Aug 12
24
Looking back in TV time a little bit when exactly did we see reality TV, as we know it begin? It looks as though in 1992, MTV aired the first Real World. Remember that? MTV almost didn’t air the show as unscripted reality but first thought to script something close to reality. They did ditch the script and placed people together in one home and filmed real life with others. Of course we all know that most real life can be boring so editors spent hours editing the film to only show case the most intense and dramatic and controversial parts and America loved it. MTV’s Real World continued and in 2000 the big boom happened with a new reality show Survivor and American Idol. We have seen many reality shows evolve over the years. Some shows were audience captivating and others not so much. So what has been the best Reality TV shows to watch?
A few of the most watched reality shows include: Survivor. Survivor has been the longest running reality show of all time. Now Survivor is in the 21st season and Survivor diehards are exited for more.
The Deadliest Catch. Discovery Chanel hit the big time with this crazy sea adventure. As crab fisherman have to race the clock to meet their quota in the Alaska, Bering Sea. This may seem like no big deal but the seas are angry my man. The cold mixed with some wicked storms make surviving the possible boat sinking impossible. Talk about nail biting?
Third on the list is the ever-famous Donald Trump and his reality show, The Apprentice. This is the ultimate job interview by far. Having to complete business tasks to the best of your abilities testing out the skills of those thinking they are more than capable of being a part of Donald Trump’s origination. At the beginning of each show the interviewees are faced with tasks that their boss, Donald, will evaluate in the boardroom meeting at the end of the show. With each show, someone, the less qualified interviewee, is fired and the tasks start again with fewer and fewer but with more qualified business savvy candidates.
One of the most exciting movie announcements has just come down out of Hollywood. The famed writer Aaron Sorkin has been signed on to write the Steve Jobs movie film based off the book Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. This writer was the same writer who wrote the film The Social Network. This was the story of Mark Zuckerburg. The CEO of Facebook had an incredible life and Aaron Sorkin was nominated for an Oscar for his role in writing the masterpiece. To have him at the helm of the new project is a dream come true for tech fans looking for a great story about the early days of Apple Inc.
Sorkin has said very little about the project at this point, but is starting to offer to many hints. He has begun talking about how the project will not be a simple biography. A biography would not be the kind of movie that needs to be made. Sorkin used the legal trial of Facebook as a backdrop to tell the story. Rumors are beginning to fly that they will use Steve Jobs firing and rehiring as the conflict to glue the story together.
Another great piece of news is that Steve Wozniac has signed on board to be the tutor of all the cast and crew. He was the co-founder of Apple and knows Steve Jobs more intimately than any other human being alive. He will be able to infuse the performances will so much character that many people will be able to feel and see how Steve Jobs interacted for years to come. This Sorkin project is something to look forward to in the coming year.
SEO is vital for the survival of a blog or website. Without a good plan for how to handle your SEO, you’ll never get the visitors you want. WordPress makes things a great deal easier.
When using WordPress you need to remember that you’re going to be creating a permalink. This is the link that people will use to get to a very specific spot on your website or blog. You want to make sure that you use word press to include both your keywords and your blog title in the permalink. You can easily do this by using WordPress’s custom structure option. The WordPress website is an excellent place to get all sorts of idea about how you can use the permalinks to boost your SEO ranking.
One of the things that WordPress lets you do is optimize the post and entries you create. You do this by using keywords that will target the areas of your website or blog that you think are the most interesting or important. The keywords you use to optimize your site need to be included in the title of your post, any headings you choose to use, and also in the tags. When you’re writing your posts, you should try to include anchor text whenever possible. Before you post to your blog or website, check things over and make sure the keywords and the text actually match.
One of the great things about WordPress is that it allows you to create internal links. Not only do these internal links make navigating your website or blog easier, but they also boost your SEO. The more internal links you have, the higher your search ranking will be. The trick is to write several posts that can be connected by the same set of keywords.
Dec 11
13
Keywords, SEO; are these words unfamiliar to you? When building a website for informational or business purposes, these are the two words that can make or break your enterprise. SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization; keywords are the most critical factor in making SEO work for you.
So, why do we care about SEO anyway? Have you ever performed a search on a search engine? The first step in any search is entering a word or words into the box and clicking on the search arrow. What happens next is entirely a function of SEO; you will get a very long results list. Who has time to go through literally thousands of results; we usually only access the first few and ignore the rest. See why it is crucial to have your website show up in the top of the results list?
Website builders who ignore SEO are doomed; they are doomed to be ignored by readers, lost in the cyberspace equivalent of the trashcan. A web builder can build the most beautiful, informative and comprehensive website about a certain subject but unless they use the right keywords to optimize searches, they will never be seen.
