Cool Rap Video Wins Students a New Roof

This is a great story.

Social media can be cool when it's usd for a good cause.

Students at Greenfield Hebrew Academy (GHA) in Atlanta created a rap video for Microsoft Bing’s "Our School Needs" competition.

School officials entered the contest which asked teachers and students to think about what their school needs the most, and how it would benefit from winning a grand prize of $100,000.

Set to popular rapper B.O.B.'s hit "Airplanes," students sang, rapped and danced their way through the halls of their school describing their school's need for a new roof. One student rapped, "We could use the help for getting a new roof. Everytime it rains, the leaks are the proof."

GHA won the top prize out of five big winners. Schools in California, Colorado, New York and Louisiana won prizes ranging from $25,000 to $50,000.


Students decided to pay forward their big win to schools who did not win cash. They collected books for a school in Salt Lake City and instruments for a school in New Orleans.

This is just another way social media can be used. “The video entry really took on a life of its own. This contest shows how the power of social media is alive and well,” added Jennifer Slutsky, a GHA parent whose husband headed the long-range building and grounds committee that identified the need for a new roof.

Check the rest of the story out here.

How Clean Is Your Online Life?

 

Admit it. Some of you have been a little sloppy online, especially at the beginning when you didn't really know what social networking was all about. If you didn't post that drunken, half-naked picture of yourself on your wall, your friend sure did. And, in this ever-growing and ever-changing community of social networking, reputations that you form in the digital world are invading more and more on your professional life.

Online services like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, or blogs enable you to post an array of personal information. This information, then, becomes potentially available to anyone, including employers.

Now, you might ask yourself, "Why would an employer be interested in hiring me, look at my Twitter or Facebook page?"

Well, there are two main reasons.

1. Many employers may use these social networks to search for individuals with a certain level of education,  work experience, personal interests, and/or anything else that might be a asset to their company.

 2. Background checking. What better way to find out who you really are than to check out one of your many facebook albums?

Face it, employers want to find out all they can about who's working for their company. Fortunately and unfortunately, some of what you put out into cyberspace is publicly available. It's legal for your potential employer or current employer to take a peek, because on the Internet, you have a lower "expectation of privacy."

So, it's not an invasion of privacy for an employer to view pictures of your wild and crazy weekend on your Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or personal blog. It's not illegal for them to check your statues.

So, what's a good way to find out whether or not you have a blemish on your online life?

Take a look at what I saw on the news this morning.

Socioclean. They say that their mission is to simplify the problem for end-users by allowing them to scan and clean their online profile for various social networks. Socioclean is the first comprehensive solution for managing and monitoring your online social network profile.

Check it out!

Sexting. Dangerous Communication

What is sexting? Well, according to Wikipedia, sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photographs, primarily between mobile phones. The term was first popularized around 2005, and is a portmanteau of sex and texting, where the latter is meant in the wide sense of sending a text possibly with images.

Rihanna has done it. Brett Favre has done. Tiger Woods and Jesse James have also done it. But what are the consequences of sexting?

 

On Twitter, a fan sent pop diva, Rihanna, a tweet that linked to one of her semi-nude pictures and asked, "what is this?" Rihanna simply replied, "That would be... ME when I was skinny!"

Sandra Bullock's husband, Jesse James, made the mistake of a lifetime when he started having an affair with tattooed-covered photo model, Michelle “Bombshell” McGee. The two ink lovers started "hooking up" after James contacted her to be a model for West Coast Choppers. Later, McGee sold the transcripts of the sexts to In Touch to prove to the world that she was having an affair with James.

One of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, Brett Favre, even fell prey to the power of sexting. He sent texts and pictures of his...cough...ahem...private parts to Jets sideline reporter, Jenn Sterger.
 

And who can forget Tiger Woods? Joslyn James, one of his dozens of mistresses, posted all of Woods’ sexts on her website
textingjoslynjames.com. The text messages reference choking, golden showers, and refer to James as 'my f--king wh--e'. (The domain name textingjoslynjames.com., is up for sale on Ebay).

But this dangerous new way of communicating isn't just popular among adults. Teenagers are doing it, too. In fact, sexting is very common among teens. Roughly 20-30 percent of teens admit to participating in "sexting," according to a nationwide survey by AP-MTV Poll and the National Campaign to Support Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. 

There is even a sexting lingo. The number 8 is the lingo for oral sex. GNOC means Get Naked On Cam (webcam). DUM means Do You Masturbate, IWSN means I Want Sex Now and KPC means Keeping Parents Clueless.
This may seem like fun and games, but as we have seen, the results of sexting, in the wrong hands, can be devastating. With adults, it can lead to embarrassment and divorce, but with teenagers, sexting can lead to suicide
and child pornography charges.


With all of this being known, one has to ask, why are people still sexting?

So You Wanna Be A Blogger

What is blogging, anyway?

Well, blogs -- or "Web logs" -- are basically online diaries with articles, writings, photos, Web links or other entries made by the blogs' creators.

