Linds Com 102 Blog

Final Thoughts: COM 102

mulreninl — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:46:10 +0000

Writing is something that needs practice and careful thought. Luckily with the right teacher and a little confidence, a COM 102 class can turn some people’s worst fears of writing in to an enjoyable experience. This semester we wrote about digital texts. Not only did we learn the wide variety of them but also to engage in our intuitive writing skills.

I came into this class as an average writer. I have always gotten B’s on papers which made me nervous to enter the class because of my expectations to get an A. I have never felt strong in my writing skills so the first day of class I became reluctant. Now it is our last day of COM 102 and my last writing class at moraine and possibly in the future. I have now become reluctant to leave it. I do feel like I found a new style of writing and have become a better writer. The papers were enjoyable to write because of the wide variety of topics on a specific area we were assigned to cover. This helped my writing skills tremendously because I was able to research and write what I cared about. I honestly tried my hardest in my writing and therefore do not wish I had done anything different. I went with the flow of my writing hoping it would be at a substantial level to succeed in this class. One of my worst areas of writing would be run on sentences. I sometimes keep writing without thinking to stop and put a period. By having a long enough time period to write our papers and the help with peer reviews on them, I was able to help eliminate most of the problem.

As for the learning outcomes that we were supposed to achieve when leaving COM102; I feel that I hit several of these dead on. The one I feel that I became strong in the area is integrating research material from multiple sources into a piece of writing while maintaining one’s voice. There were several papers in which we had to research information on our topics. Even our first paper which was “My Soundtrack”, I looked up lyrics to tie in the meanings of the songs. The paper in which we wrote about a media analysis, I chose to write about Cosmopolitan. I researched Helen Gurley Brown and found out many fascinating things that I decided to include in my paper. My main intentions were to write about a popular magazine for women and found out about a fabulous woman who started the whole thing. I feel as if I did achieve this outcome by expressing voice as a writer and still did extensive research on topics that appealed to me.

I found this to be an amazing class. The subject of digital texts was a new spin on the traditional writing class. I was able to construct an in depth analysis on several topics which included: music, media, and mobile technology. I learned to become a stronger writer and apply my knowledge of the topics into my papers. We are now in a generation of technology and involved with topics varying with the media. I enjoyed these topics because they are what I know best and have grown up with. There would be nothing that I would change with this class.

After today I would now call myself a writer. I have crossed one of many steps in order to strengthen my knowledge and skills of writing. In the future I feel that I would not be as nervous to take another writing class. I have become more confident and learned that writing can be enjoyable. Thank you for all your help!

R & R: Elevator Chat

mulreninl — Thu, 20 May 2010 03:23:45 +0000

We all had to write a paper on a technology trend. There were so many possible topics to write about that I had no idea where to begin. My final decision was on iPhone applications revolving around fashion. Our elevator chats proved that many other people decided to talk and write about other iPhone applications. Some that varied from the application the iCam which is a home surveillance camera to fitness applications to help count calories and target specific fitness workouts. Artists use auto tune to make their songs better, now the iPhone has an application to do that also. Technology is continually increasing quality and becoming more famous than ever before. The iPhone was a main target in technology trends. It was approximately 150 million dollars to develop but now the amount that has been purchased has succeeded that amount tremendously. Apple proved to be a huge trend that now involves iPods, iPhones and the popular iPhone and iPod applications. From one talking about touch screen technology in general or the use of cell phones actually revolves around the Apple generation we now use today.

I found many of the statistics incredible. I do not own an iPhone and have a very old generation of the iPod. I know many people who do though. Everything that the class talked about I was able to relate to. Our generation has truly become dependent on these forms of technology. Just look at what we all wrote about, we have to be dependent on these because this is all we know what to talk about! What shocked me the most is that there is a thousand dollar iPhone application for law students. I cannot believe that the majority of our lives have become dependent on our phone. We have lost touch with reality and now our phones run our lives just like calculators have ruined our math skills!

