Monday, November 29, 2010

music

how music is something that has globally transformed into a form of medium that creates and shows ones identity. in our daily life, one listens to music any where we walk. at all times we are exposed to different sorts of music styles. now with the ipod, each and everyone of us has the opportunity to download and listen to whatever type of music we each like. in this way, music is seen as a medium, because ones ipod or playist says  lot about themselves. people that like certain types of music communicate through taste and identify themselves in others. it allows them to unite at certain events, or concerts. this is a great medium, because music is used all over the world to understand or explain different points.

when one goes out with their friends at night, it is proven that we go to places because of either the croud or the type of music they play at the place. if one likes rock they will go to live cocerts, if one likes techno they will go see certain dj.s. so in the end, music is used to communicate with other people who have the same style or taste thn you.

nowadays, every country in the world has different types of music that identifies them. mexico for example like mariachis, latin america loves salsa, united states likes hip hop as well as rock and europe is all about techno. this might be generalizing whole countries, but in the majority of the times it is what identifies the place. a lot of it relates to music and works around it. it is a medium that brings happiness and companion to ones self.

some people use it when they excercise or walk, others when they want to dance and be happy, others when they are sad. and the beauty of it is that this medium allows the world to choose certain songs for every ocaccions. the options are so big, that everyone likes music for a certain activity and whether or not one wants to the listen to it every day of our lifes.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

internet television and cellphones

the other day in class, we had a very interesting discussion about whether or not these methods of technology help our generation or not. one of the biggest issues people have with technology is surfing the web on things that have nothing to do with what they are doing. also, we discussed, how when it comes to education, it could work both ways. some people said it may distract you and cause you to work slower, but others argued that it could help you and make you more productive.

in reality, these methods of technology, are obviously something that will help you be productive. because through them you could literally find anything you want. however, in the long run, it has made many people dependent and very lazy. people no longer use libraries to research or books. soon, people will even stop reading and everything will become paperless. we will become 100 percent dependent of technology. when this happens, either we learn how to be multi taskers or we will work much slower. because now, we obviously see an advancement in work speed, since before it was all done by hand. but now that we have it all in the internet  we must multi task.

multi tasking makes you do half effort on both things or more that you are doing instead of full effort. it is impossible to do your homework watch tv and answer your text messages while you look at pictures on facebook. many people i know do this, and say that in makes no difference on how productive they are. but if you analyzing, it is imposible to have your mind on four things and be as productive and effective as if you shut everything down and worked on your homework alone.

technology has definetely improved our generation and it has allowed us to have access to whatever information wwe need. with this, privacy no longer exists. however knowing how to use it is key. because blackberries and facebook are very adictive. however knowing when to turn them off in order to work succesfully allows us to be productive. but as i said, in the future, as discussed in class, even though i think is imposible, we will need to learn how to be multi taskers so that all the extra things we do dont affect our productivity.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

buying bottles at the club to show wealth

ever since i moved to boston i have realized many things about the club scene. meeting people from all over the world has allowed me to see different ways people spend. when i arrived i never thought i would know so many international students, and specially i didnt know i would go out to clubs. americans in babson know us international students as bisos, and they think that all we do is go buy bottles of champagne at clubs and party all day long. in a way this could be seen as a stereotype since it is true for many of us. however, according to the reading in class stereotypes are exagerated and not true for anyone.

while growing up my parents always educated me in a manner to save money and spend it only on whats necessary. however, everyone in the world is educated differently. some people have more money than others, and some people spend it differently than others. in the reading we see in class of the looking glass self, it talks about how we dont know how to identify our selfs, so we use bottles at clubs for examples to show people who we are and how rich we are. about 40 percent of the club gets tables and spends an average of 100 plus dollars a night, and i know this because i through parties and see how much each person spends. this for a college student is some what ridicoulus and could be seen as conspicious consumption. i learn this term from a reading we did for my class in consumer society, where people spend there money to show others how wealthy they are. they use it to show off to their friends and to girls. its a medium used to show them selfs to others that sorround them, and it is incredible how much people spend on it.

