The Future of New Technology

This article may not be as "technical" worthy to be posted in our blog, however I feel that it does bring up more chances and opportunity for more technology to become even bigger.

Scientists have discovered a new planet called GJ 1214b, that is mostly made of water, which is 40 light years away. To put this in perspective a light year is 5,865,696,000,000 miles away. Now that is only 1 light year. Now a light year helps you determine age as well. So for example, a star that is 1 million light years away, means that that start has traveled at the speed of light to reach us, and it took 1 million years for us to see it. So the star we are seeing is really how the star looked a million years ago, not how it looks today.

Now that's a crazy thought to handle. Thinking that we are seeing something in a different time then it is traveling even at the moment.

The main reason I chose this article was because there is no possible way for us to get to this planet. So if you could actually ride a space ship, it would take us 40 light years to get there. If we could only build a ship to get there, what would we find. People believe there would be life, however much different than ours. Because the planet is bigger and much warmer than earth (400 degrees in fahrenheit), people like us could not live there. But since there is water, there would be life-like beings or creatures.

It is amazing how we can find planets that are this far away from us, yet alone know that there is water and life on it. This planet was discovered when 8 MEarth project telescopes on top of Mt. Hopkins, Arizona watched it's star and saw the star dim slightly as the planet crossed in front of it. It is amazing that even today we have telescopes that let our eye see 40 light years away.

The Copenhagen Wheel

The Copenhagen Wheel turns an ordinary bike into a hybrid. The Copenhagen Wheel is a hub that you put on any rear bike wheel and within it the hub employs regenerative braking, an electric motor and even a Bluetooth connection to your iPhone for real-time data display. Every time you hit your brake the electric motor gathers energy and disperses energy through the motor when it senses that you are climbing a hill or if your pedaling slows in general. The Bluetooth connection sends data to your iphone which you then can share with other riders throughout the city and on other social networking sites like myspace and facebook. It even lets you rack up “green miles” as you travel about, a system not unlike a frequent-flyer program that rewards you for logging time on your bike rather than a car, bus or train.

The Copenhagen Wheel will change the way people commute to work, and hopefully help the obesity within our society.

Check out this Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7y3qIQu3Gc&feature=player_embedded

SPENCER WARD

New Privacy Settings on Facebook

I noticed this article about 48 hours after updating my settings in facebook. Privacy and security should always be a concern when using a systen where just about anybody can get your personal information. Be carefull out there guys! I've had a lot of fun in class, have a great holiday and see you in January!

iPhone 3GS

The iPhone has been a worldwide phenomenon. People of all ages, ethnicities, religions and sexes use it. The iPhone was introduced in January of 2007 by Apple inc. After a few improvements, in June 2009 Apple introduced the iPhone 3GS which had been improved upon even more. These improvements include its overall performance, a camera with more megapixels and video capability, and voice control and can hold up to 32GB of storage. Along with these, the iPhone 3GS comes with some awesome apps! These apps include:

Compass

With a built-in digital compass, iPhone 3GS can point the way. Use the new Compass app, or watch as it automatically reorients maps to match the direction you’re facing.

Cut, Copy & Paste

Cut, copy, and paste words and photos, even between applications. Copy and paste images and content from the web, too.

Landscape Keyboard

Want more room to type on the intelligent software keyboard? Rotate iPhone to landscape to use a larger keyboard in Mail, Messages, Notes, and Safari.

Messages

Send messages with text, video, photos, audio, locations, and contact information. You can even forward one or more messages to others.

Search

Find what you’re looking for across your iPhone, all from one convenient place. Spotlight searches all your contacts, email, calendars, and notes, as well as everything in your iPod.

Accessibility

iPhone 3GS offers accessibility features to assist users who are visually or hearing impaired. These features include the VoiceOver screen reader, a Zoom feature, White on Black display options, Mono Audio, and more.

Internet Tethering

Surf the web from practically anywhere. Now you can share the 3G connection on your iPhone with your Mac notebook or PC laptop.

Voice Memos

Capture and share a thought, a memo, a meeting, or any audio recording on the go with the new Voice Memos application.

Nike + iPod

iPhone includesbuilt-in Nike + iPod support. Just slip the Nike + iPod Sensor (available separately) into your Nike+ shoe and start your workout.

Stocks

Stocks on iPhone shows you charts, financial details, and headline news for any stock you choose. Rotate iPhone to see even more detailed information.

YouTube

Watch YouTube videos wherever you are. Log in to your YouTube account to save and sync bookmarks and rate your favorites.

Find My iPhone
and Remote Wipe

If you misplace your iPhone, Apple’s MobileMe service can help you find it. Log on to me.com to view a map that shows the approximate location of your iPhone. If it’s nearby, have it play an alert sound to help you find it. If it’s not, you can display a custom message, remotely lock it with a passcode, or initiate a remote wipe and restore it to factory settings.

All iPhone application information found at: http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3gs/

The iPhone is a great way to keep in touch with friends and surf the web. If you are in need of a new phone or a new toy check out the iPhone 3GS. Most say you won't be sorry!

