Posts Tagged ‘Internet’

PBS Digital Nation Documentary

Watch this great Frontline film that raises many of today’s questions about technology and the internet. How competent are we really as multitasking our daily activities becomes the norm? How do we solve and embrace the growing short attention spans of students? Can virtual worlds and gaming allow us to connect with others or only alienate us further?


(Make sure to start on Chapter One by clicking on the yellow dots on the right)

I found this film very personal and intriguing as it connects to many aspects of my life. As millions of others, I cannot live without being connected at all times. It made me realize how just this morning I wake up and my iPhone is not next to me, I start going crazy looking for it as I have this insatiable need to check my emails and messages. A morning ritual that’s so second nature to me that never existed in my life a few years ago. I hope this documentary is an eye opener for everyone as it was for me. Technology is rapidly evolving and we are too, we just have to embrace it with an open mind and not let it take over.

Craigslist’s Post Gone Wrong

I flipped on the news today (yes, my actual television, not sure why) and the big story was Craigslist gone wrong. Someone placed an ad on Craigslist saying that anything at a home in Jacksonville, Oregon was up for grabs. People responded, and carted away most of the belongings of resident Robert Salisbury. He arrived home to thirty people picking over the last of his stuff. Even the man’s horse was taken.

It’s common for people to offer stuff for free on Craigslist, as long as you come and pick it up. It’s a bit of a stretch to imagine that people would think that an entire home’s worth of belongings would be given away on the site, but that’s a post for a different day. It’s worth pointing out, though, that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.

I spoke to a couple of attorneys this afternoon about the potential liability of Craigslist for stuff like this. The victim has little recourse, other than insurance (I’m betting he has none) and a possible civil case against the person who posted the listing should he or she be caught. Could a litigiously minded individual find a winning argument to get Craigslist to pay for the damages? Perhaps, said the attorneys. And there are certainly plenty to lawyers who’d consider taking the case on contingency, hoping for a quick settlement/shake down to keep PR exposure over this to a minimum.

But what I really think is that Craigslist is just a mirror, and we have to take the good with the bad. Countless connections and transactions are made on the site, and the vast majority are of benefit to everyone involved.

Sure, mainstream press feasts on the occasional accident scene, making it seem like the site is a den of predators waiting to strike at anyone who drops by. Craigslist has it all – Sex, drugs, humiliation and more.

But for the most part Craigslist is just a really good place to find a job, or a boyfriend, or buy cheap furniture for your dorm room. The situation today is simply an exception that proves what an important place Craigslist has taken in our culture. I feel bad for Mr. Salisbury and I hope he gets all his stuff back (especially his horse). But pointing the finger of accusation at Craigslist for what happened is not what should happen next.

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Posted: March 26th, 2008
Categories: Opinion
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Oh no! Here come the MySpacers!

Is it just me or is Facebook getting a bit too crowded? Ever since they opened its doors the public and with the addition of their 3rd party apps it seems like flocks of MySpacers and migrating to Facebook. It’s great but the site but I feel like MySpacers and Facebookians come from two different mentalities. Being on both social networks, I feel like hardcore MySpacers should stay on MySpace with their highly saturated useless content profiles and leave Facebook alone. I am seeing the same trends on arise on Facebook just as they did on MySpace, people adding lots of crappy applications to their profiles. I mean c’mon, when I takes me like 5 minutes just to find your damn Wall then we got a problem. I think it’s time to jump ship and find the next thing…once again…

Posted: December 3rd, 2007
Categories: Internet, Opinion, Rants, Social Networking
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