Green Relations

2009-04-26T16:05:00.001-07:00

The video was inspired by a new tactic used by Texas law enforcement, a tactic which is very controversial. A slide show was created with dramatic music to instill controversy.

In an article by the Austin-American Statesman,

"According to court records in the Tarrant County case, Johnston, a waitress, was arrested and charged with drunken driving Dec. 9, 2005. She was not offered a breath test and refused to voluntarily provide a blood sample. Officers obtained a warrant for her blood, court records said.
"The defendant offered some resistance and was unruly," court records said. "She kicked her feet and moved around, and they secured the defendant's legs to the legs of the chair and secured one arm to the arm of the chair. After the defendant had been restrained, she calmed down and offered no further resistance."
To the Tarrant County judge, McDaniel argued that state law says that only a "physician, qualified technician, chemist, registered professional nurse or a licensed vocational nurse" may draw the blood of suspects. He said that the two police officers who drew Johnston's blood were not "qualified technicians" under the law.

Travis County wants to certify officers to take your blood, How do you feel about this, what about your rights??

2009-04-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

In an article by in the Social by Caroline McCarthy,

"On April 17, the day of the show--when CEO Evan Williams appeared on-air and Winfrey herself began Twittering--a whopping 37 percent of visits to the Twitter.com homepage were new visitors. That's a high number even for the fast-growing Twitter."

The PR guru has done it again. Whatever she promotes makes it big. Talk about pitching stories just send it to Oprah and she will get it out there. I swear she could support genocide (of course she wouldn't) and still have millions of eager followers. This kinda scares me because her endorsement of Obama seemed to be quite the political stunt, and her not willing to interview Sarah Palin added to that controversy.

Besides the point here she is again promoting another product, a product that seems to promote itself quite well. I mean if you can draw that many visitors, than you deserve a position, forget if she is "social media savvy", she is socially savvy.

This sort of "hit phenomenon" generally happens when something is pitched to a popular blogger or a service intrigues that blogger. The next day or even that day you see the "hits" out-of-the-park.

What do you think about this? I mean one has to wonder how many different things are being tossed at Oprah everyday.

i just wanted to add one thing. When spell check corrects a word like Oprah, you have got to be an influencer, I mean with Sarah Palin it tried to correct it to Sarah Plain.

Social Media Power

2009-04-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

Deltina Hay gave a presentation the other day and she had some insightful information to share. First she recommended the essentials,

"RSS feed or blog
Social networking and micro-blogging
Social Bookmarking and Crowd-Sourcing
Media Communities"

She emphasized that these are key practices you should adhere to getting your name, product, or service out .
"Blogs are not just political rants," Hay said. "These are the essentials." Building social media newsrooms. Widgets and gadgets. Tags are essential and having your tags correlate well is good, its how you keep yourself relevant. Tag images and a social portal is the desired approach for someone who cannot manage 2-3 blogs a week (e.g. me, most all AARP members). You need to engage with others and integrate your tools. One image upload to Flikr and your image can be everywhere else you have a presence.

I personally think these are all great ideas. It is important not only to get your service out there, but to make sure your message is the same across all these mediums

For a musician on facebook, "make a profile to link your facebook page" Keep things manageable!!

This is helpful because maybe now they cant steal your content if you make your page and say you are a business.

Squidoo- a squidoo lens can bookmark your favorite subject. It can be used for personal use or your business

This is just one of the many sites I would really like to learn how to use. Not to say that I don't already have a thousand sign in names and passwords that differ. What made the presentation interesting were her personal accounts and experiences. I completely understand the fact that these old business people do not know how to use the Internet, let alone how to use social media sites. If I showed this to some of my parents friends they would just laugh because they do not understand the significance of the Internet and emerging social media.

