Introducing Dead Celebrities Hair in Baseball Cards...?

In a blog from AOL, Pat Lackey wrote, "Upper Deck is giving away packs of baseball cards with chances to win a strand of hair from historical figures like Abraham Lincoln, while Topps is giving away "DNA cards" that contain the hair of George Washington and Charles Dickens." As interesting as that sounds, I think quite frankly it sounds absurd and creepy. More than twenty years ago, collecting and trading baseball cards was the thing to do. While most preteens could probably care less about the baseball cards, Upper Deck has decided that implanting hair strands would increase sales. But honestly, who's going to buy them? How do we know if they really are hair strands from Abe Lincoln or Babe Ruth? I think this is the most ridiculous idea if not the a terrible one. I'll be really interested to know what kind of feedback they'll get from the actual buyers or at least those who are still interested in collecting baseball cards. But if you ask me, this is a little creepy.

Change

For our class assignment we had to make a 60 sec video on a social issue currently happening. I felt that the easiest things would be the first to go so I decided to do something a bit different and make a video on a positive social issue. As everyone knows Nov. 4th marked the day for many firsts. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream to some day have equality for all men throughout the nation and sadly he wasn't alive to see it finally happen. Barack Obama had a dream to make change and he successfully did it. He has been elected president and instilled hope in almost everyone. In this video I highlight MLK's famous quotes along with some from Obama and memorable pictures of the two. Things may finally be looking up for our nation and I'm happy to be living in it.

Here's the video...hope u enjoy! Dont forget to click over the images to get to the next page!

Why believe in a god? Good campaign?

The American Humanist Association recently made a $40,000 ad campaign in which "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake." will run alongside of buses in Washington, DC. This ad will run starting as of next week and will run through December. "The Washington-based group is wading into what has become a perennial debate over commercialism, religion in the public square and the meaning of Christmas." This was pulled from an article I found bringing attention to the ad. However, many other humanists are getting quite offended and are making it known. Some are calling it inhumane to say there is no god. What are they to believe if they are being encouraged to not believe in their own spirituality. This is absurd and very confusing. How should we celebrate Christmas without the religious history its supposed to convey? I don't think this ad is such a great idea, more than 90% of the U.S. population believes in a god therefore this ad will have no effect on them. They should drop the religious part and just keep the "just be good for goodness' sake."

New Flight Schedules for Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines has been known to be one of the best and cheapest ways to fly here in our nation. Recently, Southwest Airlines has decided to change up their flight schedules in which it will be convenient for everybody...or will it? Flight schedules are very complex especially when weather conditions, cost of fuel, time, crew, maintenance, and number of passengers need to be considered. Southwest Airlines has the most daily running flights, therefore making it that much more complex to schedule flights. In the past they used the same schedule every week; on Saturdays they erased a couple of flights here and there. However, now they are implenting more non stop flights for more cities only available on Saturdays, reducing the capacity by 6%. They're hoping for more future improvements in which not everyday will have the same schedule but how convenient will that be for other people besides the business travelors?

Election Day and the 106 yr old woman

November 4th marked the day as the day that our generation will go down in history for many firsts. Not only did the USA elect a new president, he is our new and first black president. Obama definitely won the hearts of the young and old cross the nation and his campaign for change really did impact everyone who believes he can turn this country around for the better. The American Dream seems finally achievable with the new elect president and during his acceptance speech in Chicago, he recognized one woman in particular who has lived to see change happen. There is a 106 year old black woman, living in the south, who has seen the days when blacks couldn't vote, when women couldn't vote, and when Martin Luther King, Jr. died fighting for blacks' rights. This lady has seen change happen even when thought imaginable and impossible to happen. I think it is very humbling to see Obama recognize this and be even more passionate about his campaign promises to change for the better. Here is a clip from his speech recognizing that one incredible lady.

Guitar Hero and Athletes

Guitar Hero has recently launched their new game, World Tour. In their new commercial, they have A-Rod, Kobe Byrant, Michael Phelps, and Tony Hawk all dancing to the theme song from Risky Business. In their promo commercials they attempt to demonstrate how the new game is now including drums and a mic along with their typical guitar. These new promo videos also include appearances by Heidi Klum and David Cook doing solo routines but it doesn't show the new gadgets included in the new game. With that in mind, I feel that the promo commerical with the athletes has more impact on the consumers for the simple fact that it shows the new gadgets as well as well known athletes using the product. Qudos to Guitar Hero using the athelets to sell their game!

