In this blog, I discuss general contemporary topics that revolve around the mass media and its status today. Enjoy reading those controversial subjects, and feel free to share your opinion.
Popular culture (commonly known as pop culture) is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the late 20th and early 21st century. Heavily influenced by mass media, this collection of ideas permeates the everyday lives of the society.
HOW STRONG IS THE POPULAR CULTURE?
Popular culture has many fields: Sports, Movies, Movie Stars, Sports Heroes, Music Tracks, Even Video Games are all parts of popular culture. Everything that influences the audiences' thoughts, ideas, actions, habits, dress etc. is considered thus, popular culture. It was early categorized into the lowbrow, highbrow and the middle brow (the majority). It has a quantative, left-overs, mass culture, authentic as well as political importance.
Alot of companies, and adversiting agencies are relying heavily on stars and sports heroes to advertise their products, and make it seem to be the star's or the sport heroes' choice, thus; make the people blindly believe in their product. Let's have a look on just a few out of many examples:
COLLABORATION OF STARS: Pink, Britney Spears, Beyonce and Enrique Iglesias for Pepsi Commercial.
Michael Jackson (1982) Famous Pepsi Commercial:
David Beckham - "Impossible is Nothing" Adidas Commercial:
Tuba büyüküstün (known as: Lamees) in Pantene Commercial:
K'nan and Nancy Ajram for CocaCola Soccer WorldCup commercial and WorldCup Theme Song 2010:
Charlize Theron - Christian Dior Commercial :
But what do you think? Are they properly influencing the audience? Feel Free to share your opinion.
A web series is a series of episodes released on the Internt or also by mobile or cellular phone, and part of the newly emerging medium called web television. A single instance of a web series program is called an episode or webisode. While the popularity of web series is continuing to rise, the concept itself isn't entirely new. Scott Zakarin created the first advertiser supported web series in 1995, The Spot. Homicide: Second Shift was a pioneering Internet web series that tied into the TV series Homicide: Life on the Street. The web series started in 1997 and was ultimately cancelled due to financial constraints and technological restrictions. The rise in popularity of web series can be seen as a result of the increasing availability of broadband and the improved video streaming technology. This has allowed independent producers to create low budget series distributed on the Internet, but more recently major television production companies are using the Internet as a means of promoting their TV shows as well as developing specific media and shows for the Internet.
Webseries are growing more successful in the Arab world. Shankaboot is the best Arab webseries centered about a simple delivery boy, Suleiman, and the difficulties he encounters during his life. It an an Emmy-award winner as well as has been widely spread all across the Arab world, especially in Lebanon mainly because it is in Lebanese dialect. There are others too, like: Beirut, I Love you! and Al-Horeye. Their aim is to be realistic and very credible, well honestly, they succeed in that! Everyone could relate to them, and try to put themselves in their shoes! They are greatly challenging; they use high standarded techniques for shooting and are competing with Tv series and even movies, since they use close techniques. Their standard is considered very high as compared to amateurs, and their single-most beautiful feature is they are short and no-time consuming at all! (5 to 7 minutes maximum). I recommend that everybody start watching those series.
What is a conglomerate? A corporation consisting of a number of subsidiciary companies or divisions in a variety of unrelated industries, usually as aresult or merger or acquisition.
What is a moNOPOLY? Exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices.
CONSEQUENCES OF CONGLOMERATES:
1) Media become loyal to sponsors, rather than to the public interest.
2) For the general public, there are fewer diverse opinions and voices available.
3) Only a few companies represent the interests of a minority elite control.
4) For minorities and others, fewer oppurtunities are available for voicing their concerns and reaching the public.
5) Healthy, market-based competition is absent, leading to slower innovation and increased prices.
BUT globally speaking, is it good or bad? Who decides? Individually speaking, is it good or bad for us? If so, then how?
A MUST-WATCH VIDEO:
(Revealing some hidden truth about media conglomerates that we never knew)
Going 70 years back, the Arab Cinema was 180 degrees different.
