I’m seeing it tonight with friends, and the reviews seem mostly positive, but I’ve been hearing somewhat mixed reviews. Is it good? Is it good for kids? Is it too much of a romantic comedy? (I don’t like romantic comedies much.) Review it in the comments, or on Tumblr.
As any close friend of mine knows, I love to read, and one of my favorite magazines of all time has to be Wired. I recently read an article published by them in their July 09 issue, where they discussed how Facebook could become he next Google and invent new ways of advertising, search, and even reinvent the Internet. To myself, this seemed pretty absurd. A world where Google wasn’t number one? How could Google not remain at the top? Facebook’s only presence online is as a social network; a MySpace killer. But then I thought about it, and I came to the conclusion that I simply do not know if Wired’s thinking was out of line with what might happen.
Take it this way. There could be two ways of search to use:
Google’s way would be with algorithms, mathematics, and bidding, making online search almost an auction for the top hit. It’s not biased, but based off of how many people have visited it. For example, if you were looking for a doctor, the top result would be the most clicked link in your region; whether or not that’s who you’re looking for or the result you wanted, that’s what Google wants as the top result, for the Internet chose it.
Facebook’s version of search would be asking a close circle of your own friends, decided upon by you, what they think on a certain topic. It could be biased, depending on your friends. For example, using the doctor search again, you friends might have great luck with one doctor, while you might not. However, though it’s online, Facebook’s search is what we all do on a daily basis; ask those around us their opinion on something.
Facebook’s growth has been astonishing, with an online population of 200 million. (If Facebook was a country, it’d be the 8th most populated.) Each of those members contribute information, photos, and video to the site. Though Facebook refuses most offers for the product, they had accepted an offer with Microsoft over Google, which gave the company many looks. However, Google’s still clearly beating Facebook in a profiting point of view, making 15.6 billion last year, while Facebook only made 275 million.
I’m not going to rewrite the article for you, and if you’re really interested you can read it here (which I suggest you do). However, I do want to know, out of the two types of search I discussed, Facebook or Google, which would you rather use? In all honesty, I’m not sure which I’d prefer, so I want to get your input. Leave a comment with your answer.
Before you leave your response, just remember this: Five years ago, a company with a new, resourceful idea would turn down large offers for their product from large companies. People laughed that they wouldn’t accept such large offers, and thought they’d never go anywhere. Today they’re one of the most influential tools on the planet, and have become a household name. That company, was Google.
I was sleeping calmly under my overs, and mycousin, who also is celebrating his birthday today, opened this huge, music playing card, right up to my ear, and started playing the Star Wars theme song. FML. (Oh, and happy birthday Nate!)
First text message:
Today a legend truly died. Forward this to ten people if you think MJ should be remembered as a true musical genius. From ‘Thriller’ to ‘Black and White’, he’ll always be the King of Pop.
Then the second one (sent immanently after the first one from a different person):
FWD. FWD. FWD. Today the gayest man on earth died. Forward this to ten people if you think he’s really gay. Thank god he died, all children on earth are now safe from him and his gayness.
I found it funny how they came directly after each other. People will always argue, won’t they?
I’m not sure why MJ’s death is effecting me so much.
He’s before my time extremely, but I’ve grown up knowing Michael Jackson. Whether he was holding a microphone, or possibly something else that could get him a lawsuit, he’s always been publicly known; he’s always been there, a legend within my lifetime.
I still can’t wrap my mind around his death. You never expect it, you know; death is a sneaky bitch. And the worst part is you’ll never expect it. Even though he didn’t publish any albums, do any dances within my life, he’s always been played on the radio, always at school dances. It’s just odd to think he’s not here, in a way.
Maybe I’m just taking things to an extreme. I’m tired as crap too. Well, rest in peace Michael. Thanks for everything, Gloved One.
Oh, and I should just let you all know: I’ll be gone for the next week on vacation, but I’ll be bringing my laptop. I’ll be here, just not as much as I usually am. Don’t think I’m dead/quitting, I just need time to relax. Have a good night all.
