Hurricane Sandy

I got the text class was canceled around 5 pm yesterday when I was about to start my tutoring session. Ever since I received the text, I have been preparing for the storm and checking all my social media outlets to see the storm's status. One outlet I have been checking is the PPL page on Facebook. Since everyone is talking about the possibility the power is going to be out for days, I liked the Facebook page to stay informed. So far I have been able to access an outage map and learn what to do in an outage. 

Another outlet I have been using is Twitter. Since we talked about people reporting about the earthquake in China using Twitter, I thought it would be a good way to check the hurricane. So far, I found a good link on the site that posts major updates from the storm. For example, I learned about the NYSE closing and the suspension of all NYC public transit on this site. There were also tweets sent from the hurricane itself which was a bit ridiculous in my opinion. One tweet from the hurricane was "IF UR HAVING WEATHER PROBLEMS I FEEL BAD FOR YOU SON I GOT 99MPH WINDS AND IMA GIVE YOU SOME. #nyc #Sandy"

As I write this post I am watching the weather channel and checking for any changes in the storm. Stay safe everyone! 

Presidential Debate Number 2

This was the first presidential debate that I watched the entire time. Usually I will just turn it on for a few minutes then switch to something else. The debate on Tuesday was the last thing I expected from two presidential candidates. Since it was a town hall debate, the candidates were able to walk around the stage and take questions from the audience. Because of this, it was easy to watch body language.

To start, it was apparent that both candidates were confident. Both walked in onto the stage and had a standard handshake. Since they are trained public speakers, they did not appear nervous or unprepared. The debate continued with exchange of questions and answers. Just as expected, the candidates provided long drawn out explanations of their plans to save the economy and how they will create jobs. As an undecided voter, the debate did not help me make a decision.

One part of the debate that was really interesting related to body language was when the candidates started arguing pretty intensely. They started circling each other and at the point I thought they were going to hit each other. It was clear they were trying to out due each other and get the last word in. Romney looked frustrated during portions of the debate because he always had to interject his opinion when Obama was talking or clear up a previous topic.

Overall, I feel the debate did not really discuss the issues. It was clear that both candidates were not entirely truthful. The body language displayed was the pretty much what was expected from two trained public speakers however there were heated moments. The whole point of the debate seemed to be what candidate responded better and was the most defensive. In my opinion, there was not a winner. 

Big Bird Makes His Way Into Politics

After getting home from tonight's night class, I went to my computer to check email, Facebook, etc. Since I have AOL News set to my homepage, I couldn't help but notice an article entitled "Angry birds on Sesame Street want Obama to take down PBS ad". Since we just finished the class talking about Big Bird and Romney's campaign, I felt the need to read the article.

The article talked about how the Sesame Street Workshop wants the video taken down because it does not support any political party or participate in endorsements. Obama responded by staying that he will review the concerns. The end of the article makes a good point by saying America deserves more from their president.


Personally, I'm not really leaning toward any particular candidate in this election. At first I thought this was a prank ad created by some random person. Then I realized Obama actually endorsed the ad. I think this is a bit immature and unrelated to the campaign He should be making videos that focus on the issues, not ones to make fun of Romney. I understand making videos to counter the issues Romney supports, but this takes it too far.



Here's the article if you want to read more about it!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/09/obama-campaign-deploys-big-bird-in-new-ad/?cmpid=prn_aol&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk3%26pLid%3D217845

Pinterest

So the general theme of this class for me is to try new things related to social media. First I entered the blogging world, then came a twitter account, and now I have officially signed up on Pinterest. I have been hearing all sorts of positive things about this website and I did not really know what it was. I figured this was a great time to start one and branch out into the Pinterest world.

At first glance it seems pretty cool. There are so many different ideas for any topic you can imagine. While going through the homepage, I was trying to figure out what my first pin would be. After some searching, I decided on a cute Halloween arts and crafts project that can be made with an old 6 pack holder, 6 bottles, and Halloween candy. I can see why this website can get addicting. The only question I have to my fellow Pinterest users is do I get instructions how to make these things that pop up or is it just the picture? For example I saw a pumpkin bread pin that looked awesome and wouldn't mind trying to make it. 

At this point any tips or recommendations on how to use this site would be awesome! I know there are great things that are posted and I want to learn how to fully access them.

"Why Youth Heart Myspace"

This week's articles focused on popular social media sites. The one I chose was about Myspace. Looking back, Myspace was my very first step into the world of social media. I remember creating my account in 9th grade after field hockey season so I could stay in touch with fellow players on the team (I went to Hazleton Area so it was kinda hard to see people since there were around 800 kids in each grade). This article brought me back to the joys and unhappiness that was Myspace. 

One of my personal joys the article brought up was the use of comments. I remember how excited I used to get when someone left me a comment. When birthdays came around I remember hoping to have my secret crush give me the generic "happy birthday" remark. (Looking back it was little pathetic but we were all the same way so admit it) Along with the pros of Myspace came the cons. My biggest problem with the site was the top 8. Since I was a bit of a quiet girl back in the day, I always struggled with who would be in my top 8. For some reason the people you put in the top 8 defined who you were and the friend group you associated with. Thinking about using Myspace, it really was a place to work out identity like the article suggested. Everyone posted pictures trying out new looks and styles waiting for comments to approve the decisions they made. It was a method of self validation.

I will always associate Myspace with early high school. I thought joining Facebook senior year of high school marked my entry into the adult mature world. When I think about some of the things I posted and comments I wrote, I just laugh and thank God I don't care about what others think as much as I did. I think it's weird that our generation can physically go back in time and revisit our old selves in Myspace and Facebook. It's easy to tell how much time has passed and how much you have changed.

Overall, this article highlighted the different features of Myspace and why teens flock to it. I personally did not like the style article but it served it's purpose.