Twitter chides the chinese government

You have probably heard, but China doesn't exactly have the best relationship with social networking sites, especially twitter. Last month the Chinese government arrested a woman, Cheng Jianping for her actions on the site. She was sentenced to one year in a labor camp for re-tweeting a comment that mocked Chinese citizens who supported their government in protesting Japanese products. China has also banned twitter, among other websites, in the past during special days like the anniversary of the Tianamen Square protest. Twitter mentioned the recent arrest in their message to china saying: "Year-long detentions for sending a sarcastic tweet are neither the way forward nor the future of your great people". Their message had over a hundred re-tweets shortly after, and continues to be passed on. Chinese government officials apparently haven't made a statement on the message.
How would you feel if popular websites like facebook and twitter were banned in the U.S.? would you use them anyway despite punishments like a year of hard labor?

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/11/19/twitter.china/index.html

cell phones: worse than first thought?

If you have a cell phone today, you probably remember a couple years ago when they really took off in popularity, the big controversy over whether they can cause health problems. Legal departments of cellphone manufacturers slip a warning about holding the phone against your head or body into the fine print. The United States has over 292 million cell phones using 2.26 trillion minutes annually. While people seemed to have forgotten about the potential health risks the industry has not. As cell phones become more widely used among younger crowds the chance of major health risks increases. Brain cancer has been one of the more major concerns, and while average rates of brain cancer have not changed, there has been a change in certain trends, mostly an increase in 20-29 years and a decrease in older cases. Some scientists attribute this to the increase in cell phone use for younger generations, because children are more susceptible to radiation from cell phones than adults. A rise in cell phone related health issues would mean bad news for an industry that has embedded itself into our everyday lifestyle. We cannot dismiss the potential risks of cell phones simply because everybody else is using one.

Do you think that this is something that could cause a serious issue in the future? or are cell phones so instrumental in our everyday lives that we might as well take the bad with the good? What are your thoughts?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/business/14digi.html?adxnnl=1&ref=general&src=me&adxnnlx=1289798234-AMvkSFaWwyIErg94oA7DZA

A little creativity goes to a long franchise

Todays technology has opened the doors for so many people to express their creativity to a large audience. Some people even take this to the next step, when they gain enough of a fan following, they go on to turn their creativity for a profit. This happens often in the world of videogames and machinima. People use videogames in remixed videos similar to the way artists make mashups with different songs to create a new product from the old. In addition to being very entertaining some people make a name for themselves releasing videos like this regularly, some people have even made entire shows based on this. Some cases of this are franchises like red vs. blue which started out as a couple videos where people take characters from installments of the popular shoot em' up game Halo and turn it into a comedic short show. The the franchise now has various merchandising rights and a major fan following and the creators have managed to start a career with it. Then there are other less established channels, which are run by individuals who simply want to show off their creativity. One such player would be M.A.L.R. who runs a youtube channel with a significant fan following. Both are examples of the same genre of videogame machinima at work and the ease in which anyone now has to promote themselves through technology.

Germany Plans Limits on Facebook Use in Hiring

Recently the German government proposed placing restrictions on employers use of facebook in their recruiting activities. The bill is intended to keep employers from considering information on purely social networking sites like facebook when evaluating potential employees. Basically, it means you don't have to worry about not getting a job just because of some embarassing pictures your friends posted on your facebook page. The bill, which could be in effect as soon as this year would prohibit managers from secretely videotaping employees, which was becoming an issue of increasing concern among other incidents of companies violating their employees privacy rights. The proposal is meant to establish guidelines for courts handling social networking cases. The number of cases is expected to rise as social networking becomes more incorporated into our lives. Establishing a clear set of rules should help the issue from becoming a major problem for the courts. Isn't it amazing how something like facebook finds its way into every aspect of our lives? Wouldn't it be nice to never worry about your social life impacting your professional career? what are your thoughts on this?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/business/global/26fbook.html?_r=1&ref=facebook_inc