Instyle Podcast December 9, 2009

http://www.sonibyte.com/audio/5771.mp3

This is a podcast I occasionally listen to, it´s the InStyle magazine podcast. This specific one happens to be about the Grammys and what to expectto see artists wearing and how it differs from say The Oscars. It is ususally Betsy, the senior editor, hosting the podcast with a guest or sometimes even by herself. This isn´t a daily podcast but usually weekly. It can all be things talked about in the magazine, but it makes it a little more enjoyable to listen first hand. Other times it can be about events and parties like The Grammy´s. It makes you feel a little more connected to the information you are recieving when it comes from a person rather than paper.

I think this is one of Podcastings best qualities, the essence of a person behind the words. It is also great to hear personality and emotion behind a voice rather than just reading an article and such. Ideally daily Poscasts are better because then people can get in the routine of listening.

Paris! December 9, 2009

There are a couple places I decided that I had to go when I came to Europe and one was obviously Paris. This was definitely a top favorite place I have ever been in the world. Since we went aroudn Christmas time the lights and the Christmas markets were enough right there. I am a big advocate of Christmas spirit so coming here after not being home from Thanksgiving was the best feeling. The put up an enormous Farris Wheel during Christmas time that allows you to see the entire city when your at the top. It only lasted aroudn 10 minutes but it was enough considering we had some people scared of heights on board.

The Christmas markets have the most amazing selection of food, souvenirs and an endless amount of unique things to get from stuffed animals to jewerly, to houseware. The food stands included crepes and waffles smoked salmon to sausages and potatoes. One of my favorite foods is French onion soup and they had one of the best bowls I have every had. Also the Christmas cider and hot wine and chocolate was the perfect thing to keep you warm as you walked up and down the market.

The day after we went to the Christmas market we went to Notre Dame and The Louvre. Notre Dame was beautiful but it started raining really hard and the line to get in was really long. Just another reason to go back. The Louvre is quite overwhelming because it is so large. There are so many exhibits that it would take a couple days to go through them all. We say the Mona Lisa which was actually quite unimpressive in person. It is a lot smaller than we expected. However the painting the Wedding Party was enourmous and absolutely beautiful. We waited until it go dark to go to the Effiel Tower because we wanted to see it light up, and I am so glad we decided to do that. Seeing it upclose was beautiful and it was hard to stop staring at it. However, it was VERY cold at the top, especially waiting in the lines for the elevators up and down. It was a good thing that I bought a big furry hat at the Christmas market.

Podcasting December 2, 2009

A podcast is a pre-recorded audio program that´s posted to a website and is available to people for download so people can listento them on personal computers or mobile devices. A podcast is only an audio program so that is how it is unique from blogs and other social networking sites. One Podcast that I have occasionally kept up with in the past in on ESPN.com, and is a Baseball Today Podcast. This daily podcast involves two men recapping games and events that have occured in the MLB. They usually have a daily guest and when they don´t they usually have a phone interview. Podcasting has given people an easy option without getting on the radio. Unlike the radio podcasting is only available over the Internet and people a wider range of programs for their specific niche. There are many baseball podcasting options, but the fact that it is associated with ESPN gives it credibility for good sports cvoerage.

The intersting thing about podcasting is that anyone can subscribe to a podcast and make it possible to download the newest podcast to your MP3 or IPOD when it comes out. This makes it really easy to keep an audience up on the newest podcast and have people become loyal to a certain podcast. On ITunes you can subscribe to an ennormous range of podcasts so that there is a podcast for everyones intersets whether the audience is large or small.

El Periodico December 2, 2009

The field study to El Periodico was one of my favorite field studies since we have been here. First walking into the main room was like watching a scene of a movie, particularly State of Play. I have never been in a Press room so I wasn´t really sure what to expect, but it is exactly what I imagined. There were different clusters of people working on their specific department. Since I have never been in a press room is was interesting to see how it is set up. The newspaper I am used to reading is the Chicago Tribune or the New York Times, which I end up reading online. The Chicago Tribune is much different from the Periodico it both content and layout. El Periodico is much larger in size and the picture quality is a lot better in the Chicago Tribune. In general papers in the United States have really been struggling with printed sales. Unlike Spain, where people pick up a paper from a stand daily, in the US subscription is more popular. However because the web taking over, print sales have really gone down and now papers are struggling to stay in business. The other bigger newspaper in Chicago was the Chicago SunTimes, and it went bankrupt because the lack of print sales.

The main difference between the two papers are the layout because the Tribune is distinctly separated into sections. El Periodico is separated in sections but they are not whole seperate sections.  Also within the sections the headlines and pictures are much larger than they would be in the Chicago Tribune.

The two papers in print are much different but online, they both offer an equally diverse range of information. From local to sports to world there are so many different categories to choose from. The whole newspaper being online gives the advantage of not having ot crunch an article into a certain sized space, however, with without people buying subscriptions the papers are really struggling. Depite the appearance of the magazines the style of writing is also a little different in both newspapers. Seeing that El Periodico has a distinct polical party affiliation and the Chicago Tribune does not, stories in the Trib definitnely have more of both sides to the story. I defnitely think that El Periodico is a better layout that is easier to read.