Digital Footprint Quiz

So for our group assignment we were to make a podcast on a social media topic. Denise, Melanie, and I decided on speaking about digital footprints and how other social networking tools emphasize the impact of digital footprints. While doing some research on digital footprint, we stumbled upon a survey like website that scored us on how much digital footprints we leave behind on a daily basis. The survey/quiz would ask questions such as, "To commute in the mornings, do you use public transit, car, or walk/bike?" To use my car I have to put gas which means I would more than likely use my credit card therefore tracking everything. Using your school id card also tracks where you are and what you are doing. Emailing, using the phone, walking down a sidewalk, all has some sort of tracking device mechanism to see what you are doing at pretty much any time of the day. I was horrified to find out that my every move is being watched! To see what score you get go to this link and take the quiz http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/koppel/interactive/interactive.html

Podcasting - Grarge Band

Podcasting for our group project was definitely an adventure. While I never really focused on the importance of podcasting, I found it even more interesting to work with the GarageBand software program. I loved playing with the sounds, jingles, the recording, and all the other features it had to offer. It actually reminded me a lot of editing music for cheerleading when I would choreograph routines. It came naturally for me to use it therefore making it easy on our group to get in there record and edit really quickly and easily. Podcasting is very useful and a great tool to use for any type of social media. It allows you to record anything and everything and gives you the opportunity to do a hands free "blog". Over all I think our podcast was a success with the information we gathered and the ideas we inputted into the activity.

I have posted our podcast so feel free to browse through it...also here are some show notes in case you want to listen to the key points.

10 sec: Melanie introduces show, concept and participants.

15 sec: Melanie talks about digital footprints: what they are, what they do and who they effect.

2 min: Denise is introduced and talks about googling her name and what information she discovered about her digital footprint.

3 min: Denise talks about how her digital footprint could potentially affect her (positively or negatively)

3:45 min: Denise reveals her outlook on the future of podcasting.

4:20 min: Mandi is introduced and talks about her digital footprint within Facebook.

5:25 min: Mandi reveals how she uses Facebook as a social networking tool.

5:45 min: Melanie begins to conclude what effect digital footprints have on us and how they affect us daily.

Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty in America

In 2005 the census bureau calculated 37 million people living in poverty. Within the past three years you would assume that with this poor economy and raise of gas prices it has increased, and indeed it has. "For most Americans, the word "poverty" suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter. But only a small number of the 37 million per­sons classified as "poor" by the Census Bureau fit that description. While real material hardship certainly does occur, it is limited in scope and severity. Most of America's "poor" live in material conditions that would be judged as comfortable or well-off just a few generations ago. Today, the expenditures per person of the lowest-income one-fifth of house­holds equal those of the median American household in the early 1970s, after adjusting for inflation." This was taken from an article on America's Poverty. After reading this article it is safe to assume not all of America's poverty is living in bad conditions. There was an abundance of examples that show that poor people have a place to live, have a car, have air-conditioning, and experience slight food shortages. I'm not saying that its not a problem because it is especially when it comes to their health. However, after reading this article I'm a bit confused as to how to feel about it. Compared to Africa, even the poorest of Americans are living way better than Africans.

National Coming Out Day

They finally recognize a day for The Gay, Lesbian Education Network. Today was National Coming Out Day and GLEN's goal was to educate gays and lesbians that they are valued and respected for being who they are. It is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. Established nationally in 1995, GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Having a couple of friends who are gay and lesbian I found that this was really interesting because I had no clue that such an organization existed and I think their mission is definitely a positive one and a respective one. To find out more here is their website www.glsen.org

Olympics & NBC

Recently I came across an article on NBC and their revenue on the Olympics. Surprise surprise something had to be wrong. Although the Olympics had a great turnout they somehow managed to mess things up with General Electric, their parent company. Apparently, they were able to rank up $1 billion but still wrote a loss the event. You would think otherwise but NBC is refusing to disclose how much they lost instead of profiting. Should they have cut stuff out in order to save money?

VW loves Brooke Shields

Volkswagon has recently made Brooke Shields as their new spokesperson for their new line of minivans. "In a promotional four-and-a-half-minute video, Shields refers to a "Routan boom," where there is a dramatic rise in children being born to families that believe they have to have more children to justify the purchase of "German engineering," or a Routan." As funny as that sounds the ads are witty and clever but haven't quite helped market their sales. Their goal is to sell close to 40,000 but are finding it a bit difficult and finding they're minivan percentage is down 19.5%. However, maybe Brooke Shields will have more face time (if she doesn't already) and keep endorsing those minivans!

KXAN Mayhem

As of October 1, KXAN has canceled their channel and has opened their doors to payed programmers. For those of us who watch NBC religiously to watch Deal or No Deal, My Own Worst Enemy, Heroes, SNL, and of course Football! this has become a burden. Unfortunately, this may be our fault. I recently went to their website to understand why this signal was being pulled off the air and found some interesting stuff. "They want to charge Time Warner Cable customers across the United States in order for you to see your programming. To make up for lower ratings and advertising revenue, broadcast stations are demanding millions of dollars for permission to carry their channels; fees that will fall, ultimately, to you." However, this signal is free so why should we have to pay to watch our programs. They want to add to their revenue and take advantage of a signal that is already free. I personally think this is ridiculus and negotiations better move along quickly.

