Criminal justice degrees are very broad undergraduate degree programs that are meant to mold into a variety of possible careers.  As a result, it’s only after earning a master’s degree that students begin to find a specialized career choice and can make changes within the criminal justice system.  This is particularly important in fields such as international justice, in which nations around the world are unsure how to tackle larger justice problems due to the many conflicting ideologies.

Students of criminal justice frequently find their way into law enforcement careers or justice-oriented law careers which deal exclusively with criminal law.  However, students of masters programs can expand their knowledge of the justice system by being introduced to the intricacies of our own system and the differences between the many international justice systems.  These are vital skills to have in a global economy, especially when many nations are become more closely intertwined.  The international criminal justice system is a work in progress, as many world leaders are struggling to accept other methods of prosecuting international criminals.  This is one of the leading topics within the criminal justice system and exploring more of what it entails will lead to a more thorough understanding of the international system, as well as a possible career within programs like the UN.

Additionally, other Masters degree programs in criminal justice allow students to get a better understanding of what their future could consist of in a highly specialized sector of law enforcement.  Some students of higher criminal justice degree programs can go on to earn positions at the FBI or CIA.  Further classes in criminal justice help prepare students to face the “seedy” aspects of the criminal justice system and understand the criminal mindset better than a bachelors degree would allow them to.  Certain positions in law enforcement require a deeper understanding of the specialty you are going into, and while this may come with experience in the industry, other employers will accept a higher degree in criminal justice.

Criminal justice is an ever expanding industry because it encompasses so many different fields and positions.  Crime will always be the center of the criminal justice industry, but there are other aspects that have little to do with crime and the justice system, but which still require the specialization of criminal justice.  Therefore, it is always a good idea to consider a further degree if you enjoy the bachelors degree courses and the future prospects of a career.  
 

With the advent of online tools that make it easy to share information, meet new people and keep in touch faster than ever, reputation has taken on a twofold dimension. Individuals and businesses no longer have to worry about their reputation in real life but in the virtual world as well, making it twice as hard to keep up with what’s being said. There are some ways that you can work to manage your online reputation, however, whether you’re doing it for yourself or for your business. These resources provide tips and tools to make it easier to track, control and manage your online reputation so you stay on top and in control of your personal and professional image.

Tips

Here are some general tips to consider when managing your online reputation.

1. Create official online profiles. Don’t let just anyone talk about you online. Create your own profiles and websites complete with the kind of information you actually want to be available about you.
2. Check what people are saying about you online. Whether good or bad you can do yourself a favor by finding out just what is being said about you online. Use some of the tools mentioned later in this article to keep yourself in the loop.
3. Stay on the ball. Don’t get lazy about monitoring your reputation. If necessary, perform monthly checks to see if there’s any information about you that could be potentially harmful.
4. Google yourself. The simplest way to find out where your or your company’s online reputation stands is to Google yourself. See what kind of results pop up first. If they aren’t what they’d like them to be, you’ve got some work to do.
5. Assume everything can get on the web. Both in your personal and professional life, what you say online and off can come back to bite you. Be safe and assume any emails, conversations or photos out there can eventually end up on the Web.
6. Choose your words carefully. If you are blogging, running a website or just have a social media profile, be careful what you post. Unless you’re looking for controversy what you say may cause you problems in the future.
7. Know your weaknesses. If you know your business has a particular weakness or are just familiar with your propensity for getting wild on the weekend, keep this in mind and have it as your top priority for checking on your online reputation.
8. Protect yourself from hackers. This may seem like it goes without saying, but many people fail to adequately secure their online information. Make sure yours is as safe as it possibly can be.
9. Keep social networks private. One way to deter prying eyes is to keep your social networking profiles private to all except those you approve. This will keep casual viewers from seeing your information, good or bad.
10. Consider pseudonyms.If you do want to keep a blog or engage in hijinks on internet message boards, create a name for yourself to hide behind so you can’t be easily tracked.
11. Be proactive. Instead of waiting until you have an issue with your online reputation, stay ahead of the game. Search for what’s being said about you regularly so you’ll stay up-to-date.
12. Act fast. If you do find something said or posted about you online that you feel could be particularly damaging to you, take action immediately. Whether its your friend posting photos from your Vegas trip or someone you don’t know slandering your business, taking care of it sooner rather than later is best.
13. Keep your cool. You may be incensed at what someone has said about you online, but don’t let it show. Keep your anger to yourself and off the internet where it can do more harm than good.

Articles

These articles provide some useful and informative reading material for anyone wanting to know more about online reputation both for businesses and individuals.

14. Protect Your Online Reputation: This article from SEO Chat lays out some basics for monitoring and protecting your online reputation.
15. Ten Tactics That Could Save Your Online Reputation: The CEO of Trakur gives some great advice in this Mashable article on how your company can avoid reputation meltdown.
16. How to Manage Your Online Reputation: This article goes through a number of tools and how to use them to keep your reputation intact.
17. Social Networks Become Powerful Tool in Online Reputation Management: Find out how social networks are playing a bigger role than ever in online reputation from this short article.
18. How to Create Online Reputation Tools for Your Brand: Worried about the online component of your company’s brand? This article gives some advice on creating custom tools to monitor and control your online rep.
19. Online Reputation Handbook: You’ll find just about everything you ever wanted to know about online reputation in this helpful handbook.
20. Manage Your Online Reputation: Lifehacker gives some great tips and pointers, as well as links to tools that can help you get control of your reputation.
21. Free Online Reputation Management Beginner’s Guide: If you’ve never done much with online reputation before, or haven’t even considered it, check out this business-geared article.
22. How To Protect, Fix Your Online Reputation: From keeping problems from arising to fixing them when they do, this article is full of helpful advice.
23. Using Social Media to Manage Online Reputation: Find out how social media can be a help, not just a hindrance, to online reputation.
24. Basics of Online Reputation Management: Here you’ll learn the basics of getting your online reputation in order.
25. Managing Your Reputation Online: Technology Review provides this informative article that can help you understand and take action when it comes to your virtual reputation.
26. Online Reputation Management for Individuals: Online reputation isn’t just a concern for businesses, and this article explains how individuals can keep their name in good standing as well.

