COLDPLAY's "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall" = A "Ritmo De La Noche" COPY?

This weekend I heard the Coldplay's new single called: "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall", which I liked and immediately transported me to my childhood.  But, was that a good thing?

Well, I've found this song an exact copy of "Ritmo De La Noche" by Mystic (also covered by The Sacados - the version I heard when a child).  I like Coldplay and their music, but it's hard not to notice that they have been copying several artists these days, by taking their tunes, lyrics and music and making it their own.  In fact, one of their last album's hit "Viva La Vida" garnered a lot of controversy on this very same topic.  Granted, it seems like a lot of artists are doing this now, as in the case of Jennifer Lopez and her recent hit: "On The Floor", tune that was made famous by the 90s Brazilian band Lambada.  Interestingly, this makes two Brazilian bands' music copied by two English speaking artists.  Is the music industry running out of ideas?

I really like Coldplay but, is it necessary to use this cool famous rhythm for this new song? 
Does Coldplay or Jennifer Lopez producers think that people won't recognize these things and be able to call then up on it?

Listen to this Coldplay song and The Sacados version below and you be the judge...What do you think?

The War of The Social Networks - Which Are Gaining and Losing Users?

Social Networks are all the rage these days, taking over popularity and in traffic as in the case of Facebook over online portals that in their hay day dominated the internet, as in the case of Yahoo!, AOL, MSN, MySpace, etc.
While some websites are growing and peaking, others are shutting down or on the verge of collapse, the perfect example is Mypace, a social network pioneer that's becoming victim of its own success.  Myspace's staggering decline is leading to desperate measures like mass lay offs and in search of buyers ASAP before it's too late and its value nears bottom.  News Corp's recent negotiations of having MySpace sold to Vevo certainly suggest the best option left for the once leading social network is to merge with an uprising internet music star to be able to survive.  Facebook on the other hand continues to outdo itself in terms of technology and experience, offering its users a long term-stay.

Recently I came across this Infograph--which I've come to love--that beautifully paints an excellent picture of the winners and losers in social media these days and it further breaks down the demographic breakdown for the top players in the world.  Take Plaxo for instance, as pointed out by Mashable: it's "the network with the most users over the age of 65, while Facebook is more popular with women, Digg and Reddit tend to be more popular with men, Linkedin is the “richest” social network, but Plurk outranks it when it comes to well-educated users who have graduate degrees."

Take a look at this detailed infograph below and you be the judge...

Shamrock, Shakes and Youtube Leprechauns: How Do Americans Celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

What are your plans for St. Patrick’s Day (this Thursday, March 17): hanging out with friends, shamrocks, dressing up like leprechauns, wearing green, going to an Irish pub...? 

Well, in 2011 St. Patty's has gone social, so take a look at this cool infographic that shows how social networkers will celebrating this special day, revealing their opinions of that green-beer-besotted holiday that’s coming soon to a corner pub near you.

Disclaimer: Lab 42 surveyed data from 405 social network users, and the company assures us those respondents were evenly distributed across all age groups and income levels.

So, tell us what you think of this infograph and if you fit the mole, and share how and where you will be this green Thursday...check in Facebook places or Foursquare!

Cheers:-)

History of Social Networking - What's Next?

It's already the second month into the New Year and we have had blizzards, floods in Australia, protests in Africa, and a handful of impactful world events, I just can't believe how fast 2011 is going and how many things have already happened in such a short time!

As time flies, I've realized that it's been a while since my last post, so here is a cool infograph I found that nicely documents the 'History of Social Networking'...what do you think will be the next ''it'' social platform?

What we know for sure is that pioneers like AOL and MySpace have long been struggling now and the most recent news is that the once largest social network in the world is now officially for sale as reported by our friends at Mashable.

WORKING FROM HOME: WHO IS ALLOWED TO DO IT?

I was approached a couple of months back by Dawn Papandrea, a writer from Getcurrency.com--a website recently launched by American Express intended to help better manage personal finance and provide with personal stories as people work to define and achieve success on their own terms--to take part on a story about young professionals working from home and I said why not!  Check out this interview piece below for more about this story...these days anyone can do this, as long as you can prove your boss that your worthy of it.

Getting Your Boss to Let You Work from Home

Source: GetCurrency

Let's experiment. That's the message that Reese Ramos, 32, a digital-marketing and publicity professional in Los Angeles, was proposing when he suggested, just weeks into his new position, that he work from home on Fridays to increase his productivity.

"My boss wasn't very sure with the idea, as it was new to him," Ramos says. But he pleaded his case, arguing that he could make calls and work on business development leads with less disruption. "The office is a big communal loft space with no privacy, so my productivity level was much higher at home," he says. And Ramos knew from feedback that he was regarded as dependable and professional, with a great work ethic. His boss soon agreed to give work-at-home Fridays a shot.

"If you think you're a good candidate to work at home, you must create a business proposal that takesyour needs out of the equation," says Darcy Eikenberg, a certified workplace coach and founder of Coach Darcy LLC. "While you may want to do it to shorten your commute or avoid parking costs, that's not your company's issue—unless it helps them in some way. You have to make the case that it's good for the company." In other words, if you don't have an hourlong commute, you can start earlier and work later.

