Oprah, Bono, and the iPod

Celebrities Oprah Winfrey and Bono are promoting the new red-colored iPod to help the fight against AIDS in Africa. The music player and several other "red" items will go on sale in the upcoming weeks. Portions of the sales will be donated to The Global Fund. "Apple will contribute $10 from the sale of each new red-colored iPod nano." The Global Fund is expected to raise millions of dollars just with the selling of iPods. Last year, 14 million iPods were sold during the holiday quarter so the organization is expecting a similar result this year. Apple "also plans to donate some proceeds from a $25 iTunes Red gift card to the organization." The company's CEO Steve Jobs is delighted to see that something is being done for this cause.

China=Real Name for Blog

Would you use your real name for your blog? While mandating other Internet laws, China is pressing for this requirement in its blog industry. Blogging is very popular in China, along with the use of discussion forums and bulletin boards. The Xinhua news agency reported that "bloggers anonymously disseminate untrue information on the Internet" which has brought about a negative influence on society. If this rule comes into effect, users will have to register their blog under their real name, but they will also be able to write under a pseudonym.

Here are a few other interesting facts about China and its Internet laws:

1. China's search engines monitor content by keyword and remove offending Web sites. "When people request banned content through Chinese search engines like Baidu and Yisou, the filtering system disconnects them."

2. China uses most of the Internet services that extend from Western corporations. Interestingly, Yahoo! and Google agreed to alter their search engines to comply with China's filtering system.

3. The Chinese government blocks any Web sites that it feels is politically or socially harmful. If China residents want to find information related to Taiwanese and Tibetan independence or the Dalai Lama, they will find nothing.

Last but not least...

4. "Every Chinese person who signs up for Internet service must register with his or her local police department within 30 days." This is mad serious.

Want to be a painter?

Here is a cool website that takes interactivity to another level. You may think that it looks plain at first, but with a few clicks and jumps, you are on your way to creating your very own abstract painting. It is like you are the next Jackson Pollock. The flash design was created by Miltos Manetas.

Happy Birthday iPod

Apple's portable music player_the iPod_ celebrates its 5th birthday today. With the various functions and capabilities that it feeds to users, the iPod has "revolutionized the way people buy and listen to music." The benefits of the iPod are evident in the rise of Apple's stocks over the past five years. "Apple dominates retail sales of digital music players with more than 70 percent of the market," and iPod sales have increased the sales of Mac computers. The iPod has also been an enemy for other companies such as record stores and other music vendors. However, Apple still faces competition. Microsoft's Zune is expected to make its debut next month, and Sandisk has already featured products to battle the Nano iPod.

Stanford Study

I did a Google search to get additional information on why people use the Internet. The second hit I received was a study done by Stanford University that includes several reasons for Internet use.

They found that people use it for various reasons including email, a public library, entertainment, social networking, and business transactions.

The webpage is not as detailed as I think it should be. There is not even a link to the main page of the study.

No Myspace at School or at Home

Myspace...the popular venue for social networking is being banned in schools and at home. It is understandable why school administrators would block access to social networks at school, but the weird thing is why is Myspace being banned at home. No, it's not the parents who are banning this social network. It is the school! " Some private schools ban students from even HAVING an online profile, prohibiting the use of Myspace, Xanga, and LiveJournal -- even on their own computers at home," stated Bob Rankin, the editor of Internet Tourbus. This is in response to some of the activities that students have engaged with on social networks.

There was one case in which "a high school student was suspended for 10 days after posting a parody profile of his principal on Myspace." Several other cases have been recognized that include students harassing teachers, administratorsrs, or peers. Students feel that this restriction infringes their freedom of speech and expression, but private schools are being backed with legal support to limit this access. There are laws that stand that define libel, slander, and harassmentnt. Therefore, students (or anyone) who post degrading comments on social networks should not be surprised if school administrators come knocking at their door to notify them of suspension or expulsion.

As a wrap, if you use social networks, be aware of what you post.

Digital Divide

While doing research for a paper on the digital divide, I came across a report done by the Consumer Federation of America titled Does the Digital Divide Still Exist? The introduction of the report gives several reasons why the Bush Administration feels that the digital divide has been closed, but this just goes to show how out of the loop they are. There are several detailed charts that explain a lot of the issues.

Good source for the topic that we are reading about.

The New Microsoft

Say goodbye to Microsoft XP...the new Microsoft Vista is making its way through. Customers can try a pre-release verison of the program now.

Directly related to this announcement is an article by Charles Cooper of CNet news.com that tries to dig deep in the subject and find out if Microsoft is still relevant? The European Union's Neelie Kroes has warned the company not to design Vista in ways that would screw the competition with other software sales. Interesting article.

Political Video Blog

A British politician, David Cameron, starts a video blog to "embrace the political possibilities of the social web." His first blog features him washing dishes in his kitchen while trying to talk over his screaming children. During the recording, he forgot the name of his blog and he lost his train of thought a few times. However, Cameron insists that Webcameron, the name of his blog, will give viewers behind the scenes access of "what the conservative party is doing, what they are up to."