This I Believe About Digital Jouralism

The world, in which we live in now, is constantly involving technology. From computers, Internet, medical equipment, and the machines that make the medical equipment.

So much of what we, as Americans, read and learn can be found on the Internet. One can find recipes, research topics, the news, the dictionary and thesaurus, diagrams, and books are even published on the Internet. The Internet is a way of communication for many, with the rise of popular social-networking sites such as, Facebook or MySpace. It is also a way of communication with e-mail.

The Internet is useful and helpful to so many, as most bill companies, now have moved an option of payment to online. Customers who opt. for online bill payment also have the option to receive their statements online verses getting them mailed to them via the postal service. They also are able to have the payments automatically taken from their checking accounts monthly to avoid the hassle of remembering each month or receiving a bill.

Dr. Tracy discussed in her essay “The Evolution of the Newspaper of the Future” the idea of “computer-mediated communications (CMC)”. She describes CMC as “another way of technologizing the world.” Dr. Tracy explains the evolution of technology:

“While many squawk in alarm and anxiety, the millions of people using the Internet illustrate that society is now ready for this next stage in the evolution of communication. In fact, computer mediated communication may return to human exchanges what the process of writing removed.”

This is a prime example of what is happening now with the idea of communication being done on the Internet. Most of the newspapers across America are now resorting to online publications. Some of the major newspapers are cutting days of print, as more and more people are viewing the newspaper online.

So much communication from people is done through the Internet. People don’t send out hand-written letters anymore, as they send e-mails. Several businesses are now resorting to e-mail as their major form of communication verses meeting with the person to discuss the issues at hand.

However, as Sir Timothy Berners-Lee discusses in his Testimony “Digital Future of the United States: Part I—The Future of the World Wide Web”, the Internet is not complete. Lee discusses that the Internet has just passed it’s decade use world-wide, there is so much more to be learned.

Lee discusses the Web and what the Web relies on:

“The Web, and everything which happens on it, rest on two things: technological protocols, and social conventions. The technological protocols, like HTTP and HTML, determine how computers interact. Social conventions, such as the incentive to make links to valuable resources, or the rules of engagement in a social networking web site, are about how people like to, and are allowed to, interact.”

We have already seen the rise in the popular social networking websites, and more and more is being updated and involved with the websites. Games, and other forms of communication is being added to the social networking websites.

The digital world in which we live in is growing and changing each and every day. We have made large advancements from when the Internet has started. More and more of what we do will be incorporated with the digital world.

The audio file can be heard by clicking here.

Santa Comes to Town

Each year Santa brings toys to children across the world and visits malls and cities for the children.

This year, in Brooklyn, Michigan, Santa was welcomed with a parade and a song sung by the viewers. He was brought in by the Michigan International Speedway’s pace car.

The parade started with the lights and sirens of the Columbia Township Fire Department.

Several other local businesses followed. The favorite of the crowd was the advertisement for the Annual Hot Air Jubilee with their baskets that they fired up.

Other local businesses included local churches, Curves, Dance Schools, and Patrone’s Hair Salon.

After the parade was over, Santa went to the gazebo and the children and their families helped him turn on the holiday lights by saying “Merry Christmas” all together.

The viewers of the parade were then invited to go into the Township Hall to get pictures with Santa and warm up with some hot chocolate.

To hear the audio file, please click here.

Movie Film, Gone Wrong (News Scoop Assignment)

People lined up at movie theatres across the country for the world-premier of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” on November 20, 2009.

People in the Jackson area lined up inside and the line continued outside to watch the mid-night premier at Jackson 10. Lines started to form at 10 p.m. and people were still arriving at mid-night.

About an hour into the movie, the film melted from the lamps. It caused two theatres to be out of commission at the same time. The manager acted quickly in the event and was able to get the film fixed and back up and running within 20 minutes.

For the following 30 minutes of the movie, the manager was watching the film and having to stop it two more times in attempts of fixing the film.

Many customers began to get up and leave the theatre. About 200 customers were in those theatres.

After the film, many customers stood at the front of the movie theatre asking for free tickets to return. The manager of Jackson 10 began filling out “Emergency Tickets”.

The next day, people continued to line up at Jackson 10 to watch the premier of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”

“New Moon”, based off of Stephanie Meyer’s book, had movie sales for the mid-night viewing at $26.3 million, according to ABCNews.com. The opening-day viewing brought in $72.7 million, which beat the previous record of $62.2 million with “The Dark Knight”, according to ABCNews.com.

Smoke Detectors

A story posted on WILX.com was a huge eye-opener about the use of smoke detectors.

A police officer was at the right place at the right time, wilx.com said. There was a couple who was sleeping and they didn't know their house was in flames. The officer went in and saved the couple from the blazing house.

From experience, smoke detectors can go off because of moisture in the air. So when you have a smoke detector near the bathroom and you get it foggy in the bathroom, it can cause the smoke detector to go off. So, because of this, people take the battery out to make it so they don't go off. Or they take the batteries out because of the sensitivity of the detector.

This is an important reminder of families to check their smoke detectors often. Once something catches on fire, it doesn't take long for the rest of things to go up as well.

