Amid Global Economic Crisis, Italy's Mobsters Are Thriving
This article is legitimate. It uses good sources and contains many references verifying the content. I was actually surprised to hear this information but it does make sense. Since people are short on money the mob can easily get loans from them. Banks are currently unwilling to lend money so the public has had to turn elsewhere.
My only problem with this article is why it is relevant to US citizens. We aren't really being effected by this situation. It does broaden our global view of the world but it doesn't sound like I am going to be hurt by this. The only way that i might be is because of the fake designer clothing that is sold in the US but generally people who are buying these knock offs know that they are. people know that you cannot get a Prada bag for $5. I hope people are not such idiots.
The only thing that this article did for me was tip my hat to the mobsters for using such an opportunity. The mob is smart and did what they do best, use people for profit. If someone believes that they can benefit from working with the mob then they deserve what they get.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Obama Condemns N. Korea Missile Launch, Vows to Pursue Missile Defense in Europe
Obama Condemns N. Korea Missile Launch, Vows to Pursue Missile Defense in Europe
This article is a little rediculous. This is mostly because of the fact that we find N. Korea and Iran as threats. The US has more nuclear missiles than any other nation and we probably have them aimed at every "probable threat," who could be taken out at the push of a button. We are one of the strongest countries and finding these countries is rediculous.
As for the article. It is a general overview of a speech. It is a very legitimate article. This speech means that we are going to have more military spending to protect other countries. This is unnecessary. Right now we are in a financial crisis and we need to be saving money not spending it.
This article is a little rediculous. This is mostly because of the fact that we find N. Korea and Iran as threats. The US has more nuclear missiles than any other nation and we probably have them aimed at every "probable threat," who could be taken out at the push of a button. We are one of the strongest countries and finding these countries is rediculous.
As for the article. It is a general overview of a speech. It is a very legitimate article. This speech means that we are going to have more military spending to protect other countries. This is unnecessary. Right now we are in a financial crisis and we need to be saving money not spending it.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Seattle P-I To Print Last Edition
Seattle Post-Intelligencer to Publish Its Last Print Edition Tuesday
This will be the second daily newspaper to stop publishing and do a web-only version. This is the possible beginning of a trend that has been sparked by both the current recession and the digital transition.
Newspapers are one of the oldest forms of broadcasted information. I believe the problem with it is the time it takes to get information. The newspaper is printed once daily, which just cannot compete with the internet which is updated every second.
There are a few other daily papers that have announced that they are trying to sell or are going to close in the near future. Some of the big names like the LA Times, The Chicago Tribune, and The Philadelphia Inquirer have all sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Both advertising and distribution trends in newspapers have been falling while they have been rising in web based news. Web-only news outlets also can work with a much lower staff which means job lay-offs are in the near future. Manovich talks about the first shift of telecommunication on page 162 saying "Telecommunication was used for distribution, as with broadcasting, which enabled a twentieth century radio listener or television viewer to recieve a transmission in real time." Now with the internet users can access this real time information anytime they want.
This will be the second daily newspaper to stop publishing and do a web-only version. This is the possible beginning of a trend that has been sparked by both the current recession and the digital transition.
Newspapers are one of the oldest forms of broadcasted information. I believe the problem with it is the time it takes to get information. The newspaper is printed once daily, which just cannot compete with the internet which is updated every second.
There are a few other daily papers that have announced that they are trying to sell or are going to close in the near future. Some of the big names like the LA Times, The Chicago Tribune, and The Philadelphia Inquirer have all sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Both advertising and distribution trends in newspapers have been falling while they have been rising in web based news. Web-only news outlets also can work with a much lower staff which means job lay-offs are in the near future. Manovich talks about the first shift of telecommunication on page 162 saying "Telecommunication was used for distribution, as with broadcasting, which enabled a twentieth century radio listener or television viewer to recieve a transmission in real time." Now with the internet users can access this real time information anytime they want.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Apple Tablet
Apple netbook? Apple tablet? Neither? Both?
Apple has apparently purchased some specially made touch screens from the company Wintek and since then there has been speculation as to what these are going to be used for. For this article I am going to focus more on the aspect of the HCI as was talked about in Manovich's chapter 2.
