Social Network to Seal the Deal at Oscars

We are just hours away from this year's Academy Awards and the social networking sites are trending and status updating accordingly.

Although I already expressed my lack of enthusiasm for The Social Network, it's obvious the Facebook revolution has won in a big way.

No, not these handsome young men portraying the roles of the average Joe. To try to give an accurate summary of the "Facebook fallout" would be crazy to try to do in one post. Instead, I'll be checking in everyday this week to provide commentary! 

In the meantime, check out this truly impressive tribute to the Oscars, hosted by the folks at JoBlo.com-

Be sure to check back in tomorrow!

Personal Information: The Sites that Serve Yours on a Silver Platter

 :::Immediate Reaction:::
Sure thing- my personal info is out there on a random site. Just like I'm sure I have messages waiting from people trying to reconnect with me and won $5000 by clicking on an irritating pop-up ad. In an effort to prove I was an exception to this claim, I went ahead and searched myself via Spokeo.

So there I am. Beneath all of the blurred portions- my address, phone number and names of my family members. What's that? You want to actually see a bird's eye view of my house? Under the Property tab (thankfully disabled after the screen shot), you can choose between that bird's eye view, street, and satellite.

Aggregating websites such as Spokeo and Intelius are leading the pack in the development of this controversial market. They work by gathering data from just about every online record a person has and then compiling into one handy little report [silver platter] that is available for purchase. I would assume it's not very little actually, considering all of the things mentioned in my Spokeo report were included in the free "preview" of the results.

From a business perspective, I do see the benefit of compiling personal information into one easily accessible database. Another common contention- none of the data provided is private. Information is pulled from public records, phone books, social networks, mailing lists, and other third-party sources.

Now from the human perspective, I see it as just another loophole. Although I'm aware it's simply an issue of presentation, I have a hard time believing these companies can really have a clear conscience. Spokeo was relatively easy to remove myself from but Intelius has a conveniently drawn out process that requires any opt-out request be made by fax, which then leads to 4-6 weeks of processing time. They specifically say requests by phone and/or e-mail will not be processed. If companies like this continue to claim their innocence, I guess that means I'll might actually have a chance at winning that $5000.


If you would like to hinder your personal information's silver platter, you can remove your listing from Spokeo here and read through paragraphs of fine print to get removal information from Intelius here.

Watch and Learn: Lil Wayne

On Wednesday, Lil Wayne destroyed the Guinness World Record by clocking almost 600,000 Facebook 'Likes' in a 24 hour period. Just hours before, Oreo was celebrating that record with almost 115,000 'Likes'.

Once again, Lil Wayne is proving there is a serious business tycoon behind the tattoos. Back in 2009 he was already reaching out to his mass of Facebook fans, partnering with AT&T to bring the first live streaming concert to social media. Since then, the number of Facebook users has grown by 100,000,000+ in the U.S. alone. Before Facebook, Lil Wayne had earned the honor of Top Ringtone for 2008. See the pattern?

At a time when social media outlets are becoming an absolutely essential business tool, Lil Wayne continues separate himself from any competition. His last full album release was back in 2009 [he actually spent most of 2010 in prison] yet he has continued to stay relevant. And rather than being restricted to the "rapper" tag, experimental music style has allowed him to reach markets far outside the walls of hip-hip. Take notes executives- the Best Rapper Alive seems to always be two steps ahead of the game.

After the Super Bowl

During last week's post, all I could do was speculate about the upcoming Super Bowl commercials.

An update:
Although I did look for a code during the Angry Birds commercial, I came up with nada (and wasn't motivated enough to continue my search on YouTube).

The Groupon commercial? I almost missed it. After a run of really impressive ads that had been conversation starters (we actually watched the Chrysler one several times), I was bored with several unimpressive actors speaking blankly into the camera. And in the middle of their monologues, they would mention Groupon.

The punchline was just lost on me. And apparently on the majority of the general public, as Groupon announced on Thursday it would be pulling the ads, in addition to apologizing for being offensive to some.

What? Referencing social/political tragedy is offensive to people? While Groupon continues to profit?

Speaking of which, check out one business owner's not-to-positive Groupon experience- one of the most interesting reads I've come across recently.

One Very Excited Student and Some Textbooks

I woke up this morning like it was Christmas. My internship seemed to last forever. But at noon I was out of there, flying down the highway on a serious mission.

I had an iPad to pick up from FedEx.

Until recently, I was happily a part of the iPhone-only nation. It wasn't until I started pricing my textbooks for the Spring semester that I had a change of heart. Enter CourseSmart, a digital textbook provider offering course materials that can be accessed via Internet or one of Apple's addictive devices. Not only are these ebooks cheaper, but I can actually fit more than one in my bag when I head to the library. Yatzee!

With the increased popularity of other readers such as the Nook and Kindle, I was under the impression my decision was a reflection of the current market trends. A little research has proved me wrong though: even with the recent growth, the Book Industry Research Group reported ebooks account for only 8% of fiction sales in the 4th quarter of 2010.

Educational Marketer published a similar sentiment, citing that textbook rentals were still growing much more quickly than ebooks.  Personally, I don't care how easy it is the return my textbook rentals. After boxing and lugging the box to be shipped, too much work for me. But I want to know what current students think- will the standard textbook option become obsolete in the near future?

via Daemonsbooks

It's Almost Here- Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

And on this glorious Sunday, February 6, thousands will be glued to their television sets.

To get the code to unlock the secret level of Angry Birds?

Let me begin by saying I actually am a huge football fan, so I'm a little biased. I've also had conversations with Angry Bird enthusiasts, but I just don't get it (kinda like True Grit...I don't care how many awards it wins, I'll pass). However when I heard about this advertising scheme on the radio, I will admit it caught my attention.

It's fairly common knowledge that Super Bowl commercials run advertisers a pretty penny, to the tune of $2.5 million for 30 seconds of time with the viewers. Just to really break it down for you- $83,333.33 per second. The folks behind the hit mobile game app Angry Birds have partnered with the folks behind the animated movie based on Angry Birds (still with me?) to...well...get a whole lot of people to watch their Super Bowl commercial. In slow motion.

By embedding a code that unlocks a secret game level, the creators suggestion to watch the 4th quarter commercial- frame by frame- can almost be taken seriously. [To anyone at my Super Bowl party: plan on going to YouTube after with everyone else who missed the code.]

While I'd be interested in seeing what type of code Fox is expecting me to find hidden a la Highlights (remember that magazine?!), I'd rather be see what the heck Groupon plans to do with the ad time they managed to score. Oh, and did I mention- the score of the actual game?