Posted by: KYRSTEN GEDDES

Tweeting Toddlers Alert

Toys have become even more high tech now that even young toddlers that can barely speak have the opportunity to "Tweet" what they are doing. This new toy, the Twoddler, that has been modified by Fisher Price has sensors hooked to an Arduino circuit and sends information via wireless ZigBee protocol to a nearby computer.

So for example when little Tommy is annoyingly banging on the bell of the toy, over and over, the computer might translate this as him saying "Tommy is showing off his music skills with a new tune." This is funny because there is no way Tommy might be agree or actually want something by banging on the toy, Right?

What could be even more weird and silly is that when little Tommy decides to tweet in the way described above, then other people 3 time his ages will be reading it thinking it could be an adult or something.

This is just wrong and stupid. What will be next...? The funny thing is, is that the baby doesn't even know or understand that it is broadcasting to the world with brainless thoughts and repetitive actions.

Nielson Company to Add Online Views to Its Ratings System

The Nielson Company announced on Tuesday, December 1st that they will be installing Internet measuring meters in 7,500 of their television panel homes. Nielson uses these homes to measure television ratings, which the TV industry then uses to sell $70 billion in advertising each year. Eventually, this data will be used to calculate combined ratings for TV and Internet viewing.

Because of more viewers watching TV episodes online, Nielson has be under pressure to find a way to track viewership more effectively. Media companies have been demanding for a way to track Internet viewing ratings so they can sell more Internet advertising. The Consortium for Innovative Media Measurement, a group of media companies, stated, “media measurement is not keeping pace with urgent business needs.” Even though this is a step in the right direction, the Nielson Company still has a long road ahead of them to keeping this system accurate. Colleen Fahey Rush said that Nielson’s plan is "encouraging" and that the change would be difficult. She also stated, “Nielson has a lot of heavy lifting ahead of them.”

The Nielson Company is the world’s leading marketing and media information company. The company collects and analyzes how people gather information, interact and consume media. They also analyze how consumers buy goods and services. The Nielson company is active in more than 100 countries and their corporate headquarters are located in New York City.

The New Nano

The new ipod nano has made some pretty cool changes. Since the ipod came out it went from just holding music to holding music, pictures, videos and movies. Nike also teamed up with Apple to make a chip that monitors the calories burned and the pace and time of runners. This option continues to stay with the ipods. The new ipod has thrown out all of the stops and has added a video camera, voice recorder, and FM radio with live pause. All of these options have never been in any of the previous ipods. Apple continues to impress us with their new innovations and options. This new ipod comes in the 8gb size or 16gb, which comes in handy when you want to store movies on it for a long drive or flight. With Apple it's not if it's when it will happen. They are making our dreams realities.


Spencer Ward

Google Faces More Legal Issues

In the latest of numerous legal battles against Internet giant Google, Italian prosecutors are charging Google executives with defamation and failure to comply with privacy laws. According to a New York Times article, Google failed to remove an offensive video showing Italian high school bullies picking on a classmate with Downs Syndrome. Google maintains it followed Italian and European law, but if the case is ruled against it, the California based company may have to change the way it operates overseas.

Google has plenty of troubles here in the states as well. The company has attached an apology of sorts to an ad that portrays a racially offensive image of First Lady Michelle Obama. You can read an in-depth article from the on-line edition of the San Francisco Chronicle here.

It will be interesting to see just where the issue of on-line content responsibility and regulation will go in the future.

FCC chairman: Broadband access should be universal

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced today that Broadband access should be made available to all US citizens, despite the fact that not all citizens who have access to such services currently subscribe.

According to an Associated Press article, the Chairman said "... broadband is a critical infrastructure challenge of our generation." Citing differences in internet use by various demographic & economic groups, the Chairman did not specify how the government would pay to make broadband access more readily available, but did say that they he hoped to have a plan in place by February 2010.

Visit Wikipedia's article on Internet Access to see the history and different internet access options available. In that article, Wiki states "Today, there is a big push by the United Nations to make Internet access a human right. This push was made when it called for universal access to basic communication and information services at the UN Administrative Committee on Coordination."

The article continues, "In 2003, during the World Summit on the Informaiton Society, another claim for this was made. In some countries such as Estonia, France, Finland, and Greece, Internet access has already been made a human right." (Read article on France's High Court runling from June 2009 here.)

Droid detrones iPhone?

There was an article in Ad Age edition on the 26th of October that talked about the new phone from Verizon saying that this device called Droid will beat the iPhone. This phone has a lot of the iPhone features but at the end of the article it says that there are a lot of loyal costumers already for Apple so it will be a challenge to beat this technology and replace it with the new one. The price for Droid is 199.99

Twitter

I few weeks ago I heard people talking about Twitter. I didnt really know what was it, I wasnt sure but now I know it is another social site, like Facebook and Myspace and many others. Im only familiar with Facebook and Myspace. After being an active user of those sites, I came up with the conlcusion that they are addicted sites and make you be on the for hours and hours, meaning there could be many other thing you can be doing instead. Im in college, I already have my scheduale so thight so instead of visiting these sites for hours I can be doing homework thats why I decided to close my Myspace account and I noticed that I did spend a lot of time on that site. However, there are still a lot of people opening up new accounts in different sites, make sure thats not your priority. For this reason I didnt know what Twitter is all about but there is some of the basic information I want to share.