Websites and Blogs

These sites are dedicated to helping you keep an eye on and manage online reputation, providing the basics, suggestions for security, and much more.

27. Online Reputation: This site has articles on everything from brand reputation management to monitoring your reputation online.
28. The Reputation Blog: Business owners and leaders can take advantage of the advice offered by this blog.
29. Reputation Advisor: Here you’ll find advice and articles that provide essential information on keeping your business’ rep and your own looking good.
30. Reputation Management: From information on slander protection to posts about using search engines to monitor your reputation this blog is full of great info and insight.
31. CopyBrighter: Get some new insights into online reputation management and social media from this blog.
32. StepRepBlog: Find out just what social reputation is or get tips on connecting positively with customers from this site.
33. OnlineReputation.com: This site provides more in-depth explanations on how to use reputation tracking software, advice on building a solid online rep, and much more.

Personal Identity

These tools can help you manage your numerous online profiles, monitor your personal reputation and more.

34. ClaimID: Check out this program that uses OpenID to manage your personal identity over several sites, meaning you only have to remember the password for one, not numerous ones.
35. FindMeOn: Want to connect your identity over several sites? FindMeOn lets you do that while keeping your information private and secure.
36. FreeYourID: Make maintaining your online identity easy, with this tool that bases it directly on your name.
37. Garlik: If you’re worried that your identity may be more than marred and straight out stolen, give this tool a try. You’ll be able to search for mentions of you on the web that might involve identity theft.
38. myOpenID: Don’t worry about having multiple logins with this OpenID site.
39. SpyShakers: Try this tool to get access to any of your profile passwords remotely. It specializes in protecting your information from spyware.
40. TypeKey: TypeKey allows you to integrate your blog into your OpenID, allowing you to manage pretty much everything with one main profile.
41. Realmee: Here you can create a personal profile that will allow you to more easily control what others can see of you online.
42. LookUpPage: Want to control what people find when they search for you? This site helps out, by giving you a central page that comes up at the top when your name is searched for.
43. MonitorThis: Try out this site to monitor and track keywords over multiple search engines, giving you clues about who’s talking about you.

Professional Identity

Keep your business’ name out of the mud by protecting it with these helpful tools.

44. Trust-Index: Find out how well your business is trusted with this tool.
45. Google Alerts: With Google Alerts you can get email updates of the latest google results based on your name or other topic of your choosing.
46. BoardTracker: Whether you post on boards yourself or want to see if anyone else is talking about you, this tool makes it easy to filter to threads.
47. Vanno: Get an online reputation the democratic way, with this site that allows others to vote on the stories, videos and blogs about your company.
48. Serph: Use this search tool to look up your company and find out just what kind of buzz is going around the web about your company.
49. Searchles: This social search engine can help you keep up with the news out about your business.
50. Omgili: Search through the numerous forums out there to find out what people are saying about you using this helpful tool.
51. BoardReader: This tool is especially useful, allowing users to search through forums, videos, Twitter conversations, IMDB and more.
52. Joongel: Zoom in on the type of media you’d like to search with this online tool. Choose from videos, photos, shopping sites, and more.
53. Techrigy: This company makes it easier and simpler to monitor your business’ reputation online.
54. Keotag: Match blogs with tags that reflect talk about your business or related topics using this tool.
55. UpdatePatrol: This tool makes it easy to watch websites for updates and changes, which can sometimes be useful when you want to know what a particular site is saying about you.
56. BrandsEye: Hook up with this company to get stats and other information on where your business or blog reputation stands online.

Blog Tools

With the great proliferation of blogs out there, it’s worth your time to keep track of what’s being said about you on them. These tools make it easy and convenient to do just that.

57. Zuula: If you want to get posts just from blogs, try out this search engine. Users can also limit results to photos or videos.
58. SezWho: Follow who’s important in the blogging world and what they may be saying about you with this tool. Also useful to find out where your personal blog may stand.
59. Technorati: Whether you’re blogging personally or professionally, listing your blog with Technorati can be a big help in managing your online reputation. You’ll get updates whenever someone links to your blog so you can keep tabs on what people are saying about you or your business.
60. BackType: BackType is a service that lets you find, follow, and share comments from across the Web, allowing you to keep track of where you’ve been and what you’ve said on blogs.
61. TweetBeep: TweetBeep will let you keep track of conversations on Twitter than mention you or your business or anything else you’d like to track.
62. co.mments: When you sign up for an account with this site you’ll be able to track comments and conversations that can influence your online reputation.
63. Blogpulse: Keep your finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the blogging world, especially in relation to your business using the tools offered on this site.
64. Trendpedia: For businesses, this can be a valuable tool to track when and what your business is getting attention for and how you’re doing compared to your competitors.
65. Twist: Twist allows users to compare mentions of several different topics and view recent tweets about each one, making it easy to track info about businesses.
66. monitter: This tool lets you do much the same as Twist, but you can monitor topics in real-time or by geographic region.
67. Buzzlogic: Track buzz in the blogging world with this site, and find out just who’s word matters when it comes to blogs.

Profile Management

These tools make it easier to keep track of your social networking profiles and your online reputation in turn.

68. Comwat: Use Comwat to organize your social networking profiles into one so that its easier for others to find and easier to control what they see.
69. onXiam: Here you can establish a central online identity, use this identity to link up all your other sites, and even promote this new online location as well.
70. OtherEgo: Show off everything that you’re involved in on the net through this centralized site.
71. Zoolit: Check out this landing page service that makes it super easy to manage all the social networks you’ve been using.
72. Venyo: From lengthy blogs to simple comments, this site allows you to access everything you’ve done online, building up a trustworthy reputation at the same time.
73. ProfileMat: Pull all your existing online profiles together into a "mat" and allow users to comment on this new singular profile instead.
74. SimplifID: This site allows users to organize the online world by creating one central place you can access your blogs, social networking sites and more, allowing you to categorize it by type of viewer.
75. SocialURL: Here you can connect all your online identities by linking your social networking profiles to one URL.
76. ProfileBuilder: Want to create a professional looking profile using material from your existing social networks? This site lets you do just that, keeping or blocking the elements you choose and giving you a super useful home page to visit.

