The price we pay

In the last four years we have seen an explosion in social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, these are great ways of connecting to people that we cant talk to every day and follow up with what they are doing. But what is the price we pay?
These website claim they are free but as you all know we are constantly bombarded with advertising and spam email that targets our most dear and darkest insecurities like our hair, our skin, our weight and yes what you all are thinking to (especially men).
We do volunteer for this you know?, but how hard is it to escape it once your so far in that everybody anywhere has the power of finding out almost anything about you. Up next is a video that you might enjoy on this issue of online privacy and some of the most recent controversies behind Facebook. I hope you enjoy it I know I did.

Its hard to find a logical ending to this because it never will. We are a society addicting to the internet and we have come to trust it so much that we put all of our information available out there for the world to see.

Unfortunately that trust and belief came and kicked us in the A@#.


PS: Think about what you do online.

The new business is out of this world

Over the last couple of years I have discussed both in and out of class the benefits and the power of the Internet. There are several tools in the cyber world that allow users to become somebody they wish they could be.
One of the most prominent tools of this time is "Second Life." For those of you who don't know what it is, it is an online interactive software that allows users to create "avatars" (virtual characters) who live in a virtual world called Second life. Just like in real life these characters can purchase land, create their own house, buy clothes and any other product that you can imagine.
There has been an entire economy developed around Second Life (SL, as some articles call it). There are hundreds of businesses in Second Life, some of the most recognizable are:

• Adidas
• Nike
• Nissan
• Apple

Just like in the "real world," marketing stops for no-one and because so many people are tunning out mass media and joining Second Life, major companies have to adapt to these new trends and follow them. Companies that can afford it have a specific department dedicated to developing and running their Second Life stores.
The following is an example of what these stores look like,
Second life Apple Store

This is not only a good strategy for big business, it is an opportunity for small businesses to develop, as a matter of fact, some companies only exist in Second Life.
Second life is a powerful and interesting project that has become home to millions of users. It has been around for 5 years already and knowing how to live in it can only help your resume. So if you havent done so yet, I encourage you to visit the Second Life and give your life a second chance.
Here is a link to their website. You can thank me later.
www.secondlife.com

Mobile post sent by andresboutsa using Utterz. Replies. mp3

Trying multimedia function, enjoy!!

Music is where true democracy lives, every note is equal

Please check out this video, this guy is amazing

Streaming videos, the new political trend

It has come to my attention that in the last couple of years, streaming videos have become an important part of the political world.
For those of you who don't know what streaming video is please click on the link bellow and hopefully that will help you understand it.
I'm sure you have all noticed that in the past few months the political world has implemented these techniques in order to attract our generation, a generation of internet addicts.

This first video is made by celebrities supporting Barack Obama. If you watch this video and the next one that you can view "We are the world," which many of you might know, you will find similarities, but the main difference is that in this case, Barack Obama's was only made popular by word of mouth and the millions of Internet hits. This is new trend and this is one of the many videos that follow this trend. Having these videos as much a part of a campaign is just as important nowadays as rallying on college campuses.

We didn't have anything as massive as these videos in past campaigns and I wonder what would have been the result in the 2004 elections if viral videos would have played as an important role as they do today.
I am anxious to see what role this plays in this years election and how it will affect its outcome. I try to follow candidates sites to see if they upload any streaming videos and in most cases they do.
Here are some of the candidates web pages where you can follow up on their "video campaigns."

• Barack Obama
• Hillary Clinton
• John McCain

The links listed above will take you directly to their multimedia pages and there you can see ho important streaming video is for candidates.
I encourage you to visit some of the following sites to see what role videos play in their campaigns.
Sources: Al Gore's other project

Random post

Check out ADAMS blog this blog its amazing. Hope you like it

OHHHH...to customize

It's the marketing of the future! The business model that companies have to learn and love. In todays modern society a company that only gives you stock models and doesn't let you customize them is at a lost.
For me its hard to believe that I cant chose a product that offers me several different colors, sizes and even lets me put my own name or image on it. I have been looking around and some of the most popular customized products are:

• Shoes
• T-Shirts
• Bags/Purses
• Hats

If you havent lived the experience of customization you are missing out and I recommend you visit one of the following web pages:

• nikeid.nike.com
• customink.com
• cafepress.com
• wheelenvizio.com

These are some of the most popular ones but if you have a particular interest I can almost guarantee that you will find some web page that fits your needs.
I believe that just like I mentioned in my past blog this is all part of the new business trend of going online and how important it is for a companies future.

The bar has been set high and in a competitive market it is important that companies meet that bar and for our sake they raise it. Because as we know, the reason they are competing is for our attention. Nowadays we can decide what we ware and what it looks like, but what comes next?