Etsy

Etsy is a new wave of online shopping. It is a website that was established in 2005 and has helped "starving" artists since. Etsy provides the general public with a way to buy and sell handmade items as well as vintage items and craft supplies. Etsy has tens of thousands of sellers and twice as many buyers. Etsy encourages a friendly community between those buyers and sellers similar to social networking. There is a Forum section for discussion and networking. Members can contact one another through an internal message system called Conversations. There is also the option to make a shop or item a Favorite or "Heart" them so you can keep track of shops to easily find them later and be updated of their new items. In addition there is a section for Custom requests called Alchemy where members can request or offer custom handmade goods. Etsy also supports "street teams", groups of Etsy sellers affiliated by location or interest that work together to promote their team members. Members of Etsy are sometimes referred to as Etsians.

Many people find Esty a very rewarding website, because not only do they have the capabilities to communicate with other artists, but buyers enjoy helping and supporting some of their own local artists and businesses. A new trend has been to buy gifts on online stores such as this rather than big department stores that are running the local ones out of business.

There are many bloggers that indefinitely try to help these Etsy sellers by announcing them to the readers of their blog.

Etsy is a great place to buy and sell homemade items. Whether you have a passion for making them yourself or just want to help others with their small businesses stay afloat- check out Etsy!

By: Kyrsten Geddes

5 Easy Steps to Stay Safe (and Private!) on Facebook

Want a safer, more secure and private environment on Facebook? Especially, when 30% of employers use Facebook to look up potential employees. Look at these five easy steps to staying safe on Facebook.

1. Make Friend Lists

Create “Friend Lists” and put your friends into categories that relate to the relationship you hold with them. For example, put your co-workers and work acquaintances in “Work,” family in “Family,” friends in “Friends,” etc. You can also set your security settings so only certain lists see what you want them to see.

2. Who Can See What on Your Profile

Set your security profile and decide you gets to see what. By creating “Friend Lists”, you can also create the security levels for each group, giving different information access to each one.

3. Who Can See Your Address and Phone Number

If you listed your address and phone number on Facebook, make sure you have secured that information in your “Privacy Settings” profile. Again, by setting up “Friend Lists,” you can allow certain groups to see that information and other groups so they can’t. For example, maybe you want your “Family List” to see your address and phone number, but not your “School Friends List.”

4. Change Who Can Find You on Facebook via Search

Do you always wonder how certain people found you on Facebook? By setting your “Search Privacy” settings, you can decide who finds you.

5. Stop Sharing Personal Info with Unknown Applications

Control information that apps, like games and quizzes, on Facebook gather about you. By fixing what they are allowed to see and gather about you, you are protecting your privacy and your friends’ privacy (Oh, the apps can gather information not only on you but your friends too). By going into your “Privacy Settings” then click on “Applications” and then “Settings,” you can decide what information the Facebook Apps gather about you. Because once you authorize an app to run, you are allowing any information to be accessed from your account!

Google acquires Admob for $750 million

Admob is the largest mobile avertising market place and Google acquired Admob today for $750 million. Admob is very popular on the Iphone. Google will pay with google shares. The engine search company has acquired many companies and extends its influence and its services domains. Google monopolizes the online ressources and expands to the mobile market.

Just in case you are more of a visual person...

...and aren't sure about the numbers related to print newspapers' decline, here's a graphic representation of the nation's largest papers' downfall.

http://www.theawl.com/2009/10/a-graphic-history-of-newspaper-circulation-over-the-last-two-decades

This gives the unique, USAToday type graph view of this continuing trend.

BING.com

Search spending is on the rise, gaining and getting close to equaling spending levels of last year after many quarters of decline.

Search spending was up 10% from the second quarter among SearchIgnite clients, including Avis, Office Depot, and E-Trade, and up 5% at Efficient Frontier, whose clients include CapitalOne, Bankrate, and BabyCenter.com.

Microsoft put $100 million into marketing Bing and it is slowly starting to see gains, but ad spending is up as well.

SearchIgnite has spending on Bing up 15% from the same period last year and Efficient Frontier said spending on the search engine is up 20%. Bing accounted for 5.32% to 6% of all search spending in the third quarter.

Google and Yahoo accounted for 74-77% and 17-21%, of spending.

"Marketers spend where they make money -- they are agnostic to Google or Yahoo or Bing," said said Roger Barnette, president of SearchIgnite, which manages $350 million in search advertising a year.

"It's the most fluid form of online media with the least amount of planning so it's probably the most accurate marketing bellwether for the overall consumer," he said.

