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Theres a big cloud gathering, just beyond the horizon. It started a few weeks ago over Sanford, Fla. Now its everywhere, darkening with anger and outrage. You might even call it a storm cloud.

Im referring to the burst of Tweeting, Facebooking, and other social networking to protest the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, captain of an informal neighborhood watch group, in Sanford on Feb. 26. Without the cloud, most of us wouldnt know that Martin was African American, and Zimmerman isnt. And far fewer people would be up in arms about it.

RELATED: Trevon Martin could have been my brother

But I also fear that it might be clouding the real arms issue that is, the problem of firearms. This tragedy is about race, of course, but its also about guns. And by focusing so heavily on the former, I fear, were blinding ourselves to the latter.

Yes, weve heard criticism of the Florida Stand Your Ground law, which allows citizens to use deadly force if they have reasonable fear of harm or death. And were sure to hear more debate over the next few weeks about whether Mr. Zimmerman, who says he acted in self defense, had any real reason to fear Trayvon Martin, who was carrying nothing more dangerous than iced tea and Skittles.

But if you look at the social-media protests about the event, almost none of them target Floridas gun law itself. Signed by nearly 1.5 million people, the most popular online petition simply calls for charges to be filed against George Zimmerman.

Ditto for the loud public demonstrations unleashed by the furor on the Net. In New York, a Million Hoodie March echoed the petitions demand for Zimmermans arrest. And in Florida, a protest urged state officials to withdraw his concealed weapons permit.

Got that? The problem isnt that Florida lets people carry concealed weapons, or that it allows them to kill on questionable pretexts. Instead, it just let the wrong guy have a gun.

But we need to ask whether any private citizen should be carrying a concealed weapon, and whether Stand Your Ground measures make people trigger-happy. And most of all, we need to think about the most common victims of our lax gun laws: African Americans.

EDITOR'S BLOG: Guns and freedom, the American paradox

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Where's the Trayvon Martin petition about gun control?

23-03-2012 05:46 http://www.nma.tv Comedian Dave Chappelle has joined Twitter as "@chappelledavidk," much to the delight of fans of Chappelle's Show and Half Baked. The first tweet from the account was posted Tuesday morning, however, fans appeared to be skeptical if it was actually coming from Dave and not an imposter. Whereas some celebrities amass thousands of followers within hours of joining the social networking site, the account had only 11 by Wednesday afternoon. That number ballooned to over 17000 followers by Thursday following confirmation from stars like The Roots drummer Questlove and fellow comic Aziz Ansari that the comic is indeed behind the tweets. Twitter has yet to officially validate the account as Chappelle's. A veteran of the stand up scene, Chappelle gained notoriety for his role in the 1998 stoner comedy Half Baked. His Comedy Central sketch project, Chappelle's Show, was a smash hit, but he abruptly quit the show in 2005 before the debut of its third season. Chappelle spent the following years mainly out of the spotlight, resurfacing now and again for interviews and impromptu performances at comedy clubs.

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Dave Chappelle joins Twitter, mounts comeback? - Video

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/22/2012 1:05:38 PM The ranking members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee have sent letters to 34 vendors of Apple mobile social networking apps seeking information on data collection and use practices. Reports of social networking app Path collecting address book info and photos without users' knowledge or consent prompted the letter and were just the latest red flag for legislators concerned about protection personal data online. The tone of the letter was not accusatory. "We are writing to you because we want to better understand the information collection and use policies and practices of apps for Apple's mobile devices with a social element," they wrote. Joining Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) in the request was G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), ranking member of the Commerce Subcommittee. The pair had already fired off a letter to Apple last month about Path, seeking its side of the story. Among the companies targeted were Twitter, Foursquare and Facebook. The letter to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, for example, seeks info on what the company considers data that requires prior consent before collecting; how data collection, either user or device data, directly relates to the application's function; how many times its app has been downloaded in the past month; and much more.

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Dems Seek Info on Social App Data Collection and Use

BOCA RATON, Fla., March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Professional Social Networking Group (PSNG) will host a networking event on Wednesday, March 28th, from 5:30-8:00 PM at The Boca Raton Museum of Art in Mizner Park, Boca Raton, FL.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120322/CG74990)

Local professionals are all invited to attend. The event will have $0 cover, 1 complimentary drink included, 400+ people, six charity groups (including American Cancer Society and Relay for Life) with display tables to promote their causes, live music, five professional speakers giving business seminars in a separate lecture room, photographers, videographers, food samples from Oceans 234 Restaurant, Potions in Motion providing mobile bar service, and multiple co-hosts including the South Florida Chamber of Commerce. Professional attire Only.

