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.

Monologue 5

**I got the inspiration for this monologue when I found a couple of news stories about disc golf. The one featured in the video can be found at BYU NewsNet. Then, once I saw that there is a PDGA, I knew I had to do this video. The rules page for the PDGA that I featured during the video can also be found here.

Two Journalists being held in North Korea

When I decided to be a journalist, I thought I'd chosen a relatively safe career. I wasn't going to be a cop or soldier, which both ask you to risk your life on a daily basis. I wasn't even going to be a fisherman, who face the prospect of drowning every day. (Click here for a link to a list of some of the most dangerous jobs.)

No, I was going to be a journalist. A safe journalist. WRONG! In the last couple of years, I've realized that a journalist is not always safe. If you write about something that upsets someone, then you make risk physical or property repercussions. Or if you are a foreign correspondent, you may be asked to enter war-zone, which were traditionally scary for journalists but now the conditions in war are becoming increasingly unsafe for journalists (see my post Life of a foreign correspondent or the BBC article on the topic for more information.)

Even if you are researching a controversial topic, you can be at risk. Just ask two journalists who are now being detained in North Korea. The two were apparently researching North Korean refugees when they were arrested in China, according to an article on the BBC. The two will most likely be charged for entering North Korea illegally from China, though the word espionage was thrown around a couple of times in the BBC article.

I have to say that I'm pretty scared for those two journalists. Though the BBC article said they were being treated well, I don't North Korea has the best record in terms of human rights.

Plus, I'm scared about how these cases could chill some journalistic activities. If journalists are threatened with imprisonment, they are probably not going to be as excited about investigative stories. In this case, the women (Euna Lee and Laura Ling) allegedly did something illegal, so yes, they will probably need to face some consequences. But if they get five years for entering North Korea illegally (as the AP is reporting), I think that will be pretty unfair. You get five years in the U.S. for stealing cars. If you ask me, if those journalists get five years, the North Korean government will just be trying to get back at them for researching an unflattering topic about North Korea.

To me, that is just wrong and scary. Maybe I didn't pick such a safe career after all!

Tough Love

It had been awhile since I'd checked in with Sarah Haskins, so I thought a Saturday would be a good day for a laugh. Today's featured video: Tough Love.

According to the video, VH1 has a new series called Tough Love. On the show, one man "who knows single woman better than anyone else" tries to teach his participants how to be or at least pretend to be perfect women when dating.

The host, Steve Ward, uses some pretty interesting tactics to make the women on his show more "dateable." According to Haskin's video, he has them pose for sexy photo shoots, have lingerie parties and participate in a game show called Cute or Crazy. During the game show, secrets are revealed about the women, and the men in the audience get to rate the girls as cute or crazy based on these secrets. I personally would rate that exercise as crazy.

I liked how Haskins looked at the show Tough Love to demostrate something that is prevalent in our culture -- people think that there is something wrong with single women. I think Haskins said it best when she compared singleness in our culture to a deadly illness. "Worse than leprosy you ask?" she said. "Yes, because lepers live in colonies and single women live alone."

Along with that, I think it's funny that it's terrible to be a single woman but it's cool to be a swinging bachelor that is afraid of commitment. That type of man is glorified in many movies and in our culture, and yet, whenever there is a show about a single woman, she is desperately trying to find a men 'to make her life complete.' BARF!

And so, due to all the 'chick-flicks' in which a woman seems lonely and unhappy without a man and also due to prevailing degrading thoughts about single women in our culture, I have to say that I've felt the pressure to find a man more than once. Some of my friends and members of my family ask me if I'm dating anyone before they'll even ask about school and my future career. Many of my family members and friends realize that school and my future are tremendously important to me, yet some of them are more curious if I've found a man or not.

However, I can't blame them for being more concerned about me finding a man than finding an amazing career. That's what our culture tells us is important through movies and also old stereotypes of women.

