Rob Crazy Prediction #543336643307a - Internet users are getting more web and computer comfortable everyday; we are also getting more adapted to ignoring advertisements. Like billboards along the interstate, frequent travelers on the information superhighway - created by my friend Al Gore - are rarely attracted to or distracted by the banners passing by them on their journey. The BLUF (bottom line up front) being that with the buzz of social networks and media, there has been a boom in online advertising, but the inflation of expectations will likely soon lead to implosion of monies spent. Huh?

There are some wonderful success stories for companies with good websites and great search engine marketing. Those SEO savvy company and website owners are like those unique individual results that the 3 a.m. infomercials make you believe anyone can lose 65 pounds in six weeks - uh, no! You need to diet and exercise to achieve your goals, and you need to have solid SEO and link bait to successfully be an advertisement publisher. When is the last time you were on MySpace or FaceBook and clicked an ad?

The point being, the billions that are being spent online is an inflated market, currently in favor advertising publishers; but, the market is overly saturated and inflated, and with ether travelers becoming more innocuous to banners and billboards. Social networking and social media websites will prove this point faster than other niches, in my opinion, crashing their worth faster than Yahoo! stock.

As headlines scroll across about Google, Viacom, lawsuits, and privacy issues, many neo-conservatives are taking up the opportunity to raise their patriotic facades to plummet deeper into our private lives once again. “If you have nothing to hide … ” is the usual response when someone raises an objection or concern. That is, until a United States Supreme Court Justices movie rental habits were released …

When our current American president called for sweeping concessions of civil liberties after 9-11, the majority of the public eagerly supported what became the Patriot Act, without knowing the full extent of the law, its provisions, and far reaching capabilities into the most intricate details of an individual. Beyond bank accounts, telephone records, and travel itineraries, the busy, bushy spooks even wanted to know what books you checked out of the library. After the tragedies of September 11, 2001, the president’s administration marketed McCarthyism style intrusions of privacy as modern day acts of patriotism.

While the recent court ruling that orders Google / YouTube to turn over search, user and history records to Viacom may seem mundane as part of a billion dollar lawsuit, where will the intrusions, speculations, profiling, and assumptions end? Will Google soon be asked by the courts to turn over usage information to employers too? What is Susie doing 100% of the time she is at work?

Mr. Orwell your party is waiting at the information counter, Mr. Orwell …

Many score and several years ago - that’s a lot, or about 154 years - Abraham Lincoln told a crowd in 1854, “The ballot is stronger than the bullet.” So what? Glad you asked!

You cannot go on the Internet today, launch your email, or turn on the television without one common and consistent thread - people are bitching! Everybody is screaming for something, and ice cream is last on the list. The biggest buzz word of the current political climate is the call for “change.” Every election year comes claims and calls for change. But what is changing?

What is changing is that the amount of bitching is out pacing the American ballot!

Everyday I get flooded with emails about change, emails about complaints, and emails about mis truths. What I never get is an email asking me if I have registered to vote. I get emails asking for money and campaign contributions. I never get an email asking me to take a friend to register to vote.

If we really want to celebrate our nation’s independence, our nation’s greatness, our nation’s democracy, all the things we cherish as Americans, and if we really want change and security, it’s time to stop the rhetoric and begin the reaction; it begins with US!