Disney on Hulu

When I first read the headline that Disney would be joining Hulu, I was pumped to say the least. You can watch whole episodes of shows on Hulu, and I was excited to have Disney join the fold.

I must admit, though, that I was hoping that Disney would put some of their classic movies on the video-sharing site. Just think if you could watch Aladdin, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, etc., on Hulu. That would be amazing! You wouldn't have to shell out money to a movie rental place or you wouldn't have to hunt down a friend who is geeky enough (much like yourself) to have tons of Disney movies on hand. Awesome!

My bubble was burst, though, when I heard the rest of the news story. According to a CNBC video, Disney will add its shows from ABC, ABC Family, Disney Channel and SOAPnet. The story said nothing about Disney's amazing classic movies.

Still, this is an exciting day for Hulu watchers. The Disney announcement means the media giant will join News Corp and NBC Universal on the site. Viewers will get to watch some of their favorite shows from three of the major networks: FOX, ABC and NBC. That is pretty awesome!

So, I guess though I am still sad that Aladdin will not be making an appearance on my computer screen anytime soon, I am still excited for the prospects of watching Disney's television shows on my laptop. And maybe once the Disney execs see how successful Hulu is, they will add the Disney classics to the site. What a dream come true!

**Picture from the CartoonDollEmporium.

Iraqi journalists

Happy World Press Freedom Day!

Before I get too excited about this wonderful day, I must talk about a place where freedom and press are not often said in the same sentence.

That place is Iraq, and according to a BBC article, about 225 media workers have died since the war in Iraq began. "It is safer to walk around Baghdad with an AK-47 than with a camera," said Iraqi journalist Youssef Ismail in the BBC article.

But the real problem for Iraqi journalists may not be death -- though death is probably a key deterrent for recruiting journalists in the country -- but censorship.

Censorship issues had improved in the country after the fall of Saddam Hussein, and honestly, I don't think it would surprise anyone that he restricted the media during his dictatorship.

I was surprised to discover that censorship is becoming an increasing problem again. According to the article, when the Iraqi government gained more control, Iraqi journalists became to feel the pressures of the government's strength. Lawsuits are increasing against journalists, and the government works to cut advertising for those papers that are not pro-government.

To me, that is just disgusting. One of a journalist's main jobs is to serve as a watchdog of government, and so it sickens me that the Iraqi government is trying to prevent journalists from doing their jobs. It actually makes me wonder what the Iraqi government has to hide.

Hopefully, Iraqi officials are squeaky clean, and I pray that they begin to become more understanding of the journalist's role. That will only make them look better in my eyes and the world's eyes.

So, happy World Press Freedom Day! In light of this day, I encourage everyone to stay current on press freedom issues around the world.

Comic Sans: Either you love it or you hate it.

I definitely learn something new every day, and today I learned a whole lot about the Comic Sans typeface.

Today there was a featured article ("For Many, Comic Sans Not a Pretty Face") about the font on MSN's tech and gadget page. According to that article, the font was created to give its computer companion Bob an informal font.

Before I go any further, I have to say, why would you call a computer companion Bob? That is just creepy. Were people supposed to treat him as a friend? Was I supposed to invite him into my home and allow him to sleep in the same room as me (because my computer is in my bedroom)? Ummm ... weird!

But back to Comic Sans. The font is supposed to look like comic-book lettering, which apparently is quite aggravating to some designers. According to the MSN article, there has been an effort to ban the typeface for the last ten years. There's even an organized group and a Ban Comic Sans Web site.

Perhaps, I'm too apathetic, but I really don't have a crazy intense opinion on the typeface. I think it can be fun for certain situations like party invitations, etc., but I totally understand that it shouldn't be used with formal situations. But, there are several fonts that should only be used in certain instances, like for celebrations; Jokerman and Curlz MT are two that immediately come to mind as novelty fonts that should only be used limitedly.

So, I guess I am a fence sitter on this issue. I'll have to read up on the issue before I vote on it during the next font election.

If you did not find that last statement funny, perhaps this video from College Humor will tickle your fancy. I encourage anyone who knows anything about fonts to watch this video. It's superb!

**Above photo taken from the Ban Comic Sans Web site.

The Office

I heart The Office, and I have to say this past week's episode was pretty great. It was no match for the after-Super Bowl "Fire" episode, but it was still pretty solid.

