Email overload-This opinion piece titled “Four reasons why email overload is your own fault” explains how email can be seen to relieve loneliness, false productivity, vanity and paranoia. I think that anyone who uses a program where you automatically receive your email (Outlook, Mail, checking email on an iPhone or BlackBerry) can agree that this is correct. This constant update makes you feel busy, and while it feels overwhelming, people enjoy it because it feels like they have a purpose. I am guilty of this: I exchange personal emails during school and at work. You add it to your to do list like an obligation, when it’s fulfilling a personal obligation- your happiness and social interaction.
Picksie planning APP- Mashable’s Spark of Genius Series shares phone and computer applications that present “genius” ideas. “Picksie is a location-based discovery platform for iPhone and iPad that shows you what’s going on around you now,” and its genius idea is that it helps you makes plans you never thought about by introducing places and activities before you search for them. If our society isn’t lazy enough, give us an application that does the thinking for us, right?
Google+ Hits 20 million users- Add me on Google+! This social media is fast growing because with the ability to “+1″ anything on the internet, students and adults are making up the community rather than young, hipsters on MySpace. I look forward to seeing where it goes!
- If you are a co-Wordpress user and want to connect your blog to your Google + profile, find instructions here!
Skype CEO teases in-call ads- At a business conference, Skype CEO Tony Bates mentioned that he “wants to tease in-call advertising.” Currently, the average length of a Skype video call is 27 minutes, which I find incredible. In a world that cannot talk on the phone because we always have to text, tweet, communicate on Facebook and email each other-people will spend roughly half an hour sitting in front of their computer’s video screen talking to someone who they can see. This contradicts all of our current trends, but makes me happy because I contribute to this phenomenon. “Skype dates” are popular for college students, distance-friends and people abroad because they serve as virtual “hanging out” as if you’re talking at a friend’s house or coffee shop.
Of course, society now has to find a way to monetize this to deem it successful. Every other form of home entertainment or social interaction (television, eating out, Facebook) has ads, so Skype has to keep up. The article says:
Asked if that might involve ordering a pizza, for example, Bates responded: “Why not? Why not, because we have this intimate relationship, at the end of the call, I share an ad with you? Watch this space. We think this is going to be a very exciting area.”
Map of America as seen by a New Yorker- Sherman posted this the other day, and most of it is incredibly accurate. This United States map explains how other states are seen, with some funny misconceptions. My favorites:
- “One of the states that has Kansas City”
- The one hour drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles, California
- Ski resorts, Mormons
- Texas as “The south”
New TSA Software to nix body scan images- After all of the news and ethical debates between TSA body scans, new software has deemed it no longer unnecessary. The software “machine uses a generic image to pinpoint any potential threats hiding under a passenger’s clothes that require further screening. If no potential threats are automatically detected, an “OK” appears on the screen and the passenger is cleared.”
World’s largest cities- This site lists 2008 population and ranking statistics of the world’s largest cities. This link is by city population, but you can adjust the information to the metropolitan area of the city. Buenos Aires is No. 17 in the world for city and No. 12 for the urban area, and Chicago is No. 25 (city) and No. 22 (urban).
Hehe they forgot alaska and hawaii! Miss and love you babe, see you soon!
ReplyDelete-Irina