Ng: Facebook musical

FACEBOOK and social networking are now mainstream. So much so that award-winning composer Jude Gitamondoc has come up with a musical comedy on the topic. The musical, entitled “FB’ed or Facebooked,” will premiere next month and is written with a script that pokes fun on Facebook-related issues such as what it means to inform people that your relationship is complicated or poke them or like their statuses.

It also brings into discussion topics like cyber-bullying or privacy issues. I am sure you are aware that many relationships have started and ended because of social networks. It is also an example of how people can use social network as a tool to destroy or malign people.

I have been fortunate to meet some of the actors and they continually meet to rehearse. I am sure you will be hearing more about the musical, perhaps in your favorite social network.

Meanwhile, there is another news story on social networking that caught my interest. A father by the name of Paul Baier ( I am sure you can easily search this story) was able to bribe his daughter to stop using Facebook. They signed a contract together and this was posted in his blog.

The deal was that the father would pay his 14-year-old daughter $50 per month for five months if she stops using Facebook. I know that we try to bribe our children for desirable behavior but I don’t know why the father thinks using Facebook was a distraction or undesirable behavior.

In another update, Dell has decided to become a private company. The chairman, Michael Dell, decided to buy out all the shares. He teamed up with a venture capital and, reportedly, Microsoft. I don’t know why Microsoft decided to invest in a computer company or how it will affect its relationship with other computer companies, but so far, the details have been vague.

Still another news item that is of interest is the report that the number one PC company is now Apple computer. The three-way race to be the top PC company used to be HP, Dell and Lenovo but suddenly research group Canalys decided to make an entirely different interpretation by counting tablets as PC numbers.

So in their interpretation, the number 1 PC company now (including tablet sales) is Apple. At number two is HP while Lenovo ended third. The number four spot (also coming out of the blue because of its numerous tablet shipments) is now Samsung, while Dell fell to number five. It looks like tablets are more than a fad.

It would be interesting to see how attempts to make hybrids like the Microsoft Surface or Intels’ attempt to create hybrid notebooks (notebooks and tablets in one factor) will change this lineup. What do you think?

(www.twitter.com/wilsonng)