Human rights activists are using a clever combination of Facebook and Google Earth to find wanted Darfur war criminals and bring them to justice.

A Facebook page has been created on the social networking website encouraging people to report the sightings of Ahmed Haroun and Ali Kushayb.

Both men were indicted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes a year ago.

Neither men have been captured and brought to justice.

Dr James Smith, chief executive of the Aegis Trust which set up the Wanted for War Crimes Watch List page on Facebook.com said “The men are suspected of hundreds of thousands of murders. Someone, somewhere, knows where they are.”

Google Earth and Google Maps are being used to map known movements of the two Sudanese men, each wanted on more than forty counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur.

The Watch List even lists Ahmed Haroun’s phone number and office address.

Mr Donovan stated “He isn’t a fugitive hiding in a cave somewhere, but a bland looking man in a suit, sitting behind a desk in Khartoum.”

Khartoum has refused to surrender Mr Kushayb and Mr Haroun to the Court.

Rather, Mr Haroun has been promoted to the position of Sudan’s Minister for Humanitarian Affairs. He is currently responsible for the welfare of the victims of his alleged crimes.

As well as having vast power over humanitarian operations, he is responsible for liaisons with the International UN/African Union peacekeeping force tasked with protecting civilians against such crimes.

The other suspect, Mr Kushayb, was in custody in Sudan on other charges at the time that the ICC warrants were issued, however, last October the Sudanese Government announced he had been released, reportedly due to ‘lack of evidence’.

Source:Telegraph.co.uk

Filmmaker Jim Killeen is the producer of a new documentary film called Google Me.

Most people have googled their names, but how many people go to the extreme of actually meeting their “google twins”?

That’s the whole idea behind Google Me.

In the video below News.com reporter Kara Tsuboi interviews Jim Killeen and learns about the six other Jim Killeens he’s met through the Google search engine.

CNet News is reporting that some ex Google employees are working on a new social search engine.

The site is called Mechanical Zoo and is scheduled for a beta launch in May.

Mechanical Zoo is aiming to be an application ( rather than a regular web site ) that will allow people to search the knowledge in their social circle to find useful personal information and recommendations. Mechanical Zoo currently has 100 “alpha” users testing the search. The site will be a Yahoo Answers-type service, with more built-in knowledge about a person’s tastes and interests.

Mechanical Zoo cofounder Max Ventilla, a former business development manager at Google, says “We’ve developed an online social structure that lets users reach out to people they already know” for answers.”

Source: News.com

The US federal government will start collecting DNA samples from anyone arrested by a federal law enforcement agency. The DNA samples will be collected with a cheek swab.

Congress has also granted federal law enforcement agencies the power to collect DNA samples from foreigners who are detained for any reason, even if they have not been charged with a crime.

The new policy is a departure from the current practice that limits DNA collection to convicted felons.

Justice Department spokesman ErikAblin said the new DNA collection is subject to the same privacy laws that are applied to current DNA sampling. None of of the DNA samples will be used for identifying genetic traits or diseases.

Congress has given the Justice Department the authority to expand its DNA collection through two laws passed in 2005 and 2006.

There are dozens of federal law enforcement agencies. Estimates put the total number of federal arrests at about 140,000 per year.

Federal officials estimate the new collecting policy will add DNA samples from an additional 1.2 million people to the database each year.

Supporters of the expanded collection say that DNA sampling could get violent criminals behind bars and stop them from committing additional crimes.

A 2005 Chicago study found that 53 murders and rapes could have been stopped if a DNA sample had been collected upon arrest.

The American Civil Liberties Union believes that the new law will allow the government to collect and store DNA samples of people who are not guilty of any crime.

However, if a person is arrested but not convicted of any crime, they can request that the Justice Department destroy the sample and remove their information from the DNA database.

Source: Yahoo.com

In our last post, we wrote about a no-holds-barred, tell-all, get-even video that Tricia Walsh Smith posted on YouTube.com about her husband, Broadway executive Philip Smith. Tricia Walsh-Smith and her husband are in the middle of a nasty divorce battle and she posted the video to tell the world her version of the divorce dispute.

Her video illustrates the use of social networks and online, user-generated content as a weapon in personal as well as legal battles.

The video has now been viewed over 500,000 times. You can view the video below.

Source: YouTube.com

Now online videos and social networks are being used as weapons in bitter divorce battles.

Tricia Walsh-Smith, a New York woman in the middle of an ugly divorce, can be seen in a YouTube video criticizing her husband, Broadway executive Philip Smith, in a disturbing and angry video clip that has been watched over 150,000 times.

Attorneys are calling Walsh-Smith’s attempt to use a YouTube video to broadcast secrets about her husband and is family during a divorce battle a “scary new step” in user generated content.

