Facebook

Someone asked me the other day if I was on Facebook. That's an interesting question. I'm not sure if I am or not. My wife, Linda, opened a Facebook page to communicate with her reunion buddies. My sons all have Facebook pages. My photo appears on my wife's page with her, and my photo has shown up on some other sites, holding my granddaughter and at various get-togethers I've attended. But am I on Facebook? Well, maybe. But I don't use Twitter and my fingers are too fat to text message, and I wouldn't anyway even if they were svelte.

o If you like reading Tim Rowland, you'll love watching him. See what else Tim has to say This coming Monday is a national holiday obviously, but it is an important date for another reason: It is being billed as Quit Facebook Day. A number of people, who apparently live lives so free of conflict that they have nothing better to fret over, are concerned about what they see as Facebook's slack privacy measures. So they are hoping to encourage waves of people to quit the social networking site, extracting some measure of revenge over the Internet monolith.

In honor of the holiday season, The Columbia Bank will donate $1 to The Salvation Army for each new fan they receive on Facebook before Christmas Day. The Facebook campaign will allow new fans to connect with The Columbia Bank and also play a role in supporting a worthy cause in their community. To become a fan of The Columbia Bank, visit www.thecolumbiabank.com and click in the lower right-hand corner of the page on the link to "Give the Gift of Fandom. "

A juvenile has been charged with making terroristic threats after he said on the Internet that he was planning to bring an AK-47 to school and murder three students, the Martinsburg (W.Va.) Police Department said. Police were told Thursday that the juvenile, whose name and age were not released, had made the posts on Facebook, a police department news release said. Police didn't find any weapons after visiting the boy's home, the release said. The boy was charged on Friday. The police department notified Berkeley County Public School officials of the incident for their review, the release said.

A 63-year-old man is accused of soliciting a girl for apparent sexual favors via the Facebook social media website after being made aware she was under the age of 16, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records. Montie Jacob Armentrout of 204 W. Martin St., #1, Martinsburg, was arraigned Friday by Magistrate JoAnn Overington on one count of using a computer to solicit a minor to engage in sexual acts, according to court documents. West Virginia State Police Sgt. D.E. Boober said in a complaint against Armentrout that the defendant was arrested at an apartment complex Thursday night, according to court documents.

ANNAPOLIS -- Less than one week after two social networking Web sites were banned from Maryland General Assembly computers, lawmakers learned Tuesday they will regain access to one of them. The Office of Information Systems will restore Facebook. Last week officials said viruses were to blame for a ban on that site, and of MySpace. Since that announcement, Michael Gaudiello, director of information systems for the Department of Legislative Services, said his office has received almost daily criticism and requests to return access to Facebook.

ANNAPOLIS -- There's probably only one place where Del. Christopher B. Shank would call himself friends with Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley. It's on Facebook . Shank, R-Washington, and O'Malley are part of the social networking Web site, though a spokesman for O'Malley admits the governor does not maintain his own page. While Shank has opposed O'Malley's policies, Shank says the social networking Web site is a bipartisan arena. He and a few other members of Washington County's delegation to the Maryland General Assembly are using Facebook to communicate with their constituents and with each other.

I gave this news some deeper thought after I stopped laughing: Thanks to men, Hagerstown has the dubious honor of ranking No. 2 on the "Eight Cities with the Ugliest Guys" list. The Hagerstown Ugly Man story has been making its rounds as the butt of jokes on Facebook status updates and as a featured story on regional news segments ever since the story was published on TotalBeauty.com Sept. 25. Whether calling Hagerstown men ugly are fighting words depends on a few things - like how you interpret data or if you're a guy or a girl.

With e-mail, texting, Twitter, BBM, social-networking sites and all the other forms that modern technology has created for communication -- and miscommunication -- there are bound to be texts, tweets and touch screens that have led to the end of friendships, to broken hearts and even to job losses. It seems that we have little tolerance (or is it understanding?) for how these seemingly innocuous blips of information can be taken out of context and offend the recipient. If it is caught immediately and appropriate apologies are made sooner rather than later, both people should be able to shake hands (or bump iPhones)

About 20 parents, teachers, librarians, children's services and police professionals along with a Facebook employee attended a roundtable discussion with U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller Thursday on protecting children from Internet predators and bullies. They talked a lot and came up with ideas but no real solutions. Prompting the discussion at Washington High School was a report last year of an Eastern Panhandle middle school student who Rockefeller said committed suicide after being cyberbullied on the Internet.