Managing Your Reputation

These tools allow you to hunt down what’s being said about you and find out just what others think of you or your business.

77. Naymz: Give this site a try to get feedback from people you’ve worked with, customers and friends.
78. Rapleaf: Here you can look up your personal or professional reputation, rate other people and businesses and get your own ratings.
79. RepVine: Using a search engine is the easiest way for people who want to know about you to find out more. This site helps you to control what they find when they do this.
80. Keotag: Manage the blogsphere with this site that allows users to find tagged blog posts over several blog search engines.
81. TrustPl.us: Are you trustworthy? This site works by analyzing your or more like your business’ trust scores and giving you a ranking.
82. ReputationDefender: If you’ve found information about yourself online that’s less than true or extremely detrimental to you, try out the services of this company that helps you get things said about you online removed.
83. FriendFeed: Whether you want to keep up with what your friends are looking at or keep up with what’s being said about you personally, this site is a useful tool.
84. Social Media Fire Hose: This helpful tool tracks your name, brand or product across sites like Digg, FriendFeed and others that specialize in social media.
85. Trackur: If you’re willing to shell out for a little help monitoring your reputation, Trackur is a great choice with tools that will search through all kinds of sites from social media to video.
86. Radian6: This tool makes it easier to monitor social media, often to the benefit of businesses who can use the information to their advantage to build better reputations and products.
87. Cision: For a fee, this tool can help you monitor "100 million blogs, tens of thousands of online forums, and over 450 leading rich media sites."
88. Web of Trust: Ensure your website is considered trusted by joining up with this site. After all, no one wants to be associated with a dangerous site– it’s just bad for business.

General Tools

If you haven’t already, bookmark these sites which can be a big help in maintaining your reputation positively online.

89. Digg: Check out Digg regularly to see if anyone has submitted stories about your or your business.
90. Reddit: Similar to Digg, this site will allow you to see how much interest there is you on the Web.
91. delicious: This social bookmarking site is a good place to see if your webpage or information about you or your business is being passed around by others.
92. Flickr: Think there may be some less-than-impressive photos of you out there? Trying searching this photo site to see if you come up.
93. Facebook: Facebook can be a great place to network, just make sure you keep your profile free from things you wouldn’t want spread about you.
94. MySpace: With millions of visitors, this popular social networking site can be a great place to get your and your business’ name out there.
95. LinkedIn: Here you can create a professional profile that will allow you to interact with others in your profession in a safe and positive manner.
96. Google: There’s no easier way to find out what your online reputation is than to do a simple Google search.
97. Rollyo: If you want a more customized option for searching, try out this great search engine that you can tailor to your online reputation finding needs.
98. Furl: Another social bookmarking site, here you can track who’s interested in your sites.
99. Twitter: Whether you want to communicate with others or track the buzz about you on the net, Twitter is an essential tool.
100. Wordpress: If you’re going to start a blog to be the face of you or your company, this site makes it easy to do so.

During his campaign and after he was elected president, Barack Obama was praised for a democratic view of the Internet and for issuing in a new era of presidency 2.0. He was tuned into the new media techniques and systems used to connect the country, especially his own supporters. Through Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, Obama extended his love of immediate connection to the outside world and his own Crackberry habit to the general public.

In fact, Barack Obama was also teased for his BlackBerry obsession, and his proclamation that he simply couldn’t live without it inspired some journalists and advertising professionals to speculate that he would make the ultimate front man for BlackBerry, earning between $25-50 million in endorsements, if he were allowed to accept it.

Unfortunately for Obama, however, security officials started to wonder at the problems having a president with an open e-mail account and Crackberry habit would start, in terms of privacy and national security vulnerability. Rumors swirled that once he was sworn in, Obama would have to give up his BlackBerry cold turkey. But after January 20, Obama was still seen carrying around a BlackBerry, though speculation continued to surround its special security tools, its limitations, Obama’s ability to use it freely, and even which BlackBerry edition Obama was allowed to use. Read on to find out more about the e-mail security and encryption devices that President Obama uses, or probably uses, as well as the different security concerns that have had to be worked out in order to indulge the ultimate BlackBerry user.

E-mail Security and Encryption

These security and encryption tricks and tools are what’s keeping Obama’s e-mail accounts private.

• No IMs: Barack Obama and his aides are not allowed to use any instant messaging features on his BlackBerry. ThinkProgress.org reports that the Presidential Records Act would "likely require the disclosure of instant messages discussing government business," even though the law would have to be revised to include instant messaging.
• Encryption: Because most BlackBerries aren’t designed to protect the secrets of the President of the United States, Obama’s BlackBerry will have to be revamped. Some believe that he is using the Sectera Edge phone, which protects voice conversations, according to Marc Ambinder from The Atlantic.
• Design: It is unclear which model Barack Obama’s new BlackBerry is, but some have guessed that it is either a Sectera Edge–which some argue isn’t technically a BlackBerry since it uses Windows–created by General Dynamics, or a BlackBerry 8830. The Sectera Edge is much more secure and has been "approved by the National Security Agency for sending and receiving classified emails and phone calls." Others believe that Obama is using a BlackBerry 8830, which isn’t typically as secure, but most likely has some sort of special encryption system created just for the president.
• E-mail exclusivity: Even top aides who once regularly e-mailed with Obama no longer have his e-mail address now that he is president. The New York Times reports that only senior adviser David Axelrod, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and press secretary Robert Gibbs, among a few others, have access.

Security Concerns

Below is a list of the security concerns Obama’s team has had to address in order to keep the president happy and protected.

