Change at UMass

University of Massachusetts Amherst was born in 1863. From that day and until now the university has undergone huge amounts of change. What once were only four wooden buildings has tripled into a major public university. On April 29th, the university celebrated its one hundred and forty-fifth anniversary of its founding. The “New Dirt” program helps with UMass’ future campus development.

As of now there are 407 buildings on the UMass Amherst campus. Thanks to the New Dirt program, there are five projects in process for the near future. The projects are as follows: the Central Heating Plant, the Integrated Science Building, the Recreation Center, the Skinner Nursing School Building Renovation, and the Studio Arts Building.

The Central Heating Building, which should be completed by March, 2008, will support the university with electricity. Another building (already in the making) is the Integrated Science Building, which is projected to be available for the Fall of 2008. One of the most highly anticipated new projects is the Recreation Center which will supposedly be open Spring 2009. The renovation process of Skinner Hall continues, even though the construction was said to have been completed by October, 2007. The final project, the Studio Arts Building, is now completed and classes will be held there next semester.

The New Dirt projects have come with mixed feelings on campus, but the general feeling from students is that the construction is for the good of the school and will benefit everyone in the long run. Jenna Spataro, a senior at UMass said, “ It’s going to make our campus look beautiful in the end.”

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Happy Founder's Day

The 29th of April is a significant day in the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's history. That day is called Founders Day, and this past Tuesday was the one hundred and forty-fifth anniversary when Governor John A. Andrews signed a bill to fund a state school for farming and agricultural sciences. Through time, that small school flourished into what we now know as UMass Amherst.

To celebrate this significant event on campus the University provided an outside barbeque, appearances from the UMass Minutemen Marching Band, Governor Deval Patrick and the University of Massachusetts President Jack M. Wilson. However, due to New England's sporadic weather, the event was moved inside into tents and the Fine Arts Center. Students were notified the night before about the change via e-mail.

The on and off rain showers did cause a dip in attendance, but those who came out to see the governor speak said they were happy with what they saw. "I like the tents, I think it's great, and inside the Concert Hall it was nice," said Katelyn Haggerty, a sophomore Music major.

Not every student shared the same enthusiasm, however. "I don't even know why I'm here. I've never heard of Founders Day," said Devin Teagan, a senior and Food Service employee who was working in the food tents. Other students at the celebration noticed that most of the people in attendance were high schoolers on a field trip.

Altogether, there were positive and negative reviews of the event. Positive in that many different types of people from the Amherst community came to celebrate. And negative as the weather ruined this outdoor event. Whether positive or negative, Founder’s Day is a huge achievement in the history of UMass and definitely should be celebrated in one way or another.

Apple's iPhone too fragile?

I went back to my favorite blog and wanted to see the latest technology advice from David Pogue. This week he and a reader had a talk about the fragility of the iPhone. The reader wrote to Pogue about his cracked phone. The concerned writer said,

"This past Friday, my iPhone inadvertently slipped out of the case and hit the concrete sidewalk. The glass panel front cracked like a spiderweb in the upper corner, and a single vertical crack went from top to bottom."

As a purchaser of an iPhone, when you buy the phone you know how delicate the product is. Altogether, you learn that there is NO INSURANCE on falls, spills, or rough-housing. Unfortunately this unlucky buyer accidentally dropped his phone, and was in a predicament- What do do??

Furthermore the writer did his research and found that in order to replace the phone, one would need to pay $245 dollars to turn in the phone for a refurbished phone. Moreover, that the glass screen costs only $10-12. The writer than proceeded to complain about this procedure and wanted Pogue's advice.

Pogue answers the writer where he barely sympathizes with him saying,

"You bought an all-glass device. It doesn’t really make sense to expect it to withstand the same handling as a plastic or metal clamshell phone like the Razr—an all-glass machine will be more delicate. (Even so, I’ve actually managed to drop iPhones a couple of times, and I’ve found the glass surprisingly scratch- and crack-resistant.)"

I do have to agree with Pogue because one needs to take precautions especially when you buy a phone as expensive as the iPhone. As time progresses Apple may do something to make it more durable but for now there is really nothing they or you can do.

