Author: Valerie Wire

Belmont University graduate; Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations. New media, public relations, entertainment & the ever-changing world seem to be quite fascinating and a wonderful muse.

A Technological Challenege

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I dare you to spend one entire day without the form of technology you use most.

Or, if not all day, at least half of the day.

I know, how ironic is this, being posted right after my post about the iPhone 4S, but still, hear me out.

I took this little vacation from technology on Friday, Sept. 30.  I decided I had enough of my cell phone, of people texting, of checking e-mails, I was just tired of it.  I was tired of feeling like I had to be constantly connected to it, to someone, and always answering to someone. So, I turned it off.

Can I just tell you for one minute how positively, absolutely freeing it was?

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Let’s Talk iPhone…4S: Hot or Hyped?

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Photo Credit: http://www.apple.com/iphone/

I was one of the many individuals tied to my Twitter feed and several blog feeds during the iPhone announcement today from Apple.  Unfortunately, about 30 minutes after the “Town Hall” began, I had to go to class and leave the world of technology behind.  So, as you can imagine, I was pretty anxious to hear all the news I missed during the last few hours. And I can’t say I was too surprised to learn about the iPhone 4S rather than the iPhone 5.

They also announced decreased prices on iPods, which will range from $50 to the iPod Shuffle to $399 for the 64GB iTouch.  Now, if you ask me, that’s still a bit too pricey to make me commit…But, that’s just my opinion.  This was also Tim Cook’s first product launch as new Apple CEO, which is something to discuss all in itself.  However, we all know the main subject people are talking about is the iPhone.

This morning, I saw a Tweet directing me to this article, which had actually leaked the information about the announcement.  Though, I was still hopeful. And, I still am… to an extent.

My main question: is the iPhone 4S really necessary?

Compared to the iPhone 4, the iPhone 4S will…

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New Media Occupying the Voice of the 99% — #OccupyWallStreet

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You may or may not have read my last post about Occupy Wall Street, and that’s just fine.  This is serving as a bit of a follow-up…

Photo credit: http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/09/29/trendsmap-proves-scary-twitter-censorship-occupywallstreet-trending-topics-72701/

Since my last post, I have opened my ears and eyes a bit more, and as a result, I have become a bit more educated and informed about what is going on down on Wall Street, and throughout other cities in the world.  Since then, I have also received several mentions on other blogs related to Occupy Wall Street, and it’s begun to fascinate me how little attention Occupy Wall Street, or the other Occupy (insert city/state name here), have gained in the main media.  The media only seems interested when larger events, such as protestors being maced, or a large number were arrested when crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.

Take notes, friends.  This is something that is usually only seen and heard in history books.

But, are these news outlets doing their job?  Are they explaining to the people why these people are being maced, or arrested, or why they’re even there to begin with?  Is the “popular” media, making the protestors out to be harmful, destructive individuals, or people simply coming together to peacefully unite in change? Is the media doing its job? Or is New Media leading the way, while the “popular” media is taking a back seat ride and looking the other way?

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Occupy Wall Street — what is it?

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Has anyone else asked themselves this question recently? I have.

I knew, in short, that it was people protesting/rallying/coming together/etc. about to economic crisis.  I knew it was, well, on Wall Street, and I heard about some of the police action that was taken.  But, I feel like it hasn’t really been made known several things…like, how it started, who made it start, why (other than the economy) they started it, how it branched to other cities/continents, and other things of that nature.

Have I just been tuned out of the media, or has the news on this been a bit hush-hush?

I did a bit of research on the sites I will list below, but I’m still feeling fuzzy about it. I did find out that it was mostly spurred by the revolution and happenings in Egypt, which were started by a gathering of people.  Though, I feel like those incidents received more media coverage than this is, perhaps that is why it did so well?  More people were informed about it?

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Does the Kindle Fire strike a match or strike out?

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Basically, I’m looking for thoughts on the Kindle Fire. Simple as that.

Ever since Apple announced the iPad, and since I got my fingers on one at an Apple store, I’ve been dying for the day that I can make that purchase myself. I’ve always thought, I don’t need one, but my life won’t be complete without one. Ohh, the ways of Apple. I digress. When Amazon announced that they were coming out with a tablet, I was intrigued. I’ve played with my mom’s Kindle and enjoyed it slightly, and I’m a huge fan of Amazon. I felt this was promising.

However, with today’s news, I was a bit disheartened. Yes, it’s cheaper. It’s $199, which beats the Apple iPad and Blackberry Playbook by hundreds upon hundreds of dollars, based upon which iPad/version/3G/Data/Storage/etc you purchased,. But, is the price difference worth it? I read an article posted on CNN that pointed out all the differences, which were basically all the “downgrades,” in the iPad vs Kindle Fire….

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