Amazon Cloud

For years, Amazon has been stuck behind Apple's iTunes, and has been searching for ways to make the world's next great music "thing." Finally, it seems as if they have, by creating Amazon Cloud, a new service for computers and Android that allows you to "buy anywhere, play anywhere and keep all your music in one place." However, what makes this service different from iTunes, is that you can also store other computer files to the Cloud Drive, which allows you to back up any file on your computer with one click of a button. These files are also accessible from any computer in the world. Unfortunately, companies such as Dropbox, who were the first to start this online backup service, are put in a position where they must alter their technology or face losing their business. In the last 24 hours alone more users have subscribed to Amazon Cloud than Dropbox had after three years of service Additionally, Amazon's stock rose by nearly 5.50 points today, the day's largest jump for any NYSE listed company.  

What Amazon says makes their product unique, and a step above Apple's is that if you have a computer crashes your entire iTunes library is gone, whereas The Cloud is literally in the sky and accessible from any computer in the world. Another really great feature about The Cloud, is that for Android owners, you do not have to plug in your device to upload your new music. As soon as you purchase a new song, it automatically uploads onto your phone without the wires. And oh yeah, I forgot to mention, for you Android users out there your first 5 GB of memory are free, which translates to over 1,200 songs! Another great plus about Amazon's service, is instead of users needing to buy songs (that is once you have used up your first 1,200) they are most likely still going to be free. Amazon is working out the last chinks of this deal, but they are working with record companies, to set annual fees to provide its entire music library for free. The reason Amazon says they will be able to do this, is that the money they generate from selling additional Gigabytes of memory will more than make up for their costs to the record companies. Before I wrap this post up I will leave you with one last thought: news surfaced this week that Apple is working on their own "Music Locker" to keep up with Amazon's Cloud. Oh what an interesting technology race this may turn out to be!

Citation: http://cdn.pocket-lint.com/images/zYQG/amazon-cloud-drive-streams-in-0.jpg?20110329-092624

Obsolete?

www.mountangelabbey.org

A few days after Google attempted to put millions upon millions of books on their servers, people are beginning to wonder if books are a thing of the past.  I know exactly what you are thinking and that books are very traditional, but in an age when going green is more prevalent then ever, and when we have the technology to download full audiobooks to our ipods and 2000 page novels to our kindles, why not?  Books may not be obsolete per say, but they are at least not as efficient as they were in the 1800s.  Books take up space, are expensive, a destruction to the environment, boring, and also millions upon millions of dollars are spent annually up-keeping and maintaining libraries across the nation.  By no means am i proposing that America should remove every library in the Continental United States, but I am saying that maybe closing 30% would not be the worst idea in the world.  I know that within a 20 minute drive of my house I can get to at least 5 libraries, and all of which have the same books and same old women behind the counter.  I am proposing that libraries combine into fewer locations, maybe make a mega library in the center of each town compared to 10 little ones scattered around the place.  Books are becoming less and less efficient with the inventions of the iPad, Kindle, and E-Book by Sony.  It is only a matter of time before someone tells this to the old women behind the desks.

Will TV soon be outdated?

Many people know about Hulu.com, TVduck.com, and many other websites that allow online viewing of movies and TV shows, but have you heard of Ch131.com? When I first heard about this website, I couldn't help but wonder how such a site isn't illegal. I mean, what is the point of having a TV when you can watch almost any TV show online. As for movies, Ch131 has those too. Obviously they don't have every movie out there, but isn't that what movie theaters and DVDs are for? I mean, think about it- Ch131 puts every TV show up less than a day after it is aired, and thats not even the best part...its all free! Why waste money on cable and a TV when you have free unlimited access online and there is barely a wait? I know I was really nervous about sharing a TV with my roommate this year, especially when we don't have DVR and thus cannot record our shows, but that worry went away the second I first logged on to Ch131. Is this website, along with other similar ones, going to take over the world of Television? Or is there still use for that big black screen that takes up so much more space and empties your wallet?

photo from: http://mrbarlow.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/no-tv.png

Quizzes? for fun?!

Sporcle.com is a website full of quizzes. Quizzes in categories such as sports, music, TV shows, movies, geography, and much much more. So...whats the big whoop? Why do people spend so much time on Sporcle? More specifically, why do teens in high school and college who complain about being quizzed weekly go on sporcle for fun?

From personal experience, I can say that the quizzes on sporcle are...kind of fun. Well, depending on what the category is. I like music and watch a lot of TV, so quizzes like "name the artist", "finish the lyrics", "name that Friends character" are fun for me. Fun may actually not be the word, its more entertaining. Simply, it's just something that is not my work which I can spend hours procrastinating on. 