Paid search advertising is the fastest marketing indicator of spending because it is immediate as apposed to display advertising, which take months to plan.

E-commerce

There’s an old adage that says “Money makes the world go round.” With “e-commerce” or electronic commerce a staple of today’s internet, that adage has never been truer. Now, consumers can shop from a global marketplace, broadening their experiences and getting a taste of other cultures. Not only does e-commerce provide a virtually unlimited marketplace, but consumers can shop from the comfort of their own homes, their workplaces, anywhere they have access to a computer and an internet connection.

E-commerce is the marketing, selling, and buying of goods and services via the internet. For a thorough explanation of e-commerce, read this article.

For many consumers, shopping online is both a time and money saver. E-commerce eliminates wasted trips to brick-and-mortar stores searching for products and comparison shopping. Many large retailers even offer “ship-to-your-store” service where consumers can purchase products via an online shopping cart, but pick up their goods at their retailer’s local location. Don’t have the newspaper delivered? No problem, more and more retailers are providing electronic versions of their weekly store ads online.

There are some drawbacks to ecommerce however. If you want a particular product now, you may not like the idea of waiting for shipping times. I personally found great prices on text books on Amazon.com for the spring semester, but didn’t receive all books in time for the start of classes. In fact, one book didn’t arrive until mid-term week. Now I purchase my books locally. For others, there is the issue of security. Although online security has improved greatly over the last few years, some consumers just aren’t comfortable giving financial information via the internet. Visit this site for an article discussing the up and downs of ecommerce.

Whether making online purchases, banking, paying bills, or participating in online auction sites like eBay©, consumers are embracing the world of e-commerce. And, even in tough economic times consumers are utilizing e-commerce, if only for comparison shopping of goods and/or services, or seeking out financial advice.

Voice Chat Coming To Facebook!

In the next few weeks, Facebook will launch an application allowing their users to have a high-quality voice conversation with anyone on their friends list. Facebook has enlisted the help of Vivox, a Boston-based company that provides the integrated voice service for virtual worlds and has more than 15 million users worldwide, to create and run this new app.

After downloading Vivox’s plug-in, Facebook users can have one-on-one chats to large group discussions. Vivox is even making the technology available to any third-party Facebook application developer, so any app, from games to utilities, can have a voice component.

Charlene Li, a well-known social media consultant, believes this will be a great tool for retailers too. Instead of a retailer building in a voice chatting system on their website, they can use Facebook to talk to their customers. Customers can also chat about products quickly and easily with their friends that they see online.

Facebook has not yet started to promote this new service and they are not sure how many of their users will choose to use it. But with Vivox’s track record, it is sure to be a success in the Facebook community.

Texting - For Better or Worse

SMS (Short Messaging Service), better known at texting has changed our lives, but has it changed it for the better or worse? Texting has been around in some form or another for quite awhile. For a brief history of texting, see the following article.

Texting has had effects on our vocabulary, cell phone design, even our relationships with others. For instance, my 23 year old daughter recently posted a photo on Facebook of friends around the table hanging out and playing poker. Every person in the photo had a cell phone either on the table in front of them, or in their hands. Even while spending time with their friends, they were texting other friends or even texting other people in the room.

Texting has made it possible to be in contact with friends, family, and coworkers in circumstances where talking on the phone is not possible, not preferable, or not polite. It’s a great way to multi-task; you can send a quick message while doing any of a number of other things. However, when combining texting with an activity such as driving, the danger may out-weigh the convenience. Recently, AT&T Inc. participated in a federal texting conference regarding the dangers of texting and driving. The number of texting while driving traffic incidents has even led some communities to enact laws restricting cell phone use while behind the wheel.

In addition, your computer isn’t the only avenue for spammers to reach you. Texting has facilitated unwanted solicitor texts, and as many cell phone users are discovering, your cell phone carrier will charge you for the incoming text, whether you respond or not. It is almost impossible to stop text spammers once they have your number, but if you’re lucky enough not to have dealt with it so far, here’s an article that can give you tips on avoiding text spam in the future.

Unfortunately, I just received my first text spam a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I have received several more. My cell phone plan includes unlimited texting, so it’s more of an inconvenience than anything else. But, it’s not enough to make me give up my cell phone anytime soon.

tweet. tweet.

Twitter is a free social networking and micro blogging site. It allows for users to read and write posts of up to 140 characters. As soon as someone posts a tweet, it is then delivered to the authors followers. Twitter has been said to be "the best way to share and discover what is happening right now." In fact this is how they have marketed themselves since the sight has launched.

This social networking site has become popular due in large part to its users. People like Ellen DeGeneres and Jimmy Fallon have largely endorsed the site on their talk shows.

I know that I had never heard of twitter until I was watching Ellen and she talked about what a big deal it was going to be. And she was right! According to Alexa's Web Traffic, Twitter is ranked as one of the 50 most popular sites and one of the 3 most used social networking sites.

