Bush, The Comeback

Of course Bush’s reputation might be on a rebound. With Obama failing miserably to make good on his promises, it’s not surprising we might look back in retrospect and appreciate the older model. Mind you, I’m not a big Bush fan either, and I don’t hate Obama either, but name something good, something significantly good, he’s done since he’s been on office?

Last I checked we ran up the deficit in the first four months more than Bush has in the last four years, and passed a health care bill that even the Canadians are crying about. It better be worth it. Of course the article is not near so biased, but in any case, Bush is looking good. With a candid book on the way, and a war that’s slowly being resolves with the results Bush intended, he may not go down as the worst president in history.

Invasion of Androids.

I wanted to comment on this article because I’ve seen a number of these phones popping up lately in place of the Iphone. Cheaper, and more capable than the Iphone, it’s no wonder their market share is increasing. I am NOT a big Apple person, and their perpetuated ban on Flash drives me bonkers.

I hope the Droid, or some other rival CRUSHES the Iphone. Sorry fan-boys, but Apple is just using you anyway. They don’t want Flash operable because it extends their phone’s application farther than they’d like, which cuts down on their market for charging you for apps, and the next version. 😉 Don’t buy the lie about security, Flash is safe, and as long as phones like the Droid enable it, Apple is not.

Blue Skinned and Blue Ray Problems

Apparently, the blue-skinned characters of Avatar aren’t fairing well on Blu-ray discs. In fact, a strange glitch on some consumer’s Avatar discs are preventing the movie from playing, causing quite a consumer upset.

“”When 3 out of 3 players in my house (Denon, Samsung and PC) won’t play it, then 20th Century Fox should be slapped with losses on this one,” said one irritated customer. “

Simply put, I agree. 20th Century Fox should, as a show of good favor, reimburse the afflicted consumers, because that is one BIG glitch. From a legal standpoint, the product is not operating as advertised, so purchasing contracts are invalid, which could spell troubles even for the retailers.

Twitter’s Done it Again!

This article was quite humorous. Apparently Arizona Iced tea is not based in Arizona, but New York.

Rumors swept the news channels about people ready to boycott Arizona Tea as a result, but upon tracking the source, it seemed to originate with one small tweet, said in jest, about boycotting the product.

First, not being a big twitter fan, I found that hilarious. One day Twitter is going to cause mass mayhem, and I’m gonna be there to see it. Secondly, that people actually believe it? Sure, sarcasm doesn’t transfer very well through text, but to report on it? This is why we need stricter professionalization in Journalism.

BP Facing PR Worries

This article was rather funny for a couple reasons… Not long ago BP announced as a part of its “going green” initiative, that it would be using double layered tankers to ensure that no oil spills occur. They hailed it in commercials as a huge step and benefit for their consumers, that they were taking precautions to ensure a greener tomorrow!

What they didn’t tell the public is that the federal government had already passed laws to REQUIRE ALL tankers to be double tanked. And now here we have BP spilling oil into the ocean, not from a tanker, but from the, albeit tragic, accident on an oil rig. While I don’t like the fact that a number of people died, or that oil is now killing off wildlife in the ocean, I don’t mind that BP’s reputation will be tarnished from this.
I wonder what their representative will spin for this.

PRX Builder, Saving the Day, or NOT.

So I used a site called PRXBuilder to create a Social Media News Release as a part of my final project for my PR writing class. I was overall impressed with its ease of use, versatility, and overall dynamics.

As a novice programmer and web developer, the system was extremely impressive, and I can’t imagine how they might have done it. With all the steps, saving, array of content generation and attention to detail, it was a fun, easy, and useful website and application.

HOWEVER. The save feature DID NOT work, and I was unable to complete the project to my professor’s expectation as a result. This was extremely aggravating and ruined my PRXBuilder experience.

Don’t know it? Topeka it.

Topeka became Google, now Google becomes Topeka for April Fools.

Google announced today, April 1st, that they would be changing their name officially to “Topeka” in order to honor the actions of Topeka, Kansas in renaming their city to Google earlier this year.  Topeka took this action as a part of a competition Google sponsored, so now Google has returned the gesture. Or have they?  The entire action is a very elaborate April Fools joke, featuring a change to Google’s official sign, and the logo on their popular search engine website Google.com, which was probably the first change most noticed come 1 AM this morning.

A little tidbit I discovered, is that they even used “Topeka.com” to source back to Google.  Got hand it to the guys behind the world’s most popular search engine, when they pull a prank, they go all out, and do it with a charitable style.

Social Networking, Or, Social Narcissism?

I’ve seen many people take a look at the notion that Social Networking websites and similar content are feeding a generation’s obsession with themselves.   With everything converging on customization, personalization, accessibility, multiple outlets pouring forth for self expression, whether it be forums, blogs, Twitter style services, FaceBooks or MySpaces, YouTube and other video websites…  there seems no end to one’s ability to be absorbed in…one’s own self.

It is no surprise that modern generations are being named the “ME” generation.  Websites have whole sections, even immensely popular news websites like Yahoo, where YouTubers can make the front page with “viral videos”.  But whether or not one makes the front page of Yahoo is irrelevant however, because everything you say and do can be, if you desire, broadcasted over the web and pasted on the front page of all your friends’ FaceBook, MySpace, or Twitter accounts, or all of these and more! Even at the same time!

What the long term affects of this egotistic trend?  I can’t even begin speculate.

Twitter’s Fourth Year of Failing

It is interesting that I don’t actually recall when Twitter first started, but apparently it was over 4 years ago this week.  My experience with Twitter was recorded in another blog post, but I found it quite interesting that there were many skeptics in the industry present for its birthday.  I watched an old news clip on PR Open Mic, and found it rather hilarious to read the reaction it got, some professionals even calling users “twits”.

The reporter of the segment asked a question:” Do we really need to know what people are doing in their daily lives in 140 characters or less?”

The news anchor answered with a resounding “NO”, and I tend to take her side.  I really don’t care much what anyone, even my closest friends, are having for breakfast, if they’re going to the gym, or combing their dog for fleas.  To be blunt, honestly, no-one is THAT interesting…

Suffice it to say, I did try to get back to Twitter; gave it another go on a private account with friends, but the system was bogged down each time I tried to get on.  Coincidence?  Nevertheless, I love(d) seeing the Fail Whale, it’s hilarious. 😀

The Relevance of AP Style

For Immediate Release* is a bi-weekly podcast given by Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz on Public Relations and Technology. Today I listened to a podcast from February 1, 2010.

What did you learn?

I learned that there are significant style differences between the United States and Europe, and that there are many different style methods in each country. I also discovered, or at least it came across as such, that style guides are not as important in Europe as in America.

What surprised you?

I was quite surprised by the way both Neville and Shel seemed dismissive of a universal style guide.  Shel in particular who spoke of being quite adept and trained in AP style, recognized and explained that many organizations have different style guides.

I was also quite surprised that some style guides mentioned actually suggested that words be misspelled!

What do you want to know more about?

I would like to know why some style guides have different requirements than others.  Not what differences, but why for instance does the AP style guide require one stylistic method, while other styles offers another, and why in the world would you purposely misspell a word like employee?

*For Immediate Release

Authors: Shel Holtz, Neville Hobson