Working His Way Toward Home

Over several months, Ramos kept proving himself to be self-motivated and accessible, and he gradually asked to increase the number of weekdays of working from home. "I agreed to be reachable at all times via e-mail and phone, to meet with the team in person twice a week, to meet with clients throughout the week, and to provide weekly reports," he says. And whenever he requested a schedule change, he wrote up a formal proposal and followed up with his boss to discuss the logistics.

He works exclusively from home now—10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, and sometimes late at night. So far, it's working out, he says: "When everyone is asleep is when the best ideas come up," he says. During the day, he says, staying connected is key. "We're always talking via e-mail, IM, and Facebook about things related to work."

Telecommuting is In

Thinking of taking a shot at making a similar proposal? Be prepared to work even harder than you do at the office, Ramos says: "Show your boss that you care, that you're entrepreneurial, and that you have a passion for your company and what you do."

Now might be a great time to broach the subject, with the economy still struggling. "As technology becomes more instant and accessible, working at home has become popular, and even encouraged by companies as they seek to reduce real estate and other location-based costs," says Eikenberg. "It's great for many roles and industries where the work can be done any time of the day or night, and without the direct interaction of others. And it can be an excellent option to attract new talent or to retain a high-performing associate who no longer lives near the office."

But if you thought working at home means tremendous flexibility, give up on that fantasy. "Working successfully at home means truly committing yourself to the work time, and not blending it with household tasks, childcare, or other distractions," Eikenberg says. Many large companies even require documentation that you have a dedicated home office that meets certain technology standards.

And another caveat: "Out of sight, out of mind is a reality," Eikenberg says. "To work at home successfully, you must also work to stay relevant and visible within your organization."

It's really all up to you!

The Battle of the TITANS: Google Vs Facebook

I saw this cool infographic on AllFacebook.com illustrating the rise and current place of Google and Facebook in the online space.

Who do you think will prevail?

Or will they just become the next AOL and MySpace in due time?

What are your thoughts???

Social Media Now Main Stream: Should We Be Concerned About Privacy?

Social Media is here to stay and continues to expand by leaps and bounds, as a new study by Nielsen Online titled “What Americans Do Online”, shows 43% annual increase in the use of social networks and blogs.  The study indicates that 1/3 of Americans spend their online time communicating via social networks and blogs than any other method.  Social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and blogging platforms like Wordpress, BlogSpot and Tumblr are making a big imprint in the Internet space by initiating and continuing conversations going in a more social and lax manner.  These are open and free platforms for people to express and share how they feel at any specific moment with no boundaries.  These numbers speak for themselves as more and more online users continue to become more social and are very quickly turning social media into a main­stream activity.

What is social media?

Social media include web-base platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Blogs, etc., used as mediums of social interaction, networking and broadcasting media dialogues.  Unlike traditional media—print, broadcast, radio, mobile and so on—social media is a interconnected web of online digital platforms for interaction and relationships, not ads or content the way traditional media publishes.  Social media relies heavily on technology and new trends, as online users become more familiar and comfortable with new tools that make it easier for them to communicate in a more fluid and free environment.  This is why players like Google, Facebook and Twitter occupy important places in the space, as they offer users easy to use, useful and interactive technologies to make their online experiences simpler and more fun.

A video put together by Erik Qualman—online marketer and author of the book Socialnomics—released a year ago and published on his blog has garnered over 2 million views, takes the social media obsession with stats to another level. The high pace engaging video compiles a slew of key statistics from many reliable sources that strongly demonstrate that “social media is not a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate”, as he calls it.

 Here is a quick glance at those impressive stats:

1.      Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web

2.      1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media

3.      Years to Reach 50 millions Users:  Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet 

       (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…

       iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.

For the entire video click play on the button below:

Real-Time Numbers

To illustrate the importance of how social media today, its power, influence and true magnitude here is a truly astounding and dynamically updated statistics widget that was put together by online media producer and social media guru Gary Hayes.  It feeds from a Flash application that shows how active & dynamic the Social Web, Mobile Industry and Game Business is, by spewing real-time results of what’s happening now and what people are doing in this very moment.

Do You Know Who is Watching?

But, because of the nature of social media and technologies available out there, online users must always be aware of privacy issues and concerns that may sometimes compromise personal information.  Granted, the two big players out there: Google and Facebook make everyone’s online experience unique and a fun experience, but by the same token they are also keeping a closed eye on us. 

Check out this great creative image that describes the issue of lack of privacy in the Internet in a concise and graphic manner...

Infographic byWordStream Internet Marketing

Privacy is in everyone’s mine and to keep a balance on what remains private and public is very important.  Key Internet players must listen to the user’s concerns about this to maintain a healthy balanced relationship between user and provider.  But, people must also understand that social media isn’t just a fad indeed and that Google and Facebook are here to stay and make social media more open and dynamic.

What are your thoughts about social media today and your concerns about privacy issues?