The Google You

Google is in fact the biggest search database known to internet history. Its amazing to see how much information it contains and searches by just a single keyword. I'm sure that everyone has Googled themselves at some point and probably not found anything. However, corporations and businesses are now Googling prospective employees and making sure there isn't any dirt on their potentials and making sure that they have clean internet faces. I recently mentioned this to my roommate and she asked me if I had Googled myself and I said yes. Thankfully, the only thing that can be seen after searching my name is my Facebook profile, but because I have privacy settings on it the only thing that can be seen is my profile picture. She then asked me to Google her name to see what came out and we definitely got so many hits of her name and every single person we found was not her. To her surprise, we found another girl with the same name that also lives in Austin but looked nothing like her. She was a little terrified to know that if businesses were actually doing this, they would never find her and that could possibly cost her a job opportunity. So is this a good thing or a bad thing? There obviously isn't anything bad about her on the internet but then how can people find out if thats the real her or not.

Facebook Privacy Matters

It seems like nowadays Facebook has just gotten bigger and bigger than expected. It first started as a college social networking base but has now grown and expanded to almost every country and every person. However, because Facebook is constantly outdoing themselves, its becoming difficult to understand their new layouts and applications. Their newsfeed application has become permanent and an enemy to most people because your business is out there for everyone to view it. Recently, my friend decided to miss a class and stay home to catch up on some zzzs that were long overdue. Out of habit, when she wakes up she goes to her computer checks her email and gets on Facebook. Making sure that none of her classmates would notice she was online at that very moment instead of in class, she logged herself off of Facebook chat and began uploading videos from the previous weekend. Little did she know the Newsfeed application kept informing her classmates that she was uploading video after video while they were in class being lectured. For those who werent paying attention and on Facebook noticed and called her out. Looks like someone got caught. As funny as that sounds, it has happened to a lot of people in different situations and its a bummer. Facebook has either become everyones friend or enemy by putting their business out there. Even relationships have gone down the drain because of that one little application and its a shame we can't get rid of it. I can't help but think, is Facebook running our lives or ruining it?

Southwest Airlines Hallelujah No FEES!

As everyone knows our economy is at its weakest right now and it seems like everything and everyone is being affected by it. Traveling has become very difficult to do because of the ridiculus amount of fees we are being asked to pay. Southwest Airlines however, have made it economical and affordable to fly through them without having to pay for every single bag or drink or pillow we want to use. About a month ago my roommate flew with Airlines and had to pay $20 for the two bags she was taking, her trip before that she had to pay $15 for each. In their new commercial, Southwest Airlines makes it a point to enforce the no fee brand it seems to be working. According to a Dallas News article, Southwest Airlines went from 17% frequent fliers to 24% frequent fliers in the past 2 years. For those who don't fly very often, here's a list of the changes most airlines have made that is hurting their consumers.

• First bag fees (that’s in addition to fees for bags after the first that have already been in place for awhile)
• No more pretzels and snacks or snack and beverage fees
• Fuel surcharges
• Fees for phone reservations
• Curb-side check in fees
• Ticket-change fees
• Fees for breathing the air inside the plane cabin
  

PC users

Just recently I have viewed the "I'm a PC" commercial and I think it is great. Being a PC user, I was constantly on the low with all the MAC commercials, I felt that PCs were getting degraded time and time again. With all the celebrities in this commercial I think its safe to say that this commercial is a success because it is targeting all types of people. I love how it goes on to the stereotypes of a PC user although i really don't think there was any to begin with. Either way, its a great commercial and definitely puts it message across that MAC isn't trendy anymore.

Wikis

Because our wonderful technology is ever changing and adaptable to pretty much anything, it becomes a little difficult to keep up with the new stuff being introduced every so often. Just recently I began to work on a wiki for a class and although it is quite easy to work with, I can't help but wonder how easily accessible it is to others who don't have it. For those who don't know what it is, a wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit web page content using a web browser. So its obvious to see that it is a very beneficial tool to use for any type of work environment. However, how does one look for a specific wiki or search for a wiki that may or may not be on the web?...

Bad Day

For most football fans, especially followers of UT, Vince Young's performance this past week has put everybody on edge. In college he was known as the MVP of the Rose Bowl and perhaps the greatest quaterback of his time. With his rise in fame and his draft to the Titans, expectations of his great success grew heavier and even more complicated. Although he may have had a rough game this past week, he is still human and trying to cope with his bad game. After fans "booed" him off the field, I would assume the amount of pressure this man is going through and can't help but want to be alone and think about his mistakes. While coaches proceeded in calling authorities to check up on him the following days that proceeded, Young appeared to be fine and just down in the dumps. In a recent article from Fox sports news, they bash Young's performance with two interceptions and claims that he is simply not cut out for such a big job. If you look at other quarterback's records, Young is considered to be one of the top qbs. Matt Leinhart didn't do so well his rookie year, Tom Brady wasn't so good either his first couple of years, so what's the deal with Young? Why the harsh criticism? Everyone has a bad day every once and a while, so leave the man alone...Thanks to such criticism from the press we can see how truly valuable he is to his team.