What kind of media consumer am I now?

Hopefully a smarter one. =)

This blog was just supposed to be a (forgive me) stupid, tedious homework assignment that was to take up my precious time twice a week. I didn’t even know what a blog was, let alone know how to compose a blog consisting of interesting facts about the ever pervasive global media.

Lilly said that at the end of the assignment/semester, we would be able to go back and look at our very first blog and see a difference in the way we blog as well as how we view media and its various facets. She was right.

Through this blog assignment, I’ve become a smarter media consumer:

- I am no longer the average audience, blind to all the hype. I’m aware that propaganda is EVERYWHERE. Hidden messages luring me to buy, buy, buy is laced on every ad I encounter.

- I have been introduced to numerous media programs/outlets from perusing through different blogs. Thanks to James’ blog I’ve been introduced to Al Jazeera. Never before did I consider looking up Al Jazeera to get the “other side.”

- I have also been able to see and analyze some of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen. Try looking at my photo blog roll to the right, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

- Last but not least, now I know how to BLOG! I never even heard about a blog before. I suppose I was living under a rock or something. My introduction to the blogging world has introduced me to all kinds of personalities from the keen Jeff Jarvis to the comical Dave Barry. And although I’m not quite in love with Miss DOOCE herself, Heather B, her quirky-ness is growing on me. (I like her rants about pooh better than her rants about her dog, but that’s just me.)


So I think I will keep on truckin’, I mean bloggin’ Lilly. Thanks.

God Bless the Weird

Weird news--you gotta love it! I'd like to thank all the "journalists" who publish the bizarre, unruly stories of the world. Without them, my work day would feel like a never-ending blow to the head by a tiny little metal bat that doesn't necessarily kill you but can keep your head throbbing until you want to pass out.

I came across Ananova.com today. Ananova is a web-oriented news service that provides breaking international news, entertainment news, business news, as well as its "quality" stories of the bizzare labeled "Quirkies".

The curious of the curious can find Ananova's quirky stories labeled under various titles from "Sex Life" to "Strange Crime" to the even more obscene sounding "Animal Tales."

Today I spent a good half hour wasting time reading the quirkies. I know I could have been more productive but hey, like I said earlier, weird news--you gotta LOVE it!

What did I "learn" today you ask? LOTS!

Stories of Note:
- A top female politician in Holland is requesting for Dutch prostitutes to be sent abroad to "relax" tense troops. "The army must think about how their soldiers can let off some steam."

- A man is suing for missing foreskin.

- Panda porn is the new rave of China.

Fighting the Technology Divide

The Grameen Foundation is another group narrowing the technology divide between the rich and the poor. Inspired by the work of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, the global network aims to empower the world’s poorest people through access to information and financial services.

One Grameen project making economic and social impacts is the “Village Phone”. Based on the success of the original Grameen village phone in Bangladesh, the Grameen Foundation lends villagers money to buy village phones. The concept of a village phone is to work as a small business. The Village Phone Operators (VPOs) make money by renting out their phones to other villagers on a one-call basis. The VPOs charge their customers with reasonable rates that allow VPOs to make enough money to repay their loans while making additional profit for a better lifestyle.

The original village phone program started in Bangladesh with the help of the Grameen Bank, Bangladesh’s largest non-government organization. Focusing on introducing technology to the poor, the bank provided village women low-cost loans to set up a mobile phone exchange in areas where no or little telecommunications technology existed. Grameen phone ladies were estimated to make more than US$1000 a year, compared to the average income of US$380.

With the help of organizations like the Grameen Foundation and Negroponte’s OLPC, it is hopeful that the world’s unfair intellectual playing field will even out. The lack of modern communications technology makes a divide between the rich and the poor. Societies who have it…prosper, those who do not…stray far behind. We should not let anyone stray far behind.

(Note: Click on the Title for more about the Grameen Foundation)