Typically, blog entries are listed in reverse chronological order where the most recent entry is on top and older entries can be found by scrolling down the Web page. Most blogs allow readers to leave comments or links to topics and other Web sites relevant to the entry or the blog's overall  focus. This interactiveness allows bloggers to refer to each other's blogs, creating  what's called a "blogosphere" -- groups of blogs centered around specific topics or interests.

Okay, so now that I've gotten that outta the way. Let's talk about some dos and don'ts when it comes to blogging.

• DO make sure that your blog is pleasing to the eye. Having a good balance of copy and graphics or videos on your blog makes your blog more exciting. Yes, much like children, grown-ups like pictures too!
• Do actually, uh, BLOG! Dont'cha hate when someone tells you that they have a blog, and they want you to follow, and you do, just to realize that they blog ONCE EVERY SIX MONTHS!
• DO write with personality. I like to hear the blogger's voice. I like that my favorite bloggers are down-to-earth and conversational.  
• DO host your blog on your own personal URL. For example, when hosting on a blog platform, it would be www.wordpress.com/blog/yournamehere. You can have a more powerful blog presence and more branding power when using a personalized URL such as www.yournamehere.com. Be creative!
• DON'T be controversial to try and get attention or become a star. Unless you're a gossip blogger, no one wants to come to a blog where people are being trashed all of the time.
• DON'T be overly sensitive or take negative comments or posts personal. Focus on what your original goal was for blogging and don't let what people think about or comment on in a negative way change your focus.
• DON'T continually post back and forth in regard to a negative post or complaint. This can push your blog higher in search engine rankings, but the complaint or negative post would take the stage.

Hope these tips help. Happy blogging.

When Technology Goes Wrong. The Justin Beiber Edition

Beiber Fever is REAL!

We all know that you better not say anything bad about The Beeb. You better not be caught hanging out with The Beeb, and Jazz artist, Esperanza Spalding, found out Sunday at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards, that you better not win the Best New Artist award over The Beeb, either!

After the awards Sunday, editors added a line to Spalding's page noting her win. For the next thirteen minutes, all heck broke out on her page between Bieber fans and Bieber anti-fans. “BIBER 4 LYFE!” 

“BIBER 4 LYFE!” fans wrote “HaHa Justin Bieber, you’re just a little boy with no Grammy for Best New Artist.” While Beiber fans wrote "SHE IS F****** REATARD" on her page.

The bickering went back and forth until finally Wikipedia locked down the page from anonymous editors.

By Monday morning (Feb. 14), Spalding's Wikipedia page had been stripped of any factual errors and insults.

Wanna read more about? Click here.

I know Justin Beiber fans are hardcore, but what do you think of this? Is it a good idea for Wikipedia to be an open source software where anyone can go in and write anything?

New Media. Are We Addicted

I'm Addicted To Gossip Sites

JM: What are your favorite sites?

Alyson: E Online and TMZ.

JM: How do you know that you're addicted?

Alyson: Because I have to go to them every day. (Laughs) I have the apps on my phone. E Online updates every few hours.

JM: And how often do you check?

Alyson: Three times a day. If I'm at work, I leave the app open and just refresh it.

JM: How often do you check TMZ?

Alyson: Just once a day.

JM: What do you like about the gossip sites?

Alyson: (Laughing hard) The Kardashians! 

JM: Me too! Me too!

Alyson: I have to know who Kim is dating. And if I don't know the person, I have to Google them.  Oh, now that I say it out loud, it sounds crazy.

JM: So do you watch the show, too?

Alyson: Yes! I watch Kourtney and Kim Take New York!

JM: Me too! Me too!

Alyson: I just like to see what they're wearing. Do you watch Fashion Police?

JM: I do.

Alyson: I Like Julianna Rancic and Kelly Osborne. (Pause) I'm so addicted!

JM: So, what other gossip apps do you have on your phone?

Alyson: (Laughing) I had a Free Lil Wayne Countdown app on my phone.

JM: What?

Alyson: Yes!

JM: There was a Free Lil Wayne App?

Alyson: Yes. I knew when he was getting outta jail. (Laughing) I sound crazy!

JM: No you're don't. I'm addicted, too, but I didn't have a Free Lil Wayne app.

Alyson: (Laughs).

Romantic Valentine's Day-themed iPhone apps. Say What?

Happy Valentine's Day!

So, what did you buy your honey this year?

Well, just in case you haven't gotten your sweetie anything yet, check this out! Apple has love-themed iPhone apps!

Can you believe it? 

For $1.99, The Scene it? app could be all yours. 

 

The FingerMingle Valentine's Edition app could be all yours for FREE! 

FingerMingle Valentine's Edition features includes:

* 18 levels for playing with a partner
* Beautifully crafted game surface with lots of love
* Sounds specifically designed to let you know what your mingled 
  fingers are doing
                          
                                                       

For .99 the Build-A-Card: Cupid Edition could be yours.

