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We've heard cops are pinning mugshots and sifting through social media for gang members. But this report from Chicago's Fox 32 News might be the eeriest Internet use case yet: The local medical examiner is now publishing pictures of the faces and identifying markers of the unidentified dead. The goal is to put names to remains.

If that makes you a little uncomfortable, well, don't expect the medical examiner to back down in the face of your squeamishness. As far as they're concerned, the noble ends justify the gruesome means. Fox 32 reports: 

[Medical examiner Dr. Steve] Cina knows the images are graphic, but he makes no apologies. He did take some safeguards, though, making sure a warning page pops up before people see the pictures.

"For the some discomfort that it may show, that people may feel looking at some of the images, it's worth it to reunite some families," Dr. Cina says.

The images appear on both the office's own website and in NAMUS, a national database of unidentified persons.

We're sure the Internet will treat these photos with the gravity they deserve.

(Photo: Tumblr)

A photo was posted to Tumblr today showing former Presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry shredding some sweet tunes on a Guitar Hero game guitar. "My friend lives next door to Rick Perry and invited him over for a Guitar Hero battle," read the post. Betabeat was skeptical. Governor Perry's hand looked like it was at a weird angle, and his face appeared to be a different shade than his neck.

But as it turns out, the photo is real, according to a spokesperson at Governor Perry's press office. "It is a real photo," confirmed Josh Havens. "It's about three years old. The governor was at an event at his neighbor's house, and while there he was asked to pose for a photo with their daughter. She was playing Guitar Hero and he posed with the guitar."

So, not exactly the same story told on Tumblr, but pretty cute nonetheless. This should certainly raised Governor Perry's stock among Internet folk.

(Photo: Twitter)

College is a time for learning about arcane poetry and gender norms, algorithms and political discourse. But it's also a time to lock lips with a sexy, sweaty stranger in an uptown bar as the DJ plays that 2 Chainz song. Spring break forever.

Twitter account @ColumbiaMakeOut has "become a minor phenomenon up in Morningside Heights," one Columbia tipster told Betabeat. The account solicits photo submissions of Columbia students making out in various bars around campus and then tweets outs the lip-locking evidence. It kicked off a few weeks ago, during “senior night.”

"The prime time to catch some people in the act ;)," tweeted @ColumbiaMakeOut.

It seems light-hearted, if sophomoric, until you're the Columbia kid caught with your tongue out--with someone who may or not be your campus boo. "The account is also eerily reminiscent of Creepshots, subReddit that received national scrutiny for publishing photos of women without their consent.

Columbia students seem to have mixed reactions to the account. The school's paper, The Columbia Spectator, called it "refreshing (but also a tad bit creepy.)" The account certainly doesn't make us long for our college days.

What we really want to know is, when did Columbia get so fratty?

Update:

Apparently Ohio University also has one. One more and we have a (gross) trend!

(Photo: Flickr)

Look, we get it: New York is the greatest city in the world and you didn't spend tons of money traveling here to not take pictures of it. We know Central Park is one of the top tourist spots to snap some sweet tall trees/tall buildings pics, but there's a limit, okay? And that limit is definitely wading out onto some thin ice just to take a good Instagram.

Sure, a snow-covered pond looks like it's frozen enough, but even gangly tweens could put enough pressure on that ice to snap it. NBC reports that two teenagers were rescued from Central Park Pond today after falling through the ice while taking pictures. The boys survived with minor injuries, as did the firefighter who waded in to rescue them. But will they survive the scolding of their angry and embarrassed parents?

Best vacation ever!

Mr. Oringer. (Photo: Twitter)

Yesterday was the first IPO of a New York-based tech company since May's Facebook fiasco. In fact, it was the first IPO of a New York-based tech company since 2010, says Bloomberg News. Stepping up to try her luck: stock photo marketplace Shutterstock, which debuted on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SSTK. Jitters notwithstanding, things seem to have gone respectably well.

Businessweek reports that the company sold 4.5 million shares at $17 a pop, giving the company a market cap of $558.3 million, and they closed up 27 percent, at $21.66.

When Betabeat spoke to founder and CEO Jon Oringer, he sounded pleased as punch. "Everyone at Shutterstock is very excited. I'm excited. It all worked out great," he said.

In its nine-year history, Shutterstock has sold a whopping 250 million images. Last year it made $120 million in revenue and paid out $30 million to its 35,000 contributors. The company, which has 250 employees, now sells two images every second. 

"It allows us to continue to be the great company we are already," Mr. Oringer cheerfully chirped of the public offering. Getting a little more illuminating, he added that the company had been profitable for years, and added, "It's an added flexibility. It's an extra thing that's going to help us move along."

"Having the currency, having the strong balance sheet, reaching a status where we can walk into really, really big companies and say, 'we're going to be around for a long time,' will help us," he said.

Perhaps that's why Mr. Oringer hadn't let the Facebook face plant worry him--or so he told us, saying, "I started this nine years ago. I'm thinking about the next nine years." He denied that the controversy over NASDAQ's handling of Facebook had influenced the Shutterstock team's decision-making process. Rather, the New York Stock Exchange had simply been the best fit.

