Theme #4

In every form of media today, we can see the way companies and networks are monetizing their different mediums to suit their chosen audience. These different mediums are becoming commercial based on what viewers they are trying to reach. In the radio aspect, depending on what type of audience they’re directing their music toward, the songs and styles are geared towards their interests. Take for an example, a pop culture station. This station would most likely play many upbeat numbers that are easy to dance to with only few slow songs by well-known artists. There would be break of talking between songs about celebrity gossip and contests for things like concert tickets or tuition. Constant news reports, weather updates, and traffic information would not be the main focus of this station.
This happens so that the backers of these stations can earn money. The only problem is that there is more than one pop culture or other genre focused station in each area. Sometimes when flipping through popular radio stations in my hometown, I would happen across more than one station playing the same song. This happened a couple times during the day because of how similar the basis of these stations is.
As we watched in the “Rock Jocks” video, the radio stations used to be completely free and uninhibited with what they were playing and what they were talking about. Drug tests used to be offered freely and sources of places to find the best concerts and weed were given out. The DJ’s were men and women of completely loose moral. They were up to date on the times of the 70’s, keeping their audience entertained and tuning in for more of the outrageous atmosphere that made these stations special and unique.
However, before long, these stations were taken over by backers and advertisers wanting to change the stations. They were now forced to use playlists, have a set description of material to talk about. There were no longer times when a complete CD could be played all the way through without interruption. The DJ’s had little control over what was to be played.
We see this now with TV networks, radio stations, and film. There are different trends and similarities between each of the same genre based stations. Nickelodeon and Disney are focused on the same audience so their shows and movies are very similar. The plots of episodes are repeated throughout each of the different “original series” that is circulated through each. Each Romantic Comedy film coming out these days is all the same with the same problems occurring between the couple. The movies have become predictable and a groundbreaking one has not been seen in many years.
Winston’s research can be related to this topic. His views on new media and technology are exactly why the stations are being monetized. In order to be accepted into society and therefore listened to or watched, the stations must give the people what they want to watch or hear. Without this, these stations will ultimately fail and cease to exist any longer. When a new series or station is added, it must go through the same process of being accepted into society as the already established stations had to before. Stations feed into the problems at the time often advertising solutions to many of the economic problems or running contests to increase listeners. The contests mostly focus on the hardships of the time and can be used by just about everyone in society.
Unfortunately, this monetizing effect makes the different media lack any true spark. There is no revolutionary song or film because no backer is willing to take a risk with that kind of money. It’s either a guaranteed success or it’s nothing at all. There is no willingness for individuality and the main thought is of money. It’s sad but true.

Theme 7

When creating a social networking site of your own, or entering personal credit card information to a website I’m buying something from, I always stop to wonder if my identity is truly safe. Can I trust these websites to keep the secrets I hold dear away from prying eyes? At this time, my truthful answer is no. I worry every time I enter some information about myself that it’s going to lead to the downfall of my whole identity, to random charges on my accounts. It’s a stupid fear but one with reasonable evidence to support.
In the article “Vanish” by Evan Ratliff, he tried to completely drop off the face of the earth while challenging his readers to try and find him. His experiment turned out to reveal many secrets of hackers, trackers, and other advanced people. This article was so interesting because of the logic described through every step of the tracking process. Bank account records, twitter pages, facebook, and all articles written were mercilessly sorted through for clues as to where this writer had taken off to. No one knew of his whereabouts or of his current identity. His entire personality was broken down into likes, dislikes and even allergies.
I found that while I was reading this article, I became increasingly paranoid that someone could easily break down all my interests and even sort through my bank account. I realized that because of increased technology, anyone with enough experience and brains can break into just about anything that we put on the web. Strangers across the nation knew about Ratliff’s allergy to anything with gluten.
With the old media, things like identity theft and matters of security was never really an issue. Things like radio and film had no means of theft of identity or other personal information. It was rather difficult to crack into anyone’s account since there was no unified record other than at the bank or through the owner’s receipts and bank statements.
This lack of privacy can loosely be related to Meyrowitz’s theory of “being there” without actually being there. The hacker can be in someone’s life without actually ever knowing the person. With a few simple clicks, anyone can just hack into someone’s personal accounts and view there information. This may be a stretch in saying but this theory somewhat applies. With the use of media, hackers can be in people’s lives without being there. There is really no security or privacy left for us to be sure of. We can no longer have a safe online life.
From personal experience, I was once in a chat room with a few of my friends, playing a careless trick on my close friend of mine. I pretended to be someone completely different to have my friend guess who I was. He managed to pinpoint exactly where I was talking from on my laptop and which part of the country I was in, just by talking to me. It was eerie and disturbing to realize.

