The 463: Inside Tech

Celebrate Safer Internet Day

Today marks the tenth annual Safer Internet Day, an international event that aims to make the online community a safer, more respectful place. 

To kick off the day, the National Cyber Security Alliance joined national experts from the public and private sectors at the National Press Club to discuss the critical need to educate consumers about online safety. Check out the discussion here. 

In celebration of Safer Internet Day, Google also updated their Good to Know campaign with more tips and advice on how to protect yourself and your family from identity theft, scams and online fraud. 

Here are some key tips:

• Use a unique password for each of your important accounts like email and online banking
• Use a long password made up of numbers, letters and symbols
• Set up your password recovery options and keep them up-to-date
• Don’t reply if you see a suspicious email, instant message or webpage asking for your personal or financial information
• Never enter your password if you’ve arrived at a site by following a link in an email or chat that you don’t trust
• Don’t send your password via email, and don’t share it with others
• Pay close attention when asked to sign in online
• Report suspicious emails and scams
• Keep your browser and operating system up to date
• Always keep an eye on what you click and download, including music, movies, files, browser plug-ins or add-ons

We encourage you to take a step back, think about your online presence, and understand how you can better stay safe and secure online.  

Advanced Energy Economy Unveils New Report: Economic Impacts of Advanced Energy

Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), a national organization representing the advanced energy industry, has just released a new report, Economic Impacts of Advanced Energy.

Commissioned by the Advanced Energy Economy Institute, AEE’s educational and charitable affiliate, and produced by Pike Research, this report marks the first time both a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the advanced energy markets in the U.S. and globally has been conducted.

One of the report’s most surprising findings was the magnitude of the advanced energy industry. Advanced energy makes up more than a $1.1 trillion global market, larger than the pharmaceutical manufacturing worldwide.  Domestically it’s bigger than the trucking industry!

You may be wondering, what is advanced energy? AEE defines advanced energy as the best available commercial technologies for meeting energy needs today and tomorrow. It’s not just clean and renewable energy; it’s a broader category that includes categories like nuclear and natural gas turbines that are not generally included. In short, advanced energy is what happens when energy meets 21^st century technology. IT and the Internet, advanced materials, electronics and “big data” are all transforming the way we make and use energy, and driving innovation across the entire energy landscape.

Here are some other key findings from the report:

• The U.S. advanced energy market represented $132 billion of economic activity in 2011, with market growth of more than 15% year over year.
• The share of the U.S. global advanced energy market will rise from 12 percent to 15 percent in just one year, from 2011 to 2012.

Click here to download the report. 

Connecting for the Sandy Hook Promise

One month after the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut and the nation still grapples for a way to deal with the senseless violence committed on innocent victims.  Sensationalistic storylines and outsized personalities continue to drive headlines, but underneath all the noise and flash something good is happening.

 Families at the center of the tragedy are leading the call for moderate conversations and solutions that can help prevent similar tragedies in the future.  Their effort, the Sandy Hook Promise is a good place to start.

There will be no easy answers, but agreeing to have a civil dialogue is a positive first step on this and other important national issues. Taking the pledge is free and cathartic, but most importantly it connects participants to a much larger community of people interested in considering new ideas, not just talking points.

Say goodbye to the Exabyte, Welcome to the Zettabyte Era

 

(Charlie Schoenthaler) Yesterday, 463 joined Cisco at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. as it issued the results of its annual Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast. The marquee finding was the projected quadrupling of global Internet traffic in the next four years, with worldwide devices and connections growing to nearly 19 billion units.

Doug Webster, vice president of Cisco's service provider group, outlined the study and attributed the exponential traffic growth to an increasing number of devices and Internet users, faster broadband speeds, more video and the expansion of Wi-Fi.

The virtual international forum featured a roundtable discussion hosted by Dr. Robert Pepper, vice president of global technology at Cisco. The panel included a host of international policy leaders weighing in on the findings of the study:

• Diego Molano Vega, Minister of Information Technology and Communications of the Republic of Colombia.
• Kathleen Abernathy, Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President, Frontier Communications; and former Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.
• Kevin McElearney, Senior Vice President, Network Engineering at Comcast
• Daniel Weitzner, Chief Technology Officer for Internet Policy at the White House

Check out the webcast of what they had to say here.

According to Cisco’s Forecast, by 2016, annual global Internet Protocol traffic will reach 1.3 zettabytes - an astronomical figure when compared to the 369 exabytes generated in 2011.

So what do all of these numbers mean?

Long gone are the days in which browsing the Internet required a desk and chair.

Accessing the Internet through mobile devices has become as common as ice in a freezer. “Smart devices”, including TV sets with Internet connections, have given life to an ever-connected society that browses, views, uploads, comments, likes, shares, subscribes, pins, tweets and follows around the clock.

Gone too are the days of movie collections and Blockbuster trips.

Both television and movie viewing have made significant shifts towards online streaming. In 2012, for the first time in America’s history, more films will be watched online than purchased on DVD or Blu-ray. Don’t expect a close race either, over 1 billion more films are projected to be watched online than on discs.

