Kindles really that great?

While hunting this year, I read my first book ever for pure enjoyment.  And to be honest, it didn't even kill me.  I've never been a huge reader.  My mind always wonders when I read, and to be honest and rather curl up on the couch and watch some SportsCenter than read a book.  However, hunting was really slow this year, and there were barely any deer.  So I went into my dad's room and grabbed the shortest book I could find.  I did try and read a non picture book being that I'm 20 now, even though the pictures do actract me a lot.  I landed on "Of Mice and Men", by John Steinbeck.  First of all I loved it.  It was an amazing book.  However, my blog is not about the book "Of Mice and Men", or how everyone should read.  My blog is about a new device called Kindle.  Here is a link talking about the important facts of Kindle.  http://www.squidoo.com/someAmazonKindleInfo

My parents love to read, which is wierd considering I don't.  My dad on the last Harry Potter book, made himself a big bowl of popcorn, and read the entire book in one sitting.  So yeah, it's safe to say they are avid readers.  I figured a Kindle would be the perfect Christmas present for the both of them from me.  I asked my mom if that would be a good present for Dad, (looking for her reaction seeing if she would like one too).  Her response was simple.  "It's a great idea Andy, but that just really isn't for us."  And thinking about it, that is exactly what Kindle is to me, is a great idea.  My mom said she read a book on Kindle before, and she couldn't even finish the chapter.  She said she got such a bad headache from reading it, and that for some reason she couldn't seem to get into the story because she wasn't reading a "book".  The following is a link discussing the downside of Kindles.  http://buycheapappleipad.org/is-reading-ibooks-on-ipad-iphone-ipod-touch-bad-for-the-eyes/

Like I said earlier, it might be a thing about older people and not liking new technology, but they like the feeling of reading from an actual book, rather than a computer type device.  I know I wouldn't enjoy starring at my laptop reading a book.  And that is basically what a Kindle is, is a laptop looking device that doens't have a keyboard.  There are definately some positives to Kindles, and it is a great idea, however I just don't think it's something for me.  The following are some positives about Kindles, and discussing if it will take over reading books.  http://doloresmonet.hubpages.com/hub/KindleVSRealBooksWillEBooksReplaceRealBooks

Skype-keeping the WORLD in touch

Skype continues to become more and more popular.  Skype has got it all.  If you haven't heard of skype yet, here is the url to sign up for it.  http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/welcomeback/.  To briefly describ what Skype is, is it's a slight version of Facebook, that you can video chat with other friends.  The great thing about Skype it literally only takes 2-3 minutes to set up.  It is very easy, which is a great positive for it.  In Skype, you can set up a profile, describing you, along with a profile picture.  Skype didn't use to have a picture gallery like Facebook, but however, two years ago Skype added a picture gallery to it.  So now you can share pictures of your life on your Skype.

So what is so great about Skype?  First of all, I will use the messenger on Skype way more than I will on Facebook.  Skype messaging is way faster and way easier than on Facebook.  But the main component of Skype is the video chatting.  I, along with a lot of my friends have Skype, so it is a great way to keep in touch with friends.  Facebook is really known for that, but on Skype, you get a face to face conversation with someone.  It actually seems like you are right there talking to the person the quality is so good.  Here is a link describing the video conversation quality.  http://about.skype.com/

Is there one factor that has suddenly made Skype bloom so much?  The answer is the war.  Imagine having one of your loved ones fighting in Iraq.  Letters and pictures just don't really cut it after awhile.  Hearing your loved ones voice and actually seeing them right in front of them has become the most popular tool used to communicate in the war.  It keeps families closer with their loved one fighting for our country.  Here is an article discussing how soldiers use Skype to stay close with their families.  http://www.mobiledia.com/news/117704.html

Black Friday really being "Black"

Black Friday.  A few things pop in my head when I hear those two words.  Excitement is probably the first thing that comes to my mind.  The excitement of finding great deals for myself gets me up at two in the morning.  Actually, this year we didn't even go to bed.  Just stayed up at shopped all night.  When I go shopping on black Friday I don't usually have a certain product in mind, I just like to find things I like for cheap.  Here is a site talking about why people go out on blakc Friday.  http://cjonline.com/news/2011-11-25/black-friday-time-shop-people-watch

