Benjamin talked about the Fairness Doctrine and how it affects you, as a radio listener, blogger, or someone who merely posts anything on the internet. The Fairness Doctrine is a law that was in place from 1949 to 1987 which said that for any opinion put in radio shows, TV shows, websites, etc had to be balanced with an opinion from the other side of the topic. However, it was eventually abolished by a unanimous FCC vote because it was a violation of the 1^st amendment. Now people are talking about bringing it back, even to affect blogs, videos, and everything else you can post online. We need to take action against this and keep the bill from going into law.

He also talked about many of the different technologies involved in giving blood, in an interview with the American Red Cross. One of the items touched upon was the American Red Cross’s automated cataloguing system for blood donation which keeps track of donor demographics, physical findings, and health history.  Benjamin also noted that giving blood, platelets, or other donations to the American Red Cross go to people who need them… sometimes in a most critical point in their life.  http://www.givelife.org

SIDE NOTE:  Benjamin donates whole blood at a blood drive that he runs for his church about once every 10 weeks, and platelets every 2 weeks.  Please consider a personal challenge from Benjamin, to try doing this yourself at least 3 times each in the next year, or if you are unable to, find 2 people to do the same.  The life you save, may even be your own!

In more terms of government and the internet, Google has now implemented a feature in the latest Google which will allow them to check the number of times something is searched. This would allow them to find out where the flu is spreading by looking for searches of “influenza,” “flu symptoms,” etc. They would then give this information to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which would allow the CDC to track viruses easily. Unfortunately, this program could easily be put to bad use. Google’s CEO has said that this is only “the beginning.” So where is this going from here? Will Google track all of your searches and give the information to the government, who breaks down your door for looking up information on Nuclear Physics? Some people would see this as a violation of our 5^th Amendment rights. This is definitely a scary potential future along the lines of 1984, and people need to be contacting congressmen, senators, etc to make sure something is done about these dangerous situations.

Of course, Christmas is quickly approaching, and so Benjamin had some great shopping tips to protect yourself online. As budgets tighten, scammers and spammers come into high swing, offering to give you things for free just for taking a survey. Moving on to the tangible world, only buy from good stores. Benjamin shared that he has gone to a store and bought a “new” item, only to discover in the parking lot that it was not only used, but abused as well. Additionally, many companies will offer warranties that don’t cover everything they should, or claim to. READ THE FINE PRINT. Additionally, many warranties are pointless. A three year warranty for a laptop does nothing because in three years it will be worth 30% of the original price and nearly obsolete. Additionally, never buy warranties from companies that are in danger of going out of business, like Circuit City is scaring everyone right now.

This week in e-mails Benjamin answered Rick’s question about slow dial-up, and Rodney’s question about spammers using his address as a return e-mail address.

Of course, people are always looking for jobs, so Benjamin talked about interviews this week as well, with a few basic tips for everyone. For starters, think through questions carefully, and make sure you don’t miss anything, such as making sure a monitor is on when you’re troubleshooting problems with it. Additionally, don’t bad mouth other job-seekers, because this shows disrespect. For the rest of the list, make sure you listen to the audio below.