Bad Pick-Up Lines May Get You An Electronic Baby Bracelets

Let me start off with saying that this study done by SpinVox does not seem very reliable to me. The study says that bad-pick up lines work and are still being used. For example, here are the top worst pick-up lines in the US:

1. If you were a new sandwich at McDonalds, you'd be called McGorgeous."
2. "Have you got a keg in your pocket, because I'd like to tap that!"
3. "I've lost my number can I have yours?"
4. "If this were a meat factory you'd be prime rib."
5. "I'm like American Express, don't go home without me."
   

The research was conducted across 1,000 US residents between the ages of 18 and 49, using Facebook polls. They said that one-third of the women would spend the rest of the night chatting with a guy if he had a good approach. ONLY 7% said that it could lead to an overnighter. Even after a good first night, "15% of women would be too embarrassed to answer a call from someone with whom they'd previously exchanged numbers." (Meaning that things didn't go well and the women just didn't want to admit it!).

The next thing they say is that the majority of people prefer calling someone they met then texting them. (That surprised me, because the majority of people I know always text. It's easier to text than be on the phone with awkward pauses. Although, from a women's perspective, I'd rather get a phone call asking me out then a text message.* ADVICE: If you do get a date via text message, then for the second date do not text but call!*)

Here's the shocker! They claim both sexes look up their date on Facebook but that men do it more than women. (Thank heavens I have my security very high.) They suggest some basic stuff that you can ready the article for. Basically this study was done to get SpinVox publicity. Christina Domecq, CEO and co-founder of SpinVox says, "The many different options now available to communicate personal messages really seem to be making it easier for people to connect but on their own terms. Whether it's using your mobile phone to post on Facebook while on the go or simply leaving someone a spoken message delivered as a mobile text or email, SpinVox helps capture the moment and add that 'personal' touch as the recipient knows it was a spoken message." (Does that not prove my point?).

If you are lucky and a bad pick-up line gets you action then just remember to use protection. Next thing you know, you will need this new electronic wristlet to control your mini-me. (I'm not saying you will be able to clone yourself into a little person. I'm talking about re-production.) Created by Petr Hampl, this device allows parents to send messages, alarms or graphic symbols to the solar powered display. (Maybe we won't have to have kids on leashes.) You can let kids run free but still be at your beckon call.


In closing, you can use pick-up line but everything comes with a cost. Make sure you don't end up with a baby on the way. If you do, make sure to get Petr Hampl's electronic wristlet.

I know the top picture has nothing to do with the post. I apologize, I'll try to work on that.

Virtual Murder Equals Real Prison Sentence

A woman in Japan is facing five years in prison for killing her digital partner's avatar in the PC game Maple Story. (Unbelievable!)

The 43-year-old Japanese piano teacher killed her online virtual husband when he unexpectedly, without warning or reason, demanded a divorce. She hacked into her make-believe hubby's profile with his login information and annihilated his online character. (In my opinion, he was an idiot for giving her his login information in the first place!) The 33-year-old office worker from Sapporo, had spent a year creating his character and did not take his Maple Story alter ego's death lightly. (I guess an online marriage can seem real to some people. I'm glad it was an online marriage murder than a real world marriage murder.) He called the police and had her arrested for "illegal access on a computer and manipulating electronic data." She was taken 620 miles from her home to Sapporo and if convicted will be jailed or fined up to $6,200.

The couple had never met in person, but she told police: "I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry." (She reacted like ever woman does after a break-up. Irrationally.) Luckily, she had no intent of causing him physical harm. Instead she caused him mental and emotional harm?

Maple Story is a 2D, side-scrolling, MMRPG (Massively Multiplayer online role-playing game), free PC game with 50 million subscribers developed by the South Korean company Wizet.

Similar to World of Warcraft and Second Life, players create avatars that fight monsters and interact with other users. Creating a cool character can cost you and that's where profit comes in. The UK Times reports, "There have been reports of cottage industries in Asia where low-paid workers are employed to spend all day inhabiting the virtual worlds to create avatars that can then be sold online. "

This isn't the first time online virtual world issues have been brought to life. In August, it was reported a woman was charged for plotting to physically abduct the "boyfriend" she met through Second Life. After the man met her in person, he broke off the virtual relationship. She drove to his home and waited with a stun gun, duct tape and handcuffs.

There are more similar cases of crazy stories but it shows that people are letting these online personas warp their view of reality. People need to be careful with who they decide to betroth themselves to in the virtual world as well as the real world. What I'm wondering is, do they have prenups in virtual marriages?

