Parody sites start anti-social networking trend

Tired of phony online friends? Make enemies instead.
Riding on the popularity of social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, new Web sites are poking fun at online friendships that connect you to the people you like, by turning attention to the ones you don't.
Over the past 18 months, sites such Snubster, Enemybook and Hatebook are appealing to Internet users who get a kick out of the tongue-in-cheek humour of mocking their friends and others who are just plain cynical.
"I didn't understand these fake-friend war chests that people were so busy building online," said Bryant Choung, a technology consultant who started Snubster last year.
"I would get Facebook requests from people I talked to for three minutes at a bar or party, and now this person wants to go online to peruse all of my photos and contacts. I just didn't get it," the 26-year-old added.
Snubster, a Facebook application and a Web site with 16,000 users worldwide, lets users compile people and things they dislike. No one from Facebook, which boasts 59 million active users worldwide, was available to comment about the sites.
When Facebook opened up its network to outside applications earlier this year, some users decided it was an opportunity to poke fun at the phenomenon.
Kevin Matulef, the creator of Enemybook, said the idea for his Facebook application started as a joke last summer when friends at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were asking if someone was a real friend or a Facebook friend. "It started basically as a satire, sort of a parody of some of the superficial aspects of Facebook and the connections that you have, but now it's kind of evolved and it allows people to express themselves via their dislikes," said Matulef, 28.
Enemybook, which has 9,000 users, is similar to Snubster in that it lets you "enemy" so-called friends, public figures and fictitious characters.
"A lot of people like myself use it just to joke around with our good friends," said Matulef. Choung agrees."I hope that most people take it as a joke, on occasion I do get complaints from people about others who take it too seriously."
But Murray Pomerance, a professor of pop culture sociology at Ryerson University in Toronto, said most people take their online relationships very seriously.
"There are a lot of people who do not believe the friends that they have on these sites are phony," he explained. "I know people who have lots and lots of friends on these sites and who say things about themselves on these sites that they would never say to anyone straight up in public or in private."
Pomerance added that any online social networking, whether it's making friends or enemies, could be dangerous.
"Who you liked and who you hated used to be private," he said. "What they're doing is taking human feeling and emotion and making us actually register them through these online services."

Common man's airline Deccan will still be affordable

The much anticipated merger between Air Deccan and Kingfisher has been formalised. But how will it affect the way you travel?
Air Deccan MD G R Gopinath says, “It has already been decided by both Vijay Mallya and me that we will retain two separate identities."
Air Deccan will still fly the Indian skies but with a new name. Despite the merger with Kingfisher airlines, Air Deccan will continue to operate as a low cost carrier bringing to the table India's largest civil aviation company one that's more profitable and punctual.
Talking about the merger, UB Chairman Vijay Mallya says, “The report has highlighted the synergy potential between the two airlines and how it can bring down the cost of operations, save a lot of money and accelerate the route to profitability."
But how will this integration change the way you travel? If you are an Air Deccan regular, the first thing you will notice the restructuring will be the change in flight schedules

For example, if you fly an 0800 hrs, IST Mumbai-Delhi Air Deccan flight, it may soon be replaced with a Kingfisher one simply because there's a higher demand for premium services during the peak hours.
But if you're looking for cheaper tickets during the non-peak hours, there may soon be many more available.
So for all practical purposes the common man's airline will still be affordable to the common man, and that with a bonus of no-frills international flights as well

ICICI to implement SSL certificates for data protection

India’s largest private sector banks ICICI Bank on Thursday selected NASDAQ-listed Entrust Inc to provide standard SSL certificates.
This would enable protection of customer data when conducting transactions on the institution's website.
As part of the agreement, ICICI Bank standardised on SSL certificates for a five-year contract period, Entrust Inc said in a release.
"ICICI Bank understands the value of providing a trusted environment that helps protect against online fraud schemes," PTI quoted Entrust Chairman Bill Conner.
Implementation of cost-effective SSL certificates would help the bank to address fraud and better serve the needs of their overall security approach, he added.

Based on their current purchase, they have the ability to upgrade to extended validation SSL certificates when the time is right, he added.
Acting as a centrally-managed, self-service system, the Certificate Management Service reduces administrative hassles and lessens the risk of inadvertent certificate expiration by allowing customers to synchronise and control the timing of SSL certificate expiration, it added.
ICICI Bank which has a total assets of $92 billion offers a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels.
It has a network of about 950 branches and 3,300 ATMs in India and presence in 17 countries.

Britney Spear's sister Jamie is pregnant at 16

Britney Spears' 16-year-old sister, who stars as a schoolgirl in Nickelodeon's popular TV show Zoey 101, is pregnant.
The cable channel confirmed a report in the forthcoming edition of celebrity gossip magazine OK! that Jamie Lynn Spears is expecting a child.
"We respect Jamie Lynn's decision to take responsibility in this sensitive and personal situation. We know this is a very difficult time for her and her family, and our primary concern right now is for Jamie Lynn's well being," Nickelodeon said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters.
A high school student who lives in Louisiana, Jamie Lynn Spears reportedly met the father, Casey Aldridge, the son of a Tennessee papermill worker, at church.
Jamie Lynn Spears' personal publicist was not available for comment.
Her big sister, Britney Spears, may not be the best source of parenting advice.
The 26-year-old pop star lost primary custody of her two sons, aged 2 and 1, to ex-husband Kevin Federline after their divorce last year and is engaged in a bitter custody battle that has shone a harsh spotlight on her maternal shortcomings.
Zoey 101, which wrapped production on its fourth and final season in September, revolves around a headstrong student at a co-ed boarding school in California.
Fresh episodes will air through 2008, a spokeswoman for the Viacom Inc-owned network said.