Thursday, December 17, 2009

No Longer a Tiger..he's a Cheetahhhh


Let me just say with the whole Tiger Woods scandal...ITS NOT THAT DEEP! He needs to take time away from the spotlight and work on his issues with his wife and kids. He's a human being just like anyone else, and people make mistakes. You cant take away the fact that hes an amazing golfer and always will be. If it were any other person who wasnt a celebrity, no one would really care! I dont think matters are getting any better if hes on the front cover of every magazine...I think people need to move on now.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

I understand sex sells but....


After hearing Jamie's presentation of how sex sells in the advertisement industry, I have to wonder how much is too much? After seeing some of the controversial ads, you have to wonder what comes next? Flat out having two people engaging in sexual intercourse? From what I've seen lately, I wouldnt be surprised if it comes to that.


The one thing I hate the most is how women are portrayed as objects in many of these ads. For example, the Dolce and Gabbana ad up top is basically portraying the male as being overly dominant, with her laying underneath him. Instead of showing women as strong individuals like back in the day, women are now seen as just sex toys, basically.

Cyber Safety


Fact: there are about 750,000 online predators and sex offenders. Fact: child pornography sites have grown to about 4 million, with images of children as young as 2. So how far will this keep going? Will the government ever intervene?


According to John Sancin, President of CyberPatrol, many parents hardly ever think that their kids will get caught in the hands of a sex offender. "These people are professionals and know not only what to say to your kids, but how to say and spark their interest and gain their trust." With child pronographic images making between 3 to 20 billion dollars annually, I think more more parents should start educating their kids about the dangers of the Internet.


So will the government ever step in and take action? Many people seem to think not soon enough...I think its time SOMETHING should be done. For example, I think kids under 16 shouldnt be allowed to get a Myspace or Facebook account, or therefore use any social networking site until they're of age.


What do you guys think???

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Groom Changes Facebook Status at the Altar

Groom Changes Facebook Status at the Altar

Couple Changes Facebook Status At Alter!




You know that social networking has officially taken over when you hear that a "just married" couple changed their relationship status at the alter. According to Lemondrop.com, Dana Hanna took out his IPhone right at the alter after saying "I Do" and updated his status on Facebook and tweeted on Twitter.


Watching the video, I had to laugh. People really take social networking too seriously sometimes! Watch the video and see what you think!

Boobs Much?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_xEUi_OSHE

After seeing this Save the Boobs ad on TV about 2 months ago, I was shocked. I understand that "sex sells" but this is too much. Breast cancer is a serious epidemic that affects millions. How about a commercial on a more serious note?

I was surprised to see this on TV..actually what am I saying? I guess its not too surprising...there are racy ads EVERYWHERE these days. Boobyball, the charity that promoted this commercial, was designed to get the attention of people under the age of 30..mission accomplished. Because, seriously what male (or female) is going to ignore this kind of commercial? With the tagline "You know you like them, now its time to save the boobs," this is what chairty founder M.J. Decoteau had to say: "Young people are picking up pamphlets with a 65-year-old woman on the cover and probably tossing them out. We're really about creating a bold way of communicating the message in a fun way that's going to stop them in their tracks. We're hoping that they get the take-away message that is to be breast aware."

Right...

Friday, October 16, 2009

Parents Monitor School Lunches by the Click of a Button


The healthy school lunch craze has gotten even crazier! According to the Daily Mail, parents of students at St. John's Church of England School in London, are now able to monitor and see what their children ate for lunch by accessing an online site. This is how it works: the kids are given an ID card to swipe each time they purchase lunch, which then sends the info to the selected site. Its that easy. "Parents can log on to the site and can see of a child picked ice cream instead of yogurt."


I'm all for getting kids to make better food choices, but I think this has gone a little too far. There's nothing wrong with having a snack once in a while such as ice cream, as long as you dont have it everyday. I think parents and administrators of schools are getting a little out of control with this. It's important to teach kids how to eat and whats healthy, but you also don't want to send them the wrong message by saying you can never have a snack that you enjoy.


Monday, October 12, 2009

Weighing in on the Model Industry


First of all, let me tell you. After reading this article from stylelist.com, I was so tempted to reach through the computer to the picture of Karl Lagerfeld and ring his neck. Here's my take on the modeling industry and on Lagerfeld's RIDICULOUS opinion...


According to the article "Karl Lagerfeld Defends Skinny Models-'No One Wants to See Round Women' How You Voted," Karl Lagerfeld, famously known for losing 92 pounds in 13 months "in order to squeeze into skinny Dior Homme duds," are defending the stick-thin runway models, basically telling heavier women to shut their mouth about the issue. While being interviewed by Brigitte, a German magazine, Lagerfeld commented that Brigette's plan on using "ordinary, realistic" women on the runway was "absurd." According to him, women complaining about these unhealthy models are just jealous.


