Temple Run: Quite possibly the most addicting game since Angry Birds is Temple Run. It’s kind of like an app version of Indiana Jones in which he’s just running from bad guys. In this case, the bad guys are monkeys and there is no “prize”—you just have to keep running. It has me gripping my phone and cursing way too much, but who’s watching?

Screenshot courtesy of Apple

Pinterest: Similar to Tumblr but more organized, Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board (remember those??) that lets you organize everything from recipes to craft ideas with certain themes. It’s great for planning events and following cool people, and you never know what kind of inspiration you’ll find.

Words with Friends: A complete rip-off of Scrabble, but I’ll let it pass. The free version has ads but all of the same features as the paid version. You can even play without a Smartphone by connecting to Facebook. A great app that won’t fry your brain.

Airbnb: Budget-friendly rentals | Screenshot courtesy of Apple

Airbnb: Named one of the breakout apps of 2011, Airbnb comprises rooms to rent in major cities—NYC, London, Paris—and is a million times better than paying for a hotel. It’s very user-friendly and not at all sketchy. Listings also include apartments that are generally better deals than hotels.

Zombie Farm: Vampires are so 2010. Taking two very popular concepts, Zombie Farm lets you harvest certain agricultural staples and zombies with ease. Once you have “grown” enough zombies, you can lead an invasion or mutate your zombies.

An advanced zombie farm. | Courtesy of Flicker user fifikins

That’s a Spicy iPhone: The Quad Tests Cooking Apps by Allan Lasser

Great Apps for Movie Lovers by Liishi Durbin

Zombies…to the Rescue?? by Camilo Pardo

These Big Dog Robots are far too scary to befriend. | Image courtesy of US Marine Corps via Flickr

In science fiction, humans always have to save the Earth from robotic domination. There are rarely movies where robots and humans live happily ever after (unless they involve Robin Williams). Why can’t we just all get along? Part of the problem is probably that robots are notoriously scary looking.  No one in their right mind would want to hang out with a spooky spider dog or a glowing metal skeleton. If robots were just a bit less scary and a bit more cute, maybe people wouldn’t be so afraid to interact with them.

One of the biggest difficulties in robotics and artificial intelligence today is figuring out how people interact with machines. Usually, robots learn how to act around people with machine learning and computer vision techniques. Unfortunately, these complicated techniques are incredibly difficult, not to mention expensive.

Some roboticists have found a simple way around this problem by making their robots look friendly. Taking advantage of people’s natural love for all things small and cute, Alexander Reben at MIT Media Lab created a robot that everyone wants to stop and interact with. Reben wanted to make a robot that could get people to answer interview questions on camera, and he needed to do it on a budget. Enter Boxie, a tiny cardboard robot with minimal computational capabilities. By giving Boxie big eyes and a little cardboard head, Reben realized he could get people to instantly gravitate toward it without implementing much additional functionality. When Boxie encounters a person, he even utilizes a cute voice and asks to be picked up. This way, Boxie can get good footage of people answering his interview questions with little effort and without ever needing complicated artificial intelligence.

PARO, the harp seal robot, however, is adorable enough to hug. | Photo courtesy of Flickr user ehjayb.

Cute robots are also being used for more serious endeavors in healthcare and therapy. In Japan, where the elderly population is steadily growing, The National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology is helping to make robots that help comfort and care for people in need, like PARO the therapeutic seal. PARO’s big eyes and soft fur makes it look just like a real pet while its sensors allow it to recognize when it’s being pet, talked to or held. This adorable, responsive, easy to care for “pet” allows people like the elderly or the ill to experience companionship even if they don’t have the ability to take care of a real animal. It’s even easy for caretakers to check a patient’s status, as the robot’s sensors can be used to monitor a patient’s health without seeming as intimidating as traditional equipment.

For engineers faced with the complicated task of making robots that can interact easily with people, complicated artificial intelligence might only be part of the solution. By combining lovable looks with ingenuity in artificial intelligence, engineers are creating robots that are becoming more useful than ever outside factory assembly lines. I, for one, am glad that if robots are getting smarter, they are getting more adorable too. After all, if they do end up dominating the Earth, wouldn’t it be at least a little bit better if they were all cute?