I know my roommate here at Michigan is a Harry Potter fanatic and plays the "Name 200 Harry Potter Characters"quiz multiple times a day. It is a feat for her. One that she will continue to try for until she gets the full 200 in the time limit of 15 minutes. For her, sporcle is something seen as a challenge. Something she wants to beat and can be proud of when she does. 

Ultimately, the website can be used in any which way you want. If you use sporcle, what's your use of it?

photo from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8PTJKG3vL51jaGo7QeAubIBtT-XaWHZnb-JxO3xMGzR7rDopj3OAhaWeypmebJ7AlYAf9F5Dxpl6eEMP_mW98ssc2H0lAMno4VNrMI9Do47c5liCJf0n9TaTMr_z8SI-s-_S3FVoXwo/s1600/sporcle3.png

What a Match for Media

Goodwizz which was created in 2010, is a French - based social networking platform that is known for it's matchmaking skills. They have personality games from Facebook along with meeting services that help people get to know each other in their area. I knew about other dating services such as Jdate but what makes Goodwizz more up - to - date is the fact that there is a higher level of interactivity and entertainment. The games and optional meeting services go beyond just messaging and photos. Goodwizz also uses Facebook as a major contribution for the site which shows that it is trying to expand the website's capabilities. What I find interesting about Goodwizz is that it shows how prevalent social media is in other countries. This website is more popular in France than the US and it is trying to become a global phenomenon. What I also like about this site is that it refers to other forms of social media. For instance, the Goodwizz post about Facebook's competition with Netflix to be able to watch movies online shows that they are informed about the experimentations of other social networking platforms. What I also found interesting about this site beyond their knowledge about worldly affairs is how the team at Goodwizz interacts with their users. "We, at Goodwizz (www.goodwizz.com) offer our sincere heartfelt condolence to thousands of earthquake Tsunami hit people. As the saying goes “Nothing heals a heart like Time, Love and Tenderness”, and our team is sure that with time and love, we would get over this. Japan! We are with you!" This quote is at the bottom of the post concerning the Earthquake in Japan. Goodwizz.com shows several different aspects of what it means to be a successful platform of social media. It is extremely entertaining and interactive, it is involved in worldly affairs, it helps people connect nearby and cross - culturally, and it allows for pictures, videos, games, and messages. If this is so, why do you think it is not that popular here? Why is it not on the same level as Facebook and Twitter? What should the team at Goodwizz do to try to increase their popularity in America and is it possible for Goodwizz.com to be as popular as Facebook or Twitter? Why or why not? Also what I found confusing was that it is called a match - making site but I was confused as if this meant to find relationships or if it just meant to find people to talk to and connect with on a different level. At first I felt that it was a site similar to Jdate on the idea of finding a loved one just with more interactive elements but then I opted for the latter and felt that it was more of just a website to make friendships and to connect with people on a level separate from romance. What do you guys think?

Image: http://static.ccm2.net/www.commentcamarche.net/actualites/images/5853947-4d3431e5s.png

Mad About March Madness

First it was read on paper, next it was listened to on the radio, after it was watched on TV or researched on the internet, now, among those, it is also followed on blackberry and iphone applications. To what am I referring? Nothing specific. Anything, really. Anything news worthy, that is. Whether it is an interesting story, a tragic event, or even something sports related doesn't really matter.

My question: How far can we go? How else can technology change the way people access information? The iphone, the newest "big thing" is known for its thousands upon thousands of applications. You can find an application for anything, as states their slogan "there's an app for that". But how much of an effect do these apps really have on our society and the way we access information? Well, here are some statistics for one of their latest apps- MMOD, or March Madness on Demand: First, there have been over 702,000 average daily users on MMOD. Also, an average of over 20 minutes per day were spent streaming MMOD on the iphone per unique visitor. 

This goes to show that the way people are accessing information is constantly changing, but why change something that already works so well? These people who are using MMOD regularly are probably also watching the games on TV, looking up statistics on the internet, and even reading about it in the newspaper, so what do they need this app for? Personally, I don't get it. It's not any faster. Maybe it's the conveniency that makes this new app so popular, the ability to stream while at dinner or a party where one doesn't have a computer or TV. What do you think?


