Social Networks - not so private after all.

Companies are now tracking down their current or potential employees via Myspace, Facebook or any other social networking website in order to see whether they are demonstrating behavior that is acceptable ... is this right?

I believe not. My personal opinion is that this is a violation of privacy on behalf of the corporation. If this employee has committed any sort of serious crime or misdemeanor, Human Resources will be able to report that. Now, I am not one to drink, smoke or do something that I may regret or perhaps not even remember the day after, but I do not judge those who do. Everyone is just trying to have a good time; whatever their definition of a "good time" is and whatever they do in order to have a good time is nobody's business but theirs and the ones who they chose to spend their time with. Whether or they choose to publish pictures of themselves having a "good time" on the net should not be a problem as long as it is not affecting the corporation they work for.

I believe that companies should keep out of their employees' personal lives. As long as they are satisfied with the workers performance and as this employee is not sabotaging or misrepresenting the company in some way, everything should be fine.

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship ... such a pretty little word. As a Business Management major and daughter of business owners, it is no surprise that I have a fond interest in entrepreneurship. The idea of starting my own business and being my own boss brings more than a smile to my face and hope to my heart ... but it is much more complicated than it seems.
I'm convinced that I can do it but I do not have many ideas as to what type of business I would like to start. I will probably seek venture capital in order to raise capital to build the business, but that all depends on the type of organization. Thinking and planning about whether I would like to start a business alone or create a partnership is also a time-consuming activity that involves careful calculations. Since I would not like my business to be one of the many small businesses that fail every year, much thought and organization must go into it.
I always thought that placing a unisex hair salon in Fordham would be an excellent idea. There are only about 3 in the area and they are located past Arthur avenue. Therefore, our competition would be close to none. Placing a beauty salon on campus will be conveniently close for all students and I'm sure that it will bring great business.
NYC is full of entrepreneurs. A business is probably more likely to fail here than in any other state due to all of the competition out there. Good luck to all of those aspiring entrepreneurs - we're going to need it!

Overpriced CDs

I would like to comment on Black Owl's latest blog on Music Prices:

"Music cd’s should probably sell for about $5 to $7 dollars. How much does a fully packaged cd cost to print and deliver? $1? Less? Again, I can’t see how people wouldn’t well more music if it were less expensive. And pirate less."

Yes, artists make a ridiculous amount of money due to overpriced CDs, merchandise and concert tickets. Should CDs really be this expensive? Maybe they aren't really that expensive since most CDs have more to offer now. Many now include videos and interactive computer content, which costs more money to make and produce.

Maybe artists shouldn't be making more money than teachers or doctors who save lives, but this may just be an exchange for giving up their privacy, which is one thing that celebrities do not have anymore.

Limewire

What's my take on Limewire downloading? Yes, it is wrong - we've all heard it before, but I believe that those people who do it are doing it for a reason. If you think about it, doing the "right thing" can be pretty expensive. For example, when you buy an ipod, which is, on average $300; in order to enjoy it and actually put it to use, you must buy at least 500 songs, which will cost you an extra $500. This means that this $300 iPod is now costing you $800 ... and that's only for NOW because in a few weeks, I'm sure there will be new songs and new hits which you will want to buy as well. It will become an added expense that most people could easily illiminate, which is why most prefer the common commodity of limewire download. If the songs were cheaper or if iTunes offered certain packages to help users save money, there will probably be a decrease in limewire downloads for iPods, but until then, I believe that nothing will change ...