Final Exam Unordered List Post--My favorite TX Stops

My favorite places in Texas (no particular order):

Toy Joy: 2900 Guadalupe St., Austin, TX

Austin Java: 12th and Lamar St., Austin, TX

Kyle Railroad Bar-B-Que: 107 East Center St., Kyle, TX

Barton Springs: 2101 Barton Springs Rd., Austin, TX

El Arroyo: 1624 5th St., Austin, TX

Final Exam Map Post--My Spring Break

View My Spring Break Trip in a larger map

Chart

Katherine's Texas Favorites

Here are a couple of my favorite spots in Texas, specifically in the Austin/San Antonio area.


View Katherine's Texas Favorites in a larger map

AU News Wars

We've had an exciting week of news here at AU. The Snow-pocalypse hit, the MGC canopy collapsed, and DC has essentially been shut down.

The implications of the snow extend farther than transportation logistics and widespread milk-eggs-bread shortages. Two AU news outlets are battling it out West Side Story Sharks v. Jets style to take the top spot as the "go-to" source for campus information.

In one corner, we have the tried and true Eagle. Despite their inability to produce a paper issue on Monday (Some of their Tweets cited dangerous driving conditions as the roadblock to paper delivery), they have kept both their website and Twitter account updated with campus news.

In the other corner, we have new-comer The AU Examiner. The Examiner operates on the web only, updating posts and Tweeting to generate hits on the website. The Examiner launched on Saturday to capitalize on cabin fever weary students.

Now, let me be forthcoming. I am on The AU Examiner staff, so my loyalties fall with the newbie. However, my goal is to generate a legitimate dicussion about how these two outlets are morphing, changing, and competing in the current journalistic environment.

The battle so far seems to be focused on getting "the scoop" before the other--and since there has been a plethora of breaking news, the competition has generated plenty of controversy.

Some are already weary of heavy Twitter use--emphasizing the age-old debate of whether social media should be considered journalism ("Stop equating twitter updates with good journalism practices," tweeted one AU student).

Others are concerned with receiving information as fast as possible. Tweets regarding who posted information about closings first flooded the social network.

But some are simply focused on the competitive journalism aspect. "I really enjoy the shots that @theeagleonline and @auexaminer take at each other. Get over yourselves," tweeted one student.
"I dunno," said another student, "I think some journalistic competition would be very healthy for @theeagleonline and @auexaminer."

As far as I'm concerned, this dynamic sums up what we've been learning in the web section of our class. Which website reigns supreme/hits the most aspects of a good news website?

*Photo courtesy of Puget Sound Blog.

Katie Couric--Fierce, Fashionable, Photogenic

Not only did Katie Couric grace the pages of Harper's Bazaar this month, but she made it onto Washingtonpost.com, as well--wearing four-inch stilettos.

Both articles focused on Couric's ability to appear sensibly sexy in her Harper's Bazaar photo shoot, which pictures her wearing fabulously fashionable clothing that many serious anchorwomen wouldn't dare don for a nightly newscast.

As the Washington Post article states, her designer duds are a far cry from the "news-anchor cliche of Crayloa-colored blazers," turning "fashion into power" in the photos.

Fact is, as eloquent as both the articles are, without pictures of Couric looking absolutely fantastic, far less readers would have taken notice.

The pictures of Couric with kohl rimmed eyes and form-fitting clothing essentially make the package complete, and tell the story of a empowered career chaser.

For all of those who scoffed at the idea of Couric stepping outside of the anchorwoman uniform with a, "I'll believe it when I see it," here's the living proof.

And in case you are still doubt Couric's awesome-ness, here's her interview with Lil Wayne. Yes. Lil Wayne.

*Photo courtesy of Harper's Bazaar

Twitter: How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways

My boyfriend will never get a BlackBerry. My 24/7 obsession has sufficiently ruined any desire he had to partake in this delightful, new-age rite of passage.


