In his latest article for the Harvard Business Review, Reputation.com CEO Michael Fertik details an amusing incident in Tianjan, China, where he was recently visiting for the World Economic Forum’s 2010 Annual Meeting of New Champions.

The story begins innocently enough; Michael needs to buy a new SIM card to make affordable calls to the United States from his phone. So, along with a friendly hotel concierge, he visits a local cell phone shop to make the purchase. Soon, however, this seemingly straight-forward process becomes a hilariously twisted hour-long drama of government inefficiency versus the ingenuity of three well-meaning and doggedly determined Chinese workers.

To read the entire story, which offers a microcosm of China’s incredible potential and incredible problems, check out Michael’s full article at the Harvard Business Review.

In today’s Quick Hits, Facebook Places expands to Europe, how criminals tried to impersonate the head of Interpol, and why photos of a heinous crime are going viral online.

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Facebook Places Launches in the UK

Facebook Places, the company’s much-hyped geo-location mobile check-in service, has officially launched in the United Kingdom. Facebook Places will roll out throughout the rest of Europe in the coming weeks. When Facebook Places launched several weeks ago, many tech analysts predicted the beginning of mainstream acceptance for location-based social networking.

Keep Internet Security Simple Survey: Americans Want to Keep Some Information Private

According to the Keep Internet Security Simple survey from Harris Interactive and PC Tools, four in five Americans indicated that they want to keep files on their computers private from others. This desire for information privacy challenges the assumption among certain technology executives that sharing has become a “social norm.” In this article from PCWorld, Dan Tynan explains why privacy does matter to Internet users and why the heads of tech companies would be better off if they recognized this fact.

Criminals Steal Interpol Chief’s Identity

According to an AP report, “Criminals stole the Facebook identity of Interpol head Ronald K. Noble and used it to obtain information on an operation by the international police agency.” Interpol’s Information Security Incident Response Team found two Facebook profiles attempting to impersonate Noble. Noble said that “one of the impersonators was using this profile to obtain information on fugitives targeted during our recent Operation Infra Red.” Last year, the head of Britain’s MI6 agency accidentally had his private information revealed on Facebook, demonstrating the threat that unsecure social networking has on national security.

AVG Finds 20,000 Compromised Web Pages on the World’s Most Popular Social Networking Sites

The cybersecurity firm AVG is making a push to educate and provide safety tools to college students so that they don’t become the victims of “status jacking” attacks on Facebook. According to AVG’s research, 11,701 compromised web pages appeared on Facebook and 7,163 appeared on YouTube.

Police Have Trouble Removing Photos of Gang Rape From Internet

While investigating the rape of a 16-year-old girl in the Vancouver area, Canada’s RCMP uncovered several photos of the attack on Facebook. Mounties have contacted Facebook users who are sharing the photos online, asking them to remove them and, in some cases, considering charging the individuals with child pornography possession. Unfortunately, when one image is taken down, another one goes up. According to Inspector Derren Lench, “every time it’s shut down on one Facebook [account], it seems to reappear and its been shared in several communities in the Lower Mainland, so the victim has to relive it on a daily basis.”

In today’s Quick Hits, we  examine how much tech companies spend on privacy lobbying, why hooking up with your ex on Facebook is a bad idea, and how one man’s ill-advised Facebook messages lost him his six-figure job.

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Tech Companies Increase Spending on Privacy Lobbying

In this insightful article, privacy blogger Kashmir Hill examines the lobbying expenses of Google, Yahoo, and other major tech companies. Hill takes a look at previous years and notes that only Google is spending markedly more money on lobbying as a whole, but the portion of lobbying dollars spent on privacy issues has increased for all of the companies. The increase in privacy-focused lobbying specifically comes in response to inquests from Congress, as well as a number of non-profit organizations.

Open-Source Social Network Diaspora Makes Source Code Public

Diaspora, the open-source social network dubbed the anti-Facebook by the media, has held fast to its founding principles and opened up its source code to the public. With the launch of its developer release, Diaspora founders say they hope to create an “intrinsically more private social network.”

Connecticut School Official Fired for Facebook Comments

The Connecticut school superintendent who was suspended from his six-figure job for a series of inappropriate Facebook posts has officially been fired. According to the Boston Globe, “the Windsor Locks Board of Education Wednesday voted 4-1 Wednesday night to approve a settlement calling for Superintendent David Telesca to resign and continue receiving his salary for six months or until he finds a new job, whichever is sooner.” The superintendent’s Facebook comments included nothing outwardly inflammatory, but they did make it seem as if he didn’t take his job seriously. For instance, in one remark, he wrote that one of his first tasks was “counseling an administrator to retire or face termination.” According to the Globe, he ended the comment with a smiley face.