Not only technically, but also the content of films were very different than today's. During the 50's and 60's era, most movies used to focus on men and women righteous and non-righteous relationships with few films talking about more serious topics. Women's clothes were a lot more revealing, in fact over exposing. A bellydancer was one important figure/character in a movie, and most of the times, the heroine of the movie herself dances! More kissing scenes were seen back then, and intimate scenes between the hero and heroine were something accepted and usually not censored.
However; today the case is greatly different. Due to the digital revolution that affected the movie industry, thus; the Arab's cinema as well, the technical procedures of producing and filming a movie has been entirely changed. But not only technically, however, the content differed a great deal as well. Cinema is now paid more attention, and the industry is growing bigger day by day; many talented young people are joining the industry to become filmmakers, producers and others. Those young people are influenced by the foreign cinema and their open-mindness they gained from education which made them pioneers in the Arab cinema industry. Many of them are innovators, and this is how the Arab cinema developed. Movies are no more with just only shallow-crystal-clear plots and themes; genres became more varied; more serious movies have been produced and movies today are very diversed; you can find the romantic, the comic, the tragic, the serious, the adventurous, and the one serving a particular human cause. The mentality of people changed, thus; the cinema changed with it. Today, censorship heavily exsist in the Arab cinema in general, especially in the gulf area; it is more enforced than in Lebanon, for example. Kissing scenes are barely found in Arab movies, and nudity or obscenity as well as voilent scenes are all stricty censored in foreign or American movies.
However, is censorship fully positive or can it be negative sometimes? Do Arab countries have to go on censoring many scenes or just join others and view the rating system as sufficiently enough to rely on?
The Golden Age of Egyptian Cinema – the 1940s to 1960s
Hind Rostom
Arab cinematic production started in Egypt with the first news film in 1909, and silent movies in the 1920s. However, the foundations of the Egyptian film industry were not laid until 1935 when Misr Bank established Studio Misr, leading to the production of an average of 20 films per year by the early 40s. By 1948, six further studios were built, pushing up annual production to an average of 50 films, the level it maintained until the 90s.
The first Studio Misr production was Wedad (1936), starring the legendary singer Um Kalthum. She was already a star when she appeared on film, and went on to act in 6 films, the last one, and possibly most interesting being Fatma (1947). There was a host of films featuring musical stars including Abdul Halim Hafez, Muhamad Abdel Wahab, Asmahan, and Farid El Atrash. The 1930s and 1940s are seen as the decade of the Egyptian musical with 50% of films produced belonging to that genre, and their influence remained strong until their eventual decline in the 1970s. Among them are Passion and Revenge (1944), an important visual record of Asmahan’s performances, and A Cigarette and a Drink (1955) starring Dalida, who would go on to become a big star in Europe (and France in particular) with 55 Gold Records.
Music provided common ground with other Arab countries, and this facilitated the export of Egyptian cinema to the region. This has lead to a regional success story for Egyptian films and has made Egypt one of the biggest exporters of popular culture to the Arab world. The first Egyptian film to be successfully exported to other Arab countries was the musical Al Warda AL Bayda (The White Rose) (1933) directed by Mohamad Abdul Karim starring Mohamad Abdul Wahab. The film’s success was partly due to Abdul Wahab’s adaptation of music to film. The long instrumental introductions were dropped in favour of 6 minute musical pieces.
In Egypt’s star led and populist cinema, actors, dancers, and musicians have significantly shaped the types of films produced to fit with their special talents. The best internationally known Egyptian actor is undoubtedly Omar Sharif who managed the difficult passage from Arab actor to international star. His first role was in a Youssef Chahine’s film, The Blazing Sky (1954) opposite his wife to be Faten Hamama, which started a long career of working with some of Egypt’s best directors, including Kamal El Sheikh and Henri Barakat. Another male lead of the
Golden Age was Shukry Sarhan in roles including the award winning Chased by the Dogs (1962). Some of the most memorable female leads are Sarhan’s co-star in Chased by the Dogs, Chadia. Her other lead roles include Al Medaq Alley (1963). She shared the limelight with other great female leads such as the talented and prolific Faten Hamama, and Hind Rostom whose roles include the masterpiece of Youssef Chahine, Cairo Station (1958).