Picture from: http://frankinsight.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/marchmadness_logo_normal.gif

Google is Trying to Take Over the World

I'm serious, what Google is trying to do here is pretty scary. Google is hoping to create a digital library of every book ever published! Unfortunately for Google, Judge Denny Chin blocked Google's attempt at digitizing every book ever published. Google's goal, was to create the world's largest digital library, which is consistent with Google's main initiative of making all of the world's information freely available. When news began to leak about Google's idea, it was originally met with great  backlash from prominent authors and publishing companies, who claimed this would rob them of millions of dollars in revenue. However, Google was willing to reach settlements with each of the involved parties in hopes of carrying out their ambitious idea. Eventually, what seemed like a Google vs. authors and publishers battle, ended up with the original combatants siding with each other against Google's main rivals Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo. Google hoped that they could form a legal agreement with top publishing companies that would allow books to be sent directly to Google's digital library, not the UGLI or grad. Ultimately, Judge Denny Chin said doing so would have granted Google a "de facto monopoly" on the publishing industry, which could have caused an uncountable number of companies to go out of business. What do you guys think about Google's idea to create a library where every book ever published would be freely accessible? Do you think this would have been generally beneficial for us in the 21st century, or would it have been pushing the limits of technology?

Citation: http://www.fanboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/googleopoly.jpg

Cyber Bullying: New Media's Way of Saying "Who needs face-to-face to make you scared for your life"

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/
relationships/predators-bullies/one-boys-online-tragedy.html 

 Over about the last half a century there have been drastic advancements in both the fields of technology and communication, with the largest one being the invention and mass usage of the computer and Internet.  The combination of these two has led to wonderful applications such as e-mail, Google, and eBay, but has also been the founder for hysteria and doubt when it comes to childhood usage of the Internet as well as the fear of predators and molesters taking advantage of young and innocent users. To any adult the Internet is a wonderful invention, which allows for one to find information instantly, buy things without leaving the comfort of your living room, and also communicate via e-mail instantly, but to a child it has the potential to simply be another place for bullying and punking, which is extremely dangerous during the puberty years.  In Frontline’s Digital Nation piece on cyber bullying we are told the tragic story of a 7^th grade Ryan Halligan and how he took his life back in October of 2003.  According to his parents, Ryan was a normal happy teenager going through what every kid went through in middle-school, but it turned out that after both a boy and a girl bullied him via AIM he contacted another friend online who helped him decide to kill himself.  Children have historically made fun of one another for their various differences.  For example, the tall kids are to tall, the short ones are to short, the fat kids are overly fat, ect, but what happened here was not only was he made fun of in school, but also he was made fun of at home.  The Internet is definitely a dangerous place for teenagers and as displayed in Ryan’s case it can really corrupt and destroy the emotions of an innocent child. 

Twitter stats

Photo from: http://www.techieblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/twittercounter.jpg

Twittercounter.com is a website that tracks Twitter accounts and everything about them- how many tweets they post a day on average, how many followers they get daily, the amount of people who viewed their account in the last month, and much much more. These statistics interested me, so I decided to look further into things, and track artists' followers before and after the Grammys. I noticed significant changes in the amount of followers of this years grammy performers, such as Eminem and Lady Gaga. 
Eminem, for example, had an increasing following of about 12,411 people a day. The day after his Grammy performance, however, he had almost triple that as he reached almost 33,000 followers. Similarly, Lady Gaga went from a daily average increase of 16,533 followers a day to over 32,000 the day after the Grammys. Do you think it was their performances that made people who are usually not big Eminem or Lady Gaga fans feel like following them? Would it have been just as much of an increased following if her performance wasn't as good? Do you think this was a coincidence or do you agree with my assumption that this sudden spike of daily followers was a direct effect of the Grammys and their spectacular performances?
Additionally, in the case of Lady Gaga, do her eccentric costumes intrigue people and ultimately interest them in following her tweets? Here, for example, is what she looked like in her 2011 Grammy performance: 

Photo from: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/cm/cosmopolitan/images/zs/cos-lady-gaga-grammys-performance-2010-2-lgn.jpg

Xbox Live: Connecting USA, Germany, and Micronesia

http://www.skinz.org/skins/104/15556/Xbox_Live_fullsize.jpg

Most boys in America love video games.  It is a very legitimate statement, as I am confident that no one would argue with it.  According to Gamespot.com the top 5 Xbox Live games are Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, Guitar Hero III, Gears of War, Rock Band all of which can be played on the international level. I personally have played Halo with kids from in Germany, Madden with kids in England, and a FIFA four person game with a Spaniard, Russian, my friend from New Jersey and myself.  The Internet has created connections like nothing else before it, creating an instant link with people literally worlds apart.  With the press of a on button I can connect with my friends from across the street as well as my friends from across the ocean.  Ins't that crazy?  The fact that we can instantly connect with anyone with the use of a simple ethernet chord and a functioning router.  But it doesn't stop just there.  People can chat and actually meet the people they have to shoot and beat on the other side of the controller, furthermore connecting the world and making boundaries even smaller.  As memorably quoted in Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Mans Chest "The world is shrinking.  The blank corners of the map are being filled in."  The world is clearly "getting smaller" and now with world wide video games, it is another step closer to being just a button click away.