Over the next four years, smart devices and streaming services will serve as the workhorses in fulfilling Cisco’s fourfold Internet growth projection. In the meantime be on the look out for more apps, less discs, and most assuredly, a whole lot of eyes staring at palms.

Is High Tech Liked?

(Jim Hock) Yes, I am a polling geek so I spent some time looking at the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll on the Presidential race, which continues to show a tight race for the Presidency.  But layered deep within the survey was some interesting polling data on the favorability of the tech industry.  Respondents were asked about their ratings for a few industries such as tech and automotive and institutions such as the military, Supreme Court, etc.  

Now in tech sector, we always think of ourselves as the cute little puppy dog everyone loves. You be the judge — 22% of Americans say they have "a great deal" of confidence in the tech sector, 25% say "quite a bit" and 41% say "some."  Add those first two and you get 47% having a great deal or quite a bit of confidence in tech.  Very few completely dislike us as only 7% say they have "very little confidence" in tech.  Hmm.  Compared to the automotive sector, add up the first two and you get 28% with "a great deal" or "quite a bit" of confidence in that sector.  That's a 19 point difference. Yet compared to US military, tech has a long way to go because a wide majority (76%) have lots of confidence in our military.  If only we could have those numbers and maybe tech sector could get some of its policy priorities through even this Congress.

 

Are Baby Boomers Tweaking the Unemployment Rate?

(Jim Hock) One of the fascinating things going on with our tough economy right now is the beginning of a huge demographic shift to millions of newly retired Americans.  We've seen it coming for decades as we were told that when the baby boomers started to retire in masse that it would cause volatility in jobs numbers.  

We also know that a growing economy requires more workers so not sure how much of thispercentage is retirements or people dropping out of the labor force.  Here's a good article quoting Mark Zandi, one of the best economists out there.  

My view is that it’s about 60% due to retirements and we're seeing a much worse impact in Europe and in Japan which are aging even faster than the US. What's your view?

 

Twitter-Facebook 2012

(Jim Hock) Four years.  That's a lifetime in technology.  Every presidential cycle we see tremendous innovation in campaigns.  Take it from me – I invested in a startup after being incredibly impressed after the '08 campaign and what some of the Obama Silicon Valley folks were doing. That investment failed, but other new ones such as NationBuilder are super impressive.

Howard Fineman's latest piece in the Huffington Post captures well what's going on with social media related to the Presidential campaign.  The fact is that Facebook and Twitter are fundamental now in how we communicate as a society and thus is reflected in the campaign itself.  The fact that the President has been to Facebook and mentions a "hashtag" is just the latest in a long line of innovations on the trail.  Just as JFK's use of TV was revolutionary at that time.  In four years who knows — maybe we will see Hillary 2016 holograms playing off your iPhone17 or in my Volt.  

 

TCC Report: Tech savvy are top job creators

From Left: Kevin Maney, Michael Dell, Doug Mellinger, Jonathan Newman and Samuel J. Palmisano

 

What do salads and the economy have to do with each other? Factor in technology, and the answer is jobs.

Yesterday, 463 had the pleasure of working with the Technology CEO Council (TCC) on the release of the “High Impact” Report.

The next generation of high-growth firms – the ‘gazelles’ that reshape our economy and create millions of American jobs – are the companies that best leverage technology to start-up, grow and more effectively compete in the global marketplace, according to a new economic report released today by the Technology CEO Council (TCC). 

Journalist and author, Kevin Maney, moderated a discussion at the historic Hay-Adams hotel with Dell's Founder and CEO Michael Dell, IBM Chairman Samuel J. Palmisano, Palm Ventures Partner and Former Chairman of the National Commission on Entrepreneurship Doug Mellinger and Sweetgreen CEO and Co-Founder Jonathan Neman. The panelists discussed how technology is helping entrepreneurs create new companies and pioneer new business models that reinvent the global economy (see the discussion on Twitter, #TCCHighImpact).

For entrepreneurs like Sweetgreen’s Jonathan Newman, new digital data and analytic technology is credited for getting his idea of a business off the ground as a senior at Georgetown University, turning salad and frozen yogurt into a successful business venture.

In fact, the report found that other entrepreneurs that were “intensive users of IT” grew jobs at a rate of 5.1 percent from 2001-2009 while overall employment shrank by 0.5 percent.

During the panel, Newman explained that from his iPhone, he could control everything from the temperature to what song is playing at each of his 11 stores. Soon, according to Newman, Sweetgreen will roll out and leverage a new online ordering system—straight from one’s smartphone.

 

1% Wannabees: Americans Envy, Disdain the Richest 1%

463 Survey

(Fallon Forbush & Rachael Peli) Blocks away from the DC office of 463 Communications is a muddy and messy McPherson Square. The Occupy DC protesters have camped here and in Freedom Plaza for the past four months, most recently fighting eviction from public land this past week.