So, apparently there’s new gossip. Well, at least according to PerezHilton.com, which I, like, read, like, daily!!1!!1!!one!!!eleven!!1! (/sarcasm) But this story’s a little more public, not just Perez’s basic reviews of dresses/CDs/babies. And it ends with blood, Twitter, and videos (just the way I like the end of stories).
Apparently, Perez Hilton wrote a negative review of The Black Eyed Peas’ newest album, The E.N.D. Fergie was upset by this, and asked Perez at an award show after party why he didn’t like her. Perez tried to explain that it wasn’t toward her, or her voice or even her band, it was just that he didn’t enjoy the album (which, even though I despise him deeply, is entitled to believe and say). Fergie then told Will.I.Am how much his comments upset her, and took matters into his own hands by approaching Perez and asking him to never be blatantly mean to the Black Eyed Peas.
Here’s where the story gets confusing, as there’s two sides to the story. So, I’ll tell the two sides in separate parts.
Perez’s Story
According to Perez, Will.I.Am told him to ‘never speak about the Black Eyed Peas ever on his blog’, to which he replied that he’d try but he couldn’t guarantee. Will.I.Am kept telling not to just ‘try’ but to ‘do it’. Again, Perez said he’d try, and to respect that, to which Will.I.Am replied something along the lines of “I have no respect for you.” Then a war of words broke out, ending in Perez calling Will.I.Am a faggot (irony huh?) and leaving the after party. Soon after, Perez noticed that Will.I.Am and his manager followed him outside the club. Will’s manager came up to Perez, and began to beat him, about three of four times.
Perez and his bodyguards quickly drove back to the hotel, which coincidently was the same hotel where the Black Eyed Peas were staying. Perez was panicked that his life might be in danger, so he called the police. When they said they’d try to send someone over, but had to care about real emergencies first, Perez tweeted out that he was in danger, and got thousands of people to call the police to get someone to come over to the hotel. Hilton later made a video claiming Will.I.Am was a ‘coward’ and a ‘liar’.
Will.I.Am’s Story
Will’s story follows along the similar lines of how the original ended, meaning he calmly explained to Perez that he could still blog about the Black Eyed Peas, but to stop being blatantly mean. Hilton apparently responded saying that he didn’t need to have respect for him, or his band. The war of words went on and on, and Will eventually gave up. As Perez was leaving, Will just happened to be leaving at the same time. Will decided to just try and ask Perez one last time if he could try to be nicer in his posts about the Black Eyed Peas, to which Hilton called Will.I.Am a faggot in front of a large crowd. Fans of the Black Eyed Peas began to get angry, and according to Will, beat on Perez. As for anything that happened afterward, Will has no memory of, except for the Twitter army filing a case against him.
So, what’s my final verdict? Perez has said that ‘violence is never the answer’, which I agree with, because I am a huge pussy solutions can be found in other ways. However, this man’s job is to talk crap about other people, so when something like this happens to him, it’s hard for me to feel sympathy for him. However, whether it was Will.I.Am, a fan, a manager, Batman, or Debbie Downer, it’s still not right. However, if Perez was wrong and Will.I.Am or his manager didn’t even touch him, then Hilton’s got some apologies and explaining to do.
But the real moral of this post is that the news for the week sucks if a teenaged boy has nothing else to report on other then a homosexual and a rapper getting in a fight violence is never the answer, but neither is lying. And I can tell you this much; something’s fishy in this story.
I’ll keep you updated on the story (though I hate reporting on gossip so much. I mean I’d rather work seven hours a day picking gum off the bottom side of tables then write gossip reports. Isn’t that what PerezHilton.com’s fo- oh, right.)
A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.
Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.
The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston , a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack.
The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.
The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I’ve Arrived
Date: March 21, 2009
I know you’re surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I’ve just arrived and have been checked in.
I’ve seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then!!!! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P. S. Sure is freaking hot down here!!!!