The 1940s to 1960s are considered the golden age of Egyptian cinema. This period includes major historical events such as the rule of Egypt by its monarchy, colonialism, the second world war, the popularly backed takeover of power by Gamal Abdul Nasser, and the postcolonial age. Despite this turmoil, there was great consistency in the actors, filmmakers, and institutions from the late 1940s to mid 1950s. It was not until 1964 that the Egyptian film industry was nationalised, and then denationalised in 1970. Nationalisation gave the opportunity to certain directors to free themselves from some of the constraints that the commercial genre dictated. However, whether under the nationalised film industry or the commercial sector, the use of stars remained the norm, and both systems produced distinguished films.
In the 1950s and 60s, directors producing films in the Realist genre were gaining great critical acclaim. The gangster film began to thrive in Egypt, with the 60s in particular seeing the rise of the thriller. The literary novel was emerging as a major influence too, with over 10% of films produced in Egypt between 1930 and 1993 being literary adaptations. Some 38 of the novels of Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Nobel Prize for literature laureate, have been adapted for the big screen. Some of the most notable of these collaborations are between Mahfouz and director Salah Abu Seif, and in particular the films Cairo 30(1966) and A Beginning and an End (1960).
Salah Abu Seif is regarded as one of the foremost realist directors. Another key Realist director was Kamal Al Sheikh. Like Abu Seif, he began his career working for Studio Misr. Al Sheikh became known for making compelling thrillers such as House Number 13 (1952), a film noir about a psychologist who tries to use his friend to commit a murder; Life or Death (1955), which unusually for the 1950s was shot on location in Cairo, and The Last Night which was nominated for the Golden Palme at the Cannes Film Festival in 1964. One of his masterpieces is Chased By The Dogs (1962) which bore Al Sheikh’s trademark visual flair combined with the psychological depth and tension required for a good thriller. It was nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1963.
The 50s and 60s also saw the appearance of accomplished realist films from Youssef Chahine, most notably The Blazing Sky (1954) nominated for the Grand Prix at the Cannes International Film Festival, and his masterpiece Cairo Station(1958) nominated for a Golden Berlin Bear. It was Chahine’s second film, Son of the Nile (1951) an early work of Social Realism, that started his international fame. The film focused on relations between traditional classes and elites, depicting the hard lives of peasant classes. Previous representations of peasants had used them largely as romanticised symbols of national identity. Son of the Nile was part of the official selection at the Cannes International Film Festival.
Director Henri Barakat, like Youssef Chahine, Kamal Al-Sheikh and Salah Abu-Seif, made films in many genres. He began making films in the early 1940s and was one of the most prolific filmmakers in the history of Egyptian cinema. Internationally his most acclaimed films were realist works, such as The Sin (1965), about a peasant girl raped by the son of a wealthy landowner. She gives birth in the fields, and inadvertently smothers her baby while trying to stifle its cries. Unable to bear her dishonor and now her crime, the woman kills herself. The Sin’s ‘unhappy ending’ was in stark contrast to the approach of most Hollywood productions, and is more representative of an Egyptian socialist ethos. Other acclaimed films by Henri Barakat include his thriller A Man In our House (1961) starring Omar Sherif.
Despite the sobering themes of the Realist genre, many of the films of the Egyptian Golden Age bear the quality of a bygone era that seems, in many respects, more glamorous and liberal than what was to follow.
WHEN IT COMES TO THE MEDIA INDUSTRY; MUSIC, MOVIES, GAMES..
SHARING IS NOT CARING!