This is an evil labyrinth, but there isn't even any David Bowie. Come on, BU. | Screenshot by Allan Lasser

There’s a lot that comes with a $50,000 tuition. Most of it, like classes and club funding, is obvious and easily accessible. Other entitlements are almost secret. The labyrinthine IT website, which many students only use to figure out how to connect to printers and wi-fi, is full of techno treasures if one can actually dig for them. Luckily, I’ve found two of the coolest and most useful services BU provides students and I’m going to lay them out, plain as day, right here.

1) MyFiles

A rare image of Google caught in its natural habitat. | Photo courtesy of scobleizer via Flickr Commons

Just kidding. Don’t switch to Bing. Google is, all-in-all, the superior product, with its fancy add-ons, filtered searches, and targeted advertisements that let me know that they know about the weird lump on my Achilles tendon about which I just asked the Internet.

But the new privacy policy that the Internet search engine giant announced this week merits at least a glance, because Google’s new information-gathering policies might make you want to change the way you browse.

Google announced this new policy last week. It is to set in on March 1, 2012.

The reasons behind it are, in their own words:

When you share information with us… we can make those services even better to show you more relevant search results and ads, to help you connect with people or to make sharing with others quicker and easier.

It will get this information from information voluntarily entered into the Google profile. More discreetly, it will also gather information from searches, cookies and e-mails. Google also stalks its users motions when they use location-based Google services.

On one hand, it’s a simplification. All the Google services that are in bed together–including GMail, Google+, and yes, even YouTube–are united under this snuggly blanket policy. And actually, not that much has been changed. Google has been giving information to advertisers all along. This policy just consolidates the policies for several services so they’re in one place, and it puts it in language that anyone can understand.

Consequentially, now that everyone can read it, not everyone is happy with it. The Internet shitstorm was inevitably rough. Exactly who can access information, and what happens when it is deleted, are both touchy subjects. And the European Union has even asked Google’s executives to delay the changes. Meanwhile, Microsoft took advantage of the fear this Wednesday by launching a new advertising campaign called “Putting People First.”

Google defended itself on Thursday in front of members of Congress, citing that Google will still give its users options to keep their information from being stored, which are very clearly outlined in the privacy policy (foremost among these:  don’t sign in, or don’t use Google.)

All of this is for the optimization of the Google user experience. The search engine wants to take the data it collects from its users and create profiles of them so it can more accurately cater services to them. For now, it seems Google has a tendency to be wrong (Google thinks that I am an 18 to 24-year-old man who enjoys video games and personal fitness). Eventually, though, it should start to correct itself.

Google’s privacy policy can be dangerous if you’re a cocaine kingpin using Google Maps to make your way to a drug deal, or if you are cheating on your spouse with an OKCupid profile. But it can also be dangerous, if more subtly so, to the average information-seeker. Search engine optimization is a way of showing you only the information you want to see.

So yes, Google is simplifying and consolidating the Internet for its users. But at what cost?

Google’s response to apprehension over the privacy policy

Google’s Letter to Congress

SOPA and the Battle Between Piracy and Privacy by Ian Moskowitz

Op-Ed: Tarif Ahmed on BU’s Drug Policy by The Quad

BU Sexual Health Policy Is Cramping Our Style by Veronica Glab

Apple Inc. has begun selling textbooks through the iTunes Store. | Screenshot by Allan Lasser

Last Tuesday, Apple Inc. announced their newest software initiative: a push into peddling digital textbooks. The company touted the many ways students benefit from electronic textbooks.

With embedded video, photo galleries, and interactive infographics, they make reading assignments akin to browsing the web, already a popular student pastime. One digital textbook—or even a hundred—is only as heavy as the iPad on which it’s stored (1.3 lb), as opposed to the multi-pound editions carried in backpacks. They are cheaper than physical editions because there’s no shipping or materials needed (that makes them environmentally friendly as well), and textbooks will never depreciate with the release of a new edition—the books update automatically through the Internet. The digitization of textbooks seems like a godsend to all the students with crooked spines, empty wallets, and zero patience, so isn’t it a shame that college students are being left behind? But as many already know, college-level e-textbook options are abysmal (at best).

