Children of the Cybercorn

Remember back in the day when MySpace was the shit? Remember when we lived in caves and ate big ass mammoth steaks?

MySpace brought social networking and blogging to the mainstream. People will argue that LiveJournal did this, but only homos and douchebags use LJ. MySpace made it possible for anyone and everyone to whore themselves on the internet without having to go through the trouble of uploading nude pics of yourself to everyone of your email contacts or making a website titled lookatmeimdesperateforattention.com.

The history of MySpace is pretty simple. This hipster douche named Tom Anderson (an assumed alias I’m sure) woke up one day in a Boone’s Farm-induced stupor, pulled his cock out of his boyfriend Chris DeWolfe’s ass, and exclaimed “OMG DOOD! I just totally thought of a way to get the whole internet laid!” and SHAZZAM! MySpace was born.

For awhile, MySpace dominated the Social Network scene, allowing any Joe Schmoe to create a page to fill with half-brained blurbs, worthless blogs, and all the odd-angled camera captures you could handle. MySpace had gajillions of users while the now vastly-superior Facebook was still only available to Harvard students and the cast of Revenge of the Nerds.

As time progressed, the quality of MySpace took a huge turn for the worse. An army of 13 year olds posing as adults started making a plethora of pages, turning the site into a pedophile’s dream. The website became all about stupid “application games” like Mobsters and Vampires, and all the personal pages became more glittery than Edward Cullen’s dick. Thankfully, it was around this time the yokels at Facebook stopped being elitists and started letting normal people make sites there, free from the wasteland of preteen cleavage and fat-old-men-posing-as-young-boys MySpace had become.

Before I continue, allow me to give you some insight on Facebook’s history. Facebook was started back in 2003 by this guy who, after being laughed at and ridiculed by emo hoodrats on MySpace, decided to start his own Social Networking site. Back then it was called Facemash, and it was similar to Hot or Not in that it would allow you to judge people’s looks anonymously while also providing good beat off material for the nerdlings at Harvard, for whom the site was initially designed. There’s alot more to it than that, but due to apathy, I’m gonna cut it short. Let’s just say eventually Mark Zuckerberg got off his llama and gave Facebook to the common man.

As of September of 2006, Facebook has been available to anyone, not just Ivy League cornholes. It gave social networkers a better place to try to get pussy, with a sleeker design, easier to use functionality, and less customization options (THANK GOD!). Every page looked the same, and finally, all social networkers were considered equal.

All was well. God was pleased.

Slowly, Facebook, just as it predecessor had, slowly began a decline into shit. The cause for this can be summed up in one word: Applications.

Applications are a double-edged sword. On one hand, they’re a fun way for people who are too unintelligent to play real games to pass the time (and let’s be honest, the only people who play these apps are people who can’t tie their own shoes, let alone operate a console controller). Not everyone has a set of keys to have dangled in front of their face, or a ball of yarn to roll around, so these apps fill that void in the little mongrel’s life.

On the other hand, due to the popularity of these apps via the stupidity of the typical social network site user and their lack of intelligent thought, my Facebook (and yours too, I’m sure) are getting constant streams of spam from such gems as Vampire Wars, Farmville, and CafeWorld. It’s enough to drive a man to homicide!

Which reminds me… Farmville? Seriously? You’re so desperate for something to do that you’re playing a game that simulates working on a farm? And you don’t even get paid for it? What’s next? Sweatshopville?

This is getting way too long. Like Jim Bob Duggar should have done, I’m going to wrap this up.

Zynga is the Al-Qaeda of the internet, and those of you playing these apps are terrorists. Thanks for ruining social networking for me.

[Via http://joshuawesome.wordpress.com]

Navy Seals - What the hell is our government thinking???

Thursday, January 14, 2010 This was sent to me in an email, but I wanted to share it with all of you. There were more pictures, but I didn’t get them all on here. Like I said, I was not there. I wish I would have been, so I could show support for our brave young Seals who are being flat out screwed by their leaders. I don’t know how else to put it.

Symptoms of Corrupting Sickness

It would be interesting to create a poll with these two photos and have people guess what’s happening.

I suspect that most would never assume anything close to the real story. It appears to be a joyous homecoming, a reuniting of mother and son. The truth is not so heart warming.

The lady in the picture is the mother of an American that was ambushed in Fallujah , Iraq. Her son was murdered. His body was dragged around in the streets of the city, then burned and hung from the upper trusses of a bridge. The murderers gathered to celebrate and have their photos taken with the trophy.

The young sailor in the picture is one of the Navy SEALs that later captured the leader of the band of terrorist butchers and brought him to justice.

If the story ended there, it would still be an acceptable feel-good, good-guys-win story. Unfortunately, that’s not the case – this Navy SEAL is facing criminal charges.

