Atheists Still the Most Unpopular Minority Group

I have recovered a website that explains how people feel about an atheist president. The Gallup survey results showed that 53% of people would not vote for a president who didn't believe in any faith. I would have to agree with this website and the survey. The president has a major role in society and religious faith should be one of the traits that he should have. This would make him qualified to handle all types of political situations. You will also find on this webite people's responses to the questing that was asked. The question was, "Between now and the 2008 political conventions, there will be discussion about the qualifications of presidential candidates — their education, age, religion, race, and so on. If your party nominated a generally well-qualified person for president who happened to be [insert group name], would you vote for that person?(Gallup survey)" Below is a copy a the website location.....

http://volokh.com/posts/1172018751.shtml

Christian Youth Connect on the Web

Religion has long been a foundation in some peoples' identities. Undoubltedly, there are many identity groups revolving around religion, as there are many religions and many different levels of practice. I found a website dedicated to rallying together Christian youth. This site allows teens and young adults to post poetry and testimonies related to their religion. The site promotes ways in which religion can be a part of peoples' modern lives. There is a section called Devotion, in which group members participate in pray in blog-like format. People can also post comments on a variety of topics, subscribe to newsletters, and read and submit stories. Members also can find links to Christian-related music and other entertainment. I also noticed the the website operates in 5 different languages. http://www.sloppynoodle.com

Politics as an Identity group

I scanned websites to see what young republicans, democrats and independents are talking about. Here's a quick list of links:

http://www.youngrepublicans.com/
http://www.yrnf.com/
http://theindependentvoter.com/
http://www.yda.org/

Political affiliations are an identity group in America. People make choices on what newspaper they read, what news channel they watch, and what issue is of importance based on political group they align with. It is interesting to see the differences between the above mentioned sites. The political groups set their own agenda, and their attention is placed in different issues. When I think of politics, I often associate a person's politics with class, but this is my own stereotype. American politics is so diverse.
There was recently a news piece on Good Morning America about politics and brand choice. Researchers could predict, based on your politics, what car you would likely drive, what newspapers, magazines and movies you prefer, and other consumer behavior. For example, if you drive a Volvo, you are most likely a Democrat.
Anyway, political affiliations are an identity group, and market researchers and advertisers know this about us. This is why Volvo runs ads in the New York Times.

Software company gets new identity

Computer Software companies have their own specific identity group. I was reading about a software company named AutoProf, that changed their identity to introduce a new security program for computers. The company wanted to accomplish two things from this change. the first was to have their users understand why the internet security would shut down programs. Also make it easy to understand what viruses do to your computer and how to fix the problem. I believe people who use computer have their own identity group. Their are different levels of this group though. Their are the people who understand everything about computers. Then there is the everyday user the just understands the basic about what their computer can do.
Below is a link that explains the company, Autprof's identity change.

http://searchwinit.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid1_gci1048153,00.html

Brand from around the world

I chose to look up products produced by the apple company. More specifically i went on the website to check out ipods. I saw a link on the side of the page that read "shop around the world" you can click this link and find out what types of products apple puts out in different countries. The internet page stayed the same but the products displayed on the website were different. The internet makes it possible to shop around the world from the convenience of you own home. the following is a link to ipod accessories that are sold in New Zealand http://store.apple.com/0800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/nzstore
i think its really cool how easy it really is to find items from around the world.

People.com

Every day I go on People.com to catch up on my celebrity gossip. I thought it would be interesting to see the website in spanish. It is actually crazy to see, because the website has the same set-up, with the latest news, photos and other things, but the celebrities that the news is about are for the most part, people I have never heard of.
When it came to understanding the site, it was fairly easy because it is set-up the same as the American version. One thing I noticed is that the font size in Spanish is considerably smaller as well as the pictures.

http://www.peopleenespanol.com/pespanol/

Adidas on a Global Level

I looked at the website for the Adidas brand. There is a icon on the homepage that allows you to choose a different location. I was surprised at how many options it gave you. If you click on the link for Greece, it brings you to Adidas Greece, and so on. However, as I started to browse through the locations, there weren't many differences in terms of content. All of the pages were in English except for a couple Asian countries. All of the images on the sites were both a combination of people and product with little variation. I did find a difference in the sports sections of the pages. Where there are options for running, basketball and martial arts on the Korean page, the U.S page added soccer, tennis, football and golf with no mention of martial arts. Athelete highlights also vary by location. The products shown were the same or similar too. It surprised me that Adidas stresses it presence in other countries and offers numerous global site options, but the design is that for an American or at least a Western market. You can find Adidas around the world at http://www.adidas.com/countryselector/change_country.asp

