They are Keeping a List and Cheking it Twice

Santa Claus knows who has been naughty or nice. I have it on good authority that he keeps a detailed list of all your activities both online and in real life. We have grown to expect that, but did you know that Companies like Target also have a list of your activities, purchasing history, along with likes and dislikes that is so detailed they can tell if you’re pregnant by the second trimester. Yikes!

According to Charles Duhigg of the New York Times –

For decades, Target has collected vast amounts of data on every person who regularly walks into one of its stores. Whenever possible, Target assigns each shopper a unique code — known internally as the Guest ID number — that keeps tabs on everything they buy. “If you use a credit card or a coupon, or fill out a survey, or mail in a refund, or call the customer help line, or open an e-mail we’ve sent you or visit our Web site, we’ll record it and link it to your Guest ID,” Pole said. “We want to know everything we can.”

Read on for more.

2012 World Press Photo Contest



Chieko Matsukawa shows her daughter's graduation certificate

 World Press Photo is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955 the organization is known for holding the world's largest annual press photography contest.
The contest creates a connection between the photographic professionals and the general public. Through the publicity the contest generates the inspirational role of photojournalism brought to an audience of hundreds of millions.
All the prize-winning photographs are assembled into an exhibition that travels to 45 countries over the course of a year, and published in a yearbook. Over two million people go to a hundred different venues to see the images, and the yearbook is published in seven languages and distributed worldwide.
The great thing about this type of photography is it can give us a window on the world we might not see otherwise.

What's Your News IQ?

In our class we spend a great deal of time discussing why journalism is important in a democracy. Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” In essence for a democracy to work to its greatest potential, it needs an informed public. The public has a right to know the issues of the day, but for a democracy to function properly the public not only has a right, but a duty to be as informed as possible.

Take the Quiz Provided by the Pew Research Center

Steve Jobs

In the wake of Steve Jobs Death, the most extraordinary quote I’d seen attributed to him is “we want to let go of this notion that for Apple to win Microsoft has to lose”. It’s an amazing philosophy that can be applied to so many aspects of conflict resolution. It was then that Apple took $150,000,000 from Microsoft to preload explorer on Apple computers. I believe it’s also when they dumped Motorola chips for Intels allowing Apple to run Microsoft software thereby saving Apple as a company. In this video one can get a rare glimpse of the competitive relationship between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.


I suppose by now you have seen Steve jobs commencement address at Stanford University. I hesitate to show it to most people thinking that they’ll drop out of college and do whatever they please. And of course when Steve Jobs lost his job at age 30 he had a couple of million dollars jingling around his pocket. I think it works in Jobs’ case because he’s an extraordinary person speaking to a group of extraordinary people.

Where's Waldo (Web 2.0 Edition)

Here is an interesting way to display data and information. It's a map that showcases the incumbents and upstarts in the network economy, gathered around various territories that represent the Web 2.0's Points of Control. According to the web2.0 summit blog it was designed to create at least an approximation of the web2.0 industry’s vibrant economy. The map was produced in conjunction with the Web 2.0 Summit, produced by Federated Media, O'Reilly Media and UBM TechWeb. The Web 2.0 Summit is moderated by Federated Media CEO John Battelle and O'Reilly CEO and founder Tim O'Reilly.

Tumblr tumbling up to the Top

According to a new Nielsen Report on Social Media Tumblr is an emerging player in social media, nearly tripling its audience from a year ago. In addition social networks and blogs continue to dominate Americans’ time online, now accounting for nearly a quarter of total time spent on the Internet. According to the report we are going mobile at an increasing rate. Nearly 40 percent of social media users access social media content from their mobile phone.

Achtung! Germany Doesn't Like You!

Now that I’ve got your attention what the German state of Schleswig-Holstein is actually saying is that Facebook’s “Like” button violates German privacy laws. I have always thought that by joining Facebook you were signing away any shred of privacy that had not been previously shredded in the vast machine that is today’s complex online world. Apparently they do things differently in Schleswig-Holstein.

Fun Facts to Know and Tell

Here are some social media facts. By the time you read these they will have changed. Its still a good starting point for a discussion on Social Media.