Google Glasses?

For the additional extra credit I watched s short film by CNN about a possible new product, facial recognition application. Google has invented software that you can point at objects or now even people that can identify you with name, number and other personal information. As I watched the short clip, I was thinking about how creepy it would be if someone could simply snap a picture of me and immediately know my number, social pages and other information. I could see this being a potential problem for safety and privacy purposes. But I think it is a fantastic idea when they talk about how you can snap a shot of say, the golden gate bridge and find out information about it. Historical information would be easily accessible and people could become a lot more cultured. This also brings up problems in employment. What about tour guides? If you have a cell phone that can describe every landmark in NYC, what is the point in paying someone to tell you? This technology could do a lot of good if it is regulated properly and used appropriately.


http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2011/04/17/nr.holmes.armstrong.google.cnn?hpt=T2

Celebrity Problems Our Fault?

Another good point that the text book makes, is that can we be accused for celebrities hard times? The pressure that we put ion celebrity role models to look good, act perfect, never get in trouble is absolutely unrealistic. Miley Cyrus for example has been put in the spotlight for all of her teen years. When growing up you are bound to make some mistakes but because she is in the spotlight her mistakes are magnified by a thousand. I’m sure that made her feel like she was being controlled and not allowed to do anything further pushing her to do what she wants. Britney Spears is a similar example, was it the media who put so much pressure on here and never allowed her to have privacy? Media has many negative effects and with new paparazzi habits of chasing people, blocking celebrities in their cars and stocking their families, it seems to be getting worse.

Media's Portrayal of Women

Sadly, in this day and age women are not on a completely equal paying field with men. We are still joked around with about “only good at cooking and cleaning” or not being as smart. But where are these ideas put into young men’s heads? The media. When teenagers grow up watching music videos of trashy women exploiting themselves around rappers or not treating their bodies with respect it makes it seem like all women are like that. Another problem is men constantly comparing women to the “perfect” women in movies or online. They don’t realize that those women have all types of professional hair stylists, make-up artist, fake tans, and personal trainers to make them look beautiful. They are not average women in this world. Their job is to look beautiful. It is impossible to be put on a pedestal next to these women. Things continuously seem to get better, but we all need to help in order for gender and racial discrimination to end.

Infringing on the 1st amendment?

I was completely astonished at the Supreme Court ruling of what can be regulated by the FCC. I feel that our rights to freedom are what the united states were founded off and to regulate what people can and cannot say on the radio, TV, etc. is absolutely ridiculous and is against out constitution. If you don’t want to hear certain cuss words than don’t watch shows that have them in it. I’m sure most stations would beep the words out anyway because they don’t want to offend consumers so it wouldn’t even be that big of a problem. The FCC should not be allowed to regulate what can be broadcast on television. Most cable stations have their own morals and wouldn’t produce obscene material anyway. There would be a natural regulation on what was appropriate to say at certain times. For instance, Disney channel would not put nudity or swear words in their shows because they would lose their strong reputation they uphold with parents. The government should never tell us what not to say.

Marc Lloyd: Diversity Master

The speaker we had yesterday was Mark Lloyd the Chief Diversity Officer at the Federal Communications Commission. His speech in the HUB auditorium on Tuesday was centered around the main concerns with broadband and what his job as Diversity Officer really entails. He made an interesting point that diversity is not only race but its what distinguishes you from each other: geographically, religiously, politically. Most people only establish the word diversity with African American and Caucasians but in reality it is anything that makes us different from one another. His 2 main concerns with broadcast media were also interesting to hear coming from someone of such importance in the FCC. His speech made me realize how important it is to allow access to broadband to everyone because it is a Social and Economic necessity. The 2020 goal to provide 1 GB to every community and doing it affordably seems like a difficult goal to achieve but with Obamas support (which is strong right now) I believe it can be done.

Comcast- NBCU?

Learning about the current Comcast- NBCU merger was my favorite topic of the week. Combing the largest cable operator (the former) and one of the largest production companies (the latter) creates a pretty big power house. There are many concerns that “the merger will limit communications choices and drive up costs to consumers” (Hamill). But the conditions and regulations set should keep the new Comcast in check. Due to the merge Comcast committed to expand local news, broaden Spanish-speaking programs and offer Internet access to schools and libraries (Hamill). I believe the merger was a good decision so far and should continue to be as long as we keep and eye on their power.

I’m exited to we what we have in store for after spring break!

Hamill, Kristen. "Comcast-NBC Merger Approved by FCC - Jan. 18, 2011." Business, Financial, Personal Finance News - CNNMoney.com. 18 Jan. 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. .

Broadcast/Cable/Satellite... So confusing!

This week’s topic of broadcast/cable/satellite systems was a tough one but also very interesting. It was cool learning about something that we use on a daily basis. In fact, I had two different conversations about how service was provided to TVs around the country, after classes this week and it felt so cool that I knew everything about it! The most confusing concept to grasp was how they work together, who owns what, and what ads they sell. To sum it up, broadcast systems work with local stations to distribute national content while cable has an agreement with cable system operators and satellite providers to distribute the national content. As for where they create revenue, Broadcast networks and stations get almost all their revenue from ads while cable networks and systems get it from advertising and subscription fees. So confusing!