Technology is Changing the World: What About Us?

Google's "Mail Goggles" Aim to Deter Drunk E-mailing

2008-11-14T10:43:00.000-08:00

Google has launched its new feature of "Mail Goggles" to prevent people from drunk e-mailing those regrettable messages to their boss telling them what they really think or begging their ex-boyfriend/girlfriend to take them back.

What originated as drunk dialing became drunk texting with the growing number of people using SMS text messaging. But now, more and more people are sitting in front of their computer screens at the wee hours of the morning to send the feared drunk e-mail.

But have no fear, (as usual) Google is here to save the day!

Google has introduced "Mail Goggles," a program that is designed to make sure you really want to send the e-mail message you typed with one-hand while your other hand was holding a beer.

Basically, the Mail Goggles act as a digital breathalyzer, requiring users (after clicking "Send") to answer a series of simple math problems in a certain amount of time to ensure they are in the proper state of mind to know they really want to send that late-night e-mail.

The Goggles can easily been enabled and disabled by the user or set to start working at a certain time of day and turn off at another time of day.

Sorry, Dr. Shamp, it looks like this feature won't work on your iPhone!

To watch a news clip about the launch of Mail Googles, click here.

For more information on this new media topic, visit http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/200/10/google-unveils-mail-googles-to-curb-drunk-e-mailin.html.

Google Plans to e-publish Out-of-Print Books

2008-11-10T06:54:00.000-08:00

As the world of books begins to increasingly go digital, American authors and publishers have finally reached an agreement with Google to settle lawsuits over Google's Book Search program. This controversial program is able to scan millions of books and make their contents available on the Internet. The result: Google can sell electronic versions of copyrighted works that have gone out of print.

Although this deal still awaits court approval and the bookshop would only operate in the United States to begin with, this agreement is considered by many to be one of many initiatives under which books are making what may be the biggest technological leap since Gutenberg invented moveable type.

While the ability to browse and purchase books from online stores like Amazon has previously led to an increase in book sales, in the first nine months of this year, book sales in the United States have fallen 1.5 percent, according to the Association of American Publishers. However, sales of e-books, read on devices like Amazon's Kindle, on personal computers or on mobile phones. Wholesale sales of e-books were up 55 percent from a year ago.

In fact, 40 percent of book publishing professionals think digital sales would surpass sales of paper-and-ink books by 2018, according to a survey published in conjunction with the Frankfurt Book Fair last month.

In the proposed settlement, Google would share online sales revenue with publishers and authors. But publishers are still looking for other new ways to sell books in digital form like subscription plans, where readers would pay a monthly fee for online access to best sellers or making online versions of books free or reduced in price by supporting the version with advertising, similar to the approach adopted by newspapers on the Internet.

For more information on this new media topic, visit http:///www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/worldbusiness/10kindle.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin.

MySpace and MTV Turn Pirated Video Into Ad Dollars

2008-11-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

MySpace will partner with MTV Networks (whose channels include Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, VH1 and MTV) and Auditude, a Palo Alto firm that works to identify whether the video clips that users upload to the Web are owned by a television network.

Previously, when footage was uploaded from television shows like the "Daily Show," MySpace might have automatically blocked the clip, or at least taken the clip down upon complaint by Comedy Central.

Now, the users are able to post such clips to the advantage of media companies that will get to monetize and get all the data from this--meaning media companies will be able to know what is being watched, who is watching it and have their programs reap the benefit of this viral promotion.

How does this work?

Auditude will compile all of the video owned by MTV Networks that it finds on MySpaceTV, the second-largest video site after YouTube. Then Auditude will overlay an identifying label specifying the program and offer either the producing channel or MySpace the opportunity to advertise against it. Auditude will also supply viewers with a link to buy and download the full episode.

Auditude requires no additional effort by content owners and can work with a variety of Web video sites, like MySpace TV, YouTube and Veoh.

