Internet Cookies & Why I Am Hungry.

I've known about cookies for as long as I can remember using the internet unsupervised. Not because I was up to anything, but because I remember reading that you should clear them sometimes for faster internet speed. This led to my own personal investigation of what cookies were. Searching through all the cookies I realized every site I had visited left something like that of a "crumb" behind.

Cookies give companies information about what sites you visit, and that in turn affects the advertisements you see on your Facebook news feed or banner ads. They serve a legitimate purpose, but does that make it okay? I don't think most people know that every site they go to is leaving behind a trail on their computer. But I'm sure people realize (at least I hope) that everything they do on the internet isn't private. The apathy towards cookies may just come from the age of technology we live in. Most people might not care that big brother is watching because they aren't doing anything wrong. Some don't mind to waive the privacy of their computer because those ads for the new style of North Faces affected their purchase!

I could completely understand if some found it unethical for these companies to be filling our cookie jar with things that they didn't ask for, but I myself just don't care. I clear the dang things out whenever I get done browsing most of the time anyways. My computer life really isn't that interesting to need ultimate privacy.

WKU News Stories & Public Relations

The most recent news stories on the WKU online newsrooms deal with students, which isn't a big surprise for a newspaper that mostly wants to attract student readers. These stories would be considered soft news since they don't represent an ultimate importance standing. Although they are interesting to read and peak student interests, they don't make a huge impact on information in our daily lives.

Some of their news stories do end up in Bowling Green newspaper. I think they make it to the newspaper because they're stories that are better told by people who are students and have a hand in the student body here. It builds a healthy relationship between our school and the community we reside in. People who don't attend the school can still be interested in whats going on here and the education WKU provides.

It's not cutting edge news, but it is still reliable and good information for people to have access to.

Big Fish Take Little Fish [iParticipate 10]

American Recording Company, LLC. is located in Louisville, KY and has been in service for 10 years with 5 employees. It produces artists and bands such as Daniel Jones, Heart of Kings, and Red on Tap. From the pictures of the studio, it looks like they specialize in full bands, but also pander to solo artist. They take the recordings and transfer the mastered version of it over the internet.

The variety of artists and groups suggest that they produce music for the general listener. They don't pigeon-hole their clients into a certain genre. The tag LLC suggests it is not independent, but a limited liability company apart of a organization.

The problem with small labels is that they don't have the clout to attract these up and comers, because they're already being scoped out by the larger and more established labels. The music industry might be one of the most competitive industries and even some artists that have huge followings cannot get a record label cosign.

Sports Illustrated's Images

I looked up a Sports Illustrated magazine and scanned over the images. The photos in it made up about 40% of the overall issue, while words/print made up 60%. The images were decently diverse in terms of race (although certain sports seemed pigeon-holed on certain races). The pictures were either of a athlete or a sports fan, there wasn't much in between besides maybe a coach or stadium picture.

It seemed like the editors were only interested in actions shots, which wasn't totally surprising. Even a story that featured the off-court life of an NBA player didn't have images of him out in public or dressed in clothes besides his uniform. It seemed kind of unrealistic; like the player only wore his "work clothes" when lounging around the house. I understand the concept though; people don't watch sports to find out what LeBron James watches on TV. They want to see him yam the ball over a defender.

I think Sports Illustrated does a proficient job of connecting target audiences and their content. There's no doubt that sports audiences aren't that difficult to please, and whatever they've been doing is working. If it ain't broke don't fix it.