**Spoiler alert: If you do not want to find out what happened this week, do not continue reading!

During this week's episode the members of The Michael Scott Paper Company return to work at Dunder Mifflin. Michael Scott starts off the episode with a meeting, which he called so that they can talk about things. Michael really just wants an apology for people not quitting their jobs to be with him. You have to love that.

The Casual Friday bit also provided some humor. Meredith's extremely inappropriate outfit made me cringe and laugh all at the same time. Plus, I loved Toby's khaki on khaki.

The final part of the episode was the best when Michael offered the sales rep job to Pam instead of Ryan. I thought for sure he was going to give the job to Ryan even though Ryan cost the company lots of money due to his crazy Web site. But even though Michael is besties with Ryan, Michael decided to give Pam a shot, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

My roommate and I have discussed why Pam left with Michael to form his company a couple weeks ago. To me, Pam obviously wants to move herself ahead in the world. Though she enjoys being the secretary/receptionist, she wants a job that makes her happier. She has the sales fire, and she wants to prove that she can do it. Now, Pam will get the chance to show what she's got. I just really hope she doesn't fall flat on her face during these next couple of episodes. That would break my heart!

Overall, this season has treated me well. I couldn't believe it when Michael quit at Dunder Mifflin, and honestly, I was slightly concerned that Steve Carell (who plays Michael) didn't want to be on The Office anymore. But now, he is back in the Dundler Mifflin office, and I'm sure he will be badder than ever. If he wasn't bad and pompous and slightly crazy, it wouldn't be The Office. Yay, Steve Carell, and yay, Office!

**Photo taken from The Office Web site. Pictured are characters Ryan, Jim, Michael, Dwight and Pam.

YouTube uses

I've talked about the uses for Twitter and Facebook in some of my previous posts, so I guess it must be time to talk about YouTube.

According to the BBC article, a man delivered his baby boy after watching some instructional YouTube videos. The man had watched the videos as a precautionary measure after his wife started to feel discomfort. He told the BBC he Googled how to deliver a baby and then watched a few videos. About four hours later, the man put his newfound knowledge to the test, as his wife started to have the baby.

The couple called a midwife and then an ambulance, but their fourth child was not waiting. Despite this high-stress situation, the man said he really didn't panic. He attributes that to his time in the Royal Navy. I say those most have been some darn good videos!

I have to say that I really am impressed with this story and how some people are using new technologies. I was really impressed that Facebook could "save a life," as described in an earlier post, and I also do like that people try to help each other out on Twitter, also described in an earlier post.

But now YouTube is the hero of the day. Who would have thought? I occasionally watch some instructional videos on the site, but mostly I watch music videos and humorous clips. I can't say that watching "Numa, Numa" is probably doing anyone any good.

Still, the options of self-improvement on YouTube are out there. And after hearing this story, you can bet I'll make my future husband self improve by watching some videos if I'm ever pregnant!

Nutella: Final Project

For the final project, I decided to profess my love for Nutella.

There were some successes and failures with this project, though I am satisfied with my project overall. One major failure in this project is that The Collegian office is located under the Aramark kitchen, and so you can hear the humming of the dishwasher during the first part of my video.

I did have some successes, though. I was proud of myself for making a freezeframe of the Nutella bottle when my video clip was not long enough for the B-roll in one part. Yay, innovation! I also liked my ripple transition, my music selection and how I got the Nutella bottle to appear by my head when I was thinking/dreaming about Nutella. Overall, I am pleased with this video, and I hope you are too!

Cribs

**Music courtesy of freeplaymusic.com.

This was the Cribs assignment, and in it, we created our own version of an MTV Cribs episode. My partner was Josh Chilson, and he came up with the idea to pretend to be me. He also wanted to include areas that obviously were not rooms in his house, The Campanile. Hopefully, that created a humorous tone.

In this assignment, I got to use my photoshop skills. I created the cutout for the opening sequence, and I created the SPECS box in photoshop. Josh also did some really great things on the editing side. He played with speeding things up and down, and he worked to sync the video up perfectly with the music. I thought he did a great job timing the pictures on the screen with the beats of the music.

I learned several things with this video. I personally tried to effectively mix flashes of images on the screen with strong beats in the music, but despite my best attempts, Josh is definitely more proficient in this area. I also made a freezeframe shot of the video for one of the first times. That was extremely easy, and I thought it added a lot to our video.