We all think a differently thanks to Steve Jobs.

Apple just announced the passing of  Co-Founder Steve Jobs.

As I write this post on one of my many Mac computers and dismiss a call on my iPhone – I draw breath at the sheer impact he has had on millions of lives.

We are a wired society thanks in large part to his vision, his demands for nothing less than perfection and because he always believed he could do better.

Before you send out that tweet from your new iPhone 4s . . . remember back just a few years when a cell phone was the size of your grandmothers purse and be grateful for a man like Steve Jobs who demanded better.

As my husband so aptly tweeted : “Steve Jobs passing marks the capstone of an era of innovation. Design such as Apple has revolutionized more than just the computer industry.”

The world of technology is a bit dimmer today from the loss of this master of innovation.

Jobs loved what he did. And pursued that love with a passion. In a 2005 Stanford commencement speech, Jobs said:

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma–which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

[EDIT 9:51 PM OCT. 5, 2011]
The White House just posted President Barack Obama‘s statement on the passing of Steve Jobs – I think this says it best . . . .

“there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”

The man changed virtually every American citizen’s daily life with the ipod and iphone, that is a rare occurrence in today’s world. He was a genius and a revolutionary inventor. R.I.P. Steve.  You were amazing.  Thank you for all that you have done to advance technology and design.

Read Steve Jobs Tributes

Read Tribute at NPR.

Read Time.com’s thoughts on Steve Jobs.

Boston.com: Key dates from the life and work of Steve Jobs

LA Times: Steve Jobs mourned by Apple workers, Cupertino residents

Cult of Mac: Mike Elgan’s What Steve Jobs Means to Silicon Valley

NY Times: Remembering Steve Jobs – Send in your Pictures

Wall Street Journal: Apple Chairman, Former CEO Steve Jobs Has Died

Cupertino City Council: Steve Jobs Presentation to Cupertino City Council about Apple’s New Headquarters in June 2011

A simple and fitting tribute on Apple.com's home page.

Related Steve Jobs Stories When He Stepped Down as CEO in August:

• As Apple’s Steve Jobs Steps Down, Tim Cook Steps Up Aug. 25, 2011
• How Steve JobsChanged The Way We Listen Aug. 25, 2011
• Steve Jobs And The Cultural Apple Aug. 25, 2011
• A Story About Steve Jobs And Attention To Detail Aug. 25, 2011
• With A Spotlight On Jobs, Time To Talk About Cancer Aug. 25, 2011
• Can Apple Fly As High Without Steve Jobs? Aug. 25, 2011
• Apple CEO Steve Jobs Stepping Down Aug. 24, 2011
• Will Jobs’ Departure Take A Bite Out Of Apple? Jan. 18, 2011
• Is Steve Jobs Irreplaceable As Apple’s CEO? Jan. 18, 2011
• Steve Jobs Takes Another Medical Leave Jan. 18, 2011

Photo Credit: Eric Lusion

[EDIT Oct. 3, 2011] – Thanks to @FakhriZina and @OperationLeakS for sharing this humdinger of a video :: Day Trader tells truth live on UK BBCNews 9/26/11

This morning I began my day reading over the messages from those who are showing their support for the #OccupyWallStreet movement by posting pictures of notes that tell their stories on the We are the 99% tumblr blog. I encourage you to pause to read their stories before you judge or accept what you may have heard from main stream media.

Since the #OccupyWallStreet movement took shape on September 17th, 2011 it seems as though there has been growing frustration in how the main stream media is portraying the peaceful, organized and well spoken (and growing) group. Let’s face it – the coverage didn’t really begin until there was violence on peaceful protesters by the NYPD. Major news organizations finally began to cover the story when the rest of the world took notice.

Just to be clear on what the movement is about, please take a moment to read the Declaration of the Occupation of New York City from the The Official Website of the General Assembly at #OccupyWallStreet.

These are not happless hippies or misguided hipsters who are out to inconvenience NYC commuters or waste taxpayers money. There are many older protesters who want change too! Some are even suggesting that people close their accounts with the bail out banks and move all of their money to a credit union.

Read the General Assembly Minutes from 9/29 7PM and you will see that this group is thoughtful in what whey want to accomplish and realize that in order to reach the and gain the support of 99% of America they will have to stick to the main issues of the corruption of Wall Street and the Financial Institutions that have lead us into this recession.

There is even a post on Reddit by HotKariMarx that encourages protesters to wear khaki’s and polos to appeal to the people at home who are watching this developing story on the news. Great idea of a “uniform” to appeal to the masses – but the people are there and protesting because they can barely make ends meet. Who knows, maybe Ralph Lauren or The Gap will donate polos and khakis for a good cause. . . but I doubt it.

