November 29th, 2007 by Shantastic
He was born around 9pm yesterday. He name is Avery Bryan West! Weighing in at 7lbs 1ounce, and 19 inches! WHoOOOOOooooOOO-HooooooOOOOOO! I got the call last night but was too busy jumping up and down while cheering to post!
November 28th, 2007 by Hiland
Those that know me think of me as a technophile- I’m the first person people come to when they have computer questions. I stay up to date on the latest trends in personal technology, and try to keep an eye on what is going on in the broader landscape of technology and computers. The internet in particular is very interesting to me, and all the different ways that people can use it to communicate and essentially link their brains together. However, just like with any power comes a responibility to use it well. When I first joined Facebook not 6 months ago, I was really pleased with them- they have a gorgeous, smart interface and they had answered a lot of the problems with My Space. However, they are starting to cross a line that really shouldn’t be crossed- their new “Beacon” technology can automatically post your online purchases to Facebook, telling all yuor friends what you have purchased.
I actually just had my first interaction with this- I just went to buy a movie ticket for Beowulf 3D online, and at the end of the transaction, a little bubble popped up and asked me if I wanted to post this purchase information to Facebook. I said no. It’s not that I was purchasing anything I didn’t want anyone to know about, but I have two main problems i want to share:
1- I wasn’t even on Facebook at the time
I think I had been using Facebook earlier in the day, but at that time, I didn’t actually have a browser open. I was solely on fandango.com I understand that it is technically feasable to do something like this, and that it is in their terms of service, but it’s breaking a certain trust I have with Facebook. When I’m not actually engaging in the site, I understand that it’s tracking what I’m doing on the site say, if I’m using gmail, Google is analyzing my email and then targeting me for advertising. That I can understand. I have now discovered a new kind of paranoia that any web-based service- is it following me when I’m not using it? What does it know about me that I don’t realize?
2- Advertisers want to know too much about me
Facebook, I’m sure isn’t just going to share my movie-watching habits with the people in my network, it’s going to share them with advertisers. There’s a whole new world of profiling and targeting that can start to develop- that IS developing. Knowing data about my movie-watching choices is one thing, but when you suddenly look at the movie-watching habits of everyone on Facebook, combine that with other shopping data, and the actual profile data that is up there, and you could start coming out with some really, really targeted data. Now, there’s good and bad that comes out of this- on the good side, looking at all that data will help us figure out human nature a little better, and then better products can come into existance that make us, for lack of a better word, happier. On the bad side- this information can be used to make us want to buy lower-quality, bad products by targeting us in very specific ways. Examples: Facebook data is gathered that shows that there is a strong contingent of people that would like a cellphone that plays can project high-def movies… this product goes into development and does well. On the other side: a company creates a cell phone that says it can project movies, and it targets that at you, even though it can’t really do it, they have the data on how to advertise that product to a group that would want it.
November 28th, 2007 by Shantastic
Well, I already knew it was a boy. But it’s not out yet. My sister-in-law just called to say her water broke, but she wasn’t having contractions yet. So she was waiting for my brother to come home and take her to the hospital! Today I could become an Auntie!
November 27th, 2007 by Shantastic
As you all know I am rock star. Thus I have already gotten started on my “holiday” cards for the season.
Can EVERYONE send me their home address? Monica this includes you. If you do not send me your address not only will you miss out on my fabulous Rainy Day Books purchase of “holiday” cards BUT you won’t get invited to my wedding either.Â
YAY. I like y’all that why I want to send you “holiday” cheer!