All recent news aside, the Occupy movement has been called a “self-defeating disaster.” 463’s latest survey found this description to be shockingly accurate.

It’s true, Americans don't think very highly of the people in the so-called 1%, but they wouldn't mind joining them. In fact, Americans are very wrong about just who makes up the 1%.

"The question the survey provokes is do Americans understand who is in the so-called 1%? Is it Donald Trump landing on a rooftop in a helicopter or a well-off soccer mom in a minivan? The answer is it could be both," said Tom Galvin, 463's CEO. "At a time of economic uncertainty and upheaval, it's clear many Americans have a love/hate relationship with wealth and those who have it."

The majority (52 percent) of Americans believes that one needs to earn at least $1 million a year to make it into the most elite income club. Contrast that with IRS data indicating that a salary of about $350,000 is enough to put someone in the 1%.

The majority of Americans believe the 1% also fly on private jets (60 percent), have two or more homes (73 percent) have luxury seats for entertainment and sporting events (63 percent), take overseas vacations annually (67 percent) and fly first class (63 percent).

But whether they don't work very hard, or pay enough in taxes, or lead a life of luxury, there is one more thing Americans think about the 1%: They want to be one of them.

 

Consumer Case Study: Chevy dealer learns a lesson from a critical customer

WUSA9 VIDEO: Sticker shock for local Chevy Volt car shopper

(Fallon Forbush) When 463 Partner Jim Hock looked into buying his first electric car, he wasn’t expecting to pay more than sticker price.

His heart was set on the 2012 Chevy Volt.  He had the features down to the color and even had a charging station installed in his garage before setting out for his local Chevy dealership. But Jim isn’t the only one with a love affair with this machinery.

The Volt has earned impressive industry accolades, including the Motor Trend Car of the Year, North American Car of the Year and the highly coveted recommendation from Consumer Report.

Should Jim have been such a nag when his dealer told him he’d be getting a deal if he only had to pay a $5,000 up charge?

Word on the street is that dealers have charged 50 percent higher than General Motor’s asking price. That’s up to $20,000 over sticker price.

"The price is very fair," Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Automotive, said in an interview. "The Volt is one of the first modern-day electric vehicles. The products that change our lives always cost more at first."

Whether you think an innovative car with first-time features that is bringing electric travel into the mainstream makes sense of dealers’ demands or that Jim’s shock is justified, there is one certainty.  That is, consumers are savvy and they’ll always shop around.

Such an up charge didn’t keep Jim from getting his coveted car at an advertised price and the media is spreading the word to other consumers who just might have a crush on it too.

Ghostwriting: Should the big names in social media write their own posts?

(Rachael Peli) Have you ever noticed that some of your favorite social media gurus and bloggers seem to post around the clock? I follow a good number of public relations professionals on Twitter, for example, and when I have insomnia, I tend to pick up my smartphone and read the latest PR posts and news. Now I know that these posts aren’t targeted at me because many of these PR pros have a global audience. The 3 a.m. tips on how to write the perfect headline are targeted at the followers on the other side of the world where it’s 3 p.m.

 

I can’t help but wonder how it would feel to trust my ghost-posters while I sleep at night, especially now that Mark Davidson’s Twitter hit the news. (The latest updates from the Davidson Twitter account rant suggest that the entire fiasco was a staged event to get more followers and traffic. Self-defamation for the sake of coverage is perhaps another title for another post.)

 

We would all like to believe that those whom we have deemed important enough to follow are doing the actual writing, but more often companies and individuals are hiring a team of ghostwriters and/or automatic social network posting organizations. These automatic posting orgs will do industry news searches and then post as the writer, often linking back to the writer’s website to make each post personal. For example, three tech bloggers may want 24/7 coverage of tech news so they hire help. One hires a ghostwriter; the other two hire an automatic posting org. The ghostwriter may likely come up with more original and witty posts. The two others may have similar headlines but each will have links included that lead us back to their respective websites.

 

In either case, the person we hope is posting the content is not. In either case, the account owner runs the risk of exposure and embarrassment before thousands.

 

If I were one of these professionals and had a global following, I’d promise to post a certain number of original updates each week. How could I claim to be a great communicator or a social media professional if I’m never even active on my own accounts? The remainder of my posts and updates would come from one trusted ghostwriter that I would treat well and pay well.

 

Assuming the entire event was not fabricated, I’d be interested to know the legal action that someone like Mark Davidson could take at this point. Is this libel even though he gave the ghostwriter access to his account? Is there a clause in the contract that states the ghostwriter must not access Davidson’s account after termination? Was Davidson just silly for not changing his password?

 

Social networks are excellent places to tell your story and learn what your followers want/need. These companies and individuals miss opportunities to educate and respond when all interaction is “outsourced.”

 

Why Facebook’s Timeline Will Help the Online Identity Management Industry

(Kelley Vendeland) Scanning my Twitter feed this morning, you could be forgiven for thinking the only thing going on in the world was the launch of Facebook’s Timeline profile at the company’s F8 Developer conference.