I went to Samsung's website to note differences between the US and Japanese website. The website contains global links - so it is easy to see pages for other countries. The link is http://www.samsung.com/

The most remarkable difference was that the photo on the US home page was of a laser printer, and the Japan page had a photo of a family. The Japanese home page was heavy with photos, links and text, and the US page was limited in text and links. The design on the Japanese page looked a little cluttered to me, with scattered pictures and heavy text. Whereas the US page was more organized and sleek.

Etiquette in India

My brother-in-law left Boston on Saturday for a business trip to India. He will be there for three weeks. I was specifically interested in reseaching the cultural etiquette and rules for India, knowing that this will be an interesting business trip for him. I found a great resource at Indiaetiquette.com. The website breaks down etiquette by situation - business, home, dining, etc. I was surprised to read that showing up at someone's home on time is rude. You should plan to be late, but not by more than a half an hour.
Another great source on the web was at the University of Guelph. The university sponsors an internship program to India, so they dedicate a page to the proper etiquette for travelers. The link is www.uoguelph.ca/cido/indiasemestr/culture
I learned here that urinating in public for males is entirely acceptable and should be anticipated. Very often, Indian men are seen standing on the road side taking care of business.
Also, the left hand should never be used to touch others, it is considered dirty. Left hand is used for wiping your back side. It is in poor taste to extend your left hand to anyone.
I can't wait to ask my brother-in-law how things are going.

Japanese Etiquette

Hello everybody,
I found a website that described the "do's and dont's" when travelling in Japan at http://www.japan-guide.com. This site takes you through everything from taking off your shoes before you enter someone's house (which I'm sure most people have heard before) to restaurant manners and how to take a bath. I noted a lot of differences between Japanese and American culture. The Japanese people, for example, are generally more superstitous than Americans (you shouldn't whistle at night or write anyone's name in red ink). In the business world, the typical American business-casual attire is unacceptable and should be avoided. Also, it is customary to bring a gift for the "head hauncho" present at a meeting. Many things in regard to appropriate conversation topics were similar though. At first I was a little suspicious of some things, but I double-checked some of the content on other sites. I suppose the fact that I was suspicious is a shining example of cultural differences.

Comment Spam

Hi Folks,
We're getting hit with comment spam (please don't encourage them by clicking on their links). For the time being, I'm going to restrict comments to members of the group, which means people from other groups won't be able to comment.

Argentine television

Hello everyone,
I just did the television assignment. I decided to do Argentina as a country. 
When I clicked on 100k which was a  local television station titled " locale de Province de Tucuman" a man came up who I think was interviewing a racecar driver because it kept showing clips of racecars during the interview. 
At one point the show ended and it went to what looked like a talk show type of setting with a woman introducing herself and talking.
Overall, it was interesting to watch. It seemed like very normal television, just in another language.
Thanks!

Netherlands Media

I found a Dutch television station called Jeugdjournaal on beelinetv.com. I watched a Netherlands news program with a segment on what seemed to be elementary education. Though I didn't understand a word that was said, I did find it interesting that there were many interviews with young kids, which you usually don't see in the U.S. Also the anchor was a young woman probably in her late 20s or early 30s which was interesting. It was vaguely reminicent of an MTV style news program, not in regard to program content (I think) but to the anchor choice and modern-style set. Though there was an obvious language barrier, I can see how access to a Netherlands news program might be useful for someone studying the Dutch language or someone who has recently emmigrated from the country and wants to stay connected.

Global Television - RTPA, Spain

RTPA transmits "El tema de dia" - The theme of the day. Since I have been studying Spanish for the last few semesters, I tried to follow the program. I was able to pick up a word here and there. I got the general conversations. We should be able to do this in the Language Lab at SSC to reinforce our comprehension. If I could find Sesame Street in Spanish, I'm sure I could learn the language without taking a class.