She’s a great writer and her blog had many followers. And why not? You got to hear funny stories from a woman who had succesfully blended a step family; her advice was witty and wise. But I didn’t particularly want to read it. It was her journal; her innermost thoughts…on me!

While my parents may have been early to blogging and social media, the rest of the Baby boomers have really started to flock to sites like Facebook, Twitter, and blogging sites. A quick Google search for Baby Boomer Blogs gives you over 8 million choices.

A recent survey by NPD says that 41% of Baby Boomer use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. And that 41% is just regular users, not those that are signed up and get on it only once a month.

With Baby Boomer Social Media use on the rise, so has backlash from their Gen X and Millennial children refusing to friend them on Facebook, follow their blogs or even blocking their comments. One of my brothers held on accepting friend requests from my parents all through college. A recent segment on the Today show talked about things parents do to embarrass their children. One of the biggies that was mentioned: posting comments on their Facebook page…

For now I am happy that my mom has started a new blog that is not about be, but rather her 94 year old purple mother. I no longer cringe when someone mentions reading her blog and can laugh with them about my neat-freak, highly fashionable grandma’s latest shenanigans with the ophthalmologist.

Blogs everywhere have been announcing Starbucks feat, but when I checked stats today, Starbucks had been dethroned by my number 1 pick: Coca-Cola.

Even though Coca-Cola has almost more than 10 million more followers than Starbucks now, the coffee giant still broke the all important 10 million mark before the soda maker.

Follow the cafeine war for #1:

Today is the birthday of SMSEO’s founder Robert Holland. He is eternally 29. So wish him happy birthday, spam his Facebook with well wishing, or tweet it to the world.

Happy Birthday, Robert! May your life continue to grow long after your hair stops.

But I tried it anyways. And, ya know what? It’s true.

Suddenly, instead of hitting the Like Button I was hitting the Arr! Button and was “be takin’ a fancy t’ this ‘ere.”

Try it yourself. Go to the bottom of your Facebook feed where it says English(US) and click it. When the box of language choices comes up click on the arrow next to English and and hit Pirate.

Other languages worth checking out are Leet Speek, Upside Down, and Latin.

But for one state this year, my own state of Georgia, it was disastrous.

Somehow – they have not yet divulged how – they over payed about 640,000 dollars in refunds. Many of which just showed up in taxpayers’ bank accounts last Thursday.

The Georgia Department of Revenue didn’t even realize their was a problem until the next week when they put a stop payment order out on the refunds on Tuesday.

And to make matters worse, they simply did not inform the public. Which left many taxpayers that had hundreds of dollars in their accounts on Tuesday morning with nothing but a string of overdrafts in their accounts come lunch time

Not good news for the new Revenue Commissioner Douglas J. MacGinnitie, who started his post last Tuesday two days before the erroneous refunds were deposited into tax payers accounts.

In response to this mess, MacGinnitie said, “Clearly, we need to work to make the Department of Revenue more customer-focused. I assume that is why the governor asked me to take this job.”

So it is no wonder that social networking sites are used by employers to vet possible employees and even fire unsuitable employees whose sites have content that defames the employer.

A recent study done by Microsoft has found that 75% of companies require human resource departments to research applicants online. And even more astonishing, the study found that 70% of companies have rejected applicants based on information found on social networking sites.

Even if you are careful with public information on your networking site, that’s not enough anymore. Some states have ruled that privacy in these sites is not guaranteed. In fact, Facebook even states it directly in its terms of use.

Of course, there are some things an employer still cannot fire you or refuse to employ you over. Things such as disability, marital status, religion, etc. that are protected already by law. But, slandering your employer, their customers, or contractors is grounds for termination.

Moral of the story: be careful what you say on Facebook or your networking site. This should already be a no brainer after all the press about cops busting drug users and teenagers committing suicide over cyber bullying. However, the line with termination and employment is a grayer, especially as each state has its own laws pertaining to social networking, employment, and privacy.

For more information visit this article and check with your own states laws:

The phone itself sports processing capabilities similar to that of Netbooks.

The Atrix 4G has an NVIDIA dual-core Tegra 2 chipset, 16GB of internal storage, 1GB of RAM, a rear camera with flash, a front-facing VGA camera, fingerprint reader, and a 4 in. display with 960×540 resolution.

The dock has a 11.6 in. screen, USB ports and an HDMI output, which means it has the capability of hooking up with a TV or desktop as well.

It runs on a Motorola modified Andriod OS platform.

Pricing has not been decided yet. But, AT&T will be the provider for the services, which makes many consumers nervous with AT&T’s tendency to jack up prices for novelty products.

Kodak announced back in June 2009 that it would no longer produce the film citing decreased demand.The last Kodachrome processing facility, located in Kansas, closed down on the 30^th of December.