Indeed, as MG Siegler noted on TechCruch, Apple’s announcement, while ideal for college kids, focused squarely on high schoolers (all the textbooks available to purchase in iTunes are basic, high school editions). This seems wildly counter-intuative—how many textbooks did anyone even have to buy in high school? The first semester of freshman year, loaded down with textbooks for introductory chemistry and math classes, I easily spent over $500. I wish I could have gotten an iPad instead of lousy texts that were useless four months later! And even though the iPad was the most wishlisted item by teenagers over this last holiday, how many parents would entrust a teen who has broken innumerable cell phones with a $500 piece of technology? Plenty of parents trust their college-bound students with expensive, fragile laptops; an iPad isn’t all that different.

Unfortunately, Apple’s failure of college students is typical—the state of digital textbooks on campus today is abysmal. They are hardly ever offered; when they are sold at the campus bookstore they’re only readable on a computer, cost nearly as much as a print edition, prevent you from copying or printing to “prevent copyright infringement,” and lock themselves at the end of the semester (most are just “rental” e-books). What a load of shit. While they should be a meaningful improvement in terms of book buying, digital textbooks are mostly a scam instead.

It’s time for publishers to get serious about offering high-quality, college-level electronic textbooks. Everybody benefits: students save money on cheap copies that don’t take up any space in already-cramped dorm rooms, while publishers get kids to avoid the used-textbook market altogether. As digital textbooks become more popular, it would be fantastic if college students were seen as prime customers.

The Quad’s Guide to Saving on Textbooks by Kelly Dickinson

“Our Future Boston” Looks to Improve A College Town by Chris Walker

Youth Lagoon Justifies the Hype by Ross Ballantyne

Yesterday afternoon, the Federal Buerau of Information made a press release stating that the leaders of Megaupload (and by extension, Megavideo) were charged with copyright infringement. In one of the largest copyright cases in US history, the folks behind the site are “charged with engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering, and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement.”

One of the Anonymous logos. | image by flickr user OperationPaperStorm.

If that sounds serious, it is. The US government has already made arrests, issued warrants and seized millions. Over the years, the site has been a destination for illegal streaming of television and movies. They offered the content for free, while reaping a supposed profit of over $175 million from ad revenue. Meanwhile, according to the release, the holders of the copyright apparently lost an amount “well in excess of $500 million.”

While some fans simply mourned the death of their illegal stream site of choice, others took action.

Enter Anonymous. This group of “hactivists,” (or hacker-activists) famous for concentrated distributed denial of service (or, DDoS) attacks on banks and government entities or random gaming websites, were predictably unhappy with the take down. They staged their legendary attacks on various websites. For much of the day, the Department of Justice, US Copyright Office, MPAA RIAA, and Universal Music Group all saw their servers down. The attack on the government and various entertainment empires represents the largest such attack ever, and got personal when MPAA Chairman Chris Dodd’s personal information was posted.

But exactly what the long-term effect of the hack will be remains in question. Right now, it seems only to have made the US Government and the entertainment industry angry. And while Wednesday’s online SOPA blackouts made progress in generating popular support and awareness for the anti-SOPA movement, it’s unclear whether the DDoS attacks will have a practical effect.

The majority of the sites in question came back to life within a few hours, and the Megaupload masterminds are either still sought out or in custody. If Anonymous’ goal was to create lasting change, then they might be lagging so far. But if their goal was to piss off the people who brought down Megavideo–the entertainment giants and the US government–then they did so with artful orchestration.

New developments in the war between the internet and the suits can be followed via the hashtag #opMegaUpload.

Screenshot of Flixster's Movies App. | Photo by Liishi Durbin

Flixster’s Movies*

Flixster’s Movies app is essential for anyone who frequents movie theaters, since its primary function is for listing showtimes. Using the iPhone’s GPS system, the app picks up instantly on nearby theaters (within a 50 mile radius) – and, of course, for theaters can be searched by name or on a map. There is also a nifty option for setting “favorite theaters,” which is perfect for regular moviegoers.

This alone is a useful tool, but Flixster’s loaded their app with plenty of other goodies too. Each movie’s page contains all the essential information, including photos, runtime, synopsis, cast and crew – and for everyone who likes to know the critical or public reception of a film before paying for a ticket, Flixster’s Movies is connected to Rotten Tomatoes, the film review aggregator. With this, the app allows access to all the critical reviews in the Rotten Tomatoes database, plus all the Flixster User Reviews. One can also view the trailer directly from the app and add the movie to a Netflix Queue. As a bonus, Flixster’s Movies also connects directly to Yelp, which locates restaurants near any selected theater.

