Daily Internet Digest

Launched in April 2007, the Chinese version of MySpace, has a lot of censorship-related disparities from the global editions of the service. Topics of discussion in forums such as religion and politics are not present and they have a system that strains that averts of posting sensitive topics like the independence of Taiwan, Falun gong and the Dalai Lama and several more “inapt issues” has been included. The users are now capable of reporting the “transgression” of offensive users involved in “jeopardizing national security”, spilling state secrets, sabotaging the government, discouragement national unity, and rumors going around distracting social order.

Who could have thought two students from Standford University started this hypothesis and years later, into the well-known, big time with big earnings (they have a net income of US$4.203 billion), Google. They have their search engine (just type in www.google.com), they have your basic email account (Gmail), and you’d always visit this site for videos (Youtube). They have made a lot or projects that all turned into success. They currently have 19,156 employees working on their Googleplex (their heeadquarters) in Mountain View, California. They have secured large partnerships with MySpace and AOL as well. They have been Fortune Magazine’s #1 place to work!

In Multiply, a prospective seller posts pictures of items he or she wants to sell. It ranges from clothes, gadgets, accessories, food and anything else you can think of selling. Some sellers even sell their second hand items (of course, it must be in good condition, if not, the price should be lower than expected). The role of the buyers: they go to Multiply (even better if they have their own Multiply account, some sellers consider that too), search for an item they want, and visit various Multiplt accounts that have them. They will have to choose, to the item, click the picture (infos like price or dimensions are posted) then have it reserved, pay for it, then it will be at your doorstep in a few days.

In some countries (mostly in South East Asia), shopping can be done even without putting your feet in a mall. This makes shopping at the comfort of your own home. All you have to do is log in to the internet, go to Multiply, visit a site that sells items, inquire about it, reserve it, pay for it, then have it delivered at your house in a 2-3 days. Oh yes you read it right, go to Multiply. Multiply is a social-network site just like MySpace and Facebook. You add your friends, make a blog, post pictures, put graphics, music, etc.

People who go on blind-dates sometimes have to lie about certain details about them to get their dates to like them. Internet socializing is just the same, it’s even hard to prove because you can’t see the person, maybe just with a picture and that’s it. People in the internet can lie about their age and even the gender. Some people will just do about anything to get your attention and hook up with it. Internet socializing sites are one of the best things these days, but warn the kids with extreme caution; you are not separating them from the computer until their 30, just advising them what’s right or wrong.

They may not have experienced growing up with the internet and the dangers it may bring, but similar events may happen to their kids even if it’s on the internet. Online chatting is one, be afraid when topics get into sex or physical details. It’s hard to warn the kids when it gets too late, and since they are curious (since they are growing up), they just might engage in it. So if you are a parent, it’s good if you talk these sensitive topics to your kids. In addition, there have been popular social networks that just about anybody can join; all you need is an email account.

Looks can be deceiving they say. Talk to a person on a street, later on he/she is being paid to get information from you (possible, it can happen). Looking at a person can deceive, what more someone you are talking to that you can’t see? Since kids have been more into the internet than the wiser ones, their curiosity explores the wide world of the web: internet. When will they know when and what they are doing is bad for them? That is why we have the wise people, to help the kids and teach them and keep them out of trouble based on their experience.

Carrie in the Sex and the City movie looked silly when she was in need for a phone to call her fiancé, and one of her friends hand her their iPhone, she just returned it admitted that she doesn’t know how to use it. Another scene there was when she was hiring an assistant, she ended up hiring someone who has a degree in Computer Science, and added a comment that she couldn’t even text message. They say that some older people are technically challenged, and the youth are tinkering with programming codes easy as pie. But one thing kids today can’t dig up on a search engine, experience.