Reflection

I have mixed feelings about this class. It was way different than other classes I have experienced. I think the hardest thing for me was only meeting one night a week. It was very difficult for me to sometimes stay on top of things when we only met once a week (IF THAT) so that was frustrating for me personally. I also didn’t really know what to expect when taking this class and even now that its coming to an end I’m still a little unsure. I will hopefully never have to tweet again. The only reason I had an account was for this class and I just personally find it very useless. I am sure that will change as time goes on and well see if I will need it in my future job path, and if I do, I at least am familiar with it now. The only assignments done in class that I feel would benefit me in my future line of work would be the facebook fan page. I actually am apart of HDSA, who I did my page for and I really would hope to have it lead to future employment. I kind of wish we would have created a website. I remember us making some sort of online web thing, but now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t remember ever turning it in or what we did with it after that. My favorite assignment again would be the facebook fanpage because it was something close to home for me and I was able to do something that I was passionate about and actually USE it in the real world. Like the majority of classmates, I really enjoyed Kelly Ambrose’s blog. I feel we agreed on almost everything and it was entertaining, she really added personality into it.

Below are some links to my pages
o Blog:
o Facebook:
o PSA: Unavailable
o Youtube:

A New Crime For Xbox Live: Witness Tampering

Kotaku
When I saw this headline, I immediately wanted to check it out because it freaked me out. Apparently sexual predators would use Xbox Live as a means to stalk their prey and threaten the rare school shooting threat made over the Xbox 360 online network. Sadly this doesnt surprise me one bit. How sick can people get? Not only that but I guess now they are tampering with a witnesses.

According to a report from the New Haven Register, Anthony Hayward of Hamden, Connecticut was arrested on charges of "tampering with a witness, intimidating a witness and two counts of second-degree harassment," all based on messages sent via Xbox Live. Those messages include "I wouldn't laugh 2 much U a dead man walking" and "Rats die slow."

The above was taken from the Kotaku article which were acutal threats made to a material witness in a case against Hayward. According to the report, Hayward turned himself into the police but has not posted bail yet on his latest gun and drug possession charges.

This kind of stuff just really upsets me and makes me feel a little weary on what I do online, or anything for that matter.

Comet Branding

Tonight we had the pleasant joy and presence of Sarah Meaney from Comet Branding. Comet Branding is a company that writes blogs and other social media type things for other companies. It isn’t your normal company though, its very small consisting I believe of only 5 employees! Here is a little bit more information of what they do. Her overall presentation was informing us of better ways to write for social media and what the facts are and ways to fix it. Many people who read online compared to print media arnt as focused and tend to do more skimming than anything, I think its safe to say we can all relate to that. Starting at a computer screen is much harder then a newspaper. Here is where less is truly better. People are more likely to stay focused with less text and bigger texts and things that are eye catching and keep things simple! People don’t want to try and guess or figure out what they are reading; it should be fast and easy. I found her static to be very interesting about that only 1/5 of content is read by online articles.

I found her presentation very interesting and helpful and she put things in a whole different perspective from a different standpoint. Lets face it, things are turning more and more to online and social media and we need to learn to deal with it and find ways that can work to our advantage. Another helpful tip I found was that its so important to highlight key points to keep readers on the page. Its harder to keep readers engaged in online reading especially when you have to compete with all the ads and other distractions all on the same page, that and we tend to “scan” more then actually “read”.

I strongly suggest checking out her page if you haven’t already, its actually really informational and very neat and a great example of a simple yet complex website to keep your attention.

New Super Mario Galaxy 2 Trailer Introduces Rock Mario

Kotaku Article

Game Trailor

I think its safe to say that I am a die hard mario fan so every time I see or hear something about Mario I am automatically drawn to it. This particular article/video introduces a new flavor mushroom in Super Mario Galaxy 2! One of the many new power ups shown in the video is the delectable rock 'shroom which gives Mario the ability to turn himself into a boulder and bowl over Bowser's minions.

The familiar Super Mario Bros. staples such as Fire Flowers and Starman join the super powers along with the following
abilities to become:
Bee Mario
Ghost Mario
and Yoshi (who I happened to name my dog after), can now chow down on bulb berries and light platforms previously unseen.

my favorite is probably the Ghost Mario becuase I seriously hate those SOBs in game play. They are are HORRID and really bug me the most out of everything haha. This game hits the Wii in North America on May 23rd.

Nestle

Either I am really oblivious to what has been going on, or this isn’t really that big of a deal. Recently Nestle purchased a small amount of their oil used in their KitKats from a vendor that was harvesting unethically. According to Greenpeace, the methods used was reducing the rainforest and activists from all over are speaking their mind about it. A youtube video was made. And I found it extremely uncalled for disturbing. Social media got out of control and nestles fans reached out to 95000 + fans, many protestors though. Nestle probably would have been fine except for the fact that they lashed back at the fans in a sarcastic rude manor. If I were Nestle I would probably delete the page all together. The damage is done and this could go on forever, everyone will always have their own opinions and will fight. Its only 1.25% of the palm oil that is used and KitKats have been around for a while. I am a little unclear as far as how long this have been going on but I think the whole thing is a little ridiculous I really do.