Media Piracy involves many things, however; all illegal. It is piracy; it is theft; it is copyrights infringement; it is criminal liability...
It is a growing issue in the Arab world to download music, movies, and games illegally. Intentionally or unintentionally, knowingly or unknowingly, is this act considered legally acceptable? If yes, then is it morally acceptable?
Campaigns are being issued to stop the illegal selling of DVDs and music CDs as well as the online downloads and serious actions have been taken in many Arab countries, such as the United Arab Emirates. However, there are still other countries that are totally blind to this issue, or let's say, acting blind to it, or perhaps, have much more important things to sort and look after, thus, pay no close attention to the media piracy issue. Whatever the case, we recognize very well that this act is entirely illegal and serious punishments are applied to the 'criminals' charged with the act of piracy, yet we also know that we can still get away easily with it in many ways that the responsible authorities cannot recognize. Besides, it might be legally O.K. in some countries who are still unaware of such important issues...
So the bigger question does not lie in the fact of it being legal or not...
The bigger question lies in the idea that...
IF LEGALLY ACCEPTED, OR IF LEGALLY UNACCEPTED BUT COULD BE STILL DONE EASILY...
THEN...
IS IT MORALLY ACCEPTED?
When it comes to morals, there is one and only one interpretation: It is morally and ethically wrong to steal.
Torrents and many other similar websites act as a huge temptation for offering millions of illegal music files, movies etc. and thus make it very easy for people to get away with their act of theft. However, it is not a question of laws and punishment, it is a question of your morals. Although it is very easy to get illegal music files and movies (not to mention that it usually costs you $0.00 to get them), but ask yourself, "Why do I allow myself to steal this music track, but not steal the original CD from the music store? Why do I allow myself to steal this DVD movie, but not steal a thousand dollars from a bank? Aren't the two acts originally similar?"
Please stop media piracy, it is only making the Arab media scene goes duller.
But I don't get it, why, countries like the United Arab Emirates - totally aware and harshly strict about such issues - are still keeping websites like 6rbtop.com and others, UNBLOCKED? :S
The Web as we know it will give way to a more interactive and pervasive medium, experts say.
Dumb, boring, dusty--are these words that describe the most ballyhooed innovation in decades, and the foundation on which our New Economy teeters? According to Forrester Research, that's just what today's Web is.
And not only is the Web cold, clammy, and pale, but it is doomed to die, says the technology research firm. In a report released Thursday, Forrester predicts that the Internet will experience a second round of expansion that will move it beyond the browser to become a more interactive and pervasive medium which Forrester calls the "X Internet." In its evolution, the report predicts, it will eclipse the Web.
The X Internet, Forrester says, will be more executable, offering real-time, interactive data through disposable code, or programs that can be used once and then thrown away. Furthermore, the current Internet's steroid-boosted second incarnation will muscle its way into a myriad of devices. Eventually, nothing with electricity and an Internet connection will be safe from X Internet, which will function through both wired and wireless networks, the report states.
Forrester predicts that during the Internet's next wave of development, fueled by a global Internet backbone and cheap chips, the number of Internet devices will explode from the current 100 million to more than 14 billion.
But first the Net needs to evolve and users need to move beyond their Web-only thinking, says Forrester. Today's wimpy Web is like early television programming, which was just radio with a picture of an announcer, the report's author, Forrester Research Director Carl D. Howe, says in a statement. The X Internet, however, could make users' online experiences more engaging; for example, consumers might shop online using a Doom game interface that lets them shoot deals they want, Howe adds.
For companies, the evolved Internet will provide real-time information about what's going on in their businesses, the report states, allowing them to make immediate adjustments according to their needs. A California-based company could take real-time data from the power company, telling it to turn down its air conditioner during peak consumption hours, for example.
With so much in store for consumers, one can only hope that the X Internet doesn't go the way of the much-publicized and now defunct XFL, the U.S.'s "extreme" football league.
