Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category
Buy a cot!
Here’s a hint if you ever have to stay the night at the hospital. Ditch the fold out chair that makes into a bed… buy a cot that has a pad. Then on top of the pad put a sleeping bag. It makes for a nice comfy bed… and also bring your own pillows. I wish I had thought of this sooner… for once I’m actually comfortable and feel like I might get a good night’s sleep in between my mom’s lab work, respiratory therapy and regular checks.
Reality Television: The Vast Wasteland Revisited
Broadcast news magazines are on the decline. Maybe they are as plentiful as reality television. Maybe we are in information overload? Despite information overload, we are also in idiot overload!  Is anyone tired of reality television that showcases people vying for their 15 minutes of fame? I am. I would rather see Diane Sawyer on three news magazine shows than watch Wife Swap or even worse Beauty and the Geek 2.  Don’t forget Reality television thinks Americans can not parent! Supernanny should give you tried and true solutions to keeping a peaceful existence with one’s children. Â
Do you know what is really on the decline–my television viewing habits. I view less and less television each year… and that to me is a good thing. The only night I HAVE to watch television is Sunday nights on ABC–Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy! Why? Because each show has professional actors and smart writing.Â
In 1961 Newton Minnow said television is a vast wasteland. His words ring true to this day and age of reality television….
But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there without a book, magazine, newspaper, profit and-loss sheet or rating book to distract you–and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland.
You will see a procession of game shows, violence, audience-participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western badmen, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence and cartoons. And, endlessly, commercials–many screaming, cajoling and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you will see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, try it.Â
Read the entire speech made by Newton Minnow.Now Diane Sawyer has to tell viewers that news IS the original reality television. Sad, but true…
Network Newsmagazines Struggle to SurviveÂ
NEW YORK - The point was so important that Diane Sawyer was compelled to make it twice during a “Primetime” episode on battling stepfamilies.
“You want reality TV?” she asked. “Tonight, you get it. Starting now.”
The appeal couldn’t be any more plain, or plaintive. Broadcast network newsmagazines are at a low ebb — with likely even fewer hours on the air next season — and the popularity of reality television is chiefly to blame.
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Global Voices: Bridging the blogger gap
This article is interesting. It talks about a new web site for citizen journalists.
Global Voices Online is now a project of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School in Massachusetts and receives additional funding from the MacArthur Foundation, the Dutch nongovernmental organization Hivos and Reuters.
Co-founders Zuckerman and MacKinnon spent so much time finding and reading blogs that they felt there was a great need to curate the hundreds of sites, creating a hub for an international community of “bridge bloggers” who want to communicate, often anonymously, with the broader world.
Global Voices is a select guide to conversations, information and ideas appearing on various forms of participatory citizen media such as blogs, podcasts, photo-sharing sites and videoblogs, according to Zuckerman.
Paid regional editors who work 20 hours or 30 hours per week receive $800 a month to assure that Global Voices covers the world accurately, Zuckerman said.
Laptop advice
Here’s the place to ask questions about laptops!Â
Desperate Housewives FREE
Ok… if you missed a Desperate Housewives episode, don’t worry! ABC announced that they will allow Desperate Housewives and other shows to be shown online the day after they air for free. Of course, you MUST sit through commericials… or it would not be free! Your other alternative to commercial free television is to download the episodes from iTunes for $1.99.
ABC Frees “Desperate” and “Lost” Online
New episodes of Desperate Housewives, Lost, Commander in Chief and Alias will appear on ABC.com the day after they air.
ABC is no stranger to the portable entertainment pool, having been the first network to offer shows for downloading via Apple’s iTunes Music Store. Lost, Alias and the other series heading to ABC.com are already available for downloading and commercial-free viewing for $1.99 a pop. Lost has been ABC’s most popular offering to date, and both the not so deserted island adventure and Desperate Housewives have seen their iTunes numbers increase this year. Unlike the iTunes episodes, ABC.com’s streamed shows cannot be ported to an iPod or downloaded to a file for later viewing on a laptop. (The shows will be available in Flash for PCs and Macs.)
Online Annoyance
A new law protects you from annoying anonymous emails and online comments.