I think that this was a very unprofessional use of facebook. I really don’t think this is a big deal, call me a tree killer or whatever but I really think this was over the top. I’m not a rainforest killer but I’m not a Greenpeace activist either. I feel Greenpeace was in the wrong, especially in the youtube video. I was extremely disturbed. I don’t think it was right either to have the killer logo being put all over nestles page either. I strongly believe that Nestle has the right to protect their page and respect. I do feel Greenpeace has a right to freedom of speech as well but it was done improperly and could have been handled much more professional. Social media I fear wont be able to be taken seriously anymore at one point…

Below are links to the articles and youtube video:

o All Facebook
o WSJ
o Bnet
o cnet
o Facebook
o You tube Video

What Happens in Vegas, Stays on Facebook

I want to first start off by saying I extremely loved the “What Happens in Vegas stays on Facebook” presentation given this past Tuesday. I had a much better experience and felt I took a lot more out of this then the BMA. Both Katie and Emily were so passionate about their topics and had so much fun energy that kept you intrigued the entire time. I felt it was extremely worth my time and then some.

Katie’s Presentation: Facebook
Most Valuable Information taken: I use facebook quite often already so a lot of it was stuff I already knew but there were some stuff in there that was I shocked by and found extremely valuable. For example the “lists”. I found that to be the most significance, she explained that it’s a way for you to divide and sort through your friends. For example, if you have co-workers, family or friends that you want only certain people to have access to certain information on your page you can do that and set your privacy within each individual list. A good example is for people who add you just for the sake to stalk you because you dated their boyfriend or they heard out you were pregnant etc. I think we have all seen and experienced this and know what I am talking about. Regardless to me I thought that was extremely valuable. Emily even quoted, “Facebook is all about stalking, lets face it”
How it may affect students and professionals: she gave very helpful tips as far as things to watch out for when it comes to professionals. For example, joining useless groups such as, “I don’t get drunk I get awesome”, having embarrassing wall posts. Another good tip she made was to do the test. Ask yourself, would my boss and grandma be ok with this? If you can honestly answer yes to both you are probably fine. Facebook can affect students drastically if they have inappropriate photos or remarks that would later keep them from getting a job. I know someone who got expelled from school for bad posts online about a teacher. So its very important that both parties be always aware because once its on the internet, its on there for ever.

Emily’s Presentation: LinkedIn
Most Valuable Information taken: the most valuable information I got from Emily on Linkedin, is how important is to keep linkedin strickly professional and not to cross it with facebook. You should not be leaving Network updates (similar to facebook status) like going to bed, heading to the dells or whatever it may be. Speak of certain work projects you are working on or proud of or seeking help with, keep it professional. Another very important tip that I learned and did not know was about your name and headline. That is the first thing people see and they give you a good amount of characters so you should make it stand out to impress!
How it may affect students and professionals: How it affects students and professionals are the same as it would be on facebook. If you are inappropriately using Linkedin it could keep you from getting a job if there are things on there very unprofessional. It’s a great way to meet new people and make connections. But on both parties, students and professionals if you want to be connected with someone, be sure to send a nice greeting along with it. Don’t randomly be connected. It could be as simple as “hey my friend so so knows you and said we have a lot in common or to talk about etc etc”

Again I was impressed with both speakers and had a great time there and felt really accomplished and well informed on both issues and actually took all there tips straight to my own pages.

Links
Follow Katie on Twitter
Follow Emily on Twitter
MKE Live
WiredWI

How The PlayStation Move Is NOT A Wii Remote

A Wii Remote Wanna Be?
I chose this article because this is a hot new item soon to be out on the market and I don’t know much about it. I am a wii fan myself, so I was curious to learn more about this new PlayStation Move and how it differs from the wii remote. As most of you know the PlayStation Move is a remote-like motion-sensitive controller with a sphere at the end. The sub-controller is an off-hand controller being offered for some Move games. The Move controller connects to the PS3 with the help of a PlayStation Eye camera, which detects the Move's colored sphere, while tilt sensors in the move transmit their position data to the PS3. So I can see how most people could interpret it as just another wii remote and nunchuk.
The Move is out this fall, price and launch games to be announced.

Here are some fun interesting differences and you can always check out the site for further details.
-Fewer buttons: The Move controller is actually even more streamlined than the Wii Remote. Nintendo's Remote still offers/confuses a new player with a d-pad, plus, A, minus, 1 and 2 buttons as well as a home button and B trigger. The Move has its own home button and underbelly trigger, but just five other points of button input. That makes the controller actually feel a little naked and therefore likely even less daunting to a new player — unless they need their controllers to look like TV remotes.
-No wasted batteries: The Wii remote sucks up AA battery juice. The Move and its companion sub-controller are rechargeable via the same mini-USB connection used to charge the PS3's main controller.
-A smarter controller: Wii games that were controlled with Remote and Nunchuk could be befuddled if the player pointed the Remote away from the screen. But between the combination of camera sensors — the Sony Eyetoy on top of the TV detects the presence of the Move — and a gyroscope prevents games and sensors from getting confused.
-No wire!: The Wii Remote and Nunchuk are tethered by a short cable. The PS3 Move and its subcontroller are not.
-No off-hand gyro: The Wii Nunchuk has a sensor that detects motion, more crudely than does the Remote.
-The colored ball: The colorful sphere at the pointing end of the Move is the thing that the PlayStation Eye uses to detect the presence of the Move and the color changes passed on the software detected and background!
-The Z: Without a Wii MotionPlus, the Wii Remote cannot accurately sense depth. The PS3, however, can detect such movement in the Z-plane. It does this thanks to the sphere at the end of the controller. If the player moves the Move toward themselves, the PlayStation Eye camera sees the sphere shrink and therefore knows the controller has been moved in the Z-plane. Clever.
I’m actually really excited and looking forward to checking this bad boy out for myself!