My Reflection of Understanding…

Posted on July 9, 2011 by jacquelinem

Well, this has definitely been a quick session of a topic that is definitely important for everyone and anyone to know! Internet technologies is a resource that everyone, myself including should be acquainted with and this class has only given me a taste of what I should learn, and I’m hungry for more.

Journalism 333 has brought me into 21st century and I now feel that I can compete in the professional world. I had no knowledge of blogging, Twitter, Delicious, Flikr, YouTube, or even Podcasting. I usually only used Facebook, but to communicate with my friends and family, but there is so much more, especially on a professional level. In today’s world, having the edge of social media is truly all that matters because it’s a matter of how you brand yourself and who/what you work for.

It’s unfortunate, but knowing your job isn’t good enough in today’s world because you need to go beyond what is expected of you and knowing all of the different types of internet technologies is what gives anyone that edge that is necessary to put you on top. For example, it is imperative for journalists to have Twitter accounts, not only to brand themselves and have people “follow” them, but also as a form of newsgathering of stories that they would have not known otherwise. It’s crazy to realize, but people find out of disasters or the latest government or entertainment news on social media sites before it’s actually news on television. Just for that fact, it’s imperative that journalists follow people and to give them that heads up of something newsworthy.

I really enjoyed learning about Twitter in this class because I never realized how much it could help someone become known. Not necessarily as a celebrity, but to get their voice heard and it also helps guide followers to a blog or other site. I think it’s very savvy to utilize this to engage people towards what is truly important and it’s Free! Why wouldn’t a person want to utilize the service if it helps broaden their reach and that’s what it’s all about, reaching out to all of the people that you would have otherwise never been able to. Lastly, I really just enjoyed learning about all of the different aspects of the web, but trust me, I have a lot more to learn and broaden my understanding. I truly enjoyed myself and jumping into something so foreign to me, but that is all the fun.

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Who’s your daddy?

Posted on July 7, 2011 by jacquelinem

Las Vegas is home to thousands of restaurants, many of those are fancy four star, dress code type enforce, but what about all of the fabulous restaurants located off the road less traveled? There is a new delicacy in town that I know many never knew existed. I myself never even knew about this place until I saw it on Man Vs Food. Hot and Juicy Crawfish is a new restaurant that is right in the heart of Las Vegas, just a few miles from the strip in Chinatown  off of Spring Mountain and Decatur.  I took the liberty of tasting this tasty crustacean and it was truly awesome. Hot and Juicy is cooking up everything seafood from clams and lobster to its namesake, crawfish. They even have chicken nuggets for those not willing to taste the tasty delicacy.

This is how it works: You sit down at a plastic-covered table. You order the house specialty, or shrimp, or snow, Dungeness or blue crab in season. You choose the seasoning style (Juicy Cajun, garlic butter, lemon pepper or the Hot n Juicy Special, which is a combo of the three). You specify whether you want it mild, medium, spicy or extra spicy (and while our waitress suggested we order one level down, we considered the medium we ordered mild by any standard). When the food is served, they bring it to you in a steaming bag, with no utensils, but your bare hands. I would definitely recommend wearing jeans and not bringing someone on a first date here unless you guys want to get dirty.

So how’s the food? Delicious, for the most part. Our crawfish were perfectly steamed and we loved the Hot n Juicy Special seasoning, even if it was milder than we expected. The crawfish — like the crab and steamed shrimp choices on the menu — were listed as market price, and on the evening of our visit that was $9.99, which I consider pretty reasonable. I walked to the 99 Ranch Market down the street and their crawfish was just a little cheaper, uncooked and unseasoned.

To tell you the truth, for never really traveling to Chinatown, I definitely didn’t expect, what looked like a whole in a wall restaurant to have such a nice atmosphere and the food was so amazing and definitely worth the travel from where I live in the Northwest. Would I return, yes, but not anytime soon. I had my fill and need to let the other Vegans try.

Below I try give you guys my feedback on my experience on my tasty adventure..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlcwqcu-3WA

 

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The Circus Comes to Town

Posted on June 26, 2011 by jacquelinem

The greatest show on earth is making their stop in the city that never stops. Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey perform in Las Vegas as they travel the nation bringing laughter, joy, and excitement to all that attend this great event. There was an abundance of thrills being performed throughout the arena floor, from all of the amazing animal acts to the daring superhuman stunts. You definitely didn’t have to be an adult to enjoy this event!

I took my son to this very fun event, but not with some hesitation at first. This circus is definitely in a league of their own and anyone that hasn’t been, will definitely need to take the trip to Thomas and Mack. Families are given the opportunity to attend the event an hour early to see all of the circus animals and trainers, which was by far very interesting because you got to see all of the animals up close, from the enormous elephants to the beautiful tigers. My son was in awe over the wild cats, as was myself, but very happy they were on the other side of the cage becasue their roar was very intimitdating.

The various acts were also very entertaining from circus clowns to tight rope gymnasts to even a human cannon ball. Although the show was very fun and enjoyable, it was on the lengthy side, at almost three hours and with a two-year-old, that is a bit too long. I was even very tired at the end of the show, especially because by the time we got done with everything, we had been at the stadium for already five hours.

