Hey, so I'm sitting here, thinking about the 20/20 investigative pieces. I remember when I was in high school, they were doing a couple of pieces on shady hotels and mattress stores. 20/20 sent forensic scientists to test the surfaces of hotel appliances and mattresses (you know, when they do the cotton swab swipe and shine the blue light on the bed sheets). Later on, 20/20 reported they found a number of bacteria and bodily fluids on the bed sheets, along with telephones and remote controllers. Also, they took samples of mattresses in a few mattress stores, and found out that some were in fact old, used mattresses with new covers! They were covered with all sorts of stains underneath. Man, I remember when I wanted to do investigative reporting and bust such people. But then I realized that those people may retaliate against me (like find out where I live and try to get me), and that wouldn't be good. Maybe if I wore a disguise, I could do the job. That would be interesting, though.
--Eun :)
Monday, August 13, 2007
Dateline
So yesterday, I was watching Dateline to catch a con man( or something to that effect.) Chris Hansen went undercover to try to catch Internet scammers who promise you millions of dollars in emails. You've all probably seen them.
He set up a fake name of Jim E. Dimoni (funny right?) tried to get the con men to believe he was interested in getting the millions of dollars that the email promised. Hansen went to Amsterdam and the con man met them there. They got to talking and...
Finally he got them alone and told them he was a reporter from America. One guy ran away, one guy got flustered and one gave back the money he took...
I can understand why Chris Hansen did this. those emails about getting money can get annoying. Also so many people get taken.
The problem is that often time these people aren't prosecuted because they can't be found or are a go between for some top agent. Can he even try to get international officials involved. It's good work but if you can't arrest the guy then what? People will continue to be taken by these emails.
Anyway it was a fun little show to watch yesterday.
Gurpreet Nandra
He set up a fake name of Jim E. Dimoni (funny right?) tried to get the con men to believe he was interested in getting the millions of dollars that the email promised. Hansen went to Amsterdam and the con man met them there. They got to talking and...
Finally he got them alone and told them he was a reporter from America. One guy ran away, one guy got flustered and one gave back the money he took...
I can understand why Chris Hansen did this. those emails about getting money can get annoying. Also so many people get taken.
The problem is that often time these people aren't prosecuted because they can't be found or are a go between for some top agent. Can he even try to get international officials involved. It's good work but if you can't arrest the guy then what? People will continue to be taken by these emails.
Anyway it was a fun little show to watch yesterday.
Gurpreet Nandra
Last Minute Blogger
Yes, this is the first of my three requisite bootcamp blogs. And since so many of you are asking, I'll make it about my wedding on Sunday. Holy smokes! I'm getting married on Sunday!!! :)
To be honest, I couldn't be more relaxed about it. Granted our wedding is small (about 70 people) and my mom and fiance are taking care of all the last minute details (how's that for rule-breaking?), but I still think I've learned an important lesson here. One that I will gladly share with all future brides.
...TAKE A VACATION BEFORE THE WEDDING!
I'm not talking about having a wild bachelorette party the night before, and I don't really think bootcamp counts either, but it's true that being out of town, far away from the chaos that is certainly encircling my family/family-to-be, has greatly alleviate my wedding stress.
A week before leaving Eugene, Ore., I felt totally unprepared for bootcamp. I was so nervous that I opened my textbook, which I had purchased online, and read the entire thing. I even did some of the exercises. Not all in one sitting, mind you, but still a rather nerdy thing to do. I had been stressing about the wedding for so long though, I felt like I needed to do something drastic to change my focus. I guess it worked. Being here, exploring D.C. and meeting new people has helped a ton too.
I talk to my mom and my fiance, both, at least once a day. I get all the wedding updates, but I'm never worried! As the days count down, I actually feel myself getting more calm. All will go smoothly this weekend.
As long as I don't miss my flight...
-ariel olson
p.s. My fiance's name is Arya, relevant info. because you may bump into him at the SOC sometime. He's coming in the fall to do the Film and Electronic Media M.F.A. :)
To be honest, I couldn't be more relaxed about it. Granted our wedding is small (about 70 people) and my mom and fiance are taking care of all the last minute details (how's that for rule-breaking?), but I still think I've learned an important lesson here. One that I will gladly share with all future brides.
