Social Media

Facebook suicide: the end of your virtual life

According to Facebook, users spend an average of 20 minutes a day on the site, although a survey by uSwitch.com found that others spend more than ten hours a week on virtual networking sites, the equivalent of 24 days a year. (Think how many pub lunches with real friends could be enjoyed in that time).


Increasing numbers of employers are banning staff from using social networking sites. Metropolitan Police officers have been warned that they face being fired, and universities have started using it to catch students behaving badly. So perhaps it’s no surprise that some people would rather commit Facebook suicide than that of the professional sort.

An option for this type of “suicide” is an app called The Web 2.0 Suicide Machine.


What it does is... well... it kills your entire social presence on the Internet. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace , and, like death - is a one way trip!. Your life(stream) literally flashes before your eyes as the Suicide Machine kills your friend connections and deletes your account. If you want to know more see the video below. It seems Facebook Corp already taken action against it.

Social Media

How Facebook can hurt your finances

Social-networking sites might be fun and beneficial -- until your employer catches you bad-mouthing the boss or debt collectors use the sites to track you down.

Anyone who doubts the power of social media to affect finances need look no further than the example of Kansas City Chiefs football player Larry Johnson.

The all-pro running back cost himself $213,000, and ultimately a job, by posting anti-gay slurs on microblogging service Twitter -- in 140 characters or less, of course.

Career trouble is just one way a badly managed social-media presence can hit your pocketbook. Following are three areas where social media could damage your financial life -- and tips on avoiding such pitfalls.

1. It could cost you a job

Andy Beal, the CEO of social-media monitoring platform Trackur.com, says jobseekers should assume potential employers will do an online search of candidates' names. Social-media profiles typically appear near the top of search results.

If you have questionable pictures or posts on a public profile, take them down or make the profile private.

Also, steer clear of negative talk about a prospective employer on any social-media platform, Beal says. Many companies monitor mentions of their brands throughout the Web, he says.

He cites the case of a Twitter user who posted about a job offer from Cisco but expressed doubt about "the daily commute" and "hating the work." A Cisco employee noticed the tweet and demanded to know the name of the user's hiring manager.

Even employees who think their jobs are safe can sabotage themselves by being too honest online about their personal lives or by posting feelings regarding a boss, a client, a co-worker or the company they work for.

"We've seen a lot of cases of people publishing status updates that have gotten them in trouble," says Justin Smith, the founder and editor of InsideFacebook. "People have said things that have caused problems with their boss because of what they said about their work or because they've shared some other kind of private information about work online."

Lohan's bikini Tweet

"We've seen a lot of cases of people publishing status updates that have gotten them in trouble," says Justin Smith, the founder and editor of InsideFacebook. "People have said things that have caused problems with their boss because of what they said about their work or because they've shared some other kind of private information about work online."

Caroline McCarthy, a staff writer at CNET News, says the best defense against such mistakes is common sense. Remember, anything that appears on the Web is just a screenshot away from spreading quickly despite the best efforts of social-media users to keep it private.

Real Estate

Florida existing home, condo sales up in 2009

After one of the worst housing downturns in recent memory, the state’s real estate market ended 2009 on a positive note.

Existing home and condo sales across Florida were higher last year than they were in 2008, according to housing data released by Florida Realtors.

Existing home sales rose 31 percent in 2009, with 163,148 homes sold, up from 124,168 homes sold in 2008. Existing condo sales were up 47 percent last year, to 55,985 from 38,095 a year earlier.

On the flip side, median prices on existing homes statewide in 2009 were $142,600, down 24 percent from $187,700 in 2008.

Existing condo prices in Florida fared even worse, with the median price falling 34 percent, year-over-year, to $108,000 from $164,200 in 2008.

For the month of December, existing home sales statewide rose 33 percent, to 14,630 homes from 11,013 homes sold in December 2008. Existing condo sales for December exploded, rising 91 percent to 5,968 from 3,132 in December 2008.

Existing home sales in Miami were up 53 percent, to 6,685 in 2009 from 4,379 a year earlier. The median price, however, fell 29 percent, to $195,300 from $276,600.

Existing condo sales in Miami rose 50 percent, to 6,854 from 4,580. The median price of a condo in Miami fell 40 percent, to $142,400 from $239,400.

In Fort Lauderdale 7,934 existing homes sold in 2009, up 38 percent from 6,377 in 2008. The median price fell 26 percent, to $205,700 from $278,000.

Existing condo sales there rose 51 percent, to 9,894 from 6,551 a year earlier.

Existing home sales in West Palm Beach rose 25 percent to 8,684 from 6,953. The median price, however, slid 21 percent to $239,000 from $302,800.

Existing condo sales rose to 7,887, up 30 percent from 6,075 in 2008. The median price of a condo fell 25 percent to $107,300 from $143,800.

Nationwide, existing home sales fell in December, as expected, after first-time buyers rush to complete sales before the original November deadline for the $8,000 credit.

For all of last year, 5,156,000 existing homes sold, up 49 percent from 2008 and the first annual sales gain since 2005.

“It’s significant that home sales remain above year-ago levels, but the market is going through a period of swings driven by the tax credit,” said Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors chief economist, in a news release. “We’ll likely have another surge in the spring as home buyers take advantage of the extended and expanded tax credit. By early summer, the overall market should benefit from more balanced inventory, and sales are on track to rise again in 2010."

However, he noted that the job market remains a concern and could impact any further recovery of the housing market at least until the second half of 2010.

The national median price for an existing home was $178,300 in December, up 1.5 percent from December 2008. For all of 2009, the median price was $173,500, down 12.4 percent from $198,100 in 2008. Distressed homes accounted for 36 percent of total sales last year.

Today we celebrate the World Laughter Day.

“World Laughter Day” was created in 1998 by Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of the worldwide Laughter Yoga

Logo - WLD 09

movement. The celebration of World Laughter Day is a positive manifestation for world peace and is intended to build up a global consciousness of brotherhood and friendship through laughter. Its popularity has grown exponentially with that of the Laughter Yoga movement (now counting over 6000 Laughter Clubs worldwide on all 5 continents).

Why a “World Laughter Day”?Today, many people fear widespread international terrorism. The world has never faced so much unrest before. People are at war within themselves.

Laughter is a positive and powerful emotion that has all the ingredients required for individuals to change themselves and to change the world in a peaceful and positive way. It directly impacts one’s electro-magnetic field and creates a positive aura around that person. When a group of individuals laugh together, they create a collective community aura. Electromagnetic waves from a group who are laughing every day form a protective envelope around that area to protect it from negative forces (similarly, people believed in ancient India that one saintly person was enough to protect the entire village).

Laughter is a universal language, which has the potential to unite humanity without religion. Laughter can establish a common link between various religions and create a new world order. The idea may sound over-ambitious, and maybe it is. But maybe it is not. It is our deep belief that laughter and only laughter can unite the world, building up a global consciousness of brotherhood and friendship.