This 2004 article by Jack Rasmus lays out some pretty interesting facts about the disparity in earnings in the U.S. between American workers and CEO’s. In 2007 the New York Times even confirmed the widening income gap. I can’t help but agree with the economists who think that the repeal of the Glass – Steagall act aided in our current economic woes.

"Hrmmmmm".

The part that social media is playing in this now nationwide movement is difficult to ignore. The reason international news organizations are reporting on the protests in the US is due largely to the noise being made online. My first glimpse at what was going on in NYC was thanks to my Facebook Friend Eric Lusion who shared an album of photo’s from the streets.

Many, like me, have noticed that Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent) is taking his support of Wall Street / Financial Institutional reform to twitter. I applaud his efforts to educate his followers that 3 out of the 4 largest financial institutions are bigger today than before the financial crisis began. I was some what shocked to learn from the Senator that “Between 1980 and 2005, 80% of all new income created in this country went to the top 1%”

The whole world is watching as the 99% demand real reform.

The Occupy Together movement is growing world wide. Will you join in the movement online via social media or in your nearest city?

Will you risk arrest like MetroFocus Web Editor John Farley did for his piece on citizen journalism?

Are your local representatives addressing this issue?

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Edit 1:36 pm : the WSJ just posted that there WILL NOT be a Radiohead concert.

Edit 12:56 pm : Confirmed from @occupywallst website that Radiohead, who is in NY as part of their tour, will be playing at 4pm. I can only imagine what this will do for visibility of the movement as well as set the stage for other celebrities to step in and show support for the cause. Hashtag for the event is #RadioheadOccupy

A photoshopped picture of a shark swimming on a Puerto Rico street from (Reddit)

From the Virginia Earthquake to Hurricane Irene – this past week we all have seen a flurry of activity on our own social networks . . . whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Quora or even Linkedin, inevitably someone you know has shared a photo of what was happening around them. It’s citizen journalism at it’s best.

Take this twitpic of Atlantic City Beach taken by @Nathaly_Michele – It’s been one day and already it has had 62,104 views. 62,104!

But along with the honest citizen journalists that simply share where they are and what’s going on (sometimes in a fun and funny way) – there also are those who choose to have a bit of fun with photo shop – Like the case with the photo of a shark swimming down a Puerto Rico street flooded by Hurricane Irene posted to Reddit a few days ago . . . many who retweet or share these photo’s often don’t know they are faked from a real photo and created simply to get attention.

When it comes to natural disasters and social media it is easy to get caught up in the moment and not check our sources. A quick Google search in the case of the Puerto Rico Shark would have given you these results and saved you the embarrassment of explaining to your friends that the link you just shared in shock and horror . . . was a fake.

Natural disasters can impact our social networks in various ways. From getting over 62,000 views on Twitpic to having over 100 people retweet a fake photo of a shark swimming alongside a truck in Puerto Rico . . . it all comes down to how we choose to use our networks and how we protect them from false information.

Be sure that what you are sharing, liking, commenting on and tweeting is the real deal. It’s your credibility.

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What photo’s have you seen over the last week that you had to share?

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San Francisco’s BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) cut cell phone service due to Protestors planning a rally on August 11, 2011 to bring attention to a number of recent BART transit police officer shootings.

In the wake of the havoc in London, where Prime Minister Cameron is considering the role social media had played on the riots it seems as though many cities, world wide, are contemplating how to control or snoop on the masses that are equipped with a cellphone and shared opinion.

Just to be clear – I absolutely do not condone the wanton disregard for others property or safety like what happened in the United Kingdom. You may be surprised to learn that UK youth were offered money by “journalists” to start riots, according to some Tweets).

In an ideal world – if you are pissed at your government or your officials, damaging your neighbors property or putting others lives in danger is NOT the way to change things. As Julian Assange was quoted in TheStar.com post by Foreign Affairs Reporter Olivia Ward “The looters and rioters who torched Britain’s neighbourhoods are “doing Big Brother” a favour by giving the government more latitude to destroy citizens’ rights and freedoms.”

You want to see change? Vote. (I know about voter fraud, but that is another blog post.)

We all deserve the right to gather in peaceful protest to raise pubic awareness about situations or circumstances that need to be changed and often are not covered by traditional ‘Murdoch‘ news.

It’s sad to say that it was no surprise to hear that San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) cut cell phone service to select stations where protestors were planning to raise awareness about the slew of recent BART shootings. BART’s justification for cutting service was that a possible protest at rush hour would endanger lives.

‘Anonymous‘ called this a “Mubarak style” attack on free speech.

What do you think?

Photo Credit Deirdre Reid

Early this morning I was poking around Facebook like many millions of people do each day, when I saw a post by my friend Deirdre Reid aka @deirdrereid.

She commented on how @MrMichael_Smith of @ESPN had posted tweets on how funny he thought the accident of Dutch cyclist Johnny Hoogerland was on twitter.