The World of Fashion Apps

mulreninl — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:01:18 +0000

As the old saying goes “all good things come to those who wait.” Women have been waiting for that dazzling ring on their left finger and of course new seasonal clothing and jewelry to show off their stylish found fashion for the year. While choosing what to wear for some may be a breeze, others tear their closet’s apart finding that perfect outfit to wear next to impossible. Now there are iPhone applications that help women with their fashion sense and the waiting for something like this is over. Women no longer have to search for an outfit in their closets because there is an “app” for that. They also do not have to worry about what is or is not in style because there is an “app” for that as well. Women depend on the iPhone fashion applications to help plan out their daily wardrobe and accessories.
We can only watch “What Not to Wear” so many times before our eyes are exhausted from watching countless hours of television to help us pick out our wardrobes. Applications for the iPhone that include fashion are still relatively new; therefore, there are not as many apps out there for style compared to other iPhone applications. The ones that are out have already become a great hit. True fashionista’s who are obsessed with high-class style have already put these as their number one applications and use them frequently. One application is called the “Fashion Hand Book.” For ten dollars, this application can be downloaded (McColl). It is a fashionista’s fashion bible. It talks about the art and history of fashion, clothes that are best for your body type, and what is in style for the season. It would seem easier saying people who download these apps are in great need for some fashion sense, but in reality it is to keep up with their stylish lives.
Syle.com is a free application which shows consumers hot trends and photos from recent runway shows. Women as well as men can browse through this application by seeing what celebrates “wore it best”. They can also browse through new men and women’s clothing collections from various fashion designers.
Television series and movies have also influenced the expansion of iPhone applications. Because of the hit movie Sex and the City in 2008 and the new Sex and the City 2 that is coming out in May of 2010, this has caused even more of a promotional frenzy. There is an application called Sex and the City: Carrie’s Closet. Women can upload pictures of all the stars clothing and jewelry from the movie/television show to this iPhone application. While searching through this app, the Sex and the City soundtrack is playing on the phone. By having an entire wardrobe on your phone, they are suggesting we can now remember what we have bought and what has been collecting dust at the bottom of our closets. When the movie Clueless came out, Cher’s wardrobe astonished all. She was a rich daddy’s girl with an amazing wardrobe and closet. With a press of a button her clothes rotated around into a giant circle making it easy to find an article of clothing. This iPhone app reminds me of the convenience of Cher’s wardrobe and how effortless it seems to choose an outfit. Now you can too have a portable rotating closet in your phone. It is now possible to scroll through our phones to look for an outfit to wear without getting off of our couch, as long as we own the same or similar clothing accessories. Making decisions on what to wear could be hard, but if one is having trouble on two possible outfits, they can e-mail the choices to a friend for their opinion.
The television inspires many of us to wear the types of clothing that actors and actress’ dress in. Wal-Mart stores carry Miley Cyrus’ clothing line and Kohl’s Department store now carries Lauren Conrad’s line of clothing. The hit television reality drama show, Laguna Beach and The Hills turned Lauren Conrad into a celebrity. In these two reality TV shows, Lauren studies fashion in college and eventually was given the opportunity to intern for a fashion icon, this is turn inspired her to develop her own collection. Conrad currently sells a ruffled dress for 60 dollars and a ruffled skirt for 44 dollars in her spring line (Fields) at Kohl’s Department store. That may seem inexpensive for some but there is an iPhone app called iRunway. While at a particular department store, you can scan the article of clothing with your phone and it can help you find similar outfits like it that are even less expensive. What bargain shopping!
There will always be the mornings that we wake up a half hour late before we leave our houses for school or work. Most likely we are going to want to leave the house in decent looking clothing. Good or bad fashion exists in our lives whether we choose to embrace it or not. Fashion applications on the iPhone are not only for those with good taste, but for those that need some kind of taste. These fashion applications have made our lives easier and more convenient for iPhone users.
There are applications like the above and there is an application for the iPhone where one can ask a personal stylist about the outfit. It is called “Ask a Stylist.” From what to wear on a date or even an opinion on what to buy, there is a 24 hour stylist at the touch of a finger. With over 185,000 iPhone applications, not many have been created in real time, which this app has (Ramirez). Not only is the user being helped by a stylist, but this app is creating more jobs. They are paying 15 dollars an hour for an on-call stylist for this application, which is also posted on Craigslist (Von Pfetten). Craigslist is a major search engine for jobs which shows that this application is increasing with popularity. Like.com and Glamour magazine put this iPhone application together. There are categories which you choose from while first asking the stylist a question. Some categories are: dinner party, wedding, at the office, and casual wear. Next, you then take a picture or two of some articles of clothing that you would like to wear. Within minutes the stylist responds with what would go along with the piece of clothing or accessory. Not only are women using this application but men are using it while shopping in stores. What really proves this apps’ validity is that these eight stylists are Glamour certified and approved (Ramirez).
With the iPhone increasing with popularity along with apps including fashion, many designers and companies have been rushing to make their own application. In fact, the cost of developing a simple fashion app starts at $10,000, but more sophisticated ones run $25,000 and up (OConnell). Since designers created apps, they have been downloaded on thousands of phones. Unfortunately, some of these designer apps have been hard to find over the internet. It then increases their sales as well as people becoming acquainted with their styles. The price above may seem outrageous, but the price for ad’s and commercials is up in numbers as well.
Along with the hundreds of other applications, fashion applications for the iPhone continue to expand in quality and in higher technology features. As one application grows into media frenzy, another is being created. New versions of fashion apps are constantly being updated, keeping the consumers interest in the product. Television and magazines tell us what we think we should wear. They provide us with a wide range of styles that we have an inertest in. Short and long hairstyles and dangly or dainty necklaces appeal to different peoples styles. Our lives are filled with variation in everyday activities that we do. Fashion applications may strike some as fascinating and provide an easier way to help them pick out daily clothing and accessories. Sometimes that adorable skinny black high waist belt is impossible to pair with a shirt or dress; luckily there are applications on the iPhone to help us with that.

