Time for a CHANGE

I personally do not have any opinion on American Politics. As immature as this may sound, I do not find an interest when it comes to politics in general at all. I feel this is a view I will posses only for a couple of more years, considering I just became eligible to vote. Soon enough I will have to get very involved seeing as I will have to be voting for something I will strongly vouch for. For the sake of this blog though, I will spit my personal thoughts on the Presidential Election, seeing as it is a very legendary one already. Seeing as the U.S.A is slowly approaching a recession, and almost a depression, this election is a very important one for the near future of the star country. Their international influence as well as power, is being seen as a decline due to their interactions with the war in Iraq and relations with Middle Eastern countries. This election is a memorable one because it is the first time an African American is a nominee. The two candidates pose two very opposite views. John McCain, a Vietnam War Veteran, and realist, whose views resemble those of current presidents George W. Bush, seem to be presenting an America we have already seen. Barrack Obama on the other hand, an African American raised in Indonesia, with idealist views, presents a picture of America that many have been waiting for. The way I see it is, America needs a change, and that is what Obama is offering. The only thing that is stopping him is the citizens of the United States that strongly believe the Republican views of George W. Bush, that John McCain seems to resemble, and the views that have been followed over the last eight years. The views that seem to be working right?………….. Just Vote Obama damn it!

ICT= Life

“Most recent statistics cite 1,463,632,361 Internet users worldwide, of which approximately 22 million were in Canada”. This stat should sound very familiar to those in Dr. Lipton’s Media class. Knowing that Canada’s population is somewhere in the mid 30 millions, I think that stat is a very impressive one. It shows me how much the internet has conquered in its relatively short life span. Living in a world without the internet, is one I cannot see myself living in. Yes, that may sound extreme, but it’s a life that I have accustomed to, and very used to. Everyone probably hears stories from their parents how they had to dig all their information out of big fat books, while we (and by we I refer to my generation) are so privileged to have such a tool to help us with everything. When I stop and think as to how much I actually use the internet, I really am amazed. Everything from checking the weather, to reading a whole novel, can now be found on the internet. It’s changed my life in the way that all of my essential school related necessities can now be easily accessed with a simple click. Anything at all that comes to mind; I can simply search on the internet and satisfy my boredom. I can communicate to friends through instant messaging I cannot see everyday, as well as feed my Facebook addiction through the wonderful internet. The significance of ICTs or otherwise known as “Information and Communication Technologies” is to communicate information to an audience. According to Wikipedia, ICTs do this through any medium to record information, or broadcast information. In other words, anything from television, radio, the internet, magazines, newspapers, and anything else that is able to communicate information is considered an ICT. The future only holds space for more of these technologies… our job is to use them.

I'd rather wear the skin I'm in

This is by far my favourite topic! CULTURE JAMMING! I had a pretty awesome economics teacher in high school who was 100% anti-consumerism. He owned a pair of black spot shoes that were made from completely recycled goods you can purchase from the Ad Busters (a non-profit, anti-consumerism organization). The whole idea of looking outside the box and poking fun at popular culture I find very entertaining. The familiar “I-raq” ads mimicking the previously talked about Ipod ads, give you as the reader a familiar image, but with a serious message behind it. The image I chose to analyze though is the “The True Colors of Benetton” poster. The company this ad is poking fun at if not already figured out is the popular European “United Colors of Benetton” fashion store. I visited the store on my last Euro-trip and found myself in an unusually large American Apparel, only to find the prices to be in triple digits for a simple t-shirt. Seeing this poster made me do a *fist pump* as I laughed. I knew exactly what it was trying to portray. Benetton is known to provide the consumer with vibrant coloured fashionable clothes that can only be purchased at their store. The poster is portraying that in reality, the only colors of Benetton is the green in the money you spend. The poster is telling you to look outside the box and realize that you are paying for a label, not quality. I walked out of Benetton that day with just a catalogue and after seeing this poster… I couldn’t be more pleased with my decision.

:O Is that the IPhone!!