Because, somewhere along the timeline of his capture, the terrorist murderer suffered a school-yard fat lip, his captors are now being charged with nothing short of war crimes and facing discharge and imprisonment.

So, instead of celebration of justice served and heroes honored, these photos record betrayal, compounded mourning and the effects of a corrupting sickness.

This is another example of the corruption within the Obama/Holder “Injustice” Department.  Be clear the current administration is no fan of the military. How difficult would it have been for Holder to issue an order to the Military to stop the trial.  The SEAL’s were in effect offered a lower form on non judicial punishment, such as an Article 15.  In their thinking they did nothing wrong. Why accept a plea bargain when you have done nothing wrong.
What is a fat lip on a terrorist compared with the mutilation and desiccation of the bodies of the Black Water Contractors hung from the bridge? Have we forgotten Daniel Pearl? No this administration is more concerned with how the world will view us, translate (the chosen one) that a charade like this is allowed to proceed.  There is no place for political correctness or Washington conceived rules of engagement for our troops in combat. Will we ever know the results of these rules, requiring the enemy to be showing a weapon or shooting first on the number of dead trying to protect our country.  It is this exact administration that has labeled combat veterans potential terrorist.  You bet they are, when they return from eating sand in far away deserts to find out what you and your ilk in congress have done to their country, they will rage.  Of course you had a plan an Unconstitutional, one million person civilian trained corp, of Americans to eventually protect you?  It ain’t going to happen, we The People will refuse to serve you.  You are not our king, nor our master, you work for us, and we will be showing you the door in November 2012.  We believe in our Constitution and the Republic for which it stands, you sir apparently don’t. Random thoughts while observing the passing parade, J.C.

From WAVY.com: SEALs assault case goes to court NORFOLK, Va. – “It’s been very stressful,” said Navy SEAL Mathew McCabe, 24, moments after his arraignment in military court at Naval Station Norfolk Monday on charges that he allegedly mistreated an Iraqi detainee.

The mother of slain Blackwater guard Jerry Zovko drove from Ohio to give each of the accused SEALs a blessed rosary and lend them her support. “These young SEALs are in this situation because they caught the mastermind behind the death of my son, and not only my son and his co-workers but also the marines who went into Fallujah after their death,” said Donna Zovko. “I am very proud of these young SEALs and thankful to them. They did not do anything wrong.”

May I ramble a bit? Think out loud, so to speak? I’m trying to make some sense of this. What title can I give to the mentality of a people that send their best to defend the whole and then betray them?

To what shall I attribute the attitude of a people that habitually prosecute their heroes while defending their enemies? What creates a culture that allows people to vilify and isolate their most noble and deify their most corrupt?

I perceive more symptoms of a sickness, a corruption of the nation’s heart and soul. I am tempted to label it ‘liberalism’ or ‘progressivism’, but those too are just symptoms of the infection. But this is nothing new, I recognized these symptoms four decades ago in the shameful treatment of our warriors returning from Vietnam, in the acceptance of Marines bombed in Beirut, in the ho-hum yawn of media coverage of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down), in the return to mental numbness after 9/11, prosecution of the Marines of Hadith, assault of recruiters across the country, anti-war protesters at the gates of Walter Reed Army Hospital…….

This sickness, this infection has gone untreated for far too long. Americans are a tolerant bunch. We’ve patiently waited for the ingrates among us to grow up and develop a sense of pride and awe in the greatness of America. It’s not happening.

I’m tired of waiting. I’m fresh out of tolerance. There comes a time when the treatment for an infection cannot be postponed any longer, lest the patient die. Through history how many nations have habitually betrayed their defenders and survived?

Donna and I left our home at 4:00am, Monday morning and drove to Norfolk …. We were in the company of four other patriots from the Raleigh area: Don Gray of Military Appreciation Day and NC Gathering of Eagles.

Patrick Holbrook, NC Gathering of Eagles.
Russell Pope, NCFreedom.us
and Randy Dye, Randy’s Right Blog and NCFreedom.us

We joined a hundred or more others at Gate 5 of the Norfolk Naval Base to demonstrate support for Navy SEAL Mathew McCabe.

Here are my photos.

Above: I met the SEAL’s father, Marty McCabe.

After the arraignment hearings, McCabe came out to meet his supporters

Thank You Mathew McCabe for your service to our country.