I feel that this is my best picture, especially from where I was taking the picture from, my lighting, and the equipment I used, which was an older camera. I tried to take as many pictures and videos as I could, but the megapixels on my camera was very poor and the lighting effects were terrible when it came to having to take pictures.

 

 

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To Tweet or Not to Tweet…?

Posted on June 19, 2011 by jacquelinem

To tweet or not to tweet? That is the question. Many people not familiar with the online lingo, tweeting is a form of web communication through the social media website Twitter. I was very hesitant about the online social media site, but after reading up on how it is actually utilized in the business world, I may definitely jump on the Twitter wagon and actually use the account that I created for this class. Many people, including lots of business professionals and especially journalists are using this type of communication to reach out to other followers and get their brand exposed.  For those of us never exposed to what is involved in a tweet, it is a mere 140 words, so making every word and tweet count is essential.

There are many resources online to help one’s self leap into the world of tweeting. According to one resource, Ann Handley, author of “Everything I need to know about Twitter I learned in J School,” she states that it’s a lot harder to express your thoughts is less words. She also says to keep it simple, provide context, lead with the good stuff, and to have killer headlines. Also, as stated in the article, “A Journalist’s guide to Twitter,” Jason DeRusha uses twitter to crowdsource stories and promote his work, while also engaging his followers. I think it’s a great tool for all journalists to use, especially to promote your brand, which in all reality is yourself. I think it gives journalists real time and real life one on one contact with their followers without having to be physically talking to them.

Many journalists are also using Twitter to track relevant information for their stories. Some journalists have also laughed at the thought of joining the website, but many have used it to promote their stories, get breaking stories, as well as a way of performing interviews, and as a form of quality assurance.  It’s crazy to think, but many people post/tweet breaking news of natural disasters, political developments or even celebrity news before it is even brought to television news. But it is working and according to Marshall Kirkpatrick, author of “How we use Twitter for Journalism,” news of the earthquake in Mexico City was first tweeted before it was reported and this was also the case in Japan and China’s earthquakes.

After reading all of the above referenced articles on Twitter, I will definitely use it as a tool to connect me with other professionals. It would definitely be stupid for anyone not to.  It’s funny because the two first people that I started following were the More show on Fox 5 and Fox News. I’m definitely a newbie to all of this, but I recommend anyone who isn’t familiar with tweeting to open up to it, because it truly is a valuable resource, one that can connect you with many more people otherwise.

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Blog Design in the Now

Posted on June 16, 2011 by jacquelinem

Nowadays, blogging is everywhere. I used to think people blog because they just want to be heard, by anyone!

It’s truly a form of expression and shows off a person’s creative side. Being so new to blogging, I looked at so many different themes and probably changed it at least ten times. To tell you the truth, I’m probably going to change it a couple more times, but that is what is fun about it, you can change it according to how you feel. If you want your page to look dark and mysterious, you can do that, if you want it light or full of color, you can do that too. Blogging is a open book and the possibilities are endless. You just have to take the time to do a little research and everything is at your finger tips with the touch of a mouse.

When most think of blogging, they think of just someone typing of their opinions on various topics for the world to read, but there is so much more to it. According to Michael Wilder, a person has to consider many issues such as beauty, usability, and clarity.  And what is great about blogging, it that there are a lot of blogging tips out there.

Mr. Wilder further states that a person needs to make sure that their blog is attractive to the public and will it communicate what you want it to? Usability is another issue. One also needs to ask whether or not the design is user friendly. Legibility also comes into play because you need to make sure the text is easy to read. Overall, a person can choose a specific theme to help balance all of the essential elements.

When I put all of these tips into thought, my head started to hurt. I seriously had no idea that blogging took so much into account, I began to get discouraged because this is so new to me. Trying to move past my headache, I searched online to find out how to communicate my ideas for my page.

Aesthetically, I wanted a theme that had lots of color, but realized there is a lot more to consider besides just the color when choosing a theme. I looked to WordPress for some examples, but there is an abundance of online websites to help a person choose their theme and again, a lot to consider. Such as, how many columns are there? The white space. Color scheme and much more. I knew I didn’t want a theme that was dark because that is just not me. I wanted a theme that communicated “happy.” I’ve always loved comic sans writing style, so I chose that and I feel that it flows very well and on top of that, it’s very legible. Lastly, my theme is very customizable. I can change the header, background and widgets.

 


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Adapt or Move Over…

Posted on June 16, 2011 by jacquelinem

Change is very difficult for some, but for many their careers will depend on it. For the world of journalism, change is an everyday occurrence, especially with the emergence of new media each and everyday. To be on top of their game, journalists need to make sure that they are well rounded, even if that means whether to blog or not to blog. Many ask why isn’t being a journalist enough? Now, people have to write about themselves and also interact with their followers through social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter. The truth is, if you don’t have any followers, then something is a problem. In today’s society, branding yourself is as important as breathing and will undoubtedly determine how well the public perceives you.

The public definitely wants to determine who is hot and who is not. The public also wants to be apart of the news and if that includes interacting with your favorite correspondent, than that interaction is key and a person’s career relies on it. Journalists need to engage their followers and the good journalists can even make conversation turn into stories. If a journalists wants to survive in the world of media and technology, then they will adapt and press on…

 

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