The Brainyard "March Madness and Social Networking" March 2012

It’s amazing all the effort the different sports teams go through to use social media to please the fans of their local teams. They use the social networks to create different clubs and organizations for the fans. The most famous example of this is “red sox’s nation” which was started on a social network and has become an identity for all red sox’s fans. It is something that all people in that group can come together and say I am a part of that. All Boston sports teams use social networking. The bruins, red sox’s, Celtics, patriots, and the revolution to get the word out about different events that are going on with the teams. They also use it to promote fan pride within the teams with different things to please them. They used the sites for all the times they had won a championship for parade times. One thing I know from twitter is even the players you can follow and see how they are feeling and as a human that makes u feel as if you are connected with that star athlete as a normal person. The goal of a person in marketing is to keep the fans coming back to the games and selling out, so they use social media to have free give a ways and that gets the average fan to look at their twitter feed or Facebook feed everyday to see if they may have won something or have the potential to win something. They also use social media to get word out of their teams faster between injuries and trades. They used the example of Peyton Manning of the colts being released from the colts and how the colts organization should have become more personal with their fans instead of just handing them a written statement. Which is true they should have talked to the fans in a personal way and let them know the direction that they were going with the organization? Peyton was such a huge figure in that city that the fans at least deserved a personal note from the organization. With social media they could have done that is all I am trying to state.

Blog #4- Carter Rouleau

March madness and social networking - March, 2012.

These days social networking isn't just for social purposes. Many professional sporting teams are using social networking to interact with their fans and helps sales production. Teams such as the Boston Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins use FaceBook and Twitter as a way to promote their teams during and after the season is over. Social network marketing is very important to these teams because it creates enthusiasm for the sporting event as well as helps the organization sell tickets and release stories about the team. "Red Sox Nation" was started as a social networking technique and has caught on very quickly with millions of fans around the Boston area. Creating enthusiasm for a sporting event is very important because it makes fans go to each and every game with a certain kind on mentality that just makes it a great atmosphere to have a great time for fans and players. The video explained that social network marketing is very important to any business these days that is trying to grow. And I completely agree, most businesses I know are all about social networking and getting their name out there in the public. This is a great idea because young kids and young adults are on social networking cites daily. If they are on these cites daily, then it is easy to market to them all at once using a social networking cite.

Blog #4

Taylor Therrien
Top 10 Mobile Apps for Business Collaboration

The article I chose to do this blog on was the Top 10 Mobile Apps for Business Collaboration. When I saw the title of the article I knew it was something I was interested in. Being in a business school and knowing I want to be successful in business, I figured this might not only be an easy assignment to complete, but also a valuable lesson. Since average college students are on their phones for a large amount of time out of the day, this could be a helpful hint for anyone who wants to be a successful business person and get the most use out of their phone. There are ten applications but going through all of them would take a lot of time. Out of the ten, I picked out my favorite four. The first application is Cisco WebEx. This application makes it easy for anyone to host and/or conduct online meetings. This is perfect for anyone in a time crunch who needs to get tasks done right away. The next application is Microsoft SharePoint. This application provides a portal for file sharing, communication, and content management. This application is only available on the iPhone. The third application is called Salesforce Chatter. This is like a business twitter. You can post presentations, and statuses about anything business related. The next application is Seesmic. This is a great application because it resembles twitter only it's a social networking site for business and management professionals. It's a great way of fast communication. I feel that all of these applications could be seen as a necessity for business people that are on their phones constantly. Using your phone for communication and a business tool is something that is getting more and more popular by the day. Collaboration is extremely important is today's culture, and especially in business. If there were no collaboration, communication would be a downfall and therefor business would dramatically shift for the worse. These applications make collaboration and in specific, business collaboration a lot easier.

a 3D printer created this shoe

A 3D printer created a shoe A video posted by CNN shows the beginning of a new era in technology. A 3D printer that can print out real live objects has been created, something that I never though could exist. Pretty much anything that you can think of can be created in your home by simply pushing a few buttons. This new invention will make things more efficient for businesses and for the home life. You won’t always have to spend so much money on clothes or shoes, and the price of little things such as a cell phone holder that are usually overpriced can now be made were you live. Anything you want such as a shoe, a toy, or even a cell phone case is all examples of what this printer can make. For the price of thirteen hundred dollars families and anyone who wishes will no longer have to order things from china. Manufacturing can be done in any home. This will revolutionize technology and how things are made. Simple and small trinkets that we pay so much money for will now be made in homes all around. We won’t have to pay so much money because of the printer that will make anything you want. We will have more money to transport other things we need to America instead of spending money to have other people make and deliver things that most Americans don’t even need. This might seem like a small step to some but to others this is a big door opener because with the start of this new technology will come new and other more efficient technology. This world is based on technology and this new 3D printer is a perfect example to show how far the world has come.

  http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/tech/2012/03/31/nr-kaye-3d-printer.cnn#/video/tech/2012/03/31/nr-kaye-3d-printer.cnn

Facebook Password

Is it right for your employer to ask for your password to your Facebook account?

