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.

iPod Touch Cases: Touchlite

This is absolutely the coolest case I've seen for the iPod Touch yet! It's the Touchlite case for iPod Touch 2ND generation from the metallic series. It's the thinnest and lightest case yet for the iPod Touch. It has a slim fit hard cover and is a plastic case with high reflection metallic finishing. One good thing about it too is that it's cut so you can still access the controls on the side of the iPod Touch without removing it. A mirror or crystal screen protector is also included and the case shields and protects the iPod form dust, scratches, and damages.
It comes in 5 colors: Titanium, Royal Blue, Dark Gold, Merlot, and Rouge(red). Personally this case is any I've ever had in the past because I like to keep my iPod in my pocket and cases I've had in the past with that rubbery material stick A LOT of lint in my pocket and it's very hard to pick off. So I bought this case for 26.90 on more-thing.com. It's amazing and has a very sleek design and I will definitely recommend this case for any Ipod fan out there or anybody who either wants to look cool with a pricey case or who doesn't want their iPod Touch damaged :).

Pocket God

The chart topping app for months now that released its 17th episode to the series May 19, 2009 is Pocket God! I absolutely had to write a review for this app because it is just so popular. Pocket God has been downloaded over 1 MILLION TIMES and is an amazing app developed by Bolt Creative. Along with its humor of watching little islanders interact with the things around them it is very fun and "Time well wasted" approved. :) The app is a series of stories with new ways for the islanders to interact with things and a definite stress reliever. You can kill these "islanders" over and over and press the + icon in the top left corner and add them over and over again. You can have six on the island at one time and you can kill them by: Burning them by holding a magnifying glass over their heads, throwing them into the water, get eaten by a shark, throw them into the volcano in the background, have them eaten alive by ants, and many many more ways. Its addicting will all the new ways and environments the developers are making for these islanders to move about. They are a tribe known as "Tribe Ookga Chaka" led by there god "Gene Simians". The six each have a name as well, there names are: Ooga, Booga, Nooby, Dooby, Klik, and Klak. They each have there own characteristics and personalities that you can look at in the settings menu and the picture of an islander. That's basically the whole idea of this app and I personally will give it a 4 out of 5. I would like to see more interactions with you and the islanders, more "The Sims" like features but I'm sure that will come later down the road with this app as well.

iMafia

The iPod Touch/iPhone app that released February 4th this year is absolutely amazing. The game I have been talking about is called iMafia. I have been playing this app every since I downloaded it and I have flourished so much in this game. The game itself is very well thought out and uses the principal of supply and demand in many ways. iMafia's concept is you are either a Mogul (specializing in properties), a Brawler (specializing in fights), or a Workaholic (specializing in missions). The game is simple, You have to earn energy to complete missions, once you complete a mission you then start to build a net worth. After you have some cash you can then invest your money in real estates and earn money even when your away from your iPod every 50 minutes, or you can invest your money in weapons (Note: Some require an upkeep fee). You can use the weapons to fight other people across the internet and beat them for money. However keep in mind whenever your not playing they can do the same to you. Overall this is a really great app. It is very fun when you have some time to blow and I am going to give iMafia a 5 out of 5. I would recommend this app to anybody that likes Mafia style games along with creative thinking. Be sure to leave comments and tell me what you think of this app as well.

iPod Touch Apps: Howcast

Hey everybody, I'm Ryan Hamby from Tennessee and this is my first blog on the iPod Touch Apps. I recently found a new app called Howcast for the iPhone or iPod Touch and I will first say I am very judgemental about apps but this is by far one of my favorites. In the app Howcast they provide many "How to" videos on numerous things from "How to grind coffee beans" to "How to be a better Coworker". They also provide many categories such as "business and finance", "Technology", "Sports and Fitness", and "Careers and Education" along with many more. The app is just like the website and it also uses the iPod Touch's accelerometer to make it to allow you to shake the iPhone/iPod Touch and it will pop up a random video from their archive. This is a very useful app and I personally like how you can search for things while also make a favorites playlist and review your history of videos. So overall I'm gonna give a 4 out of 5 for this app because the makers were very creative in this app however I don't like how you can't search by categories but this is a great app and I would definitely recommend it. http://howcast.com/