This app is also a great little hub of cinematic information. The home page features a search bar that can search for any movie, actor or director. There’s also a section called “Fun Stuff” which is great for passing time during the pre-roll advertisements while waiting for the trailers to start. The section has quizzes, top photos and even little film anthologies compiled by the people at Flixster. This combines all the functions of the IMDb app (and IMDb’s $0.99 Movie Genie app), but the showtime listings and interactive aspect of Flixster’s Movies makes it a more widespread tool. All and all, Flixster’s Movies app is fantastic for seeing movies in theaters and for anticipating DVD releases (which this app also lists!).

Screenshot of GetGlue App. | Photo by Liishi Durbin

GetGlue*

Fans of Foursquare, the location-based social networking app, will probably like GetGlue because the two function very similarly: one can “check in” and get cool digital stickers (they serve no real purpose, but are somehow still fun to collect). Of course, instead of checking into different locations, GetGlue checks into different movies.

Users can create a friend base by connecting to their Facebook or Twitter accounts, or by adding friends manually by name or email. When friends check into or “like” a movie, it shows up in a stream. Based on a user’s check-ins and “likes”, the application generates suggestions of similar styles and genres. The more one interacts with the app, the more suggestions they give (and the more stickers one gets – but again, besides being cute, they’re mostly useless). After checking in, there’s also the option to participate in conversation about the movie in question. Users can leave little notes or read the blurbs from other users.

The “Trending” tab shows the most popular movies among those who utilize this app. This function also presents details on the movies, including the trailer, a brief description and user reviews of the film. There’s also the big green “Tell A Friend” button; once hit, users can share anything they’re excited about. GetGlue is a great app to keep track of trips to the theater, share your great film taste with friends, and see what others are doing as well.

Of course, GetGlue isn’t an app limited only to movies. It works for television shows, music and books as well – and each of those aspects of the app has its own great perks.

Screenshot of Run Pee App. | Photo by Liishi Durbin

Run Pee*

This loutish little app is amazingly handy. It’s an extension of the website Runpee.com, and does exactly what you’d expect from the title: it gives advice about when to run to the bathroom during a movie without missing any major plot points or important scenes. The movies with “peetimes” listed aren’t limited to movies currently available in theaters. There’s a huge selection to choose from, including a wonderful gallery of classics.

After having selected a movie option, the app provides the exact times in the movie that are okay to miss. The app also tells exactly how much time can be missed, and gives a description of the scene immediately preceding the appropriate bathroom break. As a bonus, there’s also a timer function. The timer starts when the movie begins and the phone will vibrate when it hits the “peetime” (usually there’s more than one “peetime,” so an alert comes each time one approaches). Additionally, the app has a description of each missed scene so that users can stay right on track and won’t have to pester the person next to them about what happened.

Run Pee also has two other fantastically useful functions. For those who aren’t very punctual to movies and typically miss the first few minutes, Run Pee provides a scene by scene synopsis of the first five minutes of the film, so one can get caught up on any crucial details within the film’s opening. It also says if there are any bonus scenes that come on during or after the credit roll. It can also connect to Facebook, show reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and Twitter, and access IMDb’s databases. There’s a built-in flashlight, described as “for helping you find your keys under the sea” and there are playable water sounds, “in case you are having trouble going.”

 * Available for free

‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1′ Review: Taking the Idea of Bad Movie to a New Extreme by Gabriela Fernandez

Senior Bucket List: Boston’s Alternative Movie Theaters by The Quad

‘Moneyball’ Review: A Sports Movie About Why Math Is Important by Liishi Durbin

Over 15,000 African children in 7 African countries are participating in the trial. Among 6,000 children ages 5-17 months old, it reported a 47% reduction in malarial cases within a year. While this marks a great public health achievement, other vaccine researchers have identified several concerns on the results that, they point out, are still preliminary.

Annual malaria mortality rates in the past century. | Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that malaria infects 191-311 million people and kills 708,000-1,003,000 of them, the majority of which are African children. Children suffer the burden of the disease because their immune systems are still developing.

