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How do we end homelessness? This is a question that has plagued our world for decades. "According to the National Alliance report to End Homelessness the estimated number of homeless people in the United States was 636,017 at the end of last year." Although that is a 1% decrease, indicators suggest that the number might increase over the next couple years. So, what do we do? It is our responsibility to continue searching for answers to this problem. The latest, most innovative, tool created in hopes to slow the homeless numbers is a smart phone app. Yes, you heard me correctly. Homeless Connector is a mobile-friendly app that is a smartphone version of a survey that records data such as age, health, institutional history, and the length of homelessness of homeless Americans. The gathered information will then pair the person with any of eight health conditions associated with death on the streets. This gives the community a sense of how to take action in aiding and catering to the specific homeless people in their communities. Since the project began, participating communities have housed more than 22,000.

While scanning recent articles looking for a note-worthy topic, many of the subjects dealing with social media were negative. For example, apparently Magic Johnson has called attention to himself with a negative tweet regarding the Lakers new coach hire. Another one dealt with cyber-bullying. It is refreshing to see someone use social media forums in a positive manner with a credible goal. The potential and opportunities that come with technology are insurmountable, if used in the right way. Too often Twitter, Facebook, and other social mediums are taken advantage of. Through these new technologies we as a society are given power and a voice. It is important to remember the words of Peter Parker's uncle in Spiderman, "With great power, comes great responsibility " The creators of Homeless Connector should be applauded for exhibiting responsibility acquired through technological advances.  

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Being hours after such a monumental day for America, I feel the need to comment on the topic: Election 2012. I will not be bombarding every social network you have an account on with my minor, uninfluential opinion however. Instead, I want to comment on the fact that Obama has not only won the presidency, but he has claimed the most likes for a single picture on Facebook and also stolen the greatest number of retweets on Twitter from Justin Bieber. The president uploaded a photo of himself embracing The First Lady in celebration. The embrace in combination with the caption: "Four more years" stole the hearts and 'likes' of more then 2.1 million people. This whopping number takes the cake making the President's picture the most liked in Facebook history! The same photo when shared to Twitter was just as popular. "Obama's 649,575-plus retweets crushed the previous record holder Justin Bieber with 223,401 retweets." Sorry Justin, this one goes to the president. 

Ultimately, this is just a prime example highlighting how much social media has integrated itself into every aspect of our lives. Even the President of the United States of America depends on social media forums to reach out to the public. If used in the right manner, these forums such as Facebook and Twitter can benefit candidates in their campaigning. The key to this is to give the people what they want to see/read. According to 2.1 mini thumbs-ups, Obama knows how to utilize the social media sphere.

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As we all know, Twitter has become part of our daily lives. Now however, twitter has become so ingrained in our lives, that it is not just used for social purposes. For example in my Spanish class today I had to tweet to my professor as a class activity. Also, what season is it? Well, it's October.... yes... it's almost Halloween, yess.... IT'S ELECTION SEASON. Politics have been all over the twitter spectrum lately. The first debate sparked 10 million tweets, the second sparked 7.2 million, and the third sparked 6.5 million. You may be able to find a tweet here and there about the nice fall leaves but only after you search through millions of political thoughts! Suddenly, twitter has become a board to post your political opinion, as well as satire the statements of each candidate from the debates. For example the hashtag #horsesandbayonettes was one of the most popular from the last debate. Twitter during the debate is described as a "micro-blogging service like Mystery Science Theater for live television." Technologies like twitter give the opportunity for common people to engage in live conversation as major events take place. What a way to liven up a potentially dull television debate!

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When it comes to social media, especially Facebook, the updates and new features are endless. As with any form of technology these days, it seems like there is a new version or new app waiting to be downloaded constantly. The latest feature in the social media sphere was introduced by Facebook on Wednesday. Attention fellow Facebook users: You can now buy your popularity. We all know, avid Facebook users that we are, that sometimes when you post something it gets little attention and can quickly be swallowed up but other, more "liked" posts on friends' news feeds. Frustrating as it may be that your perfectly planned and designed picture did not get the level of likes you thought it deserves... DON'T FRET! Facebook now has a solution. Now, for only $7 dollars, you can purchase a service that gives your posts prime placement on your friends feeds! Never again will your posts be overlooked by the Facebook world. Unless of course everyone decides to purchase this software, then back to ground zero. Although this is just a test run right now to see how people react, New Zealand-ers have responded fondly to the program as it has been employed there for months. It will be interesting to see if this new premium placement feature will sell or flop. Will you pay for your Facebook popularity? Time will tell.