I've used a number of different methods of keeping my phone intact and clean. For example, definitely investing in a good case, a screen tape to keep dust and cosmetics off the screen and cleaning supplies. All in all, the iPhone is not your typical phone. In the past you could drop a phone and not have a care in the world. The iPhone on the contrary needs to be treated very delicately or else.....

ABC Launches New Network, TWO

ABC is known as one of the top networks on T.V. As if that isn’t enough, the network plans to launch their new network, TWO for Spring 2008, which will offer five new series: “Perfect Killer,” “What Exit,” “YouNews,” “Campus Life,” and “Survivor Island”.

TWO was created during the 100 day Writer’s Guild Association strike. Since ABC experienced a decline in ratings, executives decided to use TWO as a comeback. Stephen McPherson, President of ABC Entertainment, is anticipating TWO’s debut and success.

“ABC is the #1 network with women 18-49 and TWO is designed to attack the same demographic using ABCs recipe for success” said McPherson.

Four out of the five programs debuting on TWO are reality series. ABC producers decided on these types of shows due to the Writer’s Strike turmoil. Moreover, neither writers nor actors were available.

In order to promote the network, ABC and ABC Family will run frequent advertisements about the new network. Furthermore, different websites will be publicizing ABC’s newest project. Network producers feel that in order to receive as much viewership as possible, commercials will be aired during popular ABC programs.

Altogether, ABC representatives plan to spend $3,280,000 on advertisements and publicity.

Monica Gleberman, an ABC representative claims, “ TWO will be the next largest network”. For more information on TWO tune into ABC, ABC Family or ABC.com.

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Intramural Sports

Stuff White People Like??

Blogger explains:

What's a blog?

"A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world."

Blogs seem to be the newest fad lately; There are politics, fashion, news, celebrity blogs. However, have you heard of a blog called "Stuff White People Like".

This blog is absolutely hysterical but not too informative. If anything it is very opinionated and entertaining. This blog too does allow viewers to interact and comment on the posts. However, what is interesting is that the comments section is slightly hidden. While looking at the posts, the general comments were cut in half; half were positive saying something like "it's hysterical" and the other half were negative and upset.

I personally found this blog to be very amusing. I am a white person myself and did not find the post to be offensive. On the contrary I did find some of the comments amusingly true.. Yoga, Sushi, Vintage Clothing... sounds like me!

Check it out if you are not offended easily.

Journalist getting too close?

This is the image that Rolling Stone has said is "The face of the War in Iraq" and as LA Times said is an "iconic image".

This picture taken by LA Times journalist and photographer Luis Sinco took of the "Marlboro Marine"/ Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller has changed how people see the war and even how photographer Sinco sees his subject.

Through LA Times, Sinco has captured Miller's life in multiple means; through photo, audio, and print. However, Sinco too has even found himself responsible for Miller's life. Looking at the multimedia package that Sinco offers, one begins to realize the pain and suffering of Miller. He now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder due to his time in Iraq.

Since Sinco spent much time with Miller, they began to form a tight bond and understanding for one another. Furthermore, Sinco truly began to feel for Miller and worry about his condition. Sinco decided to try and find Miller help by suggesting he go to Moe Armstrong, a veteran counseling program.

Is Sinco overstepping his journalistic duties? Can a journalist be a friend of his/her subject? Is there a way of keeping it professional? Personally I feel that Sinco did keep it professional. How can a journalist let their subject fall apart like that? I don't think that Sinco's piece would have been as powerful if Miller and him had not gotten so close.

Check out Sinco's multimedia package and see what you think?

The Sun vs People

I was tuning into my favorite blogger Mr. Perez Hilton and he posted something really interesting. He posted a story yesterday at 10 p.m about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie supposedly getting married according to Star magazine. However, the next day Mr. Hilton posted that this may not be true according to People magazine sources.

This then becomes a question of reliability. Which magazine has a history of being more trustworthy and practices responsible journalism?

Mr. Hilton himself sided more with People. However, should Mr. Hilton have double checked his sources before he posted his 10p.m report? I think the fact that he posted a story saying one thing and then possibly denying it is not the best quality of a blog.

UMass Amherst: The Bad One

University of Massachusetts at Amherst is one of the five Massachusetts’ Universities that has always been looked at with negativity from the binge drinking, partying and crime. This past month proved this statement true due to three incidents.

