As Facebook has geared up over the past few months to go public, a large amount of people have become extremely excited.   Many expected the stock to double or even triple the first day.   It went up 23 cents.   This is not necessarily bad.

Most investors look for good investments that over a few months or years will give them a good return on their investment.   There is a good chance that Facebook will be worth more than $38 a share in the coming years.   Mark Zuckerberg is a very smart guy.  The team that he has built includes many brilliant minds.   Hopefully those who surround him also keep him from abusing his power now that he has to answer to those who are choosing to invest in the social media giant.   Personally I believe that the combination of Facebook, Google, Twitter, Bing, Yahoo and other properties are changing our lives and that each company is taking things seriously.  Maybe not Yahoo, but that is a different story.

As a music fan, I like to listen to music throughout the work day.   Many years ago I purchased many CDs and played music in a CD player.   As time progressed I have embraced services such as Rhapsody, Amazon and other sites that allow a decent selection to legally listen to my favorite artists and support their efforts.

I do not listen to CDs anymore.  I listen to streaming services and MP3 files.   I do not download illegal music.   Over the past few months, I have been wanting to listen to AC/DC.   I have searched near and far to a place to purchase AC/DC where I can listen online.  Nope.   Only those who want to illegally download music can listen to them online with the exception of watching videos.   In the search I have seen statements from AC/DC saying that they never will allow their collection to be available online.   To me, that is the same as them not allowing them to come out on CD because they only wanted them to be available on cassette.   This is not the 80′s or 90′s people.    You are choosing for your fans to not be able to purchase your music on the new popular formats only because you do not understand the new demands of your legit fans.   Yes, there will be those who pirate your music…they already do.     Do not be stubborn old farts.   Get with the program and allow your fans to purchase your music.

If SOPA and/or PIPA pass as is, censorship would occur.    It will slow down development and inovations that our economy needs to grow and survive.     The timing is also very bad.

Those who support it say things that sound good.  Let’s stop piracy.   That is good.   If something is done illegally then it should be dealt with.    The problem is that SOPA will cause innocent sites to be shut down for doing nothing wrong.    It really will not even do what it is intended to do.   The real bad guys can get around it.

It seems to me that it will also allow companies to have their competition easily caught up in issues that could lead to their demise when they had not done anything wrong.    Piracy needs to be addressed.    Laws that are already in place needs to be enforced.

If SOPA had been inacted a decade ago, the web would be very different today.   It would suck.   If you support SOPA, you do not understand what it can do to site owners that have done nothing wrong.

Check out: http://www.copyblogger.com/sopa/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOPA

2012 is here!  2012 will be the most important year for social media ever in history.   With the evolution of many sites such as Facebook and the upcoming changes to Twitter and other sites.  We do not only visit these sites, they have become part of our daily lives.   While some do this for fun, more and more are doing it to increase business and truly interact with their friends and family.    Applications like Spotify are making even the music industry a part of the social media industry.   We have not seen anything yet.    Social media is here to stay.   You cannot beat it.  So join it.

Hooray Spencer’s

Spencer’s is the mall destination for entertainment, excitement and fun.  For over 60 years we have been offering unique product for the lifestyle style of our core 18-24 year old guest, always inspired by humor and irreverence.

Spencer’s Facebook Page can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/spencers

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There are much better props coming out this year than ever before.   Some really cool costumes too.

Home haunters are coming out with movie quality stuff.

Spirit Halloween has also stepped up this year with everything.  They ship worldwide now, they have more big props.   I can’t wait to get my new stuff.

This will be the best season EVER!

It should be very interesting to see how quickly it catches on.

This is a fantastic country and no matter how bad things are right now, we should feel blessed for all that we have.

I recently saw a news story where the anual income in Yemen is $1,000 per year.  This is not a lot of money.

God bless America.     Happy fourth of July everyone!

Anybody surprised?   Really?   Anybody?