But to me, singleness isn't horrible. I can devote myself more to school and my work on the paper, and I have more time to cultivate life-long friendships. And yes, sometimes I do wish I could find my perfect man, but overall, I think I join Haskins when I say, I'd rather be single than be a leper.

**Photo taken from Time Out Chicago.

Mom gets plastic surgery to look like daughter

I often look at the BBC for interesting stories from around the world. Today, I was not disappointed.

According to the story "I just wanted to look like her," Janet Cunliffe had plastic surgery to look like her daughter Jane. She had a boob job to go from a 34A/B to a 34DD, had her upper and lower eyes lifted, got a nose job and had her lips plumped.

"I decided to do it because I was feeling low at the time, I'd just come out of a long-term relationship, so just to boost my confidence," she said in the BBC story.

(The pair is pictured above. From left to right: Daughter Jane and
Mom Janet as shown in the BBC article.)

In the end, all the adjustments cost her 12,000 pounds (British currency). But for her, it might be worth it because she often fools people about her age. People often mistake Janet Cunliffe for Jane's sister or some relative, but they never guess Janet is Jane's mother. I have to say looking at them I would probably guess Janet was a sister or an older cousin. I probably wouldn't guess Janet was the mother based at least on the un-motherish clothes she wears.

But was it worth it for Jane Cunliffe, the daughter? I know I would extremely creeped out if my mom had surgery to look like me or even started dressing like me. Actually, I would be shocked because my mother and I have different tastes in clothes selections. We both dress more to our age, and I have to say that I'll dress more motherly when I become a mother.

According to the article, the daughter was mad at first but mostly because she was scared of the dangers of surgery. Nowadays, the daughter is okay with the change.

"She looks like my sister and I'm happy for her," the daughter said in the article.

I really don't even know what to say about this. I was completely stunned when I first saw it, but I don't really feel like passing judgment right now. Instead, I will say that I'm not sure that changing your appearance is the best way to deal with difficulties facing a relationship. I personally would talk to a therapist first, because it's cheaper and probably less painful (though I can't say that for sure since I've never been to therapist. I can verify that surgery is painful.) But, then again that's just me. I've done some odd things in my life, too.

Slumdog cash: What's the lowdown on the slowdown?

When I was looking over the BBC site the other day, I found an interesting story "Slumdog makers pledge Mumbai cash."

The story in itself seems like it would be a feel-good story, and in a way, it is. The makers of the hit film Slumdog Millionaire are donating $745,000 to a charity that will help children living in the slums of Mumbai.

That all sounds good, right? But, I thought the makers of Slumdog promised to rehouse their child stars (pictured at right) when they won their Oscar. I can't find any story that confirms that thought, but I know a friend mentioned their Oscar promise shortly after the awards show.

So, I really could be crazy about the Oscar donation promise, but the BBC story did confirm that two of the film's star were recently rehoused after criticism that they were still living in the slums even after the film's tremendous success. So, to me that says that it took other people's scorn to finally convince the film's makers to donate or at least to spur them into action. That's not incredibly impressing to me.

In the film makers' defense, though, it seems like their hearts may be in the right place now. In the BBC article Director Danny Boyle was reported as saying, "It is only right that some of the success of the movie be ploughed back into the city."

I totally agreed. I just wish it hadn't taken so long from the movie's Oscar success to the present time for the makers to donate.

**Photo taken from the BBC article. It looks like it was originally from the AP.

More celebrities on my homepage? I don't think so.

I have admitted from time to time that I do succumb to the evils of Jen v. Angelina articles whenever I see them. I should also admit that I do enjoy looking at MSN's Wonderwall, which provides celeb gossip and tidbits.

However, I do not want more celebrities on my home page.

This was a question posed to me on MSN. (Want more celebrity news?) My initial answer was no because I am not celebrity obsessed and I can think of a lot better use of my MSN home page space.

Once I actually clicked on the celebrity-obsessed MSN beta home page, I was doubly convinced. One of the page's top stories was: Gossip: Kristen and Robert hold hands. Gasp! Sinners! How dare they! Oh, wait; who are Kristen and Robert?

