Ida Thoresen, a photography student from Norway, explored the world of fandom this summer, specifically the fandom of the American rock band My Chemical Romance. She was in a young teen when she decided to dedicate her life to the art of photography and has since found her inspiration through music, another huge interest in her life.

”This Is The MCRmy” is the project she’s been working on for the last several months and it’s meant to give an insight to the heart of a die-hard fan. A “fandom” is a term used to refer to a community of fans which grow around a certain area or interest. It can be fans of books, movies, TV shows, common hobbies — or in this case, a band.

“My Chemical Romance tend to have extremely dedicated fans who are passionate about the music, the community they have created, and they are often creative and intelligent people,” said Thoresen. “I wanted to explore who their fans are, why they are fans and get to know them. The result this far is very much a celebration and documentation of their spirit.”

Thoresen has been a fan of My Chemical Romance herself for many years and finds the fandom an interesting phenomena. With this project she asks herself a question that is common among fans of many bands: ‘How can a band become such an important part of people’s lives?’

”I can still become a little puzzled over why on earth one band — four guys who create music together — can mean so much to myself and so many people all over the world,” said Thoresen.

She wanted to get to know these fans to find answers, discuss the matter and find what they might all have in common through the fandom they are all involved in. By talking to fans among her own friends and through other communities she found that it was a question that many were curious about, and so decided to show them through the lens of her camera.

“It would have been easy if I had unlimited time and money, but I was on a strict schedule with no budget,” said Thoresen. “I had to dig deep through Internet communities and even newspaper articles to find fans who lived fairly close to me.”

The project involves photos of teenage and young adult fans who have followed My Chemical Romance from different areas of the band’s existence. Each subject is portrayed with something from the My Chemical Romance world that means a lot to them, everything from tattoos or the band’s designed clothes to their proud collections of records and special editions.

“It surprised me many times through it in terms of the visual direction it was taking and how the story was moving along. But to me it still feels like I’ve just been scratching the surface. I realized before I started that this would be a long-term project, and it’s one that I’m more than willing to pursue,” said Thoresen. “It’s a combination of both my biggest passions, photography and music, so I won’t stop until I can look at a finished project and feel that I’m proud of what I’ve created.”

You can see Ida Thoresen’s project “This is MCRmy” on www.idathoresen.tumblr.com and http://magazine.bildernordic.no/photographers/alumni-2013/ida-thoresen.aspx.

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Klout has been in existence for about three years, but so far hasn’t reached the popularity of some social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, even though these ones are used inside of Klout’s program. It utilizes one number to measure a user’s influence across the amount of social networks that this user may be a member of.

As soon as you open a profile in Klout and connect all of your data through the personal social networks, one number called a Klout score will instantly pop up on the screen. The company explains this number as your influence of power across your network and it is calculated based on algorithms that are able to check the size of your network, the amount of content created and how the others are interacting with that content through sharing possibilities and likes, for instance.

The algorithm that is used to calculate the influence level of a user based on the ability to drive action on social networks is being constantly improved. The actual Klout website connects social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Tumblr, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Intagram, Blogger, LastFm, and Flickr and it is also trying to increase to include other ones.

The constant updates are also intended to show the user’s influence on the web. In the beginning it was possible to find metrics as True Reach, Amplification and Network Impact, but these scores have been removed to give space to Moments. According with the company’s explanation, this section will work as a report of the user’s activity from the past 90 days and how each activity has impacted a user’s Klout. This new feature is going to come in the next few weeks.

The Klout score has received attention mainly in the job recruiting processes. It came out that few companies had been hiring the candidates with higher “influence power” according to Klout, but the discussion has started to show that one number related to one’s virtual influence may not be a strong argument for such definitions.

Many candidates with work experience have been declined for companies that choose by Klout score. The job recruiters must give the right weight for such score, and a few professionals are actually saying that this weight should be zero. It is possible that one’s influence on social media could mean that a person actually doesn’t do so much besides posting and updating his or her social profiles.