For more information on this new media topic, visit http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/myspave-and-mtv-turn-pirated-video-into-ad-dollars/.

I Spy a Qwitter...

2008-10-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

Qwitter.

What does it do?

It allows the followed on Twitter to see that their followers have "qwit" following them, even providing which tweet was the last one the follower followed before "qwitting" following.

Make sense? Let me break it down.

Qwitter debuted on Friday, Oct. 17, 2008, as a means of allowing users (aka "the followed" on Twitter) to find out when others (aka "the followers") stop following them, or receiving their 140-character status updates.

The followed lose followers everso often for any of an assortment of reasons, whether the followed said something that the follower didn't agree with or the followed's tweets are no longer seen as relevant or interesting in the eyes of the follower.

Until Qwitter was created, services like Facebook and Twitter intentionally did not inform users when someone "de-friended" or "un-followed" them because it could potentially be a sensitive issue.

Now all precautions have been thrown to the wind, as Qwitter is trying to tap into the "too curious for their own good" market. After signing up for the service, when someone stops following someone on Twitter, the Qwitter user will receive an e-mail informing them of their follower that "qwit" and after which tweet the qwitter qwit.

The following example is provided on Qwitter's Web site to serve as an example of the message a Qwitter user would receive in their e-mail upon someone "un-following" them:

John Gruber (gruber) stopped following you on Twitter after you posted this tweet:

What's the difference between Arial and Helvetica?

While Qwitter may answer some user's questions, followers now must be more conscious of their "un-following" habits since there is the possibility that the followed will now be informed of such actions.

For more information on this new media topic, visit http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10069135-2.html?tag=mncol;posts.

The Social Browser: Flock 2.0

2008-10-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

Do you enjoy seeing who has recently posted on your Facebook wall, viewing friends' recently uploaded Flickr photos and reading your friends' most recent tweets on Twitter? Then I have found the Web browser that was created just for you!

Flock 2.0: The Social Web Browser is for people who love features but hate plug-ins and

extensions. The newest version of the product, Flock 2.0, comes with a variety of features preconfigured and integrated into the browsing experience, without the user's additional work of setting up and layering extensions into your Firefox installation. These features include the current Mozilla engine (the same one in Firefox 3) and additional media and social net integration features.

Flock users have expressed that the first version of the product was more stable than Firefox 2, most likely because it was not overloaded with extensions, and that it did more than Internet Explorer 7. Now the speed and stability that Firefox 3 provides makes the decision to use Flock to be based on the features it offers.

Flock's capabilities include offering social media feeds from MySpace (which is new to version 2), Twitter, Facebook and other sites, which ultimately allows you to see everything that is happening with your friends and networks, all in your left sidebar. You are also able to view media (photos and videos) from media and social sites like Revver (new), YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, etc. The media bar across the top of the product can be set to view items your "friends" have posted or been tagged in.

Similar to current browsers, Flock also recognizes if a page you are on has an RSS feed and further suggests and allows you to subscribe to the feed. The second version also allows you to subscribe to media streams and displays the items in the media bar.

Upon closing or disabling the media and social sidebars, Flock is much like Firefox 3, including the "awesome bar" URL entry field, a feature that heightens success in your searches, as it allows you to search for a particular website www or a word/topic. Most other Firefox extensions can be added to Flock.

However, the product's comprehensiveness in social updates is what sets this browser above all the rest.

For more information on the new media topic, visit http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10066805-2.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0.

YouTube to offer TV Shows with Ads

2008-10-12T14:29:00.001-07:00

YouTube will now give people the opportunity to watch full-length episodes of some television shows.

The ability to view television shows that one may have missed is another way to promote use of YouTube, which has experienced staggering growth.

YouTube was designed for posting short, amateur videos that lasted only a few minutes. The idea for posting longer videos of television episodes has evolved from Internet users becoming more comfortable watching longer videos online and an increase in individuals' attention span from 2.6 minutes in July to 2.9 minutes a year ago.