[Via http://dancingczars.wordpress.com]

Seven Muslims Charged with Illegal Export of Electronics to U.S.-Designated Terrorist Entity in Paraguay

ACT for America February 22, 2010 Dead terrorists tell no lies. Shoot them in the knees, throw  them in a six-foot deep hole with wild pigs they don’t get to Allah that way. Sucks to be them.  Shall we talk about water boarding? As one Jihidast martyr’s mom said to the other, they blow up so quickly don’t they?  Rules of engagement, enhanced interrogation hell let them have at least one virgin, throw in Nancy Pelosi, after ObamaCare goes down like the Titanic, she will need some serious action.  Sadly our anti-war but can’t do a damn thing about it administration is clueless that war is all about killing people and breaking stuff. Night, going to bed, J.C.

[Excerpt: "On Feb. 18, 2010, ICE special agents along with agents and officers of CBP, FBI, DOC, OFAC, and the Secret Service, executed arrest and search warrants as a result of this criminal investigation. Cedar owner Khaled Safadi and Transamerica owner Ulises Talavera were arrested in Doral, FL, Jumbo owner Emilio Gonzalez-Neira was arrested in Sunny Isles, FL, and Jomana Import Export owner Samer Mehdi is still at large. Safadi, Talavera and Gonzalez-Neira had their initial appearances today. Gonzalez-Neira was held in pre-trial detention, and Safadi and Talavera are being held in pre-trial detention pending their bond hearings, which are scheduled for Monday, March 1, 2010, at 10:00 a.m."]

FBI Miami
February 22, 2010
Department of Justice Press Release

Great job with the masking tape

Jeffrey H. Sloman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Investigations; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; Harold Woodward, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP); Michael Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Commerce (DOC); Adam J. Szubin, Director, Department of the Treasury’s, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC); and Michael Fithen, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, Miami Field Office, announced the indictment of four individuals and three Miami businesses on charges involving the export of electronics to a U.S. designated terrorist entity in Paraguay. Complete Story

[Via http://dancingczars.wordpress.com]

MySpace Launches An Activity And Content Stream

MySpace has launched an activity and content stream, which they are calling simply the “Stream.” Previously they showed a feed of status updates from friends, but the new feature shows a lot more content, including things like music your friends are listening to on MySpace Music, video they’re watching, links they are adding, etc.

The company hasn’t formally announced the product, which sort of makes sense since they’re still playing catch up with similar features on Facebook. But it’s an important beachhead in their go-forward strategy, we’ve learned. More on that in our next post.

CrunchBase InformationMySpaceInformation provided by CrunchBase

[Via http://techcrunch.com]

While the night is still young...

Titled is just one of the many songs I feel a very deep connection to, and, an over-all feeling about the last 24 or so hours. Today, I feel my age, and then some. Yesterday I got up at around 6:30am and got to work at about 10am, which is early, but, I wanted to clean the DJ booth really good as it was a hot mess. I am not even going to go on a rant right now about how much it pisses me off that I even had to do it, though, when I say I “had” to do it, it was not required of me, but, I “HAD” to do it… Damned O.C.D.. Anyway, as I was saying, I got there at 10am and was prepared to work my shift and go home at around 7pm, and I say around because, for whatever reason, night shift DJ’s, with few exceptions, are notoriously late for work, again, no rant. I had probably 10 to 12 beers and a couple of shots throughout the day and had stopped drinking and ate my food that I brought with me at around 5:30pm so that I could drive home without being intoxicated. Well, the combination of alcohol and food and a long day meant that I was ready to go home at 7pm. It was about 6:50 that the DJ that was supposed to work that night called me, not the manager, not the general manager, and said that he was not going to be able to come to work and asked if I could call the other DJ to fill in. First off, I don’t mind doing a favor, after all, I got this guy the job, but, this is not my job to call for him. Plus, the other DJ was on the schedule to work the next morning and that just wasn’t going to work. I, being one of three DJ’s on staff, was going to have to pull a double shift and work until close.

I cannot begin to tell you how long it’s been since I had to do a double shift, and I will say at this point that I understand that I am not doing real manual labor, but, it still kicks your ass to be there for that long. I can attest to that fact because when I woke up this morning I could barely move and my head was pounding and my throat was all scratchy. Before you go and start saying something like, “well, with 10 to 12 beers and a couple of shots, I would be hung over too”, let me be clear in telling you that I was not hung over. I, in my years of drinking, have not been hung over more than, I would say, 5 times. I am not typically one that will feel bad the day after, and this was not one of those times. I really think that my general malaise was brought on by the extended hours, coupled with the atmosphere of cigarette smoke and loud music and people for over 14 hours.

I had planned on attending the 2010 Clearwater Blues Festival today with Kelly, but, as dodgy as I am feeling, I had better stick to getting my two weeks of laundry piles done and general cleaning. I don’t think that I would be very good company today anyway, but, I am going to go tomorrow instead. I am looking forward to have a couple drinks and listening to some good blues. I am usually really good at getting things done in a timely manner, but, for whatever reason, I have really been putting off going to get the laundry done. I actually have a pretty good idea as to why, and that is the fact that I have to go buy more detergent, and this will likely lead to a visit to Wal-Mart, the bane of my existence!