Many companies have been discussing what the best way to use Klout score is. Airlines, the hospitality industry,  and big retailers are trying to develop one way to reach those with the best influence, and through this method drive actions through the social network. Offering special gifts, VIP areas, or cards to develop a premium experience for those with higher Klout scores can be on the plan for such companies, but so far, there aren’t any real public actions that correlate.

Many strongly divergent opinions have risen debating if Klout is good or bad. The best solution for the user is to be aware about the functionality and goals of the Klout score and how this can impact their security and privacy, and from the companies’ point of view, there are always chances to reach key people to increase influence.

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Coinciding with the SOPA Blackout date, in which encyclopedia giant Wikipedia blacked out its webpage, the NY and NJ Tech groups met up in Midtown Manhattan to peacefully protest against SOPA and PIPA.

Held at the small plaza at the door step of Senator’s Charles Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand, several hundred members of New York City’s thriving technology community arrived to show support against the passing of SOPA, PIPA and to encourage Occupy Wall Street sentiments.

The Meetup, which lasted a little more than an hour, was held despite cold windy weather community leaders as well as executives from Reddit and Tumblr were on hand to speak out against this outrage. Billed as the death of creativity and the end of the internet as the modern world knows it, members of the Meetup are saying the ambiguous nature of the PIPA and SOPA acts leaves plenty of loopholes for governments to over extend their jurisdiction over the content that Domestic U.S citizens see.

Despite a somewhat slow build up of people at the beginning, the Meetup was in full swing with protesters inside and outside the cordoned area’s of 780 Third Avenue. The NYPD were on hand to keep the peace as well as clear the walkways despite the large amount of people who filled the sidewalks.

People from all over the tri-state area arrived to find that the police parade barricades did not help contain all of the protesters and some people needed to stand away from the demonstration itself. As opposed to Occupy Wall Street, which had a starting march that arrived to the protesting location, the NY Tech Meetup today was designated to start and finish in one location. Protesters brought homemade signs and, despite chilly temperatures, held them up proudly for the entire time of the protest itself.

Protesters stood in front of the restaurants, on street furniture and in large crowds to hear the words of the speakers that would confirm their hopes and fears. Early on in the meeting, it was plainly put by Andrew Rasiej, chairman of New York Tech Meetup and protest leader, that as a group they opposed any and all kinds of piracy, but that the government was misguided in their attempts to end internet piracy.

His fears were expressed in his plea of words to congress regarding free speech and the end of innovation. Among speakers attending was Executive Vice President Andrew Mclaughlin of Tumblr, who was one of the designated speakers of the event. He was quite vocal about the power of the internet which is certainly no surprise given the meteoric rise of Tumblr in the last few years. Mclaughlin went on to say this to protesters:

“The internet works because it’s a democracy, the internet works because its voluntary people working together to make the internet flow.” He went on to say that the internet and the New York Tech scene in particular is a vital part of our economy, providing jobs and empowering people all over the world.

Similar sentiments were echoed by other speakers expressing the rise of entrepreneurship due to the internet as a valuable reason not to pass SOPA and PIPA. Another one of these notable speakers is co-founder of Reddit.com, Alexis Ohanian. He passionately decried the passing of these acts, saying:

“We are here fighting the wholesale destruction of one of the healthiest parts of America’s economy.”

He went on to ask the crowd, most of who was working in the tech industry today, which of their current companies was still hiring. By a large scale, almost everyone attending the Meetup raised their hands, giving credence to Ohanian’s belief that SOPA and PIPA would further stagger the American economy.

Ohanian also lamented the U.S governments’ loss of focus, citing more serious issues such as the budget deficit and unemployment as a better use of the currently allotted resources for the SOPA and PIPA funding. Though not in attendance, there was mention of several senators and political figures who are currently against the passing of SOPA and PIPA.

Chief among them is Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas and Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas. With arriving support from Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Republican Representative Lee Terry of Nebraska and Republican Representative Ben Quayle of Arizona support seems to finally be swinging in favor of the Tech Industry and the NY Tech Protesters.

