Top 5 Myths about Facebook

Ok, so you just joined the biggest social networking on the internet and you keep hearing these weird rumors. Well, this is the internet of course and people make up rumors for a living. Here are the top five that you’re probably gonna hear the most about facebook to watch out for.

#5: Facebook is Going to Charge You for the Service.
I thought this one was pretty humorous when I first read it. Personally, I feel sorry for the few who believed it. Do you know what would happen if Facebook started charging for their service? They would drop to the bottom of the pit. Myspace and Twitter would laugh in their face and take Facebook’s spot right at the top because people aren’t going to pay for a service that is free on other sites right? Right. But, the stats show that if Facebook charged as little as 5 dollars a month to only 5 percent of their users, they could average hundreds of millions of dollars just through membership fees alone.
#4: Facebook’s Founder Stole It?
Facebook’s founder, Mark Zucherberg was once hired and worked for Harvard by coding some things on a site called HarvardConnection which was designed to connect Harvard students with eachother. The students of Harvard claim he quit so he could work on his own site with the same idea as Harvardconnection. However, Zucherberg says he was inspired by Facemash, he previous site that allowed you to compare pictures with other people, that led him to Facebook.
#3: Facebook is for Sale!
You can try, but you won’t buy. Go ahead and give him a price. 1 billion?.. No, Yahoo! already tried that price and was declined. 15 billion? No, Microsoft tried that too a year later and was also declined. People have lowered the prices over time and it’s around 4 billion. I don’t actually know why there is a price since he says selling Facebook is “ not the core focus” of the company at this time. We focus on connecting people through the internet.
#2: Facebook Got Your Tongue?
Ever thought that Facebook could give you cancer? I didn’t either until psychologist Aric Sigman reported that social networking has made it so much easier to communicate that it will distort our social skills in the real world. He states that this could especially target younger people that grew up with the internet, because Facebook has made communication to be possible while keeping yourself isolated and so fast-paced that it could affect our body genes and hormones in face-to-face conversations. Cancer isn’t the only thing, Sigman als0 states that the health risks could be as far as heart attacks, strokes, and cancer as well. But note, that this was a “myth” and a group of students at Cambridge University thought exactly opposite and said it connects you socially closer with family and friends.
#1: Smile!.. Facebook is Going to Sell that Picture
The last and number one myth about Facebook is the company selling you images and using them for commercial purpose after your account has been deleted. At least that’s what the company’s TOS (terms of service) said in a recent update on it. Well actually it didn’t, there was some confusion and it got too out of hand that Facebook’s founder had to address the issue on the company’s blog. He states that after a user deletes his or her account, the content may still be there on other user’s pages. However, Facebook needs a license for sharing those images with of Facebook users, but only in a way that is not protected by your privacy settings. Zuckerburg claims that they do not plan on selling any images posted by members of the site and they are working on changing the wording of the TOS.
So there are your top 5 myths about Facebook that most users panic over. If you have any questions or if you have another myth you would like to share with us please email us at Roanecountyblog@gmail.com or rhamby@roanecountyblog.com. Thank you, and please be sure to comment and share your thoughts.

Choosing the Right HDTV for you

Now, you have the money and you’re dying to upgrade your “tube” tv to a new slick Flat Panel. So you go to the store and you want to fall to your knees in fright because you see a WHOLE WALL of Flat Panels from 20 inches to 80 and you don’t even know the difference between a plasma and a LCD. Instead of feeling “dated” and “tech illiterate” by going up to the electronic’s employee and crying “HELP”, use these helpful facts about Flat Panels.
Plasma
Let’s start with the plasma, your plasma is probably going to be your living room tv since the size ranges from 40″ to 65″. It works in dimly lit rooms from the fact that it displays deep blacks and bright colors. It’s more of your tv if you like to watch sports or play video games. It’s also useful for movies at night because of all of the above and it’s good for wide viewing angles.
LCD
Next, you have your LCD tv’s, they go from 5 inches in the palm of your hand to 65 inches on your wall. They are great in well lit rooms and they’re more energy efficient than plasma’s per square inch. They are very popular and have a higher resolution than the plasma as well.
LCD LEDs
Last, there are your LCD LED’s, they’re the new generation of LCDs basically. They’re actually similar to the plasmas because they display bright colors and deep blacks too. They range from 32″ to 60″ so this could also be your living room or master bedroom tv.
Now that you know the ropes of the flat panel HDTV it’s your turn to step up to the plate and decide which one you want. Do you want to go green and get the LCD for close to the same price as a plasma? Or, Do you want your entertainment time for College football season and Halo 3 multiplayer with friends on a nice, big, plasma on your wall? Your Choice.