The vaccine has been in development for over 30 years because of the disease’s complexities: the malaria species are multi-stage parasites capable of evolutionary change, which makes it difficult for scientists to develop an effective vaccine. These multiple stages mean that a vaccine would only induce immune responses specific to each stage, so any one parasite that eludes the response would be enough to avoid the vaccine-induced protection.

Also, complete immunity from malaria is rare. Vaccines for many bacterial and viral infections only need one natural infection to induce long-lasting immunity. But even after several malaria infections, a vaccine is unable to mimic immunity that should be obtained from natural infection. These difficulties have not stopped malaria experts from trying to find treatments for malaria cases around the world.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) does list preventative measures such as insecticide-treated nets, vector control, and indoor residual spraying proven to be highly effective in many parts of the world. Unfortunately, malaria-ridden Sub-Saharan Africa would not respond to precautionary tools because of the high transmission rates. Additionally, there has been massive resistance efforts to the practical use of DDT and other insecticides to control malaria, prompting alternative non-insecticide-based mosquito control measures. These led to the need for the development of a vaccine that would work in conjunction with existing treatments to eradicate malaria.

An ad about malaria protection using incesticide during the WWII era. | Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The production of effective malaria vaccines has lacked progress in the past, but the new pilot vaccine reveals positive results. RTS,S would be given to children at the same time as other routine immunizations. This would make distribution more accessible.

The vaccine acts more by reducing the rate of new infections, rather than combating current infection. And as mentioned, it was somewhat effective in the trials: the total number of clinical episodes of malaria was reduced to 55%. But despite this, the clinical trial has undergone much scrutiny.

By the end of 2014, the trial will be completed and all results may be assessed. But the decision to publish partial data attracted criticism from leading vaccine researchers. Interim data is usually only reported to regulatory authorities, and the premature publishing brings into question the results’ validity especially with “less than half the efficacy results available,” writes Nicholas White, a malaria researcher in Bangkok.

Also, Stephen Hoffman, chief executive of a rival vaccine effort based in Maryland, mentions that the publication fails to report data on children aged 6-12 weeks, which was the stated target group of the trial. The 47% reduction in severe malaria, combined with available data on the younger age group, brings the new efficacy down to 35%. This low efficacy rate would represent a negligible benefit to the younger age group and fall short of the 50% protective efficacy rate mandated by the WHO in 2006 to win approval.

A third issue lies in the vaccine’s long-term protection. The 47% reduction was reported in just a year’s time span. Researchers will not be able to identify the length of time in which the vaccine protects against malaria until all data has been compiled.

In a live chat with two leading malaria experts–Laurence Slutsker and Vasee Moorthy from WHO– the question of the vaccine’s partial protection was brought up. They said that the vaccine should work in tandem with current control measures to bring morbidity and mortality rates to zero.

In response to a question about potential side-effects, they responded that, “to date, the vaccine has had an acceptable safety and tolerability profile.” A higher rate of meningitis in vaccinated children compared to controls did not arouse serious concern because it was statistically insignificant. The length of time between vaccination and disease onset also suggested no relation between the two events. However, the vaccine will continue to be monitored for adverse effects over the rest of the trial.

Regardless of the trial’s criticisms, the global implications of the first-generation vaccine are remarkable and provides a stepping-stone not only for malaria control, but global health as well. RTS,S marks the first vaccine to consistently provide a significant protective effect against a parasite on a large-scale setting.GSK promises to provide the vaccine at an affordable price, just 5% above the cost of production. Excess profit would be reinvested into developing  the next malaria vaccine.

While researchers did hope for a higher malarial reduction rate than 50%, the vaccine alone has the potential to prevent millions of malaria cases in children. With the powerful combination of the vaccine and current malaria control measures, there is hope. Controlling malaria would help many developing nations’ economies for which the disease accounts for 40% of medical costs.

The RTS,S vaccine is not perfect, but it shows much promise as a first step. If given regulatory approval, this would be the first human vaccine against a parasitic disease. With full results expected in 2014, public health authorities patiently await the announcement of what could be the first effective vaccine against malaria, the second leading cause of death from infectious diseases in Africa.

YouTube is moving onto bigger and better things | Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Template:V brothers

Last week, YouTube announced its plans to take the website to the next level starting in 2012. The Google-owned site will launch over 100 new channels of original content produced by some of Hollywood’s most well-known (Jay-Z, Ashton Kutcher, Amy Poehler) and even The Wall Street Journal. This shouldn’t come as shocking news to many; YouTube has been discussing this shift for more than a year, and now they have officially announced it. The site will feature around 25 hours of new original content daily across all the channels that will be established, with topics ranging from news and entertainment to fitness and sports.

