Big Orange!

As much as I enjoy going to galleries and art exhibits in person, making art purchases online was almost too easy (and very convenient). Throughout the COVID pandemic, while the world was on “lockdown,” I discovered that it had no impact whatsoever on my art purchases. In fact, I found that I was buying more art. Go figure. The main culprit? Facebook. But I was getting email invitations to virtual exhibits as well. Here is one of my facebook purchases. The artist: Sharon Allred, the title: Big Orange, the medium: acrylic/mixed media. The typical MO (method of operation): I would be doing my daily check-in on facebook (wishing friends happy birthday, etc.) and would notice a work of art from one of my artist friends. It was as simple as hitting the “like” button, saying what a beautiful piece it was, then going directly to “messenger” to inquire about availability and price. And voila! The painting was mine. Ah, the hazards of having artist friends on facebook!

Social Media and Investigations!

There was an interesting article in the August issue of Government Technology (on page 42) on the use of social media by law enforcement in the investigation of crime.  The following stats are the result of a survey conducted by LexisNexis Risk Solutions (in partnership with PoliceOne).

Let’s start with “who’s” using social media for investigative purposes.

• Federal (81%)
• State (71%)
• Local (82%)
• Rank and file (79%)
• Supervisory (85%)

Regional use:

• Northeast (89%)
• Northcentral (83%)
• West (81%)
• South/Southeast (77%)

The size of the agency matters.

• Cities with populations under 50,000 (86%)
• Cities with populations between 50,000 and 100,000 (76%)\
• Cities with populations over 100,000 (78%)

Which social media sites are used for investigations (at least monthly)

• Facebook
• YouTube
• MySpace
• Twitter

What types of investigative activities are done via social media?

• Identify associates affiliated with persons of interest (80%)
• Identify the location of criminal activity (68%)
• Gather photos or statements to corroborate evidence (60%)
• Identify crimimal activity (80%)
• Identify persons of interest (85%)
• Identify/monitor persons of interest’s whereabouts (54%)
• Soliciting tips on crimes (35%)
• Anticipating crimes that may be occurring (33%)
• Understanding criminal networks (40%)
• Use info from social media as probably cause for search warrants (23%)  Note: when challenged, social media as evidence for search warrants holds up in court 87% of the time.

Source: http://www.govtech.com/magazines/gt/Government-Technology-August-2012.html

Facebook vs. Twitter!

Have you joined the social media craze yet?  Are you an active Facebook or Twitter user?  Have you seen the latest demographic breakdown of these social media.  If you haven’t, fear not, here’s an infographic that does just that (courtesy of www.digitalsurgeons.com).  

Happy Birthday FB!

To honor the 6th birthday of Facebook, here is a wonderful graphic with some statistics bout the average Facebook user.

Pretty amazing actually.  With the way that some of these new tools and technologies impact our lives, how were we able to ever get through a day without them before?

And, like all things, this too shall be replaced with the latest and greatest “thing” in the not too distant future.  The only real constant still is “change.”  And, those who fail (or refuse) to change fall further behind in the mainstream of life.

I have not yet logged in to Facebook today, but rest assured, I will.  And, while I may not spend the 55 minute daily average, I’m there, staying connected to my numerous “friends!” 

As We Approach a New Decade!

Did you know that on Christmas Day, Facebook became the most visited site in the United States?  Did you know that the average user spends 55 minutes a day on the site?  Wow!  That’s 55 minutes that I used to be doing something else!  And,with the new year (and new decade) just a couple of days away, here are some interesting graphics on the opinions of technological and social change as well as generational perceptions of many of the past decades.  Enjoy!  (Courtesy of the Pew Research Center.)

Productivity?

If productivity is a problem for you, then don’t check out these 40 time-wasting sites . . . for the rest of you, here’s a list of sites that go way beyond Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter for making your time just disappear.  Enjoy!

http://tech.msn.com/products/articlepcw.aspx?cp-documentid=20923913&gt1=40000

Social Media!

Here’s a t-shirt tribute to Social Media from the perspective of www.despair.com

Not too shabby!

I’ve Taken the Plunge!

And I have finally joined the ranks of Facebook users.  I’ve been using LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter, Blogs, Wikis, and other Web 2.0 technologies since I began my “23 Things” journey last summer (mostly on the more serious/professional/work side of things [except for my personal blog]).  I kept telling myself that I didn’t have the time to devote to Facebook.  So, during this last holiday weekend, I took advantage of an extra day of R&R to apply myself into developing a Facebook presence.  I’m officially hooked!  I’m discovering that the more of these tools, technologies, or whatever you want to call them (social or otherwise) that you incorporate into your daily life, the more skilled you must become in managing your time. 

I’ve always been pretty good in the time management department, but I’ve just bumped it up to another level!