the same devices.

So, to recap, owners of relevant phones could get Ice Cream Sandwich as early as late March/early April 2012, or as late as September 2012. Put like that, it’s easy to see why the Facebook comments are less than complimentary of LG’s efforts.

However, it’s now understood how complicated the process can be and we’re still grateful that LG —and others — are so readily sharing their ICS plans, and that it’s getting done at all.

This morning, after previewing its Timeline in New Zealand, Facebook has made the feature available worldwide. As with anything new and different, they’re girding for user backlash. Considering the design, layout and concept changes, the new profile page is one of the biggest redesigns since Facebook’s 2004 inception. We’re here to walk you through it..

Too Many Photos

Instead of just one profile picture, Facebook now requires two. There’s the default photo of yore. And then there’s a “cover photo” — that big landscape photo spanning the top of the page. Agonizing over one representation of oneself is hard enough. Finding two, that match no less, takes more effort. Some might just haphazardly put up their two favorite photos and move on. But for those of us who like to keep things pretty and logical, this is a stressful task. Think about it like this: Every time you decide to change your profile picture, you have to think of an whole new concept.

Nothing Is In the Right Order

Facebook has nixed the traditional one-column chronological feed format, forgoing it for this two-column thing you see above. Instead of having items — links, wall posts, photo activity — run from most-recent on down, Facebook has ensured that actions don’t get lost forever, scattering recent events across the two columns. For eyes trained to scroll from top to bottom, the new format confuses. As you can see from the dates above, the posts still appear in chronological order from top to bottom. But with two columns, eyes also have to scroll from side to side.

The new Timeline doesn’t just retain moments for longer on the “homepage,” but the hallmark feature “the timeline” allows users to go back in time. The dates appear at the top right of the profile page, prompting Facebookers to “go back in time,” ie. look through old posts. Facebook also encourages users to fill out the timeline with moments from before Facebook even existed.

With everything going on, Facebook has created a new “activity log,” to keep track of everything, from today to the very first time you Facebooked. It appears at the top of the page, beneath the cover photo.

So Much Work

Facebook assumes everyone is into scrapbooking. Building the Timeline out requires a lot of effort. Say one wants to put up childhood photos. It’s not like those images are stored on a digital camera or Shutterfly. They’re likely prints from a standard point and shoot: That involves scanning and uploading. Even for older digital photos, crafting the Timeline involves a lot of legwork. And that’s just photos.

You can also personalize the Timeline, choosing which stories show-up and which don’t, as Facebook Paul McDonald explains on the Facebook blog.

As you explore your timeline, you may see stories that you want to feature, like your graduation or the day you bought your first car. There might also be stuff that you want to remove or hide from your timeline.

To feature something on your timeline, roll over the story and click the star to expand it to two columns. Or you can click the pencil to hide, delete or edit a post.

A “featured post” fills the entire two-column width, as you can see below. And a hidden post disappears.

Facebook of course realizes that you will inevitably hate the newness, so for newcomers it has provided a 7-day review period, giving users a chance to perfect things before anyone else sees it. After a week, though, the Timeline will go live automatically. To preview how it might look to others, click the gear menu, next to the activity log and select “View as.” There you can see how it appears to mom and whoever else you might want to censor.

To get the new Timeline now go to the Introducing Timeline page and click “Get it now.” Or just wait until Facebook nags at the top of the profile page.

A Florida deputy used an unusual tool to successfully negotiate a standoff on Wednesday: Facebook.

Around 11:30 a.m., Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call from Sandy Lehrke saying her potentially suicidal husband,David Lehrke, 47, had barricaded himself in a shed after an argument, according to a police report.

“David locked the door and told Sandy that he was going to ‘Do something to make the cops kill me,’” according to a police report.

Sandy Lehrke allegedly told authorities that her husband had not been taking his medications over the past month and had been acting strangely. Earlier that day, he was throwing dishes around the kitchen and when she tried to calm him, he went into the shed.

Cpl. Arthur Morrison, a hostage negotiator and school resource officer, arrived and decided to use Facebook to see what he could learn about Lehrke.

Morrison sent him a friend request and was surprised when Lehrke accepted it almost immediately. But before Morrison could send him a message, Lehrke had deleted him. Morrison tried again and Lehrke accepted his friend request and the two began sending private messages back and forth in a Facebook chat.

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office released a transcript of the conversation, an excerpt:

Morrison: hey are you ok?

Lehrke: who really wants to know

Morrison: someone who wants to help you

Lehrke: i’m 47 and old dog new tricks, nah, and help how this has played out before, I don’t want to play anymore, I want to take my Ball and go home, Far away

Morrison used information from Lehrke’s Facebook page, such as his love of fishing, to keep the conversation going and establish common ground.

“In a crisis situation, a person doesn’t think about the good things,” Morrison told ABCNews.com. “We need to bring him back to why he’s alive, remind him who he is, what he likes.”

Morrison: Lying doesn’t help. I am not here to lie.

Lehrke: I can’t be helped this time it will only lead to next time. I’m damaged goods.

Morrison: I don’t believe that. I have many friends that have received help and made it through very tough times. Put me to the test. Tell me how I can help you.

Lehrke: pull the trigger so i don’t have too

Morrison: We don’t want to do that…ever…thats not how we want to remember you. I am here to help not hurt.

“We don’t want them to hurt themselves,” Morrison told ABCNews.com. “That is never a good outcome. Nothing is worth losing your life over. Our desired outcome is for him to come out and peacefully surrender so we can take him to get the help he needs.”

Lehrke was unarmed, but Morrison said that, at the time, he did not know that.

Thirty-six minutes after their first exchange, Lehrke sent his final message: “black smoke in here.”

Morrison repeatedly asked, “are you there?” and what the black smoke meant, but Lehrke stopped answering. A SWAT team could see black smoke coming out of the shed and 10 minutes later, Lehrke emerged unharmed and was taken into custody.

Lehrke had set a mattress on fire, but was uninjured. Lehrke was committed to a mental health facility for evaluation.

Morrison said that after 13 years as a negotiator, he had never thought of using Facebook to get out of a tricky situation.

“Never thought of it, never dreamed of it. I wasn’t even sure of using it this way [in this situation],” he said. “But when it happened and started, it was something we continued and it was the only way he would communicate. It’s not my choice communication, but it worked and it worked very well.”

 Cpl. Art Morrison of the Pasco Sheriff’s Department (Fla.) used Facebook to negotiate a standoff when a man had barricaded himself in a shed after an argument with his wife and had his laptop with him.