Speak2Tweet

Speak2Tweet... it sounds catchy but what does it mean? This form of new media is allowing information about the revolution in Egypt to cross borders into places such as the United States and Germany. There were 50,000 protestors in the streets of Cairo and due to this contribution to Twitter, it has been said that the number of protestors are growing. People are using Google, Facebook and Twitter to post messages and updates about their protests. What I found most interesting was the SayNow social media platform that is an add on to Twitter. It is voice - based and the Egyptians call a number and leave a message which is ultimately transferred to Twitter and can be played through the website. This revolution to remove Egypt's leader, Hosni Mubarak, has gained momentum through social media devices and it is even at the point where protestors are going through desperate measures to charge their cellphones. The best part about Speak2tweet is that no Internet conncetion is needed. People used Vodafone and MobiNil to text and leave voice messages and they were able to call three different numbers to leave messages as well. According to Ujjwal Singh, the co-founder of SayNow, and AbdelKarim Mardini, Google’s product manager for the Middle East and North Africa their main priority is to make sure Egypt has all the support they can get. “We hope that this will go some way to helping people in Egypt stay connected at this very difficult time. Our thoughts are with everyone there.” This statement shows their concern for helping Egypt through their time of need and it also shows how important it is to stay connected. Since social media devices are a form of connection, it is necessary for these platforms to continue to develop and expand.

"Protestors charged their cellphones in a tangle of power bars and extension cords in Tahrir Square on Tuesday" - New York Times

Click Here to see the latest video sent by Egyptians through speak2tweet

Kogi Korean BBQ Truck

Source

           Mark Manguera came up with the perfect plan to sell gourmet Korean BBQ tacos from a mobile truck in the Los Angeles area. His target customers? LA club goers in search of late-night eats, but sick of greasy fast food. Kogi Korean BBQ truck looked to establish a street culture vibe that would attract this targeted customer base, which has now come to be known as “Kogi culture.”

Manguera’s distinctive delivery method was not only what made the venture unique, but also surprisingly difficult to attract a customer base. He needed to find a way to let people know where the Kogi truck would be at any given time, as it would travel all over Los Angeles, from Venice to Culver City to downtown and back. If you’ve ever been to LA, you already understand how this task might be difficult. There was no way for truck drivers to plan in advance exactly what time they would be at any given location due to the infamous LA traffic, police blockades and other various travel issues. Kogi Korean BBQ needed to come up with a fast way to communicate the truck’s every location at any given moment to their constantly growing customer base.

The Terminator: Sci-Fi Movie or Realistic Fear

http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads
/terminator-2-terminator-297829_506_755.jpg

I know exactly what your thinking, why in the world would people invent robots to kill them, especially when they will be as handsome and powerful as Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Lets be honest, his tall, dark, handsome, and that accent is to die for.  My one question is "Could that movie be a realistic prediction of the future?".  Now just hear me out.  Ever since storytelling began hundreds of hundreds of years ago, people have been using symbols and metaphors within their works.  A dove represents peace, a ring represents love, and ice can represent death.  Can a Terminator be considered a symbol not for robotics, but for technology for a whole?  The basic plot of the movie Terminator is that robots come back in time to destroy people who are a threat to them in a war in the future.  Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of these robots and attempts to kill the leader of the human race.  But how does this seem anything near real world situations?  We live in a world where people have machines do everything.  Drive us to work, communicate with our peers, even monitor us when we sleep. But now so more then ever we are seeing people abuse machinery at quite possibly the worst times.  Teenagers are texting while driving, people are on conference calls while on the freeway and when devices like smoke detectors malfunction, it can lead to fatal results.  Society 15 and 20 years ago realized where technology should play as a role in everyday life, in the background. Take away the meaningless tasks, but in modern times people are abusing it to the point of death or near fatal injuries.  But the buck doesn't stop here.  Children are IMing for hours on end, taking away from their education, while teenagers are playing Xbox live and Playstation online til the wee hours of the morning.  By no means am I a martyr, but I do think we all need to take a step back and reevaluate what we let effect our lives.  Losing a cell phone is a bigger deal then writing a paper.  A place where Internet is down is highly frowned upon.  And people without the most up to date equipment are seen as inferior.  What ever happened to personal interaction?  Face-to-face?  Non-multitasking.  By no means is James Cameron a prophet, but I do think he had something right when he directed this Sci-Fi blockbuster .