The Future of the Internet

The Internet has grown very quickly. More and more people are beginning to rely on and use the Internet daily. Before, Internet used to be a luxury, in few people had it to play games on and things of that nature, now most of everything can be found on the Internet.

The Internet is used to communicate with old classmates using Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. It is used for mail with e-mail servers. It is used to pay bills. It is used for research, instead of using books. And it is used to access the news verses getting the news from the television or newspaper.

Sir Timothy Berners-Lee published a report on "Digital Future of the United States". In his report he talks about the beginning of the web and how the web has grown from the beginning. Berners-Lee discusses how HTML has expanded and how more accessible the websites are now.

He states at the end of his report about how the web is not complete. "The Web, and everything which happens on it, rest on two things: technological protocols, and social conventions. The technological protocols, like HTTP and HTML, determine how computers interact. Social conventions, such as the incentive to make links to valuable resources, or the rules of engagement in a social networking web site, are about how people like to and are allowed to, interact."

A Free Newspaper?

In Leonard Downie Jr. and Michael Schudson blog, The Reconstruction of American Journalism, they talk about the change of newspapers to the digital age of Internet.

"Larger newspapers are seriously looking into ways to seek payment for at least some of the news they put online." Why shouldn't they? Newspapers should be charging viewers for the newspaper online. Yes, Internet is free, but there are some sites that you may not read the rest of the story until you have paid.

If the newspapers give the regular subscribers a username and password they would be able to use that and get their newspaper online, but others would need to put in other information. "Whether 'information wants to be free' on the Internet has become a highly charged, contentious issue, somewhat out of proportion to how much money may be at stake or its potential impact on news reporting."

Because the newspapers are publishing their newspaper online for free, they are loosing profits and having to cut employees and trainings. People who have Internet are now able to view their local newspaper online for nothing, so they no longer purchase the local newspaper.

"As newspapers sharply reduce their staffs and news reporting to cut costs and survive, they also reduce their value to their readers and communities."

A Tribute

I can remember being in Middle School and on Veteran's Day, we had an assembly in the gym.

A few weeks before the assembly, our teachers handed us some red, white, and blue starts to put the names of the Veteran's on them. I can remember sitting down with my Grandma and learning about my family and who was in the service. My dad, great uncles, uncle, and aunt. It was quite a learning experience with me and it gave me time to sit with my Grandma at the kitchen table. At the time I just wanted to get them done and be done with the project. But looking back I realized that I had gained a lot of knowledge about my family history.

So many of these times and wishes are starting to catch up with me. Paying more attention to my social studies classes, so I know more now. But I've also realized that things that I didn't think I was ever going to use, it's starting to come back to me now. It's so weird to say, "hey, I know that answer!" And realizing it was something I learned in High School and didn't think I would ever use it in real life. I guess I should have listened.

I am so grateful to have a country like ours. I am thankful for all of the men and women who served in the services for me and for my life!

Video

This is my video of the Tahquamenon Falls in Upper Michigan. My finace and I went up there over the summer and it is beautiful! =]

H1N1/Flu Shots

Every time the news is turned on or looked at online, something in the headlines talks about the new flu season and the H1N1 vaccines. The headlines include several information about how there is a vaccine shortage for the H1N1 vaccine.

Several people have expressed their deep interest against getting a flu shot. The main reason they give for not getting the flu shot is that they have never gotten one and they are unsure about the outcomes. Just recently on the news there was a story about a cheerleader who received the flu shot and is now disabled due to it. Many people have been cautious about getting the flu shot from their doctor or clinics, and this situation has given the patients more of a reason not to get the shot.

Each year, I go to my doctors and receive the flu shot. This year I will also receive the H1N1 vaccine. I have noticed that I do not get sick as often, and if I do it's not as bad. My doctor has informed me that it builds the immune system and I wasn't for sure how. I had heard that there was a strand of the flu in the shot and you get the flu. I asked my family physician and he informed me that wasn't the case and that it was healthy. I am protecting myself.

Many people are still unsure as the H1N1 vaccine is still new and with their views about the yearly flu shot. But I hope that they make the best decision in protecting themselves and those around them.

Life Is Too Short

This last weekend, on Halloween, I had an eye-opener on how life can be so short.

A 26-year old died on his way home from work. They aren't for sure how exactly it had happened, but the family is able to draw two conclusions, either he feel asleep at the wheel or someone had road rage and pushed him off the road. He wasn't wearing his seatbelt and the car hit a tree then jumped up back onto the road. The air bags kept him in the car, or he would have been ejected.

He is my best friends brother. He was friendly, kind, loving, sweet, a wonderful son, and was soon to be engaged. It is so tragic.

We all learn in drivers education to not drive while you are tired, to always wear your seat belts, to not drive if your emotional, or while drunk. Most of us probably have done at least 2of the 4. You may have had a long day at school or work and have driven home. Coming home from a party or taking a long trip can make you tired. When I have had a bad fight, just need to get out of the house because I can't be in the situation, I take a drive. It calms me down and I love hearing my favorite song screaming out of the speakers. When you hear a sad song, or a song that just hits that spot, you shouldn't drive. And I have taken my seat belt off because I have dropped something and tried to reach it, not while driving of course, I'm not that talented.

