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Show Diamond Engagement Rings Perfect Partner. under $999 Let us help plan your big day. Square One Choose from a large selection of diamond engagement rings between $199-$999 at Logan's only discount jewelry store! 630 West 200 North 753-8875 73 North Main Street • 750-NYJO (across from the Tabernacle) NEED SOME ENTERTAINMENT? LOOKING FOR FUI#* HUB UTAH^ST AXES MAN SPAM From Page 3 spammers in the world. other businesses, such as mortgage companies, In July, the Chicago through e-mails. The e-mails Tribune called him "one of contained links to Web the nation's most prodipages that solicited informagious manufacturers of tion from people who unsolicited commercial eresponded. mail." Hughes said Pitylak Payperaction always disoperated a legal Internet closed that it was not the marketing business for sev- company offering the serviceral years but sold it in es, Hughes said, although it March to a Hong Kong did so in small print at the company. Since then, he has bottom of the e-mail. worked as a consultant to Abbott argues that the company, known as Pitylak's business misled Payperaction, and contincustomers by posing as a ued classes at the company offering services. University of Texas at The e-mails came with subAustin. ject lines that read, "Mortgage Notice" and Hughes compared \ "Residence Loan Pitylak to Michael Dell, who dropped out of UT and Memorandum." founded a business that But Pitylak simply sold became the world's largest the customer's personal maker of personal computinformation to other busiers. nesses that, in turn, sold it as well. "He is bright and interested and saw a way to use "When you open up the ehis talents to make some mail and there is something money," Hughes said. "He is different from what was fortunate enough to make it advertised in the headline, work out. That is kind of that makes it a violation of the American dream." both state and federal law," said Abbott, who sued Payperaction made its Pitylak in federal court. money by finding leads for Knight Ridder Newspapers Mon, TUQS, Thurs: 11 am - 11 pm Wed, Fri, Sat: 11am - Midnight 255 E. 1700 N. • 792-4000 Monday tn we * h Cosmic Bowling 7-11 pm Tuesday Wednesday Country $2 activities v, ALL DAY Night 9-12pm (excluding rentals) $ 2 W/ student ID Thursday Friday Saturday League night 6:30-9pm Cosmic Bowling Cosmic Bowling 7-11pm then $1.50 bowling from , 9-11 pm *\t 3i 7-11 pm Come play with us! Texas does not have a law that provides criminal penalties for sending spam, Abbott said. But the attorney general alleges that Pitylak and his partners violated a federal law, known as the CAN-SPAM Act, which allows courts to fine violators $250 for each misleading e-mail. The suit also alleges violations of Texas civil statutes. "We are going to make it very clear that spamming is a money-losing proposition," Abbott said. "We are going to take away everything we can." Matt Yarbrough, a former federal prosecutor in Dallas, said Pitylak might have violated the law if he bombarded people with unsolicited emails that did not include a note saying the recipient could be taken off the distribution list. And he noted that businesses and e-mail users are eager to see action taken against the ever-growing spam problem. "It is the banerightnow of everyone's existence," Yarbrough said. "The cost of Thefacebook.com grows in popularity BY MELANIE YEACER Look no farther! FRIDAY, JAN, 14,2005 When Beth Messer first heard about thefacebook.com from a friend attending the University of Pennsylvania, she didn't get it. A virtual picture directory of college students with information ranging from birthdays to political views? "I thought it was so creepy," said the Florida State University sophomore from Atlanta. "Why would you look up someone you don't know?" Now Messer is a registered member with 215 official friends and 2,904 connections. She uses it for blanket e-mails to her fellow Chi Omega sisters. She's back in touch with people from high school in Georgia and elementary school in Texas. She gets a lack out of people signing her virtual profile wall with pithy messages. "Right when I started I was kind of obsessed because I was getting six friends a day" Messer said. Just a year old, thefacebook.com has quickly become the hottest way nationwide for college students to communicate. A student creates a thorough profile that covers everything from their favorite movie to a list of their clubs and classes. They're then automatically sorted by the friends they know and their friends' friends. "You ask them to be your friend. Or, it shows a profile and you can accept or reject whether to be afriend,"said Chris Schoonover, an FSU graduate student in political science. "Whether you're their friend, you can see all their friends." Imagine a virtual record of the six degrees of separation between two people, said Jarrett Eady, FSU student body president. Insert your name for Kevin Bacon. The Web site began as the brainstorm of Harvard University roommates and their friends during a 3 a.m. pizza feast, said Chris Hughes, who has become the spokesman for the group. They were contemplating how the annually distributed facebooks filled with "dumb freshman ID photos" could be so much better if they provided more information than just a person's hometown. "We just wanted to put it online and make it fun to use," Hughes said. Student Mark Zuckerberg created the initial programming. They launched it at Harvard, and soon it was in demand at campuses nationwide. "We've all very much been blown away by it," Hughes said. Some of the original five took a year off from Harvard to keep the business running. The group spends about $50,000 a month on the Internet business, Hughes said. They make money through advertisements, such as one for an online poker room. Membership on the site I F you HAVEN'T CHECKED OUR PRICES, YOU'VE PAID TOO Universify Book & Gift 135 N. Main Street, Suite 103 Logan, Utah (435) 753 - 4857 UNI Buy A SELL TEXTBOOKS EVBMWM has reached nearly 1.4 million users in 295 schools. About 65 percent of its users log in daily. Additional schools can be requested on the Web site and are added according to priority demand. Historically black schools such as Howard University and Morgan State University make the list, though Florida A&M University is not in the system yet. Other Florida schools include Florida International University, University of Florida, University of North Florida and University of South Florida, About 50 schools are added each month. The site limits e-mail addresses to those at schools, which typically end in .edu. FSU was added to the database Aug. 21, Hughes said, and the school already has more than 10,000 users. The site recorded more than 100 new FSU users between 5:30 p.m. Thursday and 5:30 p.m. Friday last week. It's a great pastime for the bored, Messer said, or for a quick break from studying. "For finals, this thing was racking up the time," she said pointing at the screen. Not only can students sort themselves by school groups, they can create new groups. A sampling of those starting with A produces a group for those addicted to green tea, another for those named Amanda who need a boyfriend "other than creepy Internet guy," one for Americans who love Canada and a group devoted to "antinonconformists." Messer's group memberships include her Chi Omega sorority, her apartment complex, "'Noles for Bush!," lacrosse lovers, Southern belles of FSU, fans of the movie "Airplane!" and "Adam Brody: the Hottest Boy Alive Club!" On thefacebook.com profile, it will list how many people a person knows at other schools by campus. It gives a reminder of friends' birthdays a week in advance. There's a place to send and receive e-mail. "There's one weird thing," Schoonover said. "You can s poke' someone." It happens, Messer said. A message pops up proclaiming you're poked. "If a guy from, like, Michigan saw my profile and thought I was cute, he could poke me," she said. But for the most part, she doesn't think people use the system to find a date. It really depends on the user, Hughes said. About 4?0 percent of users have checked an option showing they're interested in a relationship or dating. But most interviewed said they don't use it to meet new people, just to network with those they already know. |