While the night is still young… I gotta get motivated and get it over with… so, on that note… and with one hell of a rant on the way… stay tuned!

Thanks to all of you for your continued love and support.
As always, take care and remember…

Every day is a chance to turn it all around!

- Kenny

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[Via http://kennyislosingit.wordpress.com]

Google v Facebook. This time it’s personal

How Orwell would have delighted in satirising today’s tech titans’ perpetual war. Remember when Apple v Microsoft was the defining Oceania v Eurasia battle for supremacy? If so you’re experiencing a doubleplusungood false memory: both are now unimpeachable allies, working to replace Google with Bing as the iPhone’s default search provider. Likewise, you would simply be mistaken to recall Google’s chequebook-wielding flirtation with Facebook three years ago.

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Google and Facebook, as every goodthinker knows, are dangerously implacable enemies.

That war entered a venomous new stage last week, when the internet’s biggest search company announced that it had also become a Facebook-style social network. Google Buzz, launched on Tuesday, intends to turn Gmail’s 150 million users into a vast pool of shared personal information, building on similar initiatives such as Google Wave and Google Social Search.

Then it emerged last week that Google had bought the social- networking start-up Aardvark, which lets users “tap the knowledge of people in your network”. In other words, it was advancing its tanks even farther across Facebook’s lawn.

What we are witnessing is the ultimate battle for control of the internet. Google, employing the world’s smartest software engineers, has dominated the desktop-internet era for a decade through its unbeatable algorithm-based computing power. But now we’re into the mobile-internet era, Facebook intends to dominate by knowing what we are thinking, doing and intending to spend — wherever we happen to be. As Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg sees it, this “social graph”, built around our friends, family and colleagues, will determine how hundreds of millions of us decide on everything from holidays to cosmetic surgeons. And with Facebook the proprietary gatekeeper — its mobile-phone applications already attracting extraordinary engagement from members — that’s a potential advertiser proposition that Google can only dream of.

It’s not that Mr Zuckerberg is still only 25 and naively arrogant that annoys Google, nor that his company has enticed swaths of senior Google talent. It’s that Facebook’s fast-growing dominance of the “social” internet threatens its rival’s entire business model. If it can sell advertisers access not just to what you’re thinking, but to where you are, who you’re with and what you plan to do, Facebook’s revenues from individually targeted “behavioural” advertising could increase exponentially. And it knows it.

“Google is not representative of the future of technology in any way,” a Facebook veteran boasted to Wired recently. “Facebook is an advanced communications network enabling myriad communication forms. It almost doesn’t make sense to compare them.”

The mobile internet changes everything — how we behave, spend, declare our intentions, and consume content. That’s why Google is pushing so aggressively its Android smartphone platform and Nexus One handsets. It’s also why Apple has helped software developers to distribute three billion iPhone apps. “That mobile device is never more than a metre or two away from my body, even when I’m asleep,” explains Android’s Eric Tseng. “It knows all my friends through contacts applications; it knows where I am because it’s got a GPS chip; what I’m doing as I’ve got my calendar on it; and it’s got all this contextual knowledge about me. That’s very powerful.”

Already 16 million Britons access the internet through their phones, with five million doing so to visit Facebook — putting it comfortably ahead of Google traffic. And we’re just at the start of this revolution: 3G mobile penetration in Western Europe rose from 17 per cent in 2007 to 29 per cent in 2009, and is forecast to reach 67 per cent next year; in Japan it is already 91 per cent. The lesson from Japan is that, unlike the desktop internet, where people are averse to paying for content, the networked mobile phone is a consumer goldmine. Morgan Stanley estimates that $43 billion was made from the mobile internet in Japan in 2008. Proportionately, Europe today is where Japan was almost a decade ago.

Why is Facebook so well positioned? Because , when all your friends are on Facebook, it makes no sense to go elsewhere.

Mr Zuckerberg’s human-powered view of the internet also taps into our yearning, as social creatures, to climb Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to attain self-actualisation: of the 400 million active Facebook users (up from 200 million last summer), half log on in any given day; they share five billion pieces of content a week and upload more than three billion photos each month. On average, they spend more than 55 minutes a day on Facebook. Those who access it via their mobile devices are “twice as active”. Now do you see why the search gurus in Google’s Mountain View headquarters are so anxious?

