Mitt is it!

First of all, I have to say that tonight's GOP debates were completely redundant. Most of what was said tonight had been said last time around. That is, minus Ron Paul's ridiculous outburst (I'm sorry, but we will never be isolationist...it is not what the American people want). But I think that Mitt Romney is the most articulate, freshest, and probably the most attractive of all the GOP Primary candidates.

1) I wish I could speak like him--words flowing so smoothly that I am convinced that he MUST be reading from a script.

2) It's about time we have a candidate on either side of the aisle with more private sector experience than public sector. While Mitt still does have experience as a GOVERNOR (wayyyy better than Senatorial experience when it comes to running for President), he still knows what businesses need from the government to survive.

3) He and his wife should be LL Bean models.

Anyways, this whole thing has a point. We Republicans in the DC Area who would choose Mitt as their primary candidate (no pun) have a way to come together! All you have to do is to go here and sign up. Trust me, someone WILL contact you. Mitt has a lot of promise, and if you are a student/Mitt supporter in the DC area, you should sign up.

Trent Reznor -- the "Ralph Nader of the music industry?"

We all know that Trent Reznor, whose birthday is later this week, knows how to use the internet to his full advantage. This time, he used his own website to declare his anger at intentionally "screwing the fans" by selling Nine Inch Nails CDs at a ridiculously high price. The Rolling Stone article that I just referenced called Reznor the "Ralph Nader of the music industry." Now, normally, I loathe activists and people of the Nader sort. However, as a fiscal conservative, I really appreciate Mr. Reznor's words.

I can understand the temptation of wanting to download free music, especially if you are fairly certain of not getting caught. I know that I would never do it, but LOTS of people I know do. At the same time, CDs are really expensive! How are we as consumers and fans to choose? It's a tough choice. I hope that more artists like Trent speak up against this crap. Afterall, where would the corruption end? In the end, it is such high prices that make stealing music so popular and widely available.

And the internet is a GREAT place to start.

Happy Birthday, Trent.

Well Karl Rove said...

Wow it seems like forever ago that Karl Rove was here on the American University campus (oh the humiliating days of our lives here at AU...). But we can try to remember some of the good things that came out of that lovely Tuesday night in the first week of April...

For one, I got my picture with him. I love being the token girl on the College Republicans E-board.

Also, what he spoke about was really substantive. At one point, someone (I think it was Joe Vidulich) asked about the future of politics and the internet. You know that if Mr. Rove says such great things about the internet's potential, it's gonna be big. And that's pretty much what he said in a nutshell for that question.

Anyways, this was such a great year...I'm sad for it to be over. We've accomplished a lot! One big thing was that our chapter made it as the spotlight chapter on the CRNC website! It's amazing. Also, our website this year has been the best that it has been in a while. I know that it is going to be switched up again next year (stay tuned for details) but we have gotten a lot of compliments on this one. We really used our website a lot this year. If you want to get on our listserv, all you have to do is sign up on the website! If you want to learn about internships, upcoming events, or really anything about us, just go to the site. For a conservative group, we were really very "progressive." Hehe!

Who knows what next year has in store...

Ever evolving, even after we're gone...

BUT I WILL NEVER LEAVE! MUAHAHAHA! I will be around for Web 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, and so on--whatever those will actually entail...

I was just reading the end of a book that our class has gotten pretty in depth with...Naked Conversations. It's actually kind of funny to think that this book may never have been published because there was always something new developing in the world of internet technology. Scoble and Israel had to leap at just the right time so as to have the most recent information without missing any recent, important information. I'd say they did a good job! Their book DEFINITELY provides an excellent base for studying this stuff.

Finishing the book and finishing the class here go hand-in-hand. While I am always relieved when a semester ends (especially with no huge end of the semester project), it is always sad to part with something that has become so familiar!

But what will happen with this blog? In Naked Conversations, they tell us that every second a new blog appears, and every other second in a given day a blog disappears. Will mine become one of those? Will yours? I mean, my URL is pretty catchy...anyone who talks to me on AIM would understand the connection of the whole "think green no i" thing (sixth graders are cute). Maybe I'll turn this whole thing into political commentary...then big name pundits will find me, first start to advertise on this blog, and then offer me a job. Ha! I can wish!

But people, leaving the class is more than just deciding what to do with this blog! We have social networks! That means...drum roll please...we can keep in touch! Geez, look me up on Facebook if you haven't already. You can see pictures of me dancing on tables, etc. Ha! Once again, that is a joke that actually refers back to my post about NameDefender and such.

It's been fun guys...but there is always something more to learn and discover.

Don't be Deputy Downer.

