It used to be when you committed a crime — any crime — you were thrown in the slammer. Those on the inside who had even one meal a day on a consistent basis were considered lucky, gods almost. These days however criminals bitch when they only get 10 TV channels instead of 100, have the same meal twice in one week, or have to suffer with a less than accommodating atmosphere. Prison it seems, is less intimidating and harsh as it used to be. Case in point: in the year 2010, mafia godfather’s can now run their empire from the comfy confines of their jail cells via Facebook.
This particular instance of various officials and prison guards allowing one Mr. Colin Gunn to slip through the cracks of security is brought to us by Nottingham jail in the UK. Once a fearsome and violent mafia godfather on the outside has become…a violent and intimidating force to reckon with on the inside as well. Modern tools such as the internet and Facebook have given Colin Gunn an easy outlet to reach out to his 565 “friends” and to issue warnings to those who have disappointed him as one day, he will be free.
Such freedoms can as one would guess only last so long. Once officials of the prison were tipped off to Mr. Gunn’s activities, his Facebook page (which up until now, has been updated almost daily) was shut down, silencing his voice to the outside. It’s worth pointing out that Mr. Gunn is hardly the first person to be caught “conducting business” in the slammer as various other stories involving the same problem can be found after a quick jaunt through Google’s searching features.
For now anyway, Gunn will have to find a new way to communicate to the outside. Ancient “snail mail” is pretty much all he’s got. The standard visitation via crime members in hiding is also another popular choice. Gunn has roughly 35 years to perfect his voice however so I wouldn’t count him out of the game just yet.
After all is said and done, it’s both scary and humorous that someone viewed as violent and dangerous as Colin Gunn was able to (for a short time anyway) keep his crime empire going from within the walls of prison. Ah, the joys of the 21st century…
Drudge Report > Times Online
[Jail Cell Image Source]
- January 22, 2010 10:11 am
When a government or company goes out of their way to cripple a product — in this case a geek product — it’s always a sad, sad day in geek world. The cat and mouse game between Apple with their iPhone and those who truly use their devices is cat and mouse game to say the least. As with any group under fire from “the man”, we are a diligent bunch.
If you’ve resisted the oh so tempting temptations to upgrade to OS 3.1.2 (sarcasm) your fruits can finally be reaped. The iPhone Dev-Team is finally pushing out RedSn0w 0.9 for Mac and Windows. Now you can have the latest and greatest numbers and enjoy all of your “illegal” bounty.
iPod Touch 3rd gen users are still out of luck for the moment. Though, the dev-team says that once RedSn0w exits beta status, 3rd gen iPod Touch support will be included. Sweet stuff.
Get your copy of RedSn0w today!
The iPhone Blog > iClarified Dev-Team
Talking on the phone and the measures people have gone to to limit it’s use are a necessity in today’s digital age. Texting has of late replaced many individual’s need to talk. If you’re the type that prefers text based comunication to actual talking, you know how much time texting can consume. While many states and even the federal government is pushing legislation that bans texting while driving and imposes minor fines, committing said act in Utah could land you in the slammer for quite some time.
A law making it’s way through Utah government would treat texting while driving the same as drunk driving. That is, if you crash or cause phsysical/bodily/property damage or harm while texting, you could be facing up to 15 years in the iron jungle. By far the most severe punishment so far. I can’t say I don’t agree as texting while trying to navigate a 4000+ lb. vehicle at any speed is like russian roulette.
Of course, some minor issues that are standing in the way include how to actually “prove” a victim was texting. While law enforcement could certainly try to seize phone records while those victims can simultaneous claim they weren’t texting means a whole can of worms is emerging. Even further still, people could claim they were simplydialing a number to call someone. (So far, no law or government has differentiated between the two activities). And the cherry on top of this moutain of red tape is that current privacy laws can hinder the seizer of the needed phone records needed to truly prove of texting at a certain time. Certainly some of these issues need to be worked out. But how quickly can the various governments involved work together to find a common solution?
Are you glad change is coming?
**Extra:In order to fully grasp the consequences of texting while driving, the NYT has posted a rather insightful mini-game that may just open your eyes to the dangers of said activity.
Source: NYT, ImageSource