So it’s a slam-dunk that Facebook, quickly emerging as the repository of all human intentions, will trounce Google, right? Well, possibly — except for two teeny details. The first is money. Google has $24.5 billion in the bank, after making $6.5 billion profit in the past year. And Facebook — although Mr Zuckerberg predicted a 70 per cent revenue growth this year — only went “cashflow positive” last autumn. There’s a lot you can do with the odd $25 billion: from writing open cheques to YouTube until it can dominate the market in online TV and film distribution, to saturation- advertising its Chrome browser on London buses. Don’t be surprised if Facebook announces a public share offering soon to build a war chest.

Mr Zuckerberg’s second challenge is to convince his customers to surrender their privacy. A business based on giving advertisers access to your personal data must somehow convince you that it’s in your interests to do so: and so far, his repeated clumsy attempts have met a substantial consumer backlash. Early reactions to Buzz have also reminded Google that many of us are unhappy ceding vast amounts of personal information to a private business.

And never forget how quickly fashions change in the online ecosystem. Remember Friendster, Friends Reunited, even MySpace — owned by this newspaper’s parent, and currently struggling in between CEOs? All were the next big social thing once. That’s people for you.

You never can rely on them.

David Rowan is editor of Wired

URL Link:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article7028215.ece

[Via http://christianlouca.com]

STUDY: Australians Are The Most Active Social Media Users In The World

I always had the perception that Americans are the most active social media users because Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are all based in the United States. However, a recent study by Nielsen proved me wrong. Apparently, Australians spend the most amount of time on social media websites as compared to any other people in the world for the month of December. Analysts at Nielsen have concluded that 9.9 million Australians on average spend nearly 7 hours per month on social media sites. This translates to a 13 minutes a day, which constitutes to 0.9% of our time everyday.

Meanwhile, the United States clinched the second placing with Americans spending an average of 6 hours and 9 minutes per month, followed by the United Kingdom (6 hours and 7 minutes), and then Italy (6 hours). To my dismay, Japan, which is one of the most technological-savvy countries in the world, only managed to hit 2 hours and 50 minutes, far behind the Oceania, American and European leaders. On the hand, Brazil, the only developing country in the list, made it to the sixth placing with 31.3 million Brazilians surfing Facebook and Twitter for 4 hours and 33 minutes in December last year.

The study also noted that Americans continue to spend more time on social networking and blog sites as well, with total minutes increasing 210% year-over-year and the average time per person increasing 143% year-over-year in December 2009. The top five most popular social media sites in December are Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Classmates and LinkedIn. Among these sites, Twitter has been touted as “the fastest-growing in December 2009 in terms of unique visitors”, increasing 579% year-over-year, from 2.7 million unique visitors in December 2008 to 18.1 million in December 2009.

[Via http://newshyderabad.wordpress.com]

local grass: Portland’s Black Prairie

photo by Tucker Martine

Black Prairie, a new collaboration out of Portland, Oregon made up of three members of the indie-rock band The Decemberists and two other Portland-based folk stars, will release a bluegrass album on Sugar Hill Records in April. The new band’s debut, Feast of the Hunter’s Moon, is produced by Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie) and features Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk, bassist Nate Query and Jenny Conlee on accordion.  

There are a couple of songs already on the band’s MySpace page. “Red Rocking Chair” has a slow, ominous mountain sound, while “Back Alley” sounds like straight-up traditional bluegrass. Both tracks left me longing for the other 11 songs on this 13 track album that Sugar Hill says will embody “the rich sonic landscape of the Portland music scene while integrating the diverse backgrounds of its members.”  

Check out the first two tracks below and stay tuned for more.

Black Prairie on MySpace

Black Prairie on Sugar Hill Records Web site

[Via http://grassclippingsblog.com]

Become a fan

Nowadays, Facebook is becoming mainstream. Almost everyone has a Facebook page even my mom has one. And companies are not the exception either. Companies are seeing Facebook as a way to communicate, engage with its audience and ultimatly driving sales.
Last year Razorfish, a digital marketing company, developed its third annual FEED survey of 1,000 “connected consumers”. The survey focused on online consumer behavior. Some of the results: ”40% of respondents “friended brands on Facebook “, while 25% of respondents said they follow brands on Twitter. They also found that consumers follow brands on Twitter and Facebook mainly for deals and promotions. “On Facebook or MySpace, 37% said that access to exclusive deals or offers was their main reason for friending brands.”

Furthermore, 40% of respondents have “friended” a brand on Facebook. Taking into account these statistics it is important that companies realize the role that Facebook is playing nowadays and that Facebook is not only for young people to network it is a way to engage consumers and build communities. According to these results if a company wants brand recognition on the Web, there is a good possibility that Facebook is the right place to be.

