Sending Your Name to MARS and what it all means...

On the 15th July, I registered and participated in NASA's rover space programme. NASA issued me with a certificate of participation, where my name will be carried to Mars on a microchip carried by NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover.

I got so many emails and comments in my inbox asking me details about how my name was chosen and why is it going to Mars.

Some of you might be thinking what's the point of sending your name to Mars?

What's the whole purpose of sending your name?

Well there isn't-- it's just for the fun of it. But what NASA is really doing is that they are engaging and trying to raise the awareness for their space programmes with the public via social media. The mainstream media has proved to have slowed down in their broadcast with NASA's space projects and therefore they took the leap to join in the evolution of social media.

Their efforts have proved to be successful and they are now able to create a personality for their spacecrafts and for people to connect and communicate on a personal level with their astronauts and authorities from NASA.

In fact today NASA's is known for sending more tweets and engaging widely via social media than they do by launching rockets.

The way I look at it with regards to sending your name to mars is this;

1. You can't send a man to Mars as YET --so the next best option is to send your name which might give the end user the so called "experience" of going to Mars;

2. It also suggests that virtual teleportation (holographic beaming) is on it's way and it's very much certain where we will be able to beam ourselves virtually into space (as you have seen in Star Trek);

3. NASA is also raising the awareness of the people and are engaging with the public on a personal level; and

4. To send out real time information on the web to heighten the experience of the viewer and information on space travel and discovery.

These are the changes that digital media is bringing and we must embrace these changes and be prepraed to explore any one of these possibilities that may come in your way.

To keep track on NASA's social media collaborations click here or

If you wish to participate then click here to send your name to Mars!

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Obama Checks Out Mayara Tavares??

"A picture is worth a thousand words" and as good as it may seem it surely doesn't portray what it really means in this case.

Obama was so called "caught in the act" by checking out a girl and it was reported that the girl was Mayara Tavares. Watch the Obama video here.

Pictures can be manipulated and they very often don't tell you the exact story especially when the internet has changed the way we communicate and share things online. As some would say that privacy is dead.

The reaction that this picture brought is quite similar to a video that was previously produced by Marc Anthony in 'I've Got You'. It is a clear exaple of how images can be exploited to portray a wrong message to the public and one that could bring a string of events through invasion or privacy, defamation and so forth. Watch Marc Anthony's video here!

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Hail 'Caesar'!

Twitter is fast become a tool for 'breaking news' and not limited to that, but a tool that can partake in humanitarian efforts.

This is what happened when two college friends, Connie Donnellan (@cdonnellan) and Jamie Whitt (@WeblogofWeeds) of Texas made a charitable move to save a pit bull's life, which they named Caesar.

They found the dog injured on the roadside and decided to take it to the veterinary as they knew that Causar would be euthanized if it was taken to the shelter home. By acting quickly they spread the message on twitter to raise money for the surgery and in three short days they manage to receive more than enough money for the dog's surgery and two follow ups with the vertinary.

You can read more here or watch the videos of Caesar recovering here...

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Chicken Ala Carte: For People who Dont Know The Value of Life

Here is something which I felt that we should all be ashamed of if we do not know the true value of what life is. Especially in this economic downturn, many out there are suffering. Not just in these tough times, but all the time.

Watch the video below to find out more...

Click Here...

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Police Can Now Track You via GPS

The courts have ruled that the police can now track you via GPS, so long as they do not violate your constitutional rights.

It is amazing to see how these developments are taking place. This has now open the doors for greater survellance by the police on its citizens. 

Read more here...

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Be cautious for what you have as your screen saver!!!

Well for those who are making presentations-- I am sure that you wouldn't want this to happen to you.

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A 'Viral Fever' that Rocks the Entertainment World

Say what you want. This video alone (there are many others posted with similar hits) was posted a day ago and has reached 25,000,000 hits and counting. This is by far one of the gratest viral videos that I have seen. 

if you have the buzz, Internet marketing can do wonder for you. Image applying that principle to your business. Imaging your business going viral. What are the consequnces and rewards that you will reap as a result.

Sharon Boyle was featured on Birtain's Got Talent. She said "I always wanted to perform in front of a large audience. I am going to make that audience rock."

She is down to earth and at first-- the impression everyone gave was laughter and thinking that this lady must be a nutter. 

However everything backfired when she really made them "rock"... watch the video for yourself and see.

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Cover it Live!

(Image: SpeedBump.com)

Here is an interesting story. I met up with a friend, Anil Netto, who is a writer and a web 2.0 political blogger. He travels a lot and has been covering political events all over the country.

What interests me about him is that he has been providing live feeds and information to his readers and those concerned about the latest development of the political landscape in the country. He believes in political justice and provides readers with uncensored news direct and straight from the source or events.

This is where the power of the internet and social media comes to the rescue. One of the 'tools' that Anil uses is Cover It Live! an online blogging tool that allows you to post comments and information directly to your readers. This tools provides readers live information as the events unfold from your perspective. It is not a chatting device, but caution must be taken as you do not want to lose focus as you might get caught up replying directly to the comments, which will then make it look as if you are having a 'chat' with your readers rather than providing a live feed and information as the events unfold.

(Anil working from his laptop covering the events live as they unfold via Cover It Live!)

As we know that the internet promotes the freedom of speech, but some countries including China and Malaysia tend to censor news in the mainstream and traditional media. They do this to prevent the citizens from knowing the truth and what is going on around them (in the political sense based on the corrupt practices of the government). It is indeed a sad case especially when the government of the day does so to their own citizens.

This is when people like Anil Netto among others come into the picture. They play an important role to help spread the message of justice through their blogs and findings. Their news are uncensored and is focused to the benefit of the community.

