Archive for May 25th, 2009
The Pope Wants to be Your Facebook Friend
4:28 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Internet|Religion|social networking|Twitter|Uncategorized · 1 Comment
25 May 2009
You might think the Vatican would be busy lately, what with all the denouncing of sex crimes against children in Ireland they should be doing. But they don’t appear to be too busy to waste all of our time on dumb shit. One example is pope2you.net, a lame attempt to get younger people into the Pope’s fold.
You won’t get an email saying Pope Benedict added you as a friend and you can’t “poke” him or write on his wall, but the Vatican is still keen to use the networking site Facebook to woo young people back to church.A new Vatican website, www.pope2you.net, has gone live, offering an application called “The pope meets you on Facebook,” and another allowing the faithful to see the Pope’s speeches and messages on their iPhones or iPods.
I can’t poke the Pope? How lame is that? How about kicking him in the shin with my pointy boots for what he said about condoms spreading AIDS? Joking aside, if the Vatican wants to appeal to “young believers”, why not learn how the technology works and really use it to its full potential? A favorite blog of mine, ReadWriteWeb, reports that they’ve tried out the app and its pretty much snoozeville:
The Facebook app, which is currently loading very slowly, is also not exactly the most groundbreaking app either. Facebook users will be able to send and receive 20 different virtual postcards of the Pope, with texts available in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish (with Latin being conspicuously absent here). According to the app’s description, installing it will allow you to “Spread friendship with the Pope and become a witness of Christ in the world through the web.”
Sounds exhilarating.
What’s next? The Pope on Twitter?
Via /WashPo and ReadWriteWeb
Blast Rocks NYC Starbucks
12:45 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · crime|New York City|society · 4 Comments
25 May 2009
It might have been a small one, but it was indeed a bomb that shattered windows at a Starbucks on New York’s Upper East Side today. And some are linking the explosion to some recent consulate blasts we are all familiar with:
A “low-order improvised explosive device” exploded after being left on a wooden bench in front of the coffeehouse, Kelly said. The blast could be heard many blocks away, according to CNN affiliate WABC-TV of New York.Seven people were briefly evacuated from the building above the Starbucks, Kelly said, but no one was injured. The interior of the Starbucks sustained no damage.
It’s too early to tell whether Monday’s incident is connected to other minor explosions in New York City in recent years, including ones at the British and Mexican consulates and another in Times Square, Kelly said
I wonder what’s going on here. Earlier this month, a Starbucks in California was evacuated when a suspicious device was found there. That one turned out not to be a bomb, though what it was was never ascertained.
Via / CNN
Image via Boston.com
The Digital Divide Continues
9:49 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Internet|race · 3 Comments
25 May 2009
The term digital divide traditionally is used to talk about the haves versus the have nots when it comes to internet access. The digital divide has been analyzed from a race/ethnicity perspective and an age perspective. Pero the digital divide is more than just an access issue, it’s about keeping up with the leaps in technology. It’s not enough to have internet access, it has to be broadband access. It’s not enough to have a cell phone, it has to be a smart phone.
According to the Census Bureau, more than 40 percent of all homes are not connected to the Internet or use antiquated “dial-up” technology. Communities of color are disproportionately affected by the digital divide. According to a 2008 report by Free Press, a national media reform organization, only 40 percent of households of color subscribe to broadband, while 55 percent of white households are connected. The nation’s Latino population in particular fares among the worst, with only 35 percent having a broadband connection.
As high-speed Internet becomes increasingly expensive, middle- and low-income families are less able to afford it. According to the same Free Press report, only 35 percent of homes with less than $50,000 in annual income have broadband, while 76 percent of households earning more than $50,000 per year are connected in that manner. For many Latino communities living on the margins in Los Angeles, paying for pricey broadband service isn’t even a possibility.
Via / Colorlines
Hola!
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