Put very simply, citizen journalism is when private individuals do essentially what professional reporters do - report information - without being professionally trained or educated.That information can take many forms, from a podcast editorial to a report about a city council meeting on a blog. It can include text, pictures, audio and video. But it's basically all about communicating information of some kind. The other main feature of citizen journalism is that it's usually found online. In fact, the emergence of the Internet - with blogs, podcasts, streaming video and other Web-related innovations - is what has made citizen journalism possible. The Internet gave average people the ability to transmit information globally. That was a power once reserved for only the very largest media corporations and news agencies.
Revolts and today's uprising demonstrations in the Arab world pushed people to rely heavily on citizen journalism, also referred to as, street journalism. Let's take a look on the case in Syria.
Syria today is undergoing a series of demonstrations non-stop. The Syrian Government ever since have tried to silence those massive protesters/rebels, and one of the ways it is relying on is stopping all the regional and international media companies from covering the Syrian news. No reporters of any news channel are allowed to Syria, keeping everything secretive and away from the public's eye in order to be able to manipulate the truth.
People, in response to that, pushed themselves to the ultimate point of tension; they are struggling to convey the truth to the outside world about the current situation in Syria, which is greatly manipulated by the Syrian Arab News Agency; the only authority in charge of presenting the country's news, and since it is a governmental agency, it is expected to be showing one side of the stories, and neglect many important facts that might cause uncertainties or result in pointing out blaming fingers towards the government.
Social media is not only influencing our day to day lives; it is not only helping us to share ideas, interact with people across the globe, or communicate easier and cheaper, but it is now the major influence on the political scene in the Arab world. The 2011 Egyption revolution has been called, "The Facebook Revolution!" It has originally started by a group of young adults who has assembled and shared their political views in a simple facebook group. The group grew bigger in number day by day, and ended up breeding this whole, entire revolution. Today, Youtube is packed with low-quality and highly pixled mobile videos from amateurs on streets who tried to capture the truth with their mobile phones - low quaility but atleast the truth! Contradiction of stories has developed, and today, difficulties are facing the Syrian government which is being forced to clarify many stories to the public... All due to the fact that people cannot be fooled any longer. People now can know the truth not from biased news channels, or non-objective newspapers...
People know the truth from citizen journalism; their only escape!
PAPARAZZI, (originally Paparazzo/Paparazza) is an Italian term used to refer to photojournalists who specialize in candid photography of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people. Paparazzi tend to be independent contractors, unaffiliated with a mainstream media organization. Today, the subject of paparrazi's acts is a highly controversial and debatable subject that tends to not settle down among people.
Privacy…an aspect of life that us “ordinary folks” often take for granted. We are not plagued by fears of someone rummaging through our garbage and analyzing our latest Safeway purchases. Nor are we in a constant state of worry over what people are saying about us, thinking about us, and seeing of us. But this isn’t the case in Hollywood, where nothing is typical. In fact, this isn't the case with celebrities anywhere! Today, celebrities are flocked by herds of ferocious photographers and reporters, and the aspect of privacy goes straight out the door. But how far is too far? What are the ethics of invading the privacy of the rich and famous? Is is totally legal to invade their privacy or should it be strictly illegal?
Perez Hilton, a blogger who has become famous for blogging, would say they are fair game. He happily flaunts the flaws and misfortunes of celebrities by showing the latest panty-less party of Britney Spears and the naked naughtiness of Vanessa Hudgens. Hilton isn’t the only one, as the industry of celebrity obsessing has grown to an obscene degree with the Usweeklys, Peoples, and In touchs of today’s newsstands. Last March, the celebrity news blog Gawker.com began taking advantage of the Google Maps tool to show exactly where and when a star was spotted just moments after a sighting.
