I couldn't give up Facebook for Lent...

My goal: 40 days and 40 nights without Facebook or MySpace in honor of Lent. Was I successful? Absolutely not! According to this article, I'm not the only student trying to give up social networks for Lent. Many of the students in the article found resisting the social network temptation difficult.

I have to admit, I check my Facebook account more than my Web mail. The first few days of Lent I tried not to type in www.facebook.com into my browser, but I broke. Clinical psychologist Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack said students who abuse their internet use tend to neglect their schoolwork and healthy lifestyles. I believe every word. I know some friends who have deactivated their Facebook account in order to focus on studying for their MCAT, LSAT or GRE. Soon after taking the tests, my friends quickly re-activated their account. Obsession? I think so.

Old School Nintendo

I came across this article this week and laughed. Nostalgic feelings came across when I thought of the old school Nintendo. During winter vacation, the Nintendo Wii was the craze. I played it, I was impressed. However, while playing some of the Wii sports I thought about the Nintendo I had when I was growing up. Thinking about the track and field game on the running pad made me smile. The Wii has nothing on that!

Nintendo is awarding their old-school fans with “Wii Points.” With “Wii Points” players can download classic Nintendo, Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 games directly to their system. I’m no gamer, but the classic games are the only games I understand!

Sony's first new digital video Walkman

Sony has recently announced its plans to release a new digital video Walkman. The new Walkman series will go on sale in Europe around April. Sony is coming up with three new models in Europe: NW-A808, NW-A806 and NW-A805 for its new video Walkman series. The new series, which differentiate from 2G bytes, 4G bytes and 8G bytes, would be comparable to Apple’s Video iPods.

According to the article, the NW-A805 will cost about US $237. I’m not surprised by this price as at all! Sony has always had pricey products. The article goes on to say that the iPod has a larger screen, but is bulkier and heavier than the new Sony Walkman. Should I turn my iPod for the new Walkman? The Walkman brings back memories! I think back to my Sony Walkman cassette tape player, which by the way still works!

After reading this article, I thought about how well Sony’s digital video Walkman will do compared to Apple’s version. It also made me think about Dell’s Digital Jukebox, which seemed to have disappeared in the light of Apple’s iPod. With the domination of Apple in portable devices, let’s hope my new Dell phone creation will top Apple’s iPhone!

Cisco-Apple agree upon the iPhone name

On Wednesday, Cisco Systems Inc . and Apple Inc. agreed to drop any pending litigation against one another over the trademark “iPhone.” Cisco sued Apple last month, claiming Apple violated their “iPhone” trademark, which represented a line of “Linksys phones that make free long-distance calls over the Internet using VoIP technology.” Apple argued that it violated no trademark policy, because their product operates over the cellular network. Apple unveiled the iPhone in January.

Now analysts are thinking litigations were dropped because the two companies plan to collaborate with each other on Apple’s iPhone. Cisco could incorporate their Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) into Apple iPhones. VoIP is a technology that allows you to make voice calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line.

The AP article quotes Charles Golvin, a principal analyst with Forrester Research Inc.:
"As far as concessions go, from Apple's point of view, is there a downside to making their products work better with Cisco's networking gear? I don't see a downside for them," he said. "If anything it makes their products that much more attractive."

To me, it seems like Cisco is making a smart business move by putting their foot in the door. If Apple wants the name, “iPhone,” than give them the name. Now mutually give Cisco input in the new Apple phone. Both parties will only benefit from the collaboration.

"IM-speak" in Classrooms

is this the way r new generation types now? btw, y is this style of typing showing up @ skools 2day all over da nation?

School teachers nationwide are recognizing "instant messaging-speak" or “IM-speak” in writing assignments and essays. With the technology craze, we’ve learned to communicate with as less letters and words as possible. People want to be able to communicate quickly and receive information as soon as possible.

When talking to friends and family via instant message/cell phone text, I do use the occasional “btw,” “brb,” “lol,” and neglect using any type of punctuation ever invented. It’s the online-texting culture. When it comes to professional work and school, I make it a point to separate the two worlds.

