What a 14 years! Can you imagine that just 15 years ago, people were creating websites that looked like this:

The service, originally created by David Bohnett and John Rezner as Beverly Hills Internet, was modeled on the concept of virtual ‘cities’. For instance, Technology was placed in the “Silicon Valley” city.

GeoCities will be shut down October 26th, 2009 and will no longer offer web hosting services.

RIP, GeoCities – it’s been a good run!

Web 2.0: 1

The Interweb: 0

UPDATE: Turns out this rumor was refuted. Mosey along now … nothing to see here … (still, a funny thought – eh?)

So it turns out that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s roots are Jewish. Yup, his family converted. So he’s not Jewish the way Hitler was – what with the Jewish grandma or something. His family name was changed from  Sabourjian to Ahmadinejad when he converted to Islam from Judaism. I guess hindsight is 20/20. Only a Jew could become the Jews worst enemy.

Remember – in Judaism there’s no way out:

• You can convert to Catholicism and become the Pope and you’re still Jewish.
• You can defraud hundreds of people and companies out of billions of dollars and you’re still Jewish.
• You can join the SS and you’re still Jewish.
• You can convert to Islam and become President of Iran and condemn Israel to death and threaten it with nuclear bombs – and you’re still Jewish!

Oh well, welcome to the clan, Sabourjian.

The fact was revealed when a close-up of his papers, which he showed on various occasions, showed the name Sabourjian – which is Iranian for “cloth weaver.” The ending of the name, ‘jian,’ is commonplace for Jewish families in Iran – I guess it’s the same as ’stein’, or ‘berg’. Not only that, but apparently the name Sabourjian is a common Jewish name in Iran.

Imagine if some guy who’s last name was Cohen was screaming ‘death to Israel.’ Would you take him seriously?

Jewish Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Apropos, here’s a cute video by Birthright about it!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWjcHryH8zo]

AH! It’s the giant elephant in the room! Actually, I must admit it was the giant elephant in the room yesterday. Today it was in a huge front-page article in the New York Times’ Business Day section. Catherine Rampell wrote about bubbles. Which got me to thinking…

Rampell brings up an extremely valid point (illustrated finely by bubbles all around the main article.) There have always been bubbles. She cites the 20’s stock market & Florida Real Estate boom, the Gold Rush (of course,) the Railroads, and (humorously?) the Beanie Babies bubble of recent times.

But why is speculation about “this bubble being different” being written about during one of the worst recessions of our times? Is there even a bubble? My answer: I think so.

Now, I’m biased because I’m a dorkus malorkus on wheels, and I wear a pocket protector – but I think that Social Media is definitely on the rise, and is definitely raking it in. Twitter just got a round of financing totaling in $100 million that values the company at $1 billion. I suck at math, but I know those are high numbers, and that means a lot of money. Facebook just brought in its 300 millionth user last month, and has been cashing in big time for a while now.

So is Social Media a Bubble? Or is it the opposite – an Industry?

Here’s the case for both sides:

Bubble:

• Social Media is so new, you can’t possibly call it an industry. It’s barely starting to turn a profit in most cases, and no – you can’t take one (Facebook) or two profitable examples (Twitter) and call them an industry.
• There is so much free in this “industry” that advertising alone couldn’t possibly sustain it.
• Most of the people you are targeting have little buying power. Myspace, and now Facebook, are littered with 13 year olds making emo faces. They would have to save up their allowance to buy something.
• It’s just a passing phase. get over it!

Industry:

• Ahem. $1 billion for Twitter, 300 million users on Facebook. Facebook is almost the size of the United States.
• Advertising can sustain the industry. Freedom of information is the way the world is heading, and you can’t charge ‘membership fees’ anymore. Get over it.
• Plus, in some cases, things are just worth paying for – like completely online streaming TV stations. Where would these things be without Social Media? Oh, and the tiny ads before shows – cost lots of $.
• When Facebook goes public, will you accept Social Media as an industry? What about when Google Wave replaces email?

Anyway, I am way done arguing with myself. But I would love to hear what you guys think!

[polldaddy poll=2035119]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzDRAZDR3ps]
President Obama extends his warm wishes for Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah marks the start of a new year – a time of humble prayer, joyful celebration, and hope for a new beginning. September 18, 2009. (Public Domain)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhilbbeUc0g]

Joe Wilson is the Republican who yelled “you lie!” at Barack Obama – The President of the United States. Joe Wilson has sky-rocketed from number 516587 in the list of people I don’t like – to the top 10 (haven’t decided where yet). Anyway – check out www.joewilsonisyourpreexistingcondition.com (or click on the picture below) to read the absolute honest-to-God truth about Joe Wilson.

From: www.Whatthetrend.com

Gilad Shalit is an Israeli soldier who has been held captive by Hamas for over three years now. He was kidnapped at the age of 19, and is about to turn 23. The Tweet 4 Shalit campaign was initiated to raise awareness about Shalit on the occasion of his birthday.

From Wikipedia:

Gilad Shalit (Hebrew: גלעד שליט‎, born 28 August 1986) is an Israeli soldier who was captured^{[2] [3]} on 25 June 2006 by Palestinian militants in a cross border raid from the Gaza Strip on the Kerem Shalom crossing (in Israel) and has been held hostage by Hamas since. Shalit is believed to be alive.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]} Shalit, a soldier of the IDF’s Armor Corps, held the rank of corporal at the time of the incident but has since been promoted to staff sergeant.^[1]

He became the first Israeli soldier captured^[10] by militant Palestinian forces since Nachshon Wachsman in 1994.^[11] His abduction^[12] and the following cross border raid by Hezbollah, resulting in the abduction of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev into Lebanon, occurred prior to the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon during summer 2006. Shalit holds French citizenship, a fact that encouraged France and the European Union to be involved to some extent in the efforts to release him.^[13] Recently, he also received Italian citizenship.^[14] Hamas has barred the International Red Cross from seeing him, and has demanded the release of 450 Palestinian prisoners.^[15][16][17]

#GiladShalit is officially trending on Twitter!

We did it, but the fight is not yet over – we need to keep #GiladShalit trending. We’ve seen what awareness this can bring. #IranElection raised Twitter to a whole new political action level – and now it’s Gilad’s turn!

The Tweet4Shalit campaign on Twitter is underway as of now!

It’s already 8.26 in Australia – so get your tweet on and add #GiladShalit to every one of your tweets!

For a search of Twitter for #GiladShalit click the picture below!

#GiladShalit