...TAKE A VACATION BEFORE THE WEDDING!
I'm not talking about having a wild bachelorette party the night before, and I don't really think bootcamp counts either, but it's true that being out of town, far away from the chaos that is certainly encircling my family/family-to-be, has greatly alleviate my wedding stress.
A week before leaving Eugene, Ore., I felt totally unprepared for bootcamp. I was so nervous that I opened my textbook, which I had purchased online, and read the entire thing. I even did some of the exercises. Not all in one sitting, mind you, but still a rather nerdy thing to do. I had been stressing about the wedding for so long though, I felt like I needed to do something drastic to change my focus. I guess it worked. Being here, exploring D.C. and meeting new people has helped a ton too.
I talk to my mom and my fiance, both, at least once a day. I get all the wedding updates, but I'm never worried! As the days count down, I actually feel myself getting more calm. All will go smoothly this weekend.
As long as I don't miss my flight...
-ariel olson
p.s. My fiance's name is Arya, relevant info. because you may bump into him at the SOC sometime. He's coming in the fall to do the Film and Electronic Media M.F.A. :)
Do you know how cool I am because I listen to Josef K? You don't even want to know, it would make you naseous. You would get vertigo just thinking about how much cooler I am than you.
I don't think you guys know the first thing about music fandom. Me, I just sat through an entire episode of Veronica Mars just to see a cameo from Britt Daniel, the lead singer of Spoon. It was horrendous.
Oh, I'm sorry, did you like Spoon? Too many uncool people like Spoon now for them to be cool anymore. Everybody knows its way cooler to hate Spoon than to listen to them now. You lose again.
Basically I only listen to bands that only I have heard of. Catch the Mae-Shi's last album, Terrorbird? I didn't think so. Rumor has it that they recorded on all borrowed equipment in one of their kitchens. My god, it's exquisite.
-Casey
I don't think you guys know the first thing about music fandom. Me, I just sat through an entire episode of Veronica Mars just to see a cameo from Britt Daniel, the lead singer of Spoon. It was horrendous.
Oh, I'm sorry, did you like Spoon? Too many uncool people like Spoon now for them to be cool anymore. Everybody knows its way cooler to hate Spoon than to listen to them now. You lose again.
Basically I only listen to bands that only I have heard of. Catch the Mae-Shi's last album, Terrorbird? I didn't think so. Rumor has it that they recorded on all borrowed equipment in one of their kitchens. My god, it's exquisite.
-Casey
A few thoughts on class today. . .
1. If you have the ability to pronounce something correct you should. I am always unsure if I should correct people when they mispronounce my name. I know, you're thinking how do they mispronounce Ryan? But many do. They don't think Ryan can really be my name so they change it to Ryann or Reanne, or anything like that. I usually do correct people because I think if I were mispronouncing someone's name I would want to know. I would want to do my best to respect what is thier's. Also, by showing respect you command respect. There is a learning curve of course, but once you learn it what excuse do you have to keep making the same mistake?
2. I really appreciated the guest speakers we have had. They are journalists who are doing the same thing I want to do. They have insight and alot of useful information. The more views and experiences I hear about the better I am prepared to make decisions for my future. I don't know about the rest of the class, but I don't have anyone in my life who has any experience as a journalist. It's nice to hear about what I may be getting myself into.
3. I was much more awake today because I got to sleep in later! I have moved to an apartment that is a 20 minute walk from class and it is wonderful, just empty and lonely. I do have a bed at least. Maybe I'll have a table soon. Usually at 7pm (the time it is right now) I would have been home for about an half an hour and worn out from the bus. But when I got home today I was refreshed from my walk and ready to work on Boot Camp stuff. Too bad there are only four days left!
Ryan Sibley
1. If you have the ability to pronounce something correct you should. I am always unsure if I should correct people when they mispronounce my name. I know, you're thinking how do they mispronounce Ryan? But many do. They don't think Ryan can really be my name so they change it to Ryann or Reanne, or anything like that. I usually do correct people because I think if I were mispronouncing someone's name I would want to know. I would want to do my best to respect what is thier's. Also, by showing respect you command respect. There is a learning curve of course, but once you learn it what excuse do you have to keep making the same mistake?