Generation Gadget Kids Are Costly

My original plan was to blog about the Electronic Banking Monopoly game. Then I found out that the game came out about two years ago, meaning I'm two year to late to be in shock. I'm still in disbelief that they have taken one of the most sacred classic games and turned it into teaching children to use credit cards at a young age. Why do they need to learn to use cash or paper money when they can be taught to use a credit card to do all the thinking?!?

Then I found out that Nickelodeon (with Viacom & Imation) have done it again! Let's create a new cool line of electronic gadgets for kids under Nickelodeon's Npower brand like SpongeBob Squarepants speakers for their Ipod MP3 player (because every kid has an Ipod MP3 player and creating a boom box is to old school). Let's throw in a digital voice recorder, digicam, webcam, digital picture frame and whatever other gadgets we can think of. Maybe we can create a cellphone next! Then we can start creating computers and get kids hooked into the digital world early. Then they will never have to go outside and play with a ball or real people ever again! (Now, I'm starting to appreciate my parents not letting me have a gaming system growing up. At least I enjoyed the REAL world). We already have TV being a babysitter at home and in cars. Do we need children consistently hooked to a digital device to keep them sedated?

The other aspect is, how costly will children become in future? They will continue to desire the next best technology and at what COST?

[Engadget via Electronista]

Stanford Youtube Channel Got Oprah

We all know how Oprah is taking over the world. What does she not already own or have? She is connected or apart of some many different organizations and businesses that this recent news doesn't surprise me much.

Oprah Winfrey's 2008 commencement speech is the highlight to Stanford University's newly launched Stanford YouTube Channel. The new site has more than 150 videos of complete video lectures "by Clayborne Carson on African-American history, roundtable discussions on global issues led by John Hennessy, informative clips on innovation and entrepreneurship, microdocumentaries by marine ecologist Steve Palumbi, and other Stanford offerings from iTunes U." There are plans to continue it's growth of free educational content. tch This is the link to Stanford's YouTube channel.

Now, if you are not a fan of YouTube or you want these free educational videos on the go then hook it up your "pod." (I like calling it a pod but it stands for Ipod. If you didn't get it). Just remember to be careful of updating your Ipod. The difference between what is being offered on YouTube versus Stanford's iTunes U is that iTunes has 20 full-length online courses. Go figure. I guess I wasted a lot of gas going to a university in person.

What i take from all this is that Oprah is taking over the world, including the Internet. Stanford is finally entering the digital age. I wasted time by physically going to college when I could have stayed at home and done YouTube University. last, where is this all going. Does this mean we will no longer need physical universities because everything will be online AND when will college students start secretly videotaping class and putting it online. Darn, why did it take me until after college to come up with that idea. I could have started Secret YouTube college trend!

Another thought! Mobile Education!

Real Teams vs. Virtual Teams

I was surprised when I first read this article stating that virtual brainstorming teams were more successful then "real" world brainstorming teams. I didn't want to believe it so I looked at some more articles. It seemed all the articles agreed with the first article. Until I read this article that presented some good points as to why a virtual team could be more beneficial then in real life. The article presented these ten rules that should be followed to create a working virtual brainstorming team.

1. Invest in an online resource where members can learn quickly about one another.
2. Choose a few team members who already know each other.
3. Identify "boundary spanners" and ensure that they make up at least 15% of the team.
4. Cultivate boundary spanners as a regular part of company wide practices and processes.
5. Break the team's work up into modules so that progress in one location is not overly dependent on progress in another.
6. Create an online site where a team can collaborate, exchange ideas and inspire one another.
7. Encourage frequent communication. But don't try to force social gatherings.
8. Assign only tasks that are challenging and interesting.
9. Ensure the task is meaningful to the team and the company.
10. When building a virtual team, solicit volunteers as much as possible.

I guess the world is changing and it looks like brainstorming teams are too. I hope it is as beneficial as the research shows. I still believe there is something to be said for "real" world interactions and brainstorming. I have always been more creative with people around then by myself, but maybe I'm an exception. Anyone else feel this way?

Picture from maxwideman.com

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.

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?

BEGINNING TECHNOLOGY EDUMACATION

The world of blogging has now entered the world of education! I am an undergraduate student at American University. I plan to graduate soon and enter the real world. or should I say Reality 2.0.

I am writing this blog for my Social Networking & Business course in which I will use what I learn to take over the world. Just kidding, I'm not a terrorist.

In this post I must state the academic integrity code that EVERY school has created: On my honor, all posts on this blog are my own.