FREE in-flight facebook! for now...

Seven separate are now adding free wifi to their flights so that guests can feel more relaxed while on their way to their destination. The seven airlines include Delta, AirTran, American, Virgin Atlantic, Alaska, US Airways and United. Virgin Airlines has up to one-third of its passengers using the Gogo wifi, the flight from San Francisco to Boston has been nicknamed "The Nerd Bird," by its crew members. The wifi is offered by Gogo on several private planes as well; of course this is just an offer and will not stay free forever, Gogo's chief marketing officer, Ash ElDifrawi says "This isn't like offering free Wi-Fi in a Starbucks, it is an expensive undertaking, and we are sensitive to reasonable pricing. It's like asking Verizon and AT&T to give away 4G" wireless network access.


http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-02-01-facebook-inflight-wifi_N.htm

Interactive Visualization Tool

I was in a Human Development class where I had to research adolescents and their behaviors when I first heard about the website. What I seemed to come across a lot was cyber bullying. I had even seen advertising on television and heard stories on the news about it. Well it just so happens that a 24 year old made an effort to stop it and created a website that people can join and share their stories with different people across the country. The page shows a map and you can see the activities in every state. I though the site was an innovative effort to support the cause. The website is even linked with Twitter and Facebook. A reporter described it as "In essence, the tool is a kind of interactive map that lets kids post ways in which they are fighting abuse, find resources if they’re suffering from bullying, and see where and how others are doing their part. They can also suggest resources that might be missing from the map."

Link:

http://www.athinline.org/drawyourline

Let the war rage on!!!

The war over information continues to rage on. Do you BIng or are you Googler? Well I guess it may not matter as long as you get the information or site you need. However its big business and it seems that it's getting messy. Just recently google accused Bing of cheating. Google is saying that Bing is coping their searches and calling it there own. So does Microsoft really have a program that when you search for a word it just goes to google and search for it then return it to Bing's search results page. This would be to funny but it thats what Google is saying in a sense. Oh, Bing do your own work!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704124504576118510340787364.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews

"Peek you"- Who is searching for you and your info?

I found a very interesting website called www.peekyou.com. How does this website sound? The name of website reminds me of the game “peek-a-boo , like when someone is “looking” for you. Moreover, this website has a search engine on their homepage and the person you are looking for you type in their first and last name. This website will then give you a list of people by the name you search by city/ state or country. Peekyou uses an algorithm that matches that person’s location based on years of data where that person has lived! Peekyou also helps other people that are searching for you through your social networking sites like your Facebook and twitter account. They basically can search “you” through websites and social networks that is “publicly” available which is scary. How do you know if stuff you posted on websites, photos, posts or blogs are “publicly” available from 2 years ago? Since they take whatever they want from whomever, for instance a picture taken off a website that you regretted a year ago you can’t. Why? Because it is publicly available.If you wanted to delete it off Peekyou website, Peekyou stated as a rule,that you have to have it "deleted" by the domain. Who would want to do that long process for a photo?

Here is a youtube about peekyou: I recommend watching this video, Peekyou creator, Michael Hussey, talking on the news. This video represents why you should as a child represent yourself on the internet because of social media from the beginning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKTOfBZxHyc/

Can money make you happy?

Apparently , Scientist have finally concluded that money can sure buy happiness.Wow , I would have told them that ; maybe. Talking about digital age , after collecting data from more than 140 countries, they attested to the fact that your economy situation can cause you to be happy or very sad irrespective of your geographical location . To read more on this interesting topic,please see this link ;http://lifeinc.todayshow.com/_news/2011/02/01/5961656-does-money-make-you-happy-absolutely-

Visualization Tools

I found a really neat program that you can download onto your computer or on your mobile where it helps you keep track of all your social networkings such as aim, last.fm, msn, etc. It's unique form of how they keep everything organized in widgets makes it easier for the user, and makes it a pretty sight. I have not used it but I found it interesting and might even look into it. Here is the website:

http://fidgt.com/

Is not having a digital presence a bad thing?

i have a thought. I use these Flickr, twitter, etc APIs to data mine information and use it for analysis, for my research. And more i get into it, harder it is for me put anything personal out there. Do you think, if a future employer hires someone to analyze my digital presence and doesnt find much, is it a bad thing? Do you think a person who doesnt use facebook a lot be labeled a social nerd?

the big question is, does the fact that your information out there is being used to judge you, prevent you from posting what you want to?