A Sad Time for Musicians

With the decrease in music revenue it makes it harder for labels to sign new bands. With many great and talented artists out in the world it is a sad thing because people with greta talent should be known. I personally buy music off itunes, but I also still by CD's of my beloved bands. It is only my hope that in the coming years the industry can recover and great new music will emerge.

Schools and Internet Censorship

Sometimes I believe that schools go to far censoring their students from material on the web. If the kid can't get at it in school they are just going to go home and find it. The schools are most likely looking out for their own interests so that they don't get sued. YET! Their are kids who are having sex and doing drugs in school while its in session (disturbing but true) yet the school cares more about censoring what's on the internet. I think there should be an even balance of punishment in school. People stop paying attention to what's happening right in front of them and become more concerned about what's going on online. That's just my opinion and I hope it doesn't offend anyone.

Domain Squatting

There was an interesting blog about domain squatting that I read on politicsandtechnology.com called The folly of speculative domain squatting.
People just buy up domain names that they believe will be popular and then later on try to sell them for more on sites like ebay etc. Many times people don't turn huge profit buying this. So why would people want to do it? Does anyone have any ideas?

Babies and Television

I was observing my cousins kid watching television the last couple days, and I noticed something funny. He is one and half and he can't sit still unless certain shows are on television. Any adult TV doesn't interest him.

the shows he watches are:
The club house mickey show
Handy Manny
Dora
Phineas and Ferb

I found it really interesting that he only likes children shows because I don't know how many kids will just watch any television. There must be something about these shows that draw his attention. It's good though to see a kid only watch a little bit of television a day though.

Bloggers getting paid?

General survey...

Do you think certain bloggers should get paid to blog?



My answer: No because I just feel blogging is a way to express what you are thinking or feeling or to tell a story about something on you're mind. I am open to others opinions though my judgement isn't rock solid.

Xbox 360

I love how so many Xbox 360's have had the "ring of death". The ring of death is three flashing red lights on the system where it usually falshes gree. This error is usually due to code errors or hardwar failure. In the first couple months when the Xbox was first released there were numerous cases of this error happening. It still happens today even though it seems less frequently with the newer Xbox's being distributed. Though many system errors happen when a new system is released. I honestly believe it is because the companies are so eager to get their product out as fast as they can to please the publics demand, but most times its at a cost. I think if companies took a little more time on their product it would be worth the wait.

Class Online

I enjoyed having class in chat. I felt it was easier for me to talk and I know I said more than I do in class. It seemed like we got alot discussed.

What did everyone else thing?

Livenation

Livenation is a great site to get tickets from. My boyfriend and I got out tickets for the upcoming Paramore / No Doubt Summer Tour on it the day (actually the moment) they went on sale. The site is easy to use, and the ticket delivery usually delivers faster than the estimated time. I have never had a problem with livenation or even ticketmaster. I don't know if anyone else has or not. I go to alot of concerts so those sites are my life line to my concert life. I'm a major music junkie.

I cannot wait to go to this concert. I'm not as big a fan of No Doubt, but the only reason I really am going is to see Paramore (it will be my fourth time seeing them) my favorite band in the world. I pretty much idolize Hayley Williams (the lead singer) its hard to find a female vocalist with a voice like hers in my genre of music. What's even more incredible is that she is a month younger than me, and they started when she was only 16 and the drummer Zac Farro (the youngest member) was 14. It's nuts how they have traveled the world and seen so much at such young ages.

Television vs. Internet

Isn't it convient how you can watch TV shows online now? Sites like Hulu and others are a save for many who are to busy in their daily lives to watch the show they want to when it aires on TV. Sadly though most of the shows I watch aren't aired online as much.

Still though I prefer watching shows on the TV when I can because after sitting in front of a computer for to long my eyes water and burn. I had this problem when I used to play World of Warcraft all day. The idea of TV shows when you want them is nice, and I like the idea and I know many are fans of it. Personally though for eyesight issues which others may experience the TV is easier on my eyes. This post is random but I just thought about it while watching an episode of Room Raiders 2.0 sadly because nothing else is on, and I don't feel well enough to do much else.

Vending Machines are Crap

These machines are overpriced with their product. It's a total rip off 89% of the time! I needed this little rant after a pop machine decided to steal $1.25 of my money. It may not seem like a lot but its a lot to me at the moment! The coin return wouldn't even give me my money back. >.0! Made my morning get off to a crappy start. Machines are not always reliable, and these occurrences are just evidence of that.

Mac's and Mini Laptops

Reading an article on Apple's opinion of making MAC's into mini laptops aka "netbooks" made a lot of sense to me.

