Week 11 EOC: Final

The future of the Internet is like anything else in the world. Nothing is ever guaranteed.  Big shots like Facebook who were once thought to be Internet juggernauts are now losing money in the stock market almost hourly. Its almost as if the dot com boom and crash happened all at once to the same company. Future Shock was a book written by Alvin Toffler. While the book is more than 30 years old, it still brings up valid points. The title of the book refers to when people are no longer able to keep up with the pace of change. Former powerhouses like AOL are barely ever mentioned anymore as Internet service providers. Nothing is ever certain about the internet. Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, talk about how he thinks the internet will take over physical items such as mail. “Somedayit would be great if instead of being e-mail, it would just be called mail.Instead of being e-commerce it will just be called commerce, just because it isso ubiquitous that it is just taken for granted, much as we take for granted electricityor water or other kinds of utilities.” I think this quote holds more truth than anything else about the Internet. Over at lest the next ten years, I see the future of the Internet somewhat staying as it is. The changes are not going to be about the Internet, but how you use the Internet. With cell phones, computers and tablets, there are so many ways to browse the Internet. All people seem to really want these days are more bandwidth, faster download speeds and faster browsers. “That's an enormous gap between what'scurrently possible and what's commercially available. But as time passes, thecosts of producing ultra-high-speed networks will decrease. Eventually, theaverage consumer will be able to download a high-definition movie in a secondor play cloud-based video games without a hint of lag.” The Internet has evolved a ton during the last decade. And again, I don’t think the Internet will change drastically over the next 10 years like it has, but how the user experiences the Internet.

EOC Week 10: Illicit - Dark Trade

The Internet has made communication around the world extremely accessible to anyone. The Internet can be use for business transactions or just simple e-mail exchanges between friends. One of the problems that have skyrocketed from the Internet boom is the black market. Human trafficking, drug sales and counterfeit items are being sold every day online. China is the main source that feeds this ever-expanding lucrative market. The even scarier part is that most of the pharmaceutical items sold over the black market are not even the similar product. The products for the most part a completely different chemical compound that can harm or even kill you. Recently an Adderall knock off has been making news according to CBS News. “Fake Adderall pills that contain the wrong ingredients are being sold online to unwitting consumers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday.The FDA's lab tests of counterfeit versions of Teva Pharmaceutical's Adderall 30 milligram tablets that were purchased on the Internet revealed that the pills contained the painkillers tramadol and acetaminophen instead of its normal amphetamine-based active ingredients.” Here is a side tip to making sure you are buying safe meds. “Ordering online? Some online pharmacies may claim to be credentialed, but the credentialing agencies may be fake, says Bate. The NABP also provides a list of legitimate web-based pharmacies consumers can check. You can also visit LegitScript.com as another resource.” And that’s just one part of the market that’s causing an issue. Human trafficking has also been and issue for a long time and will continue to be a problem. Human trafficking is a problem for numerous reasons. Sex slaves, cheap labor and mules are just a few of the jobs people get thrown into. While this is on the lighter side, Europe is staffing extra offers for the up coming soccer games.” The European Union's external border agency has deployed dozens of officers to Poland's eastern border and various travel hubs across Europe to fight human trafficking and other forms of smuggling during the European football (soccer) championship. Frontex expects more than 1 million people to enter Poland and Ukraine during the tournament that runs Friday through July 1, a huge increase compared to normal times, the agency's deputy director, Gil Arias Fernandez, said Tuesday.” While the games might not be the problem, it’s the illegal activity all the people will bring.

EOC Week 9: Free Website

Making a website is now easier than ever. Numbers websites now offer the option with templates to create a site within minutes. After that process, all it takes is a domain name purchase to get it started. While the process is fairly simple and easy, you get what you pay for. The ui is simple and very easy to use, but gives a all to basic feel with the final product. Long story short, if you want a website to stand out from the rest, you need to hire a professional or learn coding. http://onepagerapp.com/tu63