Radar Guns V.S. GPS

Has technology beat the police at their own game? Back in 2007, Califonia teenager, Shaun Malone, was accused of driving 62 mph in a 45 mph zone in the city of Petaluma. Well that’s what the officer’s radar gun said when he pulled him over and gave him a ticket for speeding. However, the kid’s GPS says otherwise. His parents contested the ticket and said the GPS he had in the car was saying that he was driving at the legal speed limit when he was stopped.
So the case is still being handled in court and it could possibly affect the way officers use Radar devices. The Petaluma police department is still backing up radar accuracy by putting 15,000 dollars towards this case. We will know the final decision in a few weeks when the case closes but it’s all a question of GPS or Radar’s accuracy today. What do you think?

The Internet While You Are Sleeping

Most the time, like every average American, I’m busy throughout the day. But I’m also a computer freak and need my time with it. So I’ll stay up late and check my email, read a few blogs, etc. You get the point. Anyway, a recent 3 week study was performed by Arbor Network to observe the number of people on the internet during the night and monitor what they do as well. They made the chart above and for the average american, 11 p.m. was the hotspot hour for the internet.

2 p.m. is when the gamers (like myself) come out to play and around 8 p.m. people get their armor ready for World of Warcraft. Midnight is very popular for videos to start streaming all over the web and slowly decreases until the morning. Talking to your friends over the internet to see what they are doing is around 5 p.m. and increases by 80% til 8 a.m. in the morning.

As you can see from the chart diagram and my explanation late-nignt web surfers have a very wide broad of things to do and I thought this was a very interesting study. However if you notice, many of the things we do start to link together. Let me explain, gamers take off their armor and put down their guns to view their favorite youtube videos around 11 a.m. or 12 a.m. and in all of that they stay in touch with their friends chatting through I.M. Looks like the internet is one big happy family after all.

A note of thought: Copy Cats

Hey all my readers out there. I just wanna start by sayin something. I'm the kinda guy that grew up callin my kindergardenten classmates "Copy Cat!". I felt that if a guy made something up, IT BELONGED TO THEM. I notice that to this day people who do that. Back in November of 2008 Xbox 360 came out with a new interface for the "Xbox Dashboard" and the only thing I didn't like was that Microsoft gave Xbox 360 users these stupid avatars. You could change their clothes, take pictures of them, and even use them in arcade games that are being devoloped by Microsoft today. If you're not much of a gamer you may not know this fact but, Wii Devolopers came out with that idea as well, back when the Wii was first released 2006 a little over 2 years ago then the new Xbox update.
As much as I love Microsoft and Xbox 360 I was really disappointed when they came out with this because I'm for the person who made it first and in this case it was the Wii. Now, this relates to iPod Touch and iPhone apps simply because Verizon wireless has just opened up an app store for Verizon users to buy apps from that store. The apps are also very similar to the app store iTunes has. Apps such as Need for Speed and other games that can be played on Verizon's new Touch screen BlackBerry. Overall I think any company that's gonna try and steal other people's ideas (especially like Microsoft and Verizon) is obviously going through a rough time in this economy and that's my opinion. Comment below or email me and tell me what you think.

iHunt 3D

I bought this app on iTunes the other day for 99 cents just to give my iPod Touch a little something different. I've never been a fan of hunting games but this app is seriously addictive. I thought I'd wasted a dollar when I first started playing this cause it was so hard. When you scope in on a deer for instance, you have to tilt the scope to the left or right and the scope wiggles around as well so it was extremely difficult.
It became more easy over time and now I can scope in on there heads and take them off in under 5 seconds. But it's interesting and a great way to kill time when your bored, but I'm gonna give this app a 4 out of 5 because I would like to see more features in the game as well as animals and weapons. Also a quick note, I have a twitter if you want to follow me on there so you can know when I post a new blog. Here is the link http://www.Twitter.com/RyanHamby95, just copy and paste that in to your url box and follow me and if you don't have a twitter create a new account, it's very easy to do.

Stick Wars

Stick wars is absolutely addictive! I took a trip to the beach the other day with my family that was about a seven hour drive and I can almost bet money that I played this over half the car ride there. This video is a quick overview of the whole game and it's only 99 cents in the iTunes store so you should definatily get it if your looking to waste some time. Overall I'm gonna give this a 4 out of 5 because it's an amazing game however I would love to see more ways to kill the stick figures as they try to destroy the castle.