I believe that an apple tablet computer is the next step for apple. They already have the technology to do so and it would closer knit people to their computers and allow for better user interface with the computer. Apple has always been on the fore front of interfacing and a tablet is more of a question of when not if.
Apple has been reluctant in the past to enter such a market because they refuse to produce poor quality products and that is what a tablet would have meant because cheap parts would have meant that the product is in a consumer price range. With the launch of the iPhone and iPod touch, apple has proved that it is capable of seamlessly integrating multiple touch functions and better usablitiy for consumers. As Manovich said "We are witnessing the emergence of a new cultural metalanguage, somthing that will be at least as significant as the printed word and cinema before it."
Apple has apparently purchased some specially made touch screens from the company Wintek and since then there has been speculation as to what these are going to be used for. For this article I am going to focus more on the aspect of the HCI as was talked about in Manovich's chapter 2.
I believe that an apple tablet computer is the next step for apple. They already have the technology to do so and it would closer knit people to their computers and allow for better user interface with the computer. Apple has always been on the fore front of interfacing and a tablet is more of a question of when not if.
Apple has been reluctant in the past to enter such a market because they refuse to produce poor quality products and that is what a tablet would have meant because cheap parts would have meant that the product is in a consumer price range. With the launch of the iPhone and iPod touch, apple has proved that it is capable of seamlessly integrating multiple touch functions and better usablitiy for consumers. As Manovich said "We are witnessing the emergence of a new cultural metalanguage, somthing that will be at least as significant as the printed word and cinema before it."
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Geek Chic
So I go to CBSNews.com and I click on Science and Technology to see what is going on in such areas. The first thing I see is Geek Chic, a segment that was on The Early Show discussing technology in today's fashion. First of all this is not news. I'm sorry but fashion does not count as news worthy material and should especially not be the top article for the science and technology section, which is supposed to tell us the cutting edge of human discovery. We should be hearing about new advances in medicine or the next space shuttle launch not what to wear if you are a nerd.
After I watched this program it turned out that there were only 3 unique technologies (if that's what they can be called) being shown. The first was an integrated button system to control an ipod. This was shown on the first two models. The third had on a jacket with many pockets to hold all their portable technology and he had on military tactical pants where the "geek friendly technology" was once again a plethora of pockets. His shoes had a device that talked to his ipod and recorded his running stats. The final model had on a holster for all of his technologies which goes back to the "need" for pockets. None of this was crucial information for me to know.
The thing that should be known about these models is that none of them were by any stretch of the imagination attractive people. The were less than average Joes. This automatically sends out the message "if you want to be trendy don't buy these items." These items are not fashionable and CBS wanted you to know it. The probably were sponsored by these companies to show their products and they figured they would kill a few birds with one stone. The final model even has his pants high, his socks over his pants and tape on his glasses. These people knew what they were doing, deliberately telling the majority of the public not to buy these items but they still wanted the advertising dollars. This segment was five minutes out of a program that should be much more informative than this.
Smith talks about this problem in his chapter on the business of journalism. He points out a few cases where profitable influences played a part in the determination of what is news. Here, CBS wanted to make money so they showed a bunch of products that they really didn't care about in a way that showed their feelings but still would get them paid. Smith states on page 317 that "in a democracy, citizens must know what's going." and it is the news media's job to let them know. CBS is not doing this when showing such segments.
So I go to CBSNews.com and I click on Science and Technology to see what is going on in such areas. The first thing I see is Geek Chic, a segment that was on The Early Show discussing technology in today's fashion. First of all this is not news. I'm sorry but fashion does not count as news worthy material and should especially not be the top article for the science and technology section, which is supposed to tell us the cutting edge of human discovery. We should be hearing about new advances in medicine or the next space shuttle launch not what to wear if you are a nerd.
After I watched this program it turned out that there were only 3 unique technologies (if that's what they can be called) being shown. The first was an integrated button system to control an ipod. This was shown on the first two models. The third had on a jacket with many pockets to hold all their portable technology and he had on military tactical pants where the "geek friendly technology" was once again a plethora of pockets. His shoes had a device that talked to his ipod and recorded his running stats. The final model had on a holster for all of his technologies which goes back to the "need" for pockets. None of this was crucial information for me to know.
