In the News, June 19th, 2008

A new study shatters perceptions that Web surfers are just slackers trying to avoid work.

R. Kelly Garrett, one of the study's authors and a communications professor at Ohio State University, says that everyone does it, from senior managers to entry-level employees .

Tell your boss, the and researchers figure that means management attempts to clamp down on Internet use may be missing the mark. Installing filters to block access to Web sites and e-mail services could backfire by reducing job satisfaction and thus productivity, researchers wrote.

The study on "cyberslacking," was published in the June issue of the CyberPsychology and Behavior journal.




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Latifah on 'Regis and Kelly' courtesy of QueenLatifah.com

Popular actress and singer Queen Latifah sued a small film production company that helped finance the movie "The Perfect Holiday" on Wednesday, saying she had not been paid any money for the film.

Lawyers for Queen Latifah, an Academy Award-nominated actress and Grammy Award-winning singer whose real name is Dana Owens, said in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court the California-based company, Perfect Christmas Productions, had breached her contract and owed her $275,000 for a cameo role in the film.

"The Perfect Holiday," was released in December 2007, starring Terrence Howard and Gabrielle Union. It grossed more than $5.8 million by February, 2008 in the United States, according to Box Office Mojo.
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The Tiger Goes Down.
Tiger Woods' said Wednesday he will have reconstructive surgery on his left knee to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament, forcing him to miss the rest of the season. This came just two days after a grueling U.S. Open that took him five days and 91 holes to win.

In just a dozen years on the PGA Tour, Woods already has won 65 times to rank third on the all-time list behind Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus. Woods has won 14 majors, closing on the record 18 won by Nicklaus and joining the Golden Bear as the only players to win the career Grand Slam three times over. He is 44-3 on tour when he has at least a share of the 54-hole lead.
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MySpacer's Rejoice!


A Colorado man has been ordered to pay US $6 million in damages and legal fees for spamming thousands of MySpace.com users. YES!


The man was once accused of pumping out more than 100 million spam messages per day, had been sued by MySpace in January 2007 in connection with an August 2006 campaign in which MySpace members were hit with unsolicited messages promoting a Web site called Consumerpromotionscenter.com. The messages were sent from phished MySpace accounts, according to the findings of Philip Boesch, the court-appointed arbitrator in the case.

This is not the first time a this individual's company has had to cough up millions of dollars to fight spam charges. In 2005, his previous company, Optinrealbig.com, paid $7 million to settle similar charges brought by Microsoft.

Scott Richter was removed from anti-spam organization Spamhaus' list of known spammers that same year.

"This award reflects MySpace's continued momentum and holistic approach to ridding the site of spammers and phishers," MySpace said in a statement. "We will continue to do our part in cleansing the Internet of this invasive onslaught of spam."