Is Apple Watching?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20055885-37.html?tag=topStories1

What looks to be like secret files on the iPhone that track user locations and log it on the device with out the users permission have been discovered. It is not very clear what the information is used for and why they have it yet though, but it is known that Apple has been collection data from their products with a 3G antenna for almost a year now.
Since this is very unclear this could be potentially very bad for Apple customers. Many people really trust Apple and are loyal customers, people also continue to buy their products simply because they trust Apple. This new information could jeopardize this though. Having data collected without the customer knowing is scary to many people. Customers weren't supposed to know about this, and now they aren't sure what it is being used for. This news could really hurt the company until they respond to all the questions. Temporarily, people may stop buying their products because they might feel as if they are being spied on. If they lose their customers, people may switch to the next best thing... the android. Studies show that the android is not using this technology to track their customers, and this might show a sense of security to many people and people may switch only for that reason. This news really can hurt Apple. It is the first negative comment I've really heard about the company, so it could really freak people out and start to question Apple more. This is going to lose customers' trust to the company and instead of Apple being the "it" technology company, they might turn into a sketchy company that people can't trust. This really has potential to hurt Apple.

Starbucks App

http://www.betanews.com/article/Starbucks-expands-mobile-payment-service-to-all-US-stores/1295465526 Starbucks is making paying for your favorite coffee mobile. All the Starbucks in Target now work for the new app and 7,500 stores across the country. This idea is great for the customers. Everybody has a smart phone now days, so making an app is truly the most innovative thing a company can do, in my opinion. The Starbucks app is genius for its customers. This makes getting your morning coffee less of a messy rush and more convenient for the customer. They can just stick out their phone (which is probably already glued to their hand) and pay. Starbucks is not only increasing business by making it more convenient and easier for customers to get coffee, but they are also probably making tons of money from the popularity of the app. Apps on smart phones can gain popularity real fast, and almost become a trend. People ask if they have the newest apps and if the Starbucks app catches on, then it could be the new app trend. This really does increase business for Starbucks. The new app is a great idea for the company to make things more convenient for their busy customers.

Facebook Kicking off 20,000 Users a Day

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/03/23/facebook.underage.users/index.html?iref=NS1

Facebook is booting over 20,000 underage users a day. To be on Facebook you must be at least 13 years old, and over half of the 12 year olds out there are using a social networking site. If Facebook is losing only a tiny fraction of their 600 million users, then what is happening to the company from this loss and why are they booting off users?
Facebook treats every user on their site like an adult, they give them their own choices as to what they want the public to see or not to see. If something explicit happens to a child on Facebook or from Facebook, then Facebook could probably get sued. 13 year olds don't make the brightest choices, but they have a little bit more of a grip on what to post online than a 10 year old does. I think Facebook is trying to prevent something bad from happening to a younger kid.
Another thought that crossed my mind was that 20,000 people less a day will be seeing the advertisements on Facebook and that might effect other companies besides Facebook. Will other companies lose potential money from this?
As age increases, it is shown that more people are involved with a social networking site. With all the younger kids getting kicked off Facebook will that make it more or less popular when they are of age? I would expect that it would make some kids want to be on Facebook more since they would have to wait to get on it, but I can also imagine kids being against it since they weren't originally allowed on or they were kicked off. Another possibility is that maybe the younger generations are finding other social networking sites to be on. If this is so, then Facebook will have a competitor because those kids might not want to switch sites if all their friends are using a different site other than Facebook.
I think Facebook is definitely number one when it comes to social networking sites, but to the younger generations it might not be. They might think something else is the 'cool thing'.

Times Square Alliance Presents a Major Public art Exhibition at the Crossroads of the World

http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=45402

The Times Square Alliance is showcasing different artists with a public art exhibit at the Crossroads in Times Square. The Times Square Show 2011 has four very interesting sculptures shown out in one of the busiest areas. Thousands of people are walking around Times Square every day which means thousands of people will be seeing these sculptures that aren't normally there. These out of place sculptures will be noticed since they are normally not there. I think these sculptures will draw tons of attention. With all this attention, these artists will be gaining the interest of people who normally wouldn't see their work or go to a museum. They will be exposed to something that they aren't use to and might like the sculptures. There are tons of people being exposed to the art in Times Square, so these artists will become so much more popular than they once were. Not only will people like them but they will be interested and want more. This will help not only the artists, but also museums. People who don't normally go to museums might start going now. Putting this in the public opens many doors to the artists and different businesses and museums for them to make more money and to have more interest.

