So, who are all these crazy people “pinning” things all over their Pinboards?  Where did they come from and why do they like Pinterest so much?  Why in the world are these folks out swapping photos like there’s no tomorrow, and just how popular is this?  Let’s check out this infographic to help us understand.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook social network began as a college student directory with a primitive social aspect that made it a place where people could say something about themselves and find others who were of like mind to befriend.  It was a social club online, basically, and closed to the outside world.  Then, it opened up and began allowing non-college students on, and a whole new industry emerged.  All we really had before that was MySpace — not even comparable to Facebook.  But what is truly impressive and says the most to the current status of Google +’s growth is the fact that it took Facebook about 4 years to reach that number of users.  Is something unprecedented really going on here?  Something that could ultimately challenge the dominance of Facebook in social networking?

“I’m not so sure it’s time to get excited about this right now,” said Pete Wiserly, an analyst. “The numbers are certainly impressive, but we have to remember that Google+ recently linked all of its services to the new social network.  A lot of people who really only use Gmail or Google Docs, or even YouTube, are now ‘members’ of Google+.  What does that tell us about engagement, though?  Not much.”

He’s got a point.  Anytime a non-Google+ member using any of Google’s other services signed on in recent months, they’ve been tempted by the invitation to sign up for Google +.  How many people, exposed to such blatant fanfare, do you suppose actually resisted?  Wouldn’t human curiosity get the better of anyone?  I know several people for whom this was precisely the case.  They have signed up, yes, but are they using Google +, really?

One Google official blogger went on the record yesterday claiming that engagement has increased right along with new sign-ups, and that people are interacting, forming circles, and posting regularly to their profiles.  Personally, I am still waiting for the remaining 96.8 % of my Facebook friends to give Google + even a second glance.  Time will tell.

Texting is second to talking via cell by only two percentage points as the favorite way to communicate with one’s sweetheart throughout a given day.  23% of people admit to having signed up for an online dating service at some point, and a full 57% of people add someone they meet and like as a Facebook friend in a first step towards developing a more meaningful relationship.  Check out more fun facts about social media love below:

What is it? It is social media. In the last ten years, how we communicate, share, and live has rapidly changed with a lot of that due to social media. Think about all of the ways that you use social media in your daily life. You probably at least have a Facebook account. A lot of people go to YouTube to watch videos and find out things. Maybe you even read a blog or two. All of those things are a part of social media.

I know that I am constantly on Facebook, and now I also have Google + to keep me occupied. There is a ton more too, though. For instance I read blogs, I write for blogs, I have a YouTube channel, and much more.

On top of personal effects of social media, think about it for businesses and industries. If someone has a bad experience at a place whether it be a restaurant, store, or doctor’s office, there is more of a platform for them to voice his or her thoughts and more people are going to hear it than ever before. All kinds of businesses are even creating their own Facebook pages, blogs, and Twitter accounts so that they can advertise and get more customers. Businesses from cupcakeries to moving company LA are set up to engage in social media.

Watch the below video to see other ways in which social media is completely changing the world, ie. revolutions.

Ouch.

I found this interview weird for two reasons:

1. The anchors made ridiculous comments the entire time. They are clearly confused with their “alpha beta whatever you call it” remarks, and awkward movements. They had absolutely no idea what was going on. “I don’t hear much about Myspace anymore,” says one anchor, “only if you’re in music,” the other one confidently states.

Um…okay.

2. The title of the article was “Is Facebook the New MySpace?” and the dude starts talking about Google+ immediately, without stating WHY he thinks Facebook is the new Myspace. Is it because Facebook isn’t innovating? Is it because Google+ is more user friendly? What are your reasons, buddy?

Not only that, but Facebook is NOT the new Myspace, and here’s why:

My grandma never used Myspace. Facebook has become important in the lives of families, because they allow a common place for families to come together and share pictures and status updates. Myspace was never that.

Personally, I think that Facebook needs to embrace the fact that Facebook is a place for people of all ages to unite. They need to stop making changes, and leave the service as is…because my grandma loves it!

So kick back and enjoy the infographic.

The Internet (or, internetwork) is a network made up of hundreds of other networks all joined together with special routers or gateways.  Linking the entire system of global IP addresses to create one massive means for the transport of data, the Internet came into existence slowly over a period of years beginning in the 1950s.  It began with several unconnected networks at great distances attempting to bridge together.  The modern Internet as we now enjoy it around the world was still a long way off, and did not begin to come into existence until the early 1990s.

The World Wide Web, on the other hand, is not a network at all, but a vast system of documents and other file types hyper-linked together for quick access via the Internet.  It was designed to be a great repository of human knowledge that could be experienced by anyone connected to the Internet, on demand.  You can think of the World Wide Web as being one of a number of services that are delivered to people via the Internet.

Without the World Wide Web, the Internet would still exist.  One does not depend upon the other. It’s like still having TV without Direct TV Tivo.  Instead, these two world changing inventions have led our world into the Age of Information and together have made the previously impossible, possible at last.  People can now upload and download information at ever higher rates of speed, with greater efficiency.

The connectivity of the world, thanks to both the Internet and the World Wide Web, has made it possible for people from countries far apart to share knowledge, breaking news, and cultural diversity in ways never before imagined. So, when you think of the Internet and the World Wide Web, think of them as being distinct, even though they are complimentary inventions.