Twitter was created by Jack Dorsey in 2006 at the age of 30. It got its name after trying to come up with a word that would create the feeling that you were buzzing in your friends pocket. Twitch was the name they came up with, but they didn't feel like it created the right mental imagery for a product name, so they looked in the dictionary at words associated with twitch and came up with Twitter.

Posted By: Kyrsten Gedddes

Nike ipod to come out with heart rate monitor

Nike joined forces with Apple ipod to bring us shoes that talk to you. It is an awesome devise, apple came out with a chip that fits into certain designed insoles in nike+ shoes. Accompanying the chip is a monitoring devise that clips in the bottom of your ipod that monitors the movements of the chip. This little beauty give you accurate feedback as you go for your daily jog. It monitors your calories burned, pace and time. Also as your run and listen to music on your ipod, a voice comes through the headphones informing you of the key distance points of your workout. You can also hit the center button of your ipod and the voice will got through a complete low down of all of your stats at that current time, how fast your running, calories you've burned and how long you have been running. Now with that same technology they are coming out with a heart rate monitor that is another attachment that goes on your ipod to give you even a greater handle on your personal training goals. I think this is great! I love that we live in a country that people can come up with awesome ideas and bring them to life for us to enjoy.

SPENCER WARD

DRIVE on THIS--Power

For years, people have been trying to come up with ways to prevent global warming. Believe it or not, an Idaho-based guy, named Scott Brusaw, may have come up with an amazing way to stop it or prevent it for longer by using solar panel roads to power our homes, cars, televisions and other appliances, and more. In the article, he talk about how he could sdo this and the expectations he has. His company received an 100,000 dollar grant to further his studies and make his dream a real one. Not only would a solar road help power our entire live, it would also keep us safer while driving and more aware on the roads at night and other difficult times. "He also believes the solar panel roads could last up to three times longer than the current petroleum-based asphalt surface and even be heated in winter to discourage dangerous ice build up and cost the same amount of money over time."

To put this into perspective--You would only need 4 hours of sunlight a day to produce 1 year, to produce enough energy for 500 homes.

There is over 100,000 square miles of roads, parking lots, driveways, and roofs just in the US. This a huge amount of pavement. This means we could use power more efficiently and have more of it...as long as the roads are hot or have sun shining on them.

I think this is really cool thing, if it all really worked out. Then we could use all this road space to keep our earth alive for a longer amount of time!

Is Google Taking Over The Newspaper Industry?

“Not by a long shot,” says Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Recently, reporter Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land, had the chance to sit down with Schmidt. In his article, Schmidt talks to him about Google’s relationship with the newspaper industry.

Schmidt believes it is Google’s “moral responsibility” to help the newspaper industry. The need to help comes from a part of his company’s vision to make the world a better place. Schmidt states, “Without journalistic institutions to do professional investigative articles and other “deep” reporting, democracy would be harmed.”

He also believes newspapers will survivor in some form. Schmidt has noticed newspapers are facing a long-term secular decline because of the shift in user habits caused by the Internet. He would like to see Google help the newspaper industry by experimenting with new ways of reading news. This might help print institutions make it through the transitions they are facing.

He believes that the right approach is for Google to help the newspapers with their online elements. Google Fast Flips can be used by anyone and it is a way for a reader to personalize the news that they view. It caters to your interests and remembers what you like, suggesting other complementary news stories and facts for you to view. Check out Google Fast Flips.

What is your take? Do you think Google can help or hurt the news industry?

High energy consumption TV's to be band in California.

California is known for their nice weather, Hollywood and dumb decision making. This summer California was trying to ban the color black on vehicle, stating that the color black consumed more heat from the sun, forcing a increase in a/c use. Now I know the "go green" thing is very popular right now and I agree with taking care of our environment but enough is enough. How is this banning the color black really going to benefit anything. I know that the celebrities are all about going green but do you really think their going to give up their black limo's and sports cars? If you think this decision is bad check this out. California is trying to ban TV's that have so called "high energy consumption". Is banning a TV that consumes a couple watts more than the other really going to matter. People have a choice in this country and through these dumb decisions our freedom of choice is getting smaller and smaller until the only choices we have are the choices our politicians tell us we have. In my opinion I think we have the right to buy the biggest and baddest TV and watch it as much as we want, and then pay our own energy bill. If we really want to save energy and the environment why don't we ground all of our politicians private jets and make them fly with the "common folk"? California needs to focus their decision making in another logical direction.

SPENCER WARD

Nintendo Wii fit plus

If you have ever played Nintendo wii you will know have interactive and fun it can be. The wii takes a different angle to video games. Instead of just holding a remote pressing arrow keys to control the movement of the character, Nintendo wii monitors your own movements to move the character on the screen to accomplish the games adjective. Wii later came out with wii fit, which is an electronic balance board you position your body on. By using wii fit you can go through different exercises to give you the work out you want while having fun. After completing a chosen wii fit work out it brings you back to the menu of all of the work out games. Instead of letting you go on for a set amount of workout time. With the new wii fit plus you have the option of stringing your workouts together or letting you choose the set amount of time you want to workout without bringing you back to the main menu after a single work out. I personally think this is a good improvement. I noticed this flaw from playing wii fit from the beginning. Wii fit plus will be a good addition to a good system.