"The Power of One"

2009-04-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

"The Power of One" is a very interesting chapter in Citizen Marketers. It entails an anectdote about some brothers who shook the Apple tree at its very base. What i mean by apple tree is the company Apple and the firecracker video posted by disgruntled consumer Casey Neistat.
It all started when he noticed that his iPod battery suddenly died on him after the warranty had expired. He of course, contacted apple support and the apple store, but he was told that the battery replacement would cost more than the iPod itself. Neistat, a 22 year old took matters into his own hands by creating a video which caused a huge ruckus on the Internet. It was such a ruckus that the people at Apple were beginning to get worrisome. The video was called " iPod's Dirty Secrets" and it underlined the replacement problem.
In what some say apples response is a battery replacement program which would cost $99, but was later reduced to $57.
This is just one of the many ways that the average citizen of the Internet can get across their problems.
I feel personally that a lot of people do not understand that if they focus their complaint to the public it might get more recognition than your average corporate response, which is generally neglect. I know that there are plenty more types of these videos for the future, everyone has a whistle with the Internet and if it is bl owed just right you might solve something.

For all my Bloggers! (Facebook gets credit for yet another miracle)

2009-04-07T19:28:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7983725.stm

The above link is an article in the BBC news about a boy who was trying to commit suicide. The boy apparently was over-dosing and at the last minute decided to get help. He sent a private message to a girl in Maryland saying something along the lines of harming himself. The girl told her mom, who according to the article,
"who called local police. The police called a "special agent" at the White House, the British Embassy in Washington and finally the police control room in Abingdon."
"Staff narrowed down his location to eight possible addresses, and officers found the teenager at the fourth house they tried. He had taken an overdose, but was still conscious."
NOW this is PR!!! Facebook has dozens of stories like this where in one way or another their networking site saved a life or dozens of lives. Their PR is perpetual and seems to be both constant and self-creating

Second Life

2009-04-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

People who use second life should get back in touch with their first life.
I mean honestly why would you want to have your school present on second life?
Oh I know so you can teach classes right?? Not! it has been tried before, and the problem, with it is that you have to teach the whole class (except one person) how to use the thing. And then after you can try to have a class. And the benefits are that you can be at home or across the world, yet present on the Internet. Well I Don't BUY IT! This is just another BS excuse for wasting the university's money, and every ones time. It is like teaching someone how to play golf, when all they really want to do is play tennis. It requires you to learn another Internet language that is only useful within the confines of the network. It is no wonder I couldn't get a straight answer as to why its beneficial for student life, and just because other universities have it does not make it necessary for ours.

In my opinion Second Life has sailed and i don't think it is practical anymore. Their are far better networks to be communicating with, networks that don't make you pay to play a silly game to get your serious point across. I don't know how this got approved for financing, but i do know we nee more important updates like putting our school newspaper online to extend reach and readership. Now that is something educational, and who knows it might help us receive future funding.

Face to face interaction is important. That is the kind of education we should be hearing about. I have heard about second life for the third and final time at St. Edward's. I'm starting to think that it serves more as a course filler than an educator.

Facebook is HUGE

2009-04-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard yet facebook has doubled its size in 8 months from 100 million to 200 million. It is clearly one of the most powerful social networking sites and is constantly evolving and updating itself to keep up with Twitter.

"Facebook has also become a vehicle for broad-based activism — like the people who organized on the site last year and mobilized 12 million people to march in protests around the globe against practices of the FARC rebels in Colombia."

This is just one example of its multiple purposes. A recent conern for people my age 18-25 is that their parents are starting to use Facebook. This is a problem for many users who joined the network when it was just for college students. Now it is an international goliath.
My question is where is the virus that will take it all down?? It is becoming an important target as bussinesses and personal info is flooded through the gates of Facebook.

Podcast

2009-03-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Click picture to hear podcast!

Wow!! you really don't know what a podcast is until you actually make one yourself. Without the free help of Audacity, we would all be lost. The most difficult aspect of the podcast was recording an interview. We chose to interview through Skype, and there was no program that allowed us to record our Skype conversation, and because of that we hit a brick wall. We tried a couple different ideas and then we ultimately decided to have the person we were interviewing download Audacity.

This turned out to be perfect, after we straightened a few kinks we were able to have him send us his recording. What made this work was a synchronized recording (on both ends), that made the questions and answers fall under the same time space. Then, Audacity overlapped the two audio clips perfectly and thereafter we were able to edit particular sound bytes.