Today at exactly 7 AM EST, Apple released their newest generation of cell phone, the iPhone 3GS. While it looks just like the iPhone 3G and has the same user interface, it contains many key components, such as twice the speed and video filming and editing, that make the 3GS a game changer for cell phones, and for everyone.
Let’s take the Iran election for example. Thanks to iPhone applications like Tweetie or TwitterFon, Iranians are tweeting their revolution and updating everyone around the world with text updates on their stolen election. However, imagine if Iranians had the iPhone 3GS during these protests. Not only would we receive text updates on the clashes, but we would see live streams on Ustream, or Qik, and more videos being uploaded to YouTube. We would no only be able to read about the revolution, but we would be able to see it, almost like we’re there.
The 3GS provides a new medium that has never really been explored by cell phones (and their users): video. With the power of being able to film anything amazingly fast, live stream what’s going on, and upload clips to YouTube, people won’t just know when something happens, they’ll see it instantly, and respond instantly. The power of video is that you can see, and not just read.
The new iPhone also will allow business to be done quicker, and more efficiently. With twice the speed of the original iPhone, things can get done pretty fast. Imagine emailing with a client on your iPhone. As soon as they send you an email, you’ll get a notice, open up the Email app, and reply within five minutes of their message. You’ll be able to finish things, work with communications, share things easier with new features like copy and paste, and do business (and manage your social life too) much quicker and easier.
So, the iPhone 3GS will change the world in many ways. You’ll soon be able to document everything, not only with text but through images and video. You’ll be able to do business extremely fast, and this single piece of technology may be able to change the way you live. As soon as Apple gets rid of their horrible server, AT&T, I might get one. Today is not the beginning of an evolution of phone, but rather, it’s the beginning of a revolution of phone, one that may single handedly change the world.
This is what I’ve been looking at today. Let me explain.
I couldn’t sleep at all last night. It took me until about 2 AM to even relax, and I had to listen to music for awhile still until I finally dozed off. And then I woke up twice. So I was pretty darn tired this morning.
So, because I’m the nerd I am, I googled “Ways to Sleep Better” this morning and got a crapton of links.
The first one I checked gave alot of great ways:
And the list goes on and on. Now, of course, I can’t possibly do all of these. But there was one that I thought seemed very simple, and that was meditation.
So, I did what anyone with WiFi would do, and used Google again, but this time for ‘Simple Meditation Methods”.
What I got seemed easy enough:
“One of the simplest methods of meditation is breathing meditation. Simply sit down in any position, though the traditional meditation pose is considered best. Make sure your back is not slouched or leaning backward, for being in that state could cause you to feel more calm, and lose focus on what your meditating about. After you’re in your stance, simply inhale and exhale through your nostrils. Make sure you focus on your breathing, and not on anything else. Once you feel relaxed, be absolutely still, and find your inner peace (only you can know when you find it). Once you’ve found your inner peace, continue to be silent and still until relaxed.”
However, I’m questioning if I’ll actually be able to find my inner peace. In a world of hatred and war, is there truly peace within all of us? And can we find the peace within ourselves?
My response is one of an optimist; I believe that peace is waiting within ourselves, and through acts like meditation and prayer, can be found quite easily. If everyone was to unlock their inner peace, imagine the world we’d live in. Imagine the wars that could be avoided. Imagine the love everyone would feel. That’s why I’m so interested in meditation.
I’ll be meditating tonight, and I’ll let you guys know if it works for my sleep problem or not. What do you do when you can’t get to sleep? Does it work? And what do you think about unlocking inner peace?
NOTE: This was written as a school project, so I apologize in advance for the corniness and/or school-like style of this post.
