The New York Times website has a lot going on. There are many different sections on the left side for the readers to choose from. The main page is a little cluttered and hard to navigate. The stories that are being covered on this Sunday evening are foreign policy issues, the Obama administration and politics at home. There are not many feature articles but straight news is the priority. There is a video feature on the front page which is interesting. I don't think a few years ago there would have been videos used at a print agency as much to report. Websites are evolving more and more and technology is becoming more and more available and access able even to smaller news industries.
I compared another news website, The Daily Beast. The name is catchier than The New York Times and when the page first opens it is like your eyes are attacked. The Daily Beast looks like the cover of a tabloid magazine you see at the grocery store trying to catch your eye with catchy headlines and photos. Instead of sections they have categories that sound more like something in a high school year book then actual news but they leave the reader wondering what it is. It also allows advertisers with the big bucks to have time in video content. There are more human interest stories like whose goatee is cooler. The stories differ from actual hard news to covering those who cover the news. Obama is a common thread and videos and shorter stories dominate to make blurbs more than stories.
These two contrasting styles are old school and new school. I can see that the New York Times is trying to keep up but they are falling behind as The Daily Beast is more controversial and up on the technology. The news stories on the Times are more hard hitting clear news stories that actually mean something to the public. The Daily Beast is capitalizing on the public's interest in quick news rather than actual reporting. I compare Beast with the water cooler talk that you bring up around lunch break. The Times has informative stories that go deeper and make the reader more informed. The readers of Internet news will pick their poison. The majority of readers are not those who are well informed citizens of the world. Many just go along with the trends. There are some people who are just too busy to read a full news story. They want it when they can get it and the Times is slowly coming around to that idea. I do feel that the readers of print news will still read print and stay away from other news agencies like the Beast as entertainment more so than actual news.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Atlantic City Friday
Atlantic City, NJ- On Friday night October 16, 2009, I went to Harrah's Casino in Atlantic City. The last time I was there I managed to loose $400 in one night. This time I was determined not to let that happen. The drive from West Orange to Atlantic City took a little over two hours. I had two friends in tow and four more were waiting at the hotel. It was my friend Brian's first time to the city of lights and he was excited the entire ride down.
When we got to the hotel we met up with our friends and decided to start drinking. Atlantic City has a very interesting system that seems to work them while giving out free drinks to gamblers they are taking almost double their money because the house usually wins. The drinks at the bar are almost double what you would pay at any normal bar on the street. We had payed nine dollars for a drink that is usually five or six.
We finally got to our room on the eighth floor of the old hotel. There are two parts to Harrah's Casino the new and old towers. The new one was created to keep up with other hotels like the Borgata and currently under construction Revel. Harrah's also added a state of the art pool bar which is an indoor pool by day and a state of the art night club at night.
Our first stop of the evening after having a few more drinks in the room was the roulette tables. We would end up spending most of our night and well into the morning there. The dealers were very attractive young women that are part of the brand Atlantic City is selling to keep you playing.
All Eight of us were up a few bucks so we decided to hit up the Pool Bar around 2:30am. The cover charge of ten dollars seemed like nothing to us as we figured we should be high rollers by now. The lighting and sound system combined with a few hundred beautiful young people all dressed to impress created a Vegas like atmosphere. There was the main pool surrounded by plam trees and two dance floors on either side one with a stage where a dance contest was being held and one bookended by a hot tub. To either side of the pool were bottle service cabanas where for a small fee a private bartender decked out in a bikini will serve you for the night along with your own private hot tub. This excursion took us up to the four o'clock hour where we would continue to gamble.
Roulette was our game and we were sticking to it. I had doubled the money that I had brought there are considering I was able to loose all of my money the last time I was more than happy to bow out of the games at 6 am with an extra two hundred dollars. The big winner of the evening was Brian Taylor who somehow in his first trip to A.C. made an extra $800.
The next morning we needed to be awake by 8 am in order to make it to work where I had to stay awake for ten hours. The trip was well worth the sleep deprevation and I am looking foreward to another trip in a few months.
When we got to the hotel we met up with our friends and decided to start drinking. Atlantic City has a very interesting system that seems to work them while giving out free drinks to gamblers they are taking almost double their money because the house usually wins. The drinks at the bar are almost double what you would pay at any normal bar on the street. We had payed nine dollars for a drink that is usually five or six.
We finally got to our room on the eighth floor of the old hotel. There are two parts to Harrah's Casino the new and old towers. The new one was created to keep up with other hotels like the Borgata and currently under construction Revel. Harrah's also added a state of the art pool bar which is an indoor pool by day and a state of the art night club at night.
Our first stop of the evening after having a few more drinks in the room was the roulette tables. We would end up spending most of our night and well into the morning there. The dealers were very attractive young women that are part of the brand Atlantic City is selling to keep you playing.
All Eight of us were up a few bucks so we decided to hit up the Pool Bar around 2:30am. The cover charge of ten dollars seemed like nothing to us as we figured we should be high rollers by now. The lighting and sound system combined with a few hundred beautiful young people all dressed to impress created a Vegas like atmosphere. There was the main pool surrounded by plam trees and two dance floors on either side one with a stage where a dance contest was being held and one bookended by a hot tub. To either side of the pool were bottle service cabanas where for a small fee a private bartender decked out in a bikini will serve you for the night along with your own private hot tub. This excursion took us up to the four o'clock hour where we would continue to gamble.
Roulette was our game and we were sticking to it. I had doubled the money that I had brought there are considering I was able to loose all of my money the last time I was more than happy to bow out of the games at 6 am with an extra two hundred dollars. The big winner of the evening was Brian Taylor who somehow in his first trip to A.C. made an extra $800.
The next morning we needed to be awake by 8 am in order to make it to work where I had to stay awake for ten hours. The trip was well worth the sleep deprevation and I am looking foreward to another trip in a few months.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Week 15
I just wanted to say that this class is happening right before our eyes. There is an amazing thing happening right now. There are not many times you get to live through history but right now is one of those times. We have the ability to change the way we live now before it is too late.
Week 14
This week we examined just how much pressure humans are putting on the environment. We are pushing the natural portions of our states out and installing energy sucking pods or communities. The sprawling that is occurring can be seen on a ride down any highway in New Jersey there are massive amounts of communities being built everyday.
I was looking around the Internet and found the New Jersey Energy Star homes. These homes use all of the proper mechanisms to conserve energy rather than us it up. It houses energy saving appliances, lighting, improved windows and insulation to cut down on heat costs and a lower energy output. These are the types of start up companies that are going to be making the money in the near future. Their solutions however costly they may be now will pay off in the long run. We can only use the planet for so long before we need to allow it some breathing room. There are really no other planets out there for us to use.
The sprawl we have all created is massive. We are moving into the homes of mountain lions and deer and pushing them into the arms of hunters. We are creating more and more and giving less and less. I think I wrote early on the blog about planting a million trees for every number of houses we build. We need to use less of our natural resources and more of our intelligence to create for the long term.
I was looking around the Internet and found the New Jersey Energy Star homes. These