Another reason is the plethora of choices of competing Web mail clients Internet users enjoy;  with companies like AOL, Google, Yahoo!, and MSN all offering a free email address (well, free at least when you don’t count the marketing you are doing for these companies each time they serve you ads,) people may find it hard to resist signing up for at least one highly personalized and semi-anonymous email address at one of those places in addition to any email addresses they may have from their Internet Service Providers (ISPs.)  In one survey, more people preferred using one of the aforementioned Web mail services to using ISP email, yet they kept both addresses.  In those cases, the reason users report hanging on to the ISP addresss was because it was perceived to be “more reliable” in case of some failure by the Web mail providers. These email providers also tend to be safer. It’s like Home Security for your email account.

The other kind of email address owned by most people is either a student or company email address.   Students, from public schools through college,  receive temporary email addresses through their schools.  Those addresses last for as long the students are in the system.  Company email addresses work the same way, with employees receiving one email address at their place of business until their employment relationship ends.

This accounts for 3 email addresses in most peoples’ lives.  So what about the .46?

“The rest,” said Bruce Caramagio, Internet research intern, “is based on extraneous Web based email addresses, or on email addresses that were signed up for at other Web based providers, but later abandoned.  Most abandonments were the result of  some dissatisfaction with the user interface, a preferences for another service, or because they had set up the account for the purpose of deflecting spam from legitimate mailboxes.”

That brings us nicely around to OS X Lion, the pride of Apple’s  work to date.  New Multi-Touch gestures transform the way users interact with the Mac, making things overall more intuitive and direct. People will greatly enjoy more fluid and realistic gesture responses, including rubber-band scrolling, page and image zoom, and full-screen swiping.  Many of these features appear to be setting consumers up for a future event when iOS touch devices and non-touch Macs will share properties and gestures completely.  Right now, features are slightly different when browsing on a Mac than when using Safari in iOS devices like iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.

Lion also brings the ability to run multiple, full-screen apps simultaneously alongside standard sized apps.  The new Mission Control feature of Mac OS X combines Expose and Spaces features into one.  It becomes the hub of the entire system and provides easy and fast navigation to anywhere on your Mac with a single click or gesture.

Mac OS X Lion will only be available as a direct download through the Mac App Store.  The cost will be $29.99, and will allow installation on all the purchaser’s authorized Macs.  This is a huge change from the traditional way of getting the latest Mac OS, and the first time the price has ever been so low for a major overhaul.  When you purchase Lion via the App Store, any computers you have that are authorized under the account you downloaded from can also use that download.  This is a whole new method.  Since the OS it self will not actually be downloaded, but the system software will be installed in place, I suppose there will be no way to make a CD or DVD for installation.

Launchpad makes your Mac look like an iOS device, with the click of a button.  It places App icons on your desktop that can be clicked to quickly access the applications you use the most and need the fastest.  For example, one app list the TV Channels Los Angeles. The Resume feature lets you return to exactly where you were in an app prior to leaving it.  Along with Autosave and Versions (that let you return to multiple previous automatically saved renditions of your documents,) Mac OS X Lion has plenty to be excited about.  Available this July, only from the Mac App Store.

Naturally a curious creature, I had to go digging around to see what I could find that might pass for a reason for this. Many articles later, I think it just has something to do with the quality of the glass Apple is using these days;  some kind of desire to pitch that substance as being indestructible and smear proof, too, thanks to an oleophobic coating on the glass.

Next, I looked into proof that the iPhone’s glass is really so resistant to scratches. I found some pretty convincing video (WARNING: GRAPHIC) of the iPhone subjected to various torture tests and still showing no visible wear (at least, not on the pristine glass surface.) Ok.

Still, my iPhone is such a part of me, I’m not sure I want to walk around all the time nervous that the screen could get nicked by my keys or some other sharp object.  For a couple of days this week, I did remove my screen protector so I could experience that Recommended By Cupertino Nakedness Apple is promoting.  I was nervous about it, but I tried not to sweat it as I just kind of lived and treated the iPhone like a cold, soulless device.  I could tell my stress levels were higher than usual, but other than that I managed.  I fought down the urge to check my screen by carefully turning it underneath every source of light I encountered.  I stoically ignored the fingerprint marks which, to Apple’s credit, were minimal.  Once, when I know I scraped the iPhone against something that wasn’t soft, I even forced out a laugh before pointedly not conducting a damage assessment.  I was very good.  Last night I could stand it no more, but when I opened my package of case-mates I discovered it was empty.  That’s when I flipped a gasket.  I totally lost it.  The room started spinning and a surge of dread welled up in my chest, and then I don’t remember much until my alarm went off the next morning.

Now, according to cableinternetbundles.com, Apple isn’t keeping screen protectors from The World — they just won’t be offering them in their stores any longer.  They’re still everywhere online, even at Wal-Mart.  Guess which option I selected.

So now, my iPhone is re-protected, I feel so much more secure, all the vagaries of life notwithstanding, and I’m nowhere near as obsessed with unlikely tragedies — real or imagined — involving my lickalicious iPhone screen.

Ain’t no way I’m giving up my screen protectors.