A Hagerstown man charged with sexually assaulting a girl he met on Facebook was found not guilty Tuesday of second-degree rape by a jury in Washington County Circuit Court. Keneatha L. Pryce, 20, was charged with second-degree rape and second-degree assault in the incident, which occurred Jan. 29, 2011, although the charges were not filed until 2012. During Tuesday's trial, Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. granted a motion by defense attorney Lewis Metzner to drop the second-degree assault charge.

The Maryland State Highway Administration's newly launched Facebook page offers customers an opportunity to interact with, and learn more about, SHA. The new Facebook page features:  SHA news updates  A brief history of SHA  Information about SHA services  Access to SHA's Customer Care Management System  Photo albums and milestone information about many SHA construction projects  Emergency updates (weather/incidents)...

While U.S. Army Capt. Terry James “T.J.” Morris is out of the area on a military training mission at Fort Lee, Va., the local community is on a mission of its own to find his beloved dog, Athena. Morris lives in Fayetteville, N.C., and bought his white Siberian husky six months after returning from a deployment in Iraq from October 2009 to October 2010. Before his training at Fort Lee, he took Athena to his mother's home in Chambersburg on Sept. 17. Morris' mother, Tammy Wood, said her son had to report to Fort Lee on Sept.

Names: Maxine Beck and Marie Lanser Beck Ages: Maxine Beck, 62, and Marie Lanser Beck, 58 City in which you reside: Waynesboro, Pa. Day jobs: Maxine is a retired high school English teacher; Marie is a freelance writer Book title: "Royers of Renfrew — Threads of Change" Genre: Historical fiction Quick synopsis of book: "Threads of Change" is the second volume in the continuing saga of the Daniel Royer...

A 63-year-old man is accused of soliciting a girl for apparent sexual favors via the Facebook social media website after being made aware she was under the age of 16, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records. Montie Jacob Armentrout of 204 W. Martin St., #1, Martinsburg, was arraigned Friday by Magistrate JoAnn Overington on one count of using a computer to solicit a minor to engage in sexual acts, according to court documents. West Virginia State Police Sgt. D.E. Boober said in a complaint against Armentrout that the defendant was arrested at an apartment complex Thursday night, according to court documents.

Residents may sign up to receive information on travel, construction and traffic laws on the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's new Facebook page, according to state Sen. Richard Alloway II. Local residents can like the page to receive travel and construction details, highway safety resources, traffic laws, a guide to PennDOT services, PennDOT job opportunities and other helpful information. Motorists also sign up to receive updates on traffic and road conditions on major expressways and interstate highways on PennDOT's 511 website at www.511PA.com or by dialing 511. The free travel information service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Kaden Anders has a crush on Justin Bieber. A big crush. She thinks "his music is the best," loves to watch him dance and, if dreams come true, hopes to one day meet him face to face. "If I do," the 7-year-old said, "I'll tell him I love him. " Kaden is no different than millions of young girls around the world who will blush at the mere mention of the heart-throbbing, chart-topping singer's name. But Kaden's love of Bieber "is probably the most typical thing about her," said her mother, Sarah Anders.

Q: My small business has a website and I would also like to participate in social media. Does SCORE offer any educational assistance here in our area? A: You are in luck. The July SCORE Business Roundtable, titled “Using Social Media for Business Success,” will address your interest and needs. It will take place Thursday, July 19, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Always Ron's restaurant, 29 N. Burhans Blvd. in Hagerstown. Register at www.scorehagerstown.org/calendar.html or by calling 301-766-2040.

I guess this a great thing: Facebook will now allow users to enroll as organ donors. Organ donation is one of the easiest and most important decisions a person can make. It gives life, hope and comfort. More than 112,000 people are in waiting lists for organs, and 18 people die every day for want of a transplant. But - Facebook? What's next, awarding power of attorney through Pinterest? So the woman who is playing a happy round of Farmville can make end-of-life decisions for her broiler chickens and herself on the same screen.

Their smiling faces in black and white photographs posted on a Facebook page give no hint of the tragedy that claimed their lives. Mary Louise Downs was described as having a beautiful voice. She had a strong interest in foreign languages and often helped other students with their work. The student newspaper at Williamsport High School said that Virginia Myers was a “reliable and generous friend,” was very gifted in music and played the piano and violin. Pearl Emerson, president of the junior class at Williamsport High School, was described on the Facebook page as a “very intelligent girl” who excelled in Latin, French and English.