The next thing I think about is people.  My God there is people everywhere.  We went to Target, and the line to get in was wrapped around the building.  I literally could see the Target sign while I was at the end of the line because it was so long.  I think we all have a hormone inside of us that makes us forget about all the people on out shopping on Black Friday.  Because this year did it for me.  I will not be going out next year because it was so unbelievably stressful and frustrating.  I say this now, but im sure I'll be getting up next year again to go shopping.  It is flat out dangerous.  People absolutely go nuts during black Friday.  There have even been deaths, where people are trampled to death.  This year, a lady used pepper spray to get to the front of a line. 
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/26/us-usa-retail-violence-idUSTRE7AO15H20111126

People, you really don't need to go out on black Friday.  I can't really back up my words right now since I went out, and didn't even have a reason to.  However, there is a thing called Cyber Monday.  Cyber Monday is an online shopping day the Monday after Thanksgiving.  It has great deals on it, not quite as good as black Friday, but there are plenty of great deals.  There are plenty of other reasons not to shop on Black Friday. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/11/25/national/a222013S93.DTL.  Here is a site listing many reasons why you don't need to go out on black Friday.

Life being a teenager is hard. Peer pressure, parents, sports and homework is difficult. And no one seems to understand. Finally a 15 year old teenager caught what many may endure at school on film. A is teacher bullying a student.

This happens more that you think. I have seen many occasions where a teacher seems to have it out for one particular student and there is nothing to do. Not anymore. With the internet and every media available to tell the world your story situations like this will not go unheard.

The internet age has provided everyone a way to show and prove there story to the world. Instead of just hearsay of a child or a concerned parent you have a full video or a teacher, someone who is supposed to be a mentor intimidating a child.

Digital Communication or communicating to people across the world or the country is important to show an unbiased side of every story if you can film it or document it you can show people everywhere what is happening to you. These stories are not an epidemic nor are they a wave of sexual assault across the country however it is happening to hundreds of young adults and now they have the ammo to back up there case and fix their problem. Teachers should be there to help you not to intimidate you or to assault you. Who knows how many times this happens to young adults in America. But hopefully it will reduce, since every individual know the internet is out there to record you’re every action. Who knows how many teachers, mentors or individuals have been bullying students to do what they want.


Life as a teenager is hard. There are so many things stressing you out and the last thing you need is a mentor to mess with the unstable balance you have with all of them. Finally now the young adult has something to be at bat in there corner, something more than “this teacher is picking on me” the internet, out for the young adult. The most technologically advanced generation finally has the will power to show the world what happens to them in their life.

Twitter and professional athletes

Twitter.  Everyone has heard about this social network called Twitter.  Twitter is an online social network, and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts, of 140 characters or less, much known as "tweets.  If you would like a better understanding of Twitter and tweets, click on this link.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter  One thing about Twitter is you can follow famous people.  You can follow your favorite athletes.  In fact, that's what my blog is about today, athletes and Twitter.

Pretty much every professional athlete has Twitter.  In fact, of the 32 teams in the NFL, there are 1,254 current athletes using Twitter.  If you would like to find out which NFL players have Twitter click on this link.  http://www.tweeting-athletes.com/  I have no problem with any professional athlete having Twitter.  In fact, that's what made Twitter so popular.  You get to see actual tweets from your favorite players.  It's exciting to see what they are up to, or what they are thinking about, or if they're coming to a town near you.  However, that's what Twitter for any professional athlete should be kept to.  When athletes start opening their mouth about their team, or the game that was just played is when they get into seroius trouble.