when one sees this at clubs, the reading also describes them as noveau rich or new rich, which means that they dont care much about their money and just spend it away. however those who do it, my do it because they want to have fun and enjoy their time with friends. some might do it with the best intentions, however to those who dont know the reasons as said in the looking glass self they are using the bottles as a media to show everyone who they are and what they can afford.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

transportation

in boston the medium of transportation is something all of us use on a daily basis. wheter it is a car a bike or public transportation, we need it to get to places. how this conects to my life, is very simple. i live in the city 25 minutes away from school. if one day my car decides to break down, i am completely stuck with not many options to get to school. i use my car for everything and if its not me driving, it is either a friend or a taxi.

when i was younger, in mexico city, i was not permitted to ride public transportation. for security purposes it was either my friends parents or chofers who drove us around. however when i grew up, things changed. now i had my own car and what i wanted to do depended on me. however, based on security, i always grew up depending on a car. in a way we become sort of useless without a car. we dont know how to travel or move from place to place. anyhow, in boston, one learns to have different options. whether it is a cab or the T. but when it comes to me, i have had trouble with modifying my habits. i usually cant go aywhere if i dont bring my car, because i feel like i am no longer in control of what i want to do. it is sad, but living in mexico makes you very dependent to this medium. so this is something i use every day of my life, and when it breaks down or i cant use it, it stresses me out a lot. how much do we rely on transportation? is living on campus different, or does one still feel useless without a car, since there is no t stop near school?

i feel that while atending babson having a car is esential and it is a medium that allows me to live of campus and go wherever i want whenever i want.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

hookah narguile arguile or whatever one might call it

Hookah is a sort of pipe that comes from the middle east. it is an object, where one inserts flavored tabacco and enjoys a little smoke with the friends. back then, it was very popular and almost everyone in the middle east did it. later, when these people travelled they began to introduce it to other countries in the world. hoolah is an interesting activity, because just like people go for cofee or tea, now they would go to smoke hookah.

I am a Jew from Mexico City, and all my ancestors come from the middle east. whether it is damscos seria or lebanon, their traditions where very similar. when i was raised as a child, my grand father was around quite a lot. i remember how he would always want to smoke his hookah. it made him calm, and it was much better than smoking cigarretes. however it wasnt only me that was grew up seeing this. in the jewish counity in mexico, this was seen everywhere. people began to do it so often, that this became a tradition. teenagers would get together and smoke at each others houses, until the parents began to get scared. however in order to control this they decided to make it a busines. at first they put narguila in hookah bars, where people would go play backgammon and enjoy their friends company while smoking hookah. this tradition grew so much, that cofee places began to serve narguila as well.

today, any cofee place tea place or bar you go to in mexico city, they have the option of narguila. it is sad, but it is a way to interact with your friends. some people see it as a hobby, others as an adiction, but in the end it is a medium that connects people all over mexico and other parts of the world. this has become a tradition and a way of life. many people dont agree with it, but where i come from it is part of our daily live. it connects us and allows to have something in common with our friends. as one would go have drinks at a bar in america, in my home country we go to hookah bars. and thats why i feel that hookas are a medium of society that was brought to us by the middle east. and now that i live in bston, i see that not only in mexico, but many people here have it in there homes. however it is hard to do it as a business because the US limits our freedom of smoking indoors with their different laws.

                

Sunday, October 17, 2010

playstation xbox and nintendo.

how has play station nintendo and xbox changed our life? it is a hobby that millions of kids share and it is a media that in my point of view has taken over our cultures. it is a media that allows us to enjoy time with our friends and it includes a lot more than entertainment. it is a way of spending time with your friends while at the same time competing against them and nowadays people from all over the world via internet. it is very time consuming, and for some of us it is a huge part of our lives.
when i came to boston, i realized all of these, by noticing that in every house ive visited of college students there is some sort of system. whether is wii playstation nintendo or xbox. my friends for example, get together to play FIFA. we sometimes stay there for more than two hours, laughing and competing. it is nice bonding time but it is surprising how much time is spent on it. it has made us lazy and in a way dependent. because now when you are sitting infront of your tv, warm under your blanket, with your friends, you realize that you rather stay there instead of going to the movies or out for lunch. it might sound depressing, but it is incredible how much people play.
however, this leads us to what these video games have done for us and how it relates to our class. through these games, many messages are realesed. in fifa for example, it is a way to educated kids on a certain sport. it teaches them the rules and give them ideas of how to improve their real life game. the tricks, the style and the players teach us and make us want to copy it. in this case it is good, however there is a game like grand theft auto, where you can shoot people run them over and do all sorts of crimes in the middle of the street. how does this help improve the world? when it is just teaching us to do harm. it is giving kids ideas that they dont need and this is dangerous. now that you have read this, specially for guys or girls with boyfriends that play this all day, think about how time consuming it is and how unefective we are while we play this for hours.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

