Conventional social networking has been replaced slowly by social networking sites. Making friends no longer stays in the boundary of schools. Circle of friends is spreading to every part of the world by just a click on the buttons displayed. The main function of social networking sites is to connect people from around the world who share common friends, fraternity and even interests.
The current most popular social networking site is Facebook, a site that becomes an overnight serendipitous craze among young people. The best feature in Facebook is online games that lured people to sign up. Before Facebook appeared, it was Friendster and MySpace that ruled the online communities. Mass migration of online users to sites with better quality music and video capability is inevitable since users are only seeking for entertainment. Furthermore, young people always love fresh new interesting sites to pass their leisure time.
Virtual communities in online universe serve as huge market for lucrative business. Sites with high portfolio attract giant advertising companies to invest in such sites. The exponential increment of users of social networking sites cannot be ignored by far-sighted business people. Popular users of social networking sites like Xanga and Blogger are endorsed to boost business sales. In some bizarre cases, this also creates a path for fortunate users into entertainment business.
Although social networking sites seems like the best rendezvous for old friends, it is a myth that social networking sites strengthen relationships. Rumours are easily circulated in such sites to tarnish one’s reputation. In some extreme cases, online scams are mushrooming to dupe gullible people. Even spreading computer- corrupting virus is possible through the sites.
Therefore, it is up to the users’ judgment on whether social networking sites are harmful or not. The long- term success of such sites is determined by users whether they here to stay or just a fad.

Popularity: 30% [?]

The subject on whether sex offenders’ public records is ethical is open for debate. Some people protested because it seems like a euphemism for eternal humiliation and is morally unacceptable. Violation of privacy of identity by putting the name and the case of the offender into data record is also widely argued. Many people believed that sex offenders deserved it since sex crime is not a laughing matter as it leaves incurable scar to the victims.
It is true that people make mistakes in their lives. But we should also give chance to the former criminals to change for betterment. However, when the mistake ruined one’s life and could be avoided if the person had better control of him or herself, it is best to let the public know the harmful things that the person  could do if someone’s child is left alone with the former sex offender. The sympathy should be with the victim, and not the sex offender.
Committing sex offence cannot be tolerated in any circumstances even when the offender was still at a tender age. The effects of the sexual crimes are irreversible and the sex offender should understand that he or she will always face prejudice in the future even if there are no public record of his or her crimes. Habitual sex offenders do not deserve the confidentiality of their despicable act. Therefore, public have the right to be alerted of potential sexual threat posed by the criminals in public record.
Liberal countries like the U.S. has set up a government body called National Sex Offender Public Registry as a measure to let public know about the background of the people around them. Sex offender public record is also preferred by employers to screen the background of their employees. It is also a step to help to reform a sex criminal into a better person in the future.
Hence, exposing sex offender in public record is rather a safety precaution.  People must remember that there is always the possibility for the re-offending of the crime.

Popularity: 31% [?]

Have you ever wonder how you are being spammed? Just how did they get a hold of your email address to send you those useless mails? Here are a few common ways that spammers could get a hold of your private email address:

Email Extractors

This program looks out for Email address on websites or in online forums. Once the Email is found, it will be added onto the database. Thereafter, a separate program will be used to test the validity of the addresses. Gathering 15,000 Email addresses in an hour is not uncommon for an Email Extractor.

Dictionary Attacker

A “dictionary” program is used to generate random Email addresses by guessing the user’s ID. Usually this guesswork is conducted by using peoples first and last name and other more common names. Millions of us share the same common domain name such as hotmail.com and yahoo.com. This method may be time consuming but it works equally well compared to other more common methods.

Online Forums

Another slow yet effective manner is by manually harvesting the Email addresses from online forums. Paid membership forums are likely the targets for Spammers to launch their attack. Online forums that post a monthly fee will be highly infested by Spammers, as more accurate target market can be defined based on the affordability of the users.

Hoax Websites

These websites are set-up with irresistible temptations that usually include chances to win a free trip or an entry to a draw or lotto. Usually the condition required is simply just an Email address. Once you click enter, you will be welcomed by a world of Spammers.

Offline Harvester

Not all spam is collected from the Web. There’s a price to pay when you participate in contests organized by shopping malls, when you fill up a simple survey form or when you throw in your details for a lucky draw. Moneymakers will compile the gathered information into a database and sell it to Spammers.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Public records functioned as electronic copies of government information that are accessible by the public. Consequently, people no longer have to queue for a copy of these information in the government offices. There are a few interesting free sites that offer wide range of public records directories that one can make use of.
The first one, the SearchSystems.net provides 10,000 links to free worldwide public record databases. As the best resource for background checks and criminal records on the Internet, this site continues to be the top site for billions of public records such as business information, corporate flings, property records and more.
The next one, the PublicRecordFinder.com is great site that displays free public records using the largest public records search database on the Internet. Moreover, useful direct links such as US public records, state public records and public records from around the world in this website is very user-friendly. Information like marriage and divorce records, birth and death records and criminal public records could be found with just a click of a button.
Another informative site would be Business.com. This is like a directory of public record that offers access to online public records. Driving reports, court records, business contacts, criminal public records and nationwide database of public records are all compiled in an organized columns in this site.
A similar site to the Business.com, BRB Publication Free Public Records Sites, gives a comprehensive list of free public record sites to locate criminal records, sources for civil records, real estate records, record retriever and more. Public records blog in this site also shows the latest updates on any information regarding the public records.
NETR Public Records Online Directory is a portal to official state web sites and numerous useful search sites. Simple and quick public records retrieval attracts many users to this site. Besides that, newsletters are also circulated to users as notifications to the latest updates.
Large demand of public records on the web shows that the best option to gain access to public records is through such websites. This obviously beats the conventional method of standing in a queue to get your hands on a single information from the government office.

Popularity: 28% [?]