After three full months I like to think I have adapted well to the various customs of Italy.  I learned to dress like a ninja in order to blend in with the slue of Italians garbed in dark blues, blacks and browns. I learned that what I deem a leisurely stroll to them is a determined power walk.  I learned how to avoid the crimson cow flesh lining the aisles of the market.  Overall, I have become accustomed to the ways and workings of Florence.

For those who have a Playstation 3 and are on Playsation Network (PSN) your information might be sold to the highest bidder. The attack on Sony's database has left the 77 million users of PSN at risk of having their identity stolen, which is far greater than the 1.25 million accounts that were hacked from gawker in December of 2010. The attack was able to shut down all of PSN service, which was originally just a nuisance for those, that Netflix or PS Plus on their PS3's but it only recently that it was found out about the security breach. The worst part about this is that Sony had remained silent for about week after the attack and has posed even greater harm for their customers.

Generally when a person needs their computer fixed, has lost their purse or needs general information, they can place a call and receive an answer. Customer service, the police or a quick call to 411 are usually the go-to sources of assistance. So what to do when the person pioneering you on a 20-hour bus ride speaks no English, his superior speaks fractured English, and you are in Orlando, FL, with no wallet? Funny you should ask, because this exact thing happened to my friend last week while we were traveling together.

Possibly throwing his hat into the ring as a 2012 Republican Presidential candidate is property billionaire Donald J. Trump.  The 64-year-old host of NBC reality hits The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice is already readying what seems to be a campaign as he trash-talks not only President Barack Obama, but other Republican frontrunners like former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.  Trump is currently leading the polls in regard to Republican candidates -- but even if he does run and win, will it be worth his while?

During my entire student career at Hofstra, students have been dying for an online room selection process. Thank the heavens that this year, Hofstra has finally decided to fulfill their wishes.

Remember when we had to wait for our physical housing lottery number, and had to go to the Student Center for that long and obnoxious process, only to find out that most of the rooms you originally wanted were already chosen? Then you had to scramble around; trying to find a building that still the type of room you wanted. Well, now it's as easy as selecting classes.

The Flipcam died this week. Cisco, the company behind these horrid little video-goblins decided to pursue other ventures.

Nowadays, technology truly seems to be everywhere. For the district of Auburn in Maine this is especially the case. Last week the district approved a $200,000 pilot program to buy 285 iPad 2 tablets for the kindergartners of the town. "What we're seeing is that this is an essential tool even more important than a book," said school superintendent Tom Morrill, as quoted from the Huffington Post. "It's a learning tool they need to have." The superintendent then went on to say that he would try to get grants and donations to fund the program.

Douglas Adams once said, in his book The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, "Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should, on no account, be allowed to do the job." I can't help but feel the truth in this statement while reading the news this past week, but in a much broader sense. To me, this idea is in fact applicable to all politicians.

Months before I turned 18, I submitted my voter registration early so that I could be ready to vote in the 2008 Presidential election. I diligently watched the Presidential debates, one of which was at Hofstra University, and became politically involved with local government campaigns because I wanted to make good, educated voting choices. Even though many take their right to vote for granted, I took mine seriously; I chose those candidates who I believed would reform the policies that I wanted changed on the local, state, and national levels.

This week, president Obama filed his papers to run for reelection.

Nov. 6, 2012 is still 19 months away. That is 580 days.For every one of those days from this point onward, politicians will be strategizing and spreading their message in preparation for Election Day. It doesn't matter whether they are Obama, or are one of his numerous potential Republican opponents. They will form exploratory committees, amass signatures, generate press coverage and build websites. Here we go again.

Over the years, some people have become concerned over the values that Americans are taking to heart. It has become a little disheartening that more people in New York know what Justin Bieber looks like but have no idea what their governor looks like. They could probably name all the members of the Jersey Shore cast but none of the Supreme Court Judges.

Word on the street is that the finale of TRL is going to be held in Florence, Italy. As last weekend Jersey Shore was in Italy (which still doesn't make sense to me) I've about had my fill of bottom-of-the-barrel American pop-culture, but TRL news intrigued me.

  In last week's issue, Julia Hahn presented an opinion piece titled "Sexting Deserves Harsher Penalties." While I believe everyone should be entitled to their own opinion, it is unfortunate that Ms. Hahn's is ill informed and naïve at best. Her stance seems puritanical, rooted in the idea that rather than proper education of young teens on the dangers and consequences of sexting, we should simply adjust the current law to allow for felony convictions. This is a dangerous and ineffective way of handling the way teens think and act.

In the past three years that I have been at Hofstra, I can safely say that the food has come a very long way. Recently,Hofstra has completely renovated many of its dining services. It now offers many diverse and relatively new eateries, many of which are brand names such as Au Bon Pain, California Pizza Kitchen, Red Mango, and Subway.

"It's a great tool," said sophomore Brock Sumner.

"It is my life, and I freak out whenever I don't have access to it," said another sophomore, Karen Gong.

These students are referring to the Internet. When Hofstra's School of Communication goes without the Internet this April 4-8 during Week Without the Web, students like Sumner and Gong will be solely tested. Week Without the Web, or WWW, highlights how dependent young people are on this technology.

On St. Patrick's Day this year, while Americans were enjoying their copious amounts of alcohol, Bahrain was thrown into chaos. Troops arrested six opposition leaders, who sought reform. However, instead of putting an end to the chaos, the opposition promises to fight more furiously the more they are challenged by the government.

It does not take much to feel angered by the hypocrisy demonstrated by enormous, excessively greedy corporations. It is even worse when the U.S. government encourages the continuation of such hypocrisy through its actions. Such is the case today with General Motors, which has been successful in avoiding payment of any taxes throughout the last year.

The new term "sexting" has a negative connotation, largely due to numerous amounts of sensational stories in the media. The typical story of a person sending their significant other a nude picture, which then circulates around their school and beyond, does not help the term win a positive reputation.