I just read an article from the New York Times about bots. You can read it here. You may be asking yourself the question “What are bots?” or “What about bots?” Well, in this article, the bots that are referred to are the online bots. This meaning, those that you may have befriend on Facebook, Twitter etc…

Turns out, you can buy friends and influence! Can you believe it? Like in the Generation Like video we watched, the power of likes, re-tweets, follows etc… are all a form of currency in this generation. The amount that you get can mean multiple things such as popularity, attention and power. It makes me wonder if all these popular pages on Facebook, or Twitter accounts with millions of followers are actually mainly composed of these bots.

This article touches on how you can buy these followers, the popularity of even the power to sway others. These online bots are disguised as real humans. They camouflage themselves into our social media and act as humans do – posts realistic updates, responses etc… Quite scary if you ask me. It’s said that different people use bots, and that they’re not illegal, it being illegal only depends on how you decide to use these bots. Politicians use them, celebrities, heck maybe some of your more popular friends on social media are using them! Really, how many followers can one person really have?! (kidding, if you’re super popular!)

Bots can be bought, made by programs which you can purchase, but can also be made from scratch. How you use them is up to you. My questions are, would you pay for bots? If you would for what reason? Is this something we should worry about? or just accept that it’s become part of this generation, like how likes and re-tweets are.

I found an article on Techdirt which you can read here, about new clauses in contracts that are made by General Mills. This new clause may come as a shocker to many of us, since it’s about receiving retribution from the company on any of it’s cereals.

In this article, the main focus is about how General Mills, the company that produces multiple brands of cereal and other products like Bisquick or Betty Crocker has entered new clauses in the agreements between the consumer and company. Meaning, that when the consumer agrees to purchase the product, like the product on Facebook, obtain coupons from the company or even enter their sweepstakes, the consumer is actually agreeing to give up their right to sue the company for any complaints they may have. Instead they must try to mitigate any issues through emails.

I believe that this is going to the extreme to avoid litigation cost that they may incur in a possible law suit for any reason that may surface. This caught my eye when I read about how if the consumer “likes” the cereal page or the page of any of their products meant that they were giving up their right. Especially since we just watched the video on Generation Like, which talks about the power of likes. This goes to show that, even brands like General Mills are conforming to this generation of likes, and using this social norm and currency to their advantage.

My question are, do you think their actions are too extreme and unnecessary? Is one of the consequences of generation like or just a side affect that no one expected to happen especially since generation like seems to be more focused on a different basis?

Technology has been steadily moving forward for many years, but in the past 2 decades it has grown in leaps and bounds. Take a look at our mobile devices today and their many capabilities, from home computers, to laptops and now to lightweight netbooks and tablets. The huge “boat phones” of yesteryear have been replaced by sleek, small mobile devices that do everything except wash the dishes (that is probably next). Technology has not only grown in the gaming and mobile arenas but also in the medical field. Today doctors can visit patients in remote areas and do tests and body scans with portable devices which help many in under-developed countries.

Recently a new development has arrived in medicine which uses technology in way most would not have predicted beyond sci-fi movies. The technology utilizes one we are all familiar with and that is printing….yes printing but in this case, 3D bio-printing. Combining 3D body scanning with organic inks and thermoplastics, doctors are now able to create replacements for a number of human body parts with this technology. Eyes, skulls, ears, nose and skin are part of the list of replaceable tissue which this bio-printing technology has made possible.

There are quite a few ongoing studies in this field of creating replacement body parts, and the ultimate goal is to create parts which are based on an individual’s own cells thereby reducing rejection issues and and speeding recovery time. However until science allows us to grow or create “backup” body parts, I think this is a great way of helping patients who otherwise would have a difficult and almost impossible task of becoming whole again.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/17/tech/innovation/artificial-eyes-3d-printing-body/index.html

That’s just a prediction. But I’m pretty sure the developers are onto something with this. Graphene is the HARDEST material in the world, but its also the most pliable. Meaning it is easily bent, morphed and shaped to whatever you’d like to shape it to. This material is a form of carbon, and it can conduct electricity and heat better than anything else.  It is one of the only materials in the world that is transparent, conductive and flexible at the same time!