 

Aside from having my own personal “you know you work in tech when” moment and possibly needing more diverse Twitter friends, Facebook’s Timeline is very, very cool. A Timeline profile is essentially one page – a tile – that catalogues your entire life since birth. The concept is a little 1984-esque, but I doubt that will matter to Facebook’s now 800 million users  - the site’s infamous skirmishes with privacy watchdogs haven't dented its growth thus far.  And Mark Zuckerberg is right on the mark that gorgeous visuals are crucial on today’s web. Facebook’s decision to hire non-coding graphic designers to work on profile layout has resulted in a stunning user interface; no other social networking site, not even Google+, can hold a candle to it.

 

What I find most interesting though are the implications of Facebook’s very blatant mission to assemble a digital diary of every user’s life. If you’re above a certain age, chances are you don’t have digitized photos of your high school, college and immediate post-college days. You might have hard copies that you could theoretically scan, upload and tag on Timeline, but are you really going to do that? Probably not.

 

But for users like myself – borderline digital natives – or younger – full fledged natives – who joined Facebook in college or high school, Timeline means that it just became even easier to find and chronologically sort our growing pains.

 

Does that mean we have to be even more vigilant about policing what ends up on Facebook? I’d argue yes. In an ideal world, if 800 million people use a service and a sizable fraction of them have silly party photos from college, those silly photos wouldn’t be a source of ammunition for HR departments and political campaign teams. If everyone has them, why do they matter, especially as the digital native generation gains seniority in the workforce?

 

Unfortunately I doubt it will play out like that.  Instead Facebook’s Timeline rollout and the Timeline copycats that will inevitably follow will likely be a boon for the online identity management industry. In highly competitive industries, people will always look to leverage the skeletons in the closet of the next guy. Now that Facebook has made your past even more searchable, management is more important than ever.

 

 

The Republican Candidates: Facebook Rankings

(Lauren Sacks) During the 2010 Congressional Elections, Facebook tracked the most hotly contested races and found that the number of Facebook fans helped predict more than 70% of the key races. Now, as the race for the Republican presidential nomination heats up, it’s time to examine how the top-tier candidates measure up in the world of Facebook.

For this exercise, the “top-tier” candidates analyzed are: Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and the sometimes forgotten candidate, Ron Paul.

As of 2:30pm on Wednesday, August 17, 2011, the number of “Likes” per candidate rank as follows:

1. Mitt Romney - 1,084,117 Likes
2. Michele Bachmann - 461,312 Likes
3. Ron Paul - 460,650 Likes
4. Rick Perry - 122,647 Likes

Mitt Romney has taken a comfortable lead, but how does his profile picture compare? Does the quality of the profile picture coincide with the popularity of the candidate?

As you can see, we have a variety in the candidates’ selections. Rick Perry captures his ability spend time with citizens, yet fails to highlight that he is a presidential candidate.  Michele Bachmann tries to harness her patriotism by photo-shopping the American flag, but the graphic looks more like she is wearing a striped towel over her suit than a tribute to her patriotism. Mitt Romney is sporting a smirk and the shadow over his eyes casts a bleak tone (could this be indicative of his personality?). Ron Paul leaves little room for critique—he is smiling, the photo is crisp, and he is clearly running for president.  

As the race for the nomination continues to intensify, check back to see the progress of the “Likes” and read more catty comments about their profile pictures.

Internet Memes 101

(Emma Nay) Welcome to INTERNET MEMES 101. This quick lesson will help you learn how to plank, owl, and leisure dive; and learn how to make a demotivational picture.

You’re probably wondering what the hell an Internet meme is, right? Well, according to Merriam-Webster, a meme (rhymes with cream) is “an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture.” Now, an Internet meme is an idea, behavior, or style that is spread “virally” throughout the Internet.

Still have trouble understanding what an Internet meme is? Let me show you some examples:

 

 

As you can see here, I am planking on two desks in an old office at work. I must admit, it did hurt a little bit, but it was fun. You’re probably wondering how in the hell would this be fun? Try it out for yourself and you’ll find out how entertaining it really is. How did this strange fad become so popular? Well, no one really knows. I’m assuming it’s because some plankers like to make a fool of themselves by planking in the most awkward places such as balconies, basketball hoops, and even luggage bins on an airplane.

Owling is similar to planking, except the person sits on random objects like an owl. I did find planking to be a bit more challenging and fun compared to owling.  Here you can see a young man owling at in his office space:

 

 

 

Working hard? Or hardly working? You decide.

 

 

Now, let me explain to you about the whole leisure diving phenomenon. LeisureDive.com explains leisure diving as jumping, “…into a body of water (or at least something soft), striking a ‘leisure pose’ in mid-air. Ideally, a photographer captures the moment when the diver has reached peak height above water, when his or her hips are parallel to the waterline.” Here is a photo of two men in Mariachi costumes demonstrating a leisure dive:

You’re probably wondering why leisure diving got so famous too, huh? Well, just look at the picture. It’s hilarious! Be sure to check out www.leisuredive.com for more examples.