Lawyers have told the Local 6 News that they can’t think of another divorce case like it.

Walsh-Smith flips throught the couple’s wedding album on in the video, accusing Philip Smith of trying to evict her from their apartment. She then goes on to make embarrassing statements about their personal and intimate life.

Her lawyer said that she acted out of passion and is a “victim who is holding her head up,” though he didn’t represent her at the time she made the video and posted it to YouTube.

Her husband’s lawyers stated that they were appalled by the video smear.

Divorce experts say the video clip will probably come back to haunt her and harm her legal case.

Source: Local6.com

The Threat Level blog from Wired.com is reporting on a proposal in congress that would provide millions of dollars for the funding of video surveillance cameras to be used in US elementary schools.

On April 17, federal lawmakers will have a hearing on a proposal that allows public schools to use millions in federal grants to install surveillance cameras in their halls.

The proposed bill adds surveillance cameras to the list of security items eligible for Justice Department Safe School grants.

However, the bill would bar schools from using the security grant funding for assessing what the threats and weaknesses to the school are.

That item is replaced in the bill by phone tip lines where people can report dangerous students.

The House Judiciary committee’s Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security subcommittee will convene a hearing on the school surveillance on Thursday April 17 at 10 a.m. EST.

Source: Wired.com

ComputerWorld.com is reporting on a new and unique use for RFID ( Radio Frequency Identification ) chips by a prominent Las Vegas casino.

According to the article, RFID chips are being inserted in the pouring spouts of liquor bottles to measure the flow of alcohol being poured by bartenders at MGM Mirage casinos.

The RFID chips communicate with the casino’s point of sale systems to record the amount of alcohol being used by bartenders.

The RFID tags are part of the MGM Mirage loss-control system. In addition to monitoring the flow of liquor, some RFID tags are also being used in some of the casino’s gaming chips.

Source: ComputerWorld.com

Wired.com’s How-To Wiki has published the following tips for helping consumers fight identity theft:

1. You can opt out of pre-screened credit card mailings by calling 888-5OPTOUT ( 888-567-8688 ). This stops identity thieves from stealing your mail and getting credit lines in your name.

2. You should check your credit reports regularly. US federal law allows you to request a free credit report from each of the three credit bureau providers once a year.

3. Active duty military personnel can automatically put a one-year alert on all three of their credit reports by contacting one of them: Equifax - 800-525-6285; Experian - 888-397-3742; TransUnion - 800-680-7289.

4. Study your credit, debit and banking statements each month. If you fail to report fraudulent activity on your cards or checking accounts within 60 days, your liability is not capped.

5. People who are really concerned about identity theft can place a renewable 90-day fraud alert on their credit reports for free by phone, however, this service is intended to be for people who suspect they are the victims of identity theft. Credit issuers then have to take steps to verify your identification.

6. Victims of identity theft should file a police report and send a letter requesting a seven-year fraud alert on their reports. This alert requires creditors to contact you before issuing a line of credit.

7. As of November 2007, all 50 states allow individuals to place credit freezes on their credit reports. This stops card issuers from looking at your credit report until you allow the credit bureaus to unlock it. In many states the unlocking can take anywhere from three to five days. Some states like New Jersey and Utah are working to make the unlocking process faster.

More information on fighting identity theft is available at FTC.gov.

Source: Wired.com

CNet News is reporting on how an Indiana man named Fred Thompson used a homemade, automated security system connected to his personal computer to catch thieves who broke into his house.

Thompson’s interest in automated, do-it-yourself home security started after his home in Fort Wayne, Indiana was burglarized. He responded to the first burglary by setting up a video camera connected to his computer and configured it to remotely notify him when motion was detected in his house while he was away.

On October 10, 2006, Thompson’s security system notified him that movement had been detected in his home. He then called police, and headed home in his car.

Thompson and Police Officer Stephanie Souther discovered that his front door had been unlocked and a window at the back of the house was open. The recorded video showed that a man entered the back of the house, unlocked the front door to let someone else in and the two thieves then searched the house.

A large piece of copper pipe was found to be missing from the house.

After the police failed to generate any suspects, Thompson posted his video on YouTube a week later with the title “Burglars Caught in Fort Wayne.”

Detective Everett D. White of the Fort Wayne Police happened to notice it.

White showed the YouTube video to his colleagues at work the next day, and one recognized the men.

On November 16, 2006, Richard Klaff was charged with felony burglary and felony theft.

A jury convicted Klaff the following June, and a judge sentenced him to six years jail time plus a one year probation.

Klaff appealed the conviction, claiming the evidence against him is insufficient. However, the Indiana appeals court ruled on March 31 that the video “establishes that not only was Klaff present at the house, but also that he was an active participant, and thus the evidence may raise a reasonable inference of guilt.”

Source: News.com