Not So Safe

Social media has opened up an entirely new playing field where face to face and everyday quarrels and confrontations can now take place online. Where one another can threaten each other behind the barrier of the computer. But the things that are said online don't stay online, and get dragged into the real world.

In Chicago, a 14-year-old boy has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery after shooting at a 12-year-old. The two had been involved in an argument on Facebook, posting threats on each other's' Facebook pages. The two boys were part of rival gangs. Now friends of the victim are threatening, on his Facebook page, to get revenge on the shooter and his friends. 

Social media is being used for more than just being social. Its opening up the outside world to the online world, but still equally as dangerous.

The Article

"Technology" Animated Video

Rewired Book Review

After taking a Sociology course, I have been introduced to the book "Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and the way we learn" by Dr. Larry Rosen, Ph.D. Dr. Larry D. Rosen author of Rewired, speaks of the cyber infested world in which the younger generations occupy. Not only does Rosen limit himself in communicating his concerns with wired sickness we possess, but he states the unfortunate disadvantages of beings wired robots. Because we are raised with technology, an emerging problem is how we are learning with and through such technological advances.  Our learning capabilities extend to a dependency of being wired. Rosen argues, “The iGeneration is being raised in a world where technology affords more opportunities for effortless, instant communication. This is an important communication transition and has implications for both understanding this generation and implementing new learning strategies.”(Rosen 55) Rosen argues that adopting mobile learning instead of a continuing static classroom environments will help out in the long run. 

 Picture: http://www.renaud-bray.com/ImagesEditeurs/PG/1059/1059912-gf.jpg

The Internet is Forever

I was watching a Criminal Minds episode (called "The Internet is Forever") this past weekend, and it was about a serial killer who used the internet to find victims on social networking sites. Super relevant considering our obsession with social media these days. And it actually had some alarming truth to it. Everyday people post their day by day events on Twitter or Facebook, or any social networking site of their choice. People can use sites like foursquare to 'check in' to different places in your city, or on Facebook use 'Places' a feature that lets you share where you are to friends. People post status's saying "going out of town for the weekend!!' or "heading off to Florida for some relaxation," Basically saying "Hey criminals I won't be home, come rob my house or abduct me and no one will know I'm gone." And that's what happened in the episode I watched... The serial killer chose girls he found on social networking sites, and once he abducted them he put their status as something along the lines that they were gonna be out of town. No one suspected their absence to be weird because of their post on their social networking site.

One of the victims mom made a comment about how she didn't know her daughter had gotten a promotion, when she asked her about it she told her "MOM, I posted that on my wall a week ago!" She assumed her mom had seen it on Facebook like everyone else.

I think we all forget the implications that can come from using social networking sites so frequently and sharing every bit of information of our lives on there. It can be a real safety issue, which I think the Criminal Minds episode was trying to convey. We're so naive that whatever we post on the internet can't harm us, but it can, and if fell into the wrong hands could be fatal. You would never put a sign on your house saying "Gone on Vacation," but people post status's on Facebook all the time about how they will be away for the weekend- leaving their house empty and unoccupied.

There are some really smart and technologically intelligent criminals and people out there who can hack computer systems and gain information about people and information that people intended to be private. But the internet is anything but private, despite all the security these sites lead you to believe they have... The internet is forever. Social networking sites and social media are not as private or safe as you may believe.

Beats by Dre

"People aren't hearing all the music. Artists and producers work hard in the studio perfecting their sound. But people can't really hear it with normal headphones. Most headphones can't handle the bass, the detail, the dynamics. Bottom line, the music doesn't move you. With Beats, people are going to hear what the artists hear, and listen to the music the way they should: the way I do."

 - Dr. Dre

 In their official website, we see that music producer Dr. Dre promotes a new consumer product, Beats. The newly available headphones have been quickly adopted by artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Diddy, LMFAO, Pitbull, and Lady GaGa.

Because a diverse group of artists have launched the promotion of the headphones, Beats have been a highly demanded commodity. All of these artists have subtly advertises the headphones in their music videos. The repetitive product placements have made the headphones more openly accepted and demanded. The earphones are designed with an easily-identifiable logo for its own brand headphones.  After all it isn’t the headphones you are buying, it’s the logo you purchase. A great comparison would be our very dear Apple products and the need to have the white bitten apple on your laptop and mobile device.The easy-remember logos make people tell apart branded merchandise from others on the street or among similar products easily. In contrast, some other main world headphone brands, for example, Sennheiser and Audi-Technica, lack such a sharp logo. Headphones brands like Skullcandy are overly exaggerated in design and lack simple designs.

