So I guess this blog has officially become "mine" rather than under the direction of UMBC...and isn't it just a really big waste of code and millions of computer nerds and C++ to let it die in such a disgraceful way? I think so. So yeah, continuation of stuff from previously....except not school centered...
Hope everyone had a great holiday, i know mine was interesting. So every year my dad wakes up early on Christmas and wears these zigzag hemmed elf shorts with little jingle bells that are the size of basketball players in the 70's...you know...daisy dukes basically. SO my dad is running around yelling at me about how i didn't clean the bathroom and is like yelling at me from inside the shower with mop and shower cleaners in hand and expects me to be serious. I had this badass video of him...but he grabbed my camera and threw the batteries into the shower...what a bad sport. It's not my fault my chicken-legged dad looks like a tranny in his little shorts...not my fault. He proceeded to read the Christmas story from Luke in the same little shorts....it was quite gross...my boyfriend even saw them and can attest to the fact that they were only slightly longer than my dad's t-shirt.
On other news my work is getting to be really annoying. The other day a glass cracked right in half in my hand and all over this guy at my table...it was horrible. I told him i would come over with some Oxi Clean and do some stain removal...they left me 20%...i am badass.
ok seriously...i have to get to sleep....
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Yourotheryou.com
I have uncovered a truly amazing bit of advertising genius put out by Toyota (specifically their 2008 Matrix) that features a function to aid the process of prank calling your friends. Although I do not approve of crazy advertising schemes I did check this out and it seems to be pretty legit.
They ask you for your name and address ( so far no random junk email from Toyota YESS!!) and then to put in as much information about your friend as possible like: gender, email, address (not recommended by safety panel of myself) and their phone number (so they can prank call). There are about five character that then harass your friend and let you watch by logging into the site.
So far, my attempt at this has been lame because my boyfriend already knew about this website and so he was already clued into my mischief. Still looking for someone else to prank...(-;
I'm pretty sure that Toyota doesn't use your information, but what they do is subtly put in their car advertisements while you ask questions, the whole thing is meant to be "trendy" and apply to Millenials...specifically those who are in the age group that would by a gas-sipping little orange car. Overall I think it is a great idea, using a prankster widget to advertise for a car is pretty much brilliant.
visit www. yourotheryou.com
They ask you for your name and address ( so far no random junk email from Toyota YESS!!) and then to put in as much information about your friend as possible like: gender, email, address (not recommended by safety panel of myself) and their phone number (so they can prank call). There are about five character that then harass your friend and let you watch by logging into the site.
So far, my attempt at this has been lame because my boyfriend already knew about this website and so he was already clued into my mischief. Still looking for someone else to prank...(-;
I'm pretty sure that Toyota doesn't use your information, but what they do is subtly put in their car advertisements while you ask questions, the whole thing is meant to be "trendy" and apply to Millenials...specifically those who are in the age group that would by a gas-sipping little orange car. Overall I think it is a great idea, using a prankster widget to advertise for a car is pretty much brilliant.
visit www. yourotheryou.com
Citizen journalists...the political hyper-junkie and the celeb stalkeratzi
Professor Regales, I didn't want to cut this up because it was following a train of thought but it is 500 words...aka two blog posts...
p. 46 of Cult of the Amateur describes citizen journalism in a very persuasive and very negative light, calling bloggers and internet writers, "wannabe Matt Drudges--a pajama army of mostly anonymous, self-referential writers who exist not to report news but to spread gossip, sensationalize political scandal, displaying embarrassing photos of public figures, and link to stories on imginative topics such as UFO sightings or 9/11 conspiracy theories" (46). So who are these people and what are they saying? Can they be credible or are their theories and headlines based on the fantastic? Also...is Brangelina really getting married?
I checked out two blogs: one from Perez Hilton the famous pink-haired celebrity blogger and crazy-Republican Matt Drudges blog and links (whom Keen mentioned),
1. Perez Hilton's blog: The first thing that one notices is a GIANT picture of Avril Lavigne the pop-punk singer and "Complicated" singer. The picture shows Avril in sweats shopping with a friend and the words "Pregnant?" scrawled out in Paint application-quality across the photo graph. Perez goes on to describe that she is "...probably just getting fat now that she's finished her disastrous tour and not doing much of anything!". Amazing journalism really...such a logical conclusion could only be made by good ol Perez. Immediately after this picture is a letter that Perez wrote to President-Elect Obama calling for, " [a] cabinet filled with like-minded individuals who are Democrats, Republicans and politicians who are not affiliated with any party". It's an interesting idea to say the least, but the problem is that very few Democrats, Republicans and unoffilliates are "like minded". This blog is good for a laugh if you are very bored...otherwise nothing noteworthy.
2. Drudge's blog: looks like a poorly put together Word Document. The background is white and there are random photos scattered about with random links in that weird old print rectangular print from Star Trek. Some links include Dave Barry's blog...random.... but I had to read a lot of his stuff in my Feature Writing class. The top headline is "Iraqi journalist throws shoes at Bush"...which was a trend across many political blogs...so it's probably true to an extent.
