This sort of thing has happened before. People have threatened suicide, or had a heart attack and others have traced them in order to get them help.

This time a 21 year old old on Internet Relay Chat was not only unable to be traced, people egged him on to kill himself.

And he did.

Brandon Vedas last word were:

“I told u I was hardcore.”

A couple did try to find him.

Vedas died online as a crowd of virtual onlookers egged him to “eat more!” A chilling record of the Jan. 12 chat reads like an Internet version of the notorious 1964 Kew Gardens, Queens, stabbing of Kitty Genovese as her neighbors watched from their windows.

His mother found his body.

The tech whiz’s computer had shut down and locked itself automatically, so it wasn’t until more than a week later that the family found out his death had had witnesses.

“It seems like the group mentality really contributed to it,” said his brother, calling the transcript “disgusting.”

“These people treat it like somehow it’s not the real world,” he said. “They forget it’s not just words on a screen.”

CBA
Jeremy Lott looks at the Chistian Booksellers Convention from several perspectives in his article in Reason Magazine entitled, Jesus Sells.

Psychology of Blogging
I wondered how long it would be before I found a psychologist who studied blogging. I found one at Psych Central. Here is a direct link to his 2002 observations.

Some bloggers believe that blogs create a better sense of community, yet tens of thousands of resilient online communities existed before the blogging world came about. I see this phenomenon often online — subject experts about one small area in the online world, who are often completely ignorant about other, similar subjects. Online communities have been around since the 1980s, and very strong ones have always been available (e.g., the Well is a good example off the Internet, while newsgroups are a good Internet example). Blogs do little to inherently forward community, since the vast majority are a one-to-many relationship. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, popular group blogs such as MetaFilter and Slashdot being two such examples.

DVD Rot
People are discovering that DVD’s are rotting, and the industry isn’t doing much about it. About 1 in 10 are corroding.

Man Against Machine

PLAYING WITH THE white pieces, the Azerbaijan-born Kasparov blundered with a rook move on his 32nd turn of the third game, allowing the machine to go two pawns up in material and establishing a winning endgame.
“This was a time pressure move that is ridiculous by his high standards,” U.S. grandmaster Maurice Ashley said. “It makes the greatest player of all time look very human.”

Fragments from Floyd has a funny post on the right way to do things…such as fold the cereal box liner away from the tab. Oh, and Fred, the toilet paper rolls from the top, not the bottom…there is less chance of bacterial contamination that way. At least you don’t stir your coffee with your finger!

What In Tarnation introduces us to the wonders of Oobleck.

My heroes have always been every day people who make daily sacrifices of love….like looking back..looking forward.

Connexions looks at the connections people make in war and disaster with God.

People of faith are often quick to point to the will of God when it suits them. Tragedy and misfortune are, and always have been, taken as signs of God’s displeasure. Christians and Muslims throughout history have not hesitated to point to events and exclaim, “The hand of God!”

We are not entitled, whether we’re in Bagdhad, Washington or anywhere else to claim to know the Almighty’s mind so intimately. But such events do sound a warning to everyone - the call to repentance comes to all and to each, because none can know what lies around the corner.
The tragedy of sudden death - whether public and spectacular like Columbia, or neglected and forgotten like the train crash in Zimbabwe - should unite us in common humanity. The fact that it does not is an indictment on us all.

The Gutless Pacifist is outraged that DNA testing has been refused for a Texas death row inmate.

And of course regardless of your opinions or beliefs regarding this issue… is anyone shocked that DNA testing has been denied? Especially in a case that might prove him innocent? I would love to hear some of your thoughts…

Jordon Cooper has taken down his blog and put this up. It’s a bit like a riddle wrapped in an enigma.

Quote

There is only one-way in which one can endure man’s inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one’s own life, to exemplify man’s humanity to man. Alan Paton