He refers to it as "CrackBerry" or, "the date ruiner," and more than once he has dangled it perilously over a body of water.


And why am I so enamoured with this device? One word. Twitter.

Yes, my BlackBerry was pretty fascinating before Twitter, but when I finally downloaded the Twitterberry application, it was like I was exposed to a whole new world.

The possibilities are endless. I get instantaneous updates about nearly anything--news, photos, links, and videos. It keeps me in the know, and I can intelligently hold a conversation about the day's current events without having to read the entire paper.

It makes celebrities human. The personal updates on Twitter have often come under fire as too much information, but little quips and tidbits about Bethenny Frankel of Real Housewives of New York literally make me laugh out loud. It really does move towards proving that "celebrities are just like the rest of us" (although it will be quite sometime until I fully believe that).

It lets me share things with the world. Sharing knowledge empowers the user to be responsible, intelligent, and analytical. I want to be a journalist someday, so my main focus is to share news, not drunken pictures. The fact that my boss from my internship is now following me doesn't hurt that pursuit of intelligence, either...

Citizen journalism at it's finest? Oh yes. Major attention sucker/distraction from relationship? You better believe it. Next time, I'll just shrug my shoulders and say, "Journalist in training."

iTab/Pad = iHavePoorEyesight

In class today, plenty of friendly banter ensued when Professor mentioned reading off a computer screen.

In one camp are the book enthusiasts, who cited difficulty with screen back lighting, reading small text, and the smell and feel of real paper as the reasons why they prefer to stick to lugging around textbooks.

Among the opposition are several hanging on Apple's every word until tomorrow when they unveil their new tablet computer.

Personally, I get the whole lighting thing. To draw in a pertinent analogy, I live in a 4 ft. by 4 ft. cement box known as a dorm room, and not once have I turned on the fluorescent lighting. I prefer softer lamp light because it's easier on my eyes. And as far as the smell and feel of books go, I keep several copies of my favorite classic novels on bookshelves (among them, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald).

So I (yes, me, the tech-under enthusiast) propose a wonderfully harmonious common ground--the Amazon Kindle. Why?

• No lugging around textbooks. It serves up the small, compact portability of a paperback.
• The adeptly placed page turn buttons and lack of back light mock the feel of a book. Okay, so for the paper-sniffers this doesn't add much appeal, but closer to the real thing then the Apple tablet. And that whole "feeling" argument isn't working out too well for the newspaper industry, either.
• It's a book reader. Not a fancy tablet computer. The focus lies more so in the literature then the variety of things the tablet plans on doing (music, movies, Internet).

And for the kicker, read: Technologically illiterate person willingly operates e-reader. Shouldn't that be reason enough to believe?

Blogging 101: These Are A Few of my Favorite Things

We've had a very interesting first week of the online portion of our Multimedia Skills class. The best part? I now comb back through some of my favorite blogs with the most critical eye. Here are some of my favorites and what I think they're doing right, as well as some critiques of what I think they are doing wrong.

Perezhilton.com--Perez definitely gets to put a check in the "personality" box. But as far as valid information goes, Perez Hilton has retracted statements about celebrities like it's his job. It's blogs like these that keep bloggers from reaching full credibility as a good news source.

The Trend Report on WhoWhatWear.com--Ok, so it may not be deep-rooted discussion of political theory, but as far as fashion blogs go, The Trend Report keeps readers in the know about style. They lack a lot of engaging multimedia, though--it's mostly just pictures and text. If they threw some fashion show footage in there, they'd be golden.

Huffington Post--All bow down to the mighty Arianna! Owner of the Huffington Post Arianna Huffington, pictured above, has helped revolutionize online journalism. I feel like much of the reason why Huffington Post rocks needs no explanation, but among my favorite things about HuffPo is it's New York Post-esque headlines, the variety of bloggers, and it's unity in layout and design. But beginning blog readers beware: information overload is imminent.