Theme #5

It amazes me how I can no longer drive in a car for more than 30 minutes without needing guidance as to where I’m going. I no longer know the names of streets or highways, and I cannot remember things unless I email myself a reminder. This wasn’t how it used to be for me. I could remember things off the top of my head in seconds. The only reason I would use a computer or GPS is to look up out of state trips or work on my summer math and English programs. I never used to rely on the Internet so heavily and as a result had somewhat of a photographic memory. I could see the page of a textbook in my head and reread it line for line. Now the pages are blurry and it’s harder for me to focus on remembering things I have read without having notes or some form of search engine for help.
The way we use technology has drastically affected how we think and how developed our minds are. I notice as I look around my classrooms now that people are constantly either texting on their cell phones or looking around the room while the teacher lectures. It’s hard to concentrate on one solitary subject for more than an hour. This was never how it used to be. I could sit for hours upon hours doing homework and not being distracted at all but once I was given the freedom of laptop, that all changed. I was spending more time on social networking sites, email, watching videos on youtube, and searching on Google or youtube. Before I had my own computer, all these sites were a complete mystery to me. I’d never been introduced to Google or to yahoo until I was allowed to explore for myself. Now instead of being able to study for a few hours and be confident about an exam, it takes me days to get done what a few uninterrupted hours could do. I get distracted easily and am lured by the internet to explore its hidden depths.
This happened to me much the same way it happened to Nicholas Carr in his article “Is Google making us stupid?” He would read for hours upon end never being deterred from his original mission and now he can no longer focus for more than a few pages. He began rapidly researched for quotes and information for his articles through Google. Carr would watch video upon video through the various sharing sites and get sidetracked by the numerous links posted to the websites. This trend is not merely a coincidence but something that is affecting our society. Now instead of asking someone to look something up in their textbook, a professor will simply say, “Can someone Google that for me?” the textbook can be right in front of them yet we are trusting our knowledge to an extremely common search engine. Extra Credit is being given in various classes of mine to find out certain facts about different compounds. What the professors fail to realize, is that with a few clicks of my mouse, I can have the answers to all their questions within a few minutes, instead of hours like it used to be.
Even in my quantitative analysis class (which is all math) a girl was able to Google how to do her calculations for one of ours labs, even though the professor had gone into great deal about how to perform them. So to answer Carr’s question, Yes, I think Google is making us more stupid by the day. We no longer rely on our memory or bother to learn when the answer is simply at our fingertips. It’s a disturbing concept but wasn’t that the reason these engines were created in the first place? Aren’t they merely doing their job?
As MacLuhan stated, media can shape our thought processes. They provide the content but in the end, it’s the way we think about things and the way we behave that matters most. In this case, we’re being shaped to rely heavily on the use of the internet, GPS systems, personal PDA’s, etc. I, and many others like me, can no longer focus for more than a few minutes nor can I remember things from a few days ago. It’s a sad truth but can be fixed. With the elimination of Google as my main source of research and disconnecting from many of media outlets, I may be able to regain some of my former intelligence. I may be able to break this hold that the internet and other outlets like it has over me.

Theme #3

Every form of technology that's gone digital has been transformed by its users/audience.

With today’s advances in technology, we can alter almost anything that becomes available to us digitally. We visit sites such as youtube or Google and can find all these videos or photos that have been changed and altered to fit the creators style. On youtube, there are hundreds of fan video that are edited to be one main stream of “best kisses” or “favorite moments from Gilmore Girls” without actually changing the original episodes of the shows they were taken from. Since the episode were put online, they can be changed into whatever the creator chooses. Photos can be drawn on and changed to show something that never happened. Two movies can be edited and formatted to make the viewer believe they are one.
However, film, radio, and television before becoming digitalized were not able to be changed in any way. You could watch the episode of your favorite show, the movie in a theater, or listen to your favorite Christmas song without being able to change any parts of them. The only way to truly catalogue something in the old days was to write in a diary, as Mary Dyck did, and remember the wonderful parts of the things you were fortunate enough to view. This has been changed due to the world becoming more advanced in forms of technology and being capable of putting just about anything onto the internet.
This is what Meyrowitz was talking about when he says that technology allows us to have access to situations we normally wouldn’t be in. On youtube, you can find anything from any period in time from the latest movies in the theaters to JFK’s assassination video. Through facebook, we have access to people’s profiles and information on celebrities. Without the Internet, we wouldn’t be able to access any of these things without going to great lengths of trouble and research. We’d have to make a trip to the theater or look up files in history archives. It’s inconvenient and the Internet allows us to be able to access things easily from our home computer.

This video below is just an example of the many videos littering youtube with varied and altered movies.

Theme 2

Electronically mediated relationships from Mary Dyck to twitter followers.

Today’s biggest socializing network sites are Twitter and Facebook. These two sites allow for individuals to keep in touch with those they have known throughout their lives and even those they’ve never met. In a roundabout way, they allow normal people to become stalkers without the hassle of leaving their house and physically stalking someone. Through these sites, we can see into other people’s lives and know where they are, what they’re doing, and what’s on their minds.

As Meyrowitz states, an audience tends to form parasocial relationships with those they are viewing. An example would be Oprah. Oprah is viewed by millions of people and the openness she displays on her show allows for her audience to feel a deep connection with the image she gives off. People begin talking about her as if they had personally sat down and had a cup of coffee with her. She is no longer Ms. Winfrey but rather Oprah and in some cases, O. They believe since she has empathy for her guests and talks about common problems, this makes her reach out to all her viewers as a real person they know. However, this is not the case. Oprah does not know her fans personal lives, nor do they know hers. Her audience places her on an unrealistic pedestal and perceives themselves to have a direct relationship with her. Such has been the case throughout history.

Mary Dyck, as we read about earlier in the semester, wrote in her diary about the soap operas she would listen to on her radio before things like Internet and television came around. Each day, Dyck would listen to her shows on the radio and record her favorite moments in her diary. What makes this story interesting is the fact that she recorded the events as if the characters were close personal friends. She wrote, “Well this was Harvey’s last chance, to take his sweet Precious Betty to dinner. He said its farewell Betty dear, bursting into tears, he said Congratulations to you and Bob and best wishes for your future happiness.” There is no introduction of what soap opera she’s talking about or even a recap over the story line. These lines are stated as if Betty and Bob lived next door.

The parasocial relationship that Dyck deals with is of the imaginary form. Dyck’s characters from her diary are those from a fictional soap opera. She’s creating relationships with people who do not really exist. This is the type of relationship that was formed in those days. There was no television to allow people to see whom they were idolizing. This parasocial relationship could be deemed dangerous because of its fanciful ideals. This kind of relationship calls for normal sane people to believe that the characters they hear of are real.

This differs greatly from the parasocial relationships we form today through use of Twitter and Facebook. Twitter for us today is a type of run on blog as Will Leitch discusses in his article “How Tweet it is.” Twitter allows for an individual to write down their thoughts and feelings at different moments in time without having to write a complete and expansive blog entry. Twitter works by creating a steady stream of “tweets” so a person can update where they are or what they’re doing as soon as it happens. It also allows for someone to “follow” others, including friends, celebrities, or random strangers living in the same area.

