White Ranger, Tiger Power!

If I had to think of a present that meant the most to me, I’d probably say my IPod. Nothing else helps me escape when I need to, and my family knows that music is an unbelievably important part of my life. That being said, I wanted to find another present; one that brought me just the same amount of joy when I was younger as the IPod does now. To do so, I asked Mrs. Clause herself, and she helped me remember the greatest present I ever received: The Mighty Morphin White Power Ranger.

The White Power Ranger had it all. He dated the prettiest girl on the amazing TV show (that actually still airs in a technologically advanced fashion). He was the toughest of the teenage evil-fighting team, and he was also there de facto leader. The White Power Ranger represented the fierce white tiger, from which he drew his power. He sports a trendy gold shield over his shoulders, which gives him even more power. And to top it all off, he wields his trusty, white-tiger talking dagger: Sava.

One Christmas back in my comb-over days, I was a Power Ranger fanatic, and I need the White Ranger to complete my set. I had plenty of toys on my list to Santa, but the White Ranger sat at the top and found himself on there many more times, just in case Santa didn’t get the hint. I even dressed as the White Ranger for Halloween that year. Unfortunately, every store my mother and I visited to buy my cousins’ Christmas gifts were sold out of the White Power Ranger. I would check in every store to see if they had the white warrior in stock, and I was always let down. My entire family knew how much I wanted this action figure, and my mother began to search for it any way she could.

Christmas Eve is a huge deal in my family. My entire family gets together at my Aunt’s house, and we enjoy the traditional Italian seven-fish dinner (something I never came to appreciate until recently, when I finally realized how much better than even Thanksgiving that meal is). At midnight, we would all go downstairs and open gifts from the family. The kids would all receive multiple presents from all the aunts and uncles, and the adults did a “Grab Bag” to receive one gift each (I still make the cut-off for multiple gifts, as my greedy cousin established it at 23). As I began to open my gifts, I got the usual clothes from some of my aunts and uncles, but then, I opened my grandmother’s gift. When I opened it, I went bananas as I looked down on a life-size Sava staring back at me. I did not want to calm down but I wanted to get back to presents because I anticipated the White Ranger. My last gift was bigger, and I was sure it was him. As I opened it, I went nuts again. It was the toy Zord (the Power Rangers’ awesomely huge, robotic animals that they used to combat their enemies that grow to giant sizes) for the White Tiger. I could not believe my eyes as I jumped up and down in glee, but then, my mother came over with something behind her back. She said, “I guess this can’t wait until tomorrow.” She handed me the White Power Ranger. That was the greatest gift I ever received.

The White Ranger had it all: the girl, the skill, the accessories, and even an awesome music video!

Just Embarrassing

So, when thinking of my most embarrassing moment, the typical examples began to come to mind. There were plenty of moments when my jaw dropped in utter shock and many where I would unknowingly have my pants pulled down. However, one that really stood out in my mind was one from the sixth grade.

Back in the sixth grade, I was quite the nerdy “goody-two-shoes”. Sporting the typical comb-over haircut, I always tried to stay out of trouble and make sure I received all A’s. In fact, I remember a time a few years before that when I failed a music test due to the lack of a pencil and began to cry. At that age (about 12), kids had just begun to explore the premature dating atmosphere. People would have “boyfriends” and “girlfriends” who they would hang out with and “make out with”. The gossip going around the sixth grade always involved who everyone in the grade “liked”, meaning the person they cared about and found cute.

All of these terms seemed to be Spanish in my mind, as I knew nothing about the dating world. However, there was a girl that I did, in fact, “like”. She was the girl who lived down the block from me for my entire life. She would come over week after week to play soccer in my front yard and ride bikes together. Unfortunately, that trend diminished once the dating scene began, as she began to like boys instead of simple pleasures like soccer and bike riding. Also, this was a girl who I continued to be embarrassed in front of. In the second grade, I tried to seem very impressive by riding my brand new bike and somehow flipped over the handle bars and broke my wrist. In the fourth grade, her sisters made fun of me for having a crush on her, directly in front of her.