The most "off" thing with these blogs is their lack of real resources. I agree with Keen when he says that most of the things they say they just think up, so it's not like real journalism where facts are referenced and cross referenced for accuracy. As for this being a bad thing, I think it has it's place as an internet or "TV personality" genre. These people are entertainment and should never be used (like Wikipedia) for actual factual content.
p. 46 of Cult of the Amateur describes citizen journalism in a very persuasive and very negative light, calling bloggers and internet writers, "wannabe Matt Drudges--a pajama army of mostly anonymous, self-referential writers who exist not to report news but to spread gossip, sensationalize political scandal, displaying embarrassing photos of public figures, and link to stories on imginative topics such as UFO sightings or 9/11 conspiracy theories" (46). So who are these people and what are they saying? Can they be credible or are their theories and headlines based on the fantastic? Also...is Brangelina really getting married?
I checked out two blogs: one from Perez Hilton the famous pink-haired celebrity blogger and crazy-Republican Matt Drudges blog and links (whom Keen mentioned),
1. Perez Hilton's blog: The first thing that one notices is a GIANT picture of Avril Lavigne the pop-punk singer and "Complicated" singer. The picture shows Avril in sweats shopping with a friend and the words "Pregnant?" scrawled out in Paint application-quality across the photo graph. Perez goes on to describe that she is "...probably just getting fat now that she's finished her disastrous tour and not doing much of anything!". Amazing journalism really...such a logical conclusion could only be made by good ol Perez. Immediately after this picture is a letter that Perez wrote to President-Elect Obama calling for, " [a] cabinet filled with like-minded individuals who are Democrats, Republicans and politicians who are not affiliated with any party". It's an interesting idea to say the least, but the problem is that very few Democrats, Republicans and unoffilliates are "like minded". This blog is good for a laugh if you are very bored...otherwise nothing noteworthy.
2. Drudge's blog: looks like a poorly put together Word Document. The background is white and there are random photos scattered about with random links in that weird old print rectangular print from Star Trek. Some links include Dave Barry's blog...random.... but I had to read a lot of his stuff in my Feature Writing class. The top headline is "Iraqi journalist throws shoes at Bush"...which was a trend across many political blogs...so it's probably true to an extent.
The most "off" thing with these blogs is their lack of real resources. I agree with Keen when he says that most of the things they say they just think up, so it's not like real journalism where facts are referenced and cross referenced for accuracy. As for this being a bad thing, I think it has it's place as an internet or "TV personality" genre. These people are entertainment and should never be used (like Wikipedia) for actual factual content.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Secret Shoppers...well paid amateur spies
If any of you work for a retail or restaurant type of job you have the joy of working with an elite group of taste-testers known as "secret shoppers". They're the reason you have to make sure each and every guest is welcomed into your establishment and properly cared for (aka falsely smiled at and asked if they need anything).
If you are a secret shopper you know that it is pretty much the easiest job in the world...basically you get hired through an agency and they contact you when they want to you shop a place and then you do a short write up about that restaurant or store.
On the flip-side the workers and restaurant receives your evaluation (more getting paid for your opinion...you noble amateur, you!) and then they assess the damage accordingly. As a receiver of many of these evaluations from secret shoppers...they are non-professional, often subjective and very often misspelled and miscounted...in other words--amatuer-ish. The secret shoppers themselves can earn around $40 a shop and keep the stuff they buy or eat.
As a worker...often you can receive incentives for being a good little secret shopper pleaser. For instance I have received many pins and stickers for appeasing the everyday professional amateur and bringing them refills on time or folding tens of thousands of child-sized blue jeans at the mall...it's an amazing program...really. Yes, I got to keep the pins...but I did not receive $40 and secret shoppers don't always tip well.
Instead of having corporate come in and evaluate a store or restaurant these "spies" use their own unique knowledge to assess their opinions, and then send them to a company so that they can have an outsiders view of their service.
If you are a secret shopper you know that it is pretty much the easiest job in the world...basically you get hired through an agency and they contact you when they want to you shop a place and then you do a short write up about that restaurant or store.
On the flip-side the workers and restaurant receives your evaluation (more getting paid for your opinion...you noble amateur, you!) and then they assess the damage accordingly. As a receiver of many of these evaluations from secret shoppers...they are non-professional, often subjective and very often misspelled and miscounted...in other words--amatuer-ish. The secret shoppers themselves can earn around $40 a shop and keep the stuff they buy or eat.
As a worker...often you can receive incentives for being a good little secret shopper pleaser. For instance I have received many pins and stickers for appeasing the everyday professional amateur and bringing them refills on time or folding tens of thousands of child-sized blue jeans at the mall...it's an amazing program...really. Yes, I got to keep the pins...but I did not receive $40 and secret shoppers don't always tip well.