Over the past three weeks, much violence has occurred at UMass Amherst both on and off campus. Firstly, an off campus party turned into a major brawl where the house residents and three lacrosse players were involved. The after effect of the party was worrisome, due to the destruction of the North Pleasant house, injuries of the residents, weapons (lacrosse sticks, baseball bats, and bottles,) and extreme drunkenness. Currently, the three lacrosse players are facing criminal charges, have been kicked off the lacrosse team and could be expelled from the university.

The following week, an incident occurred in a Southwest dormitory, Pierpont, where an alleged rape and assault occurred. Supposedly the man accused, is an UMass student and rugby player. Thus far, the man involved no longer attends the University.

The most recent episode occurred involved a stabbing on campus. One student, John Vassal, 23, was charged with stabbing a non- UMass student, John Bowes, 20 while being in a dormitory. Apparently, witnesses have said that Bowes was shouting racial slurs at Vassal which prompted him to defend himself. Both men are being charged with criminal charges.

What to do with so much violence at one given amount of time? Campus police has tried to facilitate by the University Police escalating their patrol. Tim Holmes, 21, a student Fire Fighter said, “ My chief told us that we are going to have to work a lot harder and be on call more frequently.” Clearly, means are being used in order to make up for this troubling time.

Kelsey Brait, 20, a junior at UMass Amherst says, “I honestly feel that UMass really isn’t that bad. Whenever the media talks about us, it’s always negative. Therefore we always get this reputation of being a “bad” university. I wish for once someone would write something good about our university”.

Mr. Pogue and Iphone advice

One of the things I find so great about Mr. Pogue's Technology blog is when he gives advice or the latest tips on common technological devices that you and I may have.

This week , Mr. Plogue discussed a helpful tip to anyone with the new and miraculous iPhone. An avid reader of Mr. Plogue's blog, a physics professor, Richard Muller gave Plogue advice of his own. This week Plogue used it as one of his posts.

A normal, less advanced, cell phone has the ability to "vibrate then ring". However, on the iPhone this is not possible. There is only vibrate OR ring; no happy-medium. Professor Muller writes to explain his dissatisfaction with the iPhone not having this. Luckily, Muller discovered that Apple has created a program where you can customize your own ringtones. With that, Muller exclaimed ,

"Here is my genius: all I have to do is to make a custom ringtone that is SILENT for the first ten seconds, and then plays a sound! Then, if I put my iPhone on “vibrate AND ring,” it will, as usual, start “playing” that ringtone immediately as it vibrates–but since my ringtone is silent for the first ten seconds, the result is “vibrate THEN ring.” "

All in all, this is a very helpful feature of Plogue's Technology blog. Not only does he provide information on the latest technological advancements, but he also allows us as readers and followers to be a part of the conversation.

Are Your Everyday Websites Reliable?

After looking at John R. Henderson’s tutorial I began to surf through different websites that I use on a regular basis. My blog of choice is www.perezhilton.com , #1 website is www.wikipedia.org, and best search engine is www.google.com. Throughout the day I check in with all these sites because they are either informative, entertaining, or quick. However, Professor Henderson raises a good point in his lesson; are these websites reliable?

The first website I decided to focus on was Perez Hilton’s blog. This blog is merely entertaining. You won't find hard news, politics or international business on this site. However, you sure will find the latest scandals with celebrities, newest fashion trends, and overall, funny stories. Perez Hilton too, allows his readers to contribute to his blog through comments and even stories. Every so often he has a video or a letter from a fan posted for an entry. I personally find this blog to be set up rather well. He uses multiple forms of multimedia, for example: writing, graphics, video and sound. However, the question really is: Is it reliable?

I went through Professor Henderson's steps to answer this question. One of his concerns is "What is the purpose of the sight?" I definitely think it is supposed to be an entertaining site if anything. However, when I really look at it, there is A LOT of advertisements. At times, when I log in the whole background of the site is an advertisement. All along the sides are ads from t-shirt companies, TV shows, music producers, magazines and tons more. All in all, this site is definitely making money with all of the support from the advertisers. Another comment from Henderson was about the details of the website: Are the links working? Is the spelling and grammar correct? How are all the details? Overall, Perez Hilton is a very flashy site. However, all of his links work properly and amazingly, (even with his hourly updates) I've never seen any problems in the spelling or grammatical area.