Annoying Online Posts Could Be Illegal
Writing annoying, anonymous online posts or e-mails could land you in jail for as long as two years. That’s according to the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005, which was signed into law last week.
According to a section of the act, anyone who uses the Internet anonymously “with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass another person” can be tried for violating federal telecommunications law and face fines or jail.
A community of voices…
Eugene Kane ,writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, brought up some good points in his article Blogging gives everyone a voice.
Here’s an excerpt:
The Internet is overrun with blogs. These personal Web sites are written by both amateur and professional journalists with an ax to grind or strong opinions they are dying to express. Many of them are read by only a small group of readers, sometimes just family or friends.
Despite the current hype over bloggers taking on the mainstream media - “MSM” to many bloggers - I believe there’s little chance that blogging will replace traditional forms of reporting and commentary. At least, not in the near future.
But yes, they are making an impact.
What I liked about his article is that he says the best blogs guide you to stories that don’t are not over opinionated. I agree. In my personal and professional opinion, I feel that if you want people to listen to you, you must leave out the overdone opinions and guide readers to seek out their own opinion. But, in the light of the ritual of communication theory and the theory behind community… people will find like-minded individuals to discuss politics, religion and other social conversations, which I tend to avoid. I was reading about China today and how MSN censors searches for certain words. China is also a country that censors bloggers or is trying to figure out a way to censor MORE bloggers. We are lucky we can rant and rave about anything we want. We are lucky to have a voice in our country. But, remember, be smart about what you blog and others might become loyal readers. Just remember an employer or potential employer are now doing Internet searches to seek out these over opinionated employees who give too much of themselves away.
I agree, most bloggers won’t be famous or won’t be heard from other than the occasional visitor who are either family members or friends. But, it’s nice to know that people have a voice no matter what… I guess my best advice is to think before you post because you really never know who might pop in and read. OR if you’re a vlog, pop in and watch.
Why companies monitor blogs | CNET News.com
Here’s an interesting article. After an advocacy group called Ban Trans Fat sued Kraft Foods for plugging up Californians arteries with hydrogenated oils in oreos (among other things as well I suppose) companies have been monitoring online activity such as blogs for instant feedback. It makes sense that companies would stop the surveys and phone calls and act on instant real-time consumer feedback. Bloggers just have to remember to make smart comments about products that make companies listen. A good rhetorical argument is a powerful tool on blogs.
Why companies monitor blogs | CNET News.com
“When you’re listening to the Internet, the discussion is taking place in real time,” said Intelliseek spokeswoman Sue MacDonald. “We’re able very quickly, sometimes in a matter of days, to pick up on what consumers are saying. If there’s certain issues, like safety recalls or any mention of a boycott, we can set up an alert, so that we can alert a company or a brand so they can be on their guard and be ready to react, if that’s what it takes.”
BBC NEWS declares 2005 “The year of the digital citizen”
This article traces citizen media. It even mentions how Steve Garfield is helping one politician vlog. The BBC has done a really good job tracing the citizen journalism trend. Dr. Jo Twist, who wrote this BBC article, mentions this new technology is a way for everyone to support each other as active citizens.
BBC NEWS | Technology | The year of the digital citizen
Crucially, what 2005 proved was that far from these techno tools being purely dumb funnels for the same paid-for content from mainstream media, they had the chance to become powerful tools for political expression and reportage.
The consumer was turning into the citizen with a meaningful role to play. Media started to look more participatory and inclusive.
The Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 starkly showed the potential of these tools. Most of the memories of that day have been graphically captured, replayed and played again, making the event much more immediate and personal.
Later in the year, the 7 July London bombings and the hurricanes in the US forced home the fact that citizens had a much larger role in the production of news than ever before.
Cell phone movie contest
Cell phone movie contest! Could you make a blockbuster in just 30 seconds?
College Launches Cell Phone Film Contest
ITHACA, N.Y. - An Ithaca College dean is encouraging students to instead think small — and she’s offering a $5,000 prize to do it. The school has invited high school and college students across America to submit a 30-second movie shot entirely with a cell phone.
It may come off like a gimmick, but Dean Dianne Lynch has no doubts about the contest’s academic value.
In today’s media marketplace — where cell phones can take pictures, play music and games and connect to Web sites — it’s all about thinking small and mobile.
