- I learned about literary magazines. They looked like books to me, but they’re actually magazines.
- Learning about how more people in the Titanic could have been saved by leaving the radios on was a sad “aha” moment.
- I had learned long ago that reality TV isn’t really real, but I didn’t know that media lies went way back in the day with that fake quiz show.
Mac vs. PC Windows 7 vs. Mac Ad: Broken Promises
Assertion: this is a technique that comes with an enthusiastically-stated or in this case “obviously” stated fact that might not be necessarily true. While Windows Vista might have had some problems, it is foolish to go on and assume all previous versions of Windows were faulty and that Windows 7 would not be any better.
I looked on Wikipedia and there’s about 200 sites listed, give or take.
I’ve never heard of most of them. I’m familiar with Facebook, Livejournal, Myspace, Twitter, Xanga, Tumblr (duh), DeviantART, MOG, Imeem, and Friendster.
I’ve never heard of Kiwibox. It is “a social networking destination and online magazine for teens, with over 2 million members, Kiwibox is a social network with user profile pages, widget support, games, magazine and a TV section.”
I tried getting into MySpace because my co-worker asked if I had one, but I tired of it after a while. I only got into Facebook recently to keep in touch with my friend who’s studying in Japan, but now that I use Skype and MSN, I don’t use it as much.
There was an incident where I thought I was being subtle and posted some less than savory information about a person on MySpace; needless to say I stopped talking to that person, more out of guilt than anything else.
Description: A little kid around 1-2 years old watching TV. I wouldn’t say there’s anything bad about this - it’s only 27 seconds and it doesn’t really say if the parent lets this kid watch TV all day. I was more amused by the comments predicting this kid’s unfortunate future because he spent all of under 30 seconds watching TV.
Chapter 2: Media Impact
Question: What are ways to detract children from imitating everything they see on TV?
Answer: Have their parents teach them solid values and how to make sound choices.
The only movie I could remember watching this year was Area 51. I surprisingly liked it - I thought I was just in for some mindless action, but the storyline did a hell of a job backing up all the shooting and violence.
Where to start? Well, the most obvious allusion was how the government handled the aliens. In a way, it’s one (I repeat: one) extreme representation of how we treat foreign people - with fear, distrust, and suspicion. I think if it had been handled differently, the aliens would be less corrupt and would have had a much easier time adapting to society. They could think for themselves after all.
Other things I enjoyed were the characters themselves; at first I didn’t like the main protagonist mainly because he was bumbling idiot, but he grew as a character throughout the movie and I admired him for sacrificing himself for something he’s not even sure might repay him back.
Title: Literal Image
Concept: I’m thinking of a magazine that combines photography and literature alike. Photographers would not only have their images published but also be invited to discuss their work and inspirations. Also included would be tips on how to take better pictures and how to edit images in Photoshop/Lightroom. For the literature part, there would be book reviews, criticisms and reflections as well as recommendations on various selections that range from challenging the reader’s own perceptions to light reading. I might even put short stories and poems submitted by readers and commentary by selected guests.
Readers: Bibliophiles and people who love photography; generally people above the age of 20
Competition: Rangefinder, Professional Photographer, literary magazines such as the Literary Review and the Paris Review
Five Advertisers: Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Starbucks, Borders, and local bookstores
Five Articles: “Don’t Forget the Storyline,” “How Mr. Avedon Took Ms. Monroe’s Picture,” “Reading Bites,” “Learning to Find the Right Light,” “Making the Most out of your First Read”
Cover: One of my photographs - a picture of my sister’s hands
To pick just three books that have greatly influenced me is a hard thing to do only because I have read many books that have made deep impressions on me. I did try my best to list the ones that have helped me grow and learn as a human being.
1. Belle Prater’s Boy
This book is all about layers. What you see on the outside isn’t always representative of what’s on the inside. Moreover, the layers in this book also allude to the complexity of humans - we cannot defined simply in black and white because sometimes our intentions aren’t as clear-cut as we or others would like it to be. Now I didn’t learn all this in the sixth grade when I first read this book, but that’s another reason for me to love it - when I went back and read it I could finally understand some things I couldn’t understand when I was younger.
2.The Alchemist
I loved this book in all its child-like simplicity and optimism. It reads like a fairytale and I guess that’s what drew me into it. It might seem cliche and obvious at times, but the wisdom and hope I’ve learned from this book will stay with me. I’m at a point in my life where I’m finally going for what I want and thinking back on this book helps me draws strength in myself.
3. Kafka on the Shore
This was complicated - it was easy and hard to read at the same time. There’s an element of the fantastical that is mixed in with an undeniable reality that made it hard for me to believe sometimes. It’s about a boy running from his destiny while looking for himself, and it’s about another boy who’s lost everything but keeps on living anyway. I can tell this is like the first book I listed - it has layers, tons of them. While I might not understand everything even though I’ve read it already, subsequent reading will help reveal what I missed the first time. I guess I listed this book because it represents myself; I might not truly understand my own self sometimes but that doesn’t mean I can just forget about it and live without meaning. I’d have to find myself, even if I had to peel off each layer one by one.
I would propose a media research project on how children’s attitudes toward their parents are affected by what they see on TV. In order to do this, I would need to conduct a random sampling combined with laboratory experimentation of families with children under the age of twelve. The controlled environment would be their home. Over a period time, maybe six months, the study will focus on the attitudes of kids who watch TV on a regular basis as opposed to those who do not watch TV at all. I predict that the children who watch more TV are more likely to show more attitude towards their parents than children who do not.
I’ll start with the medium I use the most: the Internet. Out of all the different types of media, I use and am very familiar with the Internet the most. It’s no surprise really, because I use it to entertain, to educate, and to enlighten me on topics I otherwise would have to get to through different types of media. That’s the beauty of the Internet: you can find mostly everything in one place. It’s cool, but it sucks at the same time because I find that I very much lack in the time-management department; if I don’t keep track of the time, who knows how many hours I could spend just surfing browser to browser. Not unlike a double-edged sword: when using the Internet it’s good to know what you’re using it for because of its ease and convenience, but when you’re aimless and bored, that could really kill your time.
After the internet, it’s books for me. I love, love, love reading books. Even as a child, books were a means for me to discover new things and new worlds (as cheesy as it may sound). It was kind of an outlet for me too during the time I had to cope with moving to a new country. I would always find solace in the pages and the new-book and old-book smell that permeated through the shelves.
As for the other types of media, I don’t really use them as much as the first two. Television and radio would be about the same because I only watch one show during the week and I usually listen to the radio in my car, which is now broken (the radio, not my car). I don’t go to the movies as often as before because it sucks the life out of my already frail wallet and the same goes for magazines (although I do I have one subscription that I don’t plan on renewing) and CDs, of which I used to buy a lot. I also used to read the newspaper only because De Anza offered it for free (the New York Times) but due to either budget cuts or low interest, I don’t find it in the newspaper dispensers anymore.
Before I run out of word-space, let me just say that my major is photography and I plan on transferring to San Jose State by next fall (space and budget cuts permitting).
