this post is about a new twist on a already existing way of communicating using a cell phone. what I'm talking about is obtaining information by text messaging Google. by texting 466453 you can get local listings, weather, movies times and locations, flights, sports, stocks, definitions, product prices, calculations, questions and answers, translations, web snippets, currency conversion, directions, maps, airports, and more are becoming available.
i just herd about this a few weeks ago and was surprised at how many of my friends knew about this too. if you want to order a pizza all you have to do is text pizza and your area code to Google and they will send you back names, locations, and phone numbers of all the pizza places with in your zip code. and you can do this with anything you want not just pizza. if you want to make plans you can check the weather or times of movies or if you need to get somewhere but don't know how, you can immediately get directions or the number for a cab. if you want to see if a store is open you can just call them and ask without the hassle of looking up their number in a traditional phone book. i was just at a store buying some shoes for my sister and a Friend at school said they got the same shoe at the MOA for a different price that this same store different location was selling them for and the lady working wasn't much help when i asked if she could call the other store so i could see if i could still get it for the price my Friend did. so what came to mind. well, i text Google the name and MOA of the other store and called them and found out everything i needed to know in about a min. If you text weather and your zip code it will give you the temp, the wind direction and speed, the humidity, and a three day forecast.
there are a ton of ways that this could allow your life to be more convenient but it cant do everything. on think i wish that it could do would be to find out who calls me when i get a random call in the middle of the night. i would like to be able to text the number to Google and have it tell me who is listed under that number. I'm sure you can think of some other cool ways that this could improve our everyday lives through communication and technology. so i guess if anyone who reads this figures out any other cool ways that you can use this texting Google, or any other interesting ways to make life easier for people by using new technologies or new ways of communicating let me know!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Propaganda
The term propaganda comes from the Catholic church’s “Congregatio de propaganda fide” or “Congregation for the Propagation of Faith.” The definition of the word is “information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause.” (wordnet.princeton.edu)
An example of propaganda that we talked about in class would be “Triumph of the Will” directed by Leni Riefenstahl in 1934 during the Nazi Party Rally in Nuremberg, Germany. The Nazi party funded the film and during the time that they were in power this film was shown in every theatre in Germany. To the rest of the world a different version with carefully chosen subtitles was spread.
Hitler hired Leni Riefenstahl to direct the film. The money that could be used on this film was unlimited and Riefenstahl had to go through hundreds of thousands of feet of tape to carefully construct the video in order to be the most persuasive in promoting the Nazi party. Entire sets were carefully designed and built for the film and Hitler was filmed separately from the crowds and edited together with other film that would make it seem like what they wanted. The reason for this I believe is the whole bandwagon aspect. When people would view this film they would believe that it was what actually happened in real life and when people see a group of people, especially groups the size shown in the film, there is a tendency to follow the masses.
This was a manipulative and historically significant film that was used to gain support for the Nazi party that was committing enormous atrocities at the time and after the war this film was unavailable throughout Germany for many decades.
Leni Riefenstahl was never a member of the Nazi party and was never charged of any war crimes she died in September 2003 at the age of 101.
This film is a good example of how media can be used to promote a cause weather the cause is good or bad. What can we do to protect ourselves from the negative propaganda that we are exposed to? I believe that to protect ourselves is to learn what propaganda is and what techniques are used so we can recognize propaganda when we see it and instead of just believing what we hear we can research it and find out for our selves what we should believe and not be persuaded into things we would not normally agree with.
And what kind of propaganda are we exposed to as Americans? You can see it on the radio, on TV, (especially during election times) in movies… People can spread propaganda through any type of communication.
An example of propaganda that we talked about in class would be “Triumph of the Will” directed by Leni Riefenstahl in 1934 during the Nazi Party Rally in Nuremberg, Germany. The Nazi party funded the film and during the time that they were in power this film was shown in every theatre in Germany. To the rest of the world a different version with carefully chosen subtitles was spread.
Hitler hired Leni Riefenstahl to direct the film. The money that could be used on this film was unlimited and Riefenstahl had to go through hundreds of thousands of feet of tape to carefully construct the video in order to be the most persuasive in promoting the Nazi party. Entire sets were carefully designed and built for the film and Hitler was filmed separately from the crowds and edited together with other film that would make it seem like what they wanted. The reason for this I believe is the whole bandwagon aspect. When people would view this film they would believe that it was what actually happened in real life and when people see a group of people, especially groups the size shown in the film, there is a tendency to follow the masses.
This was a manipulative and historically significant film that was used to gain support for the Nazi party that was committing enormous atrocities at the time and after the war this film was unavailable throughout Germany for many decades.
Leni Riefenstahl was never a member of the Nazi party and was never charged of any war crimes she died in September 2003 at the age of 101.
This film is a good example of how media can be used to promote a cause weather the cause is good or bad. What can we do to protect ourselves from the negative propaganda that we are exposed to? I believe that to protect ourselves is to learn what propaganda is and what techniques are used so we can recognize propaganda when we see it and instead of just believing what we hear we can research it and find out for our selves what we should believe and not be persuaded into things we would not normally agree with.
