Cell Phones On the Platform

It may be that no technological advancement in New York transportation history has been so equally desired and dreaded, but the ability to chat on a cellphone in the subway will finally be available — though in a very limited way — next week.

The wired underground project will begin on Tuesday at four stations in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, where subscribers to the AT&T and T-Mobile networks will be able to talk away on station platforms, transportation officials said.

Service will cease during trips in the tunnels, however, and anyone with a Verizon phone will be out of luck.

Providing the ability to rearrange meetings, converse with friends and be a bigger pest than usual to one’s fellow subwaygoers has been a long-sought goal of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The pilot program will introduce cellphone reception to the C-E platforms at 23rd Street and Eighth Avenue, and three other stations along West 14th Street: the A, C, E and L platforms at Eighth Avenue; the F, M and L platforms at Avenue of the Americas; and the Seventh Avenue station that serves the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 lines.

The trial has no scheduled end date. The transportation authority says it hopes to extend the service to other parts of the system if it is deemed successful.

The program is starting about two years late. Transit Wireless, the company behind it, signed a contract in 2007 with New York City Transit and promised to begin a trial in downtown Manhattan by 2009.

The project stagnated until last year, when the company secured financing from an Australian wireless operator.

So chat it up...unless a train is entering or leaving the station, pay attention. 

REST IN TWEETS: The New RIP

Recently there was a death in the Hip hop world, cali swag district member MBooone was killed and everyone is sending their respect via Online. To me this is kind of silly, being that he is dead, but I understand. If you dont know who "Cali swag district" is, they are the kids who can teach you how to Dougie

So the web has been cranking out stories as to what has unfortunately happen but they keep including his Twitter Page >>twitter.com/MbOoONe and his Last Tweet. His last tweet was >>“@NewNew_Monroe: @MbOoONe smh plz tell yo gf nvr do dat again!”yea right<< Now with all the fame that has surrounded him its very sad to see something like this happen only to have your last words be a "side conversation"

Which got me thinking, when you die, what will your last tweet be? The internet in my opinion is becoming the new "Museum of Self". Now I know you may not care much of what happens to your fb or twitter after death but one guy programmed his website to keep updating and publishing new posts for a long time after his death. It's kind of a wild site, www.akumaprime.com. Now I'm not saying to do that but do make sure that your online self is in good hands in the worse case senerio because even though you may be resting in peace, you want to keep it that way. digitally.


We dont all have Fans, but Fans of the rap group immediately responded to the tragic news of M-Bone's passing on Twitter:

"R.I.P M-Bone of Cali Swag District! Got the homie and his family in my prayers!! To the whole crew keep y'all heads up! #luv" Young Money's Lil Twist wrote

SMH We gota stop this yall! Too many brothers in hip-hop, and just too many brothers in general die because of some BS.

"Omg im really sad now waking up hearing that @MbOoONe died...no more nice goodmorning texts such a sweetheart" tweeted NicoleSaldua


What do you think, should there be something for the online accounts of the deceased? Because it would be kind of odd to think your tweeting a "dead" acct. if you had no idea of the incident.

Age Limits Online

New Teens: " now that my mom knows about us, i quess i can unblock her from the old albums"

Are the privacy settings online too good? Should there be an age limit to those who wishes to use them?

Im not sure why or how young kids (13 and under) are signing online to social networks but what i do know is that they shouldnt be allowed certain privacy settings that can block their parents out. I do believe in personal space but I was raised in the "My House. My Rules" setting. I think I turned out pretty well, but with digital world its very hard to say " My Computer. My Rules" because accessibility for teen is a given and they use it like its a right. Not to say that the internet is or isnt a right but we should understand that is really is a privilege.

Osama: The Man, The Myth, The Hashtag

If life ever felt like a Soap Opera it would be now. After the Trump made it his personal business to get the President to show his birth certificate, the question became: “Seriously??? This is the news?”. I personally don’t watch the news but there is a quote that says “If you dont watch the news you’re uninformed but if you watch the news you’re misinformed”. You can say I’m selectively uninformed because I only read my news via twitter and news subscriptions via email. So how did I find out about the death of Osama? Facebook.

I was on facebook when I noticed my whole entire newsfeed was talking about about Osama is Dead. I went on twitter to confirm this and within 10 minutes @CCN confirmed that this was true. Unfortunately, celebrity deaths on twitter trend fairly quickly and are jokes/pranks, but this “Osama is Dead” hashtag opened the floodgates. Every joke and smart remark you could think of came out. I then started thinking about how convenient this death happened to be. That Obama’s rating goes down and bam! He’s a hero. I been hearing that bin laden has been dead for awhile now and I don’t see why I should believe this hype. You interrupt the apprentice to say he’s dead, cant confirm, but now what? Bury him, in the ocean. I cant believe it either.

