Media Journal

Media Journal

May 22, 2009 1:32 PM
by Gurewitz Samantha

Myspace- Over It?

I've recently had many friends of mine say they are deleting their MySpace profiles. I loved MySpace when it came out, I had just moved and it was a great place to share photos, stay in touch with old friends, and network with new friends. In fact, if you weren't even sure if you were just 'acquaintances' or real friends, MySpace would tell you- you're friends! My MySpace has been left untouched for perhaps over a year, and the rash of friends who are deleting theirs is making me thingk the same..
It made me think about the quickly shifting paradigms for Internet Social Networking. First seemed to be Friendster, which I never knew about, and LiveJournal, which I did know about. Then MySpace was literally, THE place to be online socially: It combined the networking capabilities of Friendster with the personal information posting of LiveJournal, and added a fun user profile setup. The came Facebook, easier to use, with apps and games. Now Twitter, a new PR tool, helping celebrities appear to have 'personal' communications with us, in a mass setting under 140 words. Oprah even did an entire show on Skype, the free worldwide video conferencing site. It's interesting to think about what these sites offer that are new, and what it is they are trying to capture about human socialization that we long for so much.

0 comments

May 22, 2009 11:45 AM
by Guerra Carlos

$$$ Gieco Cash $$$

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/71/l_4e8af240ed874d7d9d0ff2e4b84a6f79.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsHXMxoCXeU

Probably every1 has seen this commercial and ad. Its funny how they introduce money as a person and begging people to join Geico and save compared to the other insurance companies. A lot of these ads have been produced since the Super Bowl. The theme to it is also catchy also. "Tell Me Who's Watching.....Tell Me Somebody's watching me!!!" XD


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May 20, 2009 5:26 PM
by Widom Carla

Stop Smoking

There are many ads that tell people to stop smoking, but this ad puts me to wonder... How does a person lose their fingers?

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May 20, 2009 1:34 PM
by Cruz Samantha

Nobody Likes A Quitter

Nobody likes a quitter, even when it comes to smoking. In this post WWII era Disney cartoon, we see Goofy, portraying a heavy smoker, trying to kick the habit. Surrounded by temptation, he succumbs to his temptation and is relieved to have a smoke. "Give him enough rope [smokes] and he'll be coming back" or something similar to that is the overall message of this cartoon. The message is quite clear and a harsh reality for many smokers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmjjHkxTItE

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May 20, 2009 10:19 AM
by Karassavidis Alex

Facebook Ads


Download file "facebookads.jpg"

We touched upon this sort of thing in class, but I thought that it was still pretty funny. Facebook and other social networking sites sort of scan your page for buzzwords and then broadly offer advertisements that they think really encompass you. So I went and crudely pasted a few of them together in microsoft paint. What's weird is that alot of things that they advertise have to do with stuff on my friends facebooks. Though I'm a little offended by them coming to the conclusion based on my interests that I didn't have a job.

0 comments

May 20, 2009 9:46 AM
by Sorrentino Gennaro

Late Night Hunter

Okay so we all know what this school is like during the day; noisy, crowded, a very undesirable place to be.
However, last night i stayed here over night to study for my three finals that I have today, and its truly a different place.
Instead of bumping passed people on the way to class, everyone knows that you are at school for the same purpose, so it is very easy to strike up a conversation about not wanting to study at 4 in the morning. The whole school, as opposed to the library, is dimmed down, so its very comfortable to wander around. It almost felt like the school was welcoming you in, and trying to make you feel more comfortable during this hell week.
I dont know, maybe im just crazy, but i found this interesting.

1 comment

May 20, 2009 12:55 AM
by Neumann Eric

Lakers win

I think we're allowed to talk about anything, great, so did anyone see that lakers game tonight? It's good that the lakers finally decide to play Lakers basketball, the problem with them in the playoffs in they are too inconsistent, espec6ially in the semi finals against, a shorthanded Rockets team which shouldn't have pushed the series past a game 6 at the most, hopefully lakers are going to play hard every night in this series so they can win and we can have a matchup with the two best in the league. Kobe and Lebron!

1 comment

May 19, 2009 11:11 PM
by Small Lauren

Man Tries to Pay Bill With Spider Drawing---funny blog

I read this blog a while back and I thought it was pretty funny.  I feel the need to share it with everyone.  It doesn't have much to do with what we talk about, but its worth reading. 


copy and paste the link

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May 18, 2009 11:13 PM
by Valdez Paulina

The Tale of before and after

kim_kardashian_photoshop
Females consumers idolized celebrities like Kim Kardashian because they hold virtues that most of us dont. In these before and after photos we can see that her skin was lightened, legs and waist reduced as well as her veins airbrushed, but her breast remain intact. This is the perfect example of the tale of before and after; a regular women transformed into a eroticize product.