All of those situations, you aren't suppose to drive. Your supposed to pull over until you're fully able to be functional. But I know I haven't.

Life is just too short. Before you know it you will be thinking back and saying, I wish I would have... Next time you want to do something, do it. Next time you want it, get it. Next time you have an opportunity you might not get again, take it. No matter what the situation, take it. You never know what will happen, you can't get back yesterday, and you might not get tomorrow, all you have is today.

This I Believe About EMU

After learning about NPRs famous "This I Believe" assignment, my digital journalism instructor assigned the class to create our own This I Believe About Eastern Michigan University.

It was very interesting to hear the other stories that have been published on the website and read them. I enjoyed creating mine, once I got a topic.

You can listen to my audio file here.

Addicted to Technology

While writing the previous blog, the ideas and thoughts spawned something else in my brain.

After a recent eye-opener, I realized that I am addicted to technology. I can't go a day without e-mail, Facebook, MySpace, or checking out my blog. I check my e-mail multiple times throughout the day, I check my social networking sites out at least once a day.

More and more people are getting new phones that have Internet capabilities. The current phone I have, it has my e-mail set up so I can receive my e-mails as they come in. I really like being able to stay up on my e-mail and it is nice to have it on my phone for while I am out.

MySpace and Facebook have capabilities as well for updating your status and uploading pictures directly from your phone. While it is nice, it causes for some problems as I am constantly checking to see what is going on with my friends.

Whatever happened to just making a phone call? Now my friends text and don't really like talking on the phone. I love getting phone calls and hearing other people. I was happy the other day that the first phone call in a while was an automated phone call from American Red Cross. Most of the time the communication done is through text messaging.

Technology has taken over my world. How about yours?

Who Is A Journalist

After reading Scott Grant's We're All Journalists Now for my JRNL 213 course, I wanted to answer a question Grant asks his readers. It brought up many ideas in my head and I wanted to share them with my viewers. =]

Who is a journalist?

This question goes with what we have been learning in this Digital Journalism course. Are bloggers considered to be journalists? How about the idea of YouTube or any other video sharing network online, would those users be journalists?

Always agreeing with the idea of yes, those people involved with the above areas are considered to be journalists. And according to Webster's New World dictionary. The New World dictionary definition of journalism is "the work for, or producing of, a newspaper, ect." It does specifically express newspaper, but it also has the ect. afterward. Just like news reporters on television are journalists.

We (our digital journalism class) blog three times weekly, and we blog about various different items. Our readings, current world events, and other various things. Are we, as students, considered journalists? We provide information to an audience. We create work for the ect. portion of the definition of journalism, according to Webster's New World dictionary.

I hear more and more about YouTube. There is so much information on YouTube. You can learn how to do various things, you can watch people dance, you can watch music videos, clips from movies, and clips from the news. I asked someone how to do something, and they told me to look on YouTube to figure it out. There is just so much to be seen and heard on YouTube.

The roles of a journalist are and have changed, it is no longer just television and newspaper now. There is so much more out there and so much more to advance.

Brent Cunningham - Take a Stand

Brent Cunningham wrote in the September/October edition of the Columbia Journalism Review about "how journalism can regain its relevance". (The story can be found here).

Cunningham talks in his story about how Jim Carry wanted us to use objective journalism and document it for those in the future. To see exactly how our views have changed and how journalism has changed.

All along, we have learned how to be non-objective in our writings. We just need to put aside our feelings and publish just the facts. But what Jim Carry wants, according to Cunningham, is to be objective.

Cunningham also mentioned how the social networking groups, we have the connectivity that Marshall Berman was talking about. With the social networking now, people voice their opinions and continue it on and on throughout the network.

The local news station has now included Facebook and Twitter on their news at 11. They post things about a story, such as last night with the per pupil budget cuts the Governor announced, and say some comments on the station.

There is much more to come, as technology and journalism is changing. I can't wait to see what my future holds.

K -12 Budget Cuts, The Best Decision?

Last night on WILX they announced that Governor Granholm is making more per pupil budget cuts.

Not too long ago, it was announced that there will be $165 per pupil cut, and now they just announced another $127 per pupil cut.

The economy is in a time of need. Schooling is so important for children and teenagers, and it's important for them to get the good schooling to continue onto college.

It's so hard for the teachers, as they have larger class sizes and not enough money to buy the things for the classrooms, such as books and things, as they don't have the money. If they do, more than likely it is coming out of their pocket.

Students now have to start taking in their own school supplies that schools used to supply for the students, such as paper and things.

Why would we want to make budget cuts to the most important thing Michigan needs? You got me....

Words Do Hurt

While reading Ryan's blog, it triggered a story I would like to share.

On Saturday, Oct. 13, there was a horrible accident on M-50. A minivan full with a family rolled and a 8-year-old boy was thrown from the vehicle and was killed. Jackson Citizen Patriot published a story about the accident. It was an update to the original story that they didn't know the details of the accident or the victims.