One football analysist stated "Athletes and Twitter go together about as good as oil and water."  A lot of them just like to see how far they can push critics and others with their tweets.  For example, Reggie Bush, former New Orleans Saints, heard a rumor about not getting resigned by his team when his contract was up and he tweeted "It's been fun New Orleans, but obviously I'm not wanted anymore."  Turns out the team had full intensions of resigning Bush, however after that tweet, they had no interest in him anymore.  Bush went on to make much less money and got signed by the Miami Dolphins, and is now on a team that hasn't even won a game yet.  This is just one example of how a simple Tweet can cause you a heep of trouble.  So athletes, we know you like to get a better audience, and maybe getting your voice out there is a way to do it.  However if you still want a job, and still want fans, lets think before we tweet.  Here is the countless list of things athletes have tweeted poorly about, which have caused consequences.  http://www.bareknucks.com/athletes-and-twitter-mix-like-oil-water-please-stop-tweeting.

World of Pandora

Pandora.  Oh how I have fallen in love with Pandora.  I honestly don't even know where to begin.  I'll start by explaining what Pandora is.  Pandora is a free radio station online.  The bad thing about radio stations is you only like maybe 1 out of the 4 songs that play.  Sure you can listen to a rock station if you like rock, country if for some insane reason you like country, or just today's hits.  Still, there are plenty of songs you don't know, or even flat out don't like.  Man don't you just hate it when that happens.

Oh wait, on Pandora you can type in a band that you like.  Don't worry it doesn't just play songs from that band like a cd.  It plays songs by that band, and songs that are similar to them.  For example, If I type in Dave Matthews, it plays Dave and bands like O.A.R, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Jack Johnson.  You can also type in more than one band on one station.  Maybe you want a radio station that is more chill music, than another time you want some good ol rock and roll.  You guessed it, you can have more than one station.  Also, you can shuffle through the difference stations, not by pressing it by hand, but just by hitting the shuffle button once, then chill out for hours and listen to non stop radio.http://www.pandora.com/corporate/

Even if you do come across a song that you don't like, instead like driving in the car you have to flip through all the radio stations to try and find another song you like, just hit the next button.  It's unreal how amazing pandora really is.  The only downside of Pandora that I have found is that you only get 4 "nexts" per hour.  I haven't even run into it much, I usually like all the music Pandora plays.  Here is the link to Pandora. http://www.pandora.com/

Pandora is a free radio.  Their slogan is "We have a single mission: to play only music you love."  You can suscribe to Pandora, but really the only change is you can next however many times you want, and you don't get a 10 second add after three songs.  Here is a site discussing the terms and agreements to subscribing.  http://blog.pandora.com/pandora/archives/2009/05/pandora-one-upg.html 

Now that you know about Pandora, the only question I have for you, is do you think Pandora will ever make it to an actual radio.  For example, do you think you can be driving down the road, listening to Pandora.

The media and professional sports

Let's face it, even though baseball is my favorite sport, I can see where people watching on television could find it a little boring.  I ofcourse have never had this problem.  I know the little things that happen on every pitch.  However, to someone who doesn't know the game so well could get bored during a three plus hour baseball game.  The Minnesota Twins do a great job of taking care of that problem.  The Twins had a very, well to put it nicely, a horrible year.  So they definately needed to do something to keep the fans interested.  http://www.jasonfpeck.com/2010/08/23/sports-and-social-media-why-should-fans-care/

During games, the Twins have several questions they ask the fans to respond to.  The two announcers for the Twins, Dick and Bert, really have a fun time with these.  They make it a competition between the two and they actually can go a long long time without getting a question wrong.  Another thing they do is polls.  During the game you can either go on the internet or use your phone to decide who should be the player of the game.  Another big promotion they do is "Sit in the booth for an inning.  During the game, and if your at the game you can use your cellphone to send in to the booth and if your lucky enough you get to sit with Dick and Bert for an inning.  The following link is information on Bert Blyleven in the booth.  http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/team/broadcasters.jsp?c_id=min

These are all great ways organizations use new media to get their fans more involved.  When the fans can actually see their question on tv, or get to sit up in the booth for an inning on tv, it makes them more involved with the team.  Fans can related to the team more when they have activities like this.  Owners know this, and try and get fans involved as much as possible.  http://bizofbaseball.com/