Lady GaGa, for example, has worked in collaboration with Dr. Dre in producing Heart Beats. Monster Beats have successfully combined fashion and rock with its headphone brand tightly, attracting a lot of young consumers who pay attention to fashion and trends. The influence of celebrities should not be discarded. When you see that Kobe wears the Monster Beats Studio on the press conference after the game, I think you could not neglect that and you will absolutely go to find out what the product is exactly.

But is the $200 retail price really worth your money? Multiple people have stated and reviewed otherwise...But if your trying to boast of your expensive fashion wardrobe… then Beats are the way to go. After all, the logo is what you are buying.

Picture Credits

Product Sale

The ASIAN Century

5 largest Chinese Banks prepare for more regulation

China has learned from the United States and much of Europe in respect to the financial systems.

The reason why the US and countries such as Greece and Ireland are struggling so much is because they did not properly allocate resources to responsible individuals.

The systems we used and are still using did not and do not enforce keeping a high enough % capital on hand and let the banks loan out too much money into risky loans. (ie bigger returns and profits for their stocks)

China saw the meltdown of 2008 and as its booming economy gears up for many loans and finances new and upcoming entrepreneurs that do not have credit yet, it wants to make sure the banks have plenty of capital on hand and enough to loan out but keep everything in check.

Running Away From Technology

Running away from technology... or should I say with technology. With the introduction of the Nike + iPod running shoes, athletes have the ability to put a sensor in their Nike's built-in pocket shoe designed to connect the receiver to an iPod or MP3. Once connected, the runner is completely and wirelessly wired up. The runner can program the iPod to record and customize workout regimens. The iPod can provide the time, distance, pace, and calories burned with the single tap of the screen. What happened to the simple, old sneakers, watches and our rhythmic breaths.... guess that wasn't good enough.

Day 5: My Twitter Experience

So i've had a Twitter for about five days or so now. And I can't say I hate it. I'm following 22 people, have 7 followers and I've made two tweets. Not a lot...but not too bad for a few days.

What I've liked so far about my Twitter experience is that I get news updates from the New York Times, Huffington post and other sites about interesting things or news going on in the world. I feel a lot more informed, and I think it's going to definitely help keep me in the loop.

I've also downloaded the Twitter app to my blackberry and have used it to post tweets or check my feed and see what's up.

Thanks social media, I don't know what we'd do with out you.

Weekend in Indio

Left Santa Clara early Wed. afternoon set out for the 3-day Coachella Valley Music Festival. As a Los Angeles Native I had ventured out to palm springs numerous times but never to camp in the desert heat.

It was quite the weekend... with artists ranging from Mumford and Sons to Kanye to AfroJack anyone could find a great set to listen to in a mellow musical atmosphere.

The amount of international and non-californians at this event was extremely surprising to me...because people were flying in from all over the world, (our camping neighbors were from Australia, Canada, and England) where as I have lived in Southern California all my life.

The eclectic group of individuals that journeyed to this magical place was in for a treat of live music, amazing carnival rides and art pieces, and a few special celebrity guest appearances ( Paris Hilton, Danny Devito, and Paul McCartney to name a few)

I was especially shocked at how many people had been numerous times and everyone I talked to was always jumping with joy to hear I was losing my Coachella virginity!

To say the least, I highly recommend this world renowned music festival to anyone who enjoys people, music, and having fun * be aware of the heat though, it was 100 degrees all three days!

#twitterbadforrelationships

So after getting a twitter and picking different things I wanted to follow, mostly news sites and entertainment things, this article popped up on my twitter feed about twitter. It came from the huffington post, and says that twitter users generally have shorter lasting relationships than non twitter users.

Interesting.
Unfortunately they had no way to figure out who was dumping who. But my guess is the significant other of the person who used twitter was the dumper. Why? Maybe because their boyfriend/girlfriend spent so much on twitter and tweeted too much about their life or their relationship that it drove a rift between the two. Who knows tho.

The World Unplugged: Media the Emerging Drug

“I was itching, like a crackhead, because I could not use my phone.” - USA

"Media is my drug; without it I was lost” - UK

So how long would you last? In a recent global study 1,000 students from 10 different countries of 5 different continents were asked to “unwire” and “unplug” themselves from media usage for a total of 24 hours. Students from the UK, USA, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, to Europe all seemed to share the same treacherous experience in solidarity. After “unwiring” the students were then asked to report their personal experiences.The study categorized the unique responses into fifteen findings:

1. Students’ ‘addiction’ to media may not be clinically diagnosed, but the cravings sure seem real – as do the anxiety and the depression.

2.  A clear majority in every country admitted outright failure of their efforts to go unplugged.

3. Students reported that media – especially their mobile phones – have literally become an extension of themselves. Going without media, therefore, made it seem like they had lost part of themselves.