SPENCER WARD

Eat my Blog

It’s always hard to come up with meal plans for the week, but the Internet has made it much easier. Not only has the Internet made cooking for your family an effortless task, but blogging has made it as simple as you can get. There are hundreds of blogs in cyber space specifically built for cooking. There are blogs introducing and sharing new recipes (The Pioneer Woman) and blogs helping you cook and shop on a budget (Pinch Your Pennies).

Most of us live on a budget, which makes blogs such as $5 Dinners perfect for any family. This is a blog that shows you how to cook with ingredients you might already have, along with how you can split the cost of ingredients throughout the week or month to make each meal you cook $5 or less.

Meal planning and cooking have definitely found a home in the blogging world with a huge community involved. Many blogs allow visitors to post their own recipe ideas and sometimes feature guest bloggers to show you how to make their favorite meals.

There are many men and women who make their living blogging. Many of those people have become successful by sharing their favorite recipes on the World Wide Web. So if your in the need for cooking, but have no ideas of your own, get blogging and find a whole new realm of GOOD EATIN'!

**Blog Post By: Kyrsten Geddes

Cell Phone Culture

This article talks about the major changes cell phone has in cultures around the world. There are two experts that give us their opinion about this incredible technology. James Katz is professor of communication and director of Rutgers University's and Jing Wang is professor of Chinese cultural studies, and the head of Foreign Languages & Literatures at MIT. The article is called Cell Phone Culture and is it under mit communications forum. Also, in the forum there are some questions people asked to the experts.

Blog regulation

It is a big step in the Internet world, for the first time The Federal Trade Commission will try to regulate blogging. In this article you can read that blogger will have to clearly reveal any free samples or payments they get from companies for advertising their products.

Any misleading review or commercial, the writer fill face a fine up to $11,000 per violations.
Will this law help to regulate step by step internet? I think that it is a good idea to try to remove the misleading eyes and biased comments about certain products. It reinforces the consumer rights and will help him to get honest comments about products. Someone who get free samples is most likely to be influence in his opinion about the product.

If phone users weren't annoying enough...

Flash moves on to smart phones, allowing millions of users to watch youtube videos anywhere they can take thier phones. Cell phone users are annoying enough with obnoxious ringtones, loud conversations (usually at inappropriate times), and becoming detached- ignoring the person in front of them to text someone else in the room. Now they'll be watching videos, laughing like crazy, and sharing them with everyone around them. On the other hand this could be an excellent vehicle to convey news and information in video format.

BlogHer-the community for women who blog.

BlogHer is a blogging community for women! This blogging community was developed to help bloggers gain exposure for their blogs and to share ideas with one another. There are more than 38,000 BlogHer members. The hope for BlogHer is to create a community that is fun, informative and supportive. 

With blogs being featured and  discussing topics such as body image, religion and spirituality, and politics. Regardless to what you are interested in, BlogHer is certain to direct you to blogs that will increase your knowledge and opinion on different topics. 

The Blogher blogging community has become the center of communication for many women who are dealing with similar and even opposite life stories. Blogher has become such a hit with blogging women everywhere that they even have blogging conferences to discuss particularly successful blogs.

One particular blog that I enjoy and who received an award this summer from BlogHer for most inspirational blog was the Nie Nie Dialogues . This woman is an incredible mother and wife. Last summer she and her husband were in a terrible private plane crash leaving 80% of her body burned. This blog was started before the crash but has since become an inspirational icon for bloggers everywhere.

BlogHer is a blogging community that helps women (and men) everywhere continue to find information on their interests and passions! LOOK THEM UP- YOU WONT BE SORRY!

blog post by: KYRSTEN GEDDES

Turn Your Life Into A Truman Show

This article reminds of the movie the Truman Show.

If you haven't seen it, if i can remember, it's about a guy that is actually living his life in a movie. Everything he does from going to the bathroom to his most intimate relations are filmed and people watch it outside of his world. Everyone in his world is playing along in the movie as actors, yet he doesn't know this. He thinks it's his real life. He eventually starts to realize that some things are just not normal and figures out that his life has been a movie.

How would you like it if your whole entire life, or at least parts of your life, were recorded and filmed? This means that the rest of the world could eventually look you up and see your whole, recorded life.

Well all your dreams can come true with Gordon Bell's new and inventive SenseCam. Bell invented this device to hang around his neck so that he could recored and picture everything in his life, in photo form, that he wanted. He tried it himself and would save everything from restaurant receipts(take photos of them), to bill and medical records, and daily life adventures. In the article, a reporter talks to him and asks him questions about how he uses it and what kind of effects this could bring to our society if everyone used it in the future. The SenseCam's overall purpose it to record all of these things so that you can look them later to remind yourself or show other people your past and life. After recording everything you upload it to PDF form on your computer and it is saved for ever! So 30 years down the road, you could, or anyone could, look at it again.