Voting on Facebook for American Idol

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/02/24/american.idol.facebook/index.html

So Facebook has finally offered American Idol a secure way to vote online. Each viewer can log on to their Facebook account and vote up to 50 times. People can still vote via text message or phone calls as well. This means people will have an additional 50 votes. This could really impact the votes on the show and change things up a bit.
If people are voting on Facebook it might influence their friends to vote too since they could see in on their profiles or news feed. It might even make people who don't watch the show, want to start watching it because they want to be involved with the online voting on Facebook with the rest of their friends. The Facebook voting will most likely increase the popularity of the show even more. Facebook is the biggest social network, and trends fly around like crazy on it. If this voting is advertised well, then the ratings for the show and the channel could increase greatly. If other shows realize that Facebook voting is helping the popularity of American Idol, then this might become more popular with other series as well. I think television shows could really benefit by this, by putting themselves on Facebook, and allowing their fans to vote, not only makes their friends want to do it as well, but it makes them feel special and involved which will make them want to watch the show more often. Ultimately, Facebook voting will gain more viewers for the show.

New Way of Trading Cards

http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/gallery/2011-02/toy-fair-2011?image=4

Remember when we use to battle with our Pokemon cards and we would have to keep track of our health or power status? There are new trading cards out that will actually keep track of it for you. When you stack the cards, they will actually do all the work, the base card is your player card, and when you get attacked, you will place the action card on top of yours which will change the status of your player card. Can you imagine how much money this would make if it were Pokemon cards back when we were into that? I would be going ballistic for these cards! This new invention is such a great idea, because not only do people want to have these awesome cards, but people collect trading cards. So people won't just be buying only one of these cards, they will be buying a ton of them! Also, if this catches as much as Pokemon did, then all the kids will want some, and then their friends will want them so they can battle too. The new twist on trading cards, is brilliant. People with the old cards won't be able to battle against the newer cards, so they will have to buy them too. I think this idea will definitely make a lot of money if kids catch on to it and like it.

Google Art Project

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Google+teams+with+international+museums+to+zoom+in+on+art/23020

So the art world is making huge step with the new Google Art Project. Google is using it's street view technology and finally bringing it inside for the first time. 17 different museums are included in this project, London's Tate, New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) and also Metropolitan Museum. The new technology allows people to virtually tour the museums and even look at one of the 1,060 pieces art work close up. The museums have selected paintings to be photographed using gigapixel technology at a resolution of over 14 billion pixels, so you can see everything on the painting. This is phenomenal, it is opening up so many doors to many new viewers and the museums have said that it is actually bringing in more people because after viewing it online, they want to see the real thing. Since this is the case, people all over the world can experience fine art and hopefully go see the real thing. I think museums will greatly benefit from this.
I just took a virtual tour of the MoMA and I must say, I am blown away by this technology. It definitely urges me to go to the actual museum more though. I mean the quality of this is great, but now that I know what is inside, I would like to experience it up close and personal. I also took a look at the new gigapixel technology and looked at Vincent van Gogh's, "The Starry Night" and I can see everything down to the texture of the paint, to the strokes and colors he mixed. This new technology will definitely increase the popularity of the museums. I think they will all benefit from this very much.

$36 Million Dali Museum Opens In Florida

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/11/dali-museum-st-petersburg-florida_n_807585.html

Effects of New Museum Opening in St. Pete

The Dali Museum has been in St. Petersburg, Florida for a few decades actually, and just recently the city built a new museum to hold the artist's amazing work and to truly portray his style of surrealism. The old museum, which is only a few blocks down from the new museum was the complete opposite of the stunning new $36 million exhibit, which even includes a double-helix stair case. The museum is located in downtown St. Petersburg, which has a few tourist attractions, but nothing like this. The area itself, is actually very supportive of the arts, and is often overlooked as a tourist because it is the older part of the city and further from the beach. This modern, surrealistic building is now not only going to be a huge tourist sight now, but will also bring lots of attention from the art lovers. The downtown area has a two other museums, and a live theatre, and countless art stores so with the all the art lovers, the other exhibits will get plenty of attention as well as all the other businesses downtown. This new building, which was quite expensive, and took 14 years to produce, will greatly benefit the city and in the long run, give back with the money that it makes. The money was collected during recessions, and hard times, but the community still contributed to the new exhibit because they value the art, and having the art in their community. The amount of time and money spent, was a huge opportunity cost, but the city of St. Pete will actually gain a lot more out of it. The amount of original work from Salvador Dali is scarce, and this is actually the largest amount of it in one area which is even a scarcer find. The uniqueness, and creativity in the building is one of a kind, truly because there is nothing like it in the area.