Keyword101:
Let’s imagine we are building a website about a new tooth whitening product. Put yourself in a consumer’s place and try to pick out words that would most likely be used in a search that would find your product and put it high in the search findings list. Or simply go online and take advantage of a service to provide you with the best keyword for your product. Likely your keyword will be something like this: white teeth, tooth whitener, brighter teeth – you get the idea. Use these keywords in the body of your site 5-10% maximum.
Get noticed! Use SEO to your advantage.
When you hear the word “jacuzzi,” do you automatically picture hot tubs and spas? While “jacuzzi” is a generic term to describe swim spas with massaging jets – there is so much more to the story that begins in Italy and involves airplanes!
Sometime around the beginning of the 20th century, a Italian family of seven brothers, named Jacuzzi, made their way to the United States. They were trade machinists, and after brother Rachele became inspired at a 1915 air show, they began making a unique propeller that became known as the Jacuzzi toothpick. The Jacuzzi Brothers company, which made aircrafts, was formed around that They created the first enclosed cabin monoplane that was used by the United States Postal Service.
In 1921, brother Giocondo Jacuzzi was killed in a plane crash. This prompted the decision to stop making aircraft in 1925. The company then used their knowledge of aircraft hydraulics to focus production on a deep well pump for farmers. This innovative new design actually won them a gold medal in 1930 at the California State Fairr product line changed again due to family in the late 1940′s. Brother Candido used the company’s knowledge of pumps to create a submersible pump to use in a bathtub.
His toddler son had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and was in constant pain. While his son did get some water therapy treatments at a hospital, this new invention allowed him to get the therapy treatments at home, too. That son, Kenneth, would eventually take over the company. The pump his father created, the J-300, would be marketed to bath supply shops and was touted as “relief for the worn-out housewife.” It was even given as a prize to contestants on a TV game show called “Queen for a Day.” The popularity began to spread when celebrities Jayne Mansfield and Randolph Scott began to offer testimonials.
In the late 1960′s Candido Jacuzzi began to promote and market the first ever fully integrated, self contained whirlpool bath tub. It was nicknamed the “Roman Tub,” and became a symbol of a luxurious lifestyle. Over the next several years, thousands and thousands of “Jacuzzi” tubs were installed in places ranging from private homes to recreation centers and hotels. Interestingly enough, at that time, this was only a side product line for the Jacuzzi brothers – most of their sales still came from pumps, swimming pool parts, and marine jets.
However, that was all about to change. As they produced larger units with heating and filtering elements, the spa industry as it is known today had begun. The appeal of easy installation and portability sold many on the units, and they were installed in hundreds of thousands of homes. Today, the Jacuzzi name can be found in homes, cruise ships, hotels, and luxury spas all over the world. On products ranging from tubs to toilets to showers – the Jacuzzi brand is marketed to some sixty countries worldwide.
Italian family of brothers looking to start a new life in America is proof that hard work and determination do pay off. Candido Jacuzzi and his brothers put their knowledge to the test to help one of their own, and that knowledge birthed a family of products that can be found all over the world. Today you can find whirlpool bathtubs on sale in any home improvement store. Wholesale whirlpool tubs are even sold online. Whether you dream of Atlantis whirlpool spas or an outdoor jacuzzi, you can’t go wrong when you add one of these historic, relaxing appliances to your home.
Jul 11
11
News media is often criticized for creating a bias stance on current events, directly affecting viewer’s opinions. All too often, there is one major news network that focuses on the conservative side of the issues at hand, and another that leans towards the liberal perspectives. With this in mind, a bias is created that is subsequently passed on to the viewers of the particular network, and leads to a divided public audience.
Numerous studies have been conducted in the last decade that have focused on the influence of media as it pertains to societal beliefs and feelings. In these studies, results have concluded that more often than not, people’s feelings towards current events are often directly correlated with the news network that they watch the most. In the US, for example, where freedom of the press, free speech, and freedom of individual thought is promoted, people are guaranteed the opportunity to make decisions on media topics as they choose, yet still, many lean towards the facts presented by their favorite news channel rather than considering the facts that are presented by both sides. It has even been suggested that many people are more prone to lean towards the opinions of their favorite media personality just because they like them.
The issue that arises with these facts brings about many questions that one must consider when evaluating the influence of media over the population. For example, is it coincidental that one media company, whether on television or in print, leans more towards the right more than the left on a consistent basis or vice versa? Or, do media companies select their news personalities based solely on the ability to perform within the capacity of their job, or do they chose based on other reasons such as charisma, looks, and personality? Both of these questions, along with dozens of others, must be taken into consideration when evaluating the complex media/public relationship.
