Will You Continue To Blog?

Even though I've had a fun experience learning to blog in this class. I probably won't continue blogging after this class just because I really don't have the time to dedicate everyday. I know blogs require alot of time and dedication in order to be successful but I will probably be busy with other things.

dot.com to dot.bomb thoughts

The book I read about for my presentation, "Brand Driven", talked a little about the reason why so many dot.com companies failed. It was because they focused too much on advertising without delivering the many promises made to their customers. The lack in customer faith and trust, pushed many customers toward other companies. This customer satisfaction factor played a big role in whether a company was successful or not.

Travel Planning and the Web

Its really amazing how easy travel planning has becoming in the past years. Instead of going to a travel agent to plan out your trips, you can do it yourself online and save money in the process. Now, you can even book hotels, rental cars, and find tourist spots, through the many travel planning sites. So when I happen to plan out any trips in the near future, I will know where to look.

www.kevinfreitas.net

Having the owner of such a popular blog coming into our class to talk to us was a good experience for us. I'm starting to think Andrew has alot of connections. He's always able to bring in these busy people to talk with us. Kevin's blog was interesting to me because he just blogs about his life and things he enjoys and just by doing that, he has attracted numerous people to his site that share the same interests. So he basically reached out to thousands of people just by blogging about anything he felt like blogging. It shows you the network you are about to make through the internet.

Scavenger Hunt

The scavenger hunt has been really hard so far. Number 1 was pretty easy because I just typed it into google, but finding the canon a80 camera, panasonic ag dvx100 camcorderm and roomba robot vacuum is seeming impossible. I've checked every electronics site i know of. Newegg, Fry's Outpost, and Buy. I'm gonna try amazon next to see if they have it. I'm pretty sure it will since its sorta like ebay, where people put up their items for sale. Numbers 3 - 7 have been pretty easy to find. But i'm not so sure about the next 7 questions.

www.livingandworkingvirutally.com

Biggest Purchase You Would Be Comfortable Making

I think the biggest purchase I would be comfortable with making is around $1500 or less, which is the amount I spent on buying my laptop. I really feel that if your going to make purchase bigger than that. You should really go to the store and inspect the item carefully for yourself instead of looking at pictures online. That way you can ensure that your spending that large amount of cash on something reliable. I would also purchase anything above $1500 at the store just because online shopping isn't 100% safe and with that much money floating around, who knows what could happen. Your ensuring the safety of your money by purchasing at the store. It would be less of a hassle too if anything happens to go wrong, you can return it to the store instead of having to ship anything back to the company and risk getting it damaged.

What Does It Take To Make a Community

I believe the first requirement of a community is that there has to be other members included besides yourself in order to begin to set the foundations. Then comes the involvement of all the members in the community. The members have to be involved in the activities within the community or it doesn't really mean much to be a part of it. If members are getting really involved with improving and extending their community, others might see that dedication and be persuaded to join. This leads to another aspect of community, which is dedication. The community won't be able to extend and achieve new heights if the members aren't dedicated and putting their best effort into building the community. Teamwork is also a big piece of the puzzle. There's no point of a community if the members aren't working together to achieve some sort of central goal.

Topic for Presentation

The topic for my presentation was a book called "Brand-Driven". The book talks about the essential foundation you need in order to begin and maintain a successful business through something called "Integrated Branding". Integrated Branding is a leadership practice that aligns all actions and messages with the core value an organization brings to its line of business. The goal of integrated branding is to create unbreakable customer relationships through positive experiences. I thought the book was really interesting read and I recommend it to anyone that is looking to start a business or someone looking to major in business.

Services that are Available

The number of services that are available online is staggering. Your errands like going to the bank or shopping for christmas items could all be done online with less hassle and with less time, allowing people to have more time for other things. Shopping sites allow you to have the latest items available to you and ready to buy at a click of a mouse. which is alot more convienent than having to do all the way to the store and stand in line. Dating services gives people a way to meet new people without having to leave the comfort of their chair. The informational services available to you means that you don't have to visit a professional to get your questions answered. You can search online for answers to your medical, electronic, or etc. questions, or you can just ask for advice concerning any subject with a simple search. The internet has even allowed us to find entertainment online. You can watch the latest flicks through online sites with streaming movies or having the site ship you movies that you want to see.

Comfort in Purchasing Online

I'm actually very comfortable with purchasing things online. Practically all of my electronics from my laptop to my mp3 player were all purchased through an online store. I find that buying online makes things so much easier. Instead of having to travel out to the store, examine the item, compare prices another store, you can do all of those things at an online store in less time and with less hassle.

But there's always the concern of someone stealing your credit card information. Which is why I'm always careful in selecting what sites to purchase from. I usually stick to the more popular online sites like newegg or amazon because I know they are used by thousands of other people and are trustworthy and protected from hackers. Basically, the more secure i know the site is, the more comfortable I am with shopping there. So choose your sites carefully.

Derek Young - Creator of Exit133

It was pretty excited getting to meet the creator of such a popular blog on monday. Props to Mr.Fry for being able to convince him to come speak to our class in person. It really gives you a whole different experience about blogging when you are listening to a person talk about his experiences starting with a small personal blog and then gradually expanding it into a huge virtual community.

It really made me think about what things I would do with my blog. Derek related his blog to things that he was interested in like Tacoma and its community. Maybe relating my blog to something I'm interested in might give me a good start to maybe one day expanding my blog and reaching out to the virtual community.

The Vanity Search

Well, I tried the vanity search last night and I really couldn't find anything relating to me. There were alot of company names that showed, which wasn't surprising to me especially with my last name "co". It wasn't until I added my alias into the search, that my myspace page came up in the search. That was the only thing I could really find that related to me in any way.

Publishing and The Web

I didn't realize there were so many types of publications. Some of them I didn't even know they counted as publications at all but that thing with naming off all the websites was way too hard.

HTML Coding Assignment

The html coding assignment was pretty easy for me since I've done alot of basic html coding with myspace,xanga, and all those things.

Email vs. Mail

It was interesting figuring out so many differences between email vs. mail. You realize how much easier things have become ever since we moved from the days of using mail as the main form of communication. It makes you appricate technology that much more.

Time To Get This Shiz Starteddd

FIRST POST OF THE QUARTER. GIMME SOME COMMENTS :]

www.myspace.com/danhoy