The next site I took a closer look at was Wikipedia. This site to me is just your average website. It is a free encyclopedia on the web that allows people everywhere to add in / edit information. That right there to me is a complete red flag. ANYONE?? Yes, anyone can post onto this sight.

For myself, I take everything I read from Wikipedia with a grain of salt. You can't trust everything you read. Especially, when comparing it to Professor Henderson's standards, it's hard to trust everything that's on the site. One piece of advice Professor Henderson gave was "When in doubt, doubt". And that is exactly what I do when I get to Wikipedia. I realize that everything that is on this so-called "encyclopedia" cannot be fully accurate. With that, one should always verify the information that is given to them. Furthermore, "Consider the source" as Henderson says. In a lot of the articles and postings on Wiki, we don't even know where it is coming from. We don't know the writers credentials or how he/she even knows the information. Therefore, you can't always rely on this website for the best kind of information.

My last spot was Google. Whenever I have any kind of query or thought, my first instinct is to go to Google. It is really fast and seems to always help me out when searching for a particular topic. As a whole, it is pretty hard to say anything bad about Google because they seem to do everything right; they have mail, they are a search engine, you can personalize the site and on and on the list goes.

However, if you focus on it just being a search engine then we can run into some problems in regards to Professor Henderson. His first comment on his tutorial is "Make sure you are in the right place". This is an extremely good point because sometimes I just resort to Google because it is fast and easy. However, after spending some time with it, Google may not answer my question. Sometimes a library database is much better than Google because it can bring up your actual topics rather than something that just contains a word in you search. It's hard to say it but you can't depend on Google for everything.

All in all, this exercise really helped to reevaluate the websites I look at and depend on on a regular basis. They really aren't all that great and other websites or sources could be used more effectively.

Technology and decor?

In Mr. Poque's latest blog titled "Making the Case for a Countertop Printer" he makes an extremely great point. More and more technological advancements are being produced and it gets to the point that one begins to think, "where do you put it all". Thankfully, tech geniuses are using their heads and making new products that are both technology advanced and also decorative. For example, this summer they put out the LCD frame that unleashes a display of pictures. And again, it isn't just "computerish " it's a frame so you can put it in your bedroom, bathroom, and living room. All in all, it serves two purposes.

You definitely see this more and more in products. Pogue explains in his blog that he was having an issue with the bulkiness of printers. Finally, he found the perfect thing for himself and his family. He found the Canon Pixma IP90 which is delicately small and conveniently sleek.

Yes, products are like this more often. However, there are a couple issues with this. Due to the duo functionality of these products, the prices are more costly. For example, the printer Pogue mentioned is $175 and the ink too is small in size but high in price ($12-21). Another issue, some people just don't feel the need to display their products. A lot of the comments on Pogue's blog were negative saying something like "Why is there a need to have a frame that changes through pictures-- my computer does that".

So there is the goods and the bads to these new products. What do you think?

Mr. Pogue on Leopard Technology rather than Perez on Britney

One of our newest assignments in Multimedia class is to search for a news or technology based blog. Sadly, the only blogs I look at are relating to fashion and gossip (ie. Perez Hilton). I am embarrassed to say that I am an obsessed viewer. For some reason I am highly entertained by trashy celebrities and their issues.

Thankfully, Professor Fox helped steer me in the right direction of REAL news sites and their blogs. One of the blogs he recommended was David Pogue's Latest in Technology on The New York Times. I do have to say that I am interested in this topic. Plus, it keeps me updated with the newest technology.

Today's topic from Pogue's blog was on the update of the Macintosh Leopard program. Pogue had blogged previously on the the introduction of the program. Unfortunately when the program first came out Mr. Pogue was not too happy because of 3 concerns: 1. The stacks application is not showing all of it's contents. 2. The see through menus are hard to read. 3. The automated syncing is not working properly.

Fortunately, however, in the recent upgrade, Mac has managed to fix all of these problems and therefore, made Mr. Pogue a happy customer. In his most recent blog he points out that now the stacks application properly displays all it's contents, there is a control bar for the menu on how light/dark you want it and lastly, the syncing ability now works!