Amsterdam November 30, 2009

One of my recent adventures since being abroad was to Amsterdam. I somewhat had a vision in my mind of what it would look like, and how the people would be. Seeing it firsthand was definitely a whole other cup of tea. We mainly hung out in the more touristy areas so I probably only experienced the generic version of Amsterdam, however it was more than enough. Having only been there for an hour we witnessed some very interesting things. For example: as we were waiting to cross the street for the tram and cars to pass we saw a near death experience for this elderly woman. She was waiting like the rest of us, but at the last minute she ran in front of the train to cross and was inches away from getting smashed my this train. Seeing something like so close was a bit tramatizing, so we made sure to stay very clear of the trams for the rest of the trip. We wondered around the narrow streets and went to the Red Light District. I had heard of this before I came, but it was the most bizarre street I have ever walked down. It is hard to wrap your head around the concept of prostitution being completley legal and accepting. It was very uncomfortable to walk down, but it was interesting to see it all. Our hostel the first night was ST. Christopher´s, which if you ever go I recommend and it was perfect for traveling around with 7 plus people.

One of my favorite things about the Amsterdam was the Heineken Factory. Heineken is something you will always find in my refrigderator at home, it is my dad´s usual beer of choice. It was interesting to see how many processes they go through to get the perfect taste they want, it was fun to taste the beer at every stage it goes through. I did not know that beer making was so complicated. The second night we had not where to stay and since it was the starting of a very popular week in Amsterdam no where had a room available. We finally found this hotel, that we actually stole from our guy friends…whoops. It was called Plant Hotel and I do not recommend this place EVER. It was a clean bed which was nice, but if we weren´t so tired to the point anything was fine, it would have been miserable.

All in all Amsterdam was a great trip, it is a very unique city with a much different culture than my own. Also, it was nice to hear people mostly speaking English for the weekend. I probably will never go back, but it was definitely worth the visit.

Politics 2.0 November 16, 2009

Our last dicussion was about Politics 2.0, which is the idea that social networking and the World Wide Web can revolutionize the ability for parties can gain support and influence voters during the campaign. We specifically talked about how well Obama used all these resources during his campaign. I specifically remember the months leading up to the election and how prevelant Obama was on the Web. There was such a varitey of methods used that it almost guarenteed where ever you were browsing you would see products of the Obama campaign. It not only go Obama´s face all over the Web but it allowed interactive means of participating in the campaign. Different forums would be open for discussion and you could get immediate feedback Obama´s views and ideas for what could happen. This was so helpful for people to understand and for Obama to get first hand feedback on what people think of projects-t-o-be.

This is such an important part of how campaigns and elections will play out. This has changed the way politicians will be able to get so much feedback and information on what the public wants. The era of paper campaigning is well over because the possibilities the Web has opened up. This has also set the example of how a campaign can have so much success. Campaigning is much longer in the US than in here in Spain. The campaigns in the US start around 6 months before the election so the commitment of using the social networking sights make much more sense. Here in spain they only start around 2-3 weeks before the election, so the window for big campaigns seems unnecessary.

Sevilla November 16, 2009

Our most recent trip was to Sevilla in the South of Spain. My vision of Spain before coming here corelated to Sevilla more than Barcelona. We took the high speed Renfe train from Barcelona which took around 6 hours. The train was very painless, definitely recommend this means of transportation verse driving or a bus. When we arrived in Sevilla we dropped our stuff down at the hotel and went to explore. We started the day off going by the Cathedral, which was beautiful. The Cathedral in Sevilla is one of the biggest Gothic cathedrals in the world. This was one of the buildings that made me feel like I was in such an old part of Spain. The streets around the Cathedral are so narrow, most people just walked in the street until a car came. We found a local restaurant/bar to get some tapas and some tinto verano. Tinto verano is a popular drink of choice in more of the south of Spain. After a long and extended lunch we headed off to explore more. We went to the this Plaza where people were all gathered around drinking. It was such a great environment to be in with families and friends all gathered to hang out.

We visited the Alcazar Palace with our program with was an amazing place to see. It is remarkable that their is a palace with acres of gardens still in place right in the middle of the city. We walked through the gardens and then preceeded on touring the inside of the building. The palace´s foramtion was still so beautiful despite how old it is. Also there was amazing tapestries that were the size of entire walls. After visiting the palace we wondered down by the river and decided to rent paddle boats. Despite a close encounter with a big tour boat I highly recommend doing it sometime. It was such a nice day and you could see both sides of the river while you werr going up and down.