What could possibly be the appeal of a site like this? It’s a way to keep in touch, without actually having to be in touch with the person. You can look into other’s lives, know who they’re with, what they’re doing, where they are in the world without having to call them or search for such information. It’s presented to you in an organized and convenient way.

Facebook has a similar system to Twitter known as they Live News Feed. Facebookers update their status to let their friends know why they aren’t on facebook or what they’re doing at that point at time. Facebook also provides more personal information and things like writing on walls, common interest groups, fan pages, etc. Facebook suggests friends to you based on your interests, other people you’re friends with, and whatever networks you belong to. For example: I belong to the Long Island University network on my facebook page. Many of my friend suggestions are people who also attend LIU and have some of my friends in common with me. Generally, I do not flat out send a friend request but I do look into their pages and see if I may have known them from around campus. Being able to do this allows me to form my own parasocial relationship with the people I can search. The pages I scope out have no idea that I am learning about their lives and finding out the type of person they are.

This type of relationship is vastly different from the ones formed between Mary Dyck and her soap opera characters. This relationship is based on a real living person. I could easily walk through campus one day and see a person I had only looked up on the internet the night before and know things such as where they’re from, how many friends they have, what their Halloween costume was and their relationship status. This type of relationship is just as serious as Mary Dyck’s imaginary relationship. These relationships usually can lead to stalking and obsession from those who view into the lives of others. Celebrities have Twitters and facebooks to show their fans how “down to earth and real” they are. However, this can create major problems for them. Having their fans “know” them from what they read about them on the Internet can cause major issues. The Internet is not the way to get to know someone. Yes, you can read into someone’s life. You can see the superficial things about them, but does that mean we truly KNOW a person? Of course not.

In some people’s minds, knowing everything on someone’s Twitter and Facebook enables them to know the person as an individual. We start to talk about friends we haven’t seen in person in years as if they were over visiting just yesterday. We get emotionally attached to the people they are attached to and feel their pain or sorrow from their loss. We sympathize with them when we really have no justification behind it. We think that because we read their status updates everyday that we are a part of them. It’s dangerous and completely untrue.

We can clearly see the division between old media ways and current media. Relationships formed back then were between a viewer and a voice they heard through the radio ( Mary Dyck). They became attached to characters whose lives they followed everyday at a specific time. Relationships today are more directly based on real people (most commonly celebrities) and living individuals. We read about the lives of others and peek into their worlds causing us to believe we know the person they truly are. Both of these relationships are unhealthy but unavoidable with the access given to each person through the Internet and back then the radio. When nothing else is available to occupy our time, we turn to ways of entertainment such as radio and Internet. This boredom causes us to waste our time looking through other people’s lives. The methods of forming these relationships may have changed but the type of bond we form is still the same.

ATTENTION CLASSMATES!

Dear Classmates,

If you would like to read my post on my horror/ slasher film experience it is underneath all of my midterm blogs. So if you choose to look at older posts, it should be the first or second one to come up, considering I posted it before my midterm was posted.

Always,
Katie =)

Hilmnes and Starr theory

Just recently the government has been moving towards making a law against Texting while driving. This will join the law that prohibits talking on a cell phone while driving. However, someone may only be charged with this offense if they have been pulled over for some other violation. I remember thinking that this is a very good law because of how many car accidents are caused because of cell phones. I know that in my hometown, many of my high school friends have gotten into car accidents recently because of their use of their phone.

I feel this resembles the Starr theory because the cell phone has brought about political changes because of the circumstances at that time. The cell phone is very popular for communicating with someone without being by their side. It links us to people all across the nation and can be very helpful if used properly. Some of us tend to have our best thoughts or remember something while driving in the car. This can lead to phone calls to loved ones or to work associates. Cell phones can come in handy as it does for my mother's job. She is in a business where she must be on call almost 24 hours out of the day for her elderly patients and their relatives as well as her other cases. Having a phone with her is essential. Most of the time, her calls come in when she is driving from one patient's house to the other. Needless to say, she has gotten many traffic tickets for talking on the cell phone. She has also begun to use texting as a shortcut for phone calls. She views texting as convenient because she can relay a message with just a few short words instead of a lengthy phone call.

I feel that the cell phone has brought about the political change of the law banning talking on the cell phone while driving. If we didn't have the cell phone in the first place, there would be no reason for this law. The political change was brought about because many accidents were being caused by those who were talking on their cell phones or texting. This creates the circumstances of the time that needed the political change because the death toll was rising for the number of car accidents caused by cell phones. These new laws are also giving rise to bluetooth devices and other non-hand held devices.

I just thought that was interesting. I was reading over the theories and this one kind of stuck because of what's going on with the new laws and bills regarding the use of cell phones.

Winston theory

So my mom told me today that we were going to try and talk my grandfather into getting those buttons that hang around old people's necks in case they get hurt while at home. Even though my grandparents live with us, my family is not home most of the day. It's basically my grandmother and grandfather there by themselves. My grandfather's balance has been failing and he's been falling over more and more lately. Luckily I was home the few times it happened so I could help him get up and there were no major injuries but imagine if I wasn't? My grandmother is certainly not strong enough to lift him up nor will she be able to be level headed if he was hurt. She would panic and not know what to do.

So my family decided to try out those new red button necklaces for my grandfather. They have a link to a certain phone in the house that will automatically dial 911 for you in case of emergency. This way, my parents and I feel safer leaving them at home without having to worry about him falling or worse my grandmother falling. It's actually quite a brilliant technology. It's basically a remote for your phone to dial in case of emergency.

This reminded of Winston's theory about technology being incorporated by society to fit our everyday life. Since man kind began, people have been getting old. It's not something new and it's certainly never going to change. There was no way we could solve the factors that come with being old: loss of hearing, loss of balance, loss of eyesight etc. Instead, we created technologies to adapt to these changes that all of our society was going through. We now have things such as hearing aides, reading glasses, contacts, cataracts surgery etc. This button is just another one of those technologies that allows for old people to adjust to daily life easier. It makes their lives and the lives of their loved one more stress free and easy. That's the point of technology in the first place isn't it?