Have you heard of motivational posters? A motivational poster is supposed to “motivate” you to do great things, basically giving you a great outlook on life. Here’s one for example:

This one says, “Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice.”

 

Awww, isn't that cute? Well, you can only guess what a demotivational Internet meme looks like:

Brings you back to the good ol’ intern days, huh?

Well, I hope you enjoyed your INTERNET MEMES 101 class. Be sure to look out for INTERNET MEMES 201 to learn how to Rick Roll someone, how to interpret LOLCats, find out what the dramatic chipmunk is, and learn how to make your own EPIC Fail picture.

Lemonade Out of Lemons – How A Crisis Reflects the Best of A Company

(Tom Galvin) Everyday, we are reminded that no matter how noble, smart and well-managed a company is, sooner or later it’s going to find itself under the glare of intense scrutiny. I’ve seen it from all sides; from inside a “can do no wrong” company that had to explain how it stumbled and break a vow never to lay off thousands of employees to companies accused of monopoly behavior to accusations of prostitution to an organization finding out an employee’s child had the H1N1 virus – a day after that child was at headquarters for “Take Your Child to Work Day.”
 
And what always impresses me is how often a crisis brings out the very best in people, and therefore, organizations. I know it’s not the image we see on CNBC. But in most cases -with notable exceptions (re: Enron) - companies that face a crisis truly try to do the right thing.  But that doesn’t mean they don’t make mistakes.
 
Oftentimes, a crisis is simply an issue that wasn’t managed well and has turned into a crisis. In other instances, a company simply doesn’t react fast enough to limit the damage and it spirals. But all crises have some common themes and lessons:
 
-        A crisis is like a book. It has chapters. Some are long and some are short. The basic chapters are 1) what happened? 2) who’s at fault? 3) what is going to happen because of it? 4) how will it be stopped from happening again.

More often than not, the company controls how long the chapters are. For example, when a company that get accused of something and doesn’t respond in hopes it will die down just gets stuck in that chapter.  And the company wonders why the press won’t let go. The simple is they won’t until they can complete the chapters.
 
-      Guessing is the worst thing. It’s important to put out information fast, but only if you are certain it’s accurate. Too often companies panic and put out information, only to have to correct later on. Now they look like liars. Only put out what you know when you know it.

-      As bad as it may feel, a crisis is an ideal time to articulate and project the values of a company. If you messed up, say so (even if it leads to a big fight with the lawyers). If you miscalculated, own up to it. There is nothing more inspiring than an organization that holds itself accountable, explains what went wrong and demonstrates how it is going to become better because of it.

So the next time your organization falls short of its financial expectations, gets called up to testify and get scolded by Congress, or does something harmful, remember that in its toughest moments are its opportunities to prove what’s best about it.

Thanks Daniel Snyder for Seeing the Light.

(Jim Hock) Yeesh, writing that title was difficult.  While it pains me to walk in my son's Redskins painted room or give any kudos whatsoever to team owner Daniel Snyder bc of his gross mismanagement, I do have to give credit where its due.  And that's new solar installation being installed at Fedex Field.

This is great news that demonstrates the power of renewable energy. All told, there will be 8,000 solar panels to generate a "portion of the stadium’s power on game days and all of its electricity the rest of the week."

Great news.  And as a Volt owner, I am also pleased that the 850-space covered carport will feature 10 charging stations for electric vehicles.

For once at least for me: Way to go Danny-boy!

The South Will Rise Again. And Partly Due to Clean Energy.

(Jim Hock)  The title is tongue in cheek of course, but the new report from Brookings on the clean energy economy shows that more than 2.7 million Americans work in the clean energy sector.  That’s not the future.  That’s today.   

And in 5-10 years, it will be even more.  What’s more, these jobs are well paid and are spread in all regions of the country according to Brookings.  It’s more than the fossil fuel industries and the South has the largest number of clean-economy jobs – or 1 in 3.   Roughly a quarter of US clean tech jobs are in heavy-export manufacturing, according to the study. By comparison, less than 10% of jobs in the broader economy are in manufacturing, the study found.
 
All in all, good news for the advanced energy economy and our country.  Check it out here. 

There’s loads of great facts and cool interactive graphics too.

First date? No problem. Research your date with just a click!

(Emma Nay) Remember back in the day when you had a little crush on someone and you wanted to get to know him or her more?  First, you had to build up the courage to ask them out on a date and hope that they say yes. Second, if you’re lucky enough for them to say yes, then you had to think about where you wanted to take them for your first date. Last, but not least, you had to come up with some ideas to keep a decent conversation going with them the whole time. (Hopefully, you found your date to be very compatible and you two eventually blossomed into a wonderful relationship.)

Well, thanks to social media, people get the opportunity to get to someone before they even get a chance to talk take them out, or even meet them for the first time. People can easily get to know a person’s interests through social media sites like Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, assuming that their pages aren’t private.

