Watch out Webster: Chatting Changes English Language

In case you haven't noticed, kids and young adults are speaking a new language. I'm not sure if it will count as a language requirement when they apply for college, but it does help them communicate with others via instant message programs. And they'll probably continue to use it in college and maybe even in the workforce. I know I do.
If you use instant messaging on your computer, you may be familiar with the acronym LOL (Laughing Out Loud). But what about BRB, TTYL or ROFL? Especially among teenagers, you're just as likely to encounter IM-talk in the real world as you are on your desktop. The phenomenon of written IM slang crossing over into speech. I really feel that if you ask a typical high school student to tell you what an adverb was or the correct use of a hyphen, they would have no clue. But ask them what TTYL means and most hands will raise in the air, eager to ansewer that all to basic question.
Some people worry that all of these shortcuts will prevent today's young people from knowing how to compose a coherent sentence, and I think that's true. I graduated from high school not knowing the correct uses for who and whom, add BTW (by the way) into the mix and you have an entirely new comprehension of words and sentence structures. I've read a number of student papers (my sister teaches freshman English) and many are attempting to shorten their time spent writing by using IM-code. Future professional writers of America better be ready to understand, study, and speak across all genres of text, talk, and type.

I think we will see many changes in the future. Or perhaps, ITWWSMCITF? Lets hope not

Dell's Dealings: Enter Wal-Mart

While packing for my upcoming New York trip and half-heartedly watching an episode of Law & Order SVU, I saw a commercial that halted my packing, mid-fold. A friendly looking Wal-Mart sales associate started the narration, which I wasn't paying much attention to, until I heard the words "Dell Dimension" in tandem with the Wal-Mart logo flashing on to the corner of the screen. My attention snapped towards the television, and I sat, mesmerized by the last 10 seconds of cheesy music and clips of the trademarked Wal-Mart smiley bouncing around the newest model of the first PC that I had ever owned. My thoughts were clouded with confusion, outrage, denial, but basically held to one overarching theme: Dells are now available at Wal-Mart? Wait.. what?!

A quick Google search confirmed it: Dell is now in partnership with Wal-Mart. On the Direct2Dell Blog, they answered the "why?" question with a long schpeal about "delivering [Dells] on a global level" and how this change "will only augment our core direct business model, not replace it." In simpler terms, their disclaimer seems to be: "Don't worry. Same product, different venue." Something I have a hard time believing.

Perhaps this example will shed some light on why I'm so concerned: Snapper, Inc., an outdoor power-equipment business known for high prices that match their high quality products, partnered with Wal-Mart for three years. And for three years, there was pressure on the higher ups at Snapper to "find a lower-cost contract manufacturer." Or, an even better alternative: the suggestion to produce "a separate, lesser-quality line with the Snapper nameplate just for Wal-Mart." Cheapen the bottom line. Double your sales. Wal-Mart pushed, but Snapper had enough sense to push back, and pulled their product from those smiling blue shelves. (The longer version of this story was recently published in Charles Fishman's book, The Wal-Mart Effect.)

But aside from the worry that Dell will suffer a Snapper-similar fate, there are the ethical questions that are now raised with even an utterance of the Walton family's prize business. It's no secret that Wal-Mart has been center stage as of late, the favorite topic of talk show hosts and political figures alike, a model for the effects of outsourcing and all the baggage that accompanies it. And now Dell, one of the biggest names in PCs, has a contractual affiliation with them.

I'll be sure to watch this one unfold.

iPhone may not be all I expected it to be; or is it?

Watching the commercials, I have been fancying the new Apple iPhone, but from what I hear, it may not be all that it's cracked up to be. I am mesmerized by the look and feel of Apple Inc.'s uber-sleek new phone that's a combination cell phone, iPod and Web-browsing gadget, and that touch screen navigantion; WOW!

But what I'm not understanding is that even though the iPhone has internet capabilities, you cannot download music directly from iTunes over your phone. You have to buy the music from your computer and then download it to your phone from there. Why exactly can't I buy and download music over the iPhone's wireless network?

The arrival of the iPhone on Friday has stoked optimism among many and I truely believe that this is a new wave of easier-to-use mobile music devices. Even though I will be limited to loading music onto my phone via my PC, or soon-to-be MAC, and blocked from buying music wirelessly. The whole idea of on-the-go instant gratification isn't there, but on the other hand this graphicly rich tool offers so much more than just music and iTunes downloads.

Which leads me to my next problem. Currently, Sprint and Verizon Wireless are the only wireless networks U.S. who directly sell full-track, over-the-air downloads for phones. Even with that feature they are behind iTunes in digital music sales. So does this "glitch" really matter? I never download music from my krazer, even though it has the capabilities. I barely download ringtones because I hate filing through the tiny screen and waiting for the next page to load. I imagine most of the people who'll buy the iPhone will be iPod users already. I know I don't have a preference for buying mobile music wirelessly, so what exactly am I fussing about? Options. I want the option and the capability to use the iPhone in a way that others can't or only dream of.

So I think I am going to take the plunge and buy this seemingly sophisticated piece of digital equipment, even though the iPhone has far less storage than many higher-end iPods or other standalone portable music players.

A 4-gigabyte version costs $499, while an 8-gigabyte model costs $599.

When I dig deep into my unemployed pocketbook, I will let you know how this new relationship fares.

Google Tracking

I like Google as much as the next person (whoever that may be). In fact, I have begun to utilize Google in almost every aspect of my digital doings. I mean, there’s Gmail, Gtalk, Google Calendar, Blogger (the lone non-G). And who could forget iGoogle, my homepage, the pièce de resistence of my personal Google empire, customized with the date, time, calendar, news, RSS blog feeds, and, of course, the countdown until I leave for the Denver Publishing Institute. And those are just the things that I use on a regular basis. There are even more applications that I haven’t even gotten around to utilizing yet: Google Video, Google Groups, Documents, etc. There is even an application now called Google Web History that logs every site you visit and how many times you visit them. Whoever said that Google is taking over the world is probably right.

So it didn’t come as much surprise today when I read an article on CNN.com about the privacy issues that some people are having in regard to all of this. A lot of people don’t realize that Google tracks EVERYTHING. I found this out when I first got my Gmail account. I was writing an e-mail to someone about my fear of public speaking and as I was typing, I happened to glance at the ads on the right side of the screen. I noticed that one of them read: How to Speak Without Fear. I think I just sat there and stared at it for about a minute, then promptly wrote a blog entry in my personal blog about the creepiness of it all (because I am a nerd after all).

This article brings up a whole range of issues though. How much should Google be allowed to track? Is it even legal for them to do so? And the biggest question of all: How unaware are people about the digital footprints they leave behind? I can't even count the number of times that professors have brought up this issue, especially with social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Everything on the internet is out there just waiting to be found and we have to be careful about the information that we leave behind.

All of these issues put things in perspective... and are a little scary. But even so, Google remains a staple in my web browsing activities. It's so useful that it's easy to overlook the fact that they track everything. For now, I'll stick with the Gmail and the iGoogle, but will avoid the Google Web History. Because, let's face it, I don't really need Google to remind me of how many times I visit Facebook...