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For you novice bloggers! You've been thinking about starting a new blog, but you're just not sure of one thing: what to name it. WordPressers around the world wrestle with this very important question and over at The Daily Post, we've been sharing the secrets behind how bloggers choose to name their online home. #emac6300

I have been researching activity trackers for awhile and happened upon this one last week after seeing so many coming new ones coming out of CES. It seems to be different than many of the other ones I have seen and just wanted to share.

I am starting to think it is just me, but these types of wearables freak me out. I understand the health benefits and many of its pros, but I don't want anything monitoring my body all the time. Like those smart contacts, again I can see where they would really help someone, but I would be freaked out having a computer chip on my eye.

I totally see what you're saying Katy. I am not a fan of wearing contacts, so that would be a problem for me, but if it monitord my glucose levels and only I and my healthcare provider were the one's who could view the data I would be ok with it. The activity tracker/wristband thing isn't something I'd even want to wear all the time, just when I'm working out. But yah, not sure I'd want to be "Monitored" all the time! :)

Who knew Disney was such a control freak? I do have to say it is scary to think that everything we do is being tallied and put on some sort of spreadsheet. Even scarier is the fact that we are willing to give our information away or rather give it away cheaply. Target stores recent problems don't have anything on the geotagging that goes on with push notifications, etc. on our smartphones.

It'll be interesting to see companies' approach to big data as more and more businesses invest their money, people and time into analytics. How they collect it, their product design and marketing strategies will all determine whether or not people find their invasion helpful or inappropriate. For example, IBM tells me that their data is eliminating crime from certain areas, so whatever data they've collected from me, they've collected it from criminals too. Facebook allows me to see only adds that reflect my interests and search history, so then I don't have to see ads that don't apply to me. And now Disney wants to give me a better experience and a band I can keep to always remember my time there. Win. Win. Win. The NSA has some stiff competition and maybe if they had a strong marketing department that could flip their message and give customers the rewards they are constantly seeking, I bet people would come around. Maybe it would look something like this Parks and Rec campaign (just kidding): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNCaZT94mg8

There are a lot of interesting and moving parts here. I think this is a smart tool for Disney to use. It sounds like the perfect marriage between finance (getting sales figures in a more organized fashion) and marketing (what people are buying/swiping) that will feed into the best consumer insights information possible. As the article suggests, I do believe this is a more sophisticated (and invasive) form of consumer data gathering like the typical grocery store rewards card. One of the burning questions I have from this though, is will children really be able to swipe everything in sight for purchase? If so, that could mean smiles for Disney and frowns and frustration for parents. The design looks very similar to the Nike Fuelband, and is appealing to the eye. I can see the pros and cons for this one, but overall I wonder what the profit to spend margins would actually be for these MagicBands.

This is good to know. I am always careful to be politically correct when I blog for fear of saying the wrong thing and offending others. Although I'm sure I'll still be that way it's nice to know that my opinion on a topic is protected.

I think it is great that bloggers have the same freedom of speech protection as journalists, but journalists sometimes get a lot of heat for what they write, especially if it is not in favor of the person they are talking about. Now every time I am about to post something publicly, especially on Twitter, I remember what Professor Knight said on the first day of class, that the person you are talking about may see it and respond to you. #emac6300

I think this is great news as well. As a blogger myself, I do try to be considerate of other people's beliefs, feelings, etc. But, people should also have the freedom to talk about what they like. I have been thinking about Professor Knight's comment about Twitter posts as well, lol. That definitely wouldn't be a good situation to be in. I like the concept of the "trigger warning" too. It's a good way for people to be able to choose whether or not they want to go forward with reading the material.

"Open Library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Just like Wikipedia, you can contribute new information or corrections to the catalog. You can browse by subject, author or lists members have created. If you love books, why not help build a library?" Thought this was an interesting site, worth sharing! I love books and reading and I'm always trying to find ways to keep track of my own library and access others.

Texting can make you drive like a drunk. Now a new study shows that texting can also make you walk like a robot. Researchers found that healthy people who read or send texts while hoofing it show subtle but potentially hazardous changes to their gait.

It seems silly, but I wager that had she been distracted by looking through her bag or some other reason, we would be more sympathetic. My guess would be that the reason of the distraction didn't make the city any less negligent.

Here's an app that allows people to view their path ahead while on their phones. It activates your camera and allows you too see both your screen and the ground. The iPhone version only lets you text and tweet while the android app works for any app in universal mode. People would probably still walk like robots, but maybe they wouldn't trip or step on anything. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.incorporateapps.walktext&hl=en https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/type-n-walk/id331043123?mt=8

Social media is the world many of us live in....and die. NJM

In other words, their sociopathic behaviour is as much about manipulation and control as causing offence and distress.

"Such a system would fly in the face of net neutrality principles, which call upon Internet service providers to treat all types of websites the same -- whether they're big or small, complex or simple, corporate or independent." h/t aksparling

This article relates directly to some of the readings we had this week about infrastructure, protocol, and net neutrality. North Korea has strict control over what its citizens can access, but it does allow the tiniest trickle of real internet into the country... will that inevitably lead to raising citizens' awareness? "Still, some experts believe that as more North Koreans become familiar with the benefits of going online - a trend that would seem inevitable if North Korea is to keep afloat in the information age - it will become increasingly difficult for the ruling regime to keep the IT dam from bursting."

"Personal branding, writing a resume, creating an advertisement all have a common theme. When trying to persuade someone, generic statements aren't enough." I take issue with "you can make your own luck," but the post has some merit in terms of the signifiers you use to describe yourself.

Interesting. Before I got my current job, I was attempting to find one in social media. The idea of giving myself a social media title hadn't even occurred to me. Either I didn't do enough research or I accidentally avoided a digital faux pas. Either way, I already knew that it's what details and experience you can offer that represent your social media guru-ness... And not what silly title you can invent. Side note, that photo they used isn't from Halloween, it's from an anime or comic convention! I know because I'm a dork and I attend them regularly. (:

No judging here... it's from New York Comic Con. I recognized the convention center and went to the flickr stream to verify. :D

Build-it-yourself computer kits spawned PCs and Bill Gates. With a new wave that encompasses 3D printers, drones and even biotech, what will be possible? Related When smart home gadgets are hacked In early December last year, first-time entrepreneur Alex Klein found himself stunned.

I kind of feel like this goes for both the EMAC6300 class and our Digital Text class. It makes me think of McLuhan's the Media is the Message using machine to make text and how we can use text (like poetry or a story) in a new way. Interesting!

I wish I could take the credit for finding this site, but Remi had a link from her blog to this site, and I found it really interesting!

Subscription e-reader services, such as Scribd, Oyster and Entitle, are tracking users reading behavior to make recommendations. Now the government has to obtain a warrant to get a list of what you check out at the public library, does this legal requirements change for private e-reader services?

A more nuanced approach to the social media is anti-social argument

Another entry in the journalism startup dust up....

This has become a hot button issue across many journalism industry blogs and sites in recent days. It started with a column in the Guardian, and now it is going viral.