My Thoughts on the Future

I've been thinking about this for a while, so here it goes...

Do you remember the first time that you posted a photo of yourself online?

I can't remember just how old I was, but I'd guess I was probably about 14. The Internet was still brand new and AOL was charging by the minute.

Actually, after a little digging online, I found it. I believe that this is very possibly the first photo ever put on the Internet of me. It was over 10 years ago and I posted it myself.

Do you remember the first time you allowed your height to be published somewhere?

What about your last name?

The city where you live?

And your job title?

Your resume?

All of your friends names?

Photos of your family?

I can remember all of these moments in my life. They were all very deliberate choices; many of them directly tied to my age and stage of my life. I was careful not to reveal too much too quickly or at too young of an age.

I am completely aware that a potential employer, friend, or colleague can learn all about me at anytime. Heck, I do it myself when I want to learn about someone new.

This is a reasonable thing to think about, because once something is posted online, it doesn't go away.

What about nowadays though? Do we think before we post?

I've started to notice a trend...

More and more people are tracking their pregnancies online. There are photos of new moms' big bellies each month, growing larger by the frame.

Dads are posting photos of their newborns, still all red and just delivered at the hospital.

Parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents are posting photos of a child's first steps, first haircut, first, first, first...

Some parents even write restaurant reviews about their experiences eating out online.

With online papers, you can track a child's grades and accomplishments who live in another city. (This comes in handy for me with my brothers that live in Oklahoma.)

What happens in another 10 to 20 years when an adult persons entire life has been traced online, from conception to present?

How will this further impact us when we apply to school, for a job, or even when we ask someone on a date? What about children who are making friends, applying to high school, or looking for a first job?

Hmmm......................................

Presidential Candidates Set an Example Online

Over the past few months, I have been more and more impressed with all of the presidential candidates. They are doing some fabulous online campaigning!

They all seem to be using the newest Internet techniques including search engine marketing, blogging, and online social networking!

Here are just a few examples:

You can vote on Hillary Clinton's campaign song: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/action/spotlight/?sc=8

You can read Barack Obama's blog: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/group/ObamaHQ/

You can befriend all the candidates on Myspace: http://impact.myspace.com/

And you can watch them on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=2008+president

Way to go!

Memphis Most: Commercial Appeal Voting

Quick Note: Voting is on for the "Memphis Most." The Commercial Appeal has set up a site where you can vote on everything from the best martini in Memphis to the best barber.

Check it out here: http://most.commercialappeal.com/

While you're there, be sure to click here (https://commercialappeal.wufoo.com/forms/memphis-most-memphis-media/) to vote for the best Memphis blogger. I put in my vote this morning for Paul's Memphis blog (www.PaulRyburn.com/blog).

Okay, I give!

Who at Rose State has been reading my site lately? E-mail me at:

igive(@)angiedawn.net

Angie's Brothers Take State in Oklahoma Tennis

How fun-- my little brothers placed 1st and 2nd in Oklahoma for high school tennis this past week.

Congrats guys!

From NewsOK.com:

"Top individuals of the day: German exchange student Felix Brede of Durant beat Tulsa Kelley's Cale Hammond 6-4, 7-5 to win the No. 1 singles title. Kelley's Reider Hunt lost only one game in the tournament to handily win the No. 2 singles title. In No. 1 doubles, Ardmore's Timmy Argo and Luke Jordan beat Shawnee's Nick Copeland and Eric Haley. Chris Copeland and Jeff Seebeck won for Shawnee in No. 2 doubles to help the Wolves take second place in the team standings.

Quotable: "Our first match started off slow, but after that we did great. The finals was the best match we'd played all season. We jumped up 3-0 on them in the first set, and it just rolled on from there.” — Chris Copeland, Shawnee No. 2 doubles player, on teaming with Jeff Seebeck to beat Ada's Chase Sheffield and Colton Calaway.

Noteworthy: The only game Hunt lost came in the first set of his championship match against Deer Creek's Michael Calloway. ... In the semifinals, Copeland and Haley, beat Ada."

Happy Barbecue Fest!

Free Shipping at Macys.com on Beauty and Fragrances

Okay, this post is as much for me as it is for you. You can take it or leave it. :~)

I order all of my makeup on Macys.com, because I don't have to search through the store for each color of makeup. I don't have to remember what colors I want to replace either.

I can just open up my make up drawer, pull out the empty containers and bring them over to the computer with me. After a few minutes, I'm set with all different brands of products. They just show up in the mail a few days later.

Often times, Macy's even throws in a free gift! Today and through the end of this week, they've got free shipping on their beauty products and fragrances. As you can imagine, I'm going to get some!

To get free shipping from Macy's on your beauty products, click here:

Google Analytics Has a New Version

...more to come...