• Hackers: Hackers are a very real threat to anyone who has a mobile phone and/or Internet access. Obama’s BlackBerry will almost definitely have to be redesigned in some way in order to circumvent hackers who already have experience breaking into important BlackBerry accounts. The Chicago Tribune reports that "Obama’s new BlackBerry will come with software approved by U.S. intelligence officials, allowing him to communicate with friends, family and close associates without fear of hackers reading his private e-mail."
• Compromises location: Most generic BlackBerries have a GPS system built in to the phones. Obama’s phone may have the GPS feature disabled, since anyone who hacked into the system would be able to find out his exact location, even within the White House.
• Presidential Records Act of 1978: This act requires that any messages or records discussing government business by the president are retained by the National Archives and made available to the public. Obama’s e-mails, phone conversations and possibly even video or photos taken with the BlackBerry would be subjected to scrutiny by the public years later. The PRA was apparently reason enough to deter President George W. Bush from sending private e-mails to his family. E-mails can also be subpoenaed by Congress, and due to the more immediate, "send now, think later" culture of e-mail, past presidents have found electronic messaging too risky.
• Invasion of personal privacy: The concern over Obama’s BlackBerry isn’t just about protecting government security. Any personal messages that Obama sent to Michelle or to other friends and family might be compromised if a hacker broke into the system. Strictly personal messages wouldn’t be included in the National Archives under the Presidential Records Act of 1978, but they could still be released in an illegal hacking.
• E-mail tracking: The more people who receive e-mails from Barack Obama, the more people the Secret Service and other government and security officials need to track to ensure that they don’t purposefully or accidentally pass along Obama’s address. They could be contacted, exploited and blackmailed by hackers, or inadvertently forward an e-mail that had Obama’s information attached to it, releasing it into the public domain.
• IT administrators: LuxSci FYI points out that although e-mails sent and received from Obama himself "can be encrypted in transit to and from the BlackBerry enterprise servers (BES), the messages themselves would still be saved in an insecure and unencrypted form on the server and when they were sent out into the Internet at large." The Secret Service would have to ensure that IT administrators working with Obama’s account had proper security clearance.
• Physical vulnerability: Obama’s BlackBerry is vulnerable to physical damage and theft. If Obama drops and breaks his BlackBerry, like he did here, security officials would have to scramble to make sure every single part of the phone is found and apprehended. If the right piece got into the wrong hands, Obama’s phone would be compromised. Another physical vulnerability is theft. While Obama isn’t likely to leave his BlackBerry in a hotel or on a restaurant table, there is still a possibility that it could be lost, and security officials may have wanted to remove this threat altogether by refusing to let Obama even have a BlackBerry.
• Browser security: The BlackBerry Browser lets users save bookmarks, set up RSS feeds, shop online, stream videos and music, and get fast Internet service. Obama’s browser, however, would have to include security add-ons to prevent anyone from tracking his IP address or hacking into the browser to gain access to the rest of his messages and information.

Criminal justice careers have expanded during the past few years to include technological advances that have proven essential to law enforcement.  Anything from increased access to criminal databases to computer forensics analysis has allowed law enforcement agencies to better apprehend dangerous criminals.  Computer forensics in particular has become a major tool for law enforcement officers to track potential criminals and discover what is hidden within their computers.

Computer forensics is applicable in all sectors of law enforcement, ranging from simple local police forces to the CIA and FBI, who rely on such measures to track down criminals who can pose a threat to national security.  As computers have advanced during the past years, so have the methods criminals use to get past law enforcement.  Computers have become a major tool for international and domestic criminals, a factor which many law enforcement officers have acknowledged.  As a result, it has become necessary to go through a captured criminals’ computer records to ensure that they were not involved in a conspiracy and do not have any further crimes which may be open.

Additionally, computer forensics has become exceptionally vital in capturing child predators who seek out young children on the internet.  Many law enforcement units are able to use computer forensics to locate these sex offenders and ensure that they do not harm any more children.  More than anything else, computer forensics ensures the safety of the community and the safety of simply surfing the internet.  These jobs provide many in the community with a peace of mind in knowing that their children can safely remain on the internet without fear that there will be some older man nearby who wants to take advantage of them via the internet. 

While computer forensics is mostly used in criminal offenses, they can also be used in civil disputes to prove a certain event happened, or that a certain credit card purchase was somehow erased.  Computers now hold the background of every person’s life and as a result, computer forensics analysts can trace their past website views, document modifications, or even deleted objects.  It is amazing the strides that computer forensics has made in such a short period, as computers themselves have only become more advanced in the past decade and a half.  It is unbeknownst to us how far computer forensics will explore within the coming years to track down even more criminal offenders. 

The Internet has a wealth of information, and not surprisingly, lots of that information is about people. You can find just about anything you want about someone online, including public records, addresses, and high school photos. If you’re looking up a long lost friend or family member, be sure to check out these resources.

White Pages

White pages are great for helping you find addresses and phone numbers for people.

1. Whitepages.com: The official WhitePages offers people search, reverse lookups, and beyond.
2. Whowhere: Whowere is a great white pages resource, with a phone lookup and more.
3. The Ultimate White Pages: The Ultimate White Pages makes it easy to search many different white pages all at once.
4. Superpages: Superpages offers people search, public records, and more.
5. Anywho: Find people by name and address using Anywho. This site offers searches on the iPhone as well.
6. InfoSpace: You can find people through the white pages on InfoSpace, and even set your own default location.
7. AOL White Pages: AOL’s people search directory offers an easy way to locate people.
8. Switchboard: Switchboard’s website allows you to search by phone, find public records, and more.
9. 411 Locate: Use 411 Locate to find people through white pages and even reverse phone lookup.

People Finders

Use these search engines to find basic information and beyond on just about anyone.