4. Students around the world reported that being tethered to digital technology 24/7 is not just a habit, it is essential to the way they construct and manage their friendships and social lives.

5. Students construct different ‘brand’ identities for themselves by using different communication tools to reach different types of people.

6. For many students, going without media for 24 hours ripped back the curtain on their hidden loneliness.

7.  Many students, from all continents, literally couldn’t imagine how to fill up their empty hours without media.

8. Mobile phones function both as this generation’s Swiss Army knife AND its security blanket.

9.  What is ‘news’ to students, ‘news’ means ‘anything that just happened’ – worldwide events AND friends’ everyday thoughts.

10. We no longer search for news, the news finds us.’

11. ’140 characters of news is all I need.’

12.  TV is all about escape.

13.  Across the world, students depend on music not only to make their commutes to school and work more tolerable, but to regulate their moods.

14. Email is not dead:  it just skews older – and is for ‘work.’

15. ‘Simplify, simplify.’  Across the globe, some students turned out to be Transcendentalists-in-the-making:  they noted that they ‘were able to revert to simple pleasures’ when they gave up all media for 24 hours.

The study designers encouraged others to participate and abstain from such electronic influence in the hopes of realizing and reflecting on our addictions. As part of courses, multiple institutions have begun to request technological abstinence as a part of their course assignments. So I ask you... how long would you last? Can we really go on a "media diet" or is media our diet.... or for that matter our drug?

 Picture: http://www.healthcareos.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/pharma-social-media.jpg

Tweet Tweet #icantbelieveimabouttogetatwitter

So I'm about to give in to the one thing I whole heartedly thought I would never do...

Participate in Twitter.

When the Twitter craze started years ago the whole concept seemed very egotistic and self-centered to me. Why would people need to tell the world what they are doing or what they are thinking. How stupid. Who really cares what you, as not a very significant person in the scheme of the world, has to say. And personally, I don't really care if you just had a delicious meal or that your attending some concert tonight.

As well, Facebook already had the concept of "posting a status," so why would you need a site that devotes itself to solely posts when that feature is already mixed in with your Facebook account. It really puzzled me.

In a sense I understood a little bit how it could be useful for businesses or news sites that allowed people to stay up to date on events or what is new. But having everyday people get involved in tweeting to the world or friends seemed weird to me.

Part of my confusion might have been because I never really knew anyone who used Twitter, so it seemed pointless for me to get one. None of my immediate friends were doing it so why should I do it either. Now though, a lot of my friends have hopped on the Twitter train and they're having a lot of fun doing it. They tweet funny messages and follow other friends or celebrities. I feel really left out, since I can't read any of their postings since I don't have a twitter.

I'm also seeing it as a useful tool to get updates on news entertainment, and other events or important things I should be following- and it allows an easy way to do that.

My feelings for Twitter have changed, and I'm interested to see how it works and if I like it or not. Part of me is reluctant to get one a.) because I don't know what my username would be and b.) because I don't want to be just a follower following what is trendy (though deep down I want to try it out). I feel a little bit like I'm following what society wants me to be doing, following the norm that is growing out of Twitter. Soon I could be addicted to yet another time wasting social media that I feel a compulsion to check. Maybe it will make me feel left out when I see friends Tweeting about fun stuff they're doing or have done. I don't know. Maybe I'll love it and it will add to my life. Who knows! I guess I'll find out and see.

"F-Commerce": Facebook and Fashion

With 600 million faithful users, retailers have slyly managed to sprinkle their influence on the Facebook crowd. Retailers are starting to discover "F-Commerce", or Facebook Commerce as a potential supplement for retail sales. With big retailers like eBay and Amazon, we see the increasing connections with Facebook to market their products and to globally connect their merchandise to the US and to the 70% of users who are from outside of the US. Retailers have learned to integrate with Facebook by providing shopping via Facebook sites and by allowing users to "connect with Facebook" through their sites. The fashion forward Facebook users are now being exposed to different trends through paid advertisements on their profiles and through the main sites of each retailer. Not bad for business, but talk about annoying advertisers.

http://fashionablymarketing.me/2011/03/facebook-commerce/

FOMO

FOMO = Fear Of Missing Out

We've all been there. When you log onto Facebook and you see new fun pictures of your friends doing something cool together, or peoples status's, or the parties that your friend got invited to on Facebook but you didn't. They can all provoke a sense of feeling left out, and the fear that we are missing out.

This article raises some good questions regarding our usage of social media sites and how it's affected us to feel left out more often (FOMO).

http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/do-social-networks-make-you-feel-left-out/?ref=technology

These next few years are crucial to the trajectory of our country's economy (domestically and globally)...

Gov't (Democrats and Republicans) Cannot Agree on Anything!

Interesting how both sides are so far extreme one way or another, yet they are supposed to be working together for the best interests of the "people".