Our podcast is interesting in that the person we interviewed was one of the first persons to post a picture (any material) of the AA plane that landed in the Hudson river. He used the social network Twitter to send his breaking news. He was later contacted by major media networks and his story was disseminated on television and not just the Internet.

Show Notes:

00:10 Ben (I) introduce the show, speakers, and special guest, Janis Krums

01:58 Ginny interviews Janis about his experience after posting the famous Twit Pic

5:28 Reanne and Janis discuss social media and citizen journalism

09:15 Austin presents concluding thoughts, outro, and thanks to Janis

Blogjects

2009-03-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

The image to the left is of a reconnaissance pigeon. These pigeons were once used during WWI as a means of spying. This was first developed in 1903 by German engineer Julius Neubronner. The camera was ridged with a timer which would systematically snap photos when the bird was in flight.

It all started with a note tied to the foot of the pigeon and has now evolved to Blojects. Blogjects, for the those of you who don't know, are any object that can be connected to the Internet and streaming any information that object may encounter. The first study involves a device attached to pigeons which measured air pollution in LA. It also used a GPS system to track the birds flight. The information measured on the mounted device would be streamed directly to the Internet, like a blog.

I found this to be amazing just think what scientist can do with this. They can ultimately share all their information to the public allowing i different kind of information flow. Just think whale migrations, your cat/dog, and any other species you can possibly think of. People can make their own conjectures. For instance, we can actually see the air pollution And just think about what this could do for the spy world.

Their is a current deer blogging. His name is "Thor" and he blogs every 5 minutes by sharing his GPS location with all of us. This blogject could be used by rangers, biologist, meteorologist, etc. If you can image seeing what your hunting season could look like. By tagging one or a couple you could see what their patterns may be over a years time. One might argue, well scientist already do that. But their information is not available to all of us, and certainly not in a timely fashion. Just imagine how valuable this could be to a journalist, he could literally be pitched this story by a deer and it could be timely, valuable, and novel.

Newspapers, nothing really new afterall

2009-03-02T08:15:00.000-08:00

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100256908
This is an interesting NPR podcast/article. It is about one of Americas oldest newspapers in Hartford, Connecticut. The idea of the article is exactly what we have been talking about. There are two people mentioned one a smart professional who turns to the internet to get a new job. The second is an old timer who looks at the newspaper front and back for his new job. The main problem the article poses is that the newspaper is losing money and having trouble competing with other medias, much like all newspapers. What they argue is that if they lose their LOCAL newspaper, then they will be losing a sense of community. A man states that the community will be out the window if they have people online just looking through a 100 different articles a day.

What do you think?? Is this community what really makes us Americans? Don't we and can't we live without it??

E-Book Blogger, which could only have been blogged

2009-03-02T07:52:00.000-08:00

OK this article has a lot of interesting information in it. Information that can be useful to all bloggers. The most interesting point he makes is about the 'Magic Middle'. This middle class of bloggers tends to write about issues that are relevant on a personal level. These people tend to influence customers and people by their online blogging communities on a more real and personal level.
These are things i can agree with because you may be able to pitch and protect your product online, but actually touching real people is the key element, and just offering or recommending a product does not do that. Human emotions have to be conveyed some how so that person can feel important on an emotional level. However, it seems like doing this through the Internet would be much harder. This all relates back to the Cluetrain manifesto idea about each conversation being a market.
I do not necessarily agree with all his statements, like when he compares journalism to blogging, but he does correct himself.
Today I thlink this statement would have writers' knees buckling and people like Brokaw Broke and in Awe. Journalism, for me, does not coincide with blogging. While they are both effective ways for reaching an audience blogging still does not have the same reputation. In part because blogs are loaded with opinion, unidentified sources, and for the most part lacking substantial language and spelling use. Also because it generally requires no formal education and is not backed by any legitimate organization. While there is still good and reliable information being blogged, there is still an enormous number of people that cannot be trusted. Good example of this is his e-book, where there are frequent misspellings. With each misspelling his argument loses validity.