I think this device is very interesting but could cause a lot of problems in the future. It may be very helpful for some people to have this on an everyday basis if they have problems remembering things, or are older. You could look at it like a movie later on and see the things you used to do or even things to remind you about, like a grocery list. With this device you do have the power to use it when you please or not. So it's not exactly recording every motion and thing you do unless you want it to.

What do you think? Do you think you would want a device like this to record your life?

Ad Shift Throws Blogs a Business Lifeline

In this article, Claire Cain Miller reports on a small blogging website that has now become a media empire and why this website and others like it are starting to attract ad dollars while magazines are losing them.

This article was interesting to me because as an advertising major I like to keep updated on the different ways to advertise a product, especially on the web. Blogging websites are becoming the new way for national and regional companies to advertise.

This article introduces you to Lisa and Brian Sugar who started Sugar Inc. four years ago. What started as a celebrity gossip blog has now grown into a media empire that publishes 12 blogs and has 11 million readers a month, which are attracting advertisers like Chanel and Sony. The company has reported that their ad revenue has increased 20% in the first half of the year and they are on track to doubling their revenue and turning a profit this year.

Gawker Media was one the earliest and now the biggest blog networks reports that their ad revenue was up 45% in the first half of this year. Gawker Media has eight blogs and 20 million monthly readers.

According to Publishers Information Bureau, magazine ad revenues have dropped 21% in the first half of this year and the number of ad pages sold has dropped 28%.

With their narrow-topics, competing content, and business models, blogging websites are driving their readers back many times a day, which in turn is attracting their advertisers. Shenan Reed, a founder of Morpheus Media, said, “When you’re dealing with a company where the editorial control is living under one roof, you feel like there’s a consistency in the message, which is what makes Sugar, Gawker and Curbed fantastically interesting to us.”

It will be interesting to see where advertising on the web will go next!

President's opinion of Kanye West sparks debate

Saw this article just now... President's opinion of Kanye West sparks debate
I thought it was topical. It brings up journalistic ethics and twitter. The question that is brought up toward the end is whether or not the president should be able to speak "off record," and I thought it was a good question as well as the implecations of how news media is getting left in the dust by technology.Personally, I think he was a jackass too!

College Student Change their way of communication

This article talks about how college students change their way of communication by using a social network called Facebook.
I agree what Raley Parker says because Facebook is an easier and faster way to communicate with people. Some people not only use this network to have friends they also use it as a way to post and blog about other stuff, as the example professor Raley Parker gives us; use facebook to post class notes and the syllabus.
It is easy convinient and free to talk to as many people as you want, the only issue here is that people should be aware of what kind of information and personal information they give to other people. I heard about a case that a Mexican girl gave so much information on her facebook account that she got kidnapped and then killed because her parents couldn't pay the amount of money. So be careful with what you use in your daily bases and don't take advantage of it.
Some people don't even know about this social cite because there are so many to chose from out there however if you are not that aware of this social cite here it is more information about Facebook.

What's next?

Will the email disappear?
What will be the next digital form of communication?

Alex Iskold in his blog presents the different form of communication we are using, the ones we might use and the one that we use less today.
He explains the difference between:

• Email vs. Mail
• Phone vs. Chat
• Newspapers vs. Blogs
• Electrodes vs. Twitter

It is interesting how he explains that the email is a lot faster to reach someone than a mail. And because it is faster and free we tend to send more emails. It is an easy and fast way to communicate so we tend to send more emails with less information whereas before we would send less mails but one mail would contain more information than 10 emails.

The phone stays a effective way to communicate, it is easier to talk that to type for some people and via the phone the messages is delivered in a better way. On the phone we can hear the tone of the person talking, it is easier to understand if the person is laughing or being sarcastic. The chat is toneless and we can be confused and misunderstand what the other person is talking about.

Blogs has definitely an advantage over the newspaper : FEEDBACK. The blogger can receive feedback and exchange ideas, support and argue the author. The newspaper readers can send letters to the newspaper and discuss an article, but he is not sure that his letter would be published, and the newspaper can not reply to him. Whereas the blogger in one click and few words can express his opinion.

Twitter is the newest way to communicate online, people are sending each other videos. What is a best way to communicate than images and sound? The author of the article wonders what will be the next digital way of communication and if in a short or long term emails would be less used.

Communication is so fast nowadays that it is hard to keep up the rhythm. I'm still writing emails and haven't used twitter yet. When I will first use twitter, most of people would probably be communicating through another new digital way.

Xobni and Digsby

Managing the numerous social networking sites, e-mail accounts, and instant messaging programs can be a hassle when trying to keep up with family and friends who are on different services. I have found and am using 2 programs that makes this clutter of communication outlets a little easier.

