Should the Government Regulate Twitter?

In an article about "Twitter's refusal to work to deal with the Wikileaks problem," the author discusses who he believes is responsible for the so-called "problem."

The basic gist of the story is that the government believes that Twitter could be used as means for terrorists to communicate. YES, take over the world in 140 characters OR LESS! All comedy aside, both the government and the author believe that Twitter should be held responsible for who uses it and how it is used.

So first the government watches over us by wire-tapping, soon to come for the Internet are apparently email-tapping and maybe the Government/Twitter Internet police.

Later on, the author's rhetoric puts Twitter in the position where they need to make a decision, when they really should not be involved. The internet cannot be regulated, especially when there are documents that we have a right to see are at stake. The government and the author are looking for someone to blame, and since they cannot blame Wikileaks, they are trying to get at its distribution methods. Twitter is a company that has an innocent mission and simple infrastructure. It is up to the people to use it as they please.

What exactly can they tell Twitter to do that will solve this? In my opinion, nothing. If they shut down the Wikileaks account, what will stop others from posting direct links to the site, or even upload documents on their own?

The bottom line is the government should not have a say regarding any social networking sites on a macro-scale. It does not make sense to target a company to be responsible for its consumers actions. That's like going to a gun salesman and arresting him for the murder of someone in the town.

Baby Technology

A few weeks ago, I discussed apps that can aid in diagnosing sickness How about an app that can help you with your baby? As our nation's technology base continues to grow, new opportunities arise.

A mother downloaded an app called "White Noise" that helped her baby fall asleep. Is this the new version of a pacifier of a r\

Throughout the article, the mother reviews many baby technologies. They include monitoring, to a different life simulation for rockers such as car rides and rock a bye.

The bottom line is what is effective and what isn't If your planning on a phone app to solve your problems, save your time, money, and frustration. Invest in a dedicated device and do sufficient research on it before your purchase

Web 2.0 meets Social Fashion Networking

As the web becomes more social, new trends come with it. Recently both Google and Fashism.com embarked on their newest social trend, regarding shopping and Fashion.

Google recently launched "Boutiques.com" Celebreties, designers, bloggers, and other can have their own virtual "boutique" where they can show off their fashion choices to the world. The site hopes and encourages users to find someone whose fashion sense fits you. They help facilitate this process through what experts call, "visual search technology". The site has been praised for its specific automatic personalization criteria that fits your style.

Contender Fashism.com is similar contender that just received a second wind(a.k.a. Investor Ashton Kutcher). The site basically allows anyone to upload an image of an outfit, and ask for responses from others in the form Like/Dislike options. The site brings about 1 million views per month, probably due to the fact that viewers are not required to have a login.

Is it fair to call these two sites competitors? Boutiques vs Fashism, Google vs. Ashton, who wins?

Since Boutiques just came out, it's hard to say, but the level of personalization and offered by them beats what Fashism has to offer.

Goodbye GPS device market and others...Yours Truly, The Smartphone.

It is very clear how technology innovation can affect businesses and markets. Most evident today are how physical cds are becoming more and more obsolete. Now, we are noticing how smartphones are affecting the once booming GPS device market.

More and more, smartphones are coming stock with GPS capabilities that require a data plan. With the rise of smartphones and the ability they have, it is more logical to get a data plan for your phone to allow it to perform to its highest ability. GPS companies such as Garmin are working together with phone companies and car companies to keep the profits coming.

The article also discusses many other markets that are being cannibalized by the smartphone industry. Cameras and media players are also in danger because of the increase in quality of smartphone cameras and music quantity capabilities.

Is the GPS device market going to end tomorrow? Not likely. They are still many who own and prefer to use them. As our generation gets older and innovation increases, more of these devices will be condensed into what we call our smartphone, but it will not happen overnight.

Feeling sick? Consult your phone immedietely.

For $5, you can have a "Family Doctor", on your iPhone or iTouch that is. Apparently, the interface is very intuitive, but there is a bigger question at hand. Do you trust a phone app or leave the medical stuff to the doctors? I am torn on the subject for a few reasons.

The first complication is brought up by the author of this article. Regardless of what conditions you type in, the app will not say "Don't worry, you'll be fine." For legal reasons, they would have to say the worst thing that could happen for each condition.

Another is because of a personal experience. A few months ago I went to the dermatologist because I had a minor outbreak in my face that was worried about. When I saw the doctor, he looked at me for about 10 seconds then walked out of the room. He came back and gave me some medical term and said to "just look it up online" if I wanted to know more about it. I decided to not even use the prescription and I got better over time. Given the circumstance, I was under the impression that he looked it up online as well.

In conclusion, I believe that for any problems, save your money and try listening to sites like WebMD. If anything is chronic, consult your doctor.

The NEW Myspace, any chance at competing?

This week and continuing through the end of November, Myspace will make strides to revamp its original interface and setup into a new place for "social entertainment." Myspace president Mike Jones stated that most of its current users focused on using the site for social entertainment commentary, such as opinions on music, television, and movies. Myspace's new objective is to cater to this niche audience. He also made a point that he was not trying to compete with Facebook, but complement it.

His view on having Myspace complement Facebook is a decent theory, but unrealistic. Facebook already offers similar places for social entertainment commentary and also has the customer base to back it up. The chances that Facebook consumers will switch to Myspace for those reasons are not likely.

Another one of Myspace's problems lie with marketers. The advertising revenue for Myspace has plummeted from $470 million to about $300 million. On the contrary, Facebook has risen from about $700 million to $1.7 billion.

Will you use Myspace again/for the first time? Or is Facebook all you need?

Google Fiber: Super Internet coming to Stanford

In a few years, Stanford University will be home to "Google Fiber", an extremely fast broadband network. According to the Official Google Blog, the high-speed internet will reach download speeds up to "1 gigabit per second--more than 100 times fast than what most people have access to today." The catch for those affiliated with Stanford is that it will only be available to Stanford's Residential Subdivision, which is where the university staff and faculty live.

Google Fiber has been offering their services to towns that are interested in it and some towns went out of their way to make it known that they wanted the service. For example, a few years ago the Mayor of Topeka, Kansas, decided to change its name to Google for a month as a publicity stunt to get Google's attention regarding Google Fiber.

There is no question that this service will be superior to many other internet providers, the question is, will they supply to more regions when it comes out or keep it more localized?