Instead of having corporate come in and evaluate a store or restaurant these "spies" use their own unique knowledge to assess their opinions, and then send them to a company so that they can have an outsiders view of their service.
1-800-355-DRIVE
So your driving along down the road...say I-695...and all of a sudden a GIANT SEMI crosses the lane in front of you making you have to slam on your brakes to avoid a timely death. Just as you are recovering from your near death experience a big blue and white sticker glares in front of you reading "How am I driving?...1-800-355-DRIVE". Is this too a form of interpersonal surveillence. I-Spy talks about how we monitor each other everyday, this seems to me to be a huge way that companies use other drivers to monitor their own so they don't have to...and we willingly do it.
When I worked at Pizza Hut as a delivery driver, we had many calls (thankfully not about me) to the management about other drivers who were:speeding, talking on their cell phone or just being reckless. The fact that one has a GIANT sign on their car reading their place of work, would deter most people from making a jackass of themselves on the road...but still the calls rolled in.
But why would this matter to the company? Who cares if some kid is driving fast around town delivering pizzas? Overall, most companies are extremely concerned with how their name looks to the public...because after all the best form of advertising is word-of-mouth. So companies put those stickers on because they are hoping that the enraged driver, the cautious parent and even do-gooders will call up that number and give them information not only on their drivers but also on their company at large.
When I worked at Pizza Hut as a delivery driver, we had many calls (thankfully not about me) to the management about other drivers who were:speeding, talking on their cell phone or just being reckless. The fact that one has a GIANT sign on their car reading their place of work, would deter most people from making a jackass of themselves on the road...but still the calls rolled in.
But why would this matter to the company? Who cares if some kid is driving fast around town delivering pizzas? Overall, most companies are extremely concerned with how their name looks to the public...because after all the best form of advertising is word-of-mouth. So companies put those stickers on because they are hoping that the enraged driver, the cautious parent and even do-gooders will call up that number and give them information not only on their drivers but also on their company at large.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Bloggers getting paid for advertisements
Irony in a sense is often all around. As I posted my last blog, I got a targeted advertisement labeled "Get Paid for Blogging". Blogger is offering a Google related advertisement pay out to people willing to put "content based advertisements" on their blogs. Basically, you get this account with AdSense and you too can join the ranks of Perez Hilton and get some great advertising on your blog. Why anyone would want to take a personal blog or diary and further advertise random ideas and meaningless blabber to also include whatever advertisement may be relevant I HAVE NO IDEA.
So humor me for a moment and lets imagine this being an actual possiblity...enter...the twilight zone...
`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`--`-`-`-`-`-`--`-`-`-`-`-`-`--`-``--`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`--`-`-`---`-`--`-
So i went to Wendy's... and I had this really great burger. It is called the BACON SWISS BURGER...it is four pounds of awesome plus shrooms and more saucy than Megan Fox. On my way to Wendy's I was thinking about how i need to organize my drawers at home thankfully Easy Closets will help me fix this problem...
`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`--`-`-`-`-`-`--`-`-`--`--`-`--`-`--`--`-`-`---`--`--`--`--`-`-`
WHYYYYY!!!! Who feels the need to advertise for Wendy's and Easy Closets in their everyday life...I certainly don't...but as that i have...where's the dough?
So humor me for a moment and lets imagine this being an actual possiblity...enter...the twilight zone...
`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`--`-`-`-`-`-`--`-`-`-`-`-`-`--`-``--`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`--`-`-`---`-`--`-
So i went to Wendy's... and I had this really great burger. It is called the BACON SWISS BURGER...it is four pounds of awesome plus shrooms and more saucy than Megan Fox. On my way to Wendy's I was thinking about how i need to organize my drawers at home thankfully Easy Closets will help me fix this problem...
`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`--`-`-`-`-`-`--`-`-`--`--`-`--`-`--`--`-`-`---`--`--`--`--`-`-`
WHYYYYY!!!! Who feels the need to advertise for Wendy's and Easy Closets in their everyday life...I certainly don't...but as that i have...where's the dough?
Product Placement
After reading iSpy I feel as if my eyes have been opened metaphorically, to the strange ways that corporations prey on the American public. Schools are owned by either the Coke or Pepsi brand and often fall prey to their offers of a new scoreboard or gym facility for exclusively selling their products. While watching the older film, "You've Got Mail" the other day, Tom Hanks blatantly flashes his VISA card while making purchases for Meg Ryan's character at a Whole Foods-like supermarket. Another blatant stream in media is cars...the recent James Bond movie flashes the symbols of each car as they get blown up and grinded during the risky racing scenes.
Product placement is an obvious and very blatant part of the media. In a recent Verizon commercial, a group of women are shown fawning over their new "love" of Verizon's phone plans. The obvious allusion to the blockbuster hit, "Sex and the City" makes the whole thing look like an episode with Carrie and the girls. The advertisement opens with, "In the greatest product placement flick of the year...". How disheartening that an advertisement can make fun of a movie that advertises. Kind of like the kettle calling the pot black...