Ex-Lovers on Facebook Spell Trouble for Relationships

In a column for Fox News, sex therapist Ian Kern explores the growing problem of former flames rekindling their romance on Facebook (despite the fact that they are currently involved in another relationship). Kern explains that “when two people strike up an e-mail or Facebook relationship, it’s easy to begin idealizing each other and blur the line between fantasy and reality.” Because the individuals involved often try and keep the digital romance a secret, this kind of relationship rarely works out and ultimately ends up in the destruction of their current relationship.

Businessweek Tip: Preventing Identity Theft

In today’s Daily Tip from Bloomberg Businessweek, Brendan Ziolo of the California company Hindsight, offers tips on how individuals who work from home can ensure that they don’t become the victims of identity theft. Ziolo explains how you should develop a security solution that works in layers so that one flaw does not open up all of your data.

In today’s Quick Hits, we examine Twitter’s redesign, ponder the penalty for a Google employee who snooped on underage girls, and discuss why University of Miami football players are no longer allowed to tweet.

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Everything You Need to Know About Twitter’s Redesign

Yesterday evening, Twitter began the rollout of a massive site redesign that incorporates rich media such as video and images into the site experience. The change positions Twitter as a media consumption platform, which is the company’s strength, rather than as a social network for sharing idle chit-chat. In this article, Business Insider takes a look at Twitter’s changes and explains how it affects user experience, what it means for advertising, and how it could help grow Twitter usage.

Social Networking Pitfalls for Kids

This article from ABC News offers advice to parents on how to keep their kids safe on social networking websites. Some of the tips include teaching kids not to share private information and not allowing kids to post inappropriate images, among other common sense advice. The article also discusses two “kids only” social networking websites that have popped up in recent years to provide social networking to children without the perceived dangers of an open website.

Google Fires Engineer for Spying on Underage Users

A Google engineer based in the company’s Kirkland, Washington, office has been fired for snooping into user’s personal accounts, including the accounts of four underage women. After firing the employee, Google said in a statement that the company would be “significantly increasing the amount of time we spend auditing our logs to ensure those controls are effective.” Others in the technology sphere, including TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, feel that Google’s actions were not enough and would like to see the company pursue criminal charges against the employee.

Online Privacy Discussed at United Nations Conference

In a new column, Larry Magid discusses this week’s fifth-annual Internet Governance Forum in Lithuania. The UN-sponsored event features a variety of discussions about Internet safety issues, including one panel on “The Future of the Internet,” which discussed whether there should be “an expiration date on personal information.” Magid’s analysis of the panel is a good read and helps show the universality of Internet privacy issues.

University of Miami Football Players Ordered Off Twitter

University of Miami football coach Randy Shannon doesn’t want his players tweeting before, after, and (especially) during games. According to the Miami Herald, Shannon has “ordered a shutdown of all players’ Twitter accounts, effective 2:30 p.m. Wednesday” because he “wants fewer distractions” for his team. In addition to getting his players to focus, Shannon undoubtedly wants to make sure his players don’t do anything inappropriate on Twitter to bring negative attention on themselves and the school.

In today’s Quick Hits, a major university shuts down social media, an Internet expert thinks Google is making us dumb, and some info on why searching for “free” online isn’t the best idea.

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Harrisburg University Bans Social Media for a Week

Harrisburg University in Pennsylvania has decided to temporarily block access to all social media sites from university computers for a week. The decision to ban social media access came from Provost Eric Darr, who told NPR that he wants students to think about how and why they use technology in their daily lives. Given the prevalence of smartphones on campus, however, the ban may not even affect student access to social media websites.

Does Google Make Us Dumb?

Nicholas Carr believes that the Internet is making people dumber, or at least less capable of solving problems on their own. The author of the book The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains recently talked with the BBC about Google and how the company has “an industrial view that everything’s about how efficiently you can find that particular bit of information you need – and then move on to the next.” Carr argues that while Google’s philosophy has allowed the company to make innovative products, it runs the risk of making it impossible for users to concentrate on complex tasks.

Kids Don’t Use Internet Search

A new study from human-computer interaction researcher Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group reveals that young Internet users do not frequently use search when they are surfing the Internet, but rely rather on “bookmarks, remembering their favorite sites, and accessing paid subscription content and games.” This tapers off as kids get older (11-12) when they begin adopting search mentalities similar to adults.

McAfee Warns Against Searching for Free Stuff Online

A new study from McAfee reveals the danger of searching for free content online. According to a CNET report, McAfee’s findings revealed that “adding the word ‘free’ when looking for entertainment content in search engines greatly increases the chances of landing on a site hosting malware.” As an example, “searching for free music ringtones increases the chances of hitting a malicious site by 300 percent.”

Bing Surpasses Yahoo

According to a Nielsen report, Microsoft’s Bing search engine has eclipsed Yahoo to become the number two most-used search engine in the world. Google still holds the top spot with over 65% market share, but Bing’s growth to 13.9% is an impressive climb. Yahoo entered a search agreement with Microsoft last year that allows the company to use Bing’s search technology to power Yahoo search. The full integration of Bing into Yahoo search will be completed by 2012.