And what kind of propaganda are we exposed to as Americans? You can see it on the radio, on TV, (especially during election times) in movies… People can spread propaganda through any type of communication.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Money for Nothing: behind the business of pop music
music has been social movements and has been what creates and communicates ideas through song and and unifying people throughout history. but today, in out society, four or five companies own and control what kind of music gets played and distributed today controlling what used to be the peoples medium. now music is all about what these companies will sell, its all about money. music is just another product. that's what this documentary, narrated by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, is really about, how the pop music industry really works.
To start with they talk about why out of the countless musicians some of them become stars and have there music herd by millions and others are never herd by the public. what they say is that they have to go behind, "behind the music" to really get a view of why music is the way it is in out society. what does this mean? it mean looking at the music industry that control ls what gets played, what gets promoted, what gets distributed and sold, and ultimately what gets listened to and communicated to people all over. there are five companies that sell 80% of the music world wide, they are BMG, SONY, AOL TIME WARNER, VIVENDI UNIVERSAL, and EMI witch is the smallest of the five and will most likely be sold to one of the other four. so the music industry has pretty much become a monopoly status for this handful of companies, and these are the companies that control what music containing what messages gets to the public and what musicians become financially successful. the pop music industry is not about the music, the message, the artists, its about the money and these companies are not about the music they are about the money, its not musicians or music lovers controlling the business its accountants and guys in business suits.
they also talk how shady the industry's record companies are to the artists them selves. an artist can make a video and even though the record label will front the money for it but it will come out of the artist's royalties which means the artists end up owing the label allot of money, and if the artists try to not make a video with their label the label will say that they are not cooperating with them and wont promote them, so it kinda puts the artists in a double bind, the damned if you do, damned if you don't kinda thing.
the music that we hear on the radio is not being herd because of its content or quality, it is because someone has put enormous money behind the songs and this is viewed by many as death to culture and death to music. now everything is pre programmed and dj's have no control of what is played, they might have never herd the songs before.
to me this is more of an ethical issue, what kind of freedom is this? it's corrupt, talented meaning full music that people want to hear doesn't have a chance if the record labels don't think its profitable! that's crazy to me.
payola, is the practice where record companies would pay dj's under the table to play their music on the radio, this used to be illegal in the fifties, dj used to get fired, prosecuted and sent to jail. the government saw that listeners deserved to think that the music they herd on the radio was good music and people were hearing it because someone that knew about music and what good music is was selecting it and they were not hearing it because someone with more money that the other musicians was pushing the envelope to get it played in order to sell more copies of it. the government used to view the airways as property of the public and that it wasn't for people to buy. but now days the same thing is happening on a much larger scale and is completely legal. and now what we get is a fully commercialized system. the artists that we hear are pretty much not famous or rich because they are good at music or because they are original or innovated, we know they exist simply because someone with allot of money is backing it for personal interests.
Mtv is nothing but a huge marketing machine. Mtv is now brodcasted all over the world 24 hours a day and is promoting a specific culture and sending a message that is what the major companies want the public to believe and will be the best for their industry. its just a big infomercial.
the four biggest gate keepers of the music industry are live music or touring, retail chains,television, radio. many companies have there hands in all four of these and have major power in what we here and what is easy for us to buy. buying over the Internet is helping smaller artists get their music out there but there is still a long way to go.
throughout the movie they also interview certain artists such as Michael Franti from spear head and Chuck D from public Enemy, Kathleen Hanna from bikini kill/le tigre, Ani Difanco an independent musician, and many other references to others people within the music industry.
this is a great documentary for anyone who wants to be enlightened by what really goes on in the music industry and how it influences our culture through an aspect of communication.
To start with they talk about why out of the countless musicians some of them become stars and have there music herd by millions and others are never herd by the public. what they say is that they have to go behind, "behind the music" to really get a view of why music is the way it is in out society. what does this mean? it mean looking at the music industry that control ls what gets played, what gets promoted, what gets distributed and sold, and ultimately what gets listened to and communicated to people all over. there are five companies that sell 80% of the music world wide, they are BMG, SONY, AOL TIME WARNER, VIVENDI UNIVERSAL, and EMI witch is the smallest of the five and will most likely be sold to one of the other four. so the music industry has pretty much become a monopoly status for this handful of companies, and these are the companies that control what music containing what messages gets to the public and what musicians become financially successful. the pop music industry is not about the music, the message, the artists, its about the money and these companies are not about the music they are about the money, its not musicians or music lovers controlling the business its accountants and guys in business suits.
they also talk how shady the industry's record companies are to the artists them selves. an artist can make a video and even though the record label will front the money for it but it will come out of the artist's royalties which means the artists end up owing the label allot of money, and if the artists try to not make a video with their label the label will say that they are not cooperating with them and wont promote them, so it kinda puts the artists in a double bind, the damned if you do, damned if you don't kinda thing.
the music that we hear on the radio is not being herd because of its content or quality, it is because someone has put enormous money behind the songs and this is viewed by many as death to culture and death to music. now everything is pre programmed and dj's have no control of what is played, they might have never herd the songs before.