“200 times stronger than steel, and so thin that a single ounce of it could cover 28 football fields” –> crazy, sounds like some kind of nuclear element that should be used to power something in a Marvel movie.

This material was found ten years ago, but wasn’t thought of to use in the commercial world until now–duh– because there are so many things that this material could be used for, and what people are hoping is that this will improve technology even more. Devices that are supercharged, or electronics that piggyback off of the cells in the human body are only the initial ideas of what is yet to come.

In 2011, researchers used this material (with the addition of silicon) to build a battery for a cellphone. The cellphone stayed charged for MORE THAN A WEEK and recharged in 15 minutes!

The best part: this material is fairly cheap! It’s on its’ way to replacing plastic.

In a case which clearly demonstrates the need to “watch what you say, post or text” online and elsewhere; a man was forced to let his former fiancée keep a $53,000 ring although he had broken off his engagement and asked for the ring back.

An article posted on the Buffalo News website reports that Louis Billittier Jr. broke off his engagement to Christa Clarke his betrothed of 14 months by a text message in 2012. In an attempt to soften the blow Billittier Jr. wrote another text which he would later come to regret. The relevant section of the text read as follows, “Plus you get a $50,000 parting ring. Enough for a down payment on a house.” That text and those words were used as Clark’s defense for keeping the ring which Billittier requested returned after he broke off their engagement. What made this case so interesting is that New York law usually sides with the would-be bridegroom who have the legal right to ask for a ring’s return even if they were responsible for breaking the engagement.

However in the case of Billittier and Clark, Billittier forfeited that right by sending that text which clearly stated that his former fiancée could keep the ring. Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia ruled that Clark had the right to keep the ring even though Billittier said that his text was meant to be sarcastic and not a true intent for his jilted ex to keep the ring….the judge however did not buy his story.

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/state-supreme-court/judge-rules-jilted-woman-can-keep-53000-diamond-engagement-ring-20140405

Generation Like described the use of the social network world in marketing. As a user of social networks, I am able to view how social networking platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter help individuals market themselves. Generation Like portrays social media “likes” into currency. In this phase of social media, likes have the power to determine the significant you hold within the cyber social world.

In my opinion the “winners” would be the people who successfully market their business through the showcase of their lives on social networks. The losers would be the people and ideas that go unnoticed due to the popularity of other users. Likes are what consume the interface of the internet. But where do we draw the line of this significance, or do we ever draw the line?

I believe that teens are fully aware of the “like currency”. Through this video there are various “internet famous” people who know exactly the business that they are in. There are teens all over the internet that try to gain popularity on the internet. There are teens who study the patterns of the internet and plan their videos according to what they think will gain likes. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how outrageous the content of the video is. The social platforms that we used to use for communication, have turned into a complex money making business.

I believe that people who use social media are better able to develop their life than people who don’t use it. Social media is the new way to collaborate, share, and communicate with people from all over the world which helps to strengthen relationships. On the other hand, someone who commits cybercrime or gets a mental illness from using social media is a loss in this situation because they are using it in the wrong way and experience the downfall of using.

Teenagers are able to exploit social media. They do this by posting videos as a way to express themselves and show the world who they are. After that, companies will try to reach out to teenagers who generated videos and posts that have a lot of followers to make money. It turns social media into another toy for teenagers.

Most teenagers don’t know how to utilize the social media. In this video, we can see teenagers who become really successful through social media but these teens are only a small fraction of the vast amount of people who use social media. Many teenagers utilize social media to play around instead of reaching out for help. This is because teenagers won’t know how to judge what is right and wrong without any advice from someone such as teachers and parents.