The Cathedral… and the Beach at the end of October? October 25, 2009

Barcelona Cathedral

Thursday started the weekend off with the a DOWN pour of rain. It has only rained around 4 times since we have been here, so we were long overdo for a rainy day. However, not bringing your raincoat and having the L4 transfer to get home being closed set me up for a very wet journey home. There was not way to prevent myself from getting wet, so I just embraced it and got soaked. Since the rainy day, it has been beautiful in Barcelona. On Friday my friends and I wandered around Born district off Jaume 1, which I had not been to until this weekend. I am actually disappointed that I had not been there because it has been my favorite area thus far. There are so many little shops with tons of interesting things in them. Again we are not the best at choosing restaurants so the one we went to was actually really bad. They gave us pizzas that were half cooked/ we think they had been sitting out for a while. But it did look like there were a bunch of good restaurants, which outdoor seating. My favorite part of the day was walking near the Barcelona Cathedral. Tons of people were just sitting on the steps listening to man play his guitar, which sounds cliche but was really relaxing. This is the part about Barcelona that I love, being able to just hang out in the street for hours. Along with the man on the guitar there was also a group singing and dancing. We even went back to Born on Saturday to get brunch at this restaurant called Milk. It has been my favorite meal so far and it was not expensive at all. With choices from Eggs Benedict to Pancakes, soups, salads, and much more. It is a little small but had a really cute atmosphere. I definitely recommend going here sometime.

Twitter & Facebook October 25, 2009

Before our class discussions I never really thought there was much of difference between Twitter, Facebook, or the rest of the social networking sites. However, they are quite different in their purpose. Twitter is a microblogging site that allows users to send brief text updates that can be viewed by anyone or a restricted group. With Twitter being only 3-4 years old, until recently did it really become popular. Twitter only allow users to send 140 characters max per update, but pictures can be easier updated all the time. Twitter is a great resource for instantly informing people about what is going on. A great example of this is the picture uploaded from the plane landing on the Hudson River, to instantly show people what happened. People everyday are constantly updating people on their life whether it is once or 100 times a day. I have only been a user on Twitter for a couple months now, and user meaning I just like to follow other people versus update on myself. It is an interesting concept to follow people like celebrities because it makes them seem more real. This may sound weird but I read those “trashy” magazines to see what’s going on, but on Twitter it is really them talking. Here you can see how they are just like everyone else from normal day activities. I have also seen Twitter as a helpful tool to promote companies like restaurants, magazines, or stores. Here a quite update on inventory, sales, daily specials, or other news can be posted without sending emails or flyers out. With the amount of people on Twitter this seems like it a much better channel for communication in these instances.

While Twitter is a good microblogging tool, Facebook is a huge social networking site. Facebook has been around longer than other sites starting with just colleges & universities to anyone who wanted one. To me Facebook seems more personal. Being abroad has made me realize how Facebook is just a great resource of staying in touch with people. People thousands of miles away can see pictures of what I’m doing, talk to me directly through the chat tool and vice versus. Facebook makes you feel connected no matter how far away you are. Just like Twitter, Facebook can also be a good tool for people to promote their business. Here in Barcelona is the perfect example of someone promoting their work. The club promoters here constantly inform students of what is the deal of the night and fun places to go. These promoters get paid a certain amount for how many people they get to come to these places. While it looks like they are just being nice and showing us where to go this is their job, and Facebook makes it a lot easier for them. Despite the criticism of Facebook and social networking sites, they are a great tool for the purpose they were made. There will always be people who will take advantage of these sites, but with constant adapting it has enabled it for people to make it has private as possible. As much as I like Facebook and think it is a great way to stay connected it has somewhat changed the process of a relationship. There is much less personal, one-on-one interacting when people can opt out to use sites like these. I think the best way to use Facebook is as an additional tool, not as the only tool.

A View from the top…and from the Sea! October 20, 2009

With visits in town this past week we forgot how much of the city we have yet to see. We picked the next two things we have been wanting to do which were Tibidabo & going on a Los Golondrinas boat tour. Every Barcelona guide book tells you that Los Golondrinas is okay but something that is good to do to see the outside view in. I however thought it was great. It is always hard to agree on things when you travel in groups of 9, but we all settled on a little cruise through the harbor and down the coast. They come every hour so while we were waiting we ran to the nearest supermarket on Las Ramblas to but some cheap appetizers and some 2 euro bottles of wine. The crew of Los Golondrinas were not exactly thrilled with us asked for a bottle opener and some glasses and the fact that we weren’t buying their over priced snacks and drinks. However, it was the perfect end to the day watching the sunset the ocean in Barcelona (we lost a few to the bottom deck due to sea sickness, however they still didn’t regret it). After the tour we went to a restaurant off Barceloneta, we knew they were generic but I will never do it again. Their cheap version of paella isn’t even worth the cheaper price. Maybe we went to the wrong one, even though they all look the same. I strongly suggest find your paella and spanish cuisine elsewhere.
The following day we went to Tibidabo, which is the complete opposite view of Barcelona. It was beautiful to see the whole city from the top, but also of the other side of Barcelona we never get to see. We did not get to see inside the church because there was a wedding going on inside, which would be any girls dream. How they managed to get all the guests to up there on time is quite impressive. The amusement park is also a little kids dream. If I didn’t feel like we were too big for most of the rides I would have suggested joining them. It was a great weekend in Barcelona as always!