But for celebrities, the industry of obsessing over their everyday routines is invasive and often dangerous. Earlier this month, video obtained by tmz.com showed George Clooney scolding paparazzi for driving recklessly while following him on his motorcycle. "What they're doing is illegal," said Clooney in an interview on Entertainment Tonight. "It's high-speed chases and they're competing with each other. They're not trying to catch me doing something stupid, they're trying to create me doing something stupid. You don't get to break all these laws and then say, 'I'm just doing my job.'" And although some would argue that they asked for this, because they are in the spotlight, it is the degree to which it has been taken, that has gone to far. "You can drive all you want, you can take my picture all you want, but what you cannot do is put people in danger," said Clooney.
Famous victims of the yellow journalism and paparazzi are many, but names like, Lady Diana, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, stand out when it comes to paparazzi.
Here are some videos of how annoying paparazzi can get to celebs.: PS: Apoligies for the curses and bad words.
1- Hugh Grant angry at the cameraman:
2- Michael Jackson speaks with Barbara Walters about his suffering with paparazzi:
3- Britney spears gets chased out by nuts paps!:
IT IS YOUR RIGHT; UNTIL IT BUMPS INTO ANOTHER PERSON'S RIGHT.
The Paparazzi might be just doing their job, and they have the freedom of press, however, not until it intrudes with people's rights of privacy. Personal privacy is one internationally recognized citizen right in most of the countries constitutions. However, the question that seems to bother all people and makes people argue and take positions is:
ARE THOSE CELEBRITIES, JUST ORDINARY CITIZENS? Do they still enjoy the privacy rights although they agreed to publicize themselves, thus; their lives?
Whatever the case, according to me, no matter the way, the approach, or the justification, paparazzi should be stopped! Celebrities in the end are human beings, and should enjoy equal rights like all other people of the world. Being exposed to the public doesn't have to mean exposing the 'personal life' as well. Celebrities' only deman over decades have been that one simple demand; "Please keep our personal lives out of the picture, otherwise; the rest is yours to expose."
The word paparazzi is itself an ill-reputed term due to the fact that they are not ethical reporters or journalists. To me, they are people dedicated to just invade the privacy of the well-known figures and celebrities. Those people are nothing close to being real journalists as they don't show the characteristics of a journalist/reporter. I'm not throwing the blame on the paparazzi themselves, but the concept itself is wrong and media companies should stop relying on it whatsoever.
A MUST-READ article for all of you, BB addicts! (Read the article attached above.)
Okay now wait a minute… Sit back and relax… cool down… just for a second… forget about your deadly bbm issue that's going to ruin your life and end your happiness bla bla bla…STOP MOURNING IT FOR GOD'S SAKE… AndJustThink.
WOW
WOW
WOW..
Broken hearted becomes Broken-bbmed.. Welcome to Media World! And as the saying in Arabic goes: "Eshna wa Shefna!"... SERIOUSLY! :D
IT IS TOTALLY, FULLY, EXTREMELY, AND EXTRAORDINARILY AWESOME and PHENOMENAL, how the whole world has gone NUTSwithout their BBM! What has happened to us? Are we so dependent now that I can't even just meet someone without having to cry over their bbm?
Monday morning, while sitting in the metro to go to my college, I unknowingly found myself engaged into a talk between two girls, and that's how it went: X: "Oh my God! What the hell is this? Why the hell is my bbm ain't workin?! Screw it, I'm screwed, I can't talk to my friend in Canada, and I need her urgent JUST TODAY! Oh my God, This can't be happening…"
Y: "SH*T! Are you just serious? *checks her BB* WOW I can't believe it! Damn, I can't finish my assignment now!! I had this group work, and I talk to my group through bbm, oh my god I'm so gona explain this to my instructor, I AM VERY SURE HE'LL UNDERSTAND, come on, I mean no bbm, seriously? That's a joke.." Etc etc etc… Then I took out my phone, checked out my service, and realized that mine is down too. Soon after, everyone knew that it was not just their case; it was the case WORLD WIDE.