Recently a Mississippi mother posted a photo of her 3 year old daughter on Facebook after she had just gotten a new haircut; like any other mother would. What happened after that was nothing short of a miracle. A few friends realized that there was a ‘glow’ in one of the girls eyes. Concerned friends commented on the post and explained how it might not be anything serious but to check her eye out with a doctor to see if there are any medical reason as to why her eye was glowing. Soon enough through various tests a retina specialist diagnosed her with Coats disease, a rare condition that can lead to blindness. The doctor explained how if this had not been detected as soon it had been she, “probably would have ended up having a total retinal detachment, with total vision loss.” This is another way how unintentional daily interactions through social media can have beneficial consequences. For if this mother never posted a photo on Facebook for all her friends to see, her daughter might not have been as lucky as she is today.

http://http://www.today.com/health/facebook-post-saves-girls-vision-glow-eye-raises-alarm-2D79484677

We know that social media tools are the best way to interact with each other users on the internet. According to the USA today, Thirty-five percent of adults on the internet now have a profile on at least one social networking site, and 51 percent have more than one. Three-quarters of users between the ages of 18 and 24 have and online profile. It means that we need to know what the benefit of social media tools is in order to improve our lives. Here is the website that show us top social media site and how we can get benefit from them.

I read this article that talks about a man named Philip Parker who developed an algorithm that writes books. It is actually really interesting because the algorithm is able to think like a human being. It can write X amount of books for a certain genre by using words from the dictionary and analyzing how other books of the same genre are written. Think about how creativity, literature and publishing has become. At first we are able to publish  what we want at an amateur level but now we are  taking the amateurization to a new level where it is getting closer to  a “professional” level with an algorithm. And I’m not sure is the created works are considered professional because it was written with an algorithm, there was no thought put into it. Being able to think is what differentiates humans and computers but it seems that the algorithm is able to think for us.

No, not the pork bacon. Kevin Bacon.

On Tuesday, we spoke about chapter 9 and within that chapter, there was a mention about six degrees of separation. In high school, my teacher made us read a play on six degrees of separation and showed us a website that linked Kevin Bacon to numerous actors/actresses within 6 people.

I’ve put in actors/actresses from the US, Hong Kong, UK, Russia and even Hungary and Turkey…and they all show a link! If you want to try it out, here is the website. It’s fun to try to find someone that he isn’t linked to.

Nowadays, many students carry more than one digital device such as laptop and PC tablet and they prefer to use this device in class. As I am a college student, I am always thinking that does digital device help students to improve their college education. Even though there are many positive effect of using digital device in class, but I don’t recommend students to use digital devices in classroom. One of the biggest reasons is that it is easy to be disrupted by digital device. Most students who try to use laptop or tablet in class are doing something else as well such as shopping and facebook. As time goes by, they will focus on what they have been up to instead of listing lecture. Moreover, other students will also be disrupted by watching what he or she is doing through digital device. Thus, I believe that it is better not to use digital device in class.

Here is the link for pros and cons of digital devices.

Twitter just announced that it will be offering two new additions to their popular social network platform (to read the full article, click here). The first addition allows users to tag up to 10 friends in their photos. Prior to this change, the only way to incorporate your friends into a related photo is through mentioning your friends’ name in the limited 144 characters message. The second addition is to allow users to upload to four photos at a time to be merged into one big collage. Prior to this, each photo must be uploaded one by one.
These additions are definitely not unique or new to the social networking environment. For example, Facebook has incorporated friend tagging into their status updates for quite a while. However, on the contrary, Facebook recently adapted Twitter’s use of hashtags.
With all of these sharing (or stealing/copying) of social networking techniques, do you think that it is just a matter of time before there will be little to no differentiation among social networks? Perhaps there will only be one large integrated Social Network? Do you think this is feasible? If not, what is your opinion on the trend of the social networks environment?