Clean Commuting Gets Creative

Molly Lavik (my MBA-school professor) and Jeff Rozic have come up with an exciting idea and they need your help!

They've created a new web site, StartUpTime.com, where you'll find an animated story about the "Commuter Pod." The Commuted Pod is a creative concept by Mentorography. It's the environmentally friendly car of the future and I hear that they're looking to actually manufacture it here in the US!

The way that you can help them is to submit your ideas for the next Commuter Pod webisode video. So, go to StartUpTime.com and check it out!

Online Advertising: Good or Bad?

What do you think? Is online marketing and advertising becoming an invasion of your privacy?

A new commentary piece on Wired discusses the level of information that's being collected. The author, Jennifer Granick, cites examples that argue that although the "Internet" may not know your name or social security number, marketers have enough information to identify you.

"Chester found plenty to worry about. He pointed to ad companies' own marketing materials as evidence of the depth and breadth of the information collected. Websites today track clicks, browsing and user attention span, and amass information like wish lists, preferences and purchases. Advertising brokers create a detailed profile of site visitors and use it to serve ads targeted to appeal to an individual's particular tastes."

"...anonymous or pseudonymous profiles can be readily connected to real world identity. While advertisers may not collect PII, they do collect IP addresses, which can be traced to an individual most of the time. Also, Carnegie Mellon professor Latanya Sweeney has demonstrated that one can identify 87 percent of the U.S. population from ZIP code, birth date and gender alone. Privacy protections based on absence of PII isn't very robust."

So, does it bother you that somewhere, some computer and internet marketer know all about you? They know what you browse and what you buy. What you listen to, what you watch, and what you read.

As you probably already know from reading my blog, I'm fairly comfortable revealing my offline identity online. When I was younger, I protected myself more for safety reasons, but now I'm pretty well out there. More than just online marketers, my blog readers have a sense of what I'm reading and buying.

I think of online tracking a lot like those keychain things you have at the grocery store. Have you ever signed up for one of these things at an Albertson's? The checker scans your keychain when you're buying groceries. From the customer perspective, it allows you to get a discount on your food. From the store, that keychain provides invaluable information about their customers, including you. It helps them to know what you're buying, when, and where. They can more accurately keep their shelves stocked for the day that you're looking for west key lime juice from Nellie & Joe's.

I look at this as a convienence. I want the store to provide the food that I want to buy. And, online, I want advertisements to be targeted toward what I want. I want e-mails to be customized to ME! I look at data mining that's used in advertising to help me to get what I'm looking for in front of me that much faster.

I will say however, that I do think there is clear and definite value to be considered when it comes to protecting that sensitive data. Why? Because I don't invite strangers into my home to learn about me. And, I want to be able to trust the web to use my information in a way that will help, not hurt, me.

What do you think?

It's Like Netflix, Only More Stylish: Bag, Borrow, or Steal

I recently discovered a new idea that you may find amusing. Think of the way Netflix works. You go online and find the movie that you want. A few days later, the movie arrives in your mailbox. After you watch the movie, you drop it back in the mail and a new movie arrives a few days later.

Anyway, there's a site you should check out called "Bag, Borrow, or Steal" if you have a fancy event coming up and you'd like to save a little money.

Bag Borrow and Steal allows their customers to borrow high end items like expensive handbags and jewelry, for a small rental fee. The item shows up in your mailbox, like Netflix, and you return it when you're done.

What an idea!

Anyway, check out some of the cool items that they have here--

Don't Forget Mother's Day

Quick Thought on Memorization in the Age of Technology

I may be showing my age more than normal, but here goes nothing...

I was thinking today-- Remember when you were a kid and it was vitally important to your social life that you memorize each and every phone number of all of your friends and family? If you forgot one or two, you could be completely cut out of your middle school social circle.

You had to be able to act fast when returning calls from call waiting-- or when conferencing a 3rd friend into a call.

Nowadays, kids (and me too) barely know their home phone number, much less the phone numbers of their friends and family. They've got all the numbers safely stored away in their cell phones, on Facebook, and in their address books on Outlook.

The most important thing to look for when buying a new cell phone is whether or not the new phone can accept a memory card from the old one. Gawd forbid that we actually have to type in a phone number more than once, if ever.

I've found often times that if someone wants me to have their phone number, they'll call me and I will just save the number under their name. So, it's possible I may never type in a phone number!

What I do memorize however is WEB SITES. Since I consistently work on 3 different computers (not to mention friends or co-workers computers), I can't count on always having my bookmarks. Besides, those or the history in my web browser could easily become erased and leave me completely cut off from my existing social circle.

I mean, what would life be like if I couldn't read what restaurant Paul has tried lately? And how's Shelain doing these days with her photography business?