 If you were to look at my Facebook page, you could easily find some of my favorite bands and movies, what sports I play, my political views, the fact that I enjoy video games, and the fact that I’m obsessed with Jeep Wranglers. Although, my information may be different than most, many other Facebook and other social media users post just about the same amount of information on their pages.

 As fun as it is taking a look at your crush’s Facebook or other social media sites, I feel like it kind of takes the fun out of the first date. Looking through all of their information, their tagged pictures, and recent tweets can spoil valuable time you could be spending getting to know the person one-on-one.  Maybe it would be best to save the Facebook “stalking” until after you get to know the person.

This Isn’t Your Grandma’s Farmville: The Alien World of Content Farming

(Kelsey Kirchmann) Everyone has seen the malformed beasts produced by content farming. Those weird, slinking articles titled “How to Fix a Lawnmower” or “Top Ten Summer Camp Themed Movies” that have little or no valuable content, but will take an unsuspecting netizen to a page filled with pop-up and sidebar ads if he chooses to “read more…” Some people spend hours stuck in the vortex of content farming and come away from the Internet no wiser or at least without an answer to their original query. Welcome to the weird world of content farming.

Most of us have been exposed to content farming when we are performing a routine query on a search engine. We search things like “How to Make Smores” or “LSAT HELP”, and we receive ranked search results by our preferred search engine. Some of the links in the search engine results are helpful and from reputable sources. Others would make our sixth grade English teachers cringe with republished content or a hodgepodge of words and pictures that are merely designed to suck the uniformed netizen into a rabbit hole of farmed content.

Content farms are often dressed up as legitimate websites or come from reputable sourced with broad name recognition. Some content farmers include Associated Content, e-How, wikihow, Cracked, Demand Media, CNN, AOL Seed and Patch, and Yahoo! Answers. These content farmers hire content farm workers for the hard labor.

Content farm workers are actual people who once dreamed of writing the great American novel or winning the Pulitzer for an article on populist revolutions in the Middle East, but are forced by circumstance (the economy, the decline of print media, really bad dates) to produce low quality content for even lower quality salary.

Content farms use computer algorithms which track trending search terms to produce a list of topics that will generate the most page views. Content farmers then work on impossible thirty-minute deadlines to produce bologna content on these computer-generated topics.

The quality of farmed content is not important; the content is merely a backsplash for the ads on the page. The central purpose of content farming is to garner ad revenue through page views. Read this horror story from a former content farmer for AOL and you will understand that the above summary of content farming is far from melodrama.

As a casual netizen, I first truly began to understand the alien concept of content farming a few days ago after reading an opinion piece in the New York Times. This blog post by Virginia Heffernan documented Google’s war on content farming with a new algorithm named Panda. Panda works to send farmed content to the bottom of Google’s page ranking system, making farmed content less valuable to content farms. Being at the bottom of the page ranking system does not equate to a high number of page views or ad revenue.

Google has just released Panda 2.2, the revised second edition of the Panda algorithm created to fight farmed content. Since Panda’s February 2011 launch, Google has been refining this algorithm and quietly releasing updated versions. According to this legal brief, Google Panda has been increasingly effective at weeding out worthless farmed content with eHow and Wikihow being the hardest hit of the content farms.

But Google Panda does not mean cybercitizens and their computers can sleep soundly. There is a new frontier, wild and lawless, that content farmers are beginning to exploit: e-books. A recent article in Salon titled “Spamazon” talks about the farmed content that is beginning to infiltrate the Amazon marketplace for Kindle books. Content farmers buy the rights to popular books or book titles then rearrange the words or completely change the content. Content farmers sell their product for a fraction of the cost of a legitimate e-book. Cybercitizens are then tricked into buying a low-cost, garbage imitation of Alice in Wonderland or The Yogurt Diet for Dummies. It is becoming increasingly difficult to sort the cheap imitators from legitimate e-literature. So Panda may be protecting your Google searches, but Panda cannot protect your Kindle.

I’m not sure if cheap imitations or get rich quick schemes are human nature or a law of the universe, but for now content farming will continue until the entire global community of cybercitizens fully understands the way content is generated and presented on the internet. We should all arm ourselves with knowledge and be our own Pandas. As long as we can recognize farmed content and steer ourselves back to the more reputable sources of online information, we can be responsible and empowered netizens. 

Skype from your couch

(Emma Nay) Imagine that you’re sitting on your couch, watching your favorite television show, and then all of a sudden your show gets interrupted. This time it wasn’t a commercial that took over the screen; it’s your boss calling in to see why you didn’t go to work today.

You guessed it. The cable giant, Comcast, and the Internet video program, Skype, are developing a partnership to help bring the latest bit of entertainment from the Internet to the television screen. Comcast customers who wish to have this feature will need to buy a special adapter box and an HD camera along with an HD television to get the maximum experience. A cool feature is that you can have an option where you can use Skype and watch television at the same time.