Turns out Kristen and Robert are the stars of Twilight (oh, how I love Twilight fans; see the Fangirls video for more information), and apparently they have some budding romance. Okay, I guess that's important. But is it really more important than the fact that the Taliban is seizing control of strategically important territory in Pakistan?

Yes, or at least for the makers of the celeb-obsessed MSN home page. They would rather have you read about Daring and Dull Dos than current world events. Because having people read about hair instead of international crises will create a more-informed and intelligent public.

Obviously, I feel pretty passionate about this topic. I enjoy an occasional bit of celebrity gossip as much as the next person. But I am definitely not obsessed and am not in favor of creating entire home pages dedicated to celeb gossip. My advice to anyone who decides to turn their home page into a celeb-crazed site: stop monitoring their lives and start living your own.

**Photo from MSN's new celeb/entertainment beta home page.

Monologue 4

This post was inspired by the many blogs dedicated to grammar errors. The ones cited in this video are EnglishFAILBlog and GrammarBlog. My own personal grammar/headline fail in The Collegian was another inspiration for this piece, and I included an Argus Leader mistake to show that even the best make mistakes sometimes.

King Corn

I recently watched the movie/documentary King Corn, and I have to say it was pretty interesting. I don't know if it's because I'm a former farm girl or if it's because I didn't know I had corn in my hair (more on that later), but I found this movie to be very fascinating while still being educational.

Basically, the movie follows two college friends as they raise an acre of corn and try to see how their corn becomes part of the food supply.

As expected, the city boys discover some pretty funny things and more than a few disturbing aspects of our food systems. I think my favorite moment of the movie is the one shown by the movie promo picture (as retrieved from the King Corn press area). The guys decide to eat an ear of their corn straight from the field. They soon realize what everyone on the farm knows: that corn is NOT edible as is!

Along with providing me some laughs, this movie was extremely informational. I, too, had always wondered how the corn in the field feed America, and now I have a good idea. Some of that corn is used to feed cattle, which feeds us through hamburgers, etc. Over half of the corn is used to make corn syrup, which is used in many foods, such as pop, as a cheap sweetener. About a third of the corn produced in America does not enter our food supply. Instead that portion goes to ethanol production and other non-edible commodities.

Another important point in this film is that almost every processed food made in America uses corn in some way. For example, cattle are mostly corn-fed, so we are essentially eating corn when we eat beef. Many foods use corn syrup for a cheap sweeteners, so in that way, Americans are eating lots of corn, too. I loved the example that a McDonald's hamburger meal has corn in every part. The hamburger is made from corn-fed cattle meat, the fries are fried in corn or soybean oil and the pop has corn syrup for sweetener.

Because Americans do consume so many products that involve corn, the agricultural product shows up as the carbon in our hair, which as dead cells is essentially a record of things we have eaten. That is just crazy to me! Now, I really want to get my hair tested to see how much of my diet involves corn. I eat beef like crazy, and so I can only imagine how corn-fed I must be!

Useless Facebook Apps

I get at least three or four requests to add Facebook apps a day. I blame the fact that my name (Amy) is one of the first that pops up when the app asks you to add friends, but still, it's really annoying.

That is why I found it extremely refreshing when PC World named The 10 Lamest Facebook Apps. From the Honesty Box to Compare Friends to the Most Useless Application Ever, the article saved no punches when it attacked some clearly ridiculous apps and a few good ones. Here are some of winners of PC World disdain:

Bumper Stickers/ Pieces of Flair:
I have to say that I actually enjoy the bumper stickers. My sophomore year of college, my friends and I would spend hours looking at all the stickers and sending ridiculous amounts of stickers to each other. It was great fun, and I'll never forget the first sticker I sent/received: I don't skinny dip. I chunky dunk!


Pirates v. Ninjas:
I thought this app actually sounded cool because it involves pirates AND ninjas. How cool is that! Actually, it's not very cool because the whole point of the app is that you spam your friends to become a pirate or ninja. LAME!