While browsing the social media site Facebook today i had come across an interesting site that had been shared by a few of my friends. The UNICEF Tap Project, which has been striving to increase access to clean water for children worldwide since 2007, have created a mobile website app that can tell when your phone is not being used. For every 10 minutes you leave your phone alone, Armani will provide a day of clean drinking water to a child in need. Personally this feels like killing two birds with ones\ stone. You now are more motivated to not check your phone every 10 minutes because the longer you go without touching your phone the more you give to charity. I honestly cannot think of a better reason why i shouldn’t touch my phone. The app works by detecting movement using your phones internal sensor. So far i have donated $5 by just not using my phone. I urge all my fellow classmates to help spread the word about this amazing app because for every minute your NOT on your phone, you are consequently saving a life.

Contribute by clicking and sharing this site here: http://tap.unicefusa.org/

I believe that most people are using Wiki. A wiki is a website where multiple users can add, remove, and edit content on each page by only using a web browser. This makes it extremely easy to collaborate with people, even if they cannot meet face to face.  If so, what is the advantages and disadvantages of using Wiki. On wikiatuni website, I found a list of advantages and disadvantage of using wiki.

A few classes ago Professor Francoeur spoke about microfiche a throwback technology which was all the rage a few decades past. Fast forward 20+ years and microfiche now seems antiquated and unnecessary; so too have many devices and systems which seemed the wave of the future 25 years ago. From VCRs and VHS tapes, Walkman and Atari games… Game Boy anyone? Technology has evolved in leaps and bounds, and in more ways than many of us who grew up in the era of cassette tapes and CRT TV would have ever expected. (Hey Professor, do you remember typing CLR to clear your screen 🙂
I was lucky enough to experience the changes which have occurred over the past few decades and I can admit that I have had a Care Bear portable radio (imagine a radio in the shape of a Care Bear… no cassette; it just played whatever the tuner picked up.) I had a Walkman portable cassette player, and then I felt like the coolest kid when I got a portable CD player (with anti-shock, thank you), later I got a mini disc player which didn’t catch on as much I thought it would and then… nothing
For a long time when mp3 players came on the market I refused to get one because I thought that every year I would be getting something else, so I wanted to wait and see what would “catch on.” Eventually I got a generic player and I was ok with it, then Apple introduced the IPod and they were everywhere. It was almost $400 for a little tiny device that I just knew I would lose or drop and $400 would be down the drain and I refused to get one even though I was dying to. In 2008 I quit my job to move to the US and as a thank you/going away gift my company gave me an 80GB IPod Classic along with a Philips portable DVD player and IPod dock. I was in heaven; I was hooked on the Apple train…. there was no going back. Today I can laugh at my experiences; I would have never thought that a $300 device would become an everyday accessory and such a huge part of our lives. So in honor of my life…..then to now, here are some of my electronic experiences in pictures.

On March 25 popular internet social website Facebook announced that it was buying Oculus the manufacturer of a publicly unreleased but apparently highly anticipated device called the “Oculus Rift.” The device would allow users to completely immerse themselves in a game and early adopters and beta-testers are spreading the word and singing its praises.

With the internet and social media often getting “flak” for encouraging obesity, causing people to cut themselves off from the world, and a host of other “evils” what do you think of this new technology and how it will or will not affect society?

Calm down everyone, I have an older brother but I would never sell him for this HIGH TECH and FRICKIN AWESOME OCULUS RIFT.. well maybe?

JUST KIDDING…

Technology has come a long way in the past ten, twenty years.

From this:

to this –>

 Anyway, Facebook has spent $2 Billion on Oculus VR, a company that makes virtual reality headsets. For many gamer like me, we would kill to have this tech where we can feel immersed in a virtual environment. Well,  watch this video then you guys will understand why it blew my mind. You can wear this headset just like a pair of ski goggles, that simple! Also, they come with three sets of lenses to give everyone the perfect vision. As people say, “Its like glimpsing into the future!”

Sources:

http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-oculus-rift-2014-3?op=1

http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-to-buy-oculus-rift-for-2-billion-2014-3