Chipotle Halloween Promotion

Chipotle Mexican Grill celebrates Halloween by having a $3.00 promotional discount for all customers. Burritos or not, all menu items are $3.00. The promotion definitely attracted many customers to the famous chain Mexican restaurant. In Chipotle, the traffic was busy and a long line can be seen.

A long line can be seen in Chipotle in downtown of Columbia on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. 

Bridget Tracy, 19, of Chicago said the promotion is doing a good way in promoting the restaurant. 

Bridget Tracy, 19, of Chicago, is one of the many customers who visited Chipotle for the promotion on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013

Why Diversity and Journalism Service Matter?

On Tuesday, at 3.30 p.m., Gregory H. Lee Jr. gave a talk in Smith Forum, Reynolds Journalism Institute. Lee is a sports editor at Boston Globe and the co-director of Sports Journalism Institute (SJI). He is also the president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).

In the talk, Lee elaborated on the disparities in newsroom and hiring practices. According to Lee, major papers usually hire eight white males and one female on average. Also, there was a news outlet (unnamed) once hired 17 employees with no African American. Lee mentioned that employer should be aware of their hiring practices. From the talk, I learned that employers should reach out, and should not linger in their comfort zones when comes to hiring people. Employers should explore and hire variety of employees with different background as it will definitely benefit the news outlet. Besides that, I learned that it is important to have diversity in newsroom so that someone could point out and give opinions if a news story reflects any sort of bias. One example was when Aaliyah, a R&B singer passed away and Payne Stewart, an American professional golfer, died on the same day. Payne Stewart's death was on the front page, however, Aaliyah's death was published at the back of the newspaper. This happened because no one in the newsroom knew who Aaliyah was as they were mainly whites. If the newsroom had employees who were African Americans, they might have known who Aaliyah was, and bias in news reporting would not had happened.

A double standard in newsroom is the minorities journalists were expected to know everything while the whites do not have to know everything else. Lee talked about his past experience when he was expected to know about The Beatles, famous English rock band in 60s. However, the white journalists were spared from having to know things that were out of their comfort zones. One good illustration was the story about Aaliyah's death. From this information, I have learned that regardless of your race, all journalists should educate themselves with knowledge about various cultures and people around the world. This can be done by learning about Black history, Asian studies and other studies that help to expand one's knowledge about cultures. As journalists, we should not be ignorant of other's cultures and lifestyles.

In comparison to the past, the diversity in the newsrooms is gradually improving. In 1993, there were no African American sports editor in news outlets. However, this year, Nadia Crow became the first African American anchorwoman in Utah. In my opinion, the society is starting to realize the inequality of news reporting, thus, creating an awareness on the demand of minorities journalists. Also, many African Americans and other minorities are starting to stand up for the disparities in the journalism industry. That's why for the past few years, we see the emerging of associations such as National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), Asian American Journalist Association and Native American Journalists Associations (NAJA). All these associations help aspiring journalists who are minorities to achieve their ambitions, and to overcome disparities in newsrooms.

Wearable Tech Invention

With inventions of smartwatches by Android and Apple's iWatch coming out, wearables are predicted to be the next big thing in tech era. 

Not falling behind of Androids and Apple, Google has recently announced that their latest wearable invention known as Google Glass is on its way.

So, what is Google Glass?
According to CNN,  Google Glass can be worn like regular glasses. It has a high-resolution display and allows wearers use voice commands to shoot photos or videos and access features like e-mail, text messaging, Google Maps, Google search and a handful of other apps. There were also rumors that the users are able to insert prescription lenses into it because many users who have tried wearing both Glass and eyeglasses have called it awkward. 

However, the groundbreaking Google Glass is said to face social and cultural issue. According to Omaha's website,  Google Glass have raised concerns of people who don't want to be surreptitiously videoed or photographed.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/10/24/5275403/tech-expert-says-wearable-computers.html#storylink=cpy

Also, many tech experts are not too optimistic of Google Glass.  In an article by Barry Shlachter, David Pogues, a tech expert said Google Glass will not be well-received on next year. Pogue predicted the device will be banned in courtrooms, banks, lockers rooms  and a few more private places.

Also, Sarah Griffiths from Daily Mail U.K., wrote that Google Glass users could be dealing with expensive data bills due to huge strain they place on the Internet, experts commented. One of the reason is because Google Glass connects to the Internet by linking to the web via a mobile phone or tablet's data plan. An American tech expert, Brian Fung predicts Google Glass will burden internet infrastructure, forcing mobile companies to build capacity. He believes the invention of wearable tech will affect the current way tethering is used and paid for, because of huge need for data.

In my opinion as a consumer, I think Google Glass is a groundbreaking wearable tech invention. However, I am not positive about wearable techs. After all, it's a computer that we will be wearing. I think humans are growing dependency towards technology. Indeed, we live in a tech era, but I think wearing computers is crossing the line of being human. I think it will largely affect humans' interaction and humans capabilities of performing without computers. Not to mention, we are still uncertain if the device has any side affects towards humans' health. I believe wearable techs will evolve but in a span of lengthy period.