Yeah...where to start. I guess I should start by saying I'm a recovering anorexic and these stick thin models certaintly isnt a good influence. Women are just jealous????? REALLY?! How about the fact that maybe they're concerned about the images these models are sending their daughters!! And the fact that Lagerfeld is also denying the fact that most models have eating disorders is dispicable. He's a designer..im sure he's heard of the many models that have DIED of anorexia. Most models are SICK!. Yes, some of them are built super skinny, but most of them are close to having heart failure! Ugh, I'm getting sick to my stomach just reading his comments. ""Ninety percent of them are quite normal, properly proportioned girls with less fat and more muscles, who also eat pizzas and burgers." So thats why their ribs are protruding right??? Wow.


As being a rocovering anorexic, I am ELATED to see that magazines such as Glamour are putting REAL looking girls in their magazine. Because thats the norm! People don't look like runway models in real life! You know why? Because most of them are dying. It's such a good feeling to see an average looking model, with hey! some curves.


"Today's models weigh around 23% less than normal women. The whole model industry is anorexic. We will show women who have their own identity, the 18-year-old A-level student, the company chairwoman, the musician, the footballer," says Andreas Lebert, Brigette's editor.

Saturday, October 3, 2009


"I have had sex with women who work for me on this show." If you haven't already heard, these were the words that came out of David Letterman's mouth on Thursday night. However, the question is, was it "innocent" or sexual harrassment?


According to CBS, they're biggest concern is that Letterman's comment will bring down his ratings, just when he is beginning to soar in popularity. Stephanie Birkitt, one of Letterman's assistants, is one of the women he reportedly had an affair with. However, Robert Joel Halderman, who shares a residence with Ms. Birkitt, recently pleaded not guilty to larceny after threatening to expose Letterman. In any case, CBS executives will continue to support Letterman unless he causes to do something drastic. As fas as CBS is concerned, none of the women were underage, nor did they feel threatened by Letterman.


According to a source, Letterman wanted to go right to authorities because he appeared to be worried. According to a spokesman from Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, "Dave is not in violation of our policy and no one has ever raised a complaint against him." He also added that the policy "does not prohibit relationships within the company- only that they cannot be tied to an employee's performance."


But you have to wonder: how do his fans feel about this scandal? Honestly, in my opinion, it's Letterman's issue. The only reason why his personal information is out in the limelight is because he's a celebrity. If it was just an average person, obviously, that person wouldnt have any publicity. As long as he didn't break any contracts or policies, I don't think its that big of an issue...unless you're a die hard fan of him and his talk show. And I think that Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, sums it up: "His core viewers are not the kind that are going to say, 'He did what? I'm never going to watch again.' He was not the host of a Disney Channel talk show."




Sunday, September 20, 2009

Go Amazon!


After reading the article, "Can Amazon Be Wal-Mart of the Web," featured in the New York Times, I began to question: Are there really that many people out there who make their purchases online? Well, apparently, "Amazon is quickly becoming the world's general store."


Ever since Jeffrey P. Bezos founded the company as just a bookstore, it has recently become so much more, selling almost anything you can think of from car parts to even cars! According to Scot Wingo, chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, he believes that the Amazon market will grow to 15% of retail in the next decade. "If Amazon grows their market share throughout that period, and honestly I don't see anything stopping it, that is pretty scary." But if this is the case, what will smaller retailers and even companies like Wal-Mart do to keep business going?


Amazon has no plans to step down, either. In fact, their popularity has been growing even more rapidly because of their fast delivery and free shipping and handling promises. Not to mention the growing number of people who sell their own products on Amazon, in which Amazon itself takes in 15% of the profits. Despite Amazon's success, however, some employees and executives are shocked to see how much their company has grown. "It means we are becoming increasingly important in the lives of our customers, which has been our mission from the beginning," Amazon's senior vice president of North American retail has said. "We had the chance to earn the trust of the customer beyond media, and we took it."


Although I have never bought or sold anything off of Amazon personally, I think people will start re-thinking their buying strategies and where they shop for their products. One problem with ordering through a magazine or online is the heavy duty add-on of shipping and handling. So now that Amazon has offered it for free, I think people will reconsider where they shop. Also, with the holiday's not too far off, shopping online is a great way to buy gifts since Amazon offers almost anything you can imagine; there's definitely something for everyone.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Google's New Reading Service


After reading the article "Google Releases News-Reading Service," I was happy to hear that Google has decided to come up with a new and improved way of reading newspaper and/or magazine articles online. As mentioned in this article, and from personal experience, it is at times difficult to load articles from news sites. I think the addition of Fast Flip will be a major benefit for all online users that experience the same problem.


With major corporations getting involved, such as The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, and Newsweek, I would have to agree with the chief executive of Salon Media Group, Richard Gingras. According to him, "I don't look at this as the solution to the future of journalism. But who knows? We will learn from it." However, I think that the way that it is designed is an appropriate set-up. Appearing as a collection of images, "stories are displayed side by side in various horizontal rails that show stories arranged by popularity." Fast Flip also deletes the ads that would usually be shown, as well as featuring the opportunity to zoom into a particular section of the article.
I think it will be beneficial just for the fact of being able to read exactly what you want, and you can take exactly what you want from a certain article. "We are helping people immerse themselves in the context," says Krishna Bharat, a Google researcher.