DATA SAPIENS

I reviewed the blog DATA SAPIENS (http://www.datasapiens.net) , a danish music blog (don't worry, it can be translated into your language of preference if it isn't danish) that focuses on electronic music which is defined on the website as "independent media without relationships with record companies, shops, etc". This blog not only features well known artists around the globe, but welcomes artists and labels who want to get their music out on the scene to send in their tracks, photos, background information, etc by inviting them to send their music and information to their website email.

This blog is very pleasing to the eyes. It is colorful, bright and every post has a picture of the featured topic the post is about. The articles are well written, informative and interesting. I found it refreshing how there are no negative articles or posts, such as giving an artist or a song a bad review. I liked how postings are not only archived chronologically, but they are also put into different categories, such as remix, artist, five for Thursday (postings that feature 5 tracks). With the flashy look of this blog though, comes complications. I also liked how at end of a posting, there would be a list of "similar postings" that feature similar content or music of the posting you are currently reading. Even though the concept of having different categories for the postings is a good idea to better find a specific posting, I found it difficult to find where on the site the category list was. I find sometimes it is better for a blog to be simple and clean where it is easier to find what your looking for, versus spending extra time searching for a specific posting and just getting lost on the site. Overall, I enjoyed this site. The music, style, and postings are original, and even if you are not a fan of electronic music, it is a good eye opener to international music scene, and also provides links to various other music biologists (see blog roll on website for more music blogs).

"Rising Canadian Dollar Good or Bad for the Economy?"

Is the rising Canadian dollar bad or good for our booming economy? To start with, one could look at it from both sides, first in the earlier days a high Canadian dollar could have been negative due to low exports. On the other side, now a booming economy, a high dollar is a plus because of cheaper imports.
After researching more on the topic, according to an economist from the TD Bank, Don Drummond, he thinks that the rising loonie "will drag down the economy." Many Canadians are worried about the rising dollar due to last time it rose to high amounts was because of the oil industry and it had a positive effect on the economy but this time it is due to poor world markets and believe that it is going to crash.
I have to disagree with Don Drummond. I believe that the high dollar is a positive for Canada and think that it will stay high for a longer then most people think. The rising dollar not only makes importing from other countries cheaper but can also increase labour productivity. It lowers exchange rates and strengthen our business markets. I do believe a rising dollar is a good thing for the Canadian economy.


http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090529/Canadian_dollar_090529?s_name=&no_ads=

Review of "Wal-Mart Watch"

I also had to review a blog for my Business Communications class, I reviewed the Wal-Mart Watch.http://walmartwatch.com/. This blog is a negative for the corporation itself, but it is a place for the current and former employees to say what they feel about Wal-Mart and how they were treated while working there. There are blogs about how their sick benefits and the lately charges of sexism in the workplace. Just recently a journalist interviewed three current and former employees of Wal-Mart about what it was like to work in one of the world's largest private employer. He addressed topics such as how tough the management can be and safety concerns. Out of the three emplyees, 2 have had serious work related injuries. Another of the concerns were the low wages thought to be affected by the stores low prices. The blog is against Wal-Mart, it may affect what people think of Wal-Mart and may make people re-think applying for a job there.

The layout of the website is not very appealing, it is bland and all white. The blog is pretty much a hate site. Majority of what I read about Wal-Mart was negative and giving the company a horrible name and reputation. There was a variety of problems that occurred in the workplace. Consisting of sexim, work related injuries, tough managers, safety concerns and horrible sick benefit packages. After reviewing this blog and if I was to ever be thinking about maybe getting a job at Wal-Mart and found this website, it would change my mind in a hurry! This is a place for Wal-Mart employees to complain about how much they dislike their jobs.

Evolution of Communication Part 2

Continuing from part one of my "Evolution of Communication" post, is the fifth digital literacy, "Socio-Emotional" Literacy. This stems from technology based, social sites such as chat rooms and Facebook. While these are great tools for individuals engaging in co-operative learning and event planning, the nuance behind this literacy lies in the ability to discern between the sincere and misleading. Unfortunately, predators lurk in these sites and learning keep communications to only known friends is the best defense.