This day was like any other day in the sixth grade (possibly a Wednesday). The day before, I had just told my friend that I “liked” this girl and hoped with all confidence that he would be able to keep a secret. Of course, I was wrong. My class had just finished a fun class in library and were walking back to our regular class room. Just then, this girl turned around, looked me straight in the eyes, and said, “Eric, I like you.” My jaw dropped in disbelief, and I, with my sweet comb-over haircut, fell into the wall. However, my friend, who I had entrusted my secret in the day before, stood right next to her laughing, along with the entire class. There I was, thinking the girl I liked for so long liked me back, only to be embarrassed in front of my entire class.

Relational Database Model

Due to the increase in behavioral tracking and the amount of information that circulates the World Wide Web in today’s world, companies now have a plethora of data that needs to be stored. They have data based on customers, based on clients, and based on internal operations, such as their own employees and systems. In order to use this data to benefit the company, the easiest data model to use is the relational database model.
The relational database model allows a company to break down their data into groups of tables, all of which are related in some way to create links within the database. Through these relations, information can be separated into relative segments, meaning information that should be seen together is listed in the same table. These segmented tables share attributes with other tables, allowing them to be linked together within the database. These attributes that link the tables together are called keys. Each table has key that is specific solely to that table. By specific, I do not mean that it can only be found in that table. Instead, this key represents a specific entity in the table and cannot repeat within that table. This primary key is used as an identifier for that entity. For example, when a customer orders a product from Amazon.com, they usually receive an Order ID number. That number, most likely, is the identifier for that purchase in a table with its related information. The other type of key is known as a foreign key. A foreign key is an attribute in one table, but it also is used as the primary key of another table, providing the link for the database. This key is allowed to repeat in the table(s) for which it is not a primary key. In the Amazon.com example, a foreign key in the Order table could be Customer ID, which would identify the customer’s details who made the purchase. In the Order table, this attribute may show up multiple times because customers can make numerous purchases. However, Customer ID may also be the primary key in another table, say Customer Table, which holds the specific demographic data that the customer provides upon making their purchase. Now, the database consists of all of the data regarding the purchase linked to all of the information of the customer who made that purchase.
The relational database model can be extremely beneficial for companies in figuring out what to do with the amount of data that is being collected today. First and foremost, it is an extremely simple model in terms of grouping of information. This process of creating a simpler database from a more complex one is known as normalization. In the relational database model, all relevant information is grouped together and provides links to more information that may be necessary. This allows someone to not have to look through one gigantic table in order to pull out a few pieces of information. Also, because the information is all connected through these relationships, the time it takes to pull out relevant information from the database is reduced, moving closer to real-time data. However, as simple as the model seems, its major con is that it is not easy to set up. Establishing the keys is not a simple task because functional dependencies need to be avoided. Functional dependencies occur when a primary key is not specific to the entity it is describing. Along with this comes the process of finding the proper links to other information in the database, which is also not an easy task. However, overall, the relational database model is an efficient way of storing data and can help a company succeed.

Old Spice Goes Viral

Everyone has seen this Old Spice commercial with Isaiah Mustafa. The man who walks through a continually changing set, emanating everything that is perceived to be manly while using Old Spice Body Wash. This commercial spawned from the popularity of the loved Super Bowl Old Spice Ad “I’m on a horse!” Upon seeing these commercials, I immediately went to Youtube.com to share them with everyone I knew. Apparently, I’m not the only one who loves these commercials, as the videos have received over 21 million hits. This Old Spice campaign reached a ton of consumers, simply because it was hysterically clever. These commercials even began to create an enormous buzz on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Old Spice decided to use this to their advantage.