10. ZabaSearch: ZabaSearch offers searching by name and telephone number, offering numbers and addresses for free.
11. LexisNexis: LexisNexis is one of the most trusted names in finding information about people.
12. Whozat?: In this people search engine, you can fill in as much information as you have to find people.
13. Peoplebot: Peoplebot makes it easy to find addresses, phone numbers, satellite photos, and more.
14. Yasni: Yasni offers information about anyone’s name online.
15. Wink: With Wink, you’ll be able to find people based on highly refined searches, with distance, schools, groups, interests, and more taken into account.
16. Spock: Spock will help you find out where your friends are online with pictures, blogs, social networks, and web links.
17. CVGadget: Check out this search engine to find people on a variety of people searches at once.
18. Pipl: Find people by username, phone, email, or names on Pipl.
19. PeekYou: PeekYou profiles make it easy for people to find your websites, social networking, pages, and other stuff about you online.
20. Infopeople: Infopeople’s search makes it easy to use a variety of search engines at once to find people.
21. iTools: This search tool will look at a variety of different people searches, including international locations.
22. ZoomInfo: ZoomInfo offers a great source for finding both people and companies.
23. Spydentity: Spydentity will search all of the major search engines, social networks, image sharing sites, news, and blogs to find who you’re looking for.
24. SquidWho: SquidWho offers a people-powered Who’s Who online for celebrities and regular people alike.
25. Google: Even though specialized search engines are great, it’s hard to beat the firehose of information you can find about people on Google.
26. Reunion: Get reunited with people from your past, and find out who’s searching for you on Reunion.com.

Public Records

Use these search tools to look up criminal records, marriage certificates, business information, and more.

27. PublicRecordsNow: Using this search engine, you can find public records including date of birth, relatives, and addresses.
28. PeopleFinders: With PeopleFinders, you can search for background checks, criminal records, and business ownership.
29. Public Records Pro: Get an instant public background records search from this website.
30. Background Check Gateway: Use this website to find information about identity theft, public records, background checks, and employment screening.
31. Mamma: Mamma offers a people search as well as a public records search.
32. Government Registry: With this website, you can find criminal files, court records, and more.
33. Search Detective: Search Detective has a reverse phone lookup, public records, and more.
34. Abika: Use Abika for free background checks, court record searches, and more.
35. Intelius: Intelius has it all-background checks, reverse cell phone directory, screenings, and more.

International

Need to find someone outside of the US? Check out these resources.

36. 411.ca: Find people in Canada using this local search engine.
37. 192.com: Use 192.com to find personal records, people, and more in the UK.
38. 123people: Here you’ll find a free people search for public records in the US, France, Spain, and beyond.
39. People Search: People Search offers a free people search directory for Australia.

Social Media

Make use of these social media tools to find and connect with people online.

40. Facebook: Facebook offers a fun and easy way to locate your friends online.
41. LinkedIn: Search for people, companies, and more in your network and out through LinkedIn.
42. iSearch: iSearch offers a way to search the social web.
43. MySpace: MySpace is a great way to find old friends from school and work.
44. Friendster: Using Friendster, you’ll be able to locate your friends within the social network.
45. Twitter: Find the Twitter streams of your friends, family, and acquaintances using Twitter’s search option.
46. Orkut: Discover new people through your friends and communities on Orkut.
47. Ancestry.com: Ancestry.com’s search will help you find family around the world, current and past.
48. Plaxo: Find out who you know and stay in contact with them easily using Plaxo.
49. Ryze: Similar to LinkedIn, Ryze makes it easy for you to find your friends and networking contacts.
50. Classmates: Classmates.com offers a great way to look up your old friends from high school, military, college, and more.

Criminal justice appears, on face value, to be a degree that is extraordinarily flexible, but which also does not require a further degree program to accomplish a sustainable career option.  However, earning a masters in criminal justice is a goal for many criminal justice students because it puts them that much ahead of the competition.  This degree is becoming widespread across the country and why not?  Crime rates have risen in many metropolitan cities, and law enforcement jobs have nearly tripled, as more specialized departments have been created in the past decade as perfect openings for criminal justice graduates with a masters in the subject.

First of all, police departments have always beckoned to criminal justice students as potential detectives and other agents.  However, recent years have indicated a growing need for departments such as narcotics and homicide, indicating a need for more specialized degrees.  Masters programs in criminal justice therefore yield students who have concentrated on one specific topic, allowing them to become better versed in the subject than typical criminal justice graduates who have only earned a bachelors.  In many large cities, police departments are ever expanding entities which have acquired a large following.  Students who earn a masters in criminal justice are better prepared to deal with criminals in specific realms, and are more knowledgeable about the subject than other officers who are their age.  While older officers typically have the same amount of experience which equals a masters degree, younger graduates have a leg up on the competition through their education.

Jobs in the CIA and FBI are also more attainable with a masters degree, as many of the more specialized departments are highly competitive and typically require years of experience in law enforcement.  More and more departments have opened up as well in the past few years in both units, as more dangers are discovered within the country and more wars are declared in different nations.  As these hidden dangers come to light, a new department is usually created to counter this danger through new intelligence committees, typically requiring a higher education in the matter.  Masters degrees in criminal justice help provide this kind of background knowledge on potential dangers and how to best arm yourself to discover more information about international dangers or home-grown terrorism. 

The possibilities are nearly endless for masters degrees in criminal justice, as many can be applied to any type of law enforcement or other types of political science careers.  While many masters programs are highly specialized, others remain broad so that the recipient will have a more flexible opportunity to search for jobs in the industry. 

Foreign policy affects our future regarding economics, human rights and living standards, safety, war and alliances with other countries, and even the environment. If you are studying foreign policy or just want to learn more about it, read these blogs by professors, journalists and other experts to stay on top of the U.S. actions around the world.

General

These foreign policy blogs are a great place to start learning about the laws and history that shapes today’s news.