Another interesting fact that is directly related to media and its influence over the population is how the details are presented as they pertain to a specific topic. One network, for example, may choose to focus on the positive aspects of the topics that are presented to the viewing audience, whereas another may choose to only speak of the negative aspects. With this in mind, the effect on the dedicated viewer is obvious. A viewer that only watches their favorite anchor as they detail the positives of the situation is more likely than another viewer to be pro-topic; whereas, another viewer that only hears the negative aspects is likely to be against the issue.
It is hard to know whether or not the media creates a separation of audience intentionally to create a diverse society, or if it is purely coincidental, and it just happens to work out in that manner because of the openness of society to believe what they want to believe. After all, no one is forced to watch one network over another, yet people do tend to stay with their favorite one for one reason or another. So, as long as there is media bias, there will be differing of opinions of the population directly related to the influence that the media has over their viewers.
Jun 11
18
It seems that every time you turn on the 11 o’clock news, the stories are all the same; an arson at a warehouse in the city, a child bringing a gun to school, a bomb scare at a local hospital, or a fatal head-on collision. When does too much bad news become enough? Are there more bad things happening in our communities and the world than good? These are all questions that I ask myself as I flip through the channels at night and consider watching the news. More often than not, I choose to watch something else for the sake of just not wanting to hear so many horrible things.
How can we be expected to look forward to each new day, and to enjoy life, if we are surrounded by so many horrible things? Have people really gone crazy, or is it the fact that bad news creates higher ratings? I often wonder these things when watching the news, and contemplate the viability of the fact that perhaps as with anything in life, good things are okay to talk about, but the bad things really get noticed.
With this in mind, I have come to the conclusion that negative occurrences do indeed capture the viewing audience more so than do the positive occurrences. Sure, we all like to hear about the cheerleading squad that earned $5,000 for their training camp, or the cat that had been missing for two months that returned home out of the blue, but what really gets our attention are the things that scare us.
However, when so many bad things are detailed in the news, and so few good things are spoken of, it makes life seem very depressing. All to often I am left with the feeling that society has just lost it, and that there really is no hope for anything better. I know, however, that the media knows what to air to capture the target audience, and when to air it. They, as with anything, desire high ratings. So, by keeping the stories focused on the bad more than the good, we as the viewers are entranced to keep watching. We know we don’t want to hear all the bad news, but we must stay abreast of what’s happening around us so that we can protect ourselves and our loved ones from the ills of society. Therefore, in the end, we keep watching.
In my opinion, the world really isn’t that bad of a place. I think that bad things just happen to create higher ratings, whereas good things create more smiles and heartfelt warmth. Well, when all is said and done, ratings generate money, and money is what is necessary to keep a network going. So as long as the ratings stay up, and the money flows in, the media networks are likely to continue to focus on the negative aspects of society if that is what it takes to keep the viewing audience captivated.
Our modern world has become computer crazy. It seems that there is nothing we cannot do by cranking up the trusty desktop, laptop or hand-held and accessing the internet. Everything is at our fingertips; well, at our keyboard anyway.
Remember when the local supermarket put out an ad every week with “clip and save” coupons? Every week we clipped the coupons we needed and redeemed them for some tidy savings. Today all you need is a cell phone with internet access and you can find coupons online for nearly anything you buy. You don’t even have to have a physical coupon; all you need is a coupon image on your screen with a barcode to scan. Wow, simple! Just imagine how much less expensive it is to advertise online in the virtual world than to print and circulate advertisements.
Even television has jumped aboard the internet train; most local TV stations have their own website where they report all the same news, weather and sports that can be seen by sitting in front of a TV screen. Local advertising rounds out the website lending a “hometown” feeling to the site; often local TV websites feature bargains not found offline. There are many incentives for reading the local news online rather than watching it over dinner. No longer are we constrained by inconvenient local broadcast times; we can catch out local news 24 hours a day online. Print media simply cannot compete with 24 hour local news coverage.
It used to be that we grabbed the local paper so we could check out the latest arrests, marriage licenses, divorces, bankruptcies and obituaries. The local paper was how we kept up community events and mundane things such as what movies were showing at the local theatre. The newspaper was the essential tool of the local gossips; after all, wasn’t it true if it was in print? Today, we just look online.
How many of us can remember cutting out photos and articles about people we knew, or were related to for our scrapbooks? What about cutting out a great sounding recipe and gluing it on an index card rather than copying it by hand? I have many memories of my mother sitting over a paper with her scissors whacking out cartoons to stick on the fridge so we would all have a giggle.
