Lauren Busch

Butt dials are fairly common with some phones, and i know i personally get a few each week, and laugh it off. 911 operators, however, have to be a bit more cautious.  They have to wait on the line until it goes dead and then need to dial the number back.  Sometimes officers will be sent to the scene, which is not specific because it comes from a cell phone, not a land line. 

Police in Evanston, IL claimed that 20% of the emergency calls they received were butt dials.  They also reported that these calls are actually on the rise. 

I thought this was just an interesting article pertaining to a mistake of technology and our lives. 

This study questions the six degrees of separation theory.  Scientists at Facebook and the University of Milan found that the average number of “friends” that separates any two people in the world is 4.74. 

The study used 721 Million Facebook uses and a set of algorithms to figure out this distance.  It is amazing that a friend of your friend most likely knows a friend of the most distance Facebook users (in the SIberian tundra or Peruvian rain forest)’s friend. 

This is relavent to our class because it shows the extensive reach of Facebook and the new concept of “friends.”

Within the first 24 hours, over 6.5 million copies of this version of Call of Duty were sold in the US and UK. This resulted in over $400 million in revenue. 

According to Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, “Other than Call of Duty, there has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records three years in a row. Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise exceed worldwide theatrical box office for Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, two of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time.” 

This is truly amazing.  Video games are taking over the world.  It would be interesting to see the correlation between reading and playing video games.  It seems like more young people are playing video games in their free time than ever before.  This is relevant to our class because of the impact that technology is having on our economy and lives. 

Googlepedia the ultimate Google resource by Michael Miller

I found this article on Time Magazine’s website.  It contains interesting facts about how difficult it is for companies (and individuals) to stand out in social media.  ’only 7.5% of your fans ever see your status updates… 29% of your Twitter followers will see your messages.”  They propose five strategies to help from being lost in the cracks.  
1. start with the basics - the company should obviously have a website, but should also have Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+ to increase exposure. 
2. Establish a niche - Make sure you have a specific audience in mind when using online technologies
3. create valuable content- The information you post online should be focused on a single topic that is relevant to the business.  The article gives examples of what your status updates and blog posts should contain including: research, quotes, facts, stories, and ideas.  The author believes that product pitches do not work. 
4. Interact with your audience - You need to listen and interact with the people who are following you.
5. make yourself an expert - proactively market your brand.  Reach out to journalists and other people who can promote your company. 

I thought this was an interesting take on technology and how to stand out when there are millions of people on the web.  

No! Apparently it is not. 

Actor Ralph Fiennes voiced his opinion that social networking is ruining the English language.  Before using Twitter, the author of this article, Alex Knapp, believed that Fiennes was right.  However, after joining the world of Twitter, he was amazed by the amount of conversation that can occur despite the 140 character limit.  He finds #hashtags  to be surprisingly humorous.  This blog is definitely worth reading and pertains to the class because of the connection between language and the influence of technology. 

After watching the 60 minutes episode this week about Walter Isaacson’s experience with and book about Steve Jobs, I was intrigued to do a little more research.  A large part of the episode was dedicated to talking about what the iPad has done for people who have autism, and their families.  It has been seen to improve intention spans and social skills. People who were previously unable to communicate, can now use iPad applications to describe how they are feeling and explain what they want to eat by simply touching on a picture.  

The article an example of a ten year old boy who researchers believed had an extremely low IQ and vocabulary, but when tested on the iPad, they were shocked to find that he knew way more than they had even imagined.  That same boy had a passion for opera that no one knew about until the iPad. 

This statistic was amazing to me: 1 in 110 children born each year will be diagnosed with autism. 30% of autistic people are unable to speak.

This is relevant to our class because it shows how technology has made an incredible impact on an unlikely group. Without the iPad, many autistic people would still be without voices. 

I love organization, and these applications are an interesting way to use technology to keep you organized. 

Yes, you read that right… An unnamed man from NYC downloaded the “Find my Friends” application on her iPhone without her knowing.  This application allows you to track where your friends are via GPS.  He was suspicious about her activity and thought she might have been with another man.  He, in fact, was correct and tracked her about 50 blocks away from where she told him she was going. A CNET writer was quoted saying that this “new feature doesn’t bode well for the future of marriage.”

This is relevant to our class because it shows how technology influences our various relationships and every-day life. This is concerning for many reasons, especially because it makes us question our privacy.