April 25th - Final Blog Post

8 days until the last day of classes. And 16 until I go home. I had a great time in my New Media class this semester. I've gained so many skills and knowledge through this course. The course objectives are as follows:
   1. We were asked to identify the way that traditional news media, advertising, public relations and broadcasting professionals use new media. Many companies today have been turning to new media to better connect with their customers/clients. This has been done through various ways, like with Google Cardboard. A 360-degree virtual reality view of practically anything. News outlets, such as The New York Times are using Google Cardboard as a way to get better connect with their readers and gain new ones, particularly millennials.

  

    2. Some major new media concepts are wearable, big data, and privacy to name a few. The biggest out of those would have to be wearable technology. They play a big part in the new media world and allow individuals to say connected to the virtual world. Either for entertainment or health, it can be very beneficial to the users. Some examples of wearable technology are a small insulin delivery system that you attach to yourself and you control it with your cellular device, allowing you to be more aware of your health.

Another example is a smart bracelet that helps you monitor your stress and tracks it through different indicators of stress, while also providing ways to help you lower your stress levels. (This something I need in my life right now.)

    3. There are so many different kinds of technology that are available to many of us. Some being as small as a watch, others as big as a television.  One of them being the new Samsung S7 Gear VR powered by Oculus.  This virtual reality goggles are a whole new step in entertainment. The Gear VR allows you to watch TV shows, movies, and even play games. Imagine how fun that'd be! I am Apple user (and will be one for as long as I can possibly be), but this is pretty epic and I would love to try! (Come on now, Apple!)

 

    4. Like I mentioned before, there are countless different types of technology for us to experience. Many are used for soley entertainment, like Google Cardboard. Others have mixed purposes, like the Apple Watch, which can be used for entertainment and keeping track of your health. 

  

It strongly affects our society, both in a negative and (mainly) positive way. People are become more and more depended upon these new devices, therefore I believe the technology is improving as time goes on to better fit the individuals who use them.

April 24th - Online Crisis

Online crisis can range from a multitude of things. The main one being social media crisis. They can either be handled very well and work out for a company or end up going south very quickly. Most of these companies have been fortunate enough to have to right PR and social media people or they need to replace them as soon as possible. One example of a company that dealt with a social media crisis well is the Red Cross and their "#gettingslizzard" rouge tweet. They handled the crisis very well and while keeping a good name for themselves.

An example of a company handing a social media crisis poorly is Applebee's when a waitress shared a picture of customer receipt and Applebee's fired the woman stating that she was violating customer privacy. There was an outrage and Applebee's wrote a statement defending themselves. Following their statement, they received countless negative comments. They began leaving the same generic comment over and over again on the comments and they were also accused of deleting some of the negative comments. This made matters worse for them.

                                     

Maybe they should have read this article on how to properly deal with a social media crisis. 

April 13th - Apps

Applications are something I'm sure people, 16 years ago, wouldn't have thought would be so depended on. Apps, as they are called, are used constantly in our everyday lives. For either, important things such as banking and navigation. There are millions upon millions of apps for both Android and Apple. As an Apple user, I am constantly in the app store looking for something than can enhance in my learning or simply entertain me.

My favorite app is Sky Guide: View Stars Night or Day. As a star-lover, I constantly turn to this app for guidance on where stars and satellites are during anytime of the day. I see a bright star, I whip out my phone and point it in the direction of the stars and get the information I need on that star, planet, or satellites. Because of Sky Guide, I have been able to point out stars, planets, and constellations without the use of the app.

               

Another app that I have grown fond of is Flights by StudentUniverse. It assists students in finding the cheapest flights available for literally anywhere you want to fly, while providing travel trips for both the most novice and advanced travelers. This app is a lifesaver for students on a strict budget, like myself, who has to travel halfway across the country. It can get pretty pricey every now and then, but this app makes it a lot easier for me and won't break the bank.

               

April 7th - Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing, according to Daily Crowdsource, "is the process of getting work or funding, usually online, from a crowd of people." A popular example, that was listed is, Wikipedia. Which is a free online encyclopedia, where anyone who uses it can write in it.

There are many ways for people to crowdfund, one being Kickstarter. It is a "public-benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York which has built a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to help bring creative projects to life."

Not only is crowdfunding for creative ideas, but to also help out people in need. For example, I've seen people request crowdfunding for their special trips and even their tuition! I think it is amazing how we can help a dream come true for someone. 

April 1st - Geolocation

Geolocation seems to have become one of things we are now depended upon. How and why you ask? Well look at your cellular device and tell me the apps that you use. Facebook? Instagram? Snapchat? These apps, just name a few, are the ones that constantly use geolocation. For most of them, depending on what kind of phone you have, like iPhone or Android, they ask to use your location. Why do they want to know my location, you ask? To better service you, my dear. To find a better way to advertise to you according to your location. For Facebook and Instagram, that is the case, but for Snapchat, it is quite different. If you notice after you take a photo and you swipe right a couple of times you might notice these things called, filters. Depended upon one's location, there might be a filter for their location. For example, for Canyon, TX, there are two location filters.