In a CNN article, "ACLU: Facebook password isn't your boss' business" written by Doug Gross on March 22nd, 2012, talks about how employers are wanting their employee's login information to their Facebook account. In one case, Robert Collins was a correctional officer in the Baltimore area was asked for his password by his employer. He did not want to give up his login information but really needed his job. The reason behind why the employer wanted the password was to make sure he was not affiliated with any gang. The employer went through his personal messages, looked on his wall, and through his pictures. The American Civil Liberties Unions (ACLU) ruled this an invasion of privacy. Employers are not allow to deny the right to employment based on whether or not they hand over their password. In another case, Justin Bassett was asked at a job interview for his password and refused. He probably did not end up getting the job. 


This is getting to be a violation of privacy and if we allow employers to ask for passwords to Facebook or Twitter then pretty soon it will be employers opening mail and asking for house keys according to the article. This is also a violation of Facebook's Terms of Service which clearly states: "You will not share your password, (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account."






I believe that employers are starting to go to far with all the new technology that our society is now relying on. I find it completely acceptable to go on an employees Facebook page and "creep" on them by looking at their wall and through their photos. But I do not find it acceptable that employers to login into their employees' Facebook and go through their messages, wall and photos. As long as the employer can see what is on their employees' walls and their photos without logging into their actual Facebook account, then it is completely acceptable. 


This is also a reminder to employees to set their privacy settings so their Facebook page is private to the public and only who they are friends with can see their page. As long as their Facebook page is private and not friends with their employer, they should not worry about their employer "creeping". Also, if you are worried about things on your Facebook page, GET RID OF IT! You should never put up pictures of drinking or smoking and never post statuses that inappropriate that could put you endanger of losing your job.

IPhone 4

Apple is the main focus of a lot of technology talk lately. During the past few years the new IPhone 4 has developed a problem with the service and dropping call frequently.  The company is now giving back to the customers for the problem that has been occurring. Apple will be giving customers their choice of 15 dollars or a free case for their phones. The cases are supposed to help with the digital signal and help decrease the amount of drop calls due to bad service. I have the IPhone and have experienced the dropped calls with and without the case on. I do not understand why the calls drop but it is very annoying and happens on more than half of my calls. This problem mostly happens at school, where my service bars are never on full, so it could be the phone antenna or the reception out here in Dudley, MA. The problem for Apple is that there are way too many customers with the IPhone 4 and the same problems to fix. Which makes it difficult to please everyone without spending a lot of money, and free cases is the least they can do to make the customers feel like Apple care about their products and the customers. The settlement of $15 is fair and the customers have 120 days to get either the money or the free case to try and help make the antenna work to its full potential. 

Ready or Not, Here Timeline Comes

By Pat Walsh

This blog post was inspired by the article “5 ways to secure your Facebook profile in a post-Timeline world”, written by Logan Kugler on February 7, 2012.

Have you switched to the new Facebook Timeline yet? Well it does not matter, because in the next two weeks everyone’s profiles are going to be switched to the new and some say “improved” template. Since there is no way to actually stop the transformation, there are a few tips that will help secure your timeline profile.

The first tip is to limit the amount of connections you have through your security settings. Set your settings so that only your close friends can view or post on your profile. The reason behind making the accounts so private is because in the future there will be employers or employees looking for you on Facebook, the last pictures you want them to see are you crushing Natty’s like a champ in your dorm room.

The second tip is to take control of your tags. It is a good idea to change your tag settings because you have to approve anything before it can go public. For instance, you are on vacation and you get absolutely sauced, you still have time to delete any tagged pictures your friends posted of you puking out the taxi window. What happens in Vegas, should stay in Vegas.

An important tip to know is that you should be aware who has permission to access your profile through applications. Get rid of any unwanted applications that you may have you may have through your privacy settings. These apps are unwanted because they all have permission to your information in your accounts. For the remaining apps that you would like to keep, go to the settings and check the apps privacy settings and make sure everything is in order.

The timeline is all about sharing, which makes it a good idea to start cutting down on your social footprints. Rather than letting the whole world know all the junk you said or posted from when you were a freshman in high school, you can now disable recent activity updates. To delete certain posts you must delete them individually.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9223862/5_ways_to_secure_your_Facebook_profile_in_a_post_Timeline_world?taxonomyId=84&pageNumber=1