I managed to find this commercial on youtube about the product that my grandfather is currently testing. This began running in 1987 and continues to run today with different people and different scenarios.

Reminded me of a parasocial relationship

So i was watching Spongebob the other day and this episode reminds me of the parasocial relationship. In this, Spongebob goes from his dream to others dreams kind of how we go to others lives. The video is sped up because i couldn't find the original episode but if you watch, you can clearly see he's intruding on others.

Interview with my Roommate

Me: Emily, What do you think is the medium that you rely on most today?

Emily: Definitely my computer.

Me: How often do you use your favorite medium a day?

Emily: I'm on my computer at least fives times a day for about 30 minutes to an hour each time.

Me: Do you consider this normal or healthy?

Emily: Yes because I need to do it for the emails, work, and my facebook!

Me: Why is this so important to you?

Emily: Because all my assignments are on the computer. All my information is on my computer and I rely on it heavily for things other than entertainment. It's a way for me to get all my online and writing assignments done with the most convenience.

Me: What would you do if this was taken away from you for say a week? a month? forever?

Emily: For a week: I'd probably fail a few assignments in my classes. I'd feel out of sort with the social world: facebook, etc. I just would feel out of contact with all my friends. I'd have no email or ways of getting in touch. I'd definitely go through withdrawal of entertainment and online sources. I don't watch much TV so i'd be outdated with information on the world. For a Month: All of the above. except a lot worse. Forever: Let's not even joke about that.

Me: What do you think about today's society and the way we use media?

Emily: I think technology advances and we have to go with the flow. I don't know if we're necessarily taking advantage of it but there's always going to be a down or up side to advancement. For example: pornography. It's always been around probably since the beginning of society. Now that we have a computer, it's easier access. I don't endorse it but there's definitely a way that society can abuse it.

Me: Are there ways we can improve upon our usage?

Emily: Not that I can think of. People rely too much on our computers, TVs etc. Technology is there to help up, not hurt. It's there to improve our lives. Therefore, there's no way we can really abuse it.

Me: Do you think we abuse certain media types? Which ones?

Emily: I think we definitely abuse cell phones and texting. When you have a technology, you're going to have negative aspects. Phones are being used while driving and we need to ensure that we're being safe as we're using all these different media.

Me: There are four theorists that my class has studied so far. Of the four, which one do you believe that gotten our society's viewpoint on media the most correct? Why?

Emily: I think Winston has the most accurate description of our society today. Facebook allows us to look into other's lives even though we normally wouldn't be able to.

Me: Think about todays media. Does this influence our behavior and the way we look at the world?

Emily: Yea. I think things are a lot more liberal. From a social and moral standpoint, I think things are a lot more liberal. We all watch TV a lot and we're seeing these negative messages about sex and violence that change the way we look at things.

Me: Thanks a bunch, Em!

Poster for my last Post =)

Am I searching for answers to unknown questions too?

While reading this article this evening, I immediately got a flash of what I’d been doing with myself all day. My roommates and friends across the hall all decided to take a trip home this weekend leaving me alone for the past two days. The tale in the beginning of Peggy Orenstein’s “Stop your Search Engines” is exactly the same experience I have when I’m trying to kill time. I can spend hours searching the Internet trying to gain more and more pointless knowledge.

Most of the time, I’ll start my search looking for a movie and end up somehow sifting through youtube with different bands and song titles. My train of though usually goes from movie, to actors, to songs, to related bands. I believe what Ms. Orenstein stated with all of us trying to use the Internet to find that specific answer and hoping that all the knowledge we seek will be present

I liked this piece because I could personally relate to what Ms. Orenstein was writing about. She also introduced the program for Macs which blocks Internet access for up to 8 hour. The only way to get rid of this block is to restart the computer and by the time that task is achieved, the previous cycle of randomly surfing the internet has been broken and forgotten.

I believe this program could be very useful to those who need to get off the Internet and get their work done or focus more on what’s going on around them than what they can find in the web. This program could help those who are addicted to the web and watching their lives just pass them by with the time they spend online.

Using the Internet should be a privilege, something that is respected for the amount of information it contains and the convenience of this source. It should not be abused as many of us use it. We figure the Internet holds all the answers to every question we might have, whether it’s a relationship problem, math equation, or a philosophical question. To us, the Internet knows all and can provide those answers. It’s unfortunate to see how the youth of today and even the older generations have become addicted to online using and to the ways of the Internet. Other sources of entertainment and knowledge have faded into the background thanks to an easier access. It’s unfortunate but it’s true. This program that Ms. Orenstein mentions could change all that. Overall, I believe this article was an eye opener for me and for many others like me.

McLuhan Blog

Today, as everyone knows, was the honors conference. All of us were to attend five of the environment events to fulfill our merit fellowship credit. While I was sitting through these lectures and presentations, this class kept creeping into my mind. The theme for the conference was the environment and I found many of the lectures that I attended interesting and informative of things I had no previously known.

I related the things being discussed to McLuhan’s theory of the medium being the message. All the ways of getting the information across whether it was through a PowerPoint, video clips, pictures, etc was the medium used. The content was the information being presented to us but the real message was what we’re going to do with the information presented.
I was present at the feral cats presentation to learn about different ways that feral cats are being helped and ways the population of these feral cats is being decreased without killing or euthanizing the cats. The content of the presentation was the information about the shelters and clipping of the cat’s ears to protect them from the government. The cat’s ears are clipped once they are vaccinated and neutered. The clipping allows for the community to be safer and for the cats to stay well protected.

Aside from that, the message the really came across to many of us in the room was that these cats need help. The information being presented about how I could help and what I could do wasn’t the true message at all. The message was what I was going to do now that I know the information that the lecturer had given.