While reading the updated story about the accident online, I began to read further down at the comments. I couldn't believe my eyes at what people were saying. The community was talking about how the mother, who was driving, didn't buckle her child up and that is why he died. How she is a horrible mother for what she had done.

I understand that the child wasn't buckled up. And I do understand that there was four other adults in the van and a 12-year-old also in the van. Now, the child is 8 and knows that he needs to be buckled in a vehicle. He shouldn't have to be buckled in by an adult.

And who knows what was going on in the vehicle, the child could have dropped a toy and unbuckled himself to reach down and get it, and they got into the accident. Or he could have unbuckled himself just because.

The mother is going to have to live with this for the rest of her life. She will always blame herself for this. People will still look at her like a murderer, and they will all blame her, but why voice that opinion. I do understand the freedom of speech, but when you have rude comments like this, to a family who is hurting so bad, why would you want to hurt them even more with your comments?

This goes with Ryan's blog about the murder that happened in his town and the murderer's Facebook account getting posted around with the horrible comments on there with children who have access to the Internet. Why not keep them to yourself?

America... The World As We Know It

Your driving down the road and two cars in front of you get into a car accident. You pull over and run up to the cars, while on the phone with 9-1-1. You look in the vehicles and you make sure that everyone looks alive and you inform the operator of their condition. The operator tells you that help is on the way and you hang up.

The driver in the other car gets out rubbing his head with blood dripping down his face. You yell and make sure he is okay. He nods.

You are now looking at people through the windows of the car. They are starting to go into shock from the accident and a panicking. You try to calm them down, but nothing you say can calm them down, they just want out of the car. You try to put yourself in their shoes and know that you will just want out of the car as well. So you start helping the person in the car get out.

Pause.

Growing understanding from television has taught you in a situation like this, you would want to not help them out of the car because they shouldn't move until the ambulance gets there and assess the victims. You know there is a possibility of a broken bone in their back or compression of the spine that could paralyze them if they move. On the other hand they are struggling to get out of the vehicle and you don't want to just stand there.

But in reality, if you help move them out of the vehicle and they become paralyzed because of their movement, they could potentially sue you for making them paralyzed.

Resume.

You begin to pull the person out of the vehicle and help pull out their family. You notice that one of the passengers is not waking up despite their parents yelling at them and screaming. You crawl into the car to make sure that the passenger is still alive. You listen and they aren't breathing. You begin to breath for them, by doing CPR.

Pause.

You may not know this or you may know this information, but if the victim dies while you are doing CPR, the family could potentially sue you.

Resume.

You continue to do CPR to help the victim breathe. You can now hear the sirens in the background getting closer and closer. Finally, when you are just about of breath, the paramedics run up and put their oxygen mask over the passengers face and takes over for you.

After 15 minutes of the paramedics do work on the passenger, they are finally breathing on their own. You take a deep breath of relief once you are given this news. The rest of the family is being checked out by paramedics and advised to go to the hospital via ambulance.

The police officer is now walking towards you and you begin your statement of what caused this accident. You are given a card with the officers name on it and you are thanked for your time. You take a deep breath, and begin to shake as the adrenaline is starting to wear off. Everything is starting to catch up to you.

Stop.

We all know the rules of life and you shouldn't move after being in a car accident due to fear of paralyzation. We may or may not have known about the risks involving CPR. And we, as journalists, know that we could get sued if we keep a source confidential. We all know that if we spill hot coffee on ourselves, we could possibly sue the company.

America has grown into a world of suing. Would you honestly sue someone for trying to save a family members life? Would you sue someone for doing what we wanted at the time? Would you sue someone who you knew was going to publish the quote and it went to trial your quote couldn't be kept confidential anymore? These don't make any since but they are true. You make the choices to ask for help, you made the choice to comment on the issue at hand.

Would you be able to just stand there and watch as someone is forcing themselves out? Could you just stand there and watch someone die?

Teacher's Lives Public?

A recent poll done on WILX.com was, does the public feel that parents should know what teachers are doing in their personal life? On Oct. 15, around 10 p.m. the latest was 19% say "yes" and 81% say "no".

This poll was taken in efforts of a story that broke out on Thursday evening about a local teacher. Photo's were found that were inappropriate. The picture was taken at a residence and off the clock.

This topic can go either way, the teacher was off campus and this didn't affect her teaching abilities and she is still the same teachers that the students go to each weekday.

On the other hand, she is a roll model for her students and her actions should have consequences.

What happened at the party was her own business. If we start judging people, not just teachers, but in every employment, there will be a lot more photo's found. We can't exactly judge people's employment on their weekend activities.

Several years ago, when MySpace and Facebook started taking off in the social networking world, several students at Jackson Community College were told to be careful on what you put on Facebook and MySpace. The reason being, potential future employers will be looking at your page.

The main problem with this is that what about those who have outstanding recommendations and excellent work history, will they not get a job because there was a picture of themselves on their Facebook page holding a beer with a group of friends? This picture could have been taken on a weekend and it isn't affecting her work history.