The next two digital literacies are Aphek's addition to Eshet's five digital literacies. The first of Aphek's digital literacies is "Moderation & Self-regulation" literacy. Since digital mediums such as the internet and video games are often used as an escape from the mundane routine of life, they have the power to carry us away. Being able to control yourself and moderate usage of these technologies can prevent incidents like the South Korean who died in 2005 from playing a video game for 50 straight hours with few breaks.

Aphek's last literacy, she admits, is a "meta literacy" since it plays an integral role in all of the other literacies. The "Quality Assurance" literacy reminds us of the all important need for quality. Often, we are distracted by shiny pictures and impressive animations, but we use this technology for the content. If the content isn't what we expect, we are only cheating ourselves.

Evolution of Communication Part 1

With advancements of technology comes advancements in communications, and there is no better example of this than the World Wide Web. As websites have grown in number, the general public have increased their reliance on this digital medium as a source of instant and accurate information. Edna Aphek, in her paper "Digital, 'Highly connected' Children: implications for education." credits an Israeli scholar by the name of Yoram Eshet-Alkalai with defining five new digital literacies of our time. In part one, I'll discuss the first four of these.

The first is "Photo-Visual Literacy" which is when a picture or icon is used, instead of text, to represent an idea of thing. While this had originated from instant message users using things like a :) to denote a smile or "lol" to indicate laughter, the concept has grown to include actual images to represent a concept. An example of this is the symbol that represents an RSS Feed.

The next digital literacy is referred to as "Reproduction Literacy", which occurs when a new take is given on an old idea. The example that Eshet gives is of Mona Lisa with a mustache, but one that I have recently discovered is a sculpture (shown below) called "Game Over" by Kordiana Lewandowskiego". Made of polystyrene, this statue depicts Princess Peach holding Mario in the classic "Pieta" pose of the Virgin Mary holding the body of Jesus Christ. This serves to draw a correlation between religion and video games.



The third digital literacy I'll be discussing is called "Lateral Literacy". This literacy deals with the ability to present information in a less structured and less traditional manner. One example of this is the invention of the "Wiki", specifically Wikipedia, where anyone can edit all content. Another example, which is prevalent in my blog posts, is that of the "hyperlink". This is when a link in embedded into a click-able text instead of as part of a bibliography at the end. Often, this is done to streamline information for the viewer.

The final digital literacy that I'll discuss in part one is called "Information Literacy". This deals with the reliability of information found on the internet. Since most sites and blogs don't hold their content makers accountable for their words, the easy way would be to trust nothing on the internet. However, with experience and the opinions of respected authorities, one should be able to filter the good information from the bad. For example, since anyone can edit Wikipedia, its credibility as a primary source is less than a peer-reviewed journal.

Friday, I'll discuss the final three digital literacies: "Socio-Emotional", "Moderation & Self-regulation", and "Quality Assurance".

Review of "GM FastLane"

For my Business Communications class, I've reviewed the blog GM FastLane. This is a beautifully designed blog by GM that was clearly made for car and truck enthusiasts, particularly those on the consumer end. When I reviewed the blog, the most recent post was of a webcast hosted by Scott Lawson, GM Customer & Relationship Services. From the questions that were posed, this feature was definitely for the benefit of loyal GM customers. In addition, there is a section dedicated to Hi-res photos from the recent Chicago Auto Show and a very convenient "Categories" section where readers can sort though blog posts according to their interests. As a whole, the site is very aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate.

The writing style is very inconsistent. On average, posts made by division chairmen and vice-presidents are grammatically sound and interesting to read, while the posts made by chief engineers are awkward and seem to struggle for the right words. Overall, each post gets it's message across quite well.

My only suggestion as far as structure would be for them to move the Categories section closer to the top of the page so readers don't have to scroll down half-way to find it. For content, I think they may need to hire a content manager to ensure greater consistency across all postings.