Winklevoss Twins and Facebook

I thought this was pretty fitting to the topic of my blog considering Facebook is one of the top social networking sites.

The Winklevoss vs. Mark Zuckerberg lawsuit has come back into the spot light recently. The Winklevoss twins and another classmate had signed a settlement awarding them $65 million (cash and Facebook stock). However now they have taken the case back to court arguing that Facebook gave them false stock value. Yesterday though a judge ruled that their settlement cannot be undone. The Winklevosses and classmate should have gotten a lot more- since now Facebook is valued at over $50 billion. They could have been entitled to more money. According to the New York Times (read first article below), their settlement is now worth around $200 million dollars.

Articles
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/technology/12facebook.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=winklevoss&st=cse

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/11/technology/winklevoss_facebook_lawsuit/index.htm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/poll/2011/apr/11/facebook-mark-zuckerberg

Keepin' it Hood

      Talk about obsession… As we find ourselves wired and dependent on the technologies we carry, we have simultaneously created a duel sense of paranoia and obsession. Our privacy is openly jeopardized as we use different mediums of technology that record, and store what consumes or time and what we peruse through. It seems like as we have become paranoid of who potentially views what we do or what we say. As a defense mechanism, we have found ways to conceal our screens from the public eye. Hence the “Computer Hood” was created.

          Oh boy, the ridiculous “computer hood” was created to have a more private and engaging technological experience. The black cotton hood stretches over a computer monitor or any cellular device. The hood is composed with lycra lining which blocks sunlight and is thick enough to be soundproof. An individual wears the hood over their heads and wraps it around their bodies and onto the their phone or computer screen. The fabric has a retractable USB allowing sound to travel to speakers located in the hood. There is a voice activated microphone located in the back of the hoodie and an audio locator that records music from the outside and saves it as MP3 file on the desktop.

Stylish? I think not. We can, however, see that technology to some lesser or greater extent is influencing what we physically wear. What we choose to wear, in this case the computer hood, is promoting a statement of our sense of selves. We are obsessed with our gadgets and paranoid… 

 Picture: http://www.gearlog.com/2007/04/clothing_for_embarrassmentfree.php

Wired Through Clothing

As wired natives, our self-concepts have been shaped by the technologies that have become tangible to us. We breathe the currents of technology and we feel a constant urge to carry technology as a vital component of our identity. Living in a 'Wired Nation' we are bombarded with statements, statements that claim that technology should become our own personal statements. As a result, we have now started to incorporate technology as a vital element of our sense of selves. Our open acceptance of technology has stimulated a wired culture in which we choose to carry, wear, and identify with technology. And once we unwire... we lose a sense of who we are.

Intro

Social Media and the internet are such a big part of our culture now and there are so many different sites out there that it's almost become overwhelming. 

I'm Briana. I have a Facebook, I used to have a myspace in the 9th grade, and thats pretty much the extent of social media sites I've actually used. But I know there are tons and tons of new and upcoming websites that allow for social and professional communication or expression. 

But I feel pretty out of the loop... so for this blog I am going to explore many different social media and internet sites and blog about my experience in using them. I'm not sure if I'll follow that exactly, but I'm going to explore the internet for new sites that provide interesting things and currently popular social media sites that I haven't ever used before. With technology being one of the main forces that drives our economy, culture, and way of life it's going to become really important that we are knowledgeable about social media  sites and other important websites. 

THE WORLD as we knew it

Goodbye continental, country, state, and local boarders and welcome to the world of connectivity where everyone can be anywhere anytime. Our generation is currently in the process of changing the global climate of communication and the way in which the world is moving from a snails pace to like a G6. The way I grew up and the way in which I communicate with my peers is something that my parents, grandparents, and my kids will never understand. The amount of time my peers and I will have spent in front of a computer screen by the time we pass away who knows when (with healthcare only improving) will rival the amount of sleep we received in our entire lifetime. Globalization is such a BUZZ word but when people really debate it, I sit back and chuckle. "Globalization is a terrible thing! Our country is losing paying jobs to people all over China and India and it's ruining the American way!" A popular and ignorant argument heard from Americans again and again. The truth, the big secret everyone needs to wake up and smell the global coffee is: WHO CARES IF GLOBALIZATION IS GOOD OR BAD! IT DOES NOT MATTER, IT IS HAPPENING!!! and if businesses, governments, and humans do not want to accept it and learn to adapt and use it to their advantage ... they will go the way of many bankrupt companies, they will be trillions of dollars in debt like the US gov't, and they will remain ignorant in the Western Culture bubble! The world is a great place but getting smaller everyday and people should be excited to experience new cultures and new ideas where with collaboration, respect, cooperation we can all make the world a better place!