Works Cited
Fields, Jackie, and Samantha McIntyre. “Lauren Conrad For Kohl’s.” EBSCO. Web. 7 May 2010. .
McColl, Colleen. “IPhone Turned Fashion Assistant, Great Apps for Every Style.” Mobile Magazine. Web. 10 May 2010. .
O’Connell, Vanessa, and Elva Ramirez. “The New Must-Have Accessory.” The Wall Street Journal. Web. 11 May 2010. .
Ramirez, Elva. “A Fashion IPhone App That Talks Back.” The Wall Street Journal. Web. 11 May 2010. .
Von Pfetten, Verena. “Ask A Stylist App.” Styleite. Web. 11 May 2010. .

Mobile Tech Summary

mulreninl — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:06:00 +0000

Txt Msg n School Literacy: Does Texting and Knowledge of Text Abbreviation Adversely Affect Children’s Literacy Attainment Article Summary

Standard cell phones only allow approximately 160 letters per text message. Many of us abbreviate text messages to complete our thoughts instead of “blowing” up our recipients phones with five messages in a row. It has become a convenience to abbreviate words while texting a message to our friends, family, and co-workers. Less than 10 years ago, Instant Messaging was a growing trend. Adults, teenagers and even younger children used this feature. Abbreviations were used to communicate because writing on a keyboard took much longer and it was not known when the recipient would receive the message. Now with the booming era of texting, more people are relying on it. There is not a time limit on text messages and it has been found that it is faster and more convenient to talk to people through them. This new phenomenon will not diminish. Approximately 135 billion text messages were sent in the first three months of 2004 (Plester). This is more than I could ever send in my lifetime!
Two studies in England were preformed in obtaining results to conclude if there was a correlation between text messaging and young children’s written language skills. The range of the study was children 10 to 12 years of age. There has been research on adults as well as older adolescents who have already obtained substantial written language skills for the standard English language. When using text messaging adults also abbreviate words, such as typing wat vs. what or c u ltr vs. see you later. The adults who abbreviate is more accepted and understood than the young children’s vocabulary while texting. It has been proposed that young kids who use text abbreviations regularly may have lower literacy, but their spelling may not be affected.
The first study investigated 65 children whose mean age was 11.8 years old. There was an inquiry about the distinction of their test performance on standardized tests based on high and low text message using children. The Cognitive Abilities Test was used in this study which is a standardized test to find out both verbal and non verbal literacy capabilities. They also wanted to become aware of the children’s texting knowledge of abbreviations. The young adolescents were given the standard English version of one sentence and were asked to translate it into text language and one sentence vice versa. They counted grammatical errors when translating to the English version and the number of “textisms” while translating from the English version to the texting language. The ending results were that there was not a significant association with text usage and the Cognitive Abilities Test.
The extent of the varying results from the first test influenced a second study on this topic. The researchers focused on the connection with text language and kid’s performance with writing and spelling by using a level of competence for them instead. In this study there were 35 children from two schools in the sixth grade. Each child was given a level of their competency of the English language ranging from Level 3 to Level 5. Similar to the first study, they were given sentences to translate from the texting language to the standard English language both ways. It was found that there was a relationship with spelling skills and the errors made while interpreting the text language to the English version. Meaning, if the interpretation scores were decreased then the spelling score was increased.
Overall, I found these two researched studies to be quite complex. They brought my attention to this concern, but proved to not be very successful in what they were testing. I thought there would be more significant results stating that children’s writing and reading capabilities have been severely affected by the use of newly made texting language. These studies only showed that even though a child may use texting and be able to translate standard English to the text language, it depends on their level of competency of the English language.

