Google Me, I Dare You!

While reading different article about "You are What Your search result returns" and "When the Patient Is a Googler" made me think about how I have googled people and myself. As A Googler myself, I tend to Google people I don't know or people I'm interested in dating. I have come to find a lot of information by doing this. The Googled individuals seem to always be surprised at the information I find about them. It's simple yet some people seem to be unaware of the power of Google or search engines in general.

Here's a good example of what people are unaware of that Google can do. I was looking to purchase a temporary cell phone because I had recently had my AT&T phone stolen. I looked on craigslist and found a good deal and wanted to purchase the phone from the seller the next day. After e-mailing him, he responded very quickly. When trying to arrange a time to meet he became delayed in responding. I needed a phone as soon as possible and was getting impatient. I googled his name and his respective area that he mentioned he lived in. I found his name under a graduate from a local middle school. It appeared he was in his 40's and I thought this was the guy. That didn't help me to get him to respond any sooner.

I googled his e-mail address and found his AIM screen name on a paintball forum. This may seem creepy but I was desperate to get this phone! I IMed him which freaked him out a bit, but it got him to set up a time to met and make the transaction. I waited for him at the assigned location, and out jumped a 16 yr old punk (dressed like a wanna be gangster with a pimply face). I found my assumption to be wrong, but at least my googling got me my phone. I left him with this advice. If you don't want people finding you then make your contact information private.

After that occurrence it was nice to know some teens use their brains, as I discovered reading a Pew Report on Teen, Privacy and Online Social Networks that said:

Some 55% of online teens have profiles and most of them restrict access to their
profile in some way. Of those with profiles, 66% say their profile is not
visible to all Internet users. Of those whose profile can be accessed by anyone
online, nearly half (46%) say they give at least some false information. Teens
post fake information to protect themselves and also to be playful or silly.

Let's hope more teens follow these guidelines because privacy is really important if you want to stay safe in this Internet age.

Last thing, I am proud to say I have googled my name and nothing has lead back to the real me . . . yet.

Dreams Come True

Whoever said dreams don't come true must have lied to me. My one dream was to someday see Eve 6 in concert. When the band broke up in 2004, I was very disenhearted. Then when word went out that two of the three had re-united to become Sugi-Tap; I nearly jumped with glee. The only problem was they were only playing in CA. I have been trying to figure out a way I could see them perform within my budget. BUT WAIT!! Then the unexpected happened! In October the band got a new guitarist and are now known as Eve 6. The band has formed and will be playing in Townson, Maryland on March 25th. I have already bought my tickets and if anyone wants to join me, let me know.
Here's their famous song most people know:


other songs that I favor are: "Open Road Song," "Inside Out," "Promise" and "Think Twice."

Virtual Reality vs. Reality

Where do we go next in these online worlds? If the majority of people turn to virtual worlds like Second Life and vSide then what will happen to the real world? Will we see only the hick towns or the Amish taking over? All I know is that virtual worlds will not be able to become reality for me. After reading Ellen Lee write in the San Fransisco Chronicle about virtual worlds , it got me thinking about the progression social networking. It seems that all virtual worlds are another form of social networking. The only problem is with so many virtual worlds being made, each site or world will keep users interested for a time period. After that, people figure out that there's more to life than a virtual world that will not help them lose weight while sitting in front of a computer or get married. In a virtual world you can not file your taxes or get married and create an offspring. There are limits to the virtual world and it's sad to see some people taking a virtual world to this extent:



My second concern is with the invention of MyCyberTwin then how do we we are talking to is ALIVE or REAL. I think virtual worlds like SecondLife will stick around for awhile but give it some time and in a couple years it will die. Unless, they are able to create a world where you can walking inside your coputer and become part of it! That would be nice, to have two world instead of one. Or am I overthinking this?

Tech Spoofing

Who doesn't enjoy a good spoof? How many times do we surf youtube for something funny like someone making fun of company or person?

^{MAC VS. PC}

I have to admit the last techbrand spoof that I enjoyed was the I-Rack that made fun of the many different "I" products that Apple makes. "YouTubers Spoof and Mock Tech Brands" from silicon.com made me realize how the jokes on techbrands seemed to be more popular than celebrity spoofs like Paris Hilton.

I love finding user generated media, authentic media because it gives the brand a more personal and comfortable feel. A brand needs to have a weakness and needs to be able to be made fun of. What brands or companies have not been mad fun of and have continued to prosper? Most companies that are being poked at tend to do well in business. Companies need individuals to make videos about their brands because it's "authentic media" that is being watched. It's knowing an individual spent time and effort to create the content, and is not being paid by a big company to produce it that intrigues users. For example, my favorite spoof on Halo 3:

I'm not sure if Halo 3 really takes over your life as this individual makes it out to be, but if it does, then I would have never known if it wasn't for this video.

How addicting is Guitar Hero now that you can play it on Wii? I find it addicting, but is it spoof worthy?

Searchin Gold

While being amongst my peers in my classroom, I learned about their secret blogger identities. I think it's time they are revealed to the world. I think they need to be noticed for their insightful posts and deep thoughts.

I came to find Deepak to be very interesting. He recently blogged about me in which touched my heart and soul. I really found his opinion on consumers buying products online to be enlightening. Maybe even thought provoking.

My second fav (or in english terms - favorite) is SnopBlog6 who seems to always have interesting titles for his posts like his recent post money money money. Other than his 1st blog but otherwise he has an earthy tone that seems very personal.

I hope you enjoy the gold that I found, and the real identities of my classmates. Sorry i couldn't post a picture of them, but they might be angry with me for that.

Customization 2.0

Imagine the sweater being hot pink and minus a hoodie. This is what I receieved for Christmas about two years ago when everyone had to have monogramed apparel. It was a fad that luckily died out. The new trend . . .

Customizing and personalizing your own shoes. NikeID has created a "public NikeID Studio/boutique" that started from their successful online NikeID.com business. An article in BusinessWeek describes it as "a place where anyone can custom-design Nike shoes." This is very similar to the My K-Swiss but the difference is Nike has a real world store in which you can buy the latest designs or create your shoes to purchase. This remind anyone of build-a-bear? The only difference is with build-a-bear you walk out of the store WITH the product you created.

After visiting NikeID.com, I realized the positives and negatives of the business. Consumer designed products would have less consumers complaints or purchase returns. Although, as a consumer, I would like to complain that they didn't have what I wanted and neither could I create it. They have created a line of shoes that are to resemble your "school pride." The only provide six school logo choices and you can not upload your own school logo. If they could fix this issue then I might be interested in buying a pair myself. BUT my other problem is it takes up time. They say, "time is money" for a reason. I don't have the time to sit and create a pair of shoes that I won't be able to wear everyday to work.

The last thing NikeID should be concerned about it gives people the time to change their mind. Part of society buys by impulse and intelligent marketing strategies like "BUY NOW!" After desinging a shoe the person may realize they don't need a new pair. Then they have about three to four weeks to receive the shoes in the mail and change their mind.

If you think about it hard enough, you're paying an extra cost for something to be personalized? I think I will stick to some sharpie pens that work great on almost anything! How about you?