This makes me very happy. I am currently a PC user but truly want to turn over to Mac someday. I own a lot of the Apple products but really want to get a Mac laptop due to my studies and love for photography. I am very content with the customer service and upgrades of Macintosh products.

Macintosh's OS X v10.5 Leopard runs for $129.00. It offers 300 different features to make your Mac computer work it's absolute best.

There Were Only 2 Winners...

Last night was the Potomac Primaries and in comparison to Super Tuesday, these primaries were much more straightforward and quick. Overall, I am not too knowledgeable about elections. However, from some of the Web sites I was able to learn more about the Potomac Primaries. The Boston Globe was very helpful in particular when I was searching for the basics of the Potomac Primaries. The Globe taught me that there are 3 states involved: Virginia, District of Columbia, and Maryland. Within these states there are a number of delegates “at stake”: In D.C there are 15 delegates for Democrats and 16 for Republicans, Maryland has 70 delegates for Democrats and 37 for Republicans and finally for Virginia, there are 83 delegates for Democrats and for Republicans, 60.

For this assignment I focused on 3 different Web sites: CNN, The Boston Globe, and the washington post. For each Web site I focused on a particular state and the following is my findings:

I used CNN to provide the results of Maryland. Barack Obama and John McCain were the overall winners for the state: Obama with 60% of the Democratic votes and McCain with 55% of the Republican votes. Through CNN they not only reported the actual percentage of votes for each candidate but also the demographics of the voters. Obama received a lot of female votes and 45-59 year old voters while McCain received votes that were equal between the sexes and a lot of 45-49 year old voters.

Next I looked at D.C through the washington post’s Web site. Again we found that Obama and McCain won; Obama won with 75% of Democratic votes and McCain with 68% of votes for Republicans. the washington post said that D.C is considered a diverse population. Also, they claimed that D.C is highly Democratic.

The Boston Globe was my next Web site of choice. The Globe helped to tell me the results in Virginia: Obama with 64% of votes and McCain with 50% of votes. The Boston Globe was very informative. Through their Web site I was able to find out a lot about Obama. For example, they projected that Obama would win all of the Potomac states due to “blacks, and upper income liberals”. Overall, the Globes predictions were completely true and well thought over.

I found out from all 3 Web sites that Barack Obama and John McCain scored big victories in the 3 Potomac States. All in all, the results of the Potomac Primaries could have been found with one website. If I had to have chosen one website over all the others, I would have gone for The Boston Globe news site. They were highly informative and had a lot to offer in regards to convergence. Especially, for a person like myself who isn’t too educated about the 2008 Election, they offered a lot of basics and background information. Furthermore, the content on Boston.com was very thorough and interactive. I found myself wanting to find out more on the primaries because of their great reporting. Now let’s see what’s going to happen in Texas and Ohio!

Check out these Web sites and my sources for more information:

1. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/02/12/potomac_primaries/
2. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/12/potomac.primaries/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/metro/special/8/?nid=roll_dcpolitics

Epic 2014

After watching the "Epic 2014" video I was initially shocked. I never realized the overall power and different applications of Google. I am a Google user who has a Gmail account and everyday types something into . All in all, I feel like I am just scraping the surface of what Google has created. Since then I have been logging into Googlenews more frequently , personalizing my Google page and creating blogs. 

I find it important for companies to branch out into different areas and partner up with different companies. However, I feel like Google is in one way or another trying to take over the world. After watching the video, I have begun to wonder if everything I log into on the internet has some connection to the Google industry. I do feel kind of bad for the New York Times, who in this particular situation seems like the prey of Google. I feel that the NYT has and still is an incredible source. I've just come to the conclusion that Google is becoming too obsessed with taking over everything.  At some point Google needs to realize that they can't be good at every single thing on the internet. 

Now don't get me wrong I love Google and everything it has to offer to the common human being. There is news, mail accounts, different types of search engines, and ways of personalizing your own Google sight just to name a few. In every Google application there is a lot of space, a lot to do with it, and it is very fast. All in all, it caters to any individual who wants to search, purchase, be  informed and get things done easily and fast.