Technology and Japan

After the devastating earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan, I have read about many incredible ways people and technology have helped aid in the recovery process. One of the first articles I read, talked about how students at Tufts University have used a Facebook and Twitter to create maps that pinpoint crisis areas across Japan. This technology, which was also very in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, allows people (if they have internet access) to Tweet or Facebook about a certain problem nearby, so it can be added to crisis maps, which are distributed to the Red Cross and other emergency aid organizations. Also, similar to what happened during the recent uprising in Egypt, Twitter and Facebook are working to set up toll free telephone lines that will allow users to broadcast their messages onto the internet. Also, phone services such as AT&T and Verizon are looking to make all calls to Japan free for the month of March. Hopefully, this can help families to reconnect with loved ones who have been displaced by the disaster.

One amazing technology that I have read about since the disaster in Japan was launched by Google, and is known as the "person finder." This interface is very simple, and it works by allowing users to either look for someone or provide information about someone. When you are searching for somebody, you type in their name and it will provide you with any information about their whereabouts and how you might be able to contact them. You can also type in information about a person, which can update those who are desperately searching for loved ones. Although this technology is amazing and very helpful, it has been the bearer of very sad news to thousands of families who learned that their loved ones were no longer with us. However, because anybody can access the interface, and there is no way for Google to validate the information, there have also been many stories of people posting information inaccurate information about those displaced persons. Even though the server is not always going to be accurate, it more often than not provides people with valid information. Hopefully the world can continue to rally around Japan and help it rebuild as soon as possible.

Citations: http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2011/03/14/1226021/298659-japan-earthquake.jpg

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2011/03/13/aqui.japan.google.tool.missing.cnn

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/science-technology/US-Japanese-Students-Use-Facebook-Twitter-to-Map-Crisis-Points-117965689.html

The Transmedia Bowl

"Not that the ads will be the best ever. It may be that 2011 Super Bowl advertisers now are so focused on spreading the message across so many media channels that many forgot to focus on the content of the central message itself."
This article, "Super Bowl ads mix old and new media," by Bruce Horovitz in USA Today, discusses the effects new media has on advertising and marketing tactics in contemporary society. The Super Bowl has become the first "transmedia bowl." What does this mean? It means that the campaigns used during the Super Bowl commercials are not just tv commercials, they are a "multichannel, multiplatform, deeply social experience." The commercials are directing viewers to other forms of social media that will help them become more interested in their product. For instance, Sketchers shoe company is using  Facebook to show images of an add with Kim Kardashian declaring her break up with her trainer in order to gain followers for their product. This add will lead viewers to Sketcher's Facebook page and if a viewer declares their own "break up" they can get a personalized video from Kim Kardashian or win a workout session. The catch phrase is "break up to shape up" and although it sounds ridiculous, using social media and a celebrity icon will get viewers to buy these sneakers much faster than they would in the past. 

This is not the only company who has thought to use social media as a campaign method. For instance, Bud Light constructed a guessing game that brings people to the brand's Facebook page before the game. "Audi is using Facebook and a Twitter hash tag in the ad this year to drive game viewers to tweet about the ad and check it out on Audi's Facebook page." The list of companies using Twitter and Facebook in order to further their campaigns is endless. The point of this post is to show how multi - media is consuming our lives. These ads would never have such desire to include social media in their design a decade ago. We are living in an era where technology is prevalent and each company is competing to remain ahead in every form of social media possible. Do you think this causes the real content behind these messages to be lost?
Every company has a Facebook page and a Twitter because if they don't, they will fall behind in the marketing world. What is this saying about our culture? How many forms of social media is too many? Also, did you see the difference in this years Super Bowl ads compared to previous years when social media was not as ubiquitous?

The Ultimate Multi-Taskers

Source

Being 18 years old myself, I can easily relate to Roman and his classmates in Alone Together. Starting off the segment “Growing up Tethered” Roman admits that he texts while driving and that he will never stop. Because I am part of the same generation of the teenagers in this article, I can pretty accurately say that this is not necessarily the norm. Furthermore, I think there is a very big difference between checking your Facebook while driving and checking a text message or answering a phone call. This difference, however, is not one of safety. Rather this difference occurs on a mental level. Roman talks about how he must check his Facebook the moment he receives a notification, regardless of if he is driving. In my opinion, if someone is sending me a Facebook message or writing a post on my wall, it is most likely nothing of urgency. The only reason that I would even look at my phone while driving, is the thinking that someone might be trying to get in touch with me about something urgent. This constant paranoia is a whole other problem that our generation deals with, however, I personally think that it is more justifiable than just wanting to see what someone wrote on my Facebook wall. Regardless of the reason, texting while driving has been proven time and time again to be an extremely dangerous task, which is why it has been legally banned in 30 states.