Product placement is an obvious and very blatant part of the media. In a recent Verizon commercial, a group of women are shown fawning over their new "love" of Verizon's phone plans. The obvious allusion to the blockbuster hit, "Sex and the City" makes the whole thing look like an episode with Carrie and the girls. The advertisement opens with, "In the greatest product placement flick of the year...". How disheartening that an advertisement can make fun of a movie that advertises. Kind of like the kettle calling the pot black...
Sunday, December 7, 2008
New Topics?
Definitely if I had to choose a new topic for this class it would be to set up a class experiment a la "Wisdom of the Crowds". How fun would it be if we all randomly looked up at the ceiling in a mall or stuck a dollar coin to the floor and saw how many people tried to pick it up. Probably wouldn't be entirely possible but I think that would be awesome to do a random class field trip. Also I was really sad the speaker couldn't come in, i was looking forward to that.
Last posts..
I really didn't like "Millenial Makeover"...it was entirely too much political information and I had a really tough time reading it. After reading "Wisdom of the Crowds" it seemed like watching CSPAN on a Friday night...boring. As many people have already stated "Wisdom of the Crowds" is probably the most relevant text as it sums up much of what we talked about the rest of class. "Cult of the Amateur" was kind of the antithesis of Wisdom of the Crowds so it seemed sort of stupid after we had gone into the first book so much...also the author had a tendency to go on rants...but it was much better than "Millenial Makeover".
A Whole weekend of Surveillence
Day 1:
Slept most of the day...hopefully no surveillance in that...
1:00 pm- Checked Facebook..more people are getting engaged (or allegedly)...wouldn't know this (or be depressed!) if there wasn't this great thing called the feed (or surveillance page). You can even change who you want to see on this page...great for stalkers or when you want to not see someone ever again but don't want to diss them by un-friending them.
5:30 pm- went to work @ Ruby Tuesdays where I work as a waitress. For every order I put in I swipe a card (same card to clock in and clock out). This is the most highly watched area of my life. How much I sell, my tip percentage, how long it takes me to put stuff in, how much each person buys and many other things are all tallied at the end of the day and put up on huge charts in the back of the kitchen. Basically, I am the middle man between the public and the company. I watch the customers and what they want, report back unknowingly to the company and they report back by changing menus and offering incentives (like $1000 Coach gift cards...I WISH!!). I can safely say that every action of my work day is being watched...we also have cameras and a lot of staff. Kinda scary, but that is business.
11 pm- Giant stores card...too bad they can't get me...my boyfriend and I use a special code so we don't have to get cards...we're so sneaky.
Day 2:
10:00 am- boyfriend surveillence right before he jumped on my bed and tried to kill me...
1 pm- Papa Johns and Safeway...Safeway card definitely watching me. They now know that I prefer Coke to Pepsi and that I shop there only when I am in Columbia and have no other choice because their prices are ridiculous and their redbox knockoff is TERRIBLE!!
2pm- My boyfriend's Ipod Touch tells him that I posted a negative status about him and how annoying he is...technology at it's worst.
9:00pm- Am currently writing this and also am checking facebook feed and looking at updates on people web pages and wondering why my friend's keep on getting engaged or married... also found out that I started a trend my mentioning I wanted to go to Wendy's. Now three other people are also thinking Wendy's (sorry arbys). Apparently I subconsciously have started a trend, and inadvertently advertised for Wendy's.
Slept most of the day...hopefully no surveillance in that...
1:00 pm- Checked Facebook..more people are getting engaged (or allegedly)...wouldn't know this (or be depressed!) if there wasn't this great thing called the feed (or surveillance page). You can even change who you want to see on this page...great for stalkers or when you want to not see someone ever again but don't want to diss them by un-friending them.
5:30 pm- went to work @ Ruby Tuesdays where I work as a waitress. For every order I put in I swipe a card (same card to clock in and clock out). This is the most highly watched area of my life. How much I sell, my tip percentage, how long it takes me to put stuff in, how much each person buys and many other things are all tallied at the end of the day and put up on huge charts in the back of the kitchen. Basically, I am the middle man between the public and the company. I watch the customers and what they want, report back unknowingly to the company and they report back by changing menus and offering incentives (like $1000 Coach gift cards...I WISH!!). I can safely say that every action of my work day is being watched...we also have cameras and a lot of staff. Kinda scary, but that is business.
11 pm- Giant stores card...too bad they can't get me...my boyfriend and I use a special code so we don't have to get cards...we're so sneaky.
Day 2:
10:00 am- boyfriend surveillence right before he jumped on my bed and tried to kill me...
1 pm- Papa Johns and Safeway...Safeway card definitely watching me. They now know that I prefer Coke to Pepsi and that I shop there only when I am in Columbia and have no other choice because their prices are ridiculous and their redbox knockoff is TERRIBLE!!
2pm- My boyfriend's Ipod Touch tells him that I posted a negative status about him and how annoying he is...technology at it's worst.