Pre-registration is required before 12 Noon on 3/28 through this link: http://www.PSNGatBocaMuseum.eventbrite.com

Founder Jeff Tockman created the group in May 2009, to help people in the community build business and professional relationships through recurring networking events. PSNG events mix the best elements of professional networking with the fun and casual nature of a social get-together. PSNG Networking Events are held at various venues throughout South Florida, mostly near Boca Raton.

"The Professional Social Networking Group offers such a rich environment of business professionals and I am amazed at home many new people I meet at each event. The atmosphere is always friendly, and the people are more outgoing and easier to talk to than at other networking events I have been to. I highly recommend attending the networking events to anyone who is looking to expand their business." Daniel Sanz, President, Fade 2 Black Productions, Inc.

PSNG is run entirely by volunteers. Individual people and businesses donate such things as venue space, photography, videography, entertainment, graphic design, printing and more. Volunteers donate their time to help work the registration table at the event, or work behind the scenes to make sure the event runs smoothly. They invest their own resources and in return receive experience, credibility, goodwill, and most importantly, professional relationships.

Professional Social Networking Group (PSNG) is a leading organization in South Florida dedicated to fostering the development of business and personal relationships through a recurring series of networking events. For more information and to register for event invitations, please visit PSNG at http://www.ProfessionalSocialNetworkingGroup.com.

Jeff Tockman Professional Networking and Referral Consultant Founder, Professional Social Networking Group (PSNG) Founder, Tockman Consulting 561-755-PSNG (7764) jefftockman@gmail.com http://www.TockmanConsulting.com http://www.PSNG.co

Media Contact: Jeff Tockman Professional Social Networking Group, 561-755-7764, jefftockman@gmail.com

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Professional Social Networking Group (PSNG) Will Host a Networking Event on March 28th, 2012 at The Boca Raton Museum ...

Most owners of compromised websites don't know how their sites got hacked into and only 6 percent detect the malicious activity on their own, according to a report released by StopBadware and Commtouch on Thursday.

The new "Compromised Websites: An Owner's Perspective" report is based on a survey of over 600 website administrators and owners that was carried out over several months by security vendor Commtouch and StopBadware, a nonprofit organization that helps webmasters identify, remediate and prevent website compromises.

The leading cause of website compromises appears to be outdated content management software (CMS). This was indicated as a reason for their websites being hacked by 20 percent of respondents.

Twelve percent of webmasters said that a computer used to update their website was infected with malware, 6 percent said that their credentials were stolen credentials, and 2 percent admitted logging in while using wireless networks or public PCs. However, 63 percent of respondents didn't know how their websites got compromised.

The CMS platform most commonly installed on compromised websites was WordPress, as indicated by 28 percent of respondents. However, WordPress accounts for over 50 percent of the entire CMS market according to data from w3techs.com, so the rate between hacked WordPress websites and the platform's actual install base is better than that of other CMS platforms like Joomla or osCommerce.

Almost half of respondents -- 49 percent -- learned that their websites had been compromised through browser or search engine alerts. Eighteen percent were notified by their colleagues or friends, 10 percent by a security organization and 7 percent by their hosting provider. Only 6 percent of respondents discovered the compromise on their own by noticing suspicious or increased activity on their websites, the report said.

A third of respondents didn't know how their websites had been abused after being hacked. Those that did know pointed to the hosting of malware and rogue redirect scripts as being the most common forms of abuse -- 25 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

Many webmasters -- 46 percent -- managed to fix the compromise on their own, using information available on help forums and other websites. Twenty percent fixed the problem by following instructions received from security companies and 14 percent with the help of their hosting providers.

However, more than a quarter of respondents indicated that their websites remained compromised after trying several approaches.

Overall, 28 percent of webmasters said that they are considering switching Web hosting providers after their hacking experience. The survey found that webmasters were three times more likely to consider leaving Web hosting providers that charged extra for helping them address the problem or refused to provide support.

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Most Webmasters Don't Know How Their Websites Got Hacked, Report Says