2. I really appreciated the guest speakers we have had. They are journalists who are doing the same thing I want to do. They have insight and alot of useful information. The more views and experiences I hear about the better I am prepared to make decisions for my future. I don't know about the rest of the class, but I don't have anyone in my life who has any experience as a journalist. It's nice to hear about what I may be getting myself into.
3. I was much more awake today because I got to sleep in later! I have moved to an apartment that is a 20 minute walk from class and it is wonderful, just empty and lonely. I do have a bed at least. Maybe I'll have a table soon. Usually at 7pm (the time it is right now) I would have been home for about an half an hour and worn out from the bus. But when I got home today I was refreshed from my walk and ready to work on Boot Camp stuff. Too bad there are only four days left!
Ryan Sibley
Everyone's Time is Precious
While trying to complete five interviews for our feature article assignment I have run into many people who claim they do not have time to talk to me. Today I called a young lady at the DNC named Patrice who was actually supposed to call me last week after she "looked into" what I was asking about. When I reminded her today that we had spoken last week she jumped into an apology and told me all about the meetings that were taking up everyone's time. I said I understood, but all I needed was five minutes, maybe ten at the most. She asked again what I wanted to know about and she put me on hold. She came back with no information and asked again if she could call me back. By this time I figured she didn't want to say she had no idea what it was I was talking about and most likely was going to do nothing to find out about it. That is fine, but she could just tell me that. If she did have information about what I was asking, she could have given it to me in much less time than our two "exploratory" conversations had taken already. None the less, she said she'd call back. I told her I was on deadline and then she realized I was writing an article. I did tell her this during our first conversation but I assume she didn't hear me. Actually I assume she wasn't listening. Then "the phone girl" (that it was call people when they are rude) said she couldn't talk to me at all and I would have to call the press line. That was fine, but she also wouldn't give me her last name or her title. She got very short and very rude. Her answer to everything became "call the press line." Well long story short, I called the press line, no one talked to me there either, but they gave me her full name and her title. Can you believe it was "Phone Girl?"
The World Ain't Flat
As the worlds of commerce and media move increasingly towards the Web, we should consider the technology gap that exists within this country and across the globe.
The Internet has no doubt done wonders for the economies of many countries. But the Internet boom poses problems for countries that are, by U.S standards, barely into the 20th century. How can they be expected to even remotely keep up with global trends? And, here in the U.S., where does this leave those with little education and limited Internet access?
A 2007 study by the Pew Internet and American Life project said 85 percent of U.S citizens have internet access or cell phones (or both). Those numbers sound great, but they don't tell the whole story.
Last year, the New York Times reported on a study conducted by three Ivy League schools which shows that a “huge pool of poorly educated black men are becoming ever more disconnected from the mainstream society, and to a far greater degree than comparable white or Hispanic men.”
Though the study did not specifically mention the technology gap as a reason for the trend, it did attribute much of the problem to lack of education. And most would agree that, today, computer literacy is essential to anyone's education.
So what is the media's responsibility in bridging the technological gap? Should we only seek to provide certain demographics with information because the ratings justify it? Or should we make an effort to be more inclusive?
--Caine O'Rear
The Internet has no doubt done wonders for the economies of many countries. But the Internet boom poses problems for countries that are, by U.S standards, barely into the 20th century. How can they be expected to even remotely keep up with global trends? And, here in the U.S., where does this leave those with little education and limited Internet access?
A 2007 study by the Pew Internet and American Life project said 85 percent of U.S citizens have internet access or cell phones (or both). Those numbers sound great, but they don't tell the whole story.
Last year, the New York Times reported on a study conducted by three Ivy League schools which shows that a “huge pool of poorly educated black men are becoming ever more disconnected from the mainstream society, and to a far greater degree than comparable white or Hispanic men.”
Though the study did not specifically mention the technology gap as a reason for the trend, it did attribute much of the problem to lack of education. And most would agree that, today, computer literacy is essential to anyone's education.
So what is the media's responsibility in bridging the technological gap? Should we only seek to provide certain demographics with information because the ratings justify it? Or should we make an effort to be more inclusive?
--Caine O'Rear
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