Stranger bullying increasing on Facebook

Social networking website Facebook will develop new security measures to combat a surge in bullying of strangers with offensive messages.

LONDON: Social networking website Facebook will develop new security measures to combat a surge in bullying of strangers with offensive messages, termed "trolling" in internet parlance.

Officials at Facebook are working on new systems to fight "trolling", where anonymous online users bombard victims with offensive messages or abuse, the Daily Telegraph reported.

A growing number of tribute pages, including those in memory of soldiers who died in Afghanistan, have been targets of trollers.

Currently, users can only manually delete abusive messages. But in efforts to combat the growing trend, Facebook has said it is working on new systems that would automatically delete abuse.

Jim Gamble, chief executive of Britain's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), who has been working with Facebook to combat cyber bullying, has welcomed the news.

Gamble said the "ClickCEOP" application on Facebook was downloaded more than 10,000 times since its launch in July. The application gives users a direct link to advice, help and the ability to report cyber problems to the centre.

A Facebook spokesman said while the company has already employed "robust" systems, engineers were developing new programmes to combat the threat.

"Users who send lots of messages to non-friends, or whose friend requests are rejected at a high rate, are marked as suspect."

Courtesy : Times Of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/social-media/Stranger-bullying-increasing-on-Facebook/articleshow/6304840.cms

Microsoft Unveils Research Prototype of LCD-Based Keyboard.

Microsoft Scientists Develop Adaptive Keyboard

Microsoft Corp.'s applied sciences group has developed a keyboard that is based on a large touch-screen. The device may adapt itself to a variety of programs and potentially allows to greatly simplify the input. One of the main drawbacks of the concept is the lack of tactile feedback.

Microsoft Adaptive Keyboard is a research prototype developed by Microsoft Hardware to explore how combining display and input capabilities in a keyboard can allow users to be more productive. The keyboard incorporates a large, touch-sensitive display strip at the top. In addition, the display continues underneath the keys, allowing the legends to be modified in real time. This lets users do things like change the character set to a different language or display command icons.

The Adaptive Keyboard is a research prototype, not a product. It is only available to participants in the UIST Student Innovation Contest, who are supposed to demonstrate usage models for the device.

Art Lebedev design studio from Russia released a keyboard that features an OLED screen inside each key. The product did not turn out popular due to its massive price. At present the Optimus Maximus keyboard costs $2400.