                                  

Snapchat has also added filters for universities, helping build up the school spirit. For example, there are two university filters for West Texas A&M University. Although, some location filters are not offered to users depending on where they are, usually either from lack of service within the area or if the area is a small enough place that there is no point in making a filter for it.                                                                                                  

March 10th - Quasi The Great

We all have those days where we are bored out of our minds and turn to social media to entertain us. Mainly Facebook for people like myself. I follow various pages in hopes of finding something entertaining to share with me friends. But what I love to see on my Facebook feed are cute animals big and small. Cats and dogs. Seals and polar bears. You name it, I think it's adorable. I am that one friend who will tag a friend to a video of a puppy sleeping.

But what I really love are the Facebook pages of specific pets or animals. Like Lil Bub, Grumpy Cat, and especially Quasi The Great.

Quasi the Great is a German Shepherd Dog called Quasimodo who is living with Short Spine Syndrome. "He is one of only 14 known dogs in the world with this condition."

I love how social media plays a big part in sharing the life of an animal that is suffering from some sort of condition or is recovering from a difficult life. It shows people their progress in recovery allowing us to dote them more. In many cases having them on social media allows for countless views to donate money for special treatment or surgery. It is beautiful cause. Look at Quasi's adorable face!

  

March 8th - Google Cardboard

Just simply made of cardboard, glass and velcro, Google Cardboard is a new way to experience Virtual Reality in an affordable way. You just download the free Google Cardboard app (or many others out there) place your phone in the device and get ready to experience a whole new world.

With the official Google Cardboard app one can view historic artifacts, play with a kaleidoscope, and more importantly experience 360-degree tours of various locations around the world (which is done in all the Google Cardboard compatible apps). It is perfect for individuals that cannot travel and for the classrooms.

On the topic of school, this would be a great opportunities for schools to promote themselves. Like with virtual tours of the campus and residential halls. This would be ideal, for students who do not have the chance to travel to their potential schools. Like for myself, before I attended my current university I was too far to travel to visit the school, so having something like Google Cardboard would have been ideal. 

March 3rd - #YearInSpace

This week my Twitter has been filled with everything related to Space. Why? Because Astronaut Scott Kelly has arrived back to Earth after spending 340 days in Space doing countless missions, including gathering vital information for the Journey to Mars, which including "research into how the human body adjusts to weightlessness, isolation, radiation and the stress of long-duration spaceflight."In addition to a Twin Study with his identical twin brother and former NASA astronaut, Mark Kelly.

 

Along with those studies, the first plants were grown in Space (Which was a part of the Journey to Mars study). 

But with the various (very important) studies, Astronaut Kelly took amazing, breathtaking photographs of the life in the International Space Station. Check them many more of them on his Twitter and Facebook profiles. They are epic. #YearInSpace

Welcome home, Astronaut Scott Kelly. 

February 26th - Food & The Internet

Not only do love everything to do with Space and NASA, but I also love food. I grew up as a very picky eater and use to sit at the dinner table for hours struggling to finish a plate of food. But as years had gone by I had started to try new foods began to eat more. I think what has started this are all the posts and blogs about food all over the Internet and the cooking shows on the televisions. I can sit in front of the TV (and computer) for hours looking at different foods and recipes from around the world. I add them to growing list of things to try.
There is a cooking show on YouTube that I constantly watch and wish I could have or make a major of food they make. It is Cooking with Dog.
 
Websites like Tastemade, have also contributed to my love for food as well, with their various shows made by chefs around the world.
 

February 12th - The Sound That Black Holes Make

I am a Space/NASA fanatic. Ever since I can remember in elementary school, I remember answering I wanted to be an astronaut, whenever anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Years passed on by and I did not pursue the astronaut career path for various reasons, but that did not diminish my passion for the stars. Just about any Space news there is, there is a 99.99% I know about it.

Just yesterday, NASA released that they were able to hear two black holes collide from a billion-light-years away. It was said, by the New York Times, that this was Albert Einstein's last prediction in 1915.  "The faint rising tone, physicists say, is the first direct evidence of gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time that Einstein predicted a century ago.  It completes his vision of a universe in which space and time are interwoven and dynamic, able to stretch, shrink and jiggle. And it is ringing confirmation of the nature of black holes, the bottomless gravitational pits from which not even light can escape, which were the most foreboding (and unwelcome) part of his theory."

It is amazing how much technology has advanced to the point that we can detect such things! It is simply beautiful. Hear for yourself, the sound the two black holes make when they collide. To me, they sound like bubbles popping. Now imagine, sometime in the future we might even get real life images of these phenomenons. Just the thought of it excites me immensely!

(Image from NYTIMES Soundcloud)

February 4th - #DadDo

I was casually scrolling through my Facebook this afternoon when I came upon a few post talking about Pantene's new Super Bowl ad. Some of the repost of the commercial where from NFL teams such as the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The commercial features NFL players, Deangelo Williams (Pittsburgh Steelers), Jason Witten (Dallas Cowboys), and Benjamin Watson (New Orleans Saints) doing their young daughters' hair, or as the daughters' called it "Dad Do's".

The captions throughout the commercial says, "Girls who spend quality time with their dads, grow up to be stronger women. Put the next generation of strong in your hands. Strong is beautiful."

Just watching this commercial has definitely tugged a few heart strings for me. I felt a strong connection with this commercial because I, too, have a strong connection with my father. Although he's never attempted to do a "Dad Do" (thank goodness) he tells me, in his own way, that "strong is beautiful." Thank you, Pantene.