One way I help this situation is by putting links along the right hand side bar of my site. But with all the sites that I stay on top of, I just can't help but memorize them with the same passion that I was memorizing phone numbers with just 20 years ago!

...Just my thoughts...

Help Save Internet Radio - A Response from Senator Bob Corker

This is a follow up from my previous post. Senator Bob Corker and his team have responded to me regarding Internet radio. His response is below:

Thank you for contacting my office to share your concerns about the increase of music royalty rates. Your input is important to me, and I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts.

As you may know, all decisions regarding music royalty rates are determined by three judges appointed to the Copyright Royalty Board. On March 2, 2007, the board set new rates for webcasting between 2006-2010. In response, internet radio operators requested a rehearing and postponement of the May 15th deadline by which they would be expected to pay the new rates. The rehearing request was rejected by the Copyright Royalty Board who stated that new evidence had not been presented to support reconsideration of the ruling.

Like you, I agree that the implications of this ruling need to be considered, and I assure you that I will continue to monitor the situation. Should relative legislation come before the United States Senate, I will certainly take into consideration your concerns.

Thank you again for your letter. I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me over the next six years.

Sincerely,

Bob Corker
United States Senator

Initials/kr

New Site to Check Out: Jott.com - Mobile Note Taking

Alright, so I finally got off the computer for a little while tonight to go and have a drink at Swig.

While there I learned about a huge web site that you have to check out! It's called Jott.com.

It's free and it allows you to call a 1-800-# and leave messages for yourself. Those messages are then turned into an e-mail that is sent to you.

That way, when you're away from home and you think of something that you'd just love to write down, but can't, you can just call Jott. The messages will all be waiting when you get back home.

I haven't tried it yet, but I just know that I'll like it. I'll try to let you know how it turns out!

(I must say that it's amazing the sites that are floating around out there besides Google...! hehe.)

Travel Buddy-- Looks Like I Need to Travel a Little More!!

MSNBC: Gender pay gap begins 1 year after college

Interesting article on MSNBC.com today... What can I say? Learn to negotiate! :~)

NEW YORK - Women make only 80 percent of the salaries their male peers do one year after college; after 10 years in the work force, the gap between their pay widens further, according to a study released Monday.

The study, by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, found that 10 years after college, women earn only 69 percent of what men earn.
...
The organization found that women’s scholastic performance was not reflected in their compensation. Women have slightly higher grade point averages than men in every major, including science and math. But women who attend highly selective colleges earn the same as men who attend minimally selective colleges, according to the study.
...

Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!

Wikipedia defines Earth Day as "... a name used by two different observances held annually in the (northern) spring, both intended to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth's environment. The United Nations celebrates Earth Day each year on the vernal (March) equinox; while a global observance in many countries is held each year on April 22."

I love Google's Earth Day logo today:

Help Save Internet Radio!

I don't typically post many call to actions here in my blog, but there's something today that I would like for you to consider:

As you may have heard, recent US legislation has tripled the royalty fees that are placed on Internet radio. This legislation threatens to force out sites that offer streaming radio for free.

Included would be sites like http://www.pandora.com/ (LOVE Pandora) and http://www.allmemphismusic.com/ (I work on this one).

If you love Internet radio as much as I do, you NEED to sign the Saving Internet Radio petition. It will send a custom letter from you to your representative expressing your concern.

Without heading down too much of a rant, when radio first started, it was very entrepreneurial... since, it's become corporate. The Internet is very much the same; humble beginnings resembled the wild west. Since then, more rules and regulations (admittedly, some are necessary) make the Internet a more controlled and corporate place to surf. It's important that something as basic as streaming music is preserved in a way that's affordable for everyone, not just a select few.

I filled the letter out and messages were sent on my behalf to Senator Lamar Alexander, Senator Bob Corker, and Representative Steve Cohen, all from Tennessee.

Thanks to Towform for bringing this site to my attention!

Happy Listening!

Don't Forget Cone Day: Ben & Jerry's

Don't forget to stop by your local Ben & Jerry's tomorrow for their annual Cone Day, where you can get a free Ben & Jerry's ice cream cone!



If you're in Memphis, you have 3 choices for locations:

SHOP ADDRESS DISTANCE 1 Ben & Jerry's Beale Street 175 Peabody Place Memphis, TN 38103 0.6 mi (0.9 Km) 2 Ben & Jerry's East Memphis 5007 Black Road Space #110 Memphis, TN 38117 9.2 mi (14.8 Km) 3 Ben & Jerry's Germantown The Village Shops of Forest Hill 9155 Poplar Ave., Suite 14 Germantown, TN 38138 17.6 mi (28.3 Km)