Build-A-Card: Cupid Edition features include:

*Build and share custom made Valentine’s Day cards by E-mail, Facebook and Twitter
*Create memorable V-Day cards for your loved ones
*Tons of fun options with your design
*Power to edit and personalize Valentine’s Day card with photos and  various Valentine’s Day themed  overlays

For more apps, click here.

Scene It? features include:

*30 distinct quiz sets with 16 puzzle types Dozens of video clips, images and audio clips
*Head to Head Multiplayer via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth (uses multiple devices)
*Group Play Multiplayer (uses a single device)

Twitter Update



So, what has my first week on Twitter been like?


Hmm. It's kinda...interesting.


Okay, how can I put it?


It's kinda like when I was a little kid and I had imaginary friends that I'd talk to. You know what I'm talking about. You had them too. That's what Twitter is like, so far. I'm tweeting and tweeting and I'm almost positive that I'm talking to, well, no one. Lol. Now this was cool when I was seven, but now, uh, I realize when I talking to myself.


This is how I feel after I tweet.


Tweet... tweet ...tweet. No wait! It's more like CRICKETS...CRICKETS...CRICKETS! HELLO, IS ANYONE HOME?!


Ahhh, one is truly the loneliest number in the world. LOL.


The second thing that I've realized is that Twitter really is ALL ABOUT THE CELEBRITIES! Now, I'll keep it one hundred, when I signed up, that was the first thing that I did was look for my favorite A-Z celebs. That's right. I'm a groupie. But, hear me out. Who else would I want to follow? I don't give to snickers about what Joe Blow is doing, but I really do NEED to know when NeNe Leakes of The Real Housewives of Atlanta will be on the next Celebrity Apprentice. I know, I'm a nerd girl.


LOL.


But, I will say this, I do have 4 followers! It's very sad. One's a classmate. Another is a friend of mine and the other two are people I don't know. How'd that happen? Well, naturally, the classmate and friend were  freebies, but the other two were random. I went to my Twitter page and it said that I had two more followers!

Honestly, I got a little excited. Hehehe. "I have followers! I have followers!"


But, wait!


Now, there's pressure! Now, I have to be...EXCITING! Now, I have to pretend that I have a life! Now, I have to pretend that I don't take naps when I get home. Now, I have to pretend that I do more than eat, sleep and...erm...pray all day. Yeah, right. Never that, but, I do have to make myself worthy of being followed...right?


I mean really. I refuse to be the person that tweets my every single move.


"Hey tweeties, I just ate."
"Hey tweeties, I just digested."
"Hey tweeties, I just burped."


OMGeezee. THE PRESSURE!


Stay tuned.

New Media. Are we all addicted?

 I'm A Video Game Addict

JM: What are you addicted to?
Doll: The video game Collapse.


JM: How do you play?
Doll: You have to eliminate colored blocks by clicking groups of three or more like-colored combinations while remaining below the top line. You can match them straight up and down, L-shaped or horizontal as long as there are three in a row.


JM: How often do you play?
Doll: (Laughing) About three or four times a day.


JM: Wow! How long does one game last?
Doll: Well, it depends. There's different types of games with eight different levels, and each game takes about 15 to 20 minutes to play. In one sitting, I've played about two to three hours on the upper levels like 19 and 20.


JM: Wait! Two to three hours playing one game?
Doll: Yep. I have to get a new phone because I've ruined my touch screen from playing too much. I need to get an iPod so I can play on there. You know how you might have to charge your battery once a day. i have to charge mine three or four times a day.


JM: Well, how do you know that you're addicted?
Doll: Because one time I didn't visit with my family because I couldn't stop playing. I didn't want to lose my concentration. I had to in the rhythm. Sometimes my fingers hurt (Laughing). Sometimes I fall asleep playing.


JM: That's funny. So, do you have a favorite website?
Doll: iWin and Yahoo Games. That's where you can go to play free Internet games.


Wanna play Collapse? Click here and enjoy.

When Technology Goes Wrong! The Texting Edition.

See what happens when you teach your parents how to text. They send you things like this.


What are some crazy picture texts people have sent to you that shouldn't be opened at work?

What is Web 2.0?

So, what is Web 2.0? To me, it's the new...uhh...Internet?


See, back in the day, users of the World Wide Web were inactive.

We'd stare at the computer like zombies and take in the information. It was a passive experience. One way communication. Back then, you were just able to click on the various links, and those links would led to more links and pages.

But now, users are active! It's the difference between reading the paper and writing the paper yourself. Web 2.0 allows goofballs like me to create their own websites, create and upload audio and video files, to self-publish, share photos and information.

With Web 2.0 you can be heard. You can be seen. You have a voice!

You can start your own blog making fun of celebrities like Perez Hilton.You can become a star by showcasing your singing abilities on Youtube like Justin "Nice Bangs" Beiber or you can Twitpic yourself holding stacks of money like any popular rapper.


It's a social media bonanza!


Just look at some of the popular Web 2.0 applications. There is an application for videos, bookmarking, travelers, students, and music lovers.

 

 How many of these do you use?