Yep you heard right. Michael Smith thought it was funny . . . and apparently still does.

Photo Credit Deirdre Reid

If you do a simple twitter search for @MrMichael_Smith you will see a plethora of outraged people demanding that ESPN reprimand him for his unprofessional behavior online.

@TdFLanterne recently posted the response he received from ESPN regarding Michael Smith’s comments on twitter.

Each second that ticks by, and as word is spreading in the cycling community of Michael Smith’s insensitive tweets – he and his flippant responses on twitter are alienating people from the ESPN brand.

Photo Credit: Deirdre Reid

This is a text book example of when a brand representative can quickly become a liability thanks to the world wide reach of social media.

For those of you who may not have heard – Johnny Hoogerland was forced off the road at around 60mph into a barbed wire fence by a French TV camera car during Stage 9 of the Tour de France. You can read the full story here.

Photo Credit REUTERS

I don’t know about you Michael Smith, but I don’t find a single damn thing funny about this.

UPDATE : July 13 10:02am

Since yesterday #firemichaelsmith has gained strength as more and more cyclists across the world have learned of Michael Smith’s tweets.

Though Michael Smith did finally apologize on twitter, it seems that it’s too little to late after all of his very personal tweets defending his right to laugh at Johnny Hoogerland’s crash.

As one twitter user aptly said -

@_steventran: I take @mrmichael_smith‘s comments seriously because they publicly perpetuate a disregard for the lives of cyclists. #firemrmichaelsmith

additional reading :

This post by @simonmacmichael of @roadcc highlights the number of cyclists killed in Brittan alone.

CTC says rate of deaths among cyclists not falling quickly enough as DfT releases casualty stats

Stats from the U.S.

bicyclinginfo.org: Bicycle Crash Facts

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Do you think Michael Smith should be reprimanded for his lack of sensitivity and remarks on twitter by ESPN?

If you were an ESPN exec. how how would you handle a situation like this?

They say that “in honor of 2010 being The Year of The Bieber on Twitter, we’re giving away one pair of Justin Bieber’s Solo Justbeats headphones and limited edition iBeats earbuds.” with a link for you to   Win a Pair of Justin Bieber’s Solo Justbeats Headphones or iBeats Earbuds [CONTEST]

From all of the comments I’ve read – most think that the folks over at Mashable are off their rocker. Literally.

Most boo & hiss that they can’t believe Mashable would offer such a contest that is so obviously out of line with their target demographic.

Some plead a strong case for Facebook to add a “dislike” button.

Others threaten to abandon Mashable for good over this contest.

I’m starting to side with the folks who, though silent, are firm in the belief that even bad comments are still comments and good PR. If you leave a comment, you are still giving them time on your social stage. So go ahead and bitch about the Bieber contest. You are only bringing it more attention.

The people who have commented on this page have now put this post in front of all of their friends (and tweenagers). Yep, you guessed it. Sometimes the best way to get attention is to piss a few people off. Bravo Mashable.

Look at me . . . I’m writing about the damn thing. Case closed.

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Got Bieber Fever? . . . neither do I.

Want to leave your two cents worth? Head on over  the Mashable Facebook page and tell’em @dhatfield sent you.

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“ Quit counting fans, followers and blog subscribers like bottle caps. Think, instead, about what you’re hoping to achieve with and through the community that actually cares about what you’re doing.” – Amber Naslund, Social Media Today

I came across this quote today and it really struck home . . . it’s about the QUALITY of relationships you have, not another notch on your Social Media belt.

Read this great post by Debbie Weil;

Social Networking Is Not Just a Numbers Game

Another relevent post by ChristineGallagher;

Three Ways to Build Relationships Beyond Social Media

What are you doing in your social communities that to show people you are not a collector?

screen capture of Twitter from Zee of The Next Web

Read the full story :: App Store, Hacked. (Updated: iTunes Accounts too.)

Learn the all the facts and what you should do here. Thanks Zee!

If your account has been hacked Apple offers this advice. . .

iTunes Store: What to do if your account has been compromised

Has your account been hacked?

How should Apple handle this?

Learn more about XPLANE | The visual thinking company

Rickrolling is an Internet meme typically involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up”. The meme is a bait and switch: a person provides a web link that they claim is relevant to the topic at hand, but the link actually takes the user to the Astley video. The link can be masked or obfuscated in some manner so that the user cannot determine the true destination of the link without clicking.

When a person clicks on the link and is led to the web page, he or she is said to have been “rickrolled”. Rickrolling has extended beyond Web links to playing the video or song disruptively in other situations, including public places;[2] this culminated when Astley and the song made a surprise appearance in the 2008 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,[1] a televised event with tens of millions of viewers. – Wikipedia

Via: Online Schools