Whopper Sacrifice:
My friend Brandon LOVED this app. He probably would have sacrificed all his friends for free Whoppers if the app hadn't been shut down. I have to say that when I saw that he had deleted friends so that he could get free Whoppers, I laughed. I thought it was extremely funny. Others did not, which is why PC World named this a lame app. The reviewers claimed it separates friends, instead of bringing them together.

Ploppy:
This disgusting application asks users to rate their last bathroom experience. One question is: How are your stools at the moment? Do I really have to say how gross that is?

**Pictures taken from the PCWorld Lamest Apps Review.

Monologue 3

**Music courtesy of freeplaymusic.com.

This monologue was inspired by PC World reviews of the latest crop of cell phones. I found the reviews and photos on MSN's Tech and Gadget page.

Monologue 2

**Music courtesy of freeplaymusic.com.

This monologue was inspired by the story "Scientists create chocoholic dream: all the taste with none of the calories" on the Telegraph Web site.

The life of a foreign correspondent

Just when you think your life is bad, you read about a guy who has been shot at in Iraq and taken hostage by pirates in Somalia.

Today's Web edition of BBC News featured a story about Colin Freeman, the chief foreign correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph. Apparently, while working in Iraq and Somalia, Freeman had more luck being in the news than writing the stories.

According to Freeman's piece, for many years, journalists were almost given a free pass in war zones. They were seen similarly to Red Cross workers or other aide officials. Both sides of the conflict understood that journalists were there to report on the conflict, not fight the battles with one side or another.

In today's world, all that has changed.

Freeman said that nowadays groups like al-Qaeda don't really care who they kill, as long as they are hurting their enemy somehow. Plus, these groups no longer need foreign reporters to tell their sides of the story. They have their own television stations or they use the Internet to spread their message. In a sense, reporters are no use to them. Reporters are completely expendable, especially if they get in the group's way somehow.

For Freeman, these new attitudes toward foreign correspondence led him to be wounded and almost killed by a mob in Iraq. But he might have been one of the lucky ones amongst his colleagues. Freeman said that out of the freelance journalists that stayed in Baghdad's al-Dulaimi hotel, no fewer than six ended up being kidnapped.

But if Freeman was lucky for not being kidnapped in Iraq, his luck ran out in Somalia. While researching a story about piracy, Freeman was kidnapped and held hostage in a cave for six weeks. His claims that he was a journalist and should not be held hostage held no creedance with his captors.

For me, Freeman's story is inspiring in the sense that he would put his life on the line for the profession that he loves. But then again, it also brings me back to earth. There are plenty of days when I think my life is just the worst in the world. Then I read about people like Freeman or Aliaksei Karol and Frank Nyakairu, who have both faced bodily and financial harm for reporting on the stories that matter. Clearly, my problems really aren't that bad, and I can only hope to be half as courageous as those three men.

Octo-Mom could get reality show

Nadya Suleman is close to striking a deal on a reality show that would feature her during her daily chores, on dates and when she's bussing around her 14 children, according to People.com (and found on MSN Entertainment.)

The reports says that Suleman and her lawyer have been in talks with various production companies about creating a show that will provide her a consistent income.

My first reaction to this story is oh, good. Give the baby lady some more media attention. This is the type of lady I want to read about and see every day. (Note the sarcasm.) On second thought though, the show would give Suleman a solid income, so everyone would be assured that she is not living off the taxpayers (or at least for the duration of the show.) Plus, then we know the children should have the oppporunity to have all the basics, like healthy food, clothes and shelter.

But then again, by giving her a show, the television world is just reenforcing her behavior. To me, the show would essentially say that her choice to have 14 children as a single parent while still living with her parents (or at least I think she was living with the parents for awhile) is completely acceptable. On many different levels, I don't think her choice was completely right, and so I for one don't want to watch a television show about her. I think I would just be frustrated the entire time I watched it.

Sorry, Octo-Mom, I can guarentee I will not be a viewer.