My weekend column is on cultural decay. Speaking of which, Forbes reports on a fascinating legal question with which less evolved civilizations did not have to trouble themselves. Meet Susan Clements-Jeffrey:
She unknowingly used a stolen laptop to exchange explicit photos with her boyfriend and those photos wound up in the hands of a theft-recovery company and a couple of detectives, who called them "disgusting" when they arrested her.
Could happen to anyone.
Little did Clements-Jeffrey and her bf, Carlton Smith, know that the laptop had theft-recovery security software installed on it… Once activated, it reported the laptop's IP address, and granted Absolute remote access over the computer, with the ability to intercept emails, capture screenshots, and log key strokes.
Absolute captured screenshots of both lovebirds doing their best porn star poses. The Absolute recovery officer sent the explicit photos along with location information for the stolen laptop to the Springfield Police Department. The police made their way to Clements-Jeffrey's house with a warrant to seize the laptop… One of the prudish detectives wasn't a fan of the photos, calling them "disgusting."
Ms. Clements-Jeffrey, the "lovebird" with the "porn star poses," is, of course, a 52-year-old high-school teacher. A couple of years from now, Hollywood will make one of those courageous freedom-of-expression movies about this landmark case. 1996: The People vs Larry Flynt. 2011: The People are Larry Flynt.
Hat-tip to the blogger Scaramouche, who also notes another sign of the times. Stand well back:
Woman's Breast Implant Explodes While Playing Paintball