Kentucky Fried College

According to this article, KFC launched a Twitter contest that will grant $20,000 for college to the high school senior who sends the best and shortest tweet. KFC is using Twitter to reach out to the younger population. For the contest, applicants have to explain why they deserve the scholarship money in 140 characters or less. The deadline to enter the contest in November 26, and the winner will be announced December 1 and will receive up to $5000 for four years to pay for tuition.

Overstock.com Sued for Overstating Prices

According to this article, Overstock.com is being sued by a group of district attorneys in California for $15 million for overstating its deals and misleading customers. This case was initiated after Overstock advertised a patio set for $449.99 and said that its listing price was $999, but when a consumer received the patio set, there was a Wal-Mart sticker on it reading the price $247. Lawyers are attacking Overstock for making up list prices in order to make their price appear better, though really it is ripping off customers. Overstock says that they have been singled out for standard industry practices and plans on explaining that in court.
The interesting thing about this is that online shopping has become extremely common in the US, but costumers can never really tell what's going on behind the scenes. Consumers usually trust online stores with credit card numbers, their addresses, and hope that the prices are legitimate, but this case proves that there is not always someone monitoring the internet and customers are paying for it.

Final Prompt: New Models for Journalism

I think it's more likely to sustain journalism online versus on print. I think print journalism will become obsolete relatively soon, but I don't think that newspaper companies will completely go out of business. People right now get most of their news online, so if newspapers were no longer printed, I think people would just gravitate to the newspaper's website. I think people will still want a newspaper, just via the Internet. I also do not think that minor newspapers will withstand on the Internet; Internet newspapers I think would be made up of larger companies that cover a large area. Then, the only smaller town papers will make it online is if they can use the local blog idea because if a larger newspaper has an issue with costs, there's no way a smaller newspaper will be able to afford anything but a free blog with volunteer writers. However, if no volunteers want to write for local online newspapers, companies will rely heavily on donations and grants, which with an economy like this, is unlikely to produce any positive results. In that case, if both larger and smaller papers cannot succeed online, it would not surprise me if companies like CNN, which are TV based, become more popular. I believe only the people truly passionate about journalism will dedicate themselves to non profit blog journalism, because if people can't get paid, they won't bother, and the public can always watch TV news if all else falls through.

Blog Prompt 4: Microcinema

     After viewing a few of Jack Daniel Stanley's short Internet films, I can see how the style of his films may transcend into the future of moving making, but I do not think that short films will become a norm in theaters around the U.S. The Internet is the perfect medium for short films like this because people have a very limited attention span, especially when surfing the web, so a six minute film is about all a viewer will want to spend time on viewing. Anything longer than that, I think, will remain on a DVD or in a theater.
     If anything, I think these videos represent Internet filmmakers aspiring to be feature length film filmmakers. These videos remind me of the videos my friends in film school have to create for school projects, in hopes of one day getting the opportunity to make larger scale films. They're impressive, but nowadays, that doesn't make just anyone famous.
     Though some of these filmmakers may be able to show screenings of their films, that does not necessarily designate them as renown filmmakers. I have a friend who created a movie, and with the help of donations from her family, was able to show a screening of her film in a theatre she rented out, but that's all it was. She's still a college graduate with no job.
     Overall, though I think it is possible for these filmmakers to become prevalent in the future, they won't be known by these works, but by longer and more established films that will be seen in theaters and cost money to see. These films are perfect to broadcast via the Internet, but for it to mesh into the future of film, creators will have to create films meant for theater consumption, not the Internet.

Mobile Phones to Diagnose STDs

According to this article, a research project in Europe aims to allow people to self diagnose STDs like HIV and syphilis by using their cell phone. This project received a $6.5 million grant to develop small chips that can be used to used to test saliva, urine or blood for sexually transmitted diseases. And in some cases, one would need to urinate on the chip to get a diagnosis. This project expanded due to the rise of STDs, many of which are not being taken care of. The chip still needs to go through more development, but could be seen on phones within the next 7-10 years. 
The chips would be made available in public places like vending machines and night clubs. The chips would be used once and thrown away and would connect to phones through a basic cable.

Hyper-texting Leading to Increase of Smoking, Drinking, Sexual Activity Amongst Teens

According to this article, a study by the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine links poor health behaviors like drinking, smoking and sexual activity to hyper-texting and hyper-networking amongst teens. Hyper-texting is defined as sending more than 120 messages a day and hyper-networking is defined as spending more than 3 hours a day on social network sites. 

According to the study, those teens who hyper-text are

-- two times more likely to have tried alcohol

-- nearly three-and-a-half times more likely to have had sex

-- 40 percent more likely to have tried cigarettes

-- 41 percent more likely to have used illicit drugs

-- 43 percent more likely to be binge drinkers

-- 55 percent more likely to have been in a physical fight

-- 90 percent more likely to report four or more sexual partners

Those teens who hyper-network are 

-- 60 percent more likely to report four or more sexual partners

-- 62 percent more likely to have tried cigarettes

-- 69 percent more likely to be binge drinkers

-- 69 percent more likely to have had sex

-- 79 percent more likely to have tried alcohol

-- 84 percent more likely to have used illicit drugs

-- 94 percent more likely to have been in a physical fight

Turkey Lifts YouTube Ban

According this article, Turkey has lifted its two year ban on YouTube caused by videos portraying the country's founder in a negative light. The man in charge of Internet issues within the country, Mr. Yildirim, said there was no more need for the ban because the insulting videos have been removed. Insulting the founder of Turkey or anything Turkey related is illegal in that country. Many Turks criticized to ban of YouTube, including the president of Turkey who asked officials to find a solution. Speaking on television, Mr. Yildirim said the ban was lifted after "common sense prevailed,"and he hopes people have learned from this experience so it will never happen again.