"Dexter," "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Star Trek" will be showing on YouTube through a deal with CBS. Of great importance to YouTube's owner, Google, the longer videos will air advertisements before, during, and after each episode, which will hopefully help the nearly four-year-old video sharing site.

Executives at YouTube had previously refrained from the use of advertisements so as not to deter viewers from using the site in an attempt to avoid a 15-second commercial for a 45-second video. The extended length of the videos makes including commercials in the clip acceptable in the eyes of the viewers, as well as the fact that other network television Web sites are allowing commercials to run during full-length videos.

As YouTube branches out to include TV content, the site faces competition, most notably from Hulu, which reports more than 100 million video streams a month in comparison to YouTube's five billion video views recorded in July 2008. YouTube does account for 44 percent of all online video consumption in the United States.

Another feature YouTube has devised to encourage viewership is the new "theater view," a larger video player for longer content.

For more information on this new media topic, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/technology/internet/11tube.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=technology&pagewanted=print.

P.S. I'm so glad that I read this article, because I cannot wait to go back and watch all of the Beverly Hills, 90210 reruns on YouTube instead of purchasing the seasons on DVD!

Technology Gives College Recruiting a Boost

2008-10-04T19:08:00.000-07:00

In this day and age college recruiters no longer have to read the scores of all the high school basketball games in teeny, tiny print in the local sports sections of printed newspapers across the country. Nor do recruiters have to travel hundreds of miles to catch their prospects in action. Instead, they can simply log online from the convenience of their own home and catch the highlights.

The Internet and various video sharing agents, most notably YouTube, allow recruits to show college coaches and recruiters what they are capable of doing out on the field or on the court. The Internet's ability to show recruiters prospective athletes' talent adds one more item to the list of things computers make easier to do--athletes getting noticed and thus earning an athletic scholarship to college. Such online postings not only save gas money for the college recruiters, but it saves the potential recruit the money for postage necessary to mail video tape footage of games to recruiters. Computers make editing these films much easier, thus adding to the benefits of online coverage of recruits.

April Carson, a 15-year-old basketball prodigy, is just one example of how online video sharing has already paid off. April's father posted footage of her breaking the Tequesta Trace Middle School record for 3-pointers in a game. April's outstanding performance would have perhaps gone unseen by everyone not in attendance (including recruiters) had it not been posted online.

A performance that had only been seen by Tequesta Trace's fans has now gone on to receive 11,858 views (at the time of this post), including views by notable basketball coaches across the country, following her father posting the highlights online. April and her family have already received mailings from Baylor, Clemson, Princeton and Yale, and she is only a sophomore in high school!

April is not the only high school athlete to benefit from the ease the Internet provides of recording, posting and watching stellar atheletic performances online. Some athletes, like Jashaun Agosto, even use similiar methods to record and show their daily workouts and athletic training. Jashaun's footage had received 260,400 views at the time of this post.

YouTube links to these recordings can be sent to scouts and recruiters quickly in an e-mail. Although online films are not the only indicator of talented players, many coaches think that viewing such films is a good jumping off place when scouting. Online links also lower the age at which recruiters begin to watch and track prospective athletes. Such internet communication makes it easy for players to talk with coaches and coaches to talk with coaches. If only students could post videos of them acing their tests for academic scholarships, and we would be set!

For more information about this new media topic, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/sports/ncaabasketball/02youtube.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=login.

Twitter Allows Its Users to Debate During the Presidential Debate

2008-09-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

At midnight this past Thursday, September 25, Twitter launched a new, specialty version of its Web site. The new site, www.election.twitter.com, is specifically geared for its users to respond to the presidential debates between Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama and other political festivities and news of the coming days before the 2008 presidential election.

Twitter was originally created to allow people to communicate with friends, family, coworkers, professors, acquaintances, etc. However, with the addition of Twitter's search engine, the site has come to serve as a viable medium for the expression of public opinion. People tend to post, or "tweet" (in Twitterspeak), on Twitter in response to sporting events, television premieres, natural disasters, current events, etc.