How is pictures that happened any of their business? What causes people to judge on one mistake that was made or one prank a friend made out of our control or one get together? Can we judge a person with just one photo? Can we make the decision of "they could be a potentially bad person because of this [these] photos." I think putting all social networking pages aside, the person may be a excellent candidate for the position and shouldn't be judged on what happened.

Mackinaw Bridge

An article was posted on mLive.com about how some posted on the authors Facebook status about how the Mackinaw Bridge is old and a lot of people don't want to go there anymore. She mentioned maybe because it was a "been there, done that" type of situation.

I remember being able to go across the bridge at night on July 3rd, when a lot of the cities were shooting off their fireworks that night. We were able to watch St. Igneous, Mackinaw City, and Mackinaw Island's fireworks all at the same time. We also got to see the beauty in the lights that light up the sky from the bridge.

It was so beautiful to be able to look across the lakes during the day and seeing the boats float across and the beauty of the bridge and the lakes.

I know a lot of people who live in Michigan, say "oh it's just the bridge"... but it's more than that. It's beauty. A friend of mine just went up north, about 1 hour away from the bridge and said she wasn't going to take her kids up there to see the bridge. I asked her why, and she said that she didn't think they would enjoy it. I said but it's beautiful and it's really cool to be able to drive across it and see so clearly. Eventually she ended up deciding to do it on a rainy day, and her kids loved it!

I would love to be able to go to Mackinaw Island and see the island, but I haven't had the opportunity because of the cost and the lateness of when we arrived up to the bridge. But I would love to have that opportunity to go and I would love to share this opportunity with my kids. And of course, I want to make our up north trip we had this year, a yearly event until our kids are grown.

The Power of YouTube

The power of YouTube has created several wide known people. From music performers to weddings. One video that sticks out to me is the Wedding Dance Entrance.

They were just ordinary people who decided to surprise their guests in dancing down the isle at their wedding. They wanted to put their video on YouTube to share with friends and family when their video was watched by several views. Many YouTuber's started to comment on their video and it was shared through e-mail.

The YouTube video that was intended for family and friends is now shared nationwide. The newly-weds and their bridal party were invited to come share their dance on stage at the Today Show.

This is just one example of how the definition of Digital Journalism, according to Wikipedia, has changed. Other examples include how Soulja Boy became famous off of YouTube along with Sean Kingston. They are now a part of our world and they are famous...

CPR Classes

A story was done on WILX.com this evening about CPR and First Aid Courses. The article discussed where people can go to take those classes.

As a student, I discussed the possibility with my teacher, who was also a volunteer EMT at a local fire station, about making CPR and First Aid classes mandatory in schools. After witnessing a seizure, I didn't know what was going on and I thought the person was dying. It was a scary feeling and luckily the police were right there.

If CPR and First Aid classes were available in schools, should it be mandatory? My answer, yes. Hopefully no one would have to use those skills, but it is still something everyone should know. When you cross a situation like that, you would never think but things come back to you quickly and you know how to react to situations without freaking out.

After witnessing that first seizure and talked with my teacher about what to do in that situation, I was able to recognize the next person who had a seizure in front of me. I was able to react quickly and not freak out until after the paramedics and fire department arrived. I knew immediately what to do and informed the other person with me, what to do as well. Would you? Do you know how to react to situations like this?

Citizen-Journalism

The idea of citizen-journalism that Rich Gordon mentioned in the report by Dr. Logan is a good idea. For news sites to have citizen-journalism is discussed in the report. "These are Web sites in which stories and photographs are provided by the members of the community."

For the idea of the community members to produce the news that they want to read would create a wider range of readers. It would give the members of the community the power to put what they want on the news site and become a journalist in their own way.

On the other hand, as I am going into Journalism, is this something that I would want to have happen? Now community members who went to football games can produce their stories and photos, they can also get the leading stories in town meetings and hearings on the news. So what exactly would happen to my job if this idea of citizen-journalism goes nation wide and takes over the newspapers?

Up North

In a classmates blog by Clifton, he discussed how NPR published a story about how Michiganders have forgotten about the Upper Peninsula. He asked a question of "Have You Forgotten About the U.P"?

The Upper Peninsula in Michigan is extremely beautiful and is full of color. In the U.P we have Sault Ste. Marie, and Tahquamenon Falls, and Iron Mountain. There is a lot of history in the Upper Peninsula and it is so beautiful up there.

Many people forget about the U.P. simply because there isn't much up there, at least of what the public thinks of. And more people are down in the lower peninsula vs. the upper.

Personally I would love to live up north because it is so beautiful, the air smells cleaner, and it is much quieter and lots more wildlife up north. I do plan to go every year and visit up north because of it's beauty.

Technology Advances

It is becoming clearer every day that we are becoming more advanced with technology. From everyday computers, to life saving technologies including the internal pacemaker and defibrillator. More people are e-mailing rather than sending postal mail, more people are paying their bills online rather than sending in checks or money orders, and more people do all of the finances online rather than in paper.

One technology advance is how computers can take pictures of the ocean floor. One computer expert found a wreckage in the bottom of the Santa Monica Bay. An article on CNN.com stated that a gentleman by the name of Gary Fabian, found a jet fighter wreckage on the ocean floor after 54 years.