BBM for Android and iOS

The once popular Blackberry Messenger is now available for Android and iOS.
I remember about 3 years ago, Blackberry was the "thing" and people my age who had Blackberry was considered "cool" until Android and iOS were growing intensely. Few days ago when I found out that iOS will have a BBM app, I was excited. It gave me flashback when I was a hardcore Blackberry user. Scanning bar codes and getting "PING" were the norms for Blackberry users.
One advantage about BBM is the person do not need to provide contact number in order to add someone. If a stranger were to add you on BBM, you do not need to worry if he or she will be able to contact you through contact number as BBM users add each other through pin codes or scanning bar codes. I thought that this feature was an advantage, especially for girls.

After finding out support iOS is able to support BBM, I downloaded the app instantly. I realized there were changes for the app. To view contacts, you can either choose the contact to be viewed as grid or list. I thought the grid option was pretty cool. Another new feature on this BBM app is you are able to send voice not to friends, which my old Blackberry did not have. Overall, as a consumer, I am contented on Blackberry's decision to disseminate into the iOS and Android market. I think apps like Whatsapp and WeChat will be greatly affected by Blackberry's decision to provide an app for the Androids and iOS users. Chatting on BBM is pretty astonishing for me now as it brings back old memories. However, it'd be never the same as I am typing on touch-screen instead Qwerty keypad. To think of it, I miss the feeling of typing on Blackberry's Qwerty keypad.

Better features on Windows 8.1

Yes, The new Windows 8.1 is released. 

So, what are the anticipated new upgrades?

According to USA Today, the major change is the return of a familiar start button, located in "Desktop" mode in its customary location at the bottom left corner of the task bar. By clicking on it, you will return the default tile-based in square tiles which contain live data for weather, stocks and e-mail.  Also, Windows 8.1 is more customizable in comparison to the older Windows. It has more background colors and varieties of sized for the live tiles. Not to mention, user have a choice whether to stick with default tile interface or the conventional Desktop environment.

In the website article by USA Today, The Windows Store gets a design makeover. According to Microsoft,  there are now 110,000 apps in there, up from about 10,000 about a year ago. New and updated apps are also consistently being added to the place such as  Evernote, Facebook, Hulu Plus, Netflix, and NOOK.

In my opinion, the greatest new feature is Window 8.1 brings in a new feature which is the ability to resize apps to any size, and share the screen between two apps. Therefore, users can have two apps running at the same time. However, one app will be smaller on the screen than another. Not to mention, users can also snap apps together, such as an Outlook mail application and a Web page in Internet Explorer, according to Cnet's website. I think this upgrade makes multitasking a lot easier.

However, I do not like that users will not be able to change the Web search engine to other providers like Google. I think users should be able to have freedom to customize their preferred Web search engine. Regardless, I think Microsoft has provided relatively decent upgrades to Windows. 

Interest in Pinterest.

Recently, Pinterest has caught my attention as my roommate often browse on Pinterest. In curiosity, I took the time to explore interest. Being predictable as always, I am all over Pinterest now.

First and foremost, what is Pinterest?

It is a tool for collecting and organizing the things that inspire you, according to Pinterest's website.

Basically, you can upload pictures, and anyone who favors the picture can 'repin' the picture. Similar to Instagram, you are able to follow other users on Pinterest and vice versa. You are able to view the pins of the users you are following by browsing the home feed. To organize your pinned pictures, there's a feature called 'board'. The 'board' enables you to classify your pinned picture according to your preferred category. In addition, the 'board' can be shared with other Pinterest users through invitation.

Why do I like Pinterest?
I think Pinterest is a great site for users to get inspiration. For instance, during my friend's birthday, I browsed Pinterest to help me generate ideas in making a birthday card. Many users actually utilize Pinterest as a source to get ideas on how to design their homes, garden , etc. Recently, a guy had planned a surprise wedding for his girlfriend by the help of his girlfriend's Pinterest board. (read here) Besides that, Pinterest also enables me to know a person better. This is by looking at the pins of the person you follow. My friend, S, always pin pictures of kittens. By looking at her pins, I know something about her, which is she is a person whom loves cats. Indirectly, this helps me in deciding on what to get for her during her birthday such as something related to cats. Other than that, Pinterest is simply another fun way for me to kill free time. Really, who knew I could spent 2 hours just by looking at random pictures.

E-learning through Sakai

For the recent J2150 classes, the announcements, syllabus, test, quizzes, assignment submission and online lectures are conveyed via Sakai. Sakai is an online portal used by the multimedia journalism department of Mizzou. Therefore, the multimedia journalism course syllabus predominantly revolves around Sakai. In my opinion, I think J2150 is partially conducted via e-learning as assignments are submitted via the portal, and certain lectures are taught online. 

What I like about e-learning is it is self-paced. For instant, the online lessons in Sakai can be watched multiple times until I fully understand the materials. Another great thing is I can watch the online lessons whenever I desire as long as I meet the datelines for the quizzes. In short, I find the timing of the online lessons flexible. Not to mention, I like the system of being able to take the quizzes and tests as many times as I want until I am satisfied with my score. I think this system actually helps students to learn from their mistakes and fully understand the content of the course. In J2150, all assignments are submitted via Sakai. What I like about online submission is it saves the hassle of having to print, or transferring files via flash drive. Less printing also helps contribute in saving the environment. Besides online submission, I like how the weekly current event quiz is carried out in Sakai. I think it saves a lot time as the results are instant. This also means time is not wasted by distributing and collecting the quizzes. Also, professors do not have to spend time in grading quizzes. 

Despite the few glitches when doing the online tests, my experience with e-learning through Sakai is pretty pleasant.