For the Facebook film, see The Social Network
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A social network is a social structure made of individuals (or organizations) called "nodes," which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.


Social network analysis views social relationships in terms of network theory consisting of nodes and ties. Nodes are the individual actors within the networks, and ties are the relationships between the actors.

The resulting graph-based structures are often very complex. There can be many kinds of ties between the nodes. Research in a number of academic fields has shown that social networks operate on many levels, from families up to the level of nations, and play a critical role in determining the way problems are solved, organizations are run, and the degree to which individuals succeed in achieving their goals.

In its simplest form, a social network is a map of all of the relevant ties between all the nodes being studied. The network can also be used to measure social capital -- the value that an individual gets from the social network. These concepts are often displayed in a social network diagram, where nodes are the points and ties are the lines.

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Microsoft is to ask millions of users across Europe if they want to use a web browser other than its own.

Windows users will be offered the choice as part of a deal Microsoft struck with the European Commission.

The agreement resolves a long-running case in which the software giant was accused of abusing its market position.

A pop-up window will prompt people to choose and install one of 12 different browsers or let them stick with Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

Install options

The browser choice software will be delivered from Monday as part of the Windows Update system Microsoft usually uses to distribute security patches.

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Some 160 people were arrested for looting and breaking the curfew, police said on Monday.

 Clashes with looters saw one 22-year-old man shot and killed.

And by Monday evening tensions had flared once more, with troops deployed to the streets after a blaze began in a looted supermarket.


 Chilean newspaper La Tercera reported that despite the presence of troops, a huge fire was intentionally started at a building housing the Polar department store.


The blaze caused the building to collapse, La Tercera reported. Marco Riquelme, a regional spokesman for the department store, told La Tercera the incident was a "clear example" of the "chaotic situation" survivors were enduring in Concepcion.

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Thousands of Chilean troops are heading to the country's devastated earthquake zone as reports emerge of desperate survivors turning to looting and arson.

President Michelle Bachelet said a total of 7,000 troops would soon be in place in areas around Concepcion, the city closest to the epicentre.

An air bridge has been set up between Santiago and Concepcion, with 100 tons of food aid due in the next few hours.


At least 723 people have been confirmed dead in the 8.8-magnitude quake.


Ms Bachelet said reinforcements would join the troops already in the provinces of Bio Bio and Maule, bringing the total to some 7,000.


Concepcion is under another night under curfew, which has been extended to be in force from 2000 (2300 GMT) until noon on Tuesday.


Reports are emerging from the city of residents clashing with police as they lay siege to shops and supermarkets in the search for food.

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n the dining room, the music is thumping, chairs have been set aside, and teenage girls are teaching each other how to dance. Steps away in a cozy closet, several boys are laying down surprisingly professional-sounding tracks in a converted music studio. The rap lyrics are honest, raw.

In the dining room, the music is thumping, chairs have been set aside, and teenage girls are teaching each other how to dance. Steps away in a cozy closet, several boys are laying down surprisingly professional-sounding tracks in a converted music studio. The rap lyrics are honest, raw.

In the dining room, the music is thumping, chairs have been set aside, and teenage girls are teaching each other how to dance. Steps away in a cozy closet, several boys are laying down surprisingly professional-sounding tracks in a converted music studio. The rap lyrics are honest, raw.

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In the dining room, the music is thumping, chairs have been set aside, and teenage girls are teaching each other how to dance. Steps away in a cozy closet, several boys are laying down surprisingly professional-sounding tracks in a converted music studio. The rap lyrics are honest, raw.


In the dining room, the music is thumping, chairs have been set aside, and teenage girls are teaching each other how to dance. Steps away in a cozy closet, several boys are laying down surprisingly professional-sounding tracks in a converted music studio. The rap lyrics are honest, raw.


In the dining room, the music is thumping, chairs have been set aside, and teenage girls are teaching each other how to dance. Steps away in a cozy closet, several boys are laying down surprisingly professional-sounding tracks in a converted music studio. The rap lyrics are honest, raw.


In the dining room, the music is thumping, chairs have been set aside, and teenage girls are teaching each other how to dance. Steps away in a cozy closet, several boys are laying down surprisingly professional-sounding tracks in a converted music studio. The rap lyrics are honest, raw.

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In the dining room, the music is thumping, chairs have been set aside, and teenage girls are teaching each other how to dance. Steps away in a cozy closet, several boys are laying down surprisingly professional-sounding tracks in a converted music studio. The rap lyrics are honest, raw.

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"What's up, Mama D?" 16-year-old Anthony asks as he enters Latiker's house on South Michigan Avenue.


In the dining room, the music is thumping, chairs have been set aside, and teenage girls are teaching each other how to dance. Steps away in a cozy closet, several boys are laying down surprisingly professional-sounding tracks in a converted music studio. The rap lyrics are honest, raw.


"Where do we go from here, how do we stop the pain, ignorance we should fear ...


Losing lives is the cost, maybe we insane, look at the lives we done lost


Man, it pours when it rains, I was born in the flames, born into pain"


Presiding over all the chaos is Latiker, who greets each of the three dozen youths with a hug and a look that tells them respect and discipline are expected.

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Otis McDonald and Diane Latiker share much in common as residents of Chicago's South Side. Longtime community activists, they both have seen the good and bad their neighborhoods have to offer.


They are each fighting for change, especially to stem the growing murder rates among African-American and Hispanic youths, who are dying at the hands of one another.


Their solutions to the problem put them at odds, however; and their struggles -- part of larger crisis striking cities nationwide -- will be the backdrop for one of the biggest cases to come before the Supreme Court in years.


At issue is one the justices have been timid over the decades at confronting: Just how far does the Second Amendment give citizens the right to protect themselves?


The court will ultimately decide two fundamental questions: Do strict state and local gun control laws violate the constitutional "right to keep and bear arms"? And can an individual's right to own a weapon extend beyond federal jurisdiction?


The basic questions have remained largely unanswered and give the conservative majority on the high court another chance to allow Americans expanded rights to own weapons. The amendment states: "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."


The specific case deals with Chicago's longstanding ban on handguns. Latiker supports the law; McDonald is fighting it in court.


Gun control is one of those hot-button social issues that stirs energies on competing sides. The ruling's impact will be felt across the country as local communities wrestle with whether banning the cheapest, most commonly available firearm will reduce violent crime or leave honest citizens vulnerable.

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