Works Cited
Plester, Beverly, Clare Wood, and Victoria Bell. “Txt Msg N School Literacy: Does Texting and Knowledge of Text Abbreviation Adversely Affect Children’s Literacy Attainment.” Literacy 42.3 (2008): 137-44. EBSCO. Web. 25 Apr. 2010.

R&R: Tucker Hooked Up or Just Hooked

mulreninl — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 05:48:19 +0000

The article “Hooked up or Just Hooked” talked about adolescents that have now taken a part of technology and made it their life. Patrick Tucker talks about how they go online and fly through the websites. They are so involved with checking Facebook and their emails that it is running their lives. The internet isn’t for pleasure, it is to check your life status? He talks about being sent to their room is now not punishment and being sent outside to play would be. This is because of the dependency phones and technology has bestowed on us.
I would have to agree with him. People my age and even myself live for our phones. I remember when Facebook was starting to get more fame and I refused to make one. Needless to say I have had one for a little over three years and check it more frequently than my school grades. Technology has taken over the younger generations lives. We rely on it so frequently and many have grown up with it that it would be impossible to ever go back.

My Pop Culture Figure

mulreninl — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:18:47 +0000

Reality Televison: There Is A Connection We Create With People On It
Bravo is a television station that is continuously playing new episodes and complete seasons of the hit television series The Real Housewives of New York, Orange County and New Jersey. The first series of the “real housewives” and my favorite has been located in New York City, NY. These women are successful upper class Manhattan women whose lives are anything but ordinary. The women are constantly holding charity events as well as dinner parties and social gatherings. Religiously in every episode, one of the ladies always has to have the last word in an argument. Reality television shows are often viewed as staged performances, but for someone who watches these “reality” shows, one can see its’ real women and drama on a daily basis.
My friends and I hold weekly Thursday viewings in my home of the Real Housewives of NYC. It is hard to watch the full episode while we are giggling and comparing our friends and acquaintances to the women on the show. One whom I am referred to being most like is Bethenny Frankel. In 2008 when she joined the show, Bethenny was the only one who was not a housewife, which would seem a little odd to some since she was the only woman who was not married. Bethenny boosted her career tremendously (Albertson) and claimed she did not need a man in her life to be complete.
Bethenny Frankel was born in New York City in 1970. According to Cammila Albertson from All Movie Guide on the AOL television website, Frankel was an upscale event planner for many movie premiers and award shows. Frankel attended the National Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts. During this transition time, she discovered her true passion was preparing healthy food and making it taste scrumptious. No longer was she satisfied with preparing dishes as a hobby, but wanted to succeed as a self made millionaire.
Frankel wanted to coach others to lead a healthy, natural lifestyle for eating. Unlike myself when I do not eat for several hours, I will binge eat anything that comes into my sight. No matter how full I become, I always have room for one more cookie to scarf into my mouth. While reading Frankel’s recipes on her website, it actually made me want to prepare one for myself. The testimonials about the two books that she wrote Naturally Thin Unleash Your Skinnygirl™ and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting were inspiring. One woman thanked her for “freeing her from food prison” (Bethenny Frankel). Many women as well as men have troubles with diets but Bethenny put a spin on getting rid of diets and recreating food into healthier, more tasteful versions. This makes it easier to still enjoy food without depriving yourself of the nonsense you love to eat.
