Wired magazine reported the availability of a "backdoor" to photos on some MySpace users' private profiles <http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2008/01/myspace>, that day the site sealed the door, MySpace said. It's an example of how the Net industry and the media, at odds on the surface, actually work together to protect users. Though Wired said "the glitch emerged last fall," it didn't report on it till January 17, the day MySpace said the "feature" - a way of allowing users with private profiles to make their photo albums available to friends, MySpace said - had been dropped. Private profiles of any change can no longer make their photos public. Don't be surprised, however, if reports of the bug continue to circulate, because not every blogger does fact checking.


Snotty Nosed Little Brats
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One night recently there was a light snowfall in the Washington, D.C., area and some high school students apparently felt they should have a snow day. When it didn't happen, one high school senior reportedly took it upon himself to get on the phone and call his school system's chief operating officer to find out why school wasn't shut down for the day. The COO's wife picked up the phone. She was "understandably miffed about the invasion into her private sphere, yet she returns fire with a shockingly disproportionate blast of rage,"
Candy Tistadt returned Kori's call and left a message referring to the students her husband serves as "snotty-nosed little brats" and urged Kori to "Get over it, kid, and go to school!" she could not have imagined that her righteous tirade would be enshrined on the Web and on Page One of The Washington Post. "It used to be you could have an inappropriate or rude conversation with someone, and it would stay private," says Ron McClain, director of the Parkmont School in the District and the parent of teenagers in the Montgomery County schools. "There's a much fuzzier line between public and private now. This is a case where the technology has outpaced our ability to cope with its effects. As parents, we're way behind."