The thing that should be known about these models is that none of them were by any stretch of the imagination attractive people. The were less than average Joes. This automatically sends out the message "if you want to be trendy don't buy these items." These items are not fashionable and CBS wanted you to know it. The probably were sponsored by these companies to show their products and they figured they would kill a few birds with one stone. The final model even has his pants high, his socks over his pants and tape on his glasses. These people knew what they were doing, deliberately telling the majority of the public not to buy these items but they still wanted the advertising dollars. This segment was five minutes out of a program that should be much more informative than this.
Smith talks about this problem in his chapter on the business of journalism. He points out a few cases where profitable influences played a part in the determination of what is news. Here, CBS wanted to make money so they showed a bunch of products that they really didn't care about in a way that showed their feelings but still would get them paid. Smith states on page 317 that "in a democracy, citizens must know what's going." and it is the news media's job to let them know. CBS is not doing this when showing such segments.
Monday, February 2, 2009
response to "Canadian Immigration Laws Allow Convicted Terrorist and Killer to Make Home in Ontario"
Canadian Immigration Laws Allow Convicted Terrorist and Killer to Make Home in Ontario
This article is about a man who was a convicted terrorist by the Greek government in 1968 who was released as part of an airplane hijacking deal in 1970. He now lives in Canada to get away from his past. What first led me to this article was the fact that it was put under Fox News's "America's Future" section. This man poses no threat to To the US. He has done nothing since his attack on a airplane in 1968 and is now 65 with a cane in one of the pictures that Fox has put up. Another problem with this article is that it was made to seem like this was a recent event. The date on the article is August of 2008 which is old news but it still appeared on the main page of the "America's Future Section." The last problem that I have with this article is that the quotes do not seem to be complete. I feel that there is more to the dialogue which went on between this "terrorist" and Fox News. The accountability factor is jeopardized with no access to the conversation that occurred. Smith talks about a similar situation where a newspaper grants readers access to all of a cases resources to prove its credibility in a high profile case (pages 81-82). I feel that all news outlets to allow people to their sources. This is the most raw form of news and it allows people to make their own opinions free from influence. The editor of the newspaper in this case said "Again and again readers told us how much they appreciated seeing the background material." (page 82). This should not be a one time thing.
This article is about a man who was a convicted terrorist by the Greek government in 1968 who was released as part of an airplane hijacking deal in 1970. He now lives in Canada to get away from his past. What first led me to this article was the fact that it was put under Fox News's "America's Future" section. This man poses no threat to To the US. He has done nothing since his attack on a airplane in 1968 and is now 65 with a cane in one of the pictures that Fox has put up. Another problem with this article is that it was made to seem like this was a recent event. The date on the article is August of 2008 which is old news but it still appeared on the main page of the "America's Future Section." The last problem that I have with this article is that the quotes do not seem to be complete. I feel that there is more to the dialogue which went on between this "terrorist" and Fox News. The accountability factor is jeopardized with no access to the conversation that occurred. Smith talks about a similar situation where a newspaper grants readers access to all of a cases resources to prove its credibility in a high profile case (pages 81-82). I feel that all news outlets to allow people to their sources. This is the most raw form of news and it allows people to make their own opinions free from influence. The editor of the newspaper in this case said "Again and again readers told us how much they appreciated seeing the background material." (page 82). This should not be a one time thing.
Monday, January 26, 2009
response to "California's "train wreck" a golden opportunity?"
California's "train wreck" a golden opportunity?
This article seems to be credible but my biggest problem with it is the fact that there are not any sources for their facts. They use quotes but there is no way to easily verify that the numbers in this article are real. Also, some of the statements are vague like "the state's relatively young work force" and "More people have left California than any other U.S. state over the past year". One of the big issues that this book talks about is truth and with no real way to easily verify the statements made in this article how are we to know that we are getting the truth. As the book states "facts and opinions are separate things, and facts are the basis of truth." (page 40)
This article seems to be credible but my biggest problem with it is the fact that there are not any sources for their facts. They use quotes but there is no way to easily verify that the numbers in this article are real. Also, some of the statements are vague like "the state's relatively young work force" and "More people have left California than any other U.S. state over the past year". One of the big issues that this book talks about is truth and with no real way to easily verify the statements made in this article how are we to know that we are getting the truth. As the book states "facts and opinions are separate things, and facts are the basis of truth." (page 40)
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