Tug of War

As I was reading the article, “The Coming Tug of War Over the Internet” found on washingtionpost.com, written by Christopher Stern, I began to wonder if this is a debate that is still happening today? Are telephone communication companies debating giving priority service to the internet company that pays more? The internet itself is not owned by anyone, neither are the communication air waves.

The article discusses how telephone communication companies have to pay for building faster, better communication networks to compensate for how much space an internet search engine like Yahoo can take up. Telephone communication companies believe that they are getting the raw end of the deal. Especially when all the search engines have to do is pay a small fee to be connected to the internet using the telephone company lines. Telephone companies want to make it so that a search engine must outbid search engine to receive a better connection service form the telephone communication companies. This would in turn give some internet search engines an unfair advantage over others due to the service they are being provided. Some websites will pull up faster than others. Some sights will process information faster than others, and it won’t be due to the search engine itself but the connection that it is paying for. This makes service harder for anyone but an already huge search engine to get the service needed to start a new search engine idea. As Alan Davidson, Washington Policy Counsel for Google says, “Our worry is not for Google but for the prospect of bringing fresh innovation to the Internet. After all, if worse comes to worst, Google can pay AT&T or BellSouth to maintain its role as the Internet's dominant search engine. But the bright young start-up with the next big innovative idea won't have that option.” By making a search engine pay a certain fee to receive better connection services we will limit the number of new ideas and information that could further benefit our future.

There is a solution. In this article it discusses a Telecommunications Act that is being revised. The Concept of “network neutrality” could be added to this law. It would prohibit telecommunications companies from making search engines pay more money to receive a better connection. I believe this is a concept that should be put into the act. It will protect the growing momentum of ideas that be distributed through the internet.

Is Google a Friend?

I was reading an article on Google and how it tracks every search, every click, basically every move you make. This information can then be subpoenaed by the government divulging to them your personal life. You would think that this information would be protected, that a search engine would delete this information because it would waste of space, but this is not so. Google can hold onto personal information for as long as they want, meaning if it is subpoenaed for any reason they would have a huge user history on you. Today, everything is done typically online enabling the government to know all about you with one little subpoena. Now I don’t feel like I have anything to hide, but it is a fact that search engines are advertised for “personal use.” If it is so personal why are they keeping a history log of us? Why are they tracking our every move? I understand that it helps them to gear searches for a more personalized search, however, you can still get that same personalized search if your user history is deleted after 30 days, such as AOL does. I do not like the fact that my personal information is out there, up for grabs.

There is a law called the Electronic Communications Privacy Act that was enacted in 1986, keeping most of our electronic use private. Since this was before the internet it does not include privacy from search engines. I believe that we need to revise this law to fit the current electronic commutations that are practiced today. Communication has significantly changed since 1986 and I am sure that this law is past due on a revision. Until this happens, or something is done in regards to our user privacy, there are acts that can be taken to increase your user privacy. In his article “FAQ: When Google is Not Your Friend,” Dean McCullagh, staff writer at CNET News, says to protect yourself you should, “Clear your browser history, encrypt your hard drive, clear cookies set by search engine, and if you’re really worried go to anonymizer.com and sign up for one of its anonymous browsing options.”

The bottom line is that something has got to change. At one point in time our electronic communications were protected, but because of advances in technology they are not anymore. Our protection should advance with the technologies and time, not stay stagnant behind it.

Final ABC Press Release

01-17-09
For Immediate Release
ABC Real Estate
123 Creative Way
Logan UT 84341
801-555-4567
abcrealestatellc.com

Investors needed for creative way to buy and sell homes
ABC Real Estate is seeking investors for a proven investment in buying and selling homes

LOGAN Utah—ABC Real Estate is looking for investors to participate in a new and creative way to buy and sell homes.

ABC Real Estate is launching its third and newest location in Cache Valley for their beneficiary-directed equity-holding land trust. ABC Real Estate was created last summer in August, 2008. With one company in California and another in Salt Lake, this new way of buying and selling homes has been proven successful with a 99% success rate.

Seller’s homes will be put into a trust where investors will have to pay an initial investment. A resident will then be put into the home with bad credit and will make payments on the home until their credit can be brought back up. When their credit is up the resident will buy the home breaking the trust and the original home owner, along with the investors and ABC Real Estate, will receive a percentage of the trust.

This benefits all parties involved. Investors will receive a percentage of the trust that will be agreed on when investments are made. The home will be sold, and the resident will regain good credit while living in a home. This system works very well and has proven worthy of investment.