Although I feel many of my fellow Gryphons will pick the same technology as I have, I still felt the need to express my opinion on the legendary IPod. It feels like yesterday was 2001 when the brick of a music playing device came out and sparked the eyes of millions of teenagers. Today I see it as more than just a MP3 player, it’s an image of modern and popular culture. I personally don’t even have to see the IPod itself to distinguish it. Their iconic white headphones tell me right away that the person is rockin’ out with an IPod. Apple is completely adjusting to today’s markets as well. In previous years, you could get an MP3 player for a lot cheaper than an IPod, but recently, IPod has been lowering the prices drastically to expand their target markets. Speaking of target markets, IPod is known to target teenagers with their hip commercials and popular songs, but it didn’t take long for their commercials to appeal to other demographics older than teenagers. Their continuous promise to be the best on the market, as well as offering a variety of products keeps them on top of the competition. It has come to the point that if you own an IPod, you are portrayed as being hip and cool. What Apple and its product have done to today’s culture is totally brainwashed it to view the IPod as a necessity over a luxury good. It will take a strong force from another company to try and overpower Apple in the MP3 business, considering their current stance on the market. The biggest fear I see Apple portraying is the brand new IPhone… I don’t know who should be more worried? My mom knowing that another $300 out of her wallet will finally make me “cool” again? Or telling Nokia and LG that they’re in trouble? Can’t wait to see what’s next!

SEX!

It is only human nature to look twice when seeing the simple three letter word. Caught my attention just the other day when I saw a campaign poster from a fellow student running for a position in the so called residence parliamentary. A small three letter word, in large font, bolded, and underneath a caption stating; “ Now that I have your attention, Vote …” It was then that I realized how easy it was to grab a hold of one’s attention. The poster made me think of question number five of selecting and analyzing an ad from a magazine. I thought of an old SKYY Vodka ad I had seen in GQ magazine from a couple years back. It consists of a very attractive blonde dressed in a bikini, airbrushed to perfection, with her body laying away from you as the viewer, tanning on a perfect blue sunny day. Standing over her, is an upper class male dressed in a well tailored suit, wearing expensive accessories holding a bottle of SKYY and two fancy glasses. The first thing I noticed was the girl, simply due to the exposure of her body, not until my second glance did I notice the signature blue SKYY bottle, and third glance was once again the girl. Expose her body, sell the vodka. The title of the ad "Riviera Rendezvous” got me. Although hidden on the side crease, the viewer can still see that this man means to get the woman intoxicated and take advantage of the situation. SKYY is making me believe that if I buy their product, I’ll get the girl. Well, there’s only one way to find out…

Blah blah blog

OOOOOOKaaaaaaaay! So after struggling to extract the Word Press zip file, BLOGSPOT it is! My computer has been acting quite strange lately so I’m not too surprised I couldn’t do something as easy as extract a file but Blogger.com was way too easy to use. I provided an email address, made up a strong password, chose a display name I thought suited me best and VOILA! Stefan Kovacevic created his very first blog. I was very impressed with the different types of templates I was able to choose from, everything was really organized and easy to access. It’s going to take awhile for me to get used to actual “blogging” though, considering I’m writing this draft in Microsoft Word, but as Dr. Lipton said; “Asking students to participate in digital culture allows them to make a place for themselves on the global map”, and that’s exactly what I’ll pursue to do. I picked up some key points about participatory journalism as well. Realizing how easy it was to make a blog, it shows me that absolutely anyone with access to the internet can make their own blog. Creating a blog gives everyone a chance to speak their mind about absolutely anything they dream of. As I just wrote that last sentence, I got a flashback to a news report from about a year ago about the shooting at Virginia Tech, where the gunmen Seung-Hui Cho posted pictures of himself holding several firearms on his blog on the day of the shooting. Its situations like these that make me think twice about the use of participatory journalism, but those situations are rare. My ideal view of participatory journalism is everyday lower income minorities posting their own thoughts on current events or anything that they feel like. Although these posts may lack quality and content, one must consider that everyone has their own view on certain things. Anyways, I’m slowly passing the 250 word limit so peeeeaaace ouuuuut!