"We met with their team, we liked their team, we saw their technology, we liked their technology, they're right next door," he said.

But we couldn't help but wonder whether someone might be enjoying a bit of enterprise schadenfreude when Mr. Oringer added, "We sell a business product, we sell a commercial product to other businesses. Businesses are not just going to stop needing images." That's the Shutterstock pitch, in essence: The increasing rate at which we consume content on mobile devices means the demand for digital images is only increasing.

Now, Shutterstock has its eye trained on video. "We're going to be there to serve this larger and larger demand," promised Mr. Oringer.  Video currently only accounts for a few million out of Shutterstock's revenues--which totalled $120 million in 2011--but "it's early days." He cited the example of a Miami real estate agency that, in search of a competitive advertising advantage, considered hiring a helicopter to shoot the South Beach skyline. That would have cost thousands. Instead, they used Shutterstock, which set them back a mere $50.

Next week, he'll be stopping by the New York Stock Exchange to ring the bell. It'll be a short trip, as the company's offices are just down the block on Broad Street.

Nothing says tech nerd like checking in to work.

Foursquare gave its users an early christmas present this year, adding photos and comments to its mobile app for iPhone and now Android.

According to founder Dennis Crowley, users are already uploading close to one photo every second, and that's not even counting the Android users who will start taking photos today.

As Mark Zuckerberg has discussed, and as the success of apps like Instagram and PicPlz have demonstrated, photos are really the killer app when it comes to social on the web.

The big question is how Foursquare will deal with this surge in data intensive activity by its users. Thesite had an major outage back in October, which Crowley attributed to "too many check ins".

For the next year at least, Foursquare plans to stay focused on growth, not profit. These new features should supercharge user adoption, and hopefully the site can stay one step ahead of this growth and avoid lengthy downtime.

Check Out The Brooklyn Super Nerds Who Accidently Invited All Of Foursquare To Their NYE Party >>

bpopper [at] observer.com | @benpopper

By adding comments and photos to check ins and archiving all of this activity on a history page, Foursquare has created a real "social diary" for users. A night out that was once remembered with a Facebook photo might now be remembered through a Foursquare check in, complete with images and opinions from friends.

"The trick for us," says Alex Rainert, Foursquare's head of product, "Is how do you add richness that will improve the experience without making the service overwhelming for new users."

Foursquare, which is adding around 25,000 users a day, has been promising photos to its long-term power users for a while. Rainert says photos will drive conversations among friends and enhance the way venues are presented on Foursquare. "Now when you leave a tip about the best table at your favorite pub, you can add a photo to show just what you mean."

Another indication of how these new features add more social networking to Foursquare is the focus on privacy right out of the gate. Comments are only shared with friends, even if a photo or tip is broadcast to Twitter or Facebook. "Everyone needs to take the conversation about privacy very seriously," says Rainert, "But especially for an app like ours that is tracking users location in the background."

Coming down the pipe for Foursquare in 2011, persistent location. "Right now the biggest obstacles are battery life and GPS," says Rainert. Ironically, Foursquare works better in less dense areas, where venues aren't so tightly spaced. "In New York, the way GPS is right now, you could be at any of ten different venues on a single block."

As these technical hurdles are overcome, Foursquare will begin to experiment with modes that check users in automatically. "You want to surface interesting, relevant information," says Rainert. "But you have to make sure that the disruption is worth it. There is nothing users hate more than trying to make a phone call, and finding out an app just killed their battery."

Check Out The Ultimate Nerd New Year's Eve Party, VIP Access By Foursquare Only >>

bpopper [at] observer.com | @benpopper

IPhone users will have photos and comments added to their Foursquare app today, with these features scheduled to roll out to Android next week and Blackberry next month.

Comments will serve as a kind of in-app messaging system. "For instance, meeting up with friends becomes easier when you can comment on the check-ins of nearby friend and tell them to swing by," Foursquare told The Observer by email.

Photos are increasingly becoming the killer feature on smartphones and social networks. Foursquare is smart to add this function, and plans on bringing integration with hot photo apps like Instagram and PicPlz in the near future.

Overall it creates a much richer atmosphere on Foursquare, more akin to a full social network, except that the guiding theme is still the experience of going out.

"Photos and comments also help memories come to life by creating a sort of 'digital scrapbook,'" writes Foursquare. "From your foursquare history page, you can now see the places you’ve been and who you’ve been there with along with photos and comments from these outings."

This raises larger questions of privacy, something which Foursquare is hoping to nip in the bud. Photos on check-ins are only visible to your friends (and the networks you share to, like Facebook and Twitter). Tip and venue photos are open to the community. Comments are only viewable by your foursquare friends (and their foursquare friends).

Overall it seems like a great refresh to the Foursquare experience that adds a lot of depth. Whether the features will catch on, or impede the clarity of the old check-in experience, remains to be seen. Tech Observer will be checking in later today with Alex Rainert, Foursquare's Head of Product, so be sure to tune in for additional details.

Check Out The Ultimate Nerd New Year's Eve Party, VIP Access By Foursquare Only >>

bpopper [at] observer.com | @benpopper