EOC Week 8: Privacy

Tracking users on the internet is nothing new, nor is it illegal. But it gets to a point that has you wondering if companies are crossing the line to gain this information. The more time that goes by, the more open people are about personal information on the internet. Social networking sites a massive reason for the increase of public information on the internet. Companies have various reasons for doing such activity. The reasons for doing such actives can range from all over the board. Getting your e-mail for a mailing list, marketing directly to your personal searches or even hacking your accounts is all plausible reasons. Facebook is one of the companies that are getting flack for tracking its users. The reason for the controversy is, not only do they track while users are logged into Facebook but also while logged out. “Facebook officials are now acknowledging that the social media giant has been able to create a running log of the web pages that each of its 800 million or so members has visited during the previous 90 days. Facebook also keeps close track of where millions more non-members of the social network go on the Web, after they visit a Facebook web page for any reason.” Google is also no stranger to controversy either when it comes to tracking. “Google will soon know far more about who you are and what you do on the Web. The Web giant announced Tuesday that it plans to follow the activities of users across nearly all of its ubiquitous sites, including YouTube, Gmail and its leading search engine. Google has already been collecting some of this information. But for the first time, it is combining data across its Web sites to stitch together a fuller portrait of users. Consumers won’t be able to opt out of the changes, which take effect March 1. And experts say the policy shift will invite greater scrutiny from federal regulators of the company’s privacy and competitive practices. The move will help Google better tailor its ads to people’s tastes. If someone watches an NBA clip online and lives in Washington, the firm could advertise Washington Wizards tickets in that person’s Gmail account.”  One way around this is to protect yourself with a variety of option!

EOC Week 7: Tumblr

EOC Week 6: Youtube Video

EOC Week 6: Phone App

Every day new apps are released for both the android and iPhone. Some apps are useful, business oriented, games or just a flat out waste of time. One thing all of these things have in common is that they can be used while driving. More and more tech savvy people are hitting the roads. By tech savvy people, I mean teenagers. Texting and driving has become a topic for the last couple of years. Even just talking and driving has become illegal in some states. More states are along the way with the same bill in motion. The problem with these bills is they have loopholes. With so many smart phones having the option to be used as a GPS, it gives drivers the reason to keep doing what they are doing. I’m not sure if this should be more of an app or a feature built into the phone with option settings to adjust. With using the features of the GPS, I think someone should utilities this feature into a phone lock.  While having the feature of being able to adjust the MPH’s would be crucial due to being a passenger in the car or other such situations. While the target audience for this app would be teenager’s parents, really anyone would be able to use this app.

EOC Week 4: Avon

Avon Cosmetics has been a well known brand among women for many years. It wouldn't even be a shocker if men are familiar with the products for various acne needs. Although the brand has had a very well branded name, profits have fallen 75% over the last 10 years. Avon has failed to adapt with technology and the changing times. While most companies have chugged along nicely with the changes, Avon has tried to keep the same business model it has for the last 70 years. Door to door cosmetic sales women seems to be what they want. Problem is, our market is basically like a ADHD student. We want things now and cheap. Although ordering online takes time, the cheaper price still seems to grab the attention of the consumers.

Avon even rejected a buyout offer worth about $10 billion from fragrance maker Coty Inc. Not only did the buyout come out to about ten billion dollars, but it was above the closing market price in the stock market. When the offer was made, the closing stock price was at nineteen dollar and thirty six cents. The ten billion dollar offer for twenty percent of the stock was priced out at twenty two dollars and ninety five cents. Avon over the last few years has been struggling to make a profit. Sales have consistently gone down over the last few years. While Avon has stuck to its guns and tried to be the same company it was 60 years ago, it’s time to evolve and get with the technology program. Avon has been a house hold name in American homes for decades. They have and still do provide superior products and services. The irony of this whole situation is the same business model that made them a power house is the same business model that killing them. Hopefully the new CEO will bring Avon back to life!

EOC Week 3: Spotify

What is it: Pandora has been on the rise in the last couple of  years. While not only streaming music for free, it will change artists in the same genre after every song to open your options. While this is a great program, it lacks one major thing. The ability to play a specific song by who you want and when you want. Spotify picks up where Pandora left off. Spotify also gives you the ability to make play lists to share with other users over the internet. Spotify gives you three options. You can either use it for free with ads, pay 4.99 a month for a ad free service or pay 9.99 a month for a ad free service and have the ability to listen to CD's before release and store music for use while offline. Online streaming music service Spotify has excellent audio, easy playlist formation, Facebook integration, and over 15 million tracks, but it is creates a massive drain on mobile devices and occasionally refused to play my WMA tracks.

