Mash-Up Awesomeness

DJ Earworm - United State of Pop 2010 (Don't Stop the Pop) - Mashup of Top 25 Billboard Hits

This video contains a mash-up of the Top 25 Songs in the US Charts this 2010. This is something cool to dance to at the end of the year. Enjoy, friends! DJ Earworm is such an awesome song mixer. :)

To all the earthlings reading this blog post:

Thousands of people will celebrate Christmas homeless and hungry. We are lucky to have the liberty of checking our cyber walls despite it all. Bear that in mind and be thankful of what you have. Merry Christmas. :)

Article for Prelims Examination

Faulty and Excessive Disclosure of Information in the Media

            In the advent of technology, communication travels faster than a speeding bullet. Media, whether print, social or electronic, is the primary source of information in today’s society. Communication and technology go hand in hand in making the sender-message-receiver process easier and more convenient.

But on the contrary to the advantages the media has been rendering to humanity for centuries, an unpromising scenario relative to imparting information is becoming common in the society today. Unfortunate events are happening in the modern times because of an unexpected culprit – the media. It might not be evident, but the well-known channel of information is a tool for mishaps and incidents.

Stalk Me Not

Carla* is an avid user of Facebook and Twitter. She updates her accounts everyday, spending an average of 6 to 8 hours a day. She meets both new and old acquaintances via the networking sites and posts her address and contact numbers on her site.

She met Simon* on Facebook and eventually, they become good and close chat mates. Their intimacy grew to the extent that their friendship could possibly move on to the next level - that is, a romantic relationship. However, Carla was not interested and deleted Simon from her friend’s list. The following week, Simon showed up at her house and threatened her life.

According to a study released last January of 2010, more than half of adults 45 and older who are on social networking sites like Facebook could be in danger of becoming victims of identity theft, stalking and other crimes because of sharing too much private information. If the older generation is susceptible to this kind of danger, the youth is even more vulnerable to it. More and more teenagers are becoming victims of Facebook stalking and online deception. 

*not real name

Accessory to Crime

            Last August 23, 2010, the whole world was stricken by the Quirino Grandstand Hostage crisis. A dismissed Philippine National Police Officer, former senior inspector Rolando Mendoza, took over a tour bus carrying 25 people (20 tourists and a tour guide, all from Hong Kong, and 4  Filipinos) in an attempt to get his job back. After nearly 12 excruciating hours, the tragedy resulted to 9 fatalities, including the hostage taker.

              Many experts and viewers who saw the ending of the tragedy live on television were appalled by what they saw. Charles Shoebridge, a security analyst who has worked in counter-terrorism with the British Army and Scotland Yard, said that the officers of the SWAT team involved showed great courage but they were not properly trained or equipped for the task. But one big factor that contributed to the failure of the bus siege was the televised updates and proceedings. Mendoza was able to follow the events via the television in the bus, revealing everything that is happening around him. The media disclosed too much information – information that has lead to the death of 8 innocent tourists.

Ruining the Democracy

            Even US President Barack Obama believed that technology and media can be a lethal combination. He said in a commencement address at Hampton University in Virginia last May, “You’re coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t always rank all that high on the truth meter,” 

“With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation,” Obama said.

            He lamented on the fact that “some of the craziest claims can quickly claim traction,” in the rumpus of certain blogs and talk radio outlets.

“All of this is not only putting new pressures on you, it is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy.”

Summing Everything Up

            People today live in a world filled with the social media craze. From Facebook to Twitter, the world has embraced the new and improved tools that help thousands interact each day no matter how far they are from each other. There are two sides to every pancake – the same goes for Media. It may present the people with a handful of advantages but all those may bring a couple of disadvantages along with them. All good things have flaws and indubitably, it is inevitable. 

Instructions for the Prelims examination in CommTech

For Patche and my other classmates. :))

Response to the Trendspotter's Guide to New Communications: Rise of English

My first TP's Guide response is about the death of distance. Here is another aspect presented in the guide, the rise of English. I agree with apprehension on this aspect because I see some reasons today that prove this aspect false. Read on to know what I mean.

