Romance Meets Life - I read this report of the
murdered Cynthia Osokogu, may her soul rest in peace, and chills went over me. She went missing in July and her body was found last week in a Festac Morgue after she had been strangled to death by her Facebook friends and abandoned in a hotel. Several people, including those who may have killed her, have been arrested. Hopefully, they will reveal details of their methods so others can beware of criminals who utilize internet anonymity to perpetuate atrocities on innocent people.
Personally, I love social networking, being a bit shy myself and finding that I needed the grassroots publicity after choosing indie writing as a career. I also love meeting the people I get to know on the internet and exploring some of our similarities and differences in lively discussions. I am equally one of those, getting to over 15% of American couples, who met their significant others online. When I blogged earlier about
online romance becoming lasting love, I actually listed internet privacy and safety as an advantage, albeit a double edged one to be careful of.
In all honesty, it wasn't as if I was paying to much attention to these things when I met Atala. Luckily, we had known each other anonymously for a year by then, and he had been a member of the forum for years before that. Because we met on a message board, there were several other people involved so I got to see a dynamic version of him just like in real life. And because I admired him, I went through some of his previous posts in the archives to check for character and consistency. I wanted to know what he had said to other people, even before I joined the site.
I use this method even today on Facebook, and sometimes on Twitter. When I add people, or when some people try to chat me up, I take those few seconds or minutes to visit their profile and see who they say they are, and what their conversations with others are. This determines my interaction with them, and in some cases whether I need to block them. There are red flags for me, people who do not even bother to check my profile before chatting with me, those who call me queen, baby, sexy, madam, or anything other than my name. I am very careful of sycophants and flattery.
I could go on and on but to recap, the safety tips I consider crucial for meeting people through social networking and online dating are as follows;
- Do not believe whatever people say online, especially about themselves.
- Do not give out your personal information, like address, phone number, BB Pin, what you do, etc, until you're comfortable.
- Even emails are private, especially if they contain your real name or birthday. Continue using the messaging service of FB, DM on Twitter, or private messages on a website or dating service.
- Be honest. This makes it easier to stick to your convictions and let some people go, especially when they begin to exhibit some strange characteristics or trickery.
- Do not be embarrassed or bullied into things you don't want to do
- Do not be hurried, take your time to really know who you're dealing with. Look through their past posts or status updates, if they flirt or use inappropriate language, beware. Google them if you need to.
- Talk to other people about the serious people you meet online, especially with online dating, discuss what they do and say to you. You might be able to get a better perspective, in case you're already emotionally involved.
- When you want to meet new people, do it with a friend you already have or in a very public place. If someone insists on meeting you alone, at their house, or sleeping over at yours, that is a red flag.
- Let other people know when you're meeting someone new. Tell them the person's name, and as much information as you have including emails exchanged, text or chat records. Let the person you're meeting know you're doing this.
- Do not be coerced into helping anyone break the law, all in the name of love or romance. If you have proof someone you know online is scamming or defrauding others, don't keep quiet because he/she is not doing it to you yet. Report them to the authorities.
Let's be careful peeps. What other tips do you use to keep safe online?
Rihanna bumped into Chris Brown at tonight's MTV Video Music Awards, hugs him, they both went a little extra [not locking lips] but they gave each other a friendly kiss. Make of that what you may.. I always wonder what role Karueche is really playing in Chris Brown's life, do you too? 
This chick has liver sha : ), peep what Bossip wrote about this: Nicki Minaj has generated quite a response after lyrcis with her seeming to endorse Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney hit the net recently. But now, as usual, it seems some of Nicki’s “barbz” have taken their outrage a step out of bounds.
You love all things foreign. But despite the repeated olive-oiled anointing your pastor gave you and your passport, you failed to get a Visa. You failed thrice- to America, Canada and Britain. You lost a lot of money trying. After the long gruelling processes, nothing. Not even when you genuinely secured admission to some small college in London. Or took loans to make your bank account like a solid how-the-hell-can-I-disappear-in-your-country account. God will judge those people who saunter into your country when they please but make you scream your life history at humiliating interviews through a glass that looks like those in prisons in American movies. If only they would have the decency to
Apparently, Davido and some of his entourage (..hehe!) walked out on Whizkid while he was onstage performing at the NEA 2012 in New York.. Don't ask why I didn't make the show, I was at a friend's barbecue and it was madt fun that I can tell you + I wasn't ready yet to mingle here on such large scale.. WInks.. 