In fact, to be precise, the outage of the BlackBerry Message service (BBM service) was basically in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, as well as some South American regions got affected too. Well, the BlackBerry guys apologized for the matter! I mean they couldn't do anything about it, and they are working hard to fix the issue over this weekend. Okay, that's great. (Atleast for me!)
But what's wrong with other people? They don't want apologies, they don't want explanations, and they don't even want to understand the complexity of the matter, what they want though, is just one and only one thing…
B-B-M.
BEE BEE EMM.
BBM.
They want BBM.
Now.
They want it.
BBM, yeah?
BBM is Everything!
BBM you see it?!
What's wrong, people? How did your life just proceed before Blackberries and Smartphones!
The way Media controls our lives, and minds, subconsciously is becoming so dominant now, without even realizing it.
And for me, personally, it is actually scaring me. I mean what's more…
Have a look… :D Take 2 minutes of your time to laugh... But, I sadly regret to say that, yes, the content down is exaggerated, however, BB addicts of very very similar situations do exist in our lives today. This makes me wonder, what will happen to us if one day we wake up, to find our world went blank... or time took us back 3000 years...
No internet... No computers.. NoTV... No phones... No radio... No magazines... No newspapers...
Will we die of the shock? Perhaps.
Okay now seriously enough blaberring and have a look.
PS: No offence to any Blackberry User. The following is just a collection of some exaggerated comic pictures and jokes for the entertainment purpose.
"I freaking want BBM NOW! I am feeling wild without it! I don't want Mommy, I want bbm!"
"How will I live without you, 3 whole days, my darling, oh bbm my love, what is life without you. I don't wana live anymore. I'll smoke and die."
"How do I know the new gossips now! I don't get to stalk the display pictures and status, damn, my life is so shallow now, bbm I need you!"
"My business is all ruined! I have all my business buddies on my bbm, I'm screwed!"
"KILL ME NOW, BBM now or shoot me! oh my God… Get me water… I think I'm fainting…"
Girl: "Mom, he broke up with me, I couldnt bbm him back and he thought I'm ignoring!"
Mom: "Don't worry babe, bbm will be back and everything will be fine."
"NO! This can't be happening, RIM announced the problem not resvoled! What do I do in my life now!"
"My life is ruined, BBM please, I beg you come back!"
I've had enough of this. Actually I'd love to see your comments about it as well! :D
"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple." (www.apple.com)
Apple's dedicated homepage:
I wake up in the morning, just like every other day, to get ready and start a brand new day at my college. However, yesterday was remarkable; very different.. Yesterday, a legend passed away;
He is Steve Jobs.
His loss will definitely leave a mark and this date will be always remembered. It really hit me so bad when I first knew about his death. I couldn't believe the world has lost such a man, and I felt sad and depressed to the extreme to have lost the man who had definitely revolutionized the computer industry. We all do admit, it is a very unfortunate loss.
Apple released the statement (mentioned above) of condolence and is currently mourning his loss. Since I am highly affected and I am still under the shock, I decided to blog something about Steve, just in praise of him and in honor of his legacy.
The video attached above, is Steve Jobs' 2005 Commencement Speech at Stanford University, California. The power lies in his strong and effect-lasting words. What caught my eyes in his speech is the element of credibility in it. He preferred to speak about 3 stories of his life, and not to just speak generally or in an abstract manner. This is the strength itself. He chose to publicize his experiences; tough ones and good ones. How honest and humble is that! The fact that he does not try to hide his past, and is ready to expose every aspect of his life, makes him the man of the crowd. Everyone loves Steve Jobs; of course, he did a lot. BUT everyone loves Steve Jobs THE PERSON too, that's for his great personality and charisma. The stories he chose, are very moving; I dropped tears listening to them. (Especially that now he's gone…!) Everyone could relate to them, and get touched by their impact. When I first viewed the video, I remember I was expecting to hear something professional, something abstract, something generalized, well… I was very wrong. The reason why I'm sharing this today in my blog (oh and am definitely sharing this on my FB profile) is because I couldn't listen to those words without wanting to make the whole world listen to them. I want everyone to get influenced, just the way I was.