An employee for Apple was quoted saying this about netbooks:

“They have cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small screens, and just not a consumer experience, and not something that we would put the Mac brand on, quite frankly. And so, it’s not a space as it exists today that we are interested in, nor do we believe that customers in the long term would be interested in. It’s a segment we would choose not to play in."

To me this makes a lot of sense. I personally don't like cramped keyboard space. I type so fast that I end up hitting the wrong letters occasionally on spacey keyboards. My boyfriends laptop is a bit smaller than mine; and forget it I have so much trouble typing on his keyboard when working on his laptop. For now I prefer the regular size laptop, and not the mini micro ones. That is personally my opinion. Others may feel differently though.

What are you opinions on the netbooks and mini laptops?

VHS vs DVD

I love renting movies but recently I noticed I end up getting angrier than I used to when I do it. Sure DVD has better quality but the discs seems to scratch to easily and the machines tend to freeze or skip alot as well; even after cleaning the disc.
With a VHS they always worked really well for me; yes the rewinding and fastforwarding took awhile I couldn't just skip back or forward a scene or choose a scene to start with but I could enjoy a movie without yelling at the screen to move or play the darn movie.
The worst encounter I ever had with my VHS player was it ate one tape. I'm on the fence with what I like.
I think I prefer DVD's but the ease of getting through an entire movie without pauses with VHS always made me very happy.

What did you start with?

I know my first online thing I was involved with was xanga. It was fun to post little stories sometimes made up sometimes real. I felt xanga and livejournal were a great way to express myself. Myspace and Facebook are just a popularity contest most of the time.

I went from:
1. Xanga
2.Live Journal
3.Myspace
4.Facebook.

What did anyone else start with?

Online Literacy is a Lesser Kind- Response

It's true many people don't sit there and read a web page word for word, but I believe it's because it makes your eyes hurt. At least mine do after looking at the screen for to long. I think it's not also the fact people don't or can't read it properly it's that websites have many visually distracting aspects to their sites which can draw attention away from what is trying to be read. Unlike reading a normal book where you wouldn't have other distractions to go to another site or look around at what's on the page as you read. It is just the generation we are growing up in everything is digital now. Personally to honestly read something online I'd have to print it out. I agree with the article about skimming over things because I do the same. I can't hold a long period of concentration on the web. In some ways I think using books for academics is still better than online reading if the whole message is to be gotten across.

Twitter

It seems every new site to keep in touch with people is becoming more and more invasive. Myspace was okay; then it became all about facebook. Thank goodness for privacy options. Facebook can be a way to keep in touch with old friends or just chat with friends whenever. However some people stalk friends (extra creepy at times).

Twitter now though is all I hear about on shows like ET (Entertainment Tonight) and Access Hollywood. They are all a buzz about celebrities "twittering".
It's basically a way to let the world know what you are doing. The intro to the site describes it as "Send status notices through your cell phone, instant messanger, or via the Web, and notify friends and followers of the little things you're up to during the day."
I personally find that a little to stalker accessible to check up on you throughout the day. I think facebook is enough to statisfy me.

What does anyone else think about the new flash of "twitterers"?

A Terrible Addiction

One of the bigger online communities that I had a part in was World of Warcraft for about two years, and recently departed from about three and a half to four months ago. People either hate WoW or love it. It can be an addiction I would spend all my time on it. You get to know the people and frequently have contact with them and help each other out throughout the game. Leaving was a sad farewell to the many online gamer friends I had made. It was for the better to leave though. Warcraft one of the biggest MMO RPGs (Multi Massive Online Role Playing Game) becomes an unhealthy addiction. People I knew/know spend way to much time on it. Every moment between classes, work, and sleep was consumed. It was time to get out. Unless you can control a gaming habit it's smarter to just quit, and try to have actual social interaction outside of the gaming realm.

Megan Reardon Interview

Megan Reardon seems like a normal person doing her own thing and talking about what interests her. She created a blog out of her interest in what she was doing and used it to keep track of ideas she had or references she wanted to refer to later. Her blog was dedicated to her crafts (not strictly) which she has a passion for. She took what she knew and even got it published in magazines. She started blogging with no writing background and ended up publishing things. As most people she began to blog less and less; people become busy with other things in there lives. Many don't stop completely but many slow down over the course of time. She wasn't one who spent hours upon hours on her work; 10 minute give or take which is what a majority of bloggers I know now spend on their own blogs.

First Post

I haven't blogged in forever, but I think it will be nice to express my opinions again. It seems pretty legit to have to blog for class. I think it will be enjoyable.