What does this mean for the future of YouTube? And more importantly, what does this mean for the future of television? YouTube and other video streaming sites such as Google TV are changing how we think of television. Not to get sentimental here, but part of the excitement of watching a favorite television show is the anticipation before it finally airs and sitting through the commercials, wondering what will happen next. Now, it’s all about instant gratification. We need entertainment, and we need it now. Who knows what television will be like 10 years from now once YouTube, a site that draws 160 million people every month, begins to compete with it?

Times are changing. Whether nostalgic people like myself can embrace it is another issue. YouTube, ever since it launched back in 2005, has caught and spread like wildfire – one which nothing so far has extinguished.

Women on Television: A Discussion with Nancy Signorielli by Lisa Dukart

QR Codes: Scanning the Future by Julia Kaplan

Newsic Music September 5th-11th: Adele, Lil Wayne, Odd Future by Nee-Sa Lossing

Earlier this month Dr. Ray Baughman and other researchers devised an experiment to hide objects from view using nanotechnology and photo-thermal deflection. More commonly termed the “mirage effect”, the idea behind this phenomenon is simple. A drastic change in temperature over a small distance bends light rays towards your eye as opposed to bouncing off the surface.

Size doesn't matter with these nanotubes. They're as strong as steel and as light as air. | Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

An example of this effect: when looking down a road on a hot summer day, a puddle of water can be seen in the distance. That puddle doesn’t actually exist; it is merely an illusion created by the deflected light photons, and you are actually seeing an image of the blue sky being redirected from the ground.

Researchers’ first step involved finding a material that would be able to facilitate the “mirage effect”, which they discovered with carbon nanotubes. These are microscopic cylindrical molecules that are 1/10,000 the thickness of a strand of hair, light as air, stronger than steel, and most importantly, they transmit heat quickly.

Dr. Baughman presented the irony of these carbon nanotubes when he stated that their original purpose was to see how they would work as speakers. Sheets of these nanotubes were aligned in an underwater container and heated to elevated temperatures through electrical stimulation. The heat that’s transferred to the surrounding areas generates a temperature gradient, which then causes light rays to bend away from the concealed object. Ta-da! The object has now disappeared to the naked eye.

Soon, we could all be as cool as Harry Potter! (Disclaimer: Invisibility cloak does not include wand. Or magic.) | Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

As of now, scientists have only managed to create this “invisibility cloak” in an underwater setting. Yet this success has prompted an array of possibilities that include military use. The cloaking device could be used to disguise military submarines, assuming that enemy subs don’t have heat-seeking torpedoes…

Although no practical use for humans has yet been found for this cloaking device (because of the whole constantly-applied-heat thing), this experiment may lead to future technological innovations in the field of nanotechnology. The mysticism surrounding invisibility will no longer be only a part of science fiction novels, but reality. Take that, Harry Potter.

Photograph courtesy of flickr user clevercupcakes.

Smartphone sales are set to eclipse PC sales by the end of 2011, according to Beyond the PC, an article in the October 8th edition of The Economist. The “Mobile Revolution” towards ultraportable devices with fast web connections is growing as the Internet becomes more closely intertwined with people’s personal lives. There is a growing emphasis on being able to work, play, and interact with others wherever you are. Marketing strategies are advancing to fit with this new viewpoint by trying to integrate physical and online promotional campaigns, achieving success with QR codes in particular.

Shorthand for Quick Response, QR codes are essentially high-tech barcodes that, when scanned with a smartphone or other mobile device, lead to a link. QR codes create a way to connect online through a two-dimensional code that can be printed on posters, clothing, buildings, and nearly anything in between. Successful QR-code campaigns work to capture the attention of the growing smartphone generation by creating codes that link to contests, videos, and invitations to events, generating enthusiasm by offering consumers an interactive experience rather than a stoic visit to the company website.