The site recorded off-the-chart numbers of posts per second during the candidates' acceptance speeches, so Twitter's executives decided that there would be nothing better to encourage more conversation than the current politicking by both the Republicans and Democrats prior to the upcoming elections, hence the creation of the new specialty site.

By allowing users to critique each candidates' performance, the site also allows users to debate with others on all topics of the debate and as to who won the debate by answering the site's question, "What do you think?" This question, like Twitter's original site question "What are you doing?," allows users to post their thoughts in responses using 140 characters or less.

The site scrolls every second with new tweets by anyone on the election page and any other part of Twitter's service where posts are obviously related to the election based on the post's inclusion of phrases like "Obama" or "Palin."

The new site is Twitter's way of connecting political enthusiasts during the election similar to Facebook groups Facebook users can join and candidate support postings that are used on both Facebook and MySpace.

The site also links to the Twitter campaign feeds for McCain and Obama. Links are also included that redirect visitors to tweets about presidential and vice presidential candidates and a list of phrases pulled from recent tweets that represent hot topics like "Government Bailout," "Bill Clinton," "Tine Fey," and "Couric."

As an avid Twitter user, it is my hope that they will set up more of these specialty sites that I will be able to use and meet people that share similar thoughts on Georgia football, the BCS college football ranking system, and the new season of the CW's One Tree Hill and 90210.

For more information on this new media topic, visit http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes/2008/09/25/if-they-debate-heres-where-to-tweet-all-about it/.

BMW Assist to Include Google Search

2008-09-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

BMW will be upgrading their BMW Assist feature to include search capabilities powered by Google Search. The iDrive interface will be upgraded in the company's 2009 model cars.

BMW has been hinting at its partnership with Google since the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show but has just recently announced all of the details of the implementation of this new media in its cars.

BMW owners and users of BMW Assist Convenience Plan will pay an additional $199 per year. The system will use AT&T's GSM network to connect to Google Search to look up information on and locate restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, pharmacies, and public facilities such as schools, city halls, and court houses. Once these locations are found, for example, the user will be able to navigate to the restaurant or call the restaurant to make reservations and ask questions about the menu and business hours using the system's Bluetooth connectivity. Users will also be able to search for the lowest gas prices wherever they are driving and find out what movies are playing and at what times at the local movie theater. Results for searches of this nature will be viewable on a Google Map.

Basically BMW is offering on-the-go internet access in your car using a wireless connection. This connection will enable drivers and passengers to browse the Web from the dashboard.

BMW Assist will continue to offer the following functions: remote unlock, automatic collision notification, and location of stolen vehicles.

For more information on this new media topic, please visit http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-10043591-48.html?tag=mncol;txt.

"E.T. Phone Home"

2008-09-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

Have you ever lost your cell phone? Or better yet, has your cell phone ever been stolen? If you answered yes to either of the previous questions, you will never need to worry again.

Thanks to Maverick Mobile Solutions, an Indian company that makes applications for mobile phones, if your phone is lost or stolen, it will now be found. The company's latest application, Maverick Secure Mobile, will secure your phone and help you to locate it. The Maverick Secure Mobile encrypts your personal data, sends you a text message with the location of the phone, and plays a loud siren to annoy the thief who may have picked up your phone.

The Maverick software is hidden on a phone so a potential thief will be unaware of its presence. Upon purchasing the software, users provide the company with a second phone number, that of a friend, a spouse, or a parent, to be alerted in the event that they lose their phone or their phone is stolen. Once the thief removes the stolen phone's SIM card and inserts his own, the phone encrypts all data that remains on the phone, like the user's phone book, photos, text messages, etc. so the thief cannot see them. This data is then forwarded to the second phone the user listed so all of their information will be retained.