Despite varying proposals for how to better reshape the SOPA and PIPA acts, there remains a firm interest from the MPAA and RIAA to continually convince Congress to keep things in favor of the entertainment industry. In the face of such odds, the protesters at this NY Tech Meetup have hope that SOPA and PIPA will not pass.

There is a faith in democracy that remains unshakable and as sure as there are people working in the Tech Industry, there will be voices challenging the wisdom of bills such as SOPA and PIPA.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/phillipstearns/

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Back in early 2010 after a huge media backlash, John Mayer seemed to disappear. Now, after almost two years, Mayer has returned in an unexpected way.

John Mayer first came on the music scene with the success of his first album Room for Squares in 2001. Songs such as “No Such Thing,” and “Your Body is a Wonderland” gained popularity and even resulted in a Grammy Award win for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Since then, Mayer has been nominated for 18 Grammys and has won seven. He has collaborated with Herbie Hancock, Norah Jones, B.B. King, Kanye West and other notable celebrities.

Mayer’s accomplishments, however, have often been looked past by his relationships with famous women such as Minka Kelly and Jessica Simpson, among many others. As a result, Hollywood has dubbed him a “womanizer.”

In February 2010, John Mayer’s infamous Playboy interview became a heated topic as he discussed his controversial feelings on race, past relationships with Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Anniston, and homosexuality.  Readers and fans of Mayer found more information than they wanted whereas his toughest critics found more ammunition.

Almost immediately, numerous groups such as GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) called on Mayer to apologize after he used anti-gay slurs. Notable movie critic, Roger Ebert called Mayer out on his twitter,  ”To John Mayer regarding black women: What’s not to like?”, as the musician said he said he wouldn’t open up himself to dating black women.

Many people were offended by Mayer’s remarks and he expressed regret concerning the interview. “Maybe I need to take a break from trying to be clever… I quit the media game. I quit the sound byte game,” Mayer said to a Nashville, TN crowd as he took an emotional break during his concert shortly after the interview was released.

Mayer also took to his Twitter account to apologize for the interview and the actions he has taken in the past few years to his 3.7 million followers. Since then, he has deleted his account and moved to Tumblr. His last tweet, “What does this button do?” was posted in September of 2010.

Since then, Youtube videos have surfaced of Mayer performing surprise concerts at small cafés. His hair is grown out with plenty of facial hair and wearing a fedora, a look that resembles Johnny Depp. Even at the 2011 Grammy Awards where the musician performed a short version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” with Norah Jones and Keith Urban, Kanye West tweeted,“I didn’t know Johnny Depp played guitar.”

Despite all of the heartache, Mayer seems to be coming back in the spotlight. Rollin’ With Zach is a new television show on Oprah Winfrey’s Network, OWN, where John Mayer lends his talents for the show’s opening theme song. Zach Anner, the host of the show, is a stand up comedian with cerebral palsy who travels across the United States to historic cities.

Anner won Winfrey’s competition, Your OWN Show in early 2011 with the help of Mayer. People were able to go online and vote for their favorite contestant. However, Anner was lacking in votes until his favorite musician posted a video encouraging fans to vote for the aspiring television host. A day after the video was posted, Anner was well into the lead and won by a large gap this past January.

Rollin’ With Zach airs every Monday on OWN at 8pm.

“Let the Boy,” the title song for the show’s theme, is the first official song John Mayer has released in over two years.

After the song was recorded, Mayer was diagnosed with granuloma, a serious throat condition in which an enlarged nodule sits just above the vocal cords. The granuloma was taken out in late October, but it hindered his upcoming album being released. “I am now on complete vocal rest for a month or more,” Mayer wrote on his Tumblr and also added, “I stay in at night…dreaming of playing on the big stage.”

The Grammy-winner’s fifth studio album, Born and Raised, is set to be released in early 2012.

Gustavo Miguel Fernandes / Shutterstock.com

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