Source: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/survey_brands_making_big_impact_on_facebook_twitter.php

Source: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/survey_brands_making_big_impact_on_facebook_twitter.php

I am a fan of a couple of products through my Facebook page. Often I find people being reluctant to become a fan. Either they have to be friends of someone that works for the company or they are extremly loyal to that brand/product.  At the end of the day people do not have time to follow lots of brands. Do we?

Are you a fan?

 

 

[Via http://mariajosesblog.wordpress.com]

Timeline: A history of social networking sites

In a nutshell, social networking sites are web-based services that enable people to create a public profile, allowing them to communicate with both strangers and people already in their existent social network (Boyd & Ellison 2007).

They began in 1997 with the birth of SixDegrees.com which encouraged people to send messages to each other electronically.

From there they blossomed and became one of the world’s most popular ways of communicating, particularly among young people.

Here is a timeline detailing their relatively short but intriguing history.

1997: SixDegrees.com

Although it was innovative in that it combined many features other social networking sites did not, the site failed to sustain itself in the long run. This was partly due to the low number of people with an online presence and partly to the site’s limited interactive applications.

2001: Ryze

A niche business-oriented social network site, aimed at strengthening professional and personal bonds across companies, without that air of competition. Yet the site’s personalization caused its downfall and it never attracted mass appeal.

2002: Friendster

An online dating site which focused on introducing friends-of-friends rather than strangers because it believed they would prove better matches. Although the site was initially popular boasting 300,000 users, it encountered many technical and social difficulties. These included slow servers and a restrictive design, which led users to create fake profiles of celebrities and fictional characters, to expand their reach. The site’s deletion of these ‘Fakesters’ caused an outrage and resulted in many users leaving the site permanently because of its failure to meet user interest.

2003: MySpace

Hit off by indie-rock bands alienated by Friendster, MySpace rapidly grew by accommodating a band-and-fans relationship, creating a personal ’space’ for this. Users needs were also met, unlike with Friendster, by allowing them to personalize their profiles using HTML. In 2004, teens started joining Myspace en masse which was accelerated by News Corporation purchasing the site for $580 million in 2005 and attracting mass media attention.

2004: Facebook

Initially intended for college networks (Harvard, US) to create a sense of an intimate online community, Facebook spiralled into serving mass communities in 2005. Unlike other sites, Facebook allows users to determine the extent to which their profile is public, assigning them their long sought after independence and flexibility. Much like MySpace, users can also personalize their profiles through ‘Applications’ such as the sending of virtual gifts. It is now the most used social networking site, boasting over 350 million users worldwide.

2005: YouTube

An Adobe Flash video sharing website, displaying a broad range of user-generated content including film and TV clips, music videos and original, amateur blogs or videos. Although unregistered users can still watch content, registered viewers are free to upload, rate and also comment on videos of their choice. Bought by Google in 2006, media companies such as the BBC and Universal Music Group (UMG) also share their material via the site. It has been ranked the fourth most visited website, following Google, Yahoo and Facebook. Despite some of its copyrighted material and inappropriate content, its simple interface and diverse collection of topics has won it many awards including the George Foster Peabody Award (2008).

2006: Twitter

A new microblogging site, originally called twttr, allowing users to send messages of up to 140 characters known as tweets to their subscribers, known as followers. Like Facebook, Twitter accommodates restricted and open delivery. Another attractive quality of Twitter is its intertexuality; the ability to send tweets via the website and Short Message Service (SMS) – it’s been crowned ‘SMS of the Internet’. Although it has been labelled ‘modern narcissim’ and an absurdity which drains phone credit, Twitter has proved immensely successful, with a ‘remarkably simple’ interface and 14 millions users in the US alone.

2010: Google Buzz

Building on the idea of Twitter, Google Buzz targets a more niche market of Gmail users, allowing them to automatically and conveniently follow existing friends. Like Twitter, intertextuality is integrated in the form of photos (Flickr), videos (YouTube) and links (Twitter) where privacy can also be altered accordingly. With its recent extension to Google Apps and mobile phones, you can now tag your exact geographical location with Google Maps and easily, yet uncomfortably, track your friends. However, this concept of privacy settings has already been heavily criticised, attacking the way that Google Buzz publicly lists the user’s Gmail contacts by default. Within just days, thousands have been manically blogging on Technorati; most arguing that the concern over privacy is a ridiculous overstatement, revealing people’s ignorance of the way social networking sites truly operate.

[Via http://dman3.wordpress.com]

President Obama Wants YOU… to Twitter for Him

Think you’re such a social media expert that you could tweet for a living? Well, President Obama is looking for an official social networks manager, and you might be just the tech whiz for the job.

According to President Obama’s website, The Democratic National Committee and Organizing for America is in the market for a new hire. According to the Wall Street Journal, Mia Cambronero, who currently holds the position, said, “[I] will be stepping down from my infamous role as ‘Barack Obama’s twitterer… We’re looking for someone who is available to start immediately.”