By sending text message commands to the missing phone, the owner of the phone will be able to see the phone calls and text messages the thief has sent and received and view any new contacts he entered in the phone book.

Another feature of this application, "Spy Call," enables the owner of the phone to call their phone and listen to the thief's calls, without the thief knowing they are listening. Finally, the user can make the phone sound a blaring siren. Then just when the owner thinks the thief has had enough, the owner can send him a text message with their name, location, and, if they want, a reward for returning the phone.

Maverick has a deal with Nokia to begin distributing the anti-theft application on Nokia phones.

Once again, similiar to the CSI Stick blog entry I wrote two weeks ago, I feel that along with this new technology providing some safety to cell phone users there are some privacy issues with the Maverick Secure Mobile application. The biggest privacy issue to me is that the company suggests the new anti-theft application could be used by parents who want to check up on their kids by eavesdropping on their phone calls and using the siren-playing capabilities. I feel has though this is bound to cause controversy between parents and their children. Besides, if the company is encouraging their customers to spy on their children, what is stopping others from spying on their parents, husbands and wives, friends, etc.?

For more information on this new media topic, please visit http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/someone-stole-your-cell-phone-tell-it-to-phone-home/?ref=technology.

Over the River and Through the Woods to New Technology I Go

2008-09-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me at all, knows that I have a horrible sense of direction, especially when it comes to visiting new places or rural areas with no signs, the same tumbleweeds blowing at every turn, and no Wal-Mart in sight. This explains why I should get the latest addition to GPS technology, the Suunto X10.

This new watch combines a Global Positioning System, or GPS, unit, a stopwatch, a compass, barometer and altimeter into a single item that can be positioned on wrists of all sizes. Boy, did packing for camping trips just get easier! Hikers, campers, travelers, and anyone with a wrist will no longer have to worry about forgetting to pack their compass for their next voyage or having to tote all of these tools around on their back.

Because of the X10's GPS capabilities, wearers of the watch can record and download runs or hikes to Google Earth or other comparable digital mapping programs. The device also alows users to plan routes to take when going on trips.

With the simple push of the "Find Home" button, lost wearers of the watch will be directed back home along the same route they came or a more direct route that the watch will offer.

Other features the watch offers is current speed and distance traveled displays.

The X10 also runs on a 33% longer battery life than its predecessor, the X9i, and charges using a USB cord, included with the purchase of the phone.

For more information on this new media topic, please visit http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/technology/personaltech/28watch1.html.

CSI Stick: Steals data from our cell phones

2008-09-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

We've never had to worry about letting a friend borrow our cell phone to make a quick call or leaving our phone on our desk for a moment, until now...

[Enter Paraben's CSI Stick]

The Cellular Seizure Investigation Stick, or CSI Stick, is produced by a company called Paraben. Comparable in size to a BIC lighter, the CSI Stick allows a person to gain quick and covert access to any cell phone's information. The CSI Stick looks like nothing more than a USB flash drive and works just like one, with the capability of copying all data and information stored on a cell phone, including messages that have already been deleted! (How will this affect people recycling their cell phones, if others are able to snag information that has been deleted off of their phones?) This device collects information on contacts in a phone book, confidential e-mails, spread sheets, instant messages, dialed numbers, Web sites visited and other information. The worst part, when a phone has been tampered with using a CSI Stick, no evidence is left behind signifying that the information has been compromised.

This device created primarily for law enforcement, surveillance, and intelligence operations has now become an item available for purchase to the general public for $200. Now, there will be no stopping nosy friends or curious spouses from stealing a peak at our phones to see who we've been talking to and what our calendar looks like.

Currently the product works with most Motorola and Samsung cell phones, capturing all of the data contained within. The next model will work with Nokia, RIM, LG, and other phone types.

This device is an extremely threatening tool that could endanger everyone from corporate employees that work for the government down to teens that depend on their cell phone as being a private medium, free of their parents monitoring. However, this device will be beneficial in secure areas where employees need to be monitored to check that sensitive information is not being compromised.