9:00pm- Am currently writing this and also am checking facebook feed and looking at updates on people web pages and wondering why my friend's keep on getting engaged or married... also found out that I started a trend my mentioning I wanted to go to Wendy's. Now three other people are also thinking Wendy's (sorry arbys). Apparently I subconsciously have started a trend, and inadvertently advertised for Wendy's.
Me...but better...
You know when your mommy told you could be anything you wanted to be when you grew up? Well apparently I am...everything I want to be that is. Googling my name provides me with not only my own (lame) life but also the lives of many other Kelly-Lynne's that exist (or have existed) out there in cyberspace. First off I am a photographer working for what looks to be National Geographic, and apparently I am also a philanthropist from the looks of things. I have a degree from University of North Carolina, I can run the 60 meter dash (despite the fact I hate running...all very admirable Googlegangers I should say. The third is a link to some assignment for my "History in the Atlantic" class at UMBC. The fourth thing on the list is a link to my first article for Washtenaw Community College...pretty rough really.
Most of the things on the first page seem to be me: my honor roll from high school, pictures of me from my field hockey team, and various publications I have written for. I would say most of the links that contain my name are me...although some are completely embarrasing. My boyfriend recently found my old blurty.com account from when I was 15 and read all about my crush on my ex boyfriend...very awkward actually. He seemed to enjoy himself immensely by asking me about different things I said and reading back my stupid childish rantings.
As far as being unique or being anonymous, the things on my list for my name are really not that bad they are mainly things I wouldn't mind the entire world knowing about...like the fact I was a pretty cool student in high school or about different things I have written. What does scare me though is my old blurty being on there...that is means for blackmail.
Most of the things on the first page seem to be me: my honor roll from high school, pictures of me from my field hockey team, and various publications I have written for. I would say most of the links that contain my name are me...although some are completely embarrasing. My boyfriend recently found my old blurty.com account from when I was 15 and read all about my crush on my ex boyfriend...very awkward actually. He seemed to enjoy himself immensely by asking me about different things I said and reading back my stupid childish rantings.
As far as being unique or being anonymous, the things on my list for my name are really not that bad they are mainly things I wouldn't mind the entire world knowing about...like the fact I was a pretty cool student in high school or about different things I have written. What does scare me though is my old blurty being on there...that is means for blackmail.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Television Chat functions
According to iSpy the site TWoP allows television show veiwers to chat about the shows they are watching. The author argues that these "chatters" are really doing the bulk of work for the production companies while unwittingly filling out a survey and giving information to the production companies about their shows. While TWop has faded away the idea of television show chat has not, CBS has added this function to their website, while Facebook.com has also added this function as a group users can add. The fact that television shows have added this function to their main website does add to the point that the author makes about viewers becoming the slaves to the producers while doing their labor for them.
Currently, I am watching a classic Star Trek television show (for class…not pleasure to be sure) and CBS offers a chat room for this show as well. It is unsure exactly how CBS plans to use this information other than to decide what should remain on their website and what should go. As for the Facebook function, it provides viewers with many shows regardless of channel or producer and seemingly equals out the idea that the producers are running the show, but does not disprove the idea that production companies use these functions to gain information.
Currently, I am watching a classic Star Trek television show (for class…not pleasure to be sure) and CBS offers a chat room for this show as well. It is unsure exactly how CBS plans to use this information other than to decide what should remain on their website and what should go. As for the Facebook function, it provides viewers with many shows regardless of channel or producer and seemingly equals out the idea that the producers are running the show, but does not disprove the idea that production companies use these functions to gain information.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Way Back Machine
The virtual archive "Way Back Machine" has been recently pointed out to me by a classmate. Upon entering this seemingly innocent and very basic website is a plethora of information...a virtual encyclopedia of the internet. By simply typing in a website (such as facebook) one can instantly see the face of the website throughout it's evolution. Humble facebook.com and Mark Z. seem to disappear (even before the dreaded "new facebook") to a dowdy site named aboutface.com for office and co-worker use. Four corporate faces stare off the website on March 24, 2004 (when i was a freshman in high school). By August 6, 2005 Mark Zuckerburg's face against the classic blue and white background heralds the new facebook which was then available in only a few State and Ivy league schools. The history of facebook continues of course to include not only college students, but then high school, then corporations, then pretty much anyone...including my ex's parents (which is REALLY creepy).
85 million pages converge on this clustered website and the veiwer is able to see website chronology based on date. The rest of the website is completely uninteresting and is very techy and skeleton-like despite the awesomeness of being able to find what UMBC's website looked like in 2000...the website really doesn't seem that cool or note-worthy, although i did find an audio recording of "Silas Marner" for my English literature class. All in all this website has some interesting functions but the visual presentation is very lacking. Check out websites you loved but you thought was lost.