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May 14, 2009 3:11 PM
by Moscoso Kc

Changing Standards on What's Acceptabe Sexually

I remember when things that had to do with sex were not really seen on TV and around on billboards, but now that our society is becoming so sexualized you can see condom ads in the subway and I frequently see commercials on TV for KY Jelly that air during the day.

It's very interesting to think back to when I was a kid and realize that it is much more accepted to see sexually explicit things in every day life.























And here's one of those commercials I was talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cn7gEM6jYs

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May 10, 2009 6:17 PM
by Knafo Elizabeth

Gay Storm Spoof

Colbert Report spoofs the anti-gay marriage ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To1UlG6_Tv0

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May 9, 2009 10:30 PM
by Cruz Samantha

T.V Can Ease Loneliness and Rejection

According to a new report found in the current issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, the study suggests that illusionary relationships with the characters and personalities on favorite TV shows can provide people with feelings of belonging, even in the face of low self esteem or after being rejected by friends or family members. When viewing a certain television program, the participants felt more at ease. When reading this piece, it reminded me of Mildred from Fahrenheit 451. She was consumed with her "TV Family", which was nothing but illusions that made her happy, much to Montag's disliking. I found the last piece very interesting and close to heart. “Turning one’s back on family and friends for the solace of television may be maladaptive and leave a person with fewer resources over time,” says UB’s Derrick, “but for those who have difficulty experiencing social interaction because of physical or environmental constraints, technologically induced belongingness may offer comfort.” Due to my extreme timid nature, I find it difficult to interact with others and seek refuge by using technology, such as watching television, going online, watching clips on youtube, and listening to music. Doing these things makes me happy because as strange as it sounds, I'm not being judged by these characters. Ironically, these things are only pushing me away from real social interactions.
If anybody is interesting in reading, here's the link:
http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/04/23/tv-can-ease-loneliness-and-rejection/5499.html

0 comments

May 9, 2009 1:19 PM
by Knafo Elizabeth

Century of the Self

Here is a link to the film we started in class last week, "Century of the Self". Might be handy to watch again/finish in researching the next assignment. This is such an eye-opening and fascinating doc.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8953172273825999151

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May 6, 2009 11:00 PM
by Bondoc Lexine

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Last week we were talking a bit about Americans and their obsession with high fructose corn syrup. The whole discussion made me think of the recent commercials they have been airing in support of corn syrup. I found it a little funny because in the ad they say that it is fine in moderation but what people don't always realize is that high fructose corn syrup is in everything nowadays.
This is the commercial that I'm sure many of you have already seen.
I found this video on youtube to be funny. It is a spoof on the commercial posted above.

1 comment

April 30, 2009 3:53 PM
by Gardner Damion

PENISES In Advertising

I just wanted to post in reaction to professor Ewen's comments about camel cigarettes when he mentioned the logo but failed to discuss the overt spokesperson "Joe Camel" whose nose when turned upside down looks like a penis entering a vagina, this according to "The Book of the Penis" By Maggie Paley, Sergio Ruzzier (can be found on Google Books).

I heard of this when I was kid and only thought of it when Professor Ewen mentioned the logo in class.

See for your self, here is our beloved Joe Camel:

It does appear that it is indeed a semi erect penis in the midst of penetration.

While I was researching this observation I found this as well. the Arby's logo:

It does kind of look like a unrolled condom or stumpy penis. I may be reaching on that one but you can't deny the implications of the eye as an erogenous zone and the folklore of the subliminal in Camel's usage of ol' Joe.

I hope I have not offended anyone with these references...If I do recall correctly I believe Joe was recalled after many allegations were made of his nose being overtly male genitalia. 

1 comment

April 28, 2009 3:30 PM
by Gil Bar-Sela

Gathering Storm- an Anti Gay Marriage Ad

This is an add that was produced by the National Organization for Marriage- an anti gay marriage organization.
In the add there is an attempt to show how gay marriage will effect the lives of people who don't support it; how their religious freedom will be taken away and how children will be taught in school to think that gay (god forbid) is o.k.
Here's a link to NOM's website where you can watch the video:

http://www.nationformarriage.org/site/c.omL2KeN0LzH/b.5075663/k.A89C/Religious_Liberty.htm

The whole thing is very scary and you can find a million response videos on You Tube: This is one video I found particularly informative:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YGe8DwBs-s




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April 8, 2009 6:15 PM
by Foley Mia

Some interesting links related to our discussion in class...