1. Passport: The editors of Foreign Policy maintain this blog to report on the most current statistics, news stories and political movements that affect Europe, the U.S., Asia, and more.
2. UN Dispatch: Keep up with what’s going on at the UN in this blog. Topics include diplomacy, human rights, Iraq, climate change, global health, and more.
3. Whirled View: The bloggers on Whirled View report on everything from world politics to global environmental issues, pulling from their experience as a former Time bureau chief, communications specialist, and more.
4. The Washington Note: Ambitious blogger and foreign policy researcher Steve Clemons keeps us up to date with thoughtful posts on U.S. diplomacy, the media, the European Union, the Middle East, and everything else.
5. Just Foreign Policy: This group is "dedicated to reforming U.S. foreign policy through coordinating the broad majority of Americans to advocate their interests and values." Read the blog to get informed about the Middle East, torture and war crimes, and more.
6. Foreign Policy Watch: Get news and commentary on diplomatic strategy and global affairs here.

Human Rights

For information on human rights issues and what’s being done about the people in Darfur, Burmese refugees and others, read these blogs.

7. The Human Rights Blog: Read this blog for human rights news, conflicts and conferences around the world.
8. Human Rights: This blog belongs to the Foreign Policy Association network of blogs, and reports on journalist killings, Burmese refugees, and more.
9. Field Notes: Field Notes is the blog from UNICEF, and you can visit to catch up on stories and policies that affect children’s basic rights and safety.
10. Rights Watchers: Join the Washington Post’s discussion to help Kenneth Roth and Reed Brody uncover human rights stories and conflicts.
11. Global Voices: Global Voices underscores all kinds of human rights violations and movements around the world, raising awareness and lobbying for change.
12. Human Rights Now: This blog from Amnesty International blogs about terrorism, the U.S. presence in foreign policy and human rights movements, international justice, and more.

U.S. and North America Foreign Policy

These blogs offer insight and coverage of U.S. diplomacy and the role the U.S. plays in international affairs.

13. White House Blog: Check the White House blog to read about new Executive Orders, scheduled meetings and more regarding foreign policy.
14. Undiplomatic: Charles J. Brown is "bringing diplomacy back, girl," and loves to uncover news and corruption about global issues, all reported with a liberal slant.
15. Drezner Foreign Policy Blog: Daniel W. Drezner blogs about the U.S. presence in global affairs, especially in regards to finance and global markets.
16. The Diplomatic Times Review: Munir Umrani spreads the news and shares his own commentary on international politics, from Gaza to the role of the media to Turkey.
17. Democracy Arsenal: Get news and intelligent commentary on U.S. foreign policy and its role in global affairs.
18. U.S. Department of State: The State Department’s blog shares updates on new foreign policy developments.
19. American Diplomacy: Here you can read "foreign service dispatches and periodic reports on U.S. foreign policy," from a group dedicated to sharing the knowledge of diplomacy practitioners and scholars.
20. USC Center on Public Diplomacy: For intelligent, informed analysis on American diplomacy and international policy, read this blog from the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy.

Asia and the Middle East

From the Gaza Strip to China, these blogs cover the important developments that shape world politics, the economy and more.

21. China Rises: China Rises is written by Tim Johnson, the Beijing bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers. Read his blog to learn about Chinese censorship, Chinese reactions to U.S. policy, and general Chinese and Taiwanese political culture.
22. Baghdad Life: The Wall Street Journal uncovers daily life and politics in Iraq in this blog.
23. Pomfret’s China: Post Global’s blog explores Chinese communism, the Chinese economy, and more foreign policy issues in China.
24. Babylon and Beyond The LA Times blogs about the Middle East, including the Gaza conflict, Iraq, U.S. ambassadors abroad, and more in Babylon and Beyond.
25. Lebanon: Find out what conflicts, tradition and legislation affect Lebanese culture and politics here.
26. India Political Blog: Read about corruption, politics, the economy and more in India when you visit this blog.

Environment and Climate Change

For news on climate change and the legislation and issues surrounding the environment, check out these blogs.

27. Global Issues: This blog covers the issues and policies that affect living conditions, the environment and the economy around the world.
28. Climate Progress: Learn about the steps different countries are taking to reduce climate change here.
29. Dot Earth: This blog from the New York Times "examines efforts to balance human affairs with the planet’s limits," covering population growth, foreign policy, the energy crisis, and more.

Europe and Africa

These bloggers dissect foreign policy in Europe and Africa. You’ll find blogs about the European Union, Darfur, the Balkans, and more.

30. A Fistful of Euros: Read A Fistful of Euros for European policy and analysis of world events, campaigns and political developments.
31. Next Europe: Post Global’s Next Europe blog explores what’s next for European politics, culture and organization.
32. Balkanalysis.com: Read this blog to find out the latest news and developments from Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Croatia and other Balkan nations.
33. Making Sense of Darfur: Find out what’s really going on in Darfur and keep up with ICC decisions here.
34. EU Energy Policy Blog: Learn about the energy crisis in Europe and what’s being done to keep oil prices down and save the environment.
35. Atlantic Review: The Atlantic Review is a "press digest for transatlantic affairs" and covers a combination of U.S., German, and general foreign policy news.
36. EU Law Blog: Learn about the legislations and issues affecting the European Union and European citizens here.

War and Terrorism

Here you can find analysis and news reports on conflicts and counterrorism in the U.S., Afghanistan, Syria and beyond.

38. Counterrorism Blog: If you’re interested in counterrorism, visit this blog to read analysis and news reports from experts who explain U.S. policy and international issues.
39. Small Wars Blog: Those fighting Small Wars around the world can find information, support and insight here.
40. Antiwar Blog: Antiwar.com’s blog examines every kind of terrorist attack and war-related development, from U.S. officials to foreign nations.
41. War Crimes: In this blog, you can get updates on trials at the International Criminal Court, the latest from Guantanamo Bay, and more.
42. War and Peace: This blog from national security and foreign policy reporter Laura Rozen features news reports and analysis about conflicts in Syria, within the CIA, and more.
43. Afghanistan Conflict Monitor: Simon Fraser University’s Human Security Report Project tracks and analyzes conflicts in Afghanistan and beyond.

Global Health

For insight into the research projects, legislation and awareness about global health issues, check out these blogs.

