Goooops!

Yesterday I was "googling" for sound files from Shrek quotes. I was not logged in anywhere. As soon as I clicked on YouTube, right in the "recommended for you" section there were multiple videos of the Shrek Musical. I honestly would hardly have noticed it if it wasn't for this class. Some people "follow" celebrities, etc. on Twitter, I guess I must be special since Google "follows" me :).



image from Google.com



Also, this week I saw a news special on BBC about  Google. I though I'd share this story since it's related to the whole Google theme. The report talks about the consequences that are faced by a town called Sunrise, FL, after Google by mistake removes it from its maps. I've heard something similar about Google "creating" a town on the map where in reality it did not exist. This time the mistake is done by removing a whole town from the map for a month.  If you would like to check a full report, click on the link below.

BBC REPORT ABOUT GOOGLE

Promp #2



http://liiqa.deviantart.com/

I’m surprised that there is so much debate going about Google right now. I guess people are worried of it becoming a monopoly. In reality, there are many more so called “monopolies” that should make us worried (Comcast, AT&T, etc.) At least, like many of you noted, Google is for free. Not only it is free, but we also have a choice, till now at least. If Google will be a more “mandatory” necessity that we will have to pay for, then watch out for riotsJ. What raises my doubt is the idea of enticement that eventually might lead you to a trap as soon as it becomes a habit. In my view, we are dependant on Google or at least the convenience of getting information fast. I grew up without much influence of the internet, but the staggering amount of teens using the internet proves the dependability. Just think if you had to get from point A to B (alone) in an unknown environment without the internet or phone (or GPS J). Does that seem like a challenge?

  

900 Pound alligator

Since it was mentioned in the class, I thought I'd "google" the story. You can check the story yourself. Basically, the alligator hunting season has started in South Carolina and a woman caught a 900 pound giant with nothing but a fishing pole. Of course, she had to struggle for two hours. Also, the alligator was still moving even after eight shots. She plans to take the gator meat and have the body stuffed and mounted. Watch out Lady Gaga :)
http://www.kcci.com/r/25050750/detail.html

Wanna be a star?

(image from Amazon.com)

I guess this is another example of how media affects us. One day Drex (on KISS.FM) was discussing how "Dancing with the Stars" should be renamed "Dancing with the Celebrities." I agreed that those reality TV characters should not be given "Star" status. I guess ABC producers place "reality show stars" due to ratings that those shows receive. What made me laught today was a post from Yahoo about most popular costumes this upcoming Halloween. Of course, Lady Gaga took the top spot. What surprised me was "Snooki" from Jersey Shores. Not bad hah? I guess if you drink extensivelly and make scenes in public, someone eventually might capture you on video and you might end up on YouTube. If it's an attention catcher, then who knows, maybe next year there will be a Halloween costume after you...                                                                                                        

Feed the beast?

I came across this article, where college students decided to do a bold experiment and black out social media for a week (could have been us:) ). This drew my attention since I'm a Facebook user myself. Before Facebook, e-mail was the fastest way to connect with friends since mailing handwritten letters and developed pictures was no longer an option. I noticed with younger generation that the phone call is no longer an option either... it's all about texting, tweeting, etc. It might be ironic, but it looks like the more ways there are to communicate, the less people do so. One of my friends was surprised that someone asked her to add them as a friend on the Facebook, however would not say "Hi" passing in the hallway. It's no surprise that people would do that more for numbers and not for actual communication. Even corporate companies started to forbid social sites, so co-workers would actually talk to each other. Like it's said in the article:"Do we really want to be enslaved to Facebook or Twitter? Once you create anything in social media, you have to feed the beast. When you stop adding content, you disappear." Would disappearance effect how we communicate with true friends? 
In case you want to read...

 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100916/ap_on_re_us/us_social_media_blackout

Blogging Community

After scrolling through and spending no more than 96 seconds on each of the interviews :), I decided to read Tiffany B. Brown’s story. What caught my attention, I guess, was not only one of her last questions, where asked Mac or PC she replied: “I'm bi-OS-ual.” As a first time blogger I tried to find more serious similarities to her and see why blogging would interest me. Tiffany started blogging on her own website while she worked as a producer for Cox Interactive Media. Since I’m also majoring in IMS, what got my attention was that blogging in general is a great self-promotional tool. To this day I considered it to be more like a self-expressional tool. Tiffany stated that she would get 400 to 600 page views per day. This is how self-expression becomes self promotion. I remember having my own website to post my pictures and write updates for my friends overseas (Mirc wasn’t that attractive). I was not aware that I was blogging back then, if I would have, maybe I wouldn’t just keep it limited to private viewers. In Tiffany’s words “never underestimate the power of comments and community.” So, I guess I'll have to join the "Bloger's Community." 

First time

Hi everyone,
This is my first blog ever. I've tried to deny this opportunity for quite some time, yet this class requires it. So, at work I will not only be checking my e-mails, checking facebook, but posting mine & reading your blogs as well :)