And what exactly are they looking for over at the White House? According to the job posting:

“The Social Networks Manager is responsible for maintaining the Democratic Party and Organizing for America accounts on all social networks (such as Facebook(), Twitter() and MySpace() accounts, etc.) The Social Networks Manager works closely with the rest of the New Media department to execute grassroots campaigns to advance the President’s agenda for change.”

Said person must also be willing to work hard — “this isn’t a 9-5 job,” the posting said — and be “passionate about engaging millions of Americans in advancing President Obama’s agenda and changing the country.” Yeah, that’s not daunting at all.

Social media has been integral to President Obama’s career since the beginning. He launched his Twitter account back in 2007 (although he only really tweeted for the first time last month to support Haiti relief efforts after admitting back in November that he was too clumsy to use the microblogging tool), and recently used YouTube() to engage with the nation after the State of the Union address.

Although both the Obama and White House Twitter feeds used to read like a stream of press releases, the tweets have become much more lively in the ensuing months. Whoever fills this new position will have to continue to up the ante when it comes to engaging with the American people. Will you apply?

[Via http://lmd308.wordpress.com]

MySpace Shakeup: Van Natta Out, Hirschhorn Stays

In an interesting turn of events, MySpace CEO (and former COO of Facebook) Owen Van Natta has suddenly stepped down from his position. He will be replaced by two newly created co-Presidents, COO Mike Jones (founder and CEO of Userplane) and Chief Product Officer Jason Hirschhorn (formerly of MTV and Sling fame). Both will report to Jon Miller, Chairman and CEO of Digital Media for News Corp.

But let’s back this up….on Feb. 4rth, TechCrunch reported that, in fact, it was Jason Hirschhorn who was on his way out:

But the real problem may have been a lack of chemistry between Hirschhorn and his fellow executives. CEO Van Natta was supposedly hired by Murdoch directly for the job. Hirschhorn and Jones were hired by Digital chief Jon Miller. Since the whole team was brought in at once, Van Natta didn’t have any say at all in the hiring of his two right hand guys. 

Even FT reported on the troubles between the executives, siting apparent disagreements between Van Natta and Mr. Miller over Hirschhorn’s role in the company. It seems Van Natta wanted Hirschhorn out and Miller refused.    

Too many cooks in the kitchen? Maybe, but can anyone blame Van Netta if he wanted to leave? MySpace is in deep trouble and the numbers are BIG and speak loudly. News Corp paid $580m for the site way back in 2005, and as it stands now, MySpace will miss traffic targets on its $900m search deal with Google, resulting in $100m less than previously thought.   

Ouch. Good luck to Hirschhorn and Jones, they will need it. Many insiders already think MySpace is DOA.

MySpace, R.I.P GigaOM
MySpace chief executive steps down FT
Gossip: Everyone Wants Out Of MySpace Business Insider
Owen Van Natta Out As MySpace CEO; Miller’s Memo paidContent

[Via http://dialmformedia.wordpress.com]

Anoop Desai's online media team needs our help!

Anoop’s online media team is reaching out to us once more with a few specific questions. Fans and street teamers, let’s help them help Anoop. March is just around the corner.

1. Music Festivals: Are there music festivals near your area that are good fit for Anoop? Provide info here. Please note that they are interested in overseas fests as well as US ones: http://anooptroop.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=campaignboard&action=display&thread=385 

2. Do you or someone you know maintain Anoop-related social networking pages (i.e., iLike)? Please come forward here. Anoop’s peeps are interested in potentially helping you update the page with unified branding: http://anooptroop.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=campaignboard&action=display&thread=386 

3. Do you know of social networking sites other than Facebook, MySpace or Twitter (such as orkut, Ning, and Multiply) in which Anoop could benefit from establishing a presence? Please post here: http://anooptroop.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=campaignboard&thread=387&page=1

[Via http://teamanoopdesai.com]

Not a bad week, all in all...

I have run into my first real “stumble along the way” type moment… I have not been to the gym in about a week now. At first it was all due to the fact that I may have overdone it one day by going so often and pushing too hard. Now, it is just because I haven’t gotten back on my routine. There are a couple of reasons for that. I went to see a friend’s band practice on Monday night and was out late, so I slept in the next day, and, we had a hell of a Tuesday at work and I had a few drinks and ended up sleeping in the next day. And, last night, I met up with a fellow DJ and my “brother from another mother” DJ OZ at Silk Stockings, another gentlemen’s club, and got some music from him and hung out for a bit, slept in today. I really need to get back on track. I have slipped a couple times with the type of food and drink I have had too, and I haven’t been eating enough either. Skipping meals is not a good thing, for me anyway, because I will end up being hungry late at night, and that is the worst thing to do.

