Some Americans no longer must worry about being secretly photographed while taking off their sweaty gym short (eww!) (Who even thinks about that?)Many gyms are banning cellular camera phones in Washington, Maryland and Virginia, according to the Washington Post.

“We haven’t had any problems. People turn their cell phones off or leave them at the front desk,” Jones said.

Phones are banned to prevent problems that could lead to defame while in the gym socks! HMMM….I wonder if I can still have my camera phone in the AC gym…I was planning some good pics…

watch out in the gym!

Ok…I lied. I don’t think Bush is giving them out but for people in D.C. that would be nice! The law says that D.C. residents cannot drive unless they are using a handsfree device. I think that’d be a great law…I could put my makeup on easier while I’m talking and driving. Sometimes I just don’t get the lawmakers. They are playing with tonka toys while they make these laws or maybe its playdough…but they’re obviously distracted.

Does anyone have a hands-free cell phone kit they would like to loan me?

If your cell phone rings the normal, “ring” “ring” you are way out of the loop! In fact, you are ancient history. You are just not cool if you don’t have some snazzy new tone that others can recognize. Allison Hirschlag , a 19-year-old Northwestern University student, says,

“We actually make fun of people who still have the regular ringer on their cells, because when you hear that in a restaurant, 50 people reach for their phones,” Hirschlag said.

I have spent a mini-fortune downloading my personalized tones…but I thinks its worth it. I couldn’t bear getting laughed at because of my ring tone…My how shallow. But I have been sucked in to this trend also. I’m sure you have too!Sales hit $3.5 billion in 2003…WOW!

I love my xanga! A form of blogging, xanga is the latest craze! It’s like an online journal where friends can write about their lives, read about the lives of their friends, and comment! You can get cute layouts and design and even personalize your site to play a particular song. I look foward to writing in my xanga everyday..if only all blogging was so entertaining. So…my point…get a Xanga, you’ll love it!

You gotta give 100% to rock. And even when I don’t…I’m still awesome.

Check out this eccentric blogger…and join the trend!

XANGA ROCKS!

I love it when celebrities voice their opionions…fearlessly, especially on sensitive topics. Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays in an upcoming movie which is about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said she feels the United States is paritally to blame.

“Not to have the courage to ask these questions of ourselves is to betray the victims of 9/11.”

This is a big step for an female actress to be so upforth about her political opinions with the media…way to go Maggie!

With the internet popularity growing newspapers audience have become less and less by the years. I know that if I want to find out the news fast I just go online. You can find news much quicker for through the internet instead of flipping through several pages of paper its only a click away.

In 1995-2003, says the World Association of Newspapers, circulation fell by 5% in America, 3% in Europe and 2% in Japan. In the 1960s, four out of five Americans read a paper every day; today only half do so. Philip Meyer, author of “The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age” (University of Missouri Press), says that if the trend continues, the last newspaper reader will recycle his final paper copy in April 2040.

No more newspapers!

In a world dominated by technology, word on the street is that it is much quicker to type than to talk.

“In English, at least, it’s faster to type than it is to talk,” Rashid said. “We’re not moving to a world where those things go away.”

So, in a world where we spend almost as much time talking as typing, what should we start teaching our babies. I mean, what is this man talking about. I think he’s stupid…it is not faster to type than talk. By the time I have typed this word I have said it already in my head and could have said it aloud too if I wanted. We should like put a keyboard in our babies crib instead of teaching them so say mommy or daddy? SILLY!
No technology will conquer the verbal communication…not for girls anyway!

What’s next? I swear, its amazing the things they come up with these days. The latest amazement…computerized shoes. I don’t even own a laptop yet, much less shoes with a mind of their own. But these babies do have some benefit, along with a hefty price tag of 250 bucks. (Lets hope they don’t get endoresed by any famous athletes or they’ll probally be around 500 bucks.) So…according to some runners, these shoes are worth the buck u shuck…

But this footwear actually does help. Every time the foot swings upward off the ground, the shoes adjust their cushioning to the individual wearer’s running style and pace and to changes in terrain.

I think the three years spent developing these shoes could have been used more usefully…there are like hungry children out there and diseases to cure…

Blogging is something that has recieved a lot of publicity lately, yet it is not really a new thing.

So why are blogs becoming so popular? Of course with anything new they have wide appeal. With the internet being the medium for blogs, common and niche subjects alike, can find their way to the correct audience via search engines, word of mouth, or other market methods.

So whats the deal yo?

In France, Germany, Spain, and other countries in the European Union, it’s legal to copy DVD’S…wouldn’t this be nice if American’s were allowed to copy DVD’s. I mean, practically all of my cds are burned…piracy? No…just smart! The Europeans always figure things out before us!

This ruling means that 80 percent of DVDs now on the French market are equipped with illegal mechanisms,” said Julien Dourgnon, spokesman for consumer advocacy group UFC-Que Choisir, which brought the case.

Online advertising complaints are up according to Advertising Standards Authority. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) revealed in its Annual Report 2004 that complaints about online ads were up from 1,100 in 2003 to 1,265 last year. I personally an in this percentage of people who caused the rise in complaints. I am so annoyed when those pop up ads come up and interrupt my instant message conversation. Anyone with me?

Industry watchers believe the rise in complaints could be a reflection of the booming online ad industry, as more and more brands choose to market their products online.

Internet journalism has become the new “extra, extra, read all about it” of today’s society. There is a new, fresh face to how people get and send information, thanks to the Internet, and this new life in information has permeated the world of journalism as we have known it in our lifetimes. Once highly influenced by money and authority, the “news” has leaked into the hands of every American, hands of individuals who have just as much to say as the owners of major news networks. As Matt Drudge said appropriately in his 1998 address before the National Press Club, “Well, clearly there is a hunger for unedited information, absent corporate considerations.” The Internet has provided this need to the American public. Many men who have dominated the traditional world of news, such as Dan Rather, have been affected by blogs and the freedom they put in the individual’s hands.Paul Mirengoff, of Powerline, said at a recent conference on the effects of blogs, “ the main stream media may be now finding it necessary to join and compete with “other voices” in the media, “loosing control of the agenda” that it had dictated over so many years.”
In regards to the marketplace of ideas, the Internet has enabled the average American to participate in what was once limited to few. A parent can communicate with a child in college thousands of miles from home with the click of a mouse, a sick person can find help for their condition by clicking a search button, national leaders can arrange meetings within moments time…all this is available to mankind through the Internet. The chaos of the Internet adds much strength to its design. The point is that the movement of information among people creates progress and the faster the information moves, the quicker progress happens. This feature makes the Internet an ideal media form.
This positive chaos is created by voices of individuals who are all expressing different ideas, opinions, and knowledge on a medium that can be accessed by anyone who has access to a computer. This means there is masses of information being sent and received at the same time and we have both the choice and ability to decide what information is worth our time and consideration. That is beautiful, nothing is forced yet so much is available. It is the beauty of freedom that lends its glory to the Internet.

Some people in Austrailia’s union think the media is overstepping their boundaries, including Nicole Kidman a famous Austrailian actress. Since when did she NOT want her picture taken?