To think that this entire conference would not have been nearly as successful without the use of the media that helped to present the content and allowed us to interpret our own message from it. Every lecture I was present at had some form of media being use to display their information.

Also using McLuhan’s theory, the media used today (mainly computers) would be considered a “hot” medium because of the amount of information that they presented to their target audience. The brain was not used to interpret any of the information shown but rather to absorb and listen to the different presentations with minimal effort.

Overall, the conference was nice and very informative on what we can do to help change the environment Having McLuhan’s theory in my head all day allowed for me to really see what we’ve been discussing throughout the semester about media in our everyday lives and how it can have a positive effect on our culture.

Slasher films...

I am a chicken. I do not like horror or slasher films and I will not go into a theater to see one. I must be in a place I know I'm safe, with the lights on and someone I know sitting next to me, holding my hand. This sounds a bit extreme but I cannot stand horror/ slasher films. They give me the creeps. I haven't seen many scary movies because I don't like putting myself through the horror but one of the good ones that I did see was Disturbia featuring Shia Labeouf.

I don't know if this technically would qualify as the typical slasher film but the killer did not use a gun of any sort. He used knives and means of disfiguration to kill his many victims. I think this is the movie that impacted me most because it was the first really good horror film that I saw. The others (2) that I had previously seen were about stupid things like the tooth fairy trying to kill the person who looked upon her face and lived (Darkness Falls) or a video game dictating life (Stay Alive). Nothing had really given me the creeps until I watched Disturbia in a theater with my friends.

Disturbia focuses around Kale, a kid who has a few problems with the law and law enforcement officials. He meets a mysterious neighbor who's activities late at night are spied upon by Kale, who's under house arrest. While his house arrest continues, Kale spies his neighbor murdering a young woman in cold blood. When he informs the police officials about it, the young woman is no where in sight. Thus, placing Kale in a predicament of did he really see it or is he just hallucinating. Midway through we begin to realize that Kale really has caught onto something and begins to put himself into terrifying positions to solve the murders and catch a killer before he can hurt anyone else. There's a few good fighting seen and a lot of disturbing images but overall the movie is definitely worth watching.

I remember this movie getting to me so much because it was in a typical neighborhood in the suburbs. Normally in slasher films the place of killing is either a secluded house, a cave, or some other abandoned spot far from any town or place. In this movie however, the killings took place in the typical suburban home. They could've been witnessed by any neighbor who happened to be looking out the window at that time. That's probably what got to me the most. I was scared to look at my neighbor's houses for quite a while after that because I was scared of what I would find.

This movie does not follow the typical classification of a horror film that Clover describes in his article. The people who are coincidentally "having sex" do not die shortly after, there is no sole female character left, all male deaths are not quick and painless etc. This movie focuses on female victims with only one male victim, the police officer checking out the scene. The killer is finally taken down by the protagonist but no other important characters are killed. The main protagonist is also a male instead of the naive, shy, quiet female. There is no real story as to the psychological aspects behind the killer's mind but rather he kills the women he dates and then makes it look as if they left his house afterward.

This film also doesn't fit into James Parker's view of slasher movies either. His view of this genre is of low budget, high profit. To be truly successful slasher/horror film you must make millions off a relatively cheap production. The movies must also give in to a sense of doom that only comes with slasher films. The audience is supposed to feel that doom has come to get them. He briefly states in his article that these movies are made due to wartime but that idea is quickly rejected. This movie was not based on the conflict happening through America but rather the profit it would make from those who enjoy having the crap scared out of them.

I am luckily not one of those although I did enjoy this movie. I was able to cuddle close to someone I knew would keep me safe and actually enjoy being scared. I actually enjoyed having my pulse increase with the threatening music and being aware of the doom lurking just around the corner. For once, I enjoyed burying my head in my best friend's shoulder and listening as the people on the television screamed. It was frightening but well worth the entertainment and the stories I was able to tell.

Pandora Review

Pandora: A woman in Greek mythology who released all the woes of human life by opening a box out of curiosity. Yet, today, Pandora has taken on a new meaning. Pandora is an Internet radio station when you can select the music, and make your dream station with limited commercials and artist suggestions to suit your tastes. As Pandora did, I opened this “box”, to satisfy my curiosity but found no woes inside. Instead, I was gifted with a source of my musical tastes with new artists popping up every now and then as a test. If I didn’t like the selection, a simple click of my mouse sends the song of their choice instantly away and returns me to the music of my choice.

Pandora has become an overnight sensation more specifically with iPhone users. An application has become available to allow Pandora on the iPhone. With the iPhone becoming a standardized phone for people to have, Pandora’s popularity has grown with it. If people do not know of Pandora through the iPhone, then word is spreading from person to person. What is to become of the radio?

Well, the radio is still popular for its talk shows and DJ’s but Pandora is designed for those who don’t like to listen to the mindless gossip that flows over the radio waves. Whereas the radio has commercials every two or three songs that last for more than five minutes, Pandora is designed to have only thirty-second commercials every five or six songs. In my mind, much more convenient than flipping through station after station to find a show that’s actually playing music, let alone good music.

As a Pandora user myself, I highly recommend at least exploring the process that is Pandora. The first few times of use are a little tedious and tricky until the site becomes fully aware of what songs you do or don’t like. Through use of the like and dislike button, the station can transform its playlists into your own personal paradise. So I dare you to open your own Pandora’s box and explore your curiosity. Who knows what treasures lie inside.

