hate

Shaheen Dhada wasn't sure what to expect when police called her house Sunday night. The 21-year-old medical student who lives in Mumbai, India, had just posted a political statement on Facebook and her friend Renu Srinivasan "liked" the post.

Within hours, the two young women were arrested and charged with using speech that was offensive and hateful, according to the New York Times.

Now, just days later, Dhada and Srinivasan have come to symbolize India's intolerance of free speech. Tens of thousands of people have taken to social networks criticizing the government's arrests of the … Read more

It's hard to keep quiet these days.

One suspects that even in the most silent religious orders, the monks and nuns have heard about Twitter and Facebook and wonder how it might change their lives.

Sometimes, though, Facebook and Twitter are the digital parchment for huge amounts of vile bile.

The latest example is that of Swiss right-wing politician, Alexander Mueller. Clearly feeling the need to make his feelings heard, he took to Twitter and declared that there should be a "Kristallnacht...this time for mosques."

Kristallnacht -- often referred to as "The Night of Broken … Read more

A 32-hour standoff between a French SWAT team and 23-year-old Mohamed Merah -- who was wanted for killing three French paratroopers, three Jewish schoolchildren, and a rabbi -- ended today with a dramatic firefight and the death of Merah who claimed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda, according to the Associated Press.

Shortly after the confrontation, Reuters reports, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced he was making it illegal for citizens to visit Web sites that encourage terrorism or hate crimes.

"From now on, any person who habitually consults Web sites that advocate terrorism or that call for hatred and violence … Read more

Apple's update to iTunes 10.5.1 brings a new scan-and-match service for music that gives users a way to stream their entire collection across multiple devices in the Apple family.

Even better, Apple will actually fill in the blanks of your files' metadata and replace your "matched" files with high-quality 256k-encoded AAC files--an audiophile's dream!

The three of us are so excited that it sounds like we're hosting an infomercial, but check out today's episode to hear more details about iTunes Match.

Also leaked from today's episode: LivingSocial gets into home food delivery with Room Service, PETA puts Mario and his Tanooki suit in its crosshairs, and more events unravel in the ongoing War Against Infographics!… Read more

It's time to be honest.

What are you really feeling when you're on Facebook, poring over every vacation picture of that Martha you dated in high school? Are you inspired with touchy-feely interest in your fellow woman? Or is there something a little more corrosive burning your bones?

I ask because I was edified into indigestion by a piece of research from the University of Missouri School of Journalism that suggested humans might be, surprisingly, horrible little drama queens. "Emotional Responses During Social Information Seeking on Facebook" does for the human condition what "Jersey Shore&… Read more

An online game that lets you bomb victims of the Haiti earthquake. A Facebook group that compares gays to rats and vermin. An eBay auction selling rings supposedly taken from concentration camp prisoners during the Holocaust.

These are just a few of the Web sites and pages uncovered in the latest study of hate and terrorism on the Internet by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

The report "Digital Terrorism and Hate 2010," released last week, highlights a growing number of Web sites and social networks used by people propagating hateful, racist, or terrorist ideas and activities. In combing through … Read more

For as long as there have been home computers, users have been frustrated by certain keys triggering unwanted commands. I Hate This Key aims to make life easier for these people by eliminating these commands.

This program's interface cuts directly to the cause of eliminating unwanted keystroke commands and does so in an intuitive, simple fashion. The entire program consists of five tabs that highlight different problem areas on the keyboard. Within each, users find simple check boxes that arm or disarm certain keys in specific situations.

For example, users can turn the Windows key off completely, or simply … Read more

I'm almost always saddened by news of businesses being forced to close because of the economy, but I'm glad to see the apparent demise of JuicyCampus.com. The site, according to a blog post from its founder Matt Ivester, is shutting down because "in these historically difficult economic times, online ad revenue has plummeted and venture capital funding has dissolved."

I'm not shedding any tears for Mr. Ivester. What he refers to as "lighthearted gossip of college life" was, in many situations, vicious innuendos, hateful messages, and downright lies. In covering the site … Read more

Dave Winer believes he is "one of the most hated people on the Internet" (full blog post). We tip our hats to him. It's quite an achievement. Considering all the trolls, jerks, and narcissists (yes, me too) who post like crazy on the Web, it's no mean feat to be hated by so many.

But there can be only one who is "most hated." And we wonder how one goes about achieving that distinction. Restricting the discussion to technology personalities who are active contributors of original content, we came up with five contenders, and … Read more