Michelle Toponce
Public Relations Supervisor
michelletoponce@creativeway.com
801-555-3322
-END-

PR and the Super Bowl

As I was reading Erica Lacono’s article in PRWeek entitled “PR could be the winning play for companies’ Super Bowl ads,” it really got me thinking and I completely agree with her. During the Super Bowl, we see the best of the best commercials and the worst of the worst commercials. These commercials are the topic of conversation for up to a week after then, we hear nothing of them. Instead of companies investing up to 3 million dollars on a 30 second slot of advertisement, they should include PR and make this one commercial part of a larger campaign. Relying on the fact that a 30 second commercial will give you all of the promotion needed for your product or company is a ridiculous assumption to me. Why not make this commercial one of the many elements of exposure your company can receive by involving PR in your campaign? I really think that Erica is on the right track with the concept of bringing in PR to make this one commercial, with other forms of advertisement to back it up, worth the money.

Draft version Press Release 1: Announcement

01-17-09
For immediate release

ABC Real Estate
123 Creative Way, Logan UT 84341
801-555-4567

LOGAN Utah—ABC Real Estate is looking for investors to participate in a new and creative way to buy and sell homes.

ABC Real Estate will take a resident buyer that is having problems getting a loan or has bad credit, and after screening them, put them into a home of a seller who cannot sell their home. This resident buyer will make payments on the trust that is formed between the seller, investor beneficiary, and a credit beneficiary. After a time period the resident will re-establish their credit and be able to buy the home. A negotiated amount of the trust money will then go back to the seller, investor, and credit beneficiary.

Michelle Toponce
michelletoponce@creativeway.com
801-555-3322
-END-

Letter to cousin

January 13, 2006



Dear Clay,

In the past we have discussed how I am going into public relations and you mentioned you would like to know more information about this field. Here is some more information on what public relations is and does.

As the institute of public relations puts it, "Public relations is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics." In easier terms, we are the formal voice relaying messages from an organization or individual to the public and from individuals to the organization. We manage the flow of information from an organization to the public, from the public to an organization, from one organization to another organization and relay messages within the organization itself.

When an organization needs something disclosed to the public, we gather the information that needs to be communicated and then relay that message to the public. We let people know what is going on within an institution, organization and sometimes individuals. If the public is unsure where an organization stands on something, we relay the message from the company to the public on where the company stands, so there is no confusion. The information that is relayed to the public must be honest and trustworthy. We also need to know how the public feels about certain issues or will react to the position that a company is taking on an issue. We take how the public feels and relay that to the company so the company can make decisions based on the best interest of themselves and the public.

Examples of public relations are all around us. Most of the stories found in newspapers come from press releases which are put out by public relation representatives. For example, the President of the United States has a PR representative that makes sure the president’s views on certain issues are known and understood by the public. Another example is the Johnson & Johnson Tylenol incident of 1982. Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol had been poisoned and several people died. J&J immediately pulled Tylenol off store shelves. Although this was a huge economic loss the public viewed J&J as doing the right thing. By pulling Tylenol off the store shelves the public gained respect for J&J and continues this day to support their products. Celebrities also have public relation representatives. Public relations representatives will promote positive aspects regarding individuals and will correct or redirect hurtful or negative aspects about the person. Public relation representatives will assist in sharing approved information about the celebrity’s life.

Public relations can also incorporate event planning. Public relations representatives may be in charge of coordinating events. Responsibilities may include finding a form of entertainment, getting a location and calculating ticket prices or cost. They will make sure that all arrangements are made and ready for an event, in addition to informing the public about the event.

There are many different fields of interest in public relations that one can go into; it just depends on what you want to do. I hope this letter helps you understand more about public relations and some of the things that it involves. I hope to talk to you soon.


Love,
Michelle Toponce

Netiquette

I read an article concerning netiquette entitled “The Core Rules of Netiquette.” I really enjoyed the 10 rules that Virginia Shea came up with. She discusses how internet users, by following these rules, can have a more enjoyable experience and help others to enjoy it as well. She points out that you need to be careful what you say and how you say things on the internet. If you are unfamiliar with a site check it out before you comment or post something that could start a flame. I learned a lot of valuable things from reading this article.

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

Emailing

I read an article entitled, “Email Etiquette Rules for Effective Email Replies,” and found it a very informative source. I have not done very much formal emailing. I generally email family and friends using a more casual form of email. In the article it discusses not using emoticons like smiley faces and abbreviations like LOL (laugh out loud) or BTW (by the way) however, in a more casual setting, such as emailing family or friends, I think these can be used. When emailing it is sometimes hard to express feelings. Using such things as emoticons can help portray and clarify cretin emotions. I do believe that these rules were meant to be applied to more formal emails, for example, emailing a business, a boss, a partner, someone you are emailing for the first time, or someone of importance. When writing this type of email the rule of no emoticons or abbreviations is good to apply.

This article also discussed how emails should be to the point. I find that many of the emails I receive I skim through or do not open because it contains information that I do not need or want. When you are writing an email you are using your time and taking up theirs. The article points out that emails should be to the point and all questions should be answered. I have also found that when communicating with professors through email, the more direct and short the emails are the faster and more informative their emails are back.

http://www.emailreplies.com/

Newbie

This is my first time in the blogging world and I'm not sure what to think. I've never really had the desire to put my thoughts and opinions out into the world but here it goes.