Impact on the market: While it seems like such a service would impact the industry in a negative way, its actually making the music industry money. Much like YouTube, it gives the content away for free. While being played for it, it adds advertisement into the mix. Spotify also gives the option of purchasing music for you your own personal collection as well. Its almost the same model of giving away free samples at a grocery store. A very smart move on Spotify's part was teaming up with Facebook. Its a endless stream of free advertisement. As long as you have users using the software, it spams the Facebook to say what you are listening to. A app for the Ipad is also in the works.

Weird Find: While the internet is full of weird things, the one I found was Weird Al was still making music. He release a album in 2011 with of course various parodies. While the CD was released in 2011, hes now pushing a DVD of the tour that ensued after the album was released last year. No matter how old you get, you are never to old to enjoy some Weird Al.

EOC Week 2: Piracy

The internet is a magically place. Over the years, the trends differ from one thing to another. What’s popular one day is out the next.  Various components have changed over the years with internet service providers to just plain browsers. The internet has evolved so quickly over the years; quite frankly it’s hard to keep up. And with that said, it’s also part of the problem. The internet connects you to millions of people all over the world. Let me say that again, and really think about it. The internet connects you to millions of people every day. While that can be an amazing thing, it’s also a very scary thing. You privacy is attacked on different levels every day. The websites you visit, the internet service provider you use and the government are all interested in what you do on the internet.

It’s no secret Uncle Sam has been watching its civilians (No, I do not have a tin foil hat) for a while now. After 9/11 the government has been in full blown invasion of privacy mode. SOPA and PIPA were very proof of the government trying to watch “the man”. Bills like SOPA are popping up all the time now allowing the government to such down web sites, monitor your activity and basically run the internet. The scary part is, that’s only a third of the battle. Web sites that you go every day also try to collect your information. Then they put a price tag on it. Facebook is one of those sites that everyone loves but ignores the terms of service. Google has similar terms of service that gives them the rights to all uploaded materials onto their servers. Priveazy is a free website that tries to help people dodge the website bullets. Even your own ISP tries to collect your information and track your usage for the government and also personal interest. Some extremist are every attempting tofund their own ISP to be completely privacy free. So, what website are you going to visit next?

EOC Week 1: Internet Meme

 The Internet is full of funny images and YouTube videos.  A new trend that originated from Reddit, is internet meme’s. They use a generic image with simple tag lines. While new images and joke are added pretty regularly, a select few seem to stick around for long periods of time. College freshman and college senior are a very popular ones on Reddit. Facebook has recently started joining in on the fun with Zoidberg and condescending Willy Wonka. QuickMeMe is one of many sites that operate as a “Generator” they host all the images and present a user interfaces that allow you to pick an image while adding in your captions. Quickmeme also keeps a collection of meme that are generating a lot of traffic. While Reddit really started to make this into a fad, various sites are picking up on the jokes. Memes can be seen on sites like 9gag, facebook, reddit, 4chan and Something Awful. Meme’s also present of option of generating revenue for business. The arrow to the knee meme started from a video game. It was the most popular meme for a few weeks. 3 weeks of free publicity for a already successful game. “A very good, low-cost way of driving large volumes of traffic to your Web is by using a technique known as memetic marketing. In this article, we look at how Web Business Engineering was used to create this technique.” That is quoted from Nick Flor who did a decent article talking about marketing with memes. This kind of advertisement also has a negative aspect where the product might be the joke. A long running joke with meme is the “Scumbag Hat”. Various jokes have come from it targeting Google’s Chrome, Youtube and other big name companies. Meme’s must only be around for a fad, but it’s an entertaining one.

EOC Week 1: My Voice

I am a freelance web designer by day, motorcycle enthusiast by night. Motorcycles are not only an adventure to ride, but beautiful pieces of artwork. I believe you learn more about yourself riding 500 pounds of metal with almost no protection than almost anything else. My work tends to stick to a darker approach than most designers. Artwork should like to incorporate grunge with a mix of metal finishes. I like to push the limits both in my work and in my life. Living in Chicago for the first 23 years of my life has given me most of my personality. I’m exploring and living in different places every other month to learn about new cultures and life styles. Seeing how other people think and feel is far more important than any class room lesson. While various events in my life have shaped the way I am on a darker side, but I’m still a warm and caring person with the people I call family and friends. I am not, nor will I ever be a one trick pony. While we are only given one chance to make something of ourselves in the short life we have. Spending it caring about what other people think or do isn't something I follow. I am my own trendsetter. I tend to let my work speak for itself.