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Lately it seems that college bars are struggling with attendance and revenue. However, it's not that students aren't getting drunk anymore. So what could be the cause? Believe it or not, many people believe that the cause could actually be linked to digital technology and social media. 

Think for a minute about your typical night out as a college student. Typically, there is no rush for you to get to the bars. Before 11:30 or 12:00 AM would be lame anyway right? Plus, you need time to pregame, maybe even pregame the pregame. Duh. This seems to be the general mindset for college students today. Bar owners claim that there are barely any customers, and then come 11 or 12 o'clock the bar is packed with students who don't spend money because they got there so late that they are already drunk. Why is the arrival time so late? Many bar owners believe social media and technology are the culprit. 

Bar owners reflect on the days when texting, Facebook, and other social media did not exist. They claim that in those days, bars were meeting places where students would gather after class to discuss plans for the evening. Back then, bars created a sense of community, a casual hangout, that pulled crowds early in the evening. The development of Facebook, texting, etc. make it possible to figure out if a bar is worth the trip or not, without actually physically moving. This contributes in pushing the trip to the bar back until around midnight, if even at all. 

The development of picture phones and Instagram also contribute to delayed arrival times at bars. Often girls refuse to leave the pregame and head to bars until they have taken, edited, and posted the perfect picture. Some may think this is an extreme claim but you know there have been times where your friends are yelling from the door "Come on!" and you say "Wait! One more picture!" I know I am guilty. “You could have this really amazing night, but if you didn’t get a picture, it’s like it didn’t happen,” said a senior at Gettysburg.

The students delay in bar-going has bar owners worried. In order to keep luring students earlier in the night owners are cleaning up, modernizing, lowering prices, and even demanding bartenders to download mixologist apps to their phones to cater to the weird drinks students ask for because they saw it on Facebook. 

It's interesting to think that technological advances can be such a convenience for some, while being very inconvenient for others. So this weekend get going early and help save the bars in your college town! 

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Korean rapper Psy's dream is continuing to come true as his gangnam style rap continues to gain popularity in the U.S. He has not only appeared on Ellen and The Today Show, but he recently took SNL by storm. I found this article relevant and interesting because it was this video that sparked our class discussion on how to make a video go viral. 

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"This is a paperless classroom." These were among the first words spoken to our IMS-201 class. Today's world has not only come to rely on technology for daily functioning, but it is also a world that has gone mobile. Rarely do you see students taking hand written notes, writing on post-it notes, and using pen and paper to make the grocery list. More and more we see laptops for taking notes, smartphones replace tangible agendas and calenders, kindles instead of paperback novels, etc. etc. The list goes on and on. In many ways, these technological advances are an incredible benefit to society. I would guess that majority of Americans believe new organizational methods made possible via technology surpass those of the past. In addition, being part of a "paperless classroom" further highlights how dependent 2012 society is on technology. With this being said, I thought it would be insightful to offer a differing viewpoint on the situation. The author of this article still believes in the power of pen and paper. I must agree. Although he acknowledges that paper versus virtual methods is a matter of preference, he pinpoints some statistics that highlight scenarios where using paper is more ideal. According to the author, "Although digital technology is better for socializing and sharing, paper is better for quiet contemplation." For example, a 1997 study showed that comprehension is way better when text is read on paper rather than online.Ultimately however, there are indeed benefits to each method. One must simply find which works best for their personality. Personally, I'm lost without my tangible post-its and am honestly struggling with the whole "paperless classroom idea." With anything in life however, one must adapt to the ages or at least be knowledgeable and capable. However, pen and paper will always hold a place in my life.

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According to this article, YouTube has created a “Mood Wall” in which about 40,000 videos have been divided into 20 categories based on the emotion the video evokes. The goal of this creation is to make it easier for viewers to navigate the website and find the type of videos they are looking for. This idea parallels our class discussion when we asked questions like “what makes this video so popular?” In order to categorize the videos in the appropriate categories, the YouTube team reads through the comments in attempts to discover emotions sparked by the video. 

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After reading the articles that dealt with viral sharing and shock appeal, I found this article very intriguing. The article acknowledges the fact that the web gives musicians unlimited access to inundating fans and others with updates, new songs, etc. With the increase in technologies such as Twitter, Facebook and more, self promotion has become extremely easy. The article goes on to highlight the "biggest blunders" bands make in attempt to further online promotion. This is relevant to the class because we talked about what contributes to making a video go viral, one of these elements is shock appeal. In the same manner that shock appeal can help promote or halt a video's viral success, within the music industry technology overload can actually hinder bands self promotion if not used in moderation.