Now, while I'm not going to discuss my discontent with the ignorant reactions to the situation. We, the people, have as much proof that Osama is dead as we do the "Area 51" stories. This is more about the internet being the ultimate game of Telephone. In fact, imagine reading a book and having someone interrupt your reading to switch books without you noticing or rip whole pages out.

This is the beginning to something new and not in a good way. I fear that we are being fed content that confuses more than clarifies. For example, the photo above is supposedly the reaction shot of when the White House got the word of Osama's Death ( or "Usama" according to Fox News). I just find so many things wrong with this picture. Hilary's off- reaction, eager happy onlookers, confused bench players, turned off open laptops and a Blurred picture on the desk. Im no conspiracy theorist but the signs that something is "missing" is as clear as day. I'm not saying don't find closure in this, I'm just asking to have a little decency. Plus to all you religious folks know that even David mourned Sauls death. Lets use this as evidence to bring the troops back, evidence to low gas prices, evidence to give back TRUE Fourth Amendment rights to the Airports and maybe just maybe I've believe that this wasn't let out the bag to smack Trump in the face before re-election.

What do you think? How did you find out?

Turn it up!!! But will People tune in

May 5th 2011 will be the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the choice radio station and "Voice of Harlem" WHCR 90.3fm. Now WHCR has a low listenership rating but is hoping to hold several events at City College in hopes of raising awareness and driving listenership up on that day. Although this is perfect timing and very thoughtfully planned, social media will be one of the work horse tools being used here.

Now blogging, tweeting and facebooking has done its share of promotion in the past for other organization, but this is Radio. Turning it up for one day doesn't guarantee that the people will stay tuned in. The Real problem is Access vs Content. If its the lack of access or awareness of the access that is the problem, then the event will be effective and all the digital media will pay off 100%.

%. On the other hand, if the problem is content, then you don't have a advertising problem, you need quality control.

For any business and/or public figures, that last thing a poor brand needs is good Advertising, because then we'll know it sucks but that it has failed to deliver on whatever that brand promise was. So here are 3 ways to fix it:

1. Fix your content- make it relevant, consistent and readily available

2. Get online and connect- the internet should really be used to share and enrich what you have. not to create it.

3. Critic and Go- make the changes needed in order to remain on top of what makes you different. Sometimes you need to know when to listen to your critics, they may be right.

%. On the other hand, if the problem is content, then you don't have a advertising problem, you need quality control.

For any business and/or public figures, that last thing a poor brand needs is good Advertising, because then we'll know it sucks but that it has failed to deliver on whatever that brand promise was. So here are 3 ways to fix it:

1. Fix your content- make it relevant, consistent and readily available

2. Get online and connect- the internet should really be used to share and enrich what you have. not to create it.

3. Critic and Go- make the changes needed in order to remain on top of what makes you different. Sometimes you need to know when to listen to your critics, they may be right.

Online Dating, Seriously?

Being single in the greatest city is gift...and a Curse. but online dating well that's the punch line of the joke. Since the social activities has become exclusive to small social circles and lack of funds, dating offline has become strained and harder to do in the city that never sleeps. Which can only lead to one thing, boredom.

Over the recent years, online went from a popular place to find love quickly to a cheap "look at me" fling site. Now alot of people have flooded into the online world to only write on their profile "just passing through" or "not looking for a relationship". I mean, why are you there then? Just another way to look at each other in glass closets if you ask me.

One girl said " I put myself out there, but not really..." its like an "in case of emergency, break glass". What do you think? Is it a serious thing or does a cute pic and nice ice breaker really work online?

Pressure to be Cool Online

Unfortunately the internet has made life REALLY simple, in fact so simple that people feel that are being Boring. With the recent development of "check-in" apps like "FourSquare" and "Food spotter" and having the option to share this information with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc... some may notice that aren't doing enough. With millions of people rushing to a pc, laptop and pda to access the internet its clear that there is more going on online than off it.

While at Starbucks I overheard two men conversing about the pressure that some people feel to be interesting because of the internet. One guy said "they say they never get invited out" but do you really need an invitation? Is there such a thing as internet peer pressure? That sort of thing is self imposed and a little insecure in my opinion. In addition there are those folks who don't in go online to certain sites because they fear what people might assume. Even to say they dont want to go on Twitter and "be a Follower".

I personally can admit to having checked-in, shared and tweeted an experience more than a few times. Offline I feel like a lonely loner so I keep myself busy but online it must look like I'm having a grand ole time. Looks can be deceiving, especially online. Do not feel pressured to be "interesting" if you dont have an active online social life. However, you should enrich the relationships and expand your network with the internet, not replace it. So log-on , plan a meet up, and practice those active engaging skills or put your self in a mindset that is open to meet new people. Then tweet about it. What do you think, is it all mental or are people not going far enough to be a "cool" as they truly?