to me this is more of an ethical issue, what kind of freedom is this? it's corrupt, talented meaning full music that people want to hear doesn't have a chance if the record labels don't think its profitable! that's crazy to me.
payola, is the practice where record companies would pay dj's under the table to play their music on the radio, this used to be illegal in the fifties, dj used to get fired, prosecuted and sent to jail. the government saw that listeners deserved to think that the music they herd on the radio was good music and people were hearing it because someone that knew about music and what good music is was selecting it and they were not hearing it because someone with more money that the other musicians was pushing the envelope to get it played in order to sell more copies of it. the government used to view the airways as property of the public and that it wasn't for people to buy. but now days the same thing is happening on a much larger scale and is completely legal. and now what we get is a fully commercialized system. the artists that we hear are pretty much not famous or rich because they are good at music or because they are original or innovated, we know they exist simply because someone with allot of money is backing it for personal interests.
Mtv is nothing but a huge marketing machine. Mtv is now brodcasted all over the world 24 hours a day and is promoting a specific culture and sending a message that is what the major companies want the public to believe and will be the best for their industry. its just a big infomercial.
the four biggest gate keepers of the music industry are live music or touring, retail chains,television, radio. many companies have there hands in all four of these and have major power in what we here and what is easy for us to buy. buying over the Internet is helping smaller artists get their music out there but there is still a long way to go.
throughout the movie they also interview certain artists such as Michael Franti from spear head and Chuck D from public Enemy, Kathleen Hanna from bikini kill/le tigre, Ani Difanco an independent musician, and many other references to others people within the music industry.
this is a great documentary for anyone who wants to be enlightened by what really goes on in the music industry and how it influences our culture through an aspect of communication.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
TOUGH GUISE: violence, media and the crisis in masculinity
this is an educational video that analyzes the relationship between the images in pop culture and the socialization of masculine identity in the united states. to analyze this they bring up stats, they interview young men, show clips of popular media,
here are just a few of the stats they give, the first is that 85% of murders are committed my men and many of the the women who have murdered are victims of battering. 90% of assaults are committed by men, 95% of domestic violence cases are committed my males and 1 in 4 men will use violence against their spouse in their life time, and over 95% of dating violence is commit ed by men, and 95%of child sexual abuse is committed by men and 99.8% of rape is committed by men. 95% of road rage is committed by males.
so even though violence is not considered a gender issue but after looking at these statistics shouldn't it be? in the headlines its kids killing kids and not boys killing boys and boys killing girls. its girls getting raped and not men raping girls. so in this analysis they look deeper into what no one else is paying attention to. it is a key element that it is men committing a majority of these crimes. that is an issue, so now its important to consider that the problem isn't just what is causing these crimes, its also about what is causing MEN to act violently.
Ask your self this, what gender is usually seen holding the gun in the movies or TV shows you watch? look at how the media portrays masculinity. you see in on TV, in movies, video games, and even in action figures. the GI Joe of today has changes dramatically over the last 20 years. what our media is telling us is that to be a man you have to be big and strong and tough. as kids we are raised with the view that girls play with dolls, boys play with toy guns and wrestle. if a kid cant throw a baseball very well he gets ridiculed, kids will say you through like a girl.
Another issue that separates the sexes is how woman are portrayed in the media as being objectified for men. some examples that they give are shows like the man show, pro wrestling, and Howard stern.
but yeah it was a very interesting show and made legitimate argument so i would suggest people checking it out sometime.
here are just a few of the stats they give, the first is that 85% of murders are committed my men and many of the the women who have murdered are victims of battering. 90% of assaults are committed by men, 95% of domestic violence cases are committed my males and 1 in 4 men will use violence against their spouse in their life time, and over 95% of dating violence is commit ed by men, and 95%of child sexual abuse is committed by men and 99.8% of rape is committed by men. 95% of road rage is committed by males.
so even though violence is not considered a gender issue but after looking at these statistics shouldn't it be? in the headlines its kids killing kids and not boys killing boys and boys killing girls. its girls getting raped and not men raping girls. so in this analysis they look deeper into what no one else is paying attention to. it is a key element that it is men committing a majority of these crimes. that is an issue, so now its important to consider that the problem isn't just what is causing these crimes, its also about what is causing MEN to act violently.
Ask your self this, what gender is usually seen holding the gun in the movies or TV shows you watch? look at how the media portrays masculinity. you see in on TV, in movies, video games, and even in action figures. the GI Joe of today has changes dramatically over the last 20 years. what our media is telling us is that to be a man you have to be big and strong and tough. as kids we are raised with the view that girls play with dolls, boys play with toy guns and wrestle. if a kid cant throw a baseball very well he gets ridiculed, kids will say you through like a girl.
Another issue that separates the sexes is how woman are portrayed in the media as being objectified for men. some examples that they give are shows like the man show, pro wrestling, and Howard stern.
but yeah it was a very interesting show and made legitimate argument so i would suggest people checking it out sometime.
Friday, February 29, 2008
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