Learn more about cell phone usage laws.

Response to "Alone Together"

In the excerpt of "Alone Together", a group of 10 or 15 high school kids are interviewed. Each of them talk about their connection to technology. Roman admits that he texts while driving because "[he has] to see" his new message. Maury states that he always must know who is calling and for what reason, so he will hang up on his friends even if the call waiting is from an "unknown". Marilyn adds that she "[doesn't] have a choice", that she needs to look at her phone when a text comes in and must always pick up her phone if she hears it ring. These statements were a little surprising to me, but not utterly shocking. What really got to me was when a group question "When was the last time you felt that you didn't want to be interrupted?" was asked and there was silence. I don't understand how there haven't been any instances in which these kids wanted to be alone. How do they have a minute to think or breathe? Better yet, when they took the SATs and had their phones off for 4 hours, didn't they feel symptoms of withdrawal? What if their phone broke, would they be able to even survive a day without it? With these questions in mind, I can't help but wonder what this need for constant connection means for the new generation? Are we simply addicted to technology or is it just that we are more curious than previous generations?

Social Music Revolution- why/why not?

Pretty much everyone knows what Facebook is. The same goes for Pandora. But how come Last.fm doesn't get the same credit?
Last.fm is a website which combines the best of both worlds: music and social interaction. The site allows users to make a profile and select their favorite artists and songs. Much like Pandora, Last.fm will recommend music for you based on these selections. Also, the site helps connect people to their "musical neighbors" as they call it, or people who love the same type of music as you do. This capability is similar to the social networking through personal interests and connections on Facebook. The site also conveniently recommends concerts and events in your area and also lets users listen to personalized radio stations.
I can't help but wonder if this site isn't getting as much credit as it deserves- is it just me or should this be a website on par with Twitter, Stumble Upon, and other extremely popular new media websites? If you disagree, why? What does the website lack?
Of course, there is always another side to this story- maybe I am living under a rock and am one of the few that have never heard of this before. Please give me some insight!

Photo from: http://www.thetechherald.com/media/images/200819/Last_FM_1.jpg

The Android Takes Over

We live in a generation, where having cool stuff matters. What I mean by this, is that you don't want to be that guy walking around school with a flip phone or something lame, you want to be like everyone else and have an iPhone or BlackBerry...right? Wrong, according to recent data, the Android has surpassed the BlackBerry as the most popular smart phone market. Androids, make up 31.2% of the market, while BlackBerry is 30.4% and the iPhone is 24.7%. As I read about the Android taking over the cell phone industry, I was shocked.

According to the article I read, there were are many reasons as to why the Android has surged into first place in the last six months. First, unlike the BlackBerry or iPhone, the Android does not charge for its mobile operating system. What this means, is that many smaller cellular providers such as T-Mobile, BoostMobile and Alltel are able to have their own versions of the phone for free, as opposed to the millions of dollars it costs them to deliver BlackBerry and iPhone service. Not only does the Android's availability help it reach millions of more customers, but because Google (they created the Android) offers lucrative rebates, the phone can be close to free when if you sign up for a long term contract. Another major reason for Android's surge is simply the name behind the product, Google. In today's world, certain product names hold weight with consumers, and when people see the Google name, they know they will be getting a hi-tech and reliable device. Also, because nearly everyone in the world is familiar with the Google operating system, they are more inclined to buy a device that won't require much of a learning curve.

One of the most important reasons for the Android's recent takeoff is its unparalleled App. store. Something that many iPhone users have complained about is that there are far too many applications that provide the same service, and that many of the applications are not even useful. The Android, has taken strides to limit which applications make it to their market, by reviewing each of them to ensure uniqueness. Also, almost all Android applications are free, while nearly all of the 300,000 iPhone apps. go for a dollar a piece.