I am often told I am full of life and can put humor into any situation, but when I get angry I have found my friends and family cowering away from me. On several occasions, a few friends of mine have told me that they are often scared of my mood swings. By “scared”, I mean that they will ignore my phone calls or not call me for a few hours since they think I will yell at them. People often perceive me as “one who cannot stand up for myself”. When I do express my opinion, most are shocked and speechless at my responses. Many of the housewives on the show have said that Bethenny “scares” them as well. I think this is because she expresses her opinions and will just keep talking until she gets her point across. I feel that she is stuck in the nonsense conversations because several of the other women are self absorbed and do not wish to communicate with one another. Although Bethenny accuses the other housewives of being self absorbed, it’s the opposite reaction towards her. Bethenny will often be accused of not thinking about the other women in regards to family problems and/or obligations. The women will also boast on how much they have done for Bethenny, not realizing she has returned the favor several times. I constantly feel I am in the same position by my friends and family.
Since the Real Housewives of New York came on, Bethenny Frankel’s career has skyrocketed. Although, I do not plan on becoming a hit television star and publishing several New York Times best seller books, Bethenny Frankel has been an inspiration to me. Instead of an award winning author and cook, I plan on becoming a speech pathologist. Any career path we put ourselves on, we should always strive to become better and more successful in it. Bethenny started out having a career in event planning and soon realized what her true passion was. Being on The Real Housewives of New York, actually made her new career more successful. Frankel goes to frequent seminars inspiring people and helping them with their dreams of being healthier. Aside from the television show and the books that she has written, she also posts blogs on Twitter and has advice columns in Health Magazine and Ok! Magazine. I personally love food and learning how to create new recipes; but my problem is that I do not mind how fattening or healthy the food I am consuming is. Even though I am least concerned of calorie and fat content, I plan on looking over some of Frankel’s recipes and preparing them for myself; only because they look tempting and delicious. Frankel’s words and actions are encouraging and that is why I truly enjoy watching her weekly on television. For the majority of the first two seasons she was the only housewife that had a boyfriend instead of being wed. At the age of 40, Bethenny and her boyfriend became more involved, eventually got married and became pregnant all in one season of the show. One day, I want to have children, but I would like to be successful and stable in my career.
Overall, every Thursday night I have put myself into the television series The Real Housewives of New York. This show is easy to relate to and brings my friends and I closer together. We have a ritual every Thursday with watching a television program we love. Bethenny Frankel has changed my opinion on many topics and now has become my favorite Reality TV star. Watching her on television with her down to earth, fun personality; I catch myself rooting for her over the other housewives.

Works Cited
Albertson, Cammila. AOL Television. Web. 12 Apr. 2010. television.aol.com/celebs/bethenny-frankel/738002/biography.
Bethenny Frankel .” Bethenny Frankel. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. www.bethenny.com/bio.

R&R:The Office as Reality Viewer Training

mulreninl — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:25:39 +0000

Steve Carell who plays Michael Scott plays a huge role in the success and humorous hit television series The Office. The author talked about many of the episodes where Michael Scott has portrayed his humor while being the manager in his office. The article says that The Office is a knowing laughter that the show generates. People love to watch television that makes them laugh, even though the office is not true reality television. The office portrays a sense of humor that relates to reality television drama and humor.

In the article the author stated that when watching reality TV viewers look for a connection between themselves. I say that is true. In several television shows that I have watched, I have ended up putting myself into the show or even the situation and have better related to it. The Office has been a booming show for several years now. Unlike reality television which is said to be unscripted, this show has actors that are to act as if working in the office scene is a documentary like many of the reality shows we watch today. This is why we all enjoy it so much, it is a different type of television show out there.