Her Story
Fuji icon K1 the Ultimate is now a full fledged Canadian citizen. I bumped into this on one of my fav websites, theNetNG.com.. Here's how they reported it.. NET gathered that the revolutionary Fuji musician concluded the process four years ago. But sources say only recently was he presented with physical instruments confirming his citizenship- as seen in the photo above, obtained via a Facebook post by promoter Gbenga Adewusi.
If you are MARRIED and keep saying "I HATE THIS MARRIAGE!" OK! Is it not married people like you that are celebrating Gold, Silver and even Platinum jubilee?
This was announced by researchers that have been working on this compound, from the aminopyridine class, for several years. Unlike conventional multidrug malaria treatments that the malaria parasite has become resistant to, Professor Kelly Chibale and his colleagues now believe that they have discovered a drug that over 18 months of trials ”killed these resistant parasites instantly”.
Tired of waiting for your dream man? Tired of changing boyfriends like underwear? Tired of begging God to upgrade you? Tired of waiting for your boyfriend to propose? Tired of all the heartbreaks and betrayal? Tired of men chopping you for free? Tire no more… Statistics show that only 3% of single women of marriageable age in Nigeria are undisturbed by their lack of a spouse! The other 97% would do just about anything to become Mrs somebody. And when I say anything, I mean it… 
The clear danger to public affairs commentary is that we have a lot of unintelligent people repeating stupid clichés and too many intelligent persons wasting their talents lending relevance to thoughtless conclusions. Hold on. I don’t want to be misunderstood. I am not saying nobody should criticize the Nigerian President. I spent some time learning that legal maxim: “volenti non fit injuria”. Public position comes with its own share of risks and exposure. But the twittering, pinging, Facebook crowd of the new age must be guided by facts.
Hold your stone. Don’t haul it yet. Shhh. Wait, Mr. Alaseju! I have spent the last 14 months working with President Jonathan. I have followed him everywhere. I can write a whole book on his Presidency so far, but you won’t get to read that until much later. I have heard that some people are protesting that they will not buy the book if it gets written. Well, your choice. What I can report, for now is that he is a grossly misunderstood President. Too many people are unfair to him. They criticise him out of ignorance. They abuse him out of mischief. And the opposition doesn’t
AP is reporting that personnel records of former and current members of our top domestic spy agency, including home addresses and names of immediate family members, leaked onto the Internet in a threatening message that claimed to come from a radical Islamist sect, Boko Haram.
Usher's ex-wife Tameka Raymond just lost in the former couple's bitter custody battle, a judge has awarded Usher primary custody of their two sons.
custody trial -- involving wild accusations and name-calling ... Usher even broke down at one point on the witness stand.
TheNEtNG - Funke's first acting role was on Opa Williams ‘Naked Wire‘ before going on to star as ‘Bisi’ in the family oriented educational series ‘I need to know‘ which was sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund. 
NewsDay - Ten people were shot -- and two of them, including the gunman responsible for the attack, killed -- in a shooting near the Empire State Building on Friday morning, law enforcement officials said. The NYPD said police fatally shot the gunman. The Associated Press reported, citing two law enforcement officials in New York City, said the gunman was a recently fired store worker who shot a former colleague to death and then randomly opened fired on others. The officials say eight other people were struck by bullets but those injuries are not believed to be life threatening.
I have heard of people who did this but it doesn't change the fact that it's uber crappy.. Nna (in Ibo accent) God's time is the best o.. Whenever your man or woman returns to Fatherland, a wedding ceremony will be more appropriate only then and not this shamble that the Yorubas have come to stage as a wedding.. Heavy hiss. 
The 34-year-old, decked in a flowing cream coloured agbada regalia, made this known during a media parley held for him today, Wednesday, August 22, 2012 at The Place, in Ikeja, Lagos. He stated his interest in the singer asking that he be forgiven for ‘mistreating’ her, blaming it on the feeling of paranoia that engulfed him while in the house.
Asked about the status of his relationship with Goldie, he stated that he is yet to see her and that is his reason for coming to Nigeria.
Woah, woah, woah!!! Y'all know LL Cool J now, he went and beat the living CRAP out of a man who broke into his house to rob him. If the man didn't land himself in the hospital, this would have been more funny. Little did the burglar know he was making one of the most silly mistakes any thief could make in their thiefery career.. Hehe! That mistake was not checking to see if anybody was home before staging the intrusion.. LL COOL J was reported to have dealt him some Mohammed Ali' inspired blows, breaking off the man's nose and jaw.. Oma se o. 