As a student, a target that should be watched are the young teenagers. I see my 12-year-old sister type to her friends all the time and half of the time I don’t understand the acronyms and upper-case and lower-case style. I’ve read a couple of her rough draft essays, only to find “u” and “y” written on every other line. “Why do you do that?” I ask. She’ll simply reply, “Oh, sorry I’ll change it! I’m just used to it. It’s just a draft.” It’s just a draft… yes, I understand, but some people don’t check twice.

Some may say it's short-hand writing, but when will we know when "IM-speak" is a habit? With teens using the internet more for communication, an occasional "u" is bound to pop up in a timed-writing quiz.

"Some of the same kids that I teach now were probably guilty of techno spellings in high school," Larry Beason, director of freshman composition at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Ala. said. "But most students realize that they need to put their adolescent spellings behind them by the time they get to college" (Ellis, 2007).

Let’s hope so.

Banning iPods and handheld devices from crosswalks?

It’s 9 a.m. I get on the bus and look for a seat. Looking around I look for the least conspicuous person there. Okay I’ll seat here… next to the guy with white headphones peeking out of a Gators sweatshirt. I ask him if he can please move his computer bag so I don’t sit on the strap -- but he doesn’t budge. Oh, it’s the headphones. I tap him. He suddenly pulls out his iPod and puts it on pause. I repeat what I said and he smiles, apologizes and moves his computer bag. No problem.

After 10 minutes, I get off the bus and pull out my white earphones. It’s a long trek to class and I need to wake up. I need some music. Thank god for the iPod! I cross across the Turlington Plaza crosswalk, fiddling around with the controls looking for my favorite song of the day. No bus will hit me, no way; there are too many people that cross this walk. Swish! A bike almost hits me!

Sen. Carl Krueger, of New York’s 27th district of Brooklyn, hopes to put an end to my near-death bicycle collision. Krueger created a bill that he hopes will ban all portable electronic devices while crossing the street in major cities. The senator also claims that the “iPod oblivion” has led to many fatal incidents on public streets. Apparently, a 23-year-old Brooklyn man walked into the path of a bus while listening to his iPod.

I’m on the fence with this issue. Okay, so I almost got hit by a bike, but if I’m crossing a New York City street I’m sure as heck going to turn my iPod off. But then again, I was so confident the people driving the vehicles would see me and my careless behavior. Then back to the bill being illogical, why don’t we band woman wearing stiletto heels away from crosswalks? I mean I see women break their heels off, get their heels stuck in sewers, small pot holes and gum patches. Rather than making a law, I think a simple awareness campaign about operating hand held devices on public premises should be implemented instead.

For some reason, people on my school campus, including myself, will never turn my iPod off for good when crossing the roads. According to a Florida Independent Alligator article, other students feel the same. One student said she felt her safety has decreased when walking to class, “I think I am more prone to getting clipped by a biker," Kaminsky said. "Those suckers come out of nowhere." The author of the article goes on to say that, “despite the risk Kaminsky continues to walk to a beat all her own.”

At the back of my head however, I think about that bus! Wendy Zarganis asks, is there "electronic device epidemic" requiring legislation to contain or can these tragic pedestrian deaths be a enough of a literal heads-up for caution when crossing a busy street? Yes, I think my generation has become a bunch of iPod Zombie's, a term which has now been coined in the Urban Dictionary. I think that Apple should have awareness campaigns! Maybe even when more statistics of portable electronic devices causing deaths are released, the more we will listen. It's sad, but true.

We need an automatic feature of some sort, that could be pressed on the iPod when needed for emergencies. In order to turn off your iPod, one must hold down for about 3 seconds on the play/pause button. What about runners who run with their iPod at night? Well, I found out that there is a device you can attach to your iPod called, Blinkit, iPod Safety Light. The device will blink on your iPod as a safety feature to make a person more visible when running or jogging around dim or dark areas.

So before crossing that cross walk, turn down the tunes a little and listen for incoming traffic.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Marion Ramirez and I am a public relations junior at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. My blog will be about current events and happenings in the computer/technology industry.

I look foward to my next post!

-M.R.