Citations: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/03/08/android.top.smartphones/index.html?iref=NS1

http://www.thebluntblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/google-android-htc-g1-vs-iphone-3g.jpeg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o85xQbPN1o

Facebook: The Effect

It is only natural for society to have norms.  Norms allow for there to be a sense of what is normal, and what of course is not.  In today's modern age, it is normal to have a cell phone, to have a computer, and to be able to read.  These things are almost expected.  If you were to tell me you could not read, my first guess would be that you are legally blind, then that you were born in a poor nation that could not educate you, then I would ask if you simply never learned in America.  Norms create boundaries, and allow us to know what is creepy and what is not, what is normal and what is weird.  Facebook is used by millions upon millions of people around the world, each of which has a profile that defines who they are in the Web 2.0 era.  People post information ranging from age, hometown, and favorite quotes, all the way to things like religion, past life experiences, and other things that can be seen by some as intrusive and invasive.
According to the work "The Facebook Effect" the older you are, the more likely you are going to find the plethora of information overwhelming, invasive, and most of all unnecessary.
Today's society feeds off of the Internet at this point, as basically anything can be done from ones own living room.  Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook says that people should not have a split between the personal and professional life, stating that it is not honest.  But in a world where every company now does background as well as Facebook checks on your past profile, why shouldn't there be?  Due to a wealth of information, can one not be a workaholic by day and a party animal at night?  Can one not go out and enjoy themselves because of the fear of people taking Facebook pictures and posting them?  People now need to monitor anything and everything they do, simply because anything can end up being posted on a Facebook page.  The effect of Facebook on society will never be able to be truly measured, but one thing for certain is that Facebook has changed social norms more then anything in recent memory.
Facebook began as a place for college students to connect with one another and stay in touch.  But now with the millions upon millions of users and apps, it has basically became its own society.  People can now buy airplane tickets online through Delta's Facebook page.  I personally have bought concert tickets through Facebook, but is this good?  Can one website have this much power?  Is Facebook a Monopoly 2.0?  Facebook records all, and because of this it invades on anything and everything people do.

Social Networking Today

What I found to be the most interesting concept of "The Facebook Effect" is the whole idea about the positive and negative outcomes about expressing too much of yourself on the internet. According to Mark Zuckerberg, social and personal lives should not be separated from one another. The world should be open and honest and a place where each individual has one identity. Evan Sheryl Sandberg explicitly states, "You can't be on Facebook without being your authentic self." My biggest question is determining whether or not this is a valid statement. There is always that chance of a fake identity which "The Facebook Effect" talks about later in the article. Someone could create a fake name and create an entire persona based on lies. To counteract this assumption, Zuckerberg explains how the people around you help create your persona even if it contradicts the fake life you are trying to create. In other words if you write one thing on your status but your friends write something else on your wall, it is clear that there are many different aspects out of your control that contribute to defining your identity.

Following along the pathway of not having control, nothing on Facebook is confidential. Although there are multiple privacy settings that have been tweaked due to popular demand, Facebook contains information that extends beyond a small circle of people. For instance, companies have rejected 35% of applicants due to inappropriate pictures uploaded on this website. Athletes have been suspended from schools after the principal witnesses pictures of these students smoking or drinking at a party. There are even more extreme measures such as a women being arrested due to animal violence after publicly displaying pictures of drowning rabbits on Facebook. Overall, this leads back to the same repeatedly asked questions. How much information should be displayed on Facebook? How is Facebook positively and negatively affecting the lives of people on a more extreme level? How could we be sure out information is being used the way we say it should?

In my opinion, the idea of being your open, honest self is not necessarily the best thing to do. There are consequences for revealing your full identity on the web and I think some aspects of your life should be kept private. How do you guys feel about this idea?

Social Media comes in many forms

"Social Media Today is an independent online community for professionals in PR, marketing, advertising, or any other discipline where a thorough understanding of social media is mission critical." This website is interesting because it talks about the different kinds of social media and how they affect society. This is necessary because with so many different forms of social media, we need to learn how each specific form of media works This website has posts about about how mobile media can be a strategic element in market plans as well as how twitter can be informative for real - life events. This website helps people learn how to publish a blog, along with how to become a social media manager. SocialMediaToday is a reliable website where the authors provide "insight and host lively debate about the tools, platforms, companies and personalities that are revolutionizing the way we consume information." The article I found most compelling was titled, "Twitter - New Media or News Media?" This article talks about how although television reporters and broadcasters successfully cover certain events, Twitter is a source of news for it's own community. Before TV broadcasters were able to get a live shot of "The Sinkhole on North and Oakland" someone tweeted a picture of the event. Before the local news covered the story about the Escalade stuck in the sinkhole, a citizen of the community tweeted about the event and became the first informative source. Overall this specific story shows how much of an influence new media has on our society. It creates a community in and of itself and it even provides accurate information before it has been covered on television. Do you think twitter and other forms of New Media will continue to be the primary source of information? Do you find these tweets accurate and helpful for the community? Also on the topic of socialmediatoday.com, do you think this website has a distinct purpose that will help viewers to further understand how to benefit from new media in the world today? New Media is extremely confusing due to the multiple different forms. In my opinion, this website is definitely informative because it discusses these different forms of new media and their purposes in everyday society. Check out this site for yourself so I could hear your opinion on this topic.