The internet yesterday showed an overload because of people searching the story of the day; "Steve Jobs Dead." In addition; people went creative. Everyone wanted to send out their condolences and pay him a tribute; however, one person stood out. Jonathan Mak's tribute to Steve Jobs became a major online hit. He is a student at a Design school in Hong Kong and he came up with the creative idea of embedding Steve Job's face in the bite of the Apple logo. Then people adapted the idea to create different versions. They added to the design some words like: "Steve Jobs; Apple of the Heart. " , "Steve Jobs 1955-2011" and " iSad". Check the pictures to view the design, and visit the link below to read more about the story.
Appleis the company that never sleeps. Well, that is at least my opinion :P I feel that Apple is a very competitive and hardworking company; they always need to upgrade and make improvements in order to please their customers. Sometimes, they do not necessarily have an entirely brand new release, but they still go for an upgrade or something, just to stay on track. However; people seem to be disappointed in Apple's new iphone release; iphone 4S. It is most probable that people had waited a lot, which made their expectations grow higher than the limit. People expected something really new, but the new model was just an upgrade of the one before. (add and minus some features).
Appleheld their latest event; "Media Event" on October, 4 at Apple's campus in Cupertino, California. 'Mac-ers' were all waiting anxiously, and people were actually predicting what Apple could have in store for them at the event ever since the event was scheduled and announced to the public. Finally, the big wait flourished, and the secrets were uncovered.It Was Iphone 4S!
Well, the rumors that had been going on so far is; the customers have been actually disappointed! In my opinion, I think that every new version released by Apple, even if it's just an upgrade, and does not introduce a fully new technology or application, it still does have an importance and a different taste. I myself can't live without being updated on every version, to know all about their features and start comparing! Well honestly, each version seems to impress me even more than the one before. To me, all of them were totally impressing, and so is the case with the new iphone 4S. Yeah, I tend to disagree with the common opinion.
The 1st iphonewas something new, it was multi touch! The 2ndiphone was even better; it added 3G and an App Store. The 3rdiphone was twice times faster, not to mention that it had a much better camera. The 4th iphone doubled the screen resolution, and it impressed a lot of people ( definitely me! I can see the pixels, trust me! :D) The 5th iphone again, doubled the CPU performance, and on top of that, it was 5 times the GPU performance of the former version. (Not to mention the noticeable improvement of the camera once more!) It also added an amazing application; the Siri application, which was so impressively capable and extremely helpful for those who had a lot of to-dos and tasks; since it helped them in keeping track of things. And finally, comes iphone 4S. It has great upgraded features, although it cancelled the Siri app.
For me, everything is promising. If you didn't like this model, you'll like the next one, and if not the next one, then the one after it. Seriously people, don't grab on it now, just give the poor Apple-ers some break! Creativity needs time, and I'm pretty sure they still do have plenty of other breathtaking ideas, and they just need time to change those ideas into concrete models! :D
What do you think about the new model? Are you also disappointed like most of them? Feel free to share your opinion. :D
Apple CEO, Tim Cook, unveils the iPhone 4S at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. (Associated Press).
Director Henri Barakat, like Youssef Chahine, Kamal Al-Sheikh and Salah Abu-Seif, made films in many genres. He began making films in the early 1940s and was one of the most prolific filmmakers in the history of Egyptian cinema. Internationally his most acclaimed films were realist works, such as The Sin (1965), about a peasant girl raped by the son of a wealthy landowner. She gives birth in the fields, and inadvertently smothers her baby while trying to stifle its cries. Unable to bear her dishonor and now her crime, the woman kills herself. The Sin’s ‘unhappy ending’ was in stark contrast to the approach of most Hollywood productions, and is more representative of an Egyptian socialist ethos. Other acclaimed films by Henri Barakat include his thriller A Man In our House (1961) starring Omar Sherif.