Facebook Killing; watch your status

2009-02-23T12:43:00.000-08:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7676285.stm
The above link is an article stating...
"Wayne Forrester, 34, told police he was devastated that his wife Emma, also 34, had changed her online profile to "single" days after he had moved out."
I personally know a bunch of people in which their relationship status can be so contraversial.
These are jsut a few of the crazy problems that become associated with new technologies. People are streaming their deaths online and today a facebook status can be the death of you. I'm not saying people are going to start doing this, its just that crime and laws have to advance themselves with the growing technologies. Facebook is going to become a tool for law enforcement, and especially in domestic abuse cases. How do you feel about this tragic news? Do you feel you are putting too much information that can physically hurt you??

Social Networking can be harmful to your health

2009-02-23T10:01:00.000-08:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7898510.stm

Above is a link to this article on online networking and health issues.

"Dr Aric Sigman says websites such as Facebook set out to enrich social lives, but end up keeping people apart".
"He also says that evidence suggests that a lack of face-to-face networking could alter the way genes work, upset immune responses, hormone levels, the function of arteries, and influence mental performance". The implications of these alterations can have a serious impact on your health. Dr. Aric goes on to say that it displaces people and isolates them physically meaning people will lack skills to read body language impeading our social skills.
My question to you all is... Do you find this imformation factual?? It was a peer reviewed and published journal by the institute of biology.

1%

2009-02-16T10:18:00.001-08:00

Do you honestly think this Hell's Angels/ Pissed Off Bastards analogy will hold up??

I understand a lot of people are sheep and are just herded through life, but does this really happen in the digital world too?? Apparently so and a good example or the best example of that is Wikipedia. Of which I know hardly anyone ever corrects. In my line of work I see it used as a last-minute reference/ resource site, which has proved to work in the past, however will horribly embarrass you if your facts are twisted in that class presentation.
I generally feel that most people are scared to alter content, feeling insecure or incompetent on the subject matter, which is usually why they are researching it on the wiki site in the first place.

Cluetrain

2009-02-16T09:56:00.001-08:00

The Cluetrain Manifesto highlights some interesting topics concerning new markets and social medias.
1. Markets are conversations.

This idea alone is very interesting because this seems to be one of the first documented account of how important a conversation can be on the internet.

2.Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.

This idea is backed by the influence of blogging and its increasing democratized power.

53. There are two conversations going on. One inside the company. One with the market.
This illusrates the importance of the blogosphere. The most important ideas outlined in the "manifesto" are ideas which emphasize the relevance of social media and web 2.0.
This is what web 2.0 allows us to do, this interaction should keep a company alive, if it participates. The manifesto has a good focus on companies being too distant with their markets and not directly communicating with them, which is what social medias allow.
My question to my peers.... Do you really think all companies will die if they don't take part in the interaction?? And aren't there companies that really don't matter directly to their consumers?

RSS the last nail in the coffin holding the newspaper.

2009-02-10T15:33:00.000-08:00

RSS is possibly the best tool for sifting the tons of cluttered irrelevant information that exists on the internet. Newspaper readership has steadily declined with the invention of the internet. Now that newspapers have shifted their focus to the internet there remains one last problem. Where to put the advertising????
We see them put it in front of the CNN video clips, which we are forced to watch. But the others are just easily ignored on the side of the screen, even the pulsating ones. Pop-up blocker already came.
Now comes RSS, a trick still only practiced by a small percent, however deadly. RSS feeds are the cement on top of the coffin, this almost ultimately eliminates advertisements meant for newspapers. The person who solves this problem will be the richest man/woman in the world.

Advocation

2009-02-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

Is it the task of advocates to seek validity or to win at any cost??
What do you think? Should the advocate be able to use anything at his/her disposal or are there really strict ethical implications that apply??

2009-01-21T12:34:00.000-08:00

The plastic bag is the modern day tumble weed.

Responsibility

2009-01-21T12:32:00.000-08:00

Why ... Does America fall behind when it comes to recycling? Sure some cities support local recycle pick up, but what small percent actually does?