Meyrowitz theory post

As many of you know, yesterday was my birthday. I live three hours north of here so I was unable to spend that special day with the people I wanted to most, my friends and family. I woke up feeling extremely homesick and wishing the heartache would go away. When I checked my email that morning, I woke to find that I had 25 unread messages (most of them on my facebook page). My curiosity grew and so I checked my facebook page to find that some of my closest friends and some that I hadn’t talked to in a while had taken the time out of their day to wish me a happy birthday in the only way they knew how to connect with me. Most of the people wishing me a Happy Birthday did not have access to my phone number or email so they chose to write on my social networking page as a way of showing that they care and were thinking about me. Immediately, my mood was brightened.
My little tale has a purpose. It reminded me of Meyrowitz’s theory about the para-social relationships we form through the use of networking sites such as facebook, myspace, twitter etc. The people that were writing little notes on my wall were mostly people that I once was acquainted with or had briefly passed in the hallways of my high school. Through this site, they were able to form a sort of relationship with me to where they felt connected enough to wish me a happy birthday and not feel awkward or weird. Through my status updates and other posts, they knew that my birthday was spent watching the Yankee game and talking to my best friend.
Most who posted on my wall yesterday afternoon, hoped that I would have a good day and asked me how school was going even though I have not talked to many of them for quite sometime. They feel as though they know me because of my constants post and the people I talk to. In some ways, the feelings are reciprocated. There are many people that I feel a connection with or know more about from these sites then I do from face to face interaction. Thinking in depth about it now, creeps me out a bit but also makes me realize how helpful these sites can be for reconnecting with people or remembering special events such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries etc.
Another reason I felt this theory worked for today’s post was because of the World Series game that was on Wednesday night. Meyrowitz’s theory can also be implied here. Meyrowitz states that the media allow access to social situations that normally could not be accessed. In this case, the World Series game is the social situation. The game was sold out almost from the get go. Tickets were impossible to find so many of us were stuck at home, sitting in front of our TVs watching the Yankees win their 27th World Championship title. If media did not exist or was not allowed to broadcast that game, then none of us would have known until the next morning through newspaper articles or news reports that the Yankees had won.
What of the fans across the country? What of the ones who could not get to the stadium that only sits about 50,000 people? Media allowed us to access that game and allowed us to feel the adrenaline rush of actually being there. Media allowed for each of the Yankees fans to feel that spike in their pulse when Hidekia Matsui hit his two-run homer. In turn, this access changed our behavior. I was in my dorm room watching late into the night. After 9 pm on weeknights, quiet hours begin and dorming students are supposed to be quiet and respect their neighbors. With the access to the game, I was unable to do so. Watching that game put me straight into game mode. I was cheering with the fans, chanting, yelling when bad calls were made, and jumping when runs were scored. I was acting as if I was really there. This access changed my behavior from one of respectful and quiet to one of a loud obnoxious fan.
There were no complaints, thank goodness, for others in my hallway were watching the game, but by taking this class, I was finally able to see how media access can change the behavior we have. The para-social relationships I have formed on facebook and the game being broadcasted across the nation have changed the way I look at media and how not all the things I think about when I hear the word media are negative.
This concludes my first post on my midterm blog. I hope everyone liked reading this, once it actually gets published. Oh and YAY YANKEES!!!!

Final Thoughts...

I am proud to say that I did not cheat at all =) I was a good girl and stuck to this project. However, I did have the desire to cheat. I wanted to listen to my iPod so bad at times that I found myself reaching toward it. I never gave into that desire. I found myself relying on my other technologies more because of my lack of my iPod. I was talking on the phone more and playing on the computer to fill up time or procrastinate. Mostly, I turned to my phone to talk to friends and family. I was really able to get in touch with a lot of people that I hadn't had the chance to really talk to in a while. It was a good learning experience (as my roommate would say) and I'm glad I had this opportunity. My best friend and I have gotten a lot closer because I gave up my iPod and I was also able to catch up on the news from back home. This exercise made me realize that we really do rely on technologies a lot more than I think any of us realized. Not just for things like occupying time but for important things like keeping in touch with loved ones, studying for exams, and even allowing for pain to be forgotten. I'm not a fan of how addicted to my iPod, cell phone, laptop etc. I am but they are things that help me to be able to go to a college 3 hours from my hometown and all my loved ones. I also realized that when I'm with my family or my best friend at home, then I don't rely on these technologies as much as I do when I'm away. When I'm home, I can be happy just sitting with my best friend in the kitchen cooking dinner or sitting outside watching the stars with my sisters. These are the times I enjoy most and really experience happiness. The technology we have now allows me to stay in touch with them and keep that feeling of home and true happiness with me at all times no matter how far away I am. 

Overall, I liked this experience and the things I discovered. I'm proud to say I learned a good lesson and that I never cheated on this assignment. Tomorrow I return to using my iPod to occupy my thoughts. I can't wait =)

Today is a very good day

The last day of this experiment is going extremely well for me. I'm having the urge to listen to my iPod but the amount of classes I have and stress to get things done is occupying the time that would've been spent listening to my iPod. I'm doing ok though. I've gotten two of the three tests I took last week back and I did good on both of them so it makes me happy. 

I miss the music though. It helps me concentrate when I'm study. My german teacher in high school told me that there was a study done showing that music actually helps to memorize and remember things on tests. It was proven that studying with music on can help you to remember the things you're studying at that time. I thought it was interesting and ever since then have been studying with music on. That's probably why I miss it most. Doing homework with my music on helps me to really concentrate and even understand what I'm doing. Only one more day =)

I hate Mondays

So another week of classes begins... oh joy. I have three classes today with a break in between each so I guess it's not as bad as it could be. Today is the last day of my deprivation and I must admit, I'm pretty excited to pick back up my iPod and walk around listening to my favorite tunes. I miss my music. I'm not going to lie, music is a very big part of my life and I miss the closeness that an iPod gives you. I miss being able to lay anywhere and have the music completely surround my thoughts to a point where I can't think. It's a welcoming abyss that I can't wait to go back to. Until tomorrow... I'll just continue to deal with the deafening silence. Write more later... 

Another day down...