The advance in technology with pacemakers and defibrillators has increased significantly. One gentleman had a major heart attack in which it damaged 30% of his heart. After undergoing a double by-pass, he then had to get the pacemaker and defibrillator surgically implanted. After speaking with him, his internal pacemaker and defibrillator has saved his life. His pacemaker helps his heart pump ever 15 beats out of 100. And his defibrillator has only gone off once in order to shock his heart into a normal rhythm.

Technology has come a long way for this generation of teens. Many of them grew up with having old Macintosh computers. Now there are several other brands of computers from Dell to the new Mac's. Just think about the upcoming generation and how much technology will advance for them in computers and life saving techniques.

One-Person Media

With the story I briefly explained in the previous blog, the individuals involved and who supported the website worked as a one-person media outlet.

With everyone commenting on the website, because Evan created an area for people to comment and blog on the website, this was one way that it was a one person media. Everyone came together and was able to find out who this person was who stole the phone.

This created a one-person media outlet. By having everyone giving news and opinions and ways to help each other out, the website had a lot of information and news on the site.

The Power of Words

In the story "Here Comes Everybody" by Clay Shirky, a women by the name of Ivanna lost her phone in a cab. She accidently left it there and someone sold the phone to a women by the name of Sasha. Ivanna was able to find out who took her phone and get an e-mail address of Sasha. Ivanna's friend Evan contacted Sasha and she was not willing to give the phone back, after knowing who's phone it was and made threats. Evan then decided to go to the people and created a website about the situation and by the power of the people they found where Sasha lived and was able to get her phone returned.

It was easy for people on the web to care and be involved in this event because it relates to most everyone. Most people have a cell phone and most people have lost something in their lifetime. These situations make it easy for one person to help out. It seems that when someone can relate to something so easily it makes them want to help out because they have been in their shoes and knows how it feels.

It is amazing on how people can send messages and they get across the Internet so quickly. Once Evan made the website, he sent the link onto his friends and his friends continued to send it on, and so forth. This is what was able to get the wide group of people.

Take Caution

Several lives are lost each year due to drunk driving and car accidents. On the MADD website, it stated that in 2007 12,988 deaths occurred from a .08 blood alcohol level or higher. That was out of the total of 41,059 car related deaths in 2007 in the United States. Also on the website, they give more statistics about drunk driving deaths in America. One statistic that stood out to me was that they stated "on average someone is killed by a drunk driver every 45 minutes."

Those statistics are scary. If there are 1,440 minutes in a day, that means on average, 32 deaths occur each day due to alcohol related deaths.

On August 6, 2005 Mark Omo and his friend Chris Pollet were driving down West Ave. in Jackson going home from the local movie theatre. They approached the intersection of Franklin and didn't think twice. They went through the intersection when another car didn't stop and crashed into his car. Mark was killed instantly and Chris passed away shortly after.

The drunk driver who hit them, had no idea on how he got to Jackson. He was from the Detroit area and decided to go for a drive when he had too many drinks. He took the lives of two 19 year olds because he decided to get behind the wheel after drinking.

It is simply amazing on how many people drive while impaired. The Center for Problem Oriented Policing produced an article stating that a recent survey done in the Untied States about 3% of drivers on the road at any give time are legally drunk. "On weekend evenings the number of drunk drivers raises significantly: about eight percent of all drivers have blood alcohol concentrations great than .05, and an additional nine percent of drivers have at least one drink, meaning that on weekends about 17 percent of all drivers are under the influence of at lease some alcohol."

Please think about the other wives, mothers, sisters, brothers, fathers, sons, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandpas, grandmas and friends on the road. Please think of them when you want to drive home after a few drinks. You can always pick up a phone and call someone who you trust or a cab company to take you home.

A Hybrid Form Of News

AnnArbor.com is an excellent example of a hybrid type of news. One article that I was looking at was about the U of M vs. Eastern game yesterday. Inside the article it talks about the highlights of the game and has a quote from the U of M coach.

After the main article, there is several other areas that they give for other stories about the game. Not only does it include other stories, it also includes links to videos, pictures, interactivity from the game.

The hybrid form that AnnArbor.com shares with what Professor Tracy talks about in "Evolution of the Newspapers of the Future." This is a way to for the reporters to enhance their research.

Michigan's Unemployment Rate

Just the other day on the local news station online, www.wilx.com, they had a story about "Michigan Unemployment Rate Raises Again". The story stated that Michigan's unemployment rate is at 15.2 in August, which is the same as earlier in the summer. Is this really a surprise for Michigan?

In Jackson, I know of several people who have lost their jobs recently this year due to the economic crisis and the automotive industry. My fiancé's shop laid off a total of 65 workers this year. His shop had 150 employees at the beginning of the year. Luckily, my fiance was safe from the layoffs, however his father was not safe. He is now calling MARVIN every other week to get his unemployment.

Spartan Electronics in Jackson was the head-quarters for the company. They make circuit boards for medical equipment. My cousin was a employee of the company and they announced that they would be shutting the doors because they were not bringing in any profit.