I do not think this tool should be available to the general public. Although I see its benefits to law enforcement agencies when it comes to catching suspects, I think the product's use by the common man could lead to information being misconstrued by the nosy party, thus damaging relationships and trust. I would hate to have my privacy invaded so much by such a device, that I would choose not use one either!

For more information on this new media topic, please visit http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10028589-83.html?tag=newsCategoryArea.2.

The following video is an interview with the CEO of Paraben Corporation discussing the CSI Stick:

UConnect: Chrysler takes Wi-Fi and Internet Connectivity on the Road

2008-08-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

First, Man invented telephones.

Then, Man developed cell phones.

First, Man invented computers.

Then, Man developed laptops.

Both cellular phones and laptops allow people to make their media mobile by taking it with them wherever they go.

Now, Chrysler is considering offering Wi-Fi and Internet connectivity in its 2009 models to serve as a new entertainment option for children in the back seat. While parents may appreciate this technology to busy the rowdy kids in the back seat, Internet signals will not be confined to the back seat, ultimately adding yet another temptation for front-seat occupants and another distraction for drivers. What will keep drivers from checking for that last e-mail before a presentation at work? What will prevent teens from taking a peak at the YouTube video playing on the laptop screen in their passenger's lap?

While Chrysler's Wi-Fi service, called UConnect, will enable passengers to stay further connected in the one place where they spend a lot of time and are not currently connected, it does pose many concerns for the safety of everyone in the car by public health groups and insurance industry representatives. Studies have found that drivers talking on their cell phones were four times more likely to get into serious crashes. In most cases, a person can talk on a cell phone with one hand. How many people do you know that can work on a laptop with only one hand?

Although Chrysler is looking to advance technology to the next step, is this advancement safe for the rest of the world? Does it allow us as a society to become too dependent on having media access with us at all times? And will it change its users to where they are too busy to speak and spend time with one another in the car?

I do not think the world is ready to have Chrysler's wireless internet service in the hands of drivers. I do not think that we are ready for this technological advancement.

For more information on this new media topic, please visit http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/technology/24digi.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin.

NMIX 4220 Class Assignment

2008-08-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

This blog is the beginning of an ongoing assignment for one of my New Media courses this fall. What's new media? Why am I taking this course? Well, let's see...

I am a junior public relations major at the University of Georgia. This past spring, I took a PR Research course where I worked with a group of fabulous girls on a semester-long project about nonprofit organizations' use of social media. This is something that really interests me, so I am trying to get my hands on as much of the up-to-date technology as possible.

Furthermore, the University of Georgia offers the New Media Interdisciplinary Certificate Program. I am beginning the course work to complete this program and earn the New Media Certificate. Completing this program serves as a credential certifying the students' understanding of and proficiency in new media. This certificate is earned while students are completing a degree in his or her chosen field of study, in my case public relations. The certificate further guarantees that a graduate is an expert in the application of technology within a given profession. So why not complete the certificate program?

Now, as someone who in the past has generally not been very good with technology, I expect
the courses in the New Media Program to be both challenging and educational and totally worth it!

Along with taking the introductory course, I am also taking a graphic communication course (that fulfills both a major requirement and a New Media elective requirement), a course on Writing for the World Wide Web (that fulfills an upper division requirement and a New Media elective requirement), and I am taking a New Media seminar. The Director of the New Media Institute, Dr. Scott A. Shamp, is my instructor for both the intro course and my seminar.

As part of this seminar we are required to post at least a paragraph on something new media related each week. Every day we see how technology is changing the world, with new inventions that make life easier, faster modes of communication, improved ideas about making our environment a better place, and so on. My blog will attempt to explore how technology is changing us, both as a society and as individuals, and how we are changing the world.

It is my hope that you will enjoy following my blog and learn something new when you read, so that together we can both become more technowledgeable!

Lindley