Personally, I’m not so sure if I would like to have this feature added to my television set, simply because I’d like to keep the Skype feature on my computer. I like to watch TV when I want to relax after a long day of work or listen to the news, not video chat with a friend to see what they’re doing Saturday night. Another thing that I’m not too fond of is that this will add extra expenses to my cable bill, as if the adapter and camera weren’t expensive enough!

If you do decide to purchase this application for your TV set, make sure to sign out when you don’t want to be bothered from your boss, ex-boyfriend/girlfriend, mother-in-law, spouse, or whoever else that may interrupt your favorite program.  

We’re Gonna Party Like It’s 1999

(Kelsey Kirchmann) In 1999, I was nine-years-old. I had never been out of the country, I had never operated a motor vehicle and I was five years away from holding my first real job as a line cook in a pizza joint. I had barely discovered the Internet past AOL Instant Messaging in the elementary school computer lab.

 

1999 was an exciting year. This new currency called the Euro was established as the official currency of the eurozone (which did not yet include Greece). The world population reached 6 billion people, ExxonMobile became the world’s largest company and this guy named Hugo Chavez became the President of Venezuela.

 

Bill Gates’ fortune exceeded 100 billion dollars with the release of Windows 98.  This amazing new music-sharing site called Napster was launched and the music was totally free (until they were prosecuted for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement). Apple released the Power Macintosh G4. China started restricting the use of the Internet in these things called Internet cafes. We were all afraid Y2K was going to be the beginning of Armageddon, starting with our bank accounts because you just can’t trust those computers.

 

At that time we had no idea about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, Hulu or Groupon. Google was a brand new search engine, a few years away from its IPO. We didn’t use the word netizen and we spent significantly less time on the Internet. Oh, and did I mention there were no smartphones (collectve gasp).

 

Last Thursday, the FCC released a report called “Information Needs of Communities”. This report is the product of the FCC’s examination of the future of media and information launched in 2010.

 

This project was launched after the FTC published a staff discussion draft in 2010 of policy recommendations to “support the reinvention of journalism”. These policy suggestions include massive federal subsidies for the press, a journalism division of AmeriCorps, expanded postal subsidies and taxes on cell phones and consumer electronics to pay for it all.

 

Now please pause for a moment to take all of that in. How different would our world be if those policy suggestions were taken in 1999? I am almost positive I would not be using my iPhone to tweet about Facebook in China after a quick Google News search.

 

The FCC’s report is broad where the FTC’s staff discussion draft was controversially specific. The FCC report focused on an objective overview of modern media. Instead of trying to suggest policy that will most likely inhibit the rapidly-evolving, organic nature of modern media, the FCC suggests streamlining policy and promoting transparency in media online. Instead of a strident regulatory framework, the FCC’s policy suggestions favor a light regulatory touch.

 

The FCC’s approach seems both rational and highly intelligent considering the amazing information revolution that has taken place over the past few decades. It remains hard to say what will become the next Facebook, Google or Twitter and it is even harder to say why Prince wore this sparkling trench coat, but it easy to see we will continue to experience the lightening-fast progress of innovation in the digital age.

 

 

“Infotainment” Systems: A Solution or a Distraction?

(Emma Nay) From smart phones to refrigerators with built-in TVs, technology seems to be creeping up on to just about everything. In fact, technology giants like Google and Intel are bringing the power of the PC right on to the dashboard of a car. As if we didn’t have enough distractions on the road!

“Infotainment systems” is what they are called and they are supposedly going to be on the market this year. Infotainment systems have a variety of features including: 3D maps, HD videos, car and fuel information, and even the Internet. Even though some systems may prevent drivers from viewing videos while the car is in motion, drivers can still access information on the Internet, such as news articles and social media.

I guess these technology giants thought it would be a great idea to bring smart phone-like applications to the dashboard without considering the consequences. “Unfortunately and sadly, it is a continuation of the pursuit of profit over safety — for both drivers and pedestrians,” says Nicholas A. Ashford, a professor of technology and policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

I could only imagine if I bought a new car with a built-in infotainment system. Let’s say I wanted to head over to a local restaurant to celebrate my new purchase. I wanted to see some reviews of this restaurant before I head out but didn’t have enough time to look them up at home. I could easily press a button on the 10-inch screen above my gearshift to access the Internet and find out what this restaurant is all about. Add that to another list of things that could be distracting me behind the wheel (such as my smart phone vibrating uncontrollably, my beverage spilling all over the place, or some friends that are chatting away in the back seat) and before you know it, I’m in a wreck, or hopefully just a fender bender!

Needless to say, I’m probably going to stick with my simple Jeep and leave these infotainment systems to the tech fanatics. As much as a safe driver as I am (knock on wood), I really would not want to jeopardize my safety over something so unnecessary.

 

New Fitness Technologies to Help You Stay Fit

(Emma Nay) Do you have a resolution to stay fit year-round but are having trouble staying motivated? Is exercising slowly becoming more repetitive and boring? Well, with today’s new fitness technologies, people are finding more ways to stay in shape and stay entertained. From mobile apps to gaming consoles, there are so many different fitness tips and routines to help get you the beach body you’ve always wanted.