Since this is one of my favorite commercials, I tend to continue to share it with people who have not seen it. While searching for it one day, I found that there were many other, newer videos portraying “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” speaking in a bathroom. The titles indicated that it was a reply to a Twitter account. Old Spice had taken the popularity of its Isaiah Mustafa campaigns to the next level and began a viral marketing campaign, in which they directly connect with the consumers that are speaking about their brand. The responses are all short (about 30 seconds in length) and are directly connected to the tweets they are responding to. Isaiah Mustafa repeats what the consumer wrote on their Twitter account and responds in his usually absurd manner. I believe this to be a genius idea, as they are now fully engaged with their potential consumers who have obviously shown an interest in their product. Once again, Old Spice went even further than this.



Not only consumers were tweeting about Isaiah Mustafa and the Old Spice commercials. Celebrities also seemed to love this type of hysterical humor. Whether they were paid to advertise is irrelevant, because Old Spice took advantage of it. They immediately responded to these celebrity tweets with personalized videos, just like they had done with their consumers. They aimed at celebrities and organizations who have many followers on Facebook. The ones I have highlighted were those sent to Demi Moore and the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.





This viral campaign created by Old Spice, in my mind, was an amazingly creative and smart decision. They have now reached their consumers on a completely different level, one where the brand is fully engaged with the consumer who is interested in them. And on top of that, they are all hysterically funny.

"You Say You Want a Revolution"

The expansion of social media has completely revolutionized communication and access to information on the Internet. In today’s world, making a phone call has almost been completely replaced by other forms of communication. Sites such as Twitter and Facebook allow users to provide constant updates on their daily activities. Twitter’s original personal purpose was for users to provide updates for friends and family to follow. This took away any purpose of messaging or calling them to let them know where you were. Facebook was once a social network restricted to only those with a university e-mail address. However, things have changed.

After watching “Social Media Revolution”, the impact of social networking on today’s world blew me away. One of the most surprising facts, at least for me, was that of the accuracy of Wikipedia. A source that no professor would ever allow to be used on an academic paper has been proven in studies to be more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica. Not only is it more accurate, but it is also more up-to-date. Immediately after an event happens, users can log on and update Wikipedia right away, providing real-time data. However, the most successful social media story is that of Facebook. Reaching 100 million users in nine months is an astounding accomplishment, and it is one that will soon be explained in full by the full-feature film, The Social Network. According to the trailer, the site had 22,000 hits within two hours. A site that originally made strictly for college students now holds information, pictures, and videos of enough people to be the fourth largest country in the world.



With the speed of this “revolution”, society is changing completely. The amount of information readily available is constantly growing. People now have so much information publicly posted that companies, employers, and the government can create profiles solely based on a person’s activity on social media sites. Like the video suggests, the population trusts user recommendations more than advertisements, so people’s tweets and comments are trusted more than the actual information given out by a company. However, this access to information is not always for the best. People must now be very cautious as to what is publicly posted about them. For example, the video suggests that 80% of employers use Linked In as their main source of recruitment. This means a person’s profile can determine whether he or she gets a job. Now, this isn’t much different from a resume, but most companies will look to Facebook to learn more information about their possible recruits.

Another effect of this source of information is the impact on the business world. Companies are able to cater to their consumers needs by learning about what they are following on social media and what their preferences are through posts on social networks. Facebook, for example, posts ads on the sides of pages based on the posts and preferences the user has specified on the network. Amazon has done this all along, with its “If you liked this, you may also like…” Also, if Ellen Degeneres and Ashton Kutcher have more followers on Twitter than a few nations, and if users will trust other users opinions more than the company’s information, why not have them tweet to advertise? Companies are using celebrity association through Twitter to gain more customers.

I, myself, use social networking to keep in touch with friends and communicate more effectively, but I am very skeptical about what is put on the Internet about me. Although, after watching “Social Media Revolution”, I think I should definitely begin using Linked In as a senior in college. However, when push comes to shove, I am a consumer. My information is used to market certain products to me, something Amazon has done very well in my case. I am a part of Generation Y, and I completely agree that this shift to social media is a revolution. Communication has been completely revolutionized, and the copious amount of information available on the Internet is being used by everyone.