85 million pages converge on this clustered website and the veiwer is able to see website chronology based on date. The rest of the website is completely uninteresting and is very techy and skeleton-like despite the awesomeness of being able to find what UMBC's website looked like in 2000...the website really doesn't seem that cool or note-worthy, although i did find an audio recording of "Silas Marner" for my English literature class. All in all this website has some interesting functions but the visual presentation is very lacking. Check out websites you loved but you thought was lost.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Amateur
If i had to think of one thing I am an amateur at and had to tell the whole world wide web it would be playing electric guitar and rocking out with my band...but seeing as that is not true I guess I will have to confess my slightly embarrassing hobby of writing poetry. I have been writing poetry since sophomore year of high school, and publishing it since then. Mostly I have published stuff in high school and college publications, but recently I published in the HCC "Muse" which took submissions from professors and students...so that was pretty cool. Honestly I really like the way poetry can be whatever you want it to be, it's not like painting where you have to take ten minutes to get out the easel, the paint the paintbrushes...it's on the spot you can write poetry pretty much anywhere. Sadly I can't really transform my love for writing couplets into an actual career unless I want to starve (which might be cool...better than weight watchers after all).The ironic thing is that I am taking an analysis of literary language and the poetry section of that class was horrible and I hated every minute of studying poetry that intrinsically. It's a catch22...be an English major and get to do what you want to do for your career..but suffer through James Joyce and tens of thousands of Old English sonnets to get there.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Facebook, SP, the end of the world?
With only two days to go until the fist election I have ever voted in, and only the second that my parents have voted in everyone seems to be divided both internally and also between each other. For me I'm mostly torn between the new and fresh ideals of a president that is not only of a different ethnicity than all the rest before but seems to appeal to ideals my generation; and someone who for the most part sticks up for the beliefs instilled in me since infancy. Somehow the green and libertarian parties are looking a little more golden as November 4th draws near.
Facebook is littered with signs for "Obama '08 pins" which users can buy for $1 and are "limited edition" (i would say very limited because the election is in like two days!)and links to "Obama kicking John McCain's ass" I feel like even if I did agree with Obama on most of his issues I would still want to stick up for the underdog. There are a decided lack of people on facebook who voluntarily call themselves "Republicans" on their info, and many people who are sick of the cacophony of debate and hostility between parties have just taken that information straight off the sight or posted themselves as "unaffiliated".
One person I can wholeheartedly support is Sarah Palin. Granted she has received what is, in my opinion, appalling abuse from the media and also news sources. Has anyone noticed that the two biggest targets of laughter and role play in this whole race have been Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, the only women contesters to take on the capsizing ship that is America? Besides my uncanny resemblance to her, and her very cool clothing and her brave face in this whole thing I also truly admire her for standing up for what she believes in even though its not viewed as being "politically correct" or "modern". It really makes me mad that people are bashing her all over the internet about how her makeover cost such-and-such when the male candidates are spending just as much on Armani suits...what is she supposed to appear in--camo?? The Democrats are truly pulling an underhanded move with the whole wardrobe crisis. Obama only a month or so ago decided only to take public funding..and now he has $150 million in public funding? seems pretty shady to me.
So in relation to the class and all class discussions, the proliferation of public debate as well as public spectacle are made all the more perverted by YouTube and facebook writers who really are just malicious and undereducated. For instance, many people I know use Wikipedia to write about political things, and indeed, to decide who to vote for. Most people know Sarah Palin for her moose-shooting technique and bouffant updo..but do they know what she is really about? They do. Or at least they think they do, a la buffet de Wikipedia the pick-and-choose eatery of day-old and engineered information. I agree with the author in the aspect that I am trying to be a professional writer and my field is looking more and more like a battle between angry 12-year olds and commentary on fashion faux pas. I do not agree with the overall cynisism and miserly way he puts out his proof...also I definitely see 1984 happening again...mostly likely with my generations view on socialism and big government. So I guess you could guess what is in my "political affiliation info" on facebook huh?
Facebook is littered with signs for "Obama '08 pins" which users can buy for $1 and are "limited edition" (i would say very limited because the election is in like two days!)and links to "Obama kicking John McCain's ass" I feel like even if I did agree with Obama on most of his issues I would still want to stick up for the underdog. There are a decided lack of people on facebook who voluntarily call themselves "Republicans" on their info, and many people who are sick of the cacophony of debate and hostility between parties have just taken that information straight off the sight or posted themselves as "unaffiliated".
One person I can wholeheartedly support is Sarah Palin. Granted she has received what is, in my opinion, appalling abuse from the media and also news sources. Has anyone noticed that the two biggest targets of laughter and role play in this whole race have been Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, the only women contesters to take on the capsizing ship that is America? Besides my uncanny resemblance to her, and her very cool clothing and her brave face in this whole thing I also truly admire her for standing up for what she believes in even though its not viewed as being "politically correct" or "modern". It really makes me mad that people are bashing her all over the internet about how her makeover cost such-and-such when the male candidates are spending just as much on Armani suits...what is she supposed to appear in--camo?? The Democrats are truly pulling an underhanded move with the whole wardrobe crisis. Obama only a month or so ago decided only to take public funding..and now he has $150 million in public funding? seems pretty shady to me.
