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Over the weekend, BP and the US government implimented ‘Top Kill’ to stop the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.  But, it did not hold.  Have you wondered just how much oil really has been spilled?  Same here!  Apparently the brightest minds of our scientists are struggling to shut it off, find clean up solutions and even just estimate the amount spilled.

Initially, BP estimated 1,000 barrels (42,000 gallons) per day were spilling.  The US Government estimated 5,000 barrels a day (210,000 gallons).  The latest estimates posted by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Boston.com are in the 500,000 to 3,500,000 MILLION gallons per day.  Mulitply that by the 42 days SO FAR and you get an idea of the totals.

Enough oil to surpass the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, which dumped 10.8 million gallons off the coast of Alaska in the worst spill in US history,three times over.

~ Boston.com

Based NRDC and Boston.com estimates, the BP spill is 3.6 to 6.4 TIMES larger than the Exxon Valdez already!

And, its increasing by 10% of the Valdez’s spill EACH DAY.  You can see the real damage in more photos like this one of a young heron dying on an oil covered estuary:

For those into the math, it is shown below, along with the links to the source articles are above.

Just a month ago, Facebook announced at their F8 conference sweeping changes to Facebook, their new Open Graph interface and a new wave of 75 marketing partnerships including CNN, Yelp, Pandora and iMDB.  Just yesterday, Facebook’s lobbyist was in front of the US Congress backpedaling from the huge wave of privacy concerns sweeping the world. So, what’s the big deal?

Phase one of Facebook’s strategy for world domination: complete. Facebook announced that more than 50,000 websites have integrated Facebook’s new social plugins in just one week. The plugins are a core component of the company’s new Open Graph initiative.

~ Mashable

Essentially, Facebook opened their database to their partners. When you approve individual Facebook applications it ‘warns’ you their partners will be able to read your list of friends, access you wall, photos and other content. All so you can send a friend an iHeart or see the Photo of the Day. But, how much do we know about the businesses getting that data, and how they are using it besides iHearts?  Based on the number of Facebook applications that are nothing but a virus, Facebook’s quality control and oversight of their partners must be minimal.

None of those issues have stopped the rapid growth of Facebook’s Open Graph, however. Last Wednesday, Facebook launched with 75 partners. Now there are more than 50,000 websites on board — that’s nearly 300 websites adding Facebook social plugins per hour. Clearly Facebook’s 425+ million users have enticed website owners to jump on the Open Graph bandwagon

~ Mashable

What has truly changed the most:

• First, Facebook decided to make the default privacy setting for the Open Graph:  Sure, you can have my data!  So, any of those 50,000 web sites that you visit can pull your personal data and store it on their system. Remember sharing your phone number and email with you personal friends on Facebook? Or what you eat, where you work and your travel plans.  Getting clearer?
• Next, Facebook decided to put in ‘granular’ controls… what’s that?

The New York Times noted that if you want to protect your privacy on the social networking site, you’ll have to navigate through 50 settings with more than 170 options. Why? Well, Facebook says that it wants to give its users fine-grained control of what they share and what they keep private. That’s admirable, but in the process the company seems to have lost sight of a different imperative: keeping it simple. How many users are going to jump through that many hoops?

~ SEOChat.com

But, the real oxymoron was believing that the data that 425 MILLION users willingly entered into Facebook is actually kept private:

• It appears that it’s only shared with the friends you approve. Plus the applications run by unknown companies you approve. Plus the 50,000 web sites and growing.
• A coalition of privacy groups have taken the issue to Congress as they see Facebook’s new approach breaking FTC laws.
• So, how does Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg feel about your privacy?

Click here to read that article. Facebook is a very cool technology, a great way to stay in touch with your family and friends, and a marketers dream… but, think about what data you ‘share’ with Facebook. And who they are sharing it with as well.

Almost everyone has a dream growing up…  Many of us dreamed to be a fireman, leader, athlete or rock star.  But few of us dare to truly follow our dreams.  Especially fully engage in them, and let nothing stop you.

Aaron Williams and The Hoodoo play an amazing blend of blues and rock.  Three of the coolest guys you’ll ever meet, and proof that nice guys don’t finish last!

Premiering here is “Livin’ on Love”, Aaron’s anthem to their love of music, the great people they meet on the road, and those they love but need to leave behind to follow their dreams.  The love that gets them through the long hours traveling to the next gig. Including resting on the sidewalk when you’ve traveled all night and the hotel is overbooked. Aaron wrote Livin’ on Love, and we had the privilege to create this video. We’d all love to hear what you think of this anthem, and your backstage, close up view of life on the road with AWATH!

The song is from “It Ain’t Easy”, a recent MAMA award winning CD.  AWATH recorded the video while traveling, and iCreaTech produced the video using photos from TJ.  While creating this, it was easy to connect with the theme of Livin on Love.  It was a labor of love to create!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~ Mark Twain

So, what are your dreams? Do you dare to follow them, and share them? We’d love to help!