44. Global Health Policy: The Center for Global Development blogs about research and foreign policy developments related to global health and safety issues.
45. Global Health Report: Health journalist Christine Gorman writes about "what needs to happen next in global health" on this blog.
46. Malawi Clinics: Study this blog to better understand the health crises in developing countries.
47. Global Health: Change.org’s Global Health Blog helps the general public understand global health issues and how global health policy programs work, from NGOs to private groups’ efforts to hospital ships.

International Law

Learn about international law, foreign policy and diplomacy from these bloggers.

48. Opinio Juris: Jump into the debate about international law and international relations through Opinio Juris, a blog written by professors and former government workers.
49. International Economic Law and Policy Blog: Use this blog to catch up on all the news and analysis reported in other media outlets regarding international economic law.
50. International Law Observer: Understand human rights issues, diplomacy and other foreign policy moves from a legal perspective here.

The popularity and near necessity of social media sites has grown tremendously in the last few years, helping small businesses make connections, giving freelancers and students the chance to network with people they’d never be able to meet otherwise, and allow a place for all kinds of interest groups to chat and make friends online–from gardeners to book lovers to sports junkies. There is a dangerous and corrupt side to social media creators and users; however, and the ability to create fake profiles and violate privacy and copyright rules is still more than possible. Read below for 25 of the most shocking crimes in social media history.

Copyright, Hacking and Blackmail

From Facebook’s big lawsuits to MySpace hackers demanding pay-back from celebrities, these copyright, privacy and blackmail cases can get ugly.

1. ConnectU vs. Facebook: Facebook founders Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum and Christopher Hughes got in big trouble in 2007 when their former Harvard friends filed a lawsuit claiming that Facebook was a rip-off of their brand ConnectU. Zuckerberg did programming work for ConnectU during its start up and is accused of stealing the business model and basic codes to form Facebook. Because Facebook is such a popular social media site, the case garnered a lot of attention, but ConnectU’s charges of copyright infringement didn’t hold much weight, since "the majority of the allegations date back to the days before either Facebook or ConnectU was a formal corporation," according to CNET UK. In April 2008, though, Facebook settled, awarding ConnectU founders "an undisclosed sum of cash and stock," Boston.com reported.
2. Miss New Jersey blackmail case: During the summer of 2007, then Miss New Jersey Amy Polumbo was scandalized when private Facebook photos were published in tabloids. The pictures were acquired as part of a blackmail attempt and featured Polumbo in PG-13 poses with her boyfriend and drinking at parties. The Miss America organization did not decide to dethrone Polumbo, but she decided to release the photos herself anyway, to clear the air.
3. Facebook vs. Montreal spammer: In November 2008, Facebook won its CAN-SPAM lawsuit against Canadian Adam Guerbuez, a spammer who clogged account holders’ pages with pornographic websites and other unsavory pitches. Guerbuez and the 26 others accused of spamming Facebook users were found guilty, and Facebook was awarded $873 million.
4. Chang v. Virgin Mobile USA, LLC: In January 2009, a Texas teenager and her mother sued Virgin Mobile for using one of her personal photos uploaded on Flickr for an Australian advertisement. The lawsuit insisted that Allison Chang’s right of publicity had been exploited and that the use of her photo violated the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license she attached to her photo. The case was thrown out due to a discrepancy in jurisdiction, and no court could decide where to hold the case.
5. Allison Stokke vs. WithLeather.com: Allison Stokke was just a regular California pole vaulter ready to start college when she became a sex symbol and Internet sensation after the blog WithLeather.com posted her photo. The photo in question was taken during a competition and showed Stokke resting with her pole across her shoulder in a skimpy, but standard, track and field uniform. After the photo was featured online by various bloggers, Stokke received thousands of MySpace messages and e-mails and had a competition video posted on YouTube. The Washington Post reports that the photo eventually found its way to Matt Ufford of WithLeather.com, who wrote, "meet pole vaulter Allison Stokke. . . . Hubba hubba and other grunting sounds." The original photographer threatened to sue Ufford and someone even created a fake Facebook page for Stokke–which was eventually taken down–but no criminal charges could ever be filed.
6. Twitter hijacking: Twitter users generally enjoy a pretty straightforward social media experience, but a scam in 2008 hacked major celebrity accounts, including Bill O’Reilly, Barack Obama and Britney Spears. CNN anchor Rick Sanchez’s account was also hacked and featured fake tweets that said "i am high on crack right now might not be coming into work today." Gawker’s ValleyWag points out that this scam was virtually pointless, as the hackers didn’t profit financially from the phishing.
7. Facebook phishing scam: This phishing scam posted messages on users’ profiles warning friends that they were going to delete their profiles and that friends should click on a link to the new profile. The new profile link, however, was really a fake login page that tricked Facebook users into logging in and letting hackers steal their information.
8. Soulja Boy vs. MySpace hackers: Soulja Boy got mad when his MySpace was hacked and e-mail password was published online. The hackers left obscene messages on his MySpace page "where Soulja Boy purportedly declared his homosexuality" and insulted fans. The rapper was scammed by members of 4chan, who demanded that Soulja Boy pay them $2,500 "in order to regain control over his account," Cyber Crimes reports. Soulja Boy’s record company contacted MySpace, who returned his account.
9. Miley Cyrus MySpace hacker: Teen actress and singer Miley Cyrus has had her share of scandals, and when her MySpace page was hacked and photos of her midriff were circulated around the Internet, parents got mad. But whatever you think of Miley, her hacker Josh Holly was the real one to blame and was eventually caught in an FBI raid on October 2008.
10. Shaun Harrison and Saverio Mondelli: Long Island friends Shaun Harrison and Saverio Mondelli were caught when they tried to track MySpace users through e-mail by creating their own code, demanding that the social media network pay them $150,000 as a consulting fee. Under their plan, MySpace users would be able to view the IP and e-mail addresses of all the visitors to their profile, but MySpace’s terms of agreement prevents that sort of monitoring. MSNBC reports that "two counts of attempted extortion and another illegal computer access count were dropped in the deal," however.
11. Universal vs. MySpace: In November 2006, Universal Music Group sued MySpace for copyright infringement. Universal claimed that "that Myspace has looked the other way as users unlawfully uploaded copyright music videos," and facilitated the easy spread of unlawful music sharing across the site, according to CNET News. Although MySpace had already been trying to cut back on copyright infringement for music sharing, Universal believed that MySpace was still exploiting artists and the company.
12. Facebook v. Power.com: This lawsuit is shocking according to TechDirt because it simply doesn’t make sense. Facebook sued Power.com, a social networking aggregator that lets users manage all of their social media profiles at once, for copyright and trademark infringement, unlawful competition and violation of the computer fraud and abuse act. According to TechDirt, Power.com does not try to trick anyone to believing they are using the original Facebook and actually serves to "actually improve the value of Facebook, rather than diminish it."