So another day without my ipod comes to an end. Today was a good day, very productive on the homework front. Tomorrow is a day full of classes and workouts so we'll see how not having my iPod goes. I'm expecting a rather rough day tomorrow. A day full of silence. My iPod sits next to my computer and is starting to collect dust. That scares me a bit. I just want to pick it up and plus in the headphones that are cold to the touch beside my iPod. Just once, I want the music to surround me and take me away from reality for a bit. However, for tonight, this will not be. I will stay strong and get some good rest. Good night everyone =)

more homework to do...

Today, I laid around all day long and did absolutely nothing. It was harder to do without my music. I've been trying to put off all my homework but there's nothing else to occupy my time. I've been going on facebook a little bit and even went Halloween shopping with my friends but to no avail, I'm still bored. Homework has lost its appeal since there's no math courses. Halloween shopping was fun though. When I walked into the store this afternoon, there were all these young girls looking at skimpy and barely there costumes. It made me wonder what the younger generation has been going through. I mean we're starting to lose our wholesome values and head towards how hot we can look and how many boys we can get to look our way ( from the girl perspective). I saw a girl of about 10 walk out in a Dorothy costume that barely covered her bottom and it made me disgusted to see these little girls wearing almost nothing. What happened to the age of poodle skirts? Why aren't girls asking to be princesses and superheroes anymore? Why is it we now must be sexual instead of cute and heroic? I think we're losing our values and it saddens me to see that classic costumes such as princesses and poodle skirt girls are either dying out or getting turned into sex icons. I just wish we could go back to the times when Halloween was about who could look the most like their character and not the one with the most sex appeal. Will write again before bed.

from: to

Day 3 begins

This morning I woke up feeling a lot better than yesterday. My roommate and I were up really late last night watching the movie ever after with Drew Barrymore. However, we couldn't start the movie until the Yankee game had completed (They won in 13 innings). Overall, it was a good night. I woke up this morning groggy and tired but feeling as if today was going to be a good day. I looked outside the window and saw it was raining yet again. So today will be devoted to school work and studying for tests that are days away. I guess it's a good day to catch up on everything I've wanted to. Plus I get to spend the day texting my best friend back and forth. I love these days when he's not that busy at work and can take the time to check in on me and see how I'm doing down here in Long Island. He was worried about me last night with how sick I was but he kept trying to take my mind off of it by bringing up the Yankee game and our Halloween plans. As you can see from the picture in one of my previous post, we always go as something extreme and we always go as partners. This year we're being vampires from the movie Underworld. It's going to be a good time. Anyways, now that I'm done rambling and saying whatever is on my mind, I think I'll go and try to get some of my homework started. More on life without music later... Good Luck getting through today everyone! Oh and please enjoy the trailer of Ever After =)

Please let the Yankees come back and win

I'm writing to you in a state of extremely high tension. It's the bottom of the 11th inning and the Yankees are now down 3-2. If they lose this game, then the series will be tied at 1-1. Not going so well. Other than that factor, everything today has been getting better. My medicine finally kicked in and I've been able to return to acting like a normal human being. I miss listening to my music in bed but I think I'll be able to deal with it for the next few days. Thank god I have my roommate with me and my friends to help get my mind off of my quiet world. Oops... got to go. Games back on! Go Yankees! You can do it!!! =)

TV has saved my life

While sick, I've managed to occupy my time with the Television. It's saved my life (that's a little extreme but that's how I'm feeling right now). Saturday's are a great time for movies, TV specials, baseball games etc. So today as I was for this illness to leave my body, I watch movie after movie on the television and still long for my iPod to lull me into that blissful unconscious state. Only the soothing music of Taylor Swift and my other favorite country stars will be my solace from this constant pain. It's too bad I will continue to endure being sick without the use of my iPod to put me into a deep unconscious sleep. It's going to be a long, long night. Go Yankees!

Sick of this... literally

I woke up this morning feeling very sick and wanting to listen to my music in bed to try and forget about this stomach bug I have. Then I remembered our assignment and immediately I  wanted to curl up in a ball all day and not move. Music soothes me in my time of need and when I'm sick. It allows me to forget about the pain throughout my body and allows me to focus on something else. I can't write much more because there's nothing truly interesting that happened today but I'll try and post later if I manage to make my way out of bed. 

Finally... some good news!

I write to you now in a much better mood than before. My chinese food dinner and the Yankee's winning the opening game of the ALCS has brought up my mood drastically. Plus I was able to talk to my best friend from back home for a good while even though he was working. It's weird but talking to him always makes me feel better. Tonight he was texting me, trying to cheer up my sour mood from his waiting job at his family's restaurant. It made me appreciate how much of a true friend he is to me and how he's always there to have my back and cheer me up when I'm feeling blue. As I said in my previous post, being without an iPod gives me a lot of time to think about the things in my life and today I thought about my best friend, Anthony. I realized that I take him always being there for me for granted and that I don't tell him  often enough how much I appreciate his friendship and his undying loyalty to me. So tonight I go to bed with a light heart and in a better mood than the day originally started. Congratulations to the Yankees on their first win and a thank you to my best friend, Anthony, for always being there for me in my time of need. <3

This has been a horrible day

So today didn't start off as bad as I would've expected it to. I got up, went to lunch, and came back to relax to one of my favorite movies with my roommate. While watching Moulin Rouge, I couldn't help but think that the sound quality would be better with my ear buds in. I kept thinking how much more of an impact Ewan McGregor's beautiful voice would've had on me if he were singing directly into my ears instead of a distance away. Now before today, my roommate had never seen Moulin Rouge. It was her first experience and I expected her to take an interest and maybe even like this version of a musical. However, this was not the case. Initially, she didn't understand the going ons of the movie and I understood her point of view. Then it turned into calling one of my favorite movies stupid and pointless and I found myself longing to relieve my frustrations and anger with the soothing music of my iPod. I could've just walked over to my computer and plugged in my head phones but then I would not have been able to see the TV or to have lain in bed. Have I really become so lazy and antisocial that I can no longer express my opinions to someone I'm close with? Am I so used to being viewed as the good girl that I can no longer have negative feelings out loud? 