Xobni ("inbox" backwards) is a sidebar for outlook which can index your past and present e-mails and the contacts who send and receive them. it creates profiles where you can view their linked in and facebook information and even creates histograms for each contact so you can see who you email the most.

Digsby is an all-in-one messenger program which lets you access and control almost all of the popular instant messengers, social networking accounts, email accounts including IMAP and POP as well as hotmail, yahoo, gmail, etc.

With an increasing world population using so many of these services, there are now more creative ways of managing your internet social life.

Google Wave

On September 30^th Google started sending out Wave invitations to 100, 000 people in the general public. If successful Google Wave hopes to change the way we interact and redefine the web, as we know it.

What is a Wave? In Google’s words it “is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.”

What does that mean for us? Basically Google is trying to combine email, instant messaging, social networking, entertainment, media sharing, project management, document creation and pretty much everything we do on a computer into sharable Waves. These waves will be fully customizable and extendable by the user and will be embedded into a website that will be accessible through any Internet capable device; computer, phone etc.

Google Wave will be rewindable allowing its user to go back in time to see the developments of conversations and content. It will also be live allowing real time conversations and interactions to take place.

Google Wave could very well be the next internet craze that is used be people all over the world, however I don't think this will be an overnight sensation that everyone is using a year from now, I think it will take a few years to catch on and be used and understood by the Internet community.

Influence of Social Networking in the Job Market

Today we all have some sort of networking site. Whether it be Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, or other types of blogs and social communication sites. But do we ever really think about how this could effect us in the future?

An article, on emarketer.com, shows a survey conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com showing us how having these interavtive social sites could either hurt or help you in the professional world. So many people post comments, pictures, videos, and other things on these sites to share with family and friends. The survey conducted showed the percentage of US Human Resources Professionals who use social networking sites to research job candidates. You will be happy to know the majority, 44 percent, of them currently do not research people in that way and have no plans on doing it in the future. (See graph below to get exact percentages.)

It would be interesting to know how many of these people that are doing the hiring actually have a social network of their own.

It would be horrible to have not gotten a job because the employer saw some pictures of you in your swimsuit or acting like an immature person on these sites. The article also shows specific reasons for why an employer did not hire a person because of these sites. After viewing the persons social network, the US Humans Resources Professionals disregarded job candidates for different reasons. The reason most people didn't get hired for the position was because the job candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information (at 53 percent). (Exact percentages below.)

Another part of the article did show the benefits of having a social network. The professionals may have saw the person in a more positive way and gave them a better idea of the persons personality. The network could have also showed a creative side to the person or great comments made

about that person from other people. I think this is interesting because when going to a job interview you may feel more tense and scared to be yourself. But your social network may help you look more fun and outgoing, and that could be something the employer didn't see in your interview.

Having a social network is not a bad thing. But I do think people need to be more careful of how they protray themselves on the internet. When you are seriously looking for a career job it might be a good idea to fix your privacy settings on your Facebook or Myspace.

Industry Leader Puts Restrictions on Independent Demonstrators’ Electronic Communications

Stampin’ Up! (SU), the largest home-party company in the rubber stamping and scrap book industry, made big waves when it announced changes to the company’s Independent Demonstrator Agreement (IDA) on September 1^st, 2009.

Since the initial announcement, SU has lightened some of the restrictions put on demonstrators affecting all forms of electronic communication, but if a demonstrator blogs, uses Face Book, My Space, Twitter, or links to other blogs or sites, they are still bound by a set of rules that have many SU demonstrators rethinking their relationship with the company.

In an article posted on the examiner.com site on September 2nd, 2009 reporter Shemaine Smith outlines many of the new policies that beg the question, does a company like SU have the right to dictate to their independent demonstrators who, what, and how they communicate in the current electronic age?

Here are a couple of examples of the type of issues the new IDA is generating included in the examiner.com article:

Q: On my personal blog, I have links to my friends' personal blogs and web sites. Some of them sell competing product. Do I need to remove these links?

A: Yes. In evaluating the links on your web site, you will need to remove any links to blogs, web sites, or the like that promote, market, or sell competitive products.

Q: Once I sign the new IDA, what am I allowed to have on my blog?

A: The changes restrict you from providing purchasing information, referrals to catalogs or publications, links to blogs or other web sites, or other similar material meant to promote, market, or sell competitive products. For instance, if you created a project that used a wooden block, you could show the project on your blog and mention that you used a wooden block. You could even mention that you purchased the wooden block at a craft store or big box retail store, but you should refrain from giving the name and location of the store, or any other purchasing information.

Typical of those who are in opposition to the new IDA, author and SU demonstrator Cynthia Ewer shares her opinion on the new IDA here.

The bottom-line; the stamping/scrapping/crafting industry is huge. By its very nature, such crafters and artists share ideas and creative inspiration with a large audience. The internet is the perfect forum for such an open exchange, and a company such as SU, that has thousands of demonstrators, looks to limit that exchange while ostensibly protecting its own interests. Have they gone too far? Will leaders in other industries follow suit?