Facebook Connect, Scary but Good

This article falls in the line with the phrase we commonly hear in class, the technology is so good it is scary, but also amazing. Facebook Connect is a centralized identity service. The idea is to launch a one time log on in order to make a universal network of trusted sites that can share the user’s information. You simply log on to Facebook and then jump to any of these sites, for example cnte.com, and the site will have you already logged on to the new site. This forms a network of site where a user doesn’t have to worry about identity theft. The one centralized identity will only projected not housed on all the different servers. I especially like the idea because I have so many user names and passwords I almost forget one a day because there are so many. If we can use one to leapfrog to additional sites I am all for it. In addition, when users utilize this service they are opened up to all the sites on the network for which they may not have been familiar with previously.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10110382-2.html?tag=mncol;txt

Ditch the flat screen 50 inch LCD

It looks like the cable companies are being pushed to the side infavor of the internet. More and more shows and movies are being shown on the internet. Online viewing increased 155% in just the month of August on tv networks websites. This new concept has many appeals. 

1) Watching a show outside of the schedule time allows for convience. The DVR had been the first to institute this, but now online a person may watch the show almost anytime and anwhere

2) Watching movies and shows on the internet costs nothing more than what you are already paying for internet service

Sites such as www.hulu.com offer free clips of both movies and shows only 15 hours after their original air time. There is also considerably less advertising on these shows and movies as opposed to the television ads that make an hour show actually only 35 minutes.

This concept appears to be the new thing due to the cheap and convenience. Only thing that can not be found online is live television programing asside from football sunday nights.

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/12/08/ditch-your-tv-tech-personal-cx_mji_1208ditchtv.html

So you want to save the economy

The article in this Sunday's Boston Globe speaks about the Wall Street bailout how blogger may have played a part in diverting the passage of the Paulson Plan.  Back in 1907 J.P Morgan in the midst of the fincancial system breakdown conducted a secret meeting among all Wall Street titans. They were able to help each other out and come to an agreement to save the financal system. Although, we will never know what happened behind the closed doors at J.P Morgan's library. Currently, the economy is again in a desperate situation. Wall Street heads all meet at the Federal Reserve along with Secretary Treasury Hank Paulson. The behind closed doors the idea of a "Paulson Plan" was formulated. Problem was the plan;s forming didn't include every knowledgable financial figure. The plan was looked at by various economists and therefor questions and thought to be not the best way of going about a bailout. How did these people  express their opinions, through blogging. The blog's were coming from some the country's top academic economist who had distinct knowledge of credit default swaps, etc. Then the trickle down effect occured and the public gained knowledge that the "Paulson Plan" was possibly  not the best way. They therefore, wrote and spoke to their congressmen and representatives to say to deny passage of the plan. All this goes to show the power of the blog and how when written by a few and read by millions the course of history can be changed.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/12/07/so_you_want_to_save_the_economy/?page=1

Health 2.0

With the idea of social networks spreading through corporate business the medical industry was next to introduce a vast amount of infomtion to patients that was previously impossible. The article talks about how patients with similiar diseases are going  social networking platforms and sharing their medial records in order to have more extensive information about their diseases. For instance, a person can see what level of prescription they should have after referencing the rest of their network. Furthermore, the patients themselves can be proactive instead of reactive to their doctor's advice. Another example of the benefits is show where the network can start to conduct trial.  One trial is discussed in the artcile about Macedo in Brazil conducting ALS treatment trials. Sites such as "PatientsLikeMe" provide a platform where medical records are not hidden, but shared amongst patients. With better knowledge and more transparency the benefits can be endless in the fight against these diseases.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_50/b4112058194219.htm?campaign_id=rss_tech

Lean times call for better marketing…

In Lean Times, Online Coupons Are Catching On

The article talks about how different sites are gathering coupon codes for discounts to various retailers. While in the beginning retailers had been suing these sites for taking away business those times have changed. During these bad economic times the retailers are providing these sites the codes in order to boost business. These retail stores are simply just utilizing these sites as their next marketing platforms.

See there used to be the yellow pages. Companies and retailers would take a space in the yellow pages to grab some advertising. Then that moved to the newspaper ads. Soon the television and postal services were used announce the latest deals. Problem was these platforms of marketing became flooded and inundated with information causing the whole platform to turn into a mess of white noise. As retail marketing continues to look for the next outlet to differentiate itself, email and the internet becomes the new gateway. These websites like RetailMeNot.com, FatWallet.com and the Budget Fashionista all are just the latest way off marketing and attempting to differentiate from the other inundated sources of advertisements.

The cool thing about these sites is that you can narrow your search, instead of having to course through irrelevant ads. For instance, the many ads in each TV commercial break. You feel that you can narrow your search to your interests and select the best saving option. Therfore you feel like a smart consumer and that you made out better than the next person. Meanwhile, these list of coupons and codes are provided to the website by retailers. They know that these codes will have many positive effects for them:

-         Get you looking at the website

-         Possibly find additional items to buy

-         Or buy multiple items because they are in fact on sale

-         Plus these Coupon codes are already built into the price tag

Bottom line, I think you can save on some different items, but the retailers with get the better end of the deal, while making you think your outsmarted them.