I worked for Jackson Community College for 2.5 years as a Student Consultant, once I graduated from JCC, I was offered a Staff Member Position. It was a temporary part-time position, and I was under the impression that I could become a permanent part-time employee. My contact was renewed for an extra three months and once that contract came up they could no longer keep me on staff. I was forced to leave and I am now calling MARVIN every other week.

So with this, can one really be surprised at the unemployment rates? I think most people in the state, and across the nation is feeling these hard times as the unemployment rate raises and as the prices for good are raising as well. I know I am hoping for extensions for unemployment to get me through school so I can focus just on school and look for a job after graduation. And I know that my fiancé's father is just going to ride this out until he can start collecting his retirement fund. And my cousin is eligible for free schooling because her job went overseas. But we all are holding on and hoping for the best.

I Never Thought This Day Would Come

I never thought I would ever want to agree with my dad as a teenager. I always hated that when I went home sick from school I would have to stay in bed. I always hated how he made me go to bed early a week before school started. I didn't like that he made me read before I went to bed, when there was my toys I wanted to play with. I never thought I would ever say this, but I'm glad he made me do those things. And don't you ever repeat that I said this.

I realize that now, when I don't go to school or don't go into work (when I was working) that staying in bed is the best thing for me. I get over my cold 10 times quicker and I don't get as bad as I could have. I take to bed with me a bottle (and sometimes a gallon) of water and grab a movie and lay in bed all day. When I do get up it's to make myself a bowl of soup and I go right back to bed. And for some reason, I get over my cold a lot quicker than I would if I didn't. Jason doesn't get why I stay in bed, he thinks it's because I'm lazy, but it's because that's how I was brought up.

Now that the new semester has started and I was out of work for the later half of the summer, I wish I would have gone to bed early a week before my class started. I never understood it until now. It's so hard for me to get into the hang of things and to get up for school in the mornings. Just this morning, I wanted to go back to sleep after I got woke up by the maintenance workers at the apartment complex started mowing the law 45 minutes before I had to wake up. Many times I thought I would just stay home today... but I drug myself out of the apartment into my car and drove 45 minute to school.

I am so happy that he made me read before I go to bed. I hated reading as a child and teenager because I never found any books that I enjoyed reading. Now that I am older, I found author's that I really enjoy reading and a genre that I really enjoy reading. Even though I already read a book, I may want to re-read it again just to get the rest of the details. My future father-in-law was very surprised at how much I read one afternoon while he was mowing. I read about 100 or so pages in about 2 hours. He just didn't understand why I enjoyed it so much, but it takes me out of the real world. It's like when I read I am able to be in the main characters world and head and it's the best way to escape reality.

My dad didn't always make the right decisions and I never understood why he made me do the things that he did but now I see why. It was all for my own good. I am happy that he did and he was right.

My Perfect Dress

Okay, so I promised that I would update everyone about my wedding plans that have been going on. Well now here is my update.

My future mother-in-law, my maid of honor, and a bridesmaid went to Lansing to try on wedding dresses. We walked into David's Bridal... looked around at what I was supposed to do and then a lady walked up. I gave her my name and told her that I was there for an appointment. She crossed off my name and had me fill out paperwork. One question kinda got to me, it asked how many mothers/grandmothers were going to be in the wedding... and I only got to write down 1. Just my future mother-in-law will be at our wedding as I lost my mom 21 years ago this November. It kinda made me realize that and I got a little down. But my lovely ladies were there with me and helped bring me up.

After all of the paperwork I was told to look through a catalog to find dresses that I liked. While she was looking through my paperwork, she asked me for a wedding date. I told her that we didn't have one. She then proceeded to tell me that she couldn't guarantee that the dress I liked would be there when I wanted to purchase my dress. We expressed that we were just there so I could try them on. After she agreed and dropped the subject of trying to get me to purchase today, she backed off and continued to let me look through the catalog. I showed her three dresses that I thought were pretty on the other models, but I knew they wouldn't look that good on me.

The receptionist came out and had me try on several dresses. She didn't seem to care and kept leaving us to go do other things. I tried on 10 dresses and they all had some things that I like about them. But one dress, it was the second one I tried on was simply amazing. I fell in love with it! But then the receptionist advise kept coming forward in my head that they wouldn't be able to guarantee that the dress will be there in the future. And I planned on going other places and trying on dresses, so I let it go.

I cannot believe how people act. If you don't want to purchase something or show that you aren't seriously going to purchase something in the near future, they don't want anything to do with you. But what the receptionist didn't realize was that I was going to purchase my dress there along with the bridesmaid dresses there. But I have decided against this because of the poor customer service.

My maid of honor, who is my cousin, and I decided to go to a local small bridal shop in Jackson. She purchased her dresses there. I went in and grabbed a couple dresses to try on and I grabbed on I didn't think I was going to like at all but I decided I wanted to try it on. And I fell in love. This has to be my favorite out of all of them and I loved it a lot! I asked the owner of the shop, who assisted us, and she informed me that there was a way that we could make it work. She said that they do go out of style but she would take down my information and when she receives the notice that they will be taking the dress of the shelves she will contact me and let me know so I can go in and place my order. She was much more honest with me and understood my situation. And I will be going back there to purchase my dress. I would post a picture... but that is a surprise and nobody will be able to see it until after I get married!