My Media Outlet

mulreninl — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:07:04 +0000

Cosmopolitan- Every Woman’s Necessity
The history of Cosmopolitan magazine stems from a middle-aged woman named, Helen Gurley Brown. Gurley-Brown was born in 1922 in a small town in Arkansas (Scanlon 1). At the age of 10, her father died in a freak elevator accident. A few years later, her mother, sister, and she moved cross-country several times before Gurley-Brown finally settled down in Los Angels, California. Upon graduating from Woodbury Business College in 1941, she eventually landed a secretarial job working for Foote, Cone & Belding, an advertising agency (Scanlon 17,18). Seeing her quick witted writing skills, she advanced to the copywriting department and soon became one of the highest paid ad copywriters in the nation. During her employment in the 1960’s with Foote, Cone & Belding, she wrote a bestselling book titled Sex and the Single Girl. Not only was she starting a trend on writing books about sex, love, and money (a girl’s three best loved objects in life), but she married a famous movie producer, David Brown who helped her with the idea of writing her top selling book.
Gurley-Brown’s passion for writing was born from sexual freedom. Women were exploring premarital sex and loving every minute of it, except they could not talk about it, at least not in public. After Sex and the Single Girl became a best seller, women across the county were begging Gurley-Brown for personal advice and mailing her countless thank-you notes. A quote by her was “the single girl is a giver, not a taker, a winner and not a loser” (Garner). These women were ecstatic that a book was written to express the sexual needs that women had and that they did not need a man to be happy with themselves or to become successful.
Within three years of her best selling novel, Gurley-Brown pin-pointed the main ideas of her messages to women. She wanted to spread the message that women were having sex and loving it. She also wanted to have her vision in a magazine that women could relate to and read stories about other women who were experiencing the same or related issues as their peers.
This idea of a magazine was a complete success and in 1965, Gurley-Brown was announced editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine (Benjamin). Up until this time, Cosmopolitan was a failing magazine and it wasn’t until July 1965, that Gurley-Brown edited her first issue (Benjamin). During the 1960’s and ‘70’s, Cosmopolitan magazines were taken off the shelves faster than they could be published. Women across the country loved the magazine for its glamorous, fashion-focused, provocative topics about man-meeting vacation spots and experiencing extramarital affairs. These articles were so popular because they reached into the lives of everyday women and helped them sub come to living a better life on their own terms and enjoying life to the fullest.
The message that the newly revised Cosmopolitan sent out to women everywhere displeased many men as well as some of the still well conservative women. Things that used to be private in the bedroom as well as the home were now being published in a growing magazine (Benjamin).
Cosmopolitan’s core of success stemmed from making women feel that they were as important as men in their careers, family roles, singlehood, beauty, and sex. In the 1960’s it was rare and unusual for a woman over the age of 30 to not be married yet according and she wanted women to feel good and not ashamed (Garner). Over the years, Cosmopolitan has given permission to women to have confidence in sex and enjoy their own sexuality. From then on, women couldn’t deny that sex didn’t exist.
Cosmopolitan is all about women. What do women need and want in life…health & beauty, sex & love, secrets & advice and fashion. In each category, there are sub-categories that relate to areas of interest. These areas include topics on sex positions, advice, health Q&A’s, beauty and hair tips/makeovers, celebs & style, life advice, horoscopes, etc. Within these topics are multiple questionnaires, personal written experiences, and quizzes. These various articles help women and men “talk” to their peers that in most situations, they would not be able to express their innermost thoughts and concerns. From communicating through writing, the individuals can state what questions or experiences one might have that could possibly help another. With regards to the general topics on health & beauty or celebs & style, the world is based on outside appearances and through a high powered magazine such as Cosmopolitan, women can observe fashion trends and decide if they want to subject themselves to the same. Almost every article relates to a woman and how to make life more enjoyable through sex, love, money, friendships and work. Women will definitely find this magazine and online source enjoyable. The magazine also has several articles geared towards “what men want”. The interviewees are men and they give suggestions to women on how to please them in intimacy. Cosmopolitan targets both women and men and satisfies their craving for juicy information in many categories. Helen Gurley Brown wanted women to believe in themselves and to conquer life’s obstacles by doing things for themselves. Whether it is not finding Mr. Right yet or troubles in the workplace, her words spoke to women all around the world who still to this day feel as if Brown has saved them. This is why today this magazine is still a top seller on the shelves. Though Helen Gurley Brown has left the stage of editor in chief for many years now, most of her original concepts that were put into the magazine exists today which is why even still an older crowd of women still read this magazine religiously. In 1997 when Gurley Brown stepped down, Cosmopolitan ranked sixth in newsstand sales and was rated number one on college campuses and book stores and selling 2.8 million copies a month (Scanlon xiv, 219). Gurley-Brown was editor-in-chief for Cosmopolitan for 32 years. Over the many successful years of her devotion to the magazine, she was often sited for her role in the sexual revolution. Although she turned over the reins of editor-in-chief in 1997, Gurley-Brown remained the international editor for the many versions around the world (Scanlon 216). Currently, there are 60 international editions because of the help of Brown (Scanlon 217). As for growth in the magazine, Gurley-Brown has the world covered. With this being said, as long as Gurley-Brown’s vision of the magazine is carried on through their current editor-in-chief, Bonnie Fuller, Cosmopolitan has been and will remain a high powered, high selling, high impact magazine that caters to women and some men in the fashion, health & beauty, money, emotions and sexual ordeals of everyday life. As many of us have heard the reference of Cosmopolitan being the woman’s bible, this inspiring magazine is always putting a fresh, spin on things women truly love to read! Unlike newspapers which are diminishing in our society and being used as cookie sheets instead of being read, Cosmopolitan is sure to be on many women’s nightstands for many years to come.