 Ignorance Isn't Always Bliss 

My cell phone rings and I can't help but grab it quickly, opening the message. I open it and squint at the words I can't comprehend.

eOw pOwhszz. kAhmuStah nAh pOwhsszz kEu? jEjEJe. :)

I throw my phone to the bed, frowning at the memory of the creepy text message. People who text in a strange manner are called Jejemons. They are one of the most popular group of teenagers today, I must say. They are also known globally, thanks to their many haters whose primary goal was to annihilate them but otherwise failed. 

 

I have nothing against the Jejemons. They have the right to express themselves in any way, manner and sense they want. It is, anyway, the right of any human being to act in anyway he/she wants, provided that the act doesn't hurt or offend anyone.

But the main point here is that while technology is helping us communicate easier and faster, it may also be the primary factor in the deteriorating grammar, spelling and thinking abilities of the youth today. Ignorance is one culprit produced by the ever-improving technology. We become unaware of our actions. Because the technology is fast rising, we are no longer conscious of what words we are saying, how we are pronouncing them and how we are spelling them. We tend to just type in anything in the keyboard; what we give importance to is basically just sending the message across. This must not be the case.

Take for example the common scenario in telecommunication now. Shortcuts are used in text messages by almost everyone I know. My professor even tells our class that he uses shortcuts when texting. But just imagine my shock when he further tells us that because of this frequent shorctut-texting style, he oftentimes finds himself writing in shortcuts! He even admits that he sometimes forgets the spelling of some words he knew the spelling to back then! Wow oh wow. If things like these happen to a professional like him, what more to students and teenagers like us?

This is not an issue to be taken for granted. This might appear as a joke to the older generation but it is a serious case to be given attention to. Imagine what would happen if the youth become incompetent learners in the field  they were once the masters of. If that would be the case, education would gradually lose its essence. There is no point in studying if the learning process is pointless and useless. Ignorance is not always bliss.

Response to the Trendspotter's Guide to New Communications: Death of Distance

We were asked to make a feature article as a response to TP's Guide. I chose the death of distance aspect as the focus of my article.

I agree with this aspect because distance seems non-existent with the use of technology. However, there is a side effect to this advantage. Read on to know. Here is my two cents on the topic:

Death of Emotions

I stare with apprehension at the blinking cursor before me. Gradually, I obtain the courage I need to click his name on the Facebook search engine. I take the liberty of browsing through his profile, reading his status messages and looking through his latest pictures. I frown at some posts; I laugh at some of them. In between my stalking and reminiscing moves, I begin to miss him. 

He was my good friend. I was always in awe of everything he does. He was good in his academics. He played sports well. He was good-looking, too. He was kind, sensitive and friendly. Despite all the commendable traits, he kept his feet flat on the ground. But then again, he was my good friend. Was. Past tense. 

We were good friends back in High School. We used to eat lunch together, study for quizzes together, practice for group presentations together. We practically did everything together. But graduation came and we had to part ways. We went to different universities, making a promise to keep track of each other constantly with the use of technology. 

At first, we managed to keep the promise as planned. We texted everyday. I posted recent photos of my new world, just so he knows what I’ve been doing. He tweeted his whereabouts, his daily life and new activities. It felt like the distance between us died; he was so far yet so close to me. I was happy with the kind of set-up, the situation we had.

But months passed and the updates began to fade away. His texts were reduced to a sentence or two. The always-present smiley became non-existent. I felt that our relationship’s status was beginning to deteriorate. I made efforts to win his attention back. But he always replied with “I’m busy, let’s talk some other time” or “I’m tired, I’ll call you later.” We drifted apart like the islands of the Philippines described on the Continental Drift Theory.

The feeling is indescribable. There are no words to illustrate the pain I felt after the rejection. Yes, the death of distance is present between us. But why am I also feeling the death of emotions between us? Technology is indeed a double-edged sword, like plenty of things. It helps you stay in contact with the people you love, but there is no guarantee that you maintain your good relationship with them. You may be talking every single day on Yahoo Messenger, but nothing compares to being together and enjoying each other’s company, even for just an hour.

Technology has made everything easier, but it has also made some things impersonal beyond our control.

Check it out.

 National Geographic is holding its annual Photography contest again. Check out the amazing photos and get inspiration from the shots! :)

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/11/national_geographics_photograp.html