After some of the tough online conversations we seemed to be having this year, this week was like a breath of fresh spring April air.
Exhibit A is this “bad ass” photo of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, rocking a a Blackberry like no one else can and apparently texting behind some designer shades. The photo went viral early in the week, and by Thursday had spawned this totally hawt Tumblr, “Texts from Hillary”. Wouldn’t you like to be on the receiving end of one of these? Or maybe you wouldn’t. Hil calls out the Prez, Sarah Palin, Condi Rice, Colin Powell, Anthony Weiner, hubby Bill and even Oprah. In spite of those snarks, I think you’ll sleep better tonight knowing Madame Secretary is busy “running the world.”
Instagram, the super-popular iPhone app that turns any picture into one almost as cool as Hillary Clinton sending a text in shades, released a version for Android devices. iPhone fans didn’t like all the the “inferior” camera phones now allowed in their playground. A mini-Twitter war erupted over whether the iPhone was the king of all smartphones or not. A dustup that CNNTech dismissed as a “first world problem” if ever there was one.
Jeremy Lin, New York Knicks basketball one-hit wonder, was back in the news this past week. After taking basketball fans by storm earlier this year with some amazing antics on the court, the point guard needed knee surgery. He held an online Facebook chat with fans just hours after the anesthesia wore off, but needed to take a break during the chat to throw up. Will this be how “Linsanity” ends?
In other light news:
- Actor and tech investor Ashton Kutcher will play the late Steve Jobs in an upcoming indie film.
- A boycott by the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) against Starbucks that led to increased profits for the coffee chain resulted in a parody report that said Apple and Microsoft had banded together to demand NOM boycott them, too.
- Facebook can make you think you’re fat.
- And if you sign online petitions, retweet about #Kony2012 and update your status on a regular basis asking friends to help you save the whales and/or cure cancer, you might just be a “slacktivist”.
Kathy Drasky regularly writes about online culture. Her marketing and communications work with the ANZA Technology Network, Advance Global Australians and with various Australians and Australian enterprises has led to at least a dozen trips Down Under.
An accomplished digital photographer, her photos have appeared in 7×7 Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle and Google Schmap.