Sex Crimes, Assault and Murder

Tragically, social media sites like MySpace serve as an easy venue for sex predators and bullies to track their victims. These grisly crimes have affected innocent teenagers and kids.

13. Megan Meier suicide: The tragic suicide of Missouri teenager Megan Meier was a top news story in 2006 and 2007. Meier was the victim of a prank that involved a classmate’s mother, Lori Drew, who set up a fake MySpace account and pretended to be a boy named Josh, who befriended Meier online. Drew apparently wanted to know whether or not Meier was gossiping about her own daughter and became close with her under false pretenses. "Josh" eventually said "he didn’t want to be [Meier's] friend anymore, that he had heard she wasn’t nice to her friends," according to Fox News. "Josh" continued to post messages taunting Meier, even calling her "fat" and a "slut." Meier hanged herself in her bedroom, and six weeks later, her parents found out about the fraudulent MySpace account. In May 2008, Drew was indicted on three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress, and one count of criminal conspiracy, according to Wikipedia.
14. Middletown, CT, sex assaults: In 2006, seven teenage girls from Middletown, CT, reported to authorities that they had had consensual sex or engaged in sexual relations "with men who turned out to be older than they claimed," according to MSNBC. The girls, all under the age of 18 and as young as 12, met the men on MySpace.
15. Kara Borden and David Ludwig: Pennsylvania teenager Kara Borden had to run away from home after she watched her boyfriend, David Ludwig shoot and kill her parents. The pair were tracked down by people who found their MySpace profiles and Xanga blog, and left obscene messages on their pages. Both Kara and David’s social media pages served as a platform for the public and journalists to speculate over their innocence or guilt.
16. Doe v. MySpace: In this case, a minor and her mother sued MySpace after she was sexually assaulted by a nineteen-year-old man she contacted on the social media site. The lawsuit claimed that MySpace did not support or protect minors from predators, but it was eventually dismissed from Texas and New York federal courts.
17. Judy Cajuste murder: Judy Cajuste’s murder is another example of MySpace predators who take advantage of vulnerable teens online. In January 2006, 14-year-old Cajuste was strangled to death in New Jersey and dumped in a dumpster. Friends believe Cajuste had already met the man offline before he allegedly killed her, saying that "she felt comfortable with him," already.
18. The Olivia Haters Club: The new phenomenon called cyber bullying was the focus of a thirteen-year-old girl’s existence in 2006. Olivia Gardner has epilepsy, and inspired a mean girls’ club called "Olivia Haters" that kids from her middle school set up on MySpace. Gardner’s family could not charge the girls with any sort of crime, but it was still a shocking revelation for them.
19. Teens charged with child pornography: Teenagers aren’t immune from being charged with child pornography, and in March 2006 in Providence, RI, 19-year-old Elizabeth Muller and a 16-year-old girl were charged for uploading pornographic pictures of themselves on MySpace.
20. Lewis & Clark College sex assault: The campus at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR, became involved in a complicated sex assault case after sophomore Helen Hunter reported being sexually assaulted. In response to the assault, students set up a Facebook group that gossiped about the case and posted hostile messages towards her alleged assaulter, Morgan Shaw-Fox, even though Hunter never submitted a formal complaint. After Shaw-Fox made his own complaint about the Facebook page, he was suspended but never charged with a crime.
21. Michael Macalindong blackmail and child pornography: In October 2008, Michael Macalindong was sentenced to 34 years in federal prison for posing as a teenage girl, soliciting a teenage boy, and trying to blackmail him for not posting sexual videos of himself on Facebook. After striking up a friendship with the boy, the Chicago Tribune reports that Macalindong, 25, "told the teen he could have sex with her" but only if the teen had sex with her male friend first. Macalindong was that male "friend," police said.
22. Fontana, CA MySpace sting: California teenagers who set up a fake MySpace profile as a joke ended up luring a sex predator and having him arrested. The boys created a fake profile for a 15-year-old girl, which attracted a man who sent sexually explicit message to "her." Eventually, the boys agreed to meet the man in a park, "and, when the man arrived, they called police," according to MSNBC.
23. Andrew Lubrano: Wired writer Kevin Poulsen created a code that would find sex predators on MySpace, a controversial tactic that actually helped catch Andrew Lubrano. Lubrano was arrested and convicted of sex crimes in the 1980s and 90s but was eventually released. In 2005, he signed up for MySpace, where he found teenage boys to "friend." Poulsen directed Long Island police to Lubrano’s page, letting them conduct an investigation, which results in his arrest.
24. Amanda Knoble shooting: Cyber bullying became an almost-deadly reality for Amanda Knoble in 2008, when another teenage girl, 15-year-old Andrea Haskins, threatened to kill her in a message on MySpace. Haskins shot Knoble in the leg after sending her the message and was charged as an adult for attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
25. Florida teens beat-down: This serious beating of a teenage girl started on MySpace. The victim’s father, reports ABC News 24, says the girls wanted to create a video that would become popular on You Tube. But the mother of one of the arrested teens says the victim provoked the attack by threatening and insulting the girls on My Space. The victim was jumped by six girls who gave her a concussion, bruises and injured her eye and ear while two boys stood watch. All eight teenagers were arrested.