There is the difference between good and bad customer service. One I will never return and the other I will return. So for everyone who works in that field, please remember that your attitude changes everything. I know that the sales rep from David's Bridal probably works on Commission but if she was nicer, I would have gone back and asked for her. That is what happens when I am satisfied with customer service.

Something I Never Thought I Would Enjoy...

When I was younger, my father would go out to sprint car racing and I was never really interested or even want to go to the races. Now that I am older I have decided that I actually like racing and I really do have fun watching the races. I never really cared about sprint cars, or cars in general for that matter. All I cared about was getting my own car and being able to do the things that I wanted to do. Just recently we, Jason and I, went to Milan Dragway and watched the NMCA Nationals. I had a blast!!! Watching the cars go down the quarter mile track, smelling the sweet smell of racing fuel and the strong smell of burning rubber. Hearing the roar of the motors as they wait for the green light, watching their quick reaction times, and the one crash, had my blood pumping. Something about watching made me want to be behind the drivers seat and go that fast. Then came out the jet car and that was the loudest and coolest thing ever. Watching her go 300 mph down the quarter mile and hearing the car rumble and feeling it in the ground was awesome. If you blinked the car was already done and there was no more show.

Needless to say, I found out that I really enjoy drag racing and Jason and I already planned on going again, only to 131 Dragway and watching the Nitro Funny Cars. Ahh, the smell of racing fuel and burning rubber has my blood pumping through my vains again.

Check out a 5.5 minute video of the NMCA Nationals at Milan Dragway here.

Dreams Do Come True

I would have never thought the day to come. I remember as a little girl sitting in my room thinking of the day that I would get married. It was going to be to someone who I love very much and who would take care of me until the day I die. Well, on July 3rd, 2009, my boyfriend of over 5 years asked me to marry him. And now, all the planning and all of my dreams are going to come true.

I would like to first start out with how I met him. One of my friends, was "going out" with his friend. They had decided to introduce us, and we started talking on MSN Messenger. We spent several evenings talking to each other to get to know one another. After aboutma month of talking on the internet, we decided that we wanted to start calling one another so we exchanged phone numbers and started talking on the phone. Finally one day, we decided to met in person and we got together and everything felt perfect. It's amazing how one person can make you feel so full, so energetic, so happy. And the rest is in the books.

We moved in together about a year and a half into our relationship, and we are so happy. I mean, we have had our ups and downs, but we were able to get through the rough downs that I would have never dreamed of getting through. But that is what makes us stronger. We grew up together, since I was 16 and he was 18 when we met. Things are going great and we are getting through more rough times, as I am unemployed and his shop just laid off more employees. But we told each other that we can get through this and we are getting through this.

On June 27th, we left for our camping trip to go up north and to do the things that his family used to do each year. We went to the campground and set up our tent, got everything situated at the campsite and we really enjoyed our rainy week. We went all over the place, went on the ORV Trails with the Quads and went driving around looking at the beautiful trees and scenery. We had planned on going to the Tahquamenon Falls but we weren't for sure on which exact day we were going to go. The weather was touch and go, and we were watching for a good day online. Finally, July 3rd looked like it was going to be the best day for us. We left early in the morning and drove another two and half hours north and reached our destination. It was about 50 degrees outside and the mosquitoes were horrible! We walked up the trail to the first area and we looked at the beautiful lower waterfalls. We took several pictures and once we were done fighting with the massive amount of mosquitoes, we started walking further up the trail to see more of the lower falls. We got to the second look-out area and there wasn't as many people in this area as before. We stopped and was taking pictures of the falls, and I asked a gentleman to take a picture of the two of us for me and we got our picture taken in front of the falls. I was wanting to continue walking down the trails to see more of the lower falls and Jason wanted to wait, we held each other for a moment when he got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. It was the most special moment of my life. My dreams were coming true.

We spent the rest of our vacation with smiles on our faces and we began talking about when we wanted to get married. We haven't set a date yet, but we want to wait and pay off bills and save money for the wedding. Of course, I cannot wait, and I have been looking online at different ideas and getting everything in my head set so when we do set a date I will know everything. Slowly, I am going to start buying small things, like decorations and flowers so I won't be spending as much so fast. And of course, I am going to go out and try on wedding dresses, just because I can. And all the things that I dreamed of as a girl are slowly getting put together and I am picturing our wedding and I get butterflies in my stomach. Of course, I will update when we do get a date set. But until then, it's all in the works and slowly but surely it will all fall together just the way that I want them to!

My Very First Blog

So this will be my first ever, "blog", unless you count Live Journal or random life updates on MySpace a blog. It's up to you... you decide. I have decided that this might be a good idea for me, considering I am going into Journalism and this might be some fun.... I just have to figure out what typically people blog about, and what blogging is. It may be a mixture for me... stuff that is on my mind... random thoughts and ideas for changes in the government. And on that note, please don't judge me on my opinions... like I said, they are opinions and I am completely open to other opinions and will take them into consideration. So I hope you all enjoy the future blogs I have in store. =]