Everyone needs a clear view of what works and what doesn't in Social Media

Image: (http://socialmediatoday.com/SMC/201927)

The future is soon

http://cdn.myverse.com/mod/money/graphics/count_money.jpg

Every movie of the future has a few predictions of how society will change in common: flying cars, shinier clothing, and of course all money being electronic and off of paper.  You can look at Back to the Future, Blade Runner, Minority Report, all of which involve money being something other then a combination of cotton and green dye.   Imagine a world with no real money, but where everything is swiped.  Businesses like pizza places and bagel stores would lose thousands of money, gas stations would have to make prices based on credit and debit rather then cash, and places like strip clubs and brothels will now have to show up on the credit cards of thousands.
Now some think this change is inevitable, simply because we are shifting towards a society that everything is monitored, from the information on your Facebook down to the blogs and people you follow.  Minority Report actually satires this in their movie whenever a customer enters a store, his or her eye is scanned and then a consuming profile is pulled up showing all of their past purchases and recent transactions.
But how unrealistic is this?  Facebook now sells its user's information to advertisers and marketers for not only research, but also for sales information.  If we take a logical progression it is only logical to assume that stores will now be able to swipe our cards and know everything from the clothes we wear and even to the things you like and dislike.  The world is changing, and information is becoming more and more available to anyone and everyone.
The sad thing is there is very little anyone can do to prevent the trend.  People are not going to get off Facebook.  All the power lies in the users, and they are to obsessed to find any type of solution or compromise in the matter.  Now all that is left is to sit back, relax, and enjoy the electronic ride.

Response to "The Facebook Effect," "Writing, Technology and Teens" and "Social Media and Young Adults"

After doing these required readings, I learned a lot about teenagers, Facebook, and social media. I found all of these readings to be very interesting and filled with facts and statistics I never would have imagined to be true. I mean, let's be honest here, who would have imagined that Facebook is searched more frequently in Google than sex. I think one of the most interesting parts about "The Facebook Effect," was reading about its ability to show the "realness" in anybody. What I mean by this is that Facebook does not judge you on who you are, what job you have or how much money you make. For example, a banker was recently fired for saying she needed the day off to attend to family matters when in fact Facebook pictures later circulated showing that worker drinking and partying the entire day. Facebook even showed its ability to intrude in the life of Sir John Sawers, who is the head of the British Secret Intelligence Service. Recently, his wife posted Christmas pictures on Facebook that seriously compromised his family's security because they it revealed his address and personal interests. Who would have thought that the head of one of the most private and powerful agencies in the world could be compromised by Facebook?

I think another really interesting part of Facebook, is how people use it to make judgements about other people. For example, in a recent poll, 35 percent of all companies admitted they have rejected applicants based on information they found on Facebook. I found this to be so startling, because in Barack Obama's autobiography, he admitted to smoking marijuana and even doing cocaine, yet he is the President of the United States and arguably the most powerful man in the world. I think this is a really interesting example, of how it's important to consider the platform in which you are projecting information. Had President Obama arbitrarily posted on Facebook that he had used Cocaine, it would have caused absolute outrage, but when it was mentioned in his book, it really was not a big deal. This showed me how people are easily judged through the information they put on Facebook, and as Jared Cohen, a Google executive said, Facebook is really a "digital democracy" in terms of how easily people can be judged from what they post on their profile.

One last thing I would like to touch on, is some of the interesting stuff mentioned in "Writing, Technology and Teens." Something that I honestly found to be disturbing, is how research is showing a connection between the online writing of teenagers and the writing we use in the classroom. At first, I thought to myself, there is no way I would ever write the way I do on Facebook or AOL as I would in this blogpost or an academic essay, but then I realized, it happens all the time! The fact is, nearly 50 percent of teens admit they shorthand their writing on the internet, and it's spilling over into our academic writing. I found it really interesting that the internet is able to have such a strong impact on our thinking that we are subconsciously are writing u instead of you, in the middle of a research paper! As technology continues to progress, I think it's crucial teenagers find ways to separate their online writing from in school writing, or this may become a problem an even bigger problem than it already is.