betajames

The comic book film has become a gravy train to nowhere. The genre cranks up directors' box office averages and keeps offbeat actors fully employed for years at a stretch by dutifully replicating (with precious few exceptions) the least interesting, least exciting elements of its source material; spicing up otherwise rote superhero vs. supervillain storylines with "complications" and "revisions" (scare quotes intentional) that the filmmakers, for reasons of fiduciary duty, cannot properly investigate; and delivering amusing characterizations, dense stories or stunning visuals while typically failing to combine those aspects into a satisfying whole.

When people write annoying e-mails or make inscrutable spreadsheets, we don't blame Outlook and Excel; we blame the people. But for many of us, PowerPoint software is synonymous with the terrible output it often generates. Because we've all been bombarded by so many awful PowerPoint-enabled talks, we've come to assume that slide software is a fundamentally bad idea—that PowerPoint is a tool mainly for obfuscation and boredom, and that no good can come of it.

Social networking is rapidly blurring the edges between our professional and personal spheres. Many of us co-mingle colleagues, clients, friends and family within our social networks. Others do not.

While the long term effects are uncertain, this convergence is creating mass confusion among marketers and other corporate types who for years have worked to ensure these circles remain separate. They maybe fighting a losing battle since this train left the station long ago.

People rely more and more on search results to help build a picture of you and you want the picture to be a good one. You want search engine queries to direct to you and your accomplishments, not your virtual doppelgangers. If you have a name as common as my own, that could mean a sculptor, photographer, felon, aspiring actor, swimming champion, high school point guard, or any other number of people who share your name.

Steering an enlightened path between outright capitalism and downright communism, a new C-word has emerged as the way forward for business: Collaboration. In today’s hyper-socialised economy, it’s not who you know that really counts, but who you don’t.

Latching onto this open-sourced paradigm, the priority for many CEOs today is to break down the barriers that stand between them and their employees, their customers, their partners, their vendors – even their rivals. National boundaries are being bridged, corporate walls breached, expertise shared.

With Grockit, students can practice with, learn from, and compete with millions of their peers on the subject of their choice using live chat services. Students also can earn points and recognition for their achievements, including how helpful they are to their peers; their status is shown to the Grockit community, which can motivate students to excel even further.

research, conducted as part of a course on social media tools, examined the use of course management systems and discussion groups to enhance classroom instruction, improve communication and connections between students and translate the benefits of social media interaction to the classroom. The results indicate that the educational use of social media may not counteract poor social connections that are seen in face-to-face communication or elicit the same impacts seen in the use of social media sites such as MySpace and FaceBook.

Local governments should also put more effort into engaging with young people online. "Involvement in local government leads to federal government," said boyd. "It's rarely the opposite direction. When everyone is focused on a local election, you often see people engaging physically. For instance, asking them to show up and clean up the streets is something you can do easily. Government leaders can show up and talk to them there."

She cautioned that government officials talking to young people should be cautious about trying to use lingo or be hip. "It just makes you look lame. Be straightforward and say, 'I'm going to cover the issues that you care about, here are some different ways to contact me.' This is about building cross-generational trust."

While Formspring is still under the radar of many parents and guidance counselors, over the last two months it has become an obsession for thousands of teenagers nationwide, a place to trade comments and questions like: Are you still friends with julia? Why wasn’t sam invited to lauren’s party? You’re not as hot as u think u are. Do you wear a d cup? You talk too much. You look stupid when you laugh.