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.