passion as a media

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

passion as a media

Passion:

in life, one can do many things that he likes every day. some people on the other hand, just go through life as a routine, they do the same thing every day. some people do what they love such as play sports, work out, be a doctor, etc. but others sometimes dont have a choice and just work to make a living.these things, are sometimes determined in life for certain people, and might not have a way of changing it. in order to make a living some people work hard, others steal, others kill, or others just do what it is necessary. and as i said, these things can not be modified in life according to many circumstance that people go through. however, there is one thing that people have in life where they leave everything theyve got, they put there heart into this activity or thing, they would kill for an opportunity of enjoying whatever this is. and that thing is called passion.

passion is something you would die for, what you love to do no matter the circumstances. alcoholics love to drink, because it is their passion. drug adicts love to take drugs because it is their passion, doctors love to cure people because it is their passion. no matter where someone is, the amount of money one has or how much one is suffering at a certain point, one will do anything to follow what they have a passion for.

me for example have a great passion for soccer, theres is nothing in this world i rather do than go to a huge soccer match or play soccer with my friends. i would trade anything for soccer. because when i am playing or watching this sport, my head goes blank. i think of nothing else but my passion. i enjoy every minute of it, and this is the same for anyone who follows or does their passion. the reason for why i see this as a media, is because it is a way of interacting with those who have your same passion. people like me would die to meet a professional soccer player, through TV, advertisements, internet, etc. we begin to idotralize those who play soccer the best. we follow them and have a passion to intend to copy what they do. their moves, their style, everything. when i go to the stadium, i yell chant and sing for my team connecting with the thousands of fans around me. if we think about, everyone interacts and relates to those who share their passions. and thats why i see passion as a great medium that is a huge part of my every day life. i live for my passion and theres not that makes me feel better than to be with people that share that passion with me.


example video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtB117zNC2E

free advertizing through facebook

Sunday, October 3, 2010

free advertizing

advertizing is one of the most important things when it comes to opening a business. it is what allows people to see what you are doing, and it is incredible how much companies spent on their business advertizing, so that this is succesful. this year, i start a business with my brother, where i sell tshirts online. the business is called spenglish and we sell through spenglish.net. here for example, i am doing free advertisment through a blog, because whoever reads this might be curious enough to see what my business is. but i am talking about much larger number of people knowing about the business through free advertisment. and when it come to talking about this, i talk about a website which we all visit several times a day known as facebook.

facebook has more than 500 million members, and it is the biggest social network in the planet. you put one word on it, and it is open for those 500 million people to see instantlly. people dont realize sometimes how much power this network has, but one can connect through to the world instantlly. so the advertizing part comes in, when you fill your page and profile with things from your business, you send messages and event so that everyone on your friend list sees it and recieves it. this then expands through word of mouth, and through your friends friends that dont have you in common but see it at there website. advertizing then becomes successful becaus now your website is know by thousands of friends of friends that you showed it to. this is a very powerfull tool that is used by many entretainment events and businesses. if one knows hw to take advantage of it, it is incredible how efective it could really be. we can see this through the new movie the social network, and in our every day lives. so this is why it is incredible how much money companies spend on advertizing every year but also do it through free advertizing in emails and facebook.

stereotypes in boston

stereotypes in boston

stereotypes are what someone uses to describe people without meeting them first. Living in Boston, has made me realize that  basing your knowledge of people on stereotypes is like judging a book by its cover; and this shouldnt be done. i realized this when i came to boston, because here, there are many international students. we all come to college to make friends and expand the network, however sometime stereotyping makes us chose what kind of people we try to become friends with first. so the question that pops up in my headvery often, is why americans dont really get along with the international crowd. are we really that different? or is it stereotyping, what people say about each other, that prevents us from giving this opportunity of friendship a try?