So, how do we get people to enjoy exercising? Last year, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) did a Getting Fit with Consumer Electronics study to influence consumers to use technology to get them off of their couches to stay fit, instead of using technology to be sedentary

Rhonda Daniel, manager of market research at CEA, states that fitness technologies are ranging from scales and pedometers, to mobile applications, MP3 players, and gaming systems. This helps these technologies reach out to as many different types of people as possible. New mobile applications such as the Lose It! app, can help give consumers an ideal workout schedule to reach their personal goals, track their calorie intake, track their progress, and even see how their friends are progressing with the app. I have used the Lose It! app before and I absolutely loved it! There are other mobile apps such as CardioTrainer Pro, JogTracker, Adidas miCoach, and various other apps to give tips to fit the consumer’s needs.

There’s no need to sit on the couch to watch your favorite show anymore!  Many elliptical trainers and treadmills are now being built with televisions so you can stay entertained while melting off those calories. If there isn’t a television present, there are apps you can put on your phone to watch movies or you could simply listen to music while you work out. Are you a video game fanatic? How about trying some new fitness games for the Xbox Kinect and the Wii? There are tons of strength training and cardio games to choose from such as Zumba and even skiing!

With today’s fitness technology, it seems like there is virtually no excuse not to work out. These apps could definitely help whip everyone into that fantastic, beach body, all while having a great time doing it. So, get up off of that couch and start working on that body that you have been dreaming of all year.

Early 20-Somethings Have Souls Too

(Kelsey Kirchmann) Recently in a Senate hearing on mobile privacy, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) asserted that young people “who are 20, 21, 22 years old really don’t have social values”.  This comment has sparked agreement, derision, discussion, and debate surrounding the changing nature of social values and privacy with the expansion of social media on the web. I personally snorted into my green tea. Now I’m usually a Rockefeller fan, but this supposition was a little bit offending. As one of those early twenty-somethings, I can attest that my peers and I have social values, but the nature of those social values is very different than that of previous generations.

With the advent of Web 2.0 applications, young twenty-somethings have come of age in an era of sharing. Some react the same way their parents or grandparents might, regarding social media with suspicion and reluctance. Others use aliases to protect their careers and aspirations from an errant, incriminating tagged photo or post. Most have embraced the over-sharing nature of broadcasting their lives on the Internet, navigating coming of age and defining themselves in a most public fashion. Engaging in these forums helps young twenty-somethings aggregate information, seek out opportunity and connect with people in their social networks. Social media has become an integral part of life.

Some young people do social media better than others- who can forget the harrowing story of Kiki Kannibal and her failure to utilize social media in a healthy manner. Social media provides everyone with a space for self-expression. Often the most extreme forms of self-expression get all the attention in the press. This does not mean that all young twenty-somethings have no social values. Rockefeller should talk to Barack Obama about young people with social values- I’m pretty sure those values helped elect Obama the last time around.

Young twenty-somethings do have social values. The fact that they are willing to utilize web 2.0 applications with limited privacy protection does not indicate a lack of respect or understanding of privacy, it indicates the changing nature of the world. Young twenty-somethings use social networking sites to promote their social values, to follow their passions, and to engage their friends in discussion. Those who use social media most successfully understand the limits of a virtually (no pun intended) lawless public forum for expression, and they also accept that the lack of regulation opens the door for further innovation and faster aggregation of relevant and pertinent information. Young twenty-somethings have social values, but (shockingly) they have evolved with the increasing interconnectedness of the world.

 

 

 

 

 

New Mobile Healthcare Apps That May Save Your Life

 

(Emma Nay) We all know that using a phone while driving can cause some serious consequences. With new applications coming out daily, it seems as though people have even more ways to become distracted behind the wheel.
 
But who knew that some mobile applications could help save someone’s life? Ford Motors is currently working on a mobile app that could help those with chronic conditions such as diabetes. This mobile app uses Bluetooth so drivers can answer questions hands-free to get information about their personal health records and track low blood sugar levels. This app isn’t only for the driver; it’s for the passengers as well.
 
Coming from a personal experience of mine, I believe that these new apps could very well save someone’s life.
 
Last May, I was driving back to school to study for exams after visiting my mother on Mother’s Day. I started to feel very confused, dizzy, and disoriented and had pulled over immediately on I-95. I was so weak that I couldn’t even lift my water bottle. I called 911 immediately because I was on the verge of fainting and I knew I had to get off the road as soon as possible. After spending a night in the emergency room, I discovered that what I had was   hyponatremia, a sodium deficiency. It definitely would have helped me out if such an app were available at the time.
 
Gary Strumolo, Ford global manager of interiors, infotainment, health, and wellness research, stated that these mobile healthcare apps probably wouldn’t be around for another year or so. Until then, let’s hope that other automobile companies will step up to make the roads safer for everyone, especially for those suffering from chronic conditions.