This is a wee bit late, but after our discussion on Monday (the 9 AM class) I wanted to post these links because I was reminded of them by what we were talking about. 

The first, relating to Second Life (which I had never heard of prior to last class and was thoroughly creeped out by): in bringing up Second Life, we began discussing sexual freedom and what is deemed "acceptable,""normal" sexual behavior. Some of the things people were saying reminded me of one of my favorite blogs that I visit frequently for laughs, though it has definitely opened my mind in a real way. It's not actually a blog per se, its a newspaper column called "Savage Love" written by Dan Savage for a paper in Seattle called The Stranger, of which Dan Savage is the editor-in-chief. Basically, people write in about their sexual problems that oftentimes deviate from what would be considered "normal" by society, or "vanilla" (a term you will become familiar with after reading a few of his columns), and Dan gives them advice. I could go into detail about the nature of some of the letters he receives, but I think it would be better for people to just check it out. There's a list of archives on the page, so if you get addicted to it as I have, you have 5 years worth of columns to enjoy.


The second I was reminded of in our discussion of games like "World of Warcraft", another thing I'm not really familiar with. I've only ever heard of it in all its stereotypical glory, of how people hole up in their basements and become shut-ins playing the game for hours on end in lieu of any real social contact. The link I'm posting is to the first installment in a series of webisodes about a similar program, presumably based on WOW, about the people who play it and how they gradually form actual real life "friendhips" with the people they meet and play with online. It's called "The Guild," check it out, it's pretty funny and was definitely informative for me.


Enjoy!


0 comments

April 5, 2009 6:10 PM
by Dixon Charles

Taking It Too Far?



Just when it seemed like "Obama-mania" had finally come to an end, a recent article in the City section of the New York Times caught my eye. A fried-chicken resteraunt in Brownsville is taking a lot of heat over it's recent name change. Once called, "Royal Fried Chicken," the owner thought that substituting Royal with Obama would attract more customers. Instead what was attracted was a lot of angry constituents who demanded the name be switched back, citing the use of a black man's name in a stereotypical context.
Honestly I think it was the angry constituents who took it too far. There's plenty of buisness' named after presidents assumably without prior consent (JFK Fried Chicken to name a similar one, Roosevelt Field Mall etc). The simple fact that Obama is black seems to be the deciding factor between offensive and not offensive. In my opinion, seeking out sterotypes where they aren't blatantly obvious enough to be intentional is just as bad as supporting the steretype itself. Brownsville is a section of Brooklyn with a high-population of African Americans -- the owner, Mr.Jabbar, is of Indian heritage so to make a statement that his decision to rename his store was racially charged seems a little farfetched to me. Shouldn't we not be trying to remind everyone of the racist connotation of fried chicken is to African-American's? If not, then black people everywhere might as well just stop eating fried chicken to prove everyone wrong.

2 comments

March 30, 2009 10:13 PM
by Gardner Damion

China is spying on you...

If anyone remembers my earlier post about China and the internet in regards to the restrictions and filtration of the types of information that gets disseminated to the masses, this is even more ominous. I said in my earlier post that China was using the freeze on their internet restrictions during the olympics to crack down on dissidents by tracking who tries to access the blocked sites, well it seems I was only half right. 

Apparently China has created a way to remotely activate anyone's web-cam and microphone on their computer without you being aware of it. While this is intended to try and sneak into boardrooms and diplomatic environments, the capacity is there to do this to anyone anywhere. I am not sure if this article is intended to incite tensions about China as it does not definitively link them to actions but says it is a near certitude. It could be fear mongering but is nonetheless interesting as the policing of the internet is moving into new boundaries and now violates ones privacy in new unthinkable ways.

Here is the link to the article:

0 comments

March 27, 2009 6:47 PM
by Dixon Charles

Snacklish



Snicker's "Snacklish" advertising campaign is everywhere, and personally I kind of get a kick out of it. When I went online to see the rest of them I found a load of people complaining about it. I don't see much of a problem. I like the fact that it doesn't actually say Snickers on the advertisements and only hints at it via brand recognition (which most pf us who make use of public transportation have a nack for). There's a few other funny one's like: "Slay Dragons with SirSnacksalot""Make an Appointment for a Hungerectomy"

This guy's got a lot of them.

http://askacopywriter.blogspot.com/2009/03/did-snickers-get-this-idea-from.html

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