However, it isn't easy as it sounds. These political bloggers such as Anil Netto, and many others including Raja Petra Kamaruddin (an independent online news provider for the community) are constantly watched by the goverment.

To prove my point, I decided to follow Anil for 2 days to cover the 'Perak Controversy'-- respectively on the 7th and on the 8th of Feb. The 8th Feb, was also a day of for the Hindu Community who celebrate Thaipusam.

We did a live coverage on the 'Perak Controversy' a political crisis that the Silver State is facing and followed a few 'key people' who were able to provide us information on the political landscape as issues unfold.

On the 7th I was at the Perak Chief Ministers Home , where he gave a speech and it was filled with supporters and unidentified and plain clothers police offifers. I went up to Anil and had a conversation with him about the event, and Anil immediately pointed out to me that there was an officer hoovering around us with a watchful eye and ear over us. We then had to move on to a different location to prevent them from following us and listening to our conversations and findings.

The second incident, was during the Thaipusam event (8th Feb). We had a lead that there was going to a a candle light vigil by the Hindu devotess to promote fundamental human rights, freedom of speech and expression, which the government has denied over the many years since they have been in power. Under normal circumstances, such events are illegal without a police permit (and they could have been arrested by the police) and these individuals took the opportunity to use this event to do so. Within moments, I was informed that the Special Branch plan clothes police officers are around and were watching our moves.

(Behind me were many other photographers and journalist covering this event)

The goverment keeps a watchful eye to make sure that these people do not come in their way to provide information about their corrupt practices. As a results some of them (including Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Jeffrey Kitingan) have been detained under the Internal Security Act (some call this the mirror of Guantanamo Bay), which allows the arrest of a person or a preventive detention without trial for a period not exceeding 2 years.

One thing is for sure-- Change is a must and we must all learn to adapt to change. Such government controls of the media and free speech will only lead to their down fall. We have seen tremendous change in the politics of the United States and how social media has played its part. What about you? Are you ready to change and ready to adapt to what social media has to offer?

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Google's 'G Spot'?!

It was recently uncovered that Google has a 'G Spot' drive that is somewhere hidden in the source code of Google pack. It is speculated that the system is due to be launched-- The GDrive!

The 'GDrive' seems to be an online file and backup storage' system, which was noticed by Brian Ussery in a file used by Google Pack. The information that is described is as follows:

“Online file backup and storage… GDrive provides reliable storage for all of your files, including photos, music and documents… GDrive allows you to access your files from anywhere, anytime, and from any device - be it from your desktop, web browser or cellular phone”.

2009 seems to be a very promising year and it sure does prove that there are lots of developments that are due to come in the months ahead.

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Web 2.0 and the death of privacy

Has Privacy become an issue of the past? These days you are more prone to hear news about Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Police officers and even Government Ministers and Officials being caught on tape. Not only on tape, but today they are all being posted over the Internet. A few cases might illustrate this issue of privacy and how it may lead to other chain of actions that could harm you.

The Dark Side

One was the case of a British man, Edward Richardson, who murdered his wife. His wife changed her Facebook profile status to "single" a few days after they had an argument and moved out. He became so enraged from seeing the change in profile status and subjected her to a brutal attack with a knife leaving her dead in the bedroom. It was also reported that Edward was sentenced to 18 years of jail for the murder of his wife.

The other case is of a Malaysian Health Minster of Malaysia, Dr. Chua Soi Lek, who was caught with his political pants down, where he was "featured" having sex with a young Chinese woman. He was caught by hidden cameras in a 'sex romp', which was widely circulated and became an instant hit in Malaysia. This eventually caused his downfall on his political career and was forced to resign.

The One with The Force

As with online privacy, sometimes it can also work for you. It can provide you with some kind of publicity, create a fellowship and make people like you for what you do.

The case of Alexey Wayner, is one clear example. He posted a video resume in 2006 of 'Impossible is Nothing', which became an 'internet hit'. Within days calls started to flood in and his privacy was invaded. Many spoof's started to duplicate his video and has since spread widely over the net.

Could this be turned around? Would you want to use it for building an online business? It is possible, depending on how you were to look at it. Whether the glass half empty or half full.

If you were to look at it in the marketing sense, it could bring about a great deal of traffic to your site, since the video is viral. It could provide you with some kind of 'credibility' if you are building a business. But if you are not then it could cause damage to your reputation and the experience can be a painful one. The online community is a shared one, and there are people out there who would like to know what you do and don't. But the test a subjective one.

Cameras have played a major role in our lives, both in media, security and also for personal use. But, these days camera's can invade our privacy and thanks to many social media sites and video sites such as YouTube and many other social media sites have allowed images, videos and data to spread like wild fire. It is far easier to invade your privacy and cause damage to your reputation.

Technology has shows how easy it can be and how a persons privacy can be invaded and affect a persons life after the videos, images and data are posted online. Let it be for good or evil. Your privacy is literally blown! It is like 'Big Brother', watching over you or image your life being featured in "The Chronicles of The Truman Show", where everyone is watching you.

The internet is based on the first amendment, which promotes freedom of speech and everyone is given the opportunity to post information voluntarily, but sometimes involuntarily especially when someone obtains your data, video or images without your consent. So what kind of privacy is this? Who is to be blamed? Should you be humiliated or exhilarated?

We all have to deal with this increase of information that is being posted on the net, but the question seem to be how much information is enough? Where do you draw the thin fine line to post such information and data online? Who determines this? Should we shut down the internet and block or ban sites that invade your privacy?

Of course not! You do not ban any sites or even try to shut down the internet. The role and responsibility is to be shared online both by web service providers and the end user. We have to collectively raise the awareness of individuals to protect the privacy of individuals online and at the same time making sure that you do your part as the end user.

Some related links:

Data Privacy Day
Raising Data Privacy Awareness
The Privacy Dilemma

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