The advent of internet based news heralded the beginning of the end for the small town local newspaper as we knew it. Many local papers have simply conceded to internet based news and become a part of the past, just like the dinosaurs. However some local papers continue to thrive thanks to readers that still take joy in reading the printed word and poring over inky, turn-your-fingers-black pages.
Wouldn’t it be boring if every newspaper we picked up merely reported on world events, national politics and local bargains? Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the paparazzi has made a real place for itself in the world of journalism. Our society follows celebrity news with a craving unsurpassed by any other type of news; it is safe to say that our culture is celebrity obsessed. Paparazzi fills the niche this endless appetite has created within the journalistic realm.
Paparazzi is not simply an American phenomenon, the entire world seems to thirst for constant information about what the rich and famous are up to. For instance, it matters not which side of the pond David Beckham is on, for when he appears in public, it makes tabloid headlines. When Prince William and Princess Kate appear anywhere on the face of the globe, it is HUGE news followed by royal watchers everywhere.
What defines the paparazzi? The paparazzi are generally independent or self-employed photojournalists whose specialty is catching candid shots of famous persons. Mainstream journalistic organizations tend to distance themselves from the paparazzi; the paparazzi has a somewhat poor reputation due to the lengths some photographers go to in order to obtain candid, sometimes very personal shots. Most “reputable” journalists consider themselves above the antics that some paparazzi employ to get access to their targets.
Members of the paparazzi have been known to sneak uninvited into weddings, funerals and parties attended by famous persons. It is this type of behavior that has stigmatized the entire cadre of paparazzi. Essentially, the paparazzi will go to any length necessary to obtain pictures the world wants to see. The more sensational the photo, the more money they can sell the photo for. They sell their photos to such rags as “The National Enquirer” and to websites that post the photos for the world to see.
The more “juicy” the pictures the more the world seems to love them. Many of the photos obtained by the paparazzi are very uncomplimentary to the subject; many of the photos are taken without the subject’s knowledge or consent. Regardless of the legality or morality of how the pictures were obtained, fans cannot wait to see the latest shots of their favorite celeb whether they look good or not.
The paparazzi is both hated and adored. Celebrities claim that they want to be left alone, yet they stop and pose so they can have their faces “out there”. The paparazzi fills a role; they are a part of the machinery that creates and maintains celebrities. The world’s curiosity about the rich and famous is sated by articles and photos generated by a controversial, intrusive, money-motivated paparazzi. If the public were not so obsessed with the famous, there would be no place for the paparazzi.
Apr 11
12
We hear references to the media every day in all sorts of context. But what exactly is the media?
Lately the media is under scrutiny by certain legal pundits for the intense mass media coverage of the Caylee Anthony murder case. Some legal analysts blame the media for sensationalizing the coverage; other legal analysts defend the coverage as unbiased and honestly reported. In this instance, the media they are referring to includes every form of media in existence. Newspapers carried this missing child case that became a murder case, the internet was barraged with photos and articles about this case, the radio, the TV, magazines, and word of mouth all covered this tragedy.
Media is essentially any form of communication. Information can be communicated by many means; for instance, photos tell a story often times better than words. Photojournalists are members of the media whose expertise is taking photos that show news as it is happening. Especially in times of conflict, photojournalists place their own lives in jeopardy in order to take the photos that show what is really happening.
Politicians are masters of using the media to get their messages out to the people. There is never a day that goes by that we are not inundated with political rhetoric on TV, radio and online.
Writing for online readers (whether it be advertising, PR, news articles, educational or just blogging) is part of the media. Writing novels, non-fiction, or even how-to manuals are all forms of communicating, and are included in the media.
The realm of the media underwent a huge expansion with the birth of the internet. A whole new job market opened up for professionals such as content writers, site graphic designers, advertising and marketing specialists, technicians and more. The internet is a media form that utilizes and incorporates multiple other media forms. Movies and TV shows are streamed online, radio stations simulcast online. Even art has gone to a whole new level as the internet has allowed everyone to see works from around the world on their home computer.
The media is anything used to communicate a message; a photo, an article, a work of art, an ad, a book, a magazine, a newspaper, a song on the radio. It is the printed word, it is an audio broadcast over radio airwaves, it is a visual rendering on TV, it is a thrill to our senses on a huge movie screen with Dolby Surround Sound; it is the billboard we pass every morning on our way to work.
The media is an extremely important part of everyday American life. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right of free speech to every person, and the media is the avenue by which we all can exercise that right.