Works Cited
Benjamin, Jennifer. “How Cosmo Changed the World.” Cosmopolitan.com. Hearst Communications. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. .
Garner, Dwight. “Helen Gurley Brown: The Original Carrie Bradshaw.” The New York Times. 21 Apr. 2009. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. .
Scanlon, Jennifer. Bad Girls Go Everywhere. New York: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.

R&R:Download/JFK

mulreninl — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:38:04 +0000

The first video we watched was “Download: True Story of the Internet.” They talked about how now us as the viewers have our own broadcast power in the Internet. The Internet use to be a controlled thing and now anyone can post comments, ideas, and beliefs on the Internet. A point that they mentioned quite a few times discretely was that anyone can get our attention on the Internet. We all can put whatever we want on it, and when companies or higher people try to stop our doings, we find a new way to get around it.

The second video was about John F. Kennedy’s assassination and how it broke the news into what many still rely on to this day. People used to only rely on printed word and that is how they knew the news was official. There were print reporters who literally had pads of paper and a pencil to write down the next hit story for the newspaper. Television relied on the newspaper for the news. JFK was truly concerned with television and wanted to learn about the certain angels that they shot film from. When he was shot, news reporters fled to their stations. They shut down regular television programming for four days and felt they needed to stay on the air. The newspapers were sending out new presses constantly but by that time whatever the TV reporters knew was already being broadcasted out. They said in the film 20 minutes after John F. Kennedy’s assassination TV was broadcasted around the world about his death. JFK’s shooting made TV news have its finest hour locally and nationally on November 22, 1963 according to the video.

I feel that there is one large way that these two films connect. News use to be solely relied on by newspaper. After JFK passed away and the news’ word needed to be passed around faster with events people would need or want to know in that moment, television really came into the main picture. Television news is not the only place people go to now to find news. It is the Internet. As I stated above, the Internet has full-fledged in to a huge frenzy of gossip, news, opinions and facts. The Internet now has made an even faster approach of finding out news the second we want it and what the reader prefers to read about. People always want to know about what is happening or what is to happen and our technology has expanded wider than our horizons. No one is to say what is the next big hit is, but by television becoming a huge commodity in our lives and the internet we can see what is happening around us. We can learn from the television and internet and do what we want on the internet showing people our points of view and what happened.

Protected: My Soundtrack

mulreninl — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:24:55 +0000

This post is password protected. You must visit the website and enter the password to continue reading.