I believe, that sometimes we are lazy when it comes to meeting people who are different from us. we become closed minded people in an enviorment that requires us to accept differences. we sometimes decided to hang out with the people we know and understand, because we enter a comfort zone that makes us feel good about our selves and not threatend by society.

for me for example, i am more open minded and believe that in the end we ae all very similar. we are all here for the same purpose and it is good to be friends with everyone. one learns a lot from people who were raised differently than them selves. as well as learning that stereotypes dont talk about everyone. theres always something one can find in common with everyone, but in boston i notice that people are afraid to give this a try. interaction between international students and americans is not commonly seen here. why could this be.do stereotypes that say we are so different speak the truth?

Sunday, September 19, 2010

blackberry making us dependent and anti social? or social

celphones are a huge part of our lives. however, now a day almost everyone has either a blackberry or an iphone. with this media, one can check almost anything instantlly. we could check our mails, facebooks, internet, twitter, and anyting we can imagine. we can chat with friends from anywhere in the world as if they where right next to us. however, is this making us more social through greater communication, or are we becoming so dependant on it that we are being anti social.

I for example have a hard time going through a day without my celphone. i constantlly check if i recieve a call text or email. unconciounslly comunication has become instantanious. time where you get home and turn your computer on to view your mails or check your facebook, no longer exists. now we do it all day where ever we are. so by doing this and staying communicated with the world making us more social, or is having your eyes on your phone all day even when you are with people, making you miss out on life and being more anti social. checking that picture someone just uploaded, or those recent updates on twitter can be time consuming and affect those who accompany you. one because it can be annoying, and two because it is like multitasking all day long. celphones are a culture in our lifes and people depend on them way to much

“The dictionary defines media as all the means of communication, as newspapers, radio, and Television that provide the public with news and entertainment, usually along with advertising.” So basically, when it comes to defining media, I believe that media is everything which wants to convey a certain message to its corresponding audience. In a way, media could be anything that surrounds us, as long as it is being used or seen by other people.

“The dictionary defines media as all the means of communication, as newspapers, radio, and Television that provide the public with news and entertainment, usually along with advertising.” So basically, when it comes to defining media, I believe that media is everything which wants to convey a certain message to its corresponding audience. In a way, media could be anything that surrounds us, as long as it is being used or seen by other people.
            Audience is the most important aspect of media, and probably what defines media all together according to me. If we think about it, now a day almost everything is media. Because now, everything is shown on television; sports, TV series, fashion shows, etc. however, the reason for why I chose audience as one of the most important aspects of media, is because every sorts of media is targeted to a certain audience. As Robert Kolker says in his book of introduction to Media Studies, “audience for mass media is as varied as are the media they listen to, watch, and read.” Meaning that everyone who invents or creates a sort of media, must think in the process of creation, what type of audience it wants to target. So there being thousands of different types of audience, allows there to be thousands of different types of media.
            In conclusion, our lives depend on media as much as media depends on us. We can’t live without, and it wouldn’t exist without us. We all know that things such as TV, newspapers, radio, and electronics are different types of Medias; however, we find it hard to believe that things such as culture or sports could also be media. Let’s look at soccer for example, it is something people watch, but how does this make a media. In professional sports we see how it has all become a business. Every player or team has sponsors, and every stadium has advertising. This being because in order for it to be a well rounded business, companies use a sport seen worldwide to advertise themselves, making it a source of media. When people watch this sport on TV, they receive a message of advertisement targeting a certain crowd, and the same goes for any sport. Advertisement today is one of the strongest types of media, because of how its sells it’s self by people just looking at it everywhere one goes.
            On the other hand, we have culture, what people do and why they do it. Culture goes with audience, because every audience has different cultures. However, culture becomes a media when people read about and follow certain believes that where created. Culture comes from nature, when humans start questioning and experimenting with nature it becomes culture. Then from this culture become stories we tell among us humans. And form this, as Kolker also says, “Culture allows us to comprehend how humans act and why they act such way. Making this wonderful creation an important source of media in out lives.
            Media can be defined in many ways, but one thing that is certain, is that we all depend on it to live our daily lives. It is a major factor of who we are and without we would be ignorant. Today, surviving without certain Medias is somewhat impossible. For example, one can live without a cell phone, but because of how people communicate now a day, this person will always be a step back from all the others. Media defines us for who we are, humans create media to communicate among each other, and thanks to media the world functions as smoothly as it does.