I have, however, not smoked since October 19th, and I am happy to report that I am definitely beginning to feel a difference, though, I don’t think my lung capacity is back to 100%, I don’t know how long that takes. I really need to get back on track, I don’t want to take the chance of falling into old habits, I haven’t yet, but, I don’t want to take that chance! I need to figure out a way that I can manage my time a bit better and still include somewhat of a social life as well. I will be happy when the work week is over and I can get some things done.

I know what I have to do, all I need to do is get my schedule written down and stick to it! Focus, focus, focus! I know I can do it, that’s not the issue at all. My goal, starting tomorrow, is to get back on my pills (vitamins and supplements) and on an every other day gym schedule. I also need to start getting food together in advance so I am eating healthy at work too. Starting tomorrow, I will make sure that I do this for at least 21 days, then, it will become habit and will be a lot easier. It’s not like I don’t enjoy going to the gym, and I certainly don’t mind the healthy food… I just have to do it!

I have to say, not a bad week, all in all. I hope the rest of the week goes as well as the beginning has, at work, I really could use the money! Can’t we all?

Thanks to all of you for your continued love and support.
As always, take care and remember…

Every day is a chance to turn it all around!

- Kenny

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[Via http://kennyislosingit.wordpress.com]

Cyworld Ends its' American Run.

The super popular South-Korean web portal “Cyworld” notified their American users that they will shortly discontinue services here. Cyworld is known as one of the worlds first interactive social networks and public profile sites. In 2006 they tried recreate their South Korean success and expand their services overseas to the US, Germany and China.

However, Cyworld could not recreate the hype that they had in South-Korea. From the start the services Cyworld USA provided were lost in translation. Usage based by nation-only stand-alones made it impossible for members to link overseas Cyworld accounts. The lack of members being able to globally network seemed to handicap users who are usually used to sites that will allow anyone to join, such as ike Myspace, Facebook and Friendster.

There is also the debate that Cyworld USA lost membership do to offensive graphics. Many users who were familiar with their South-Korean portal noticed that the avatars available to the US  had very noticable differences. Avatars were described as too bulky and having funny facial features. Some even said that they were just uglier than their Korean counterparts. Cyworld avatars and avatar rooms were upgradable with dotoris points, which were available for purchase. Americans were lost on why should they buy avatar skins and upgrades when already existing sites were free of charge.

Cyworld USA’s announcement said they will shut down their USA site on February 19th. They apologized to allow the users who are left to gather any data they may have used to design their Cyworld profiles. They are offering refunds for any unused  dotoris points. These are the “acorns” that users purchase to upgrade and design their avatar rooms. However refunds and data backups stop on February 19th 2010.

So if you are a Cyworld US user make sure you get your data back and your acorns refunded!

[Via http://hallyuhoneys.wordpress.com]

flattery will get you nowhere but thanks.

I honestly dislike myspace these days even though i still choose to keep it and check it regularly. I barely answer to people though and only do so if its someone i actually talked to before. Even when i was addicted to myspace i still didn’t like messages. Its like getting people spam and people know you read and get mad when you don’t reply. Oh well. I still do read th ‘ messages i get and this message caught my eye. I get some flattering comments from time to time and i just don’t pay attention but this message was really nice. So, i thought it deserved some special attention even if i didn’t respond back.

“Let me just be real honest, I know this is completely random and I know you have no clue who I am, but I was looking through profiles and saw yours and I was blown away. Absolutely blown away. You are beautiful. Not just the good looking girl you see occasionally, I am talking like the kind of beauty that you don’t see EVER. You know how a person addicted to drugs knows his drugs, he knows the “good shit” from the “not-so-good shit”? Well I know beauty. Its my drug. And you, are good shit. So I guess what I’m saying is…you are my drug…and I’m addicted. Your beauty is insane. Like I said, I know this is random, but I had to let you know. I figured you probably hear it all the time, but hey, I couldn’t let someone as gorgeous as you get away without me at least telling her first. Anyway, congratulations on being so magnificent.Sorry if it annoyed you. If you want though, you should look at my profile, I worked really hard on it, haha, but there is a lot of information on there, so only go read it if you enjoy reading or you could hate your life. I tend to ramble.
-Sebastain
P.S. After I re-read this, I realized it kind of sounds like spam, but I can assure you I’m not spam. *in pinnochio voice* I’m a real boy! I know its pretty lame that this is what I do when I’m bored, but I have nothing better to do. Lame huh?”

Anyways. Thanks Sebastian for th ‘ beautiful message.

[Via http://dearkaye.wordpress.com]