Earlier this past year, Zoo Records, an alternative music label in Hong Kong, demonstrated the enormous potential of QR codes as tools for successful marketing. Frustrated with the dominance of mainstream music in Hong Kong and the anonymity of alternative bands, Zoo Records launched a campaign to promote its music, blending QR codes into street art and using the city streets to promote their message. Fourteen unique QR codes were created to link to the webpages of local indie bands, allowing anyone who scanned any of the codes to listen to the band’s music, purchase it straight from their phone, and share it on Facebook and other social media. The codes were embedded into images of bats, wolves, snakes, and other creatures that lead hidden lives underneath the city, making reference to the “hidden sound” of the underground music scene. Scanning different parts of the animal with a smartphone allowed passerby to listen to different bands under the label. Within the first week of the campaign, half of the bands’ albums had sold out and Zoo Records attained name recognition amongst people who, a few weeks earlier, had never listened to alternative music.

Photograph courtesy of Skanz.com

Zoo Records is one of many companies integrating QR codes into their marketing strategies, but a new company called Skanz may be paving the way for individuals to create QR codes that link to their own online social profiles. Their leading product, the “Skanz Band,” is a bracelet imprinted with a unique QR code they’ve termed the “Socialprint.” The Socialprint leads to a link called a “Skanzsite,” which in turn is a complete social profile that places all the information a person wishes to share onto one site. This includes direct contact information such as phone numbers and e-mail addresses, as well as social profiles such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, blogs, and personal websites. Adding someone as a contact on all of these sites becomes as easy as scanning their Socialprint with your phone.

So far, Skanz has portrayed its product as the new business card, allowing professionals to network easily and efficiently. However, the brightly colored bracelets and the promo video on their website, which features two characters connecting by scanning each other’s Skanz Bands after a meeting at a party, bar, or coffeeshop, are primed to attract a younger, college-age crowd. It’s an innovative concept, encouraging a larger, more collaborative online network that extends beyond communicating and emphasizes greater sharing. However, the downside of placing so much information in one place and making it accessible at the touch of a button is the concern for privacy. The existence of a physical link to that much information is not without risk, as identity theft and hacking are already dangers in today’s world. Skanz attempts to protect its users to some extent by allowing contact information to be password-protected.

Ultimately though, the growing convergence between online and real life places a greater responsibility on everyone to remain aware of the content they post online and its potential consequences. As our online profiles become a greater reflection of us as individuals, it’s our job to make sure our reputations aren’t put at risk because of that stray party picture that ends up being seen by the wrong people. Scenarios like these are becoming more and more common, but they can all be prevented by thinking before you press “Share.”

YouTube: The Future of Television? by Aria Ruggiero

Newsic Music September 5th-11th: Adele, Lil Wayne, Odd Future by Nee-Sa Lossing

This evening, Steve Jobs lost a long battle to pancreatic cancer. He was 56.

Jobs brought our parents’ generation the AppleII and the Macintosh; he gave our generation the Macbook, the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. These devices have been staples for the tech-savvy (and, increasingly, everyone else) and inspirations for those inventors who competed with him and those inventors who will come after him. The ease of use of the iPod and iTunes made small white earbuds (and black silhouettes dancing on solid background) the new symbol of the modern music-listener. The iPhone and its subsequent incarnations changed the game for cell phone users: the flip and RAZR phones became a brief memory. A phone was no longer just a phone: it was a camera, a computer, a game system, and an all-around personal assistant.

But Jobs left behind more than just the technology he created. He was an inspiration, the man on stage in the turtleneck and blue jeans, looking suspiciously like your friend’s dad or your eighth grade English teacher, speaking excitedly about the product he sold and making the audience feel the same way.

Jobs’ resignation letter was brief and pointed:

August 24, 2011–To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know.

Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

-Steve. [Wall Street Journal.]

Jobs seldom spoke of his personal illness until 2004, when he sent an e-mail informing his staff about his rare but very curable form of pancreatic cancer, and 2005, during his commencement address at Stanford University. In the subsequent years, his health fluctuated, until he ultimately succumbed to his disease earlier today.

The online response to the death of the technology innovator in the plain black turtleneck has been strong and swift, with #RIP Steve Jobs jumping to the top of Twitter’s trending topic list. Meanwhile, Apple’s main website has changed in its own simple tribute.

Steve Jobs. | Screenshot of the Apple.com main page.

Thinking About Steve by Evan Caughey

Working on a Jobs Bill by Ian Moskowitz

A Guide to the American Jobs Act by Ian Moskowitz