The Internet has been a vast tool of information since it was created, whether it is for information, connecting, jobs, or sending messages to the world. However, the Internet is also filled with a lot of trash, whether it be idiots posting videos of their dogs running away from a squirrel, a man playing what he thinks sounds like saxophone with his mouth, or a celebrity violently ranting at a cameraman on the set of Terminator 4. However, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and people online pick up these things, thus turning into an Internet meme. Internet memes are jokes passed around on the Internet, to the point where they’ve gone viral, or spreading to the point of gaining much publicity and viewers very fast, like a virus. To the average person, these memes usually seem stupid, idiotic, or just plain confusing. However, when the term “Internet meme” is broken down, it makes somewhat more sense to others.
Internet memes are very easy to describe to others, but the message might be confusing. However, when the term is analyzed, it makes much more sense. According to Dictionary.com, the Internet is “a vast computer network linking smaller computer networks worldwide (usually prec. by the). The Internet includes commercial, educational, governmental, and other networks, all of which use the same set of communications protocols.” Basically, the Internet is a world of knowledge, information, networking, and communication, accessible to anyone with a connection. Also according to Dictionary.com, a meme is “a cultural item that is transmitted by repetition in a manner analogous to the biological transmission of genes.” Again, implying that a meme in this case is involving the Internet, all that’s really necessary in that definition is a cultural item repeated and passed along to others. Now that the term is defined, most newcomers to this idea ask “Where? When? And most importantly, why?”
The background of Internet memes is one of much confusion. The first ever Internet meme to go viral can be traced back to 1999, when a video entitled “Bad Day” was released to the masses. The video featured a man in his cubical having troubles with his computer, to the point where he just shoves the monitor off his desk, destroying his computer. Whether the video was authentic or staged may never be known, but nonetheless it set in motion the influx of memes to be created later on. Hundreds of irrelevant items have been called by the title of “Internet memes” since “Bad Day” was released, whether they were needed or not.
Some more popular memes are “lolcats”, which are cute and hilarious images of cats put to captions with misspelled grammar, “Yo Dawg”, which is based around Xzibit, the host of the MTV show ‘Pimp My Ride’, that pokes fun at him and his team of mechanics putting unnecessary but yet insanely cool items into the redesigned cars, by telling Xzibit to place unusual items within the unusual item discussed (such as a dog within a dog), and starting off the phrase with the greeting “yo dawg”, and “Over 9,000”, a term taken from the anime series Dragonball Z, where power levels of different characters are taken. One enemy of the hero within the series finds the hero’s power level has passed 9,000, in which he screams in disgust “His power level is over 9,000!” Since then, mashup videos, remakes, and more have been made surrounding the famous line, and now online, “over 9,000’ is a term to describe an innumerable amount. Though these memes created out of loneliness, randomness, and sometimes just pure stupidity, many have been successful in gaining the attention of a mainstream audience, famous and powerful minds, and even profiting from their creations.
Though they have absolutely no point or target whatsoever, Internet memes usually gain much more publicity, profit, and viralness then something actually important. For example, the creators of “lolcats” recently published a book full of their captioned cats, entitled “I Can Haz Cheezburger?” The book has received much talk and even got itself a place on “The New York Times” Bestseller list. As well as that, many memes usually get publicity and featured within mainstream media. When the meme “Yo Dawg” gained hype, Xzibit responded by telling others to stop the meme. However, he later embraced his new promotion online, and even made his own “Yo Dawg” joke. (Shortly after Xzibit did so, the meme died off, proving that celebrities aren’t yet ready for memes, or that celebrities are just not funny.) An Internet community once got Oprah, via the forums on her website, to say “over 9,000” on her talk show, providing more laughs and exposure for the joke. Memes possess powers that no other part of the Internet may possess, but what those powers are remain to be seen.
In the world of Internet memes, the surface has only just been examined. There appears to be an invasion of memes attempting to become discovered and popular daily, most failing. However, with the ability to publicize, and profit from memes, it would seem a whole new genre of comedy has been created, and will become more profound in the coming years. So, learn to embrace the ‘lolcats’ and the ‘RickRolls’ and all other memes, for it seems that they are part of the future of the Internet as well. And oh, what a future that will be.