Many iconic photos were shot with Kodachrome, including the National Geographic picture of the green-eyed Afghan girl, since it was introduced in 1935.

Are all film cameras on their way out? Or was Kodachrome being nudged out by its other film competitors?

 Navigating several different buttons to jump over an obstacle while being shot and trying to kill another player or character was too much for me, especially because I usually played against veteran gamers like my brother who at one point was a professional Halo player.

I gave up quickly and moved onto games where there was more of a learning curve involved. The Elder Scrolls series quickly became my favorite, but I always wanted to play the shooters with the boys.

I have hope now, as do others who have a difficult time navigating controls, with the new game Brink. The developers of Brink, Splash Damage and Bethesda, had a brilliant idea for simplifying in game movements that will allow users to move and shoot at the same time.

The S.M.A.R.T button allows the player to automatically jump over or slide under difficult obstacles with the click of a button. It’s not so easy as to turn off veteran gamers, but gives the game a more fluid feel that is less taxing on your gaming fingers.

And for those of us that are gaming impaired, it hopefully will give us a fighting chance – unless your brother just happens to be a professional too.

Why?

Apparently the Beatles’ umbrella company, Apple, has had a long time copyright feud with Apple… After legal battles since 1981, the two Apples, along with EMI, the Beatles’ record label, came to an exclusive agreement with iTunes.

But the Beatles are far from the only holdout on iTunes. You still won’t find Garth Brooks, Kid Rock, or AC/DC, just to name a few, on iTunes. And others have just joined in the last few years like Metallica and Led Zeppelin.

While Paul McCartney said that he would like to see the Beatles on iTunes, many of the other holdouts, Such as AC/DC, say that iTunes is “going to kill music if they’re not careful.”

Most of these bands and artist have issue with non-variable pricing and patrons being able to download only certain songs of the album.

Of course, those are some of the aspects of iTunes that patrons like the most. You pay $1.25 for the song you want, and only the song you want.

As a patron I like this aspect myself, but as a writer if by books were to be sold at the same flat rate, chapter by chapter, I would be appalled too.

Do you think that these artists are just delaying the inevitable or do they have a point?

Today hundreds, actually probably thousands, of internet gamers with blood shot eyes reported to work today hopped up on Mountain Dew.

And countless more have yet to emerge from behind their computers.

At Midnight PST, World of Warcraft released their expansion, Cataclysm. The new expansion features, in addition to a new story line, five new levels, two news races, a cash of new weapons and armor, and new skills and questing areas. Also the game fixed several glitches and made leveling up a smoother transition.

I have yet to play it myself because my husband has been hogging it…

What do those of you that play the game think about so far? Any complaints?

So, now there is an issue with the Facebook cartoons.

I, personally, thought it was a great way to promote awareness. But, as with everything in this world, someone has to rain on the parade.

The blogosphere is very talkative this morning about the cartoon trend, which started out of Greece.

Many say that the cartoons started out as a hoax since no group has come forward to claim responsibility.

Another rumor, an outright lie, is a new status update trend warning parents about pedophileswho supposedly started the cartoon profiles. The thinking goes that children will friend them easier if they have cartoons as their profile picture.

I say who cares… Whether it’s official or not, raising awareness for the defenseless is never a hoax.

What do you think?

Seen this status update on your friends pages yet?

Change your Facebook profile picture to a cartoon from your childhood. The goal? To not see a human face on Facebook until Monday, December 6.Join the fight against child abuse and copy & paste this to your status to invite your friends to do the same. Join the fight against child abuse and copy & paste this to your status to invite your friends to do the same.

I changed mine to Darkwing Duck. He was always one of my favorites and my son shares Darkwing’s real name: Drake.

Did you participate yet? And who did you pick?

What did you do in November? Well, I wrote a novel. Not to brag or anything, really, cause it’s quite terrible at the moment. I’m also not alone in writing an entire novel in thirty days. I had around 200,000 people from around the world joining me in the National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo brings together professional writers, amateur writers, and wannabe writers for what the site deems “Thirty Days of Literary Abandon.” The contest dares you to write 50,000 words in the month of November. What’s the Prize? A certificate and a crappy novel.

Why then is it so popular if you don’t win anything? The writing community and the camaraderie. The site has local chapters for most of the US and Europe. Libraries and bookstores have special spots and days for writers to congregate. You receive emails from famous writers like Neil Gaiman and Piers Anthony to spur you on towards your goal. They’ve got workshops, parties, balls, and funny videos.   It’s the social network of fellow literary idiots that makes it worthwhile.

The contest has grown from 21 participants in 1999 to 167,150 participants in 2009. So if you’ve ever wanted to write a novel – even if it is a terrible novel about Harry Potter teaming up with Jack Sparrow to hunt down Edward Cullen – sign up for next year.

The site is www.nanowrimo.org if you want more information.