Ever since the first day I started taking classes in ITEC, all I've heard was how great technology is...and really though, it is. It brings us to a level of communication we thought was only possible in the "new millenium" (haha jk, it IS the new millenium, but i'm referring to hovercraft cars and what not).

So why are we starting now with all of the...no, YOU CANNOT GO THERE?! For instance, in The JobSyntax Blog, they talk about a limit on blogging. But does that have to be so? If you ask me, we've got a Deputy Downer on our hands.

Seriously, if I were at a networking event, and someone said, "Oh, hey, we are looking for new recruits...visit this blog," I'd surely go to it. There are certainly possibilities with this. For instance, the person who is leaving the position, or even past interns, can write a little blog about what they did, candidly say why they liked the job and what they got out of it, and then asked for questions. This way, the potential new employees can put themselves out there early. This could be a kind of interview...ya know?

I mean, I certainly judge people by the kind of questions they ask, don't you? This way, it gives a company insight into the people who are applying without looking at what they have actually achieved. What good is a person with a 4.0 if they have no social skills for an HR position? Not quite qualified.

A blog for recruiting is a GOOD IDEA. You may disagree, but technology can be manipulated to fit our goals...not the other way around.

She's the worst Professor I've ever had...

...But Robert Scoble told me to never lie in my blog through his book, Naked Conversations. So I can truthfully say that I have had some horrible professors, and Professor Melander is not one of them.

But really then, what is the difference between what Mark Jen did and the slander we are all secretly guilty via word of mouth? I'll tell you what the difference is...it's that Mark wrote this down and published it for the world to see. Without a doubt, we'd all be in trouble if we wrote down and published everything we said. So if we all do it, why is there such a double standard?

I mean, I'm pretty good at being honest. Sometimes a bit too much. But there is usually nothing I will say that I am not afraid to publish (my mother might advise otherwise...). I also wish more people weren't afraid of the truth--there is nothing wrong with being upfront.

But in this case, I have to side with Google. Employers can fire their employees for any reason they want (as long as it has nothing to do with race, religion, gender, etc.). If they think that having an employee airing out their dirty laundry on the internet is going to do more harm than good, they can do what they want (within boundaries) with this worker.

But then there is Heather B. Armstrong of dooce.com. While being fired becuase of aforementioned reasons, she went on to become a very successful blogger. She says in her bio, "BE YE NOT SO STUPID. Never write about work on the internet unless your boss knows and sanctions the fact that YOU ARE WRITING ABOUT WORK ON THE INTERNET. If you are the boss, however, you should be aware that when you order Prada online and then talk about it out loud that you are making it very hard for those around you to take you seriously."

But bloggers should heed these examples. While it is important to be honest and never hide information, take Scoble's words of wisdom and be nice to everyone. Also remember what your mom always said, "don't say it if you wouldn't be willing to write it down and sign your name to it!" Honesty is important, but so is keeping your job, right?

Group Effort = Success?

Let's be honest with ourselves.

These collaborative systems are amazing. They are leading the frontier of possibility 100 times further than we thought possible when the fax machine was invented. And they are definitely more efficient than emails, phone calls, etc.

When skimming over Teamwork, Supercharged after having read it, I noticed the word "wikis" in there. I came to the grand conclusion that Google Docs, for example, is very, very similar to Wikipedia. And well, we've all heard that "if you read it on Wikipedia, it's probably wrong" from one professor or another. So, if anyone working on a project with you can just add anything, where is the guarantee that it is not bogus?

For instance, we can look at ninwiki. (If you've read certain posts of my blog before, you'd have some inkling that i'm a huge fan of Nine Inch Nails.) Ninwiki is the main medium for NIN fans to learn about all of the Year Zero and its subsequent controversy buzz. It's pretty crazy what is going on with that. However, who is REALLY putting this all together? Is it the common everyday person, just interested in the mystery? Or is it actually one of Mr. Reznor's personal techies putting it together? If the latter is true, that reallllllly ruins it for me and for everyone (not that I approve of the message that NIN is putting out there anyways). But this whole campaign is creating a huge hype...and if it is a lie, people like this would be incredibly disappointed. Also, who says that it isn't a bunch of kids making all this up, and when Mr. Reznor caught wind of it just went along with it. There are no guarantees that this site contains real information, or if we are all being taken for a ride. There is no way to really know who the creators really are...

But applying this to the workplace, if anyone can have access to a document or project, what if they screw the whole thing up...or worse...DELETE IT!?! I can only imagine how I would have felt if Talila had accidentally deleted our social networking assignment. Or really, just my sections. Isn't this whole concept kind of dangerous?