So in relation to the class and all class discussions, the proliferation of public debate as well as public spectacle are made all the more perverted by YouTube and facebook writers who really are just malicious and undereducated. For instance, many people I know use Wikipedia to write about political things, and indeed, to decide who to vote for. Most people know Sarah Palin for her moose-shooting technique and bouffant updo..but do they know what she is really about? They do. Or at least they think they do, a la buffet de Wikipedia the pick-and-choose eatery of day-old and engineered information. I agree with the author in the aspect that I am trying to be a professional writer and my field is looking more and more like a battle between angry 12-year olds and commentary on fashion faux pas. I do not agree with the overall cynisism and miserly way he puts out his proof...also I definitely see 1984 happening again...mostly likely with my generations view on socialism and big government. So I guess you could guess what is in my "political affiliation info" on facebook huh?
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Millenial Makeover- Political Ads
For the infomercials on the presidential race, Obama's looked mostly professional (possibly due to the fact that he has the most campaign money ever raised...but..) both the candidates seemed to have very professional videos. After all the candidates do pay a lot of money for their advertisements in an effort to get people to pay attention to their causes and also the faults of the other party. Most of the user based videos are humorous, and are mostly loosely based on politics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68NEc8EvV2Q and most are stupid people talking about things they mostly do not know anything about... The most polished promotional videos are obviously put out by the candidates themselves...no "real" people want to put boring mudslinging on Youtube...the only videos that get hits are those that are funny. A lot of older ads are more organic than they have been lately, for instance this ad from Bill Clinton was almost like a home video from the 90's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7prb7exyTQ.. Bill Clinton’s campaign was for the most part low cost (but similarly followed the “change” theme almost always followed by Democrats), and thus was more of a grassroots organization. Recent campaigns are making millions from donors (and apparently from companies...though I won’t go into that), and have more money to pay for advertising research and high quality campaigns. For the most part the American public doesn’t seem to watch the regular campaign videos as much as they watch SNL clips (from last night’s Sarah Palin visit) and funny clips they’ve uploaded of themselves dressed as Obama.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7prb7exyTQ.. Bill Clinton’s campaign was for the most part low cost (but similarly followed the “change” theme almost always followed by Democrats), and thus was more of a grassroots organization. Recent campaigns are making millions from donors (and apparently from companies...though I won’t go into that), and have more money to pay for advertising research and high quality campaigns. For the most part the American public doesn’t seem to watch the regular campaign videos as much as they watch SNL clips (from last night’s Sarah Palin visit) and funny clips they’ve uploaded of themselves dressed as Obama.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Recent Politics
Millennial Makeover talks a lot about the upcoming election (because the book is so recent) and also the "Millennials" response to it. Most people on UMBC and indeed, on most college campuses around the country are predominantly Democrats. For me there is an overwhelming feeling that most people think I am stupid for my views and that I am in some way regressive in my political philosophies. Here's the thing, both Obama and Mc Cain are not Millennials in their ideals nor in their generational stance. The funny thing is that the upcoming voters in a generation will always have to vote for the previous generations ideals, or the generation before that (in the case of McCain and Biden). This seems almost unfair, and seems to be a horrible regression. In current law a presidential hopeful must be at least 33...no WONDER young people don't feel the strong urge to vote all the time. I'm not saying that this is a wrong law, but what I am saying is that it is unreasonable for young people to be able to change what they want to change when it is always an older generation running everything. Seems wrong to just say that generations are fighting...or have tension when really I think the fact that Baby Boomers are predominantly our parents and even grandparents makes up for the fact that the generations perhaps don't see eye to eye. If I could call our generation something it would probably be Millenials as the author calls us or maybe Y2Kers...ahah!!!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Advice columns vs. public opinion...
Normally when i pass by a "ask amy" or "ask the expert" love column or advice column I usually turn the page. But since this is an assignment, I have actually been looking at these usually annoying articles to compare them to the usual advice I get on life, love and the pursuit of happiness from my friends and perhaps Wikipedia. There are many radio shows that also offer the help of an expert to (usually): pregnant teenage mothers, men who have sex "issues" and the ever-weepy jilted lover. Although these may be helpful to calm down people who seem to be suffering from a mix of stage fright, heartbreak and verbal diarrhea, they don't really seem to be logical to most of the public.
Most of the time these people are not "experts" but rather are just "someone to talk to". This seems logical, but in the way that calling in a third party to a junior high spat may seem logical when one is 12 years old. In matters non-medical, and non-life threatening, most people usually utilize their "call a friend" instinct. Although asking an anonymous source in a newspaper may never be answered by Dr. Phil, or Ophrah's fitness guru...your questions can be answered and polled, turned over and specialized by just asking friends or parents. Since these are the people that know you, they probably know what it is that is happening in a situation better than some random receiver. All in all I would trust the crowd more in this case, and especially since reading this book, after all the "experts" are usually just normal people just trying to sell a radio minute or block of space in a magazine.