I think music has helped me to keep these not so positive feelings hidden. It's been an escape from the frustrations of the world and from the chaotic whirlwind that is my mind. With all the things going on with my family and with my school work, music is the one thing that makes me feel complete and whole. It allows me to feel as though I can sit there in those moments and forget all that is sad and heartbreaking throughout my life. It allows me to be truly and completely stress free and happy. I think this is why I've come to rely on my iPod so much. Without the music, I'd have to acknowledge all the things that I'm mentally not able to cope with at this time. I'd be forced to face things that I'd rather not focus on. Music allows me to put all those things on the back burner. Music takes my mind to a place where there is no pain and no sadness. It makes it OK to put off the things that I will have to face when I reach the maturity level and mental capacity to do so. Without it, I find myself thinking about things that normally I wouldn't allow myself to do. I find myself wondering how I'm going to cope with death, where my future is going, and worrying about my family. 

Putting all those emotions aside, back to the description of my day. After the movie finished, my roommate and I got ready for our daily workout at the C.W. Post gym. It wasn't long before we were power walking on the treadmills and waiting for our 40 minutes to be done with. The thing about workouts is that they're supposed to be fun and different. Normally, what makes mine fun is the music I'm able to rock out to as I walk. I find myself singing and dancing as I get through the painful workout. Today, I was unable to do so. I was forced to listen to the sounds of the radio playing quietly through the speakers in the workout room and to the jocks sitting around ogling the females working out. Let's just say it was an experience I don't care to repeat. Between every song there was a break for talking or commercials that lasted anywhere from 3 minutes to 15 minutes. I was able to hear about 10 songs the entire time I was at the gym (which was more than an hour). On top of that, the males lifting weights and stretching behind us were talking about the female assets that they spotted and liked throughout the gym. I should feel comfortable working out and toning my muscles. I shouldn't feel as if I'm a piece of meat on display for all to see. It was just awkward and never would've happened had I been able to listen to my iPod. 

Still feeling crappy and annoyed, my roommate and I walked back to our room to hop in the shower before ordering our dinner. As we step into the hot water, both of us sigh in relief to wash the workout away and, for me, hopefully relieve some of the tension I've been feeling all day. This was not to be. After about 3 minutes and just as I was putting shampoo into my hair, the fire alarm goes off. Now, the back story on the fire alarm in our building is that it's faulty and has been going off at all times of the day and night since the beginning of school. The first week we moved into our dorm, the fire alarm went off every night at 2:30 am. It was so bad that my friends and I started laying out clothes before going to bed to wear outside in the wee hours of the morning. These alarms would last anywhere from a half hour to an hour and a half. So naturally when the fire alarm went off while we were in the shower, we were both annoyed and frustrated. We considered staying in the warm water and not even going outside but that thought was quickly brushed aside. Soaking wet and dripping throughout the hallways we ran back to our room in our robes and flip flops trying not to slip on the floor that we made slippery with our water. We got back to our room only to throw on boxers and a sweatshirt before running outside in the freezing cold still dripping wet.Well, there we are standing outside, soaking wet and dripping water, not happy with our situation of the fact that ice crystals were forming in our hair. We stood outside like that for a good half hour waiting for the public safety officials to tell us that the faulty heater in the basement sets off the carbon monoxide detector every time the heater turns on. By now, I'm so pissed off and irritable that drowning my anger in music would've been the best thing for me to do. Instead, I am forced to vent my frustrations on this blog over how horrible my day has been so far. It's not gotten any better since I returned to the shower to wash away the feeling of ice cold water dripping from my hair and down my neck. I don't think it will get any better.

As I sit here eating Chinese and waiting for the Yankee game to start, I hope that this blog does not scare off any of the readers who have chosen to take the time and read my frustrations. It was not meant to make anyone feel sorry for me but rather get out the things that were much needed to be written down. Thanks for reading and expect another post before I fall asleep tonight. Hopefully my mood will be vastly improved. If the Yankees lose, expect something horribly negative. In the meantime, enjoy this scene from the movie Moulin Rouge!

Day #1 begins =/

I woke up this morning to my roommate getting ready to go to a lecture class for her Observation hours as a part of her education class. Now normally, when the noise level is too loud for me to sleep, I plug in my iPod and listen to the soothing sounds of my special playlist to lull me back into my unconscious state. However, this morning I was not allowed to touch that blessed device and instead was forced to hear the shuffles and door slamming that accompanied my roommate getting ready. Don't get me wrong... I love my roommate. It's just sometimes, she doesn't realize how loud she's actually being. I tried to use mind tricks to convince myself that there was no noise and that I could just drift off once again without a problem but no such luck occurred. So now here I am, tired and annoyed as I sit here writing with my lonely iPod sitting next to me on the charger with a black screen. It's begging for me to pick it up and rock out to my favorite songs. It whispers of promised happiness and the ability to drown out all other things in the world. Maybe this is going to be harder than I thought. 

So here's to all my fellow sufferers... A Song from the TV Show "Glee." I absolutely love this show and this cover of the song "Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne. I hope you're all staying strong!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghg41zS-YDE

Tomorrow will be the day...

I decided that tomorrow will begin my existence without my iPod. So tonight, there will be little conversation between my roommate and I as I listen to my iPod nonstop. This will be going on from now until I fall asleep from exhaustion. Hopefully, I will not be deaf by tomorrow morning. Here's hoping I get my iPod fill for the next 4 days!

Welcome!

Welcome to my Blog. This is where you all will be able to read my posts as I suffer without the use of my ipod for 5 days. I chose my iPod because of how much I rely on it as a source of entertainment and as a time filler. I use my iPod whenever I'm walking, at the gym, doing homework etc. I thought trying to live without transportable music would be interesting and a challenge. So I hope whoever is reading this wil enjoy reading about the struggles I will be facing and the silence that lies ahead of me. It should be an interesting time.