Most of the time these people are not "experts" but rather are just "someone to talk to". This seems logical, but in the way that calling in a third party to a junior high spat may seem logical when one is 12 years old. In matters non-medical, and non-life threatening, most people usually utilize their "call a friend" instinct. Although asking an anonymous source in a newspaper may never be answered by Dr. Phil, or Ophrah's fitness guru...your questions can be answered and polled, turned over and specialized by just asking friends or parents. Since these are the people that know you, they probably know what it is that is happening in a situation better than some random receiver. All in all I would trust the crowd more in this case, and especially since reading this book, after all the "experts" are usually just normal people just trying to sell a radio minute or block of space in a magazine.
Crowdsourcing Sites
I decided to report on the almost famous threadless.com. As my boyfriend looks at T-shirts probably every weekend looking for that perfect shirt that states that he is a "gamer/nerd/non-n00b" to random people on the street. Apparently threadless.com fits the bill.
Beyond T-shirts that offer the wearer an ever changing array of slogans and pictures, threadless.com also opens up the creative process to their customers and the public. After inspiration hits, threadless is there with a custom submission kit which includes: photos of models with blank t-shirts that the designer can add their idea for submission to, blank t-shirt templates and other features. Over a week the public/customers/anyone on internet assess each design and rate the T-shirts before threadless tallies the score and adds the winners to the site. The site also offers prospective designers the option of putting a design through the gambit of public abuse before submitting an idea to the threadless board. If chosen the winner earns themselves: $2000 cash, a $500 threadless.com Gift Certificate, $500 every time threadless reprints the design also the T is entered to win a "Bestee" Threadless Award and up to $10,000.
As threadless.com does have some pretty cool t-shirts and they seem to be pretty mainstream and have done pretty well in the wide world of internet companies. Although I have never bought from a site that uses crowd sourcing (I don't shop online a lot), I have utilized user comments on sites like amazon and target.com. Threadless did seem pretty cool, and I would probably submit something to them before I bought something though...graphic T's aren't really my think. Thankfully for them, my boyfriend is still an avid fan.
Beyond T-shirts that offer the wearer an ever changing array of slogans and pictures, threadless.com also opens up the creative process to their customers and the public. After inspiration hits, threadless is there with a custom submission kit which includes: photos of models with blank t-shirts that the designer can add their idea for submission to, blank t-shirt templates and other features. Over a week the public/customers/anyone on internet assess each design and rate the T-shirts before threadless tallies the score and adds the winners to the site. The site also offers prospective designers the option of putting a design through the gambit of public abuse before submitting an idea to the threadless board. If chosen the winner earns themselves: $2000 cash, a $500 threadless.com Gift Certificate, $500 every time threadless reprints the design also the T is entered to win a "Bestee" Threadless Award and up to $10,000.
As threadless.com does have some pretty cool t-shirts and they seem to be pretty mainstream and have done pretty well in the wide world of internet companies. Although I have never bought from a site that uses crowd sourcing (I don't shop online a lot), I have utilized user comments on sites like amazon and target.com. Threadless did seem pretty cool, and I would probably submit something to them before I bought something though...graphic T's aren't really my think. Thankfully for them, my boyfriend is still an avid fan.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Bought the book
Wisdom of the Crowds is so far thought provoking. I like how he mentions many experiments he does in classrooms and also experiments that his friends have done. I don't know if I agree that the combined effort of a "good crowd" could necessarily match the extent of knowledge of a professional or even a group of professionals. I don't think the author says who would win that fight...the "good crowd" of non -experts or the panel of experts.
I think we face this sort of thing every day. For instance. a Judge and jury are a combination of a good crowd and an expert. The jury decides the verdict, but the Judge lays out the punishment and the options that the jury has. Perhaps this is the best mix, expert and good crowds. However, I'm not exactly sure that fits into his argument or has very many applicable uses.
I think we face this sort of thing every day. For instance. a Judge and jury are a combination of a good crowd and an expert. The jury decides the verdict, but the Judge lays out the punishment and the options that the jury has. Perhaps this is the best mix, expert and good crowds. However, I'm not exactly sure that fits into his argument or has very many applicable uses.
Monday, September 8, 2008
El primero
HI. I'm creating this for my MCS course which (as of now) I don't know if I am actually enrolled in or not.
Either way...
My name is Kelly-Lynne and this is just a spot for me probably to rant a bit, but also get some sort of coherent, noteworthy blog material.
I think I had a "blurty" when I was 15, hopefully this will be a bit more refined...but you never know...I have a tendency to go a bit wild when i see a blank white surface.
Either way...
My name is Kelly-Lynne and this is just a spot for me probably to rant a bit, but also get some sort of coherent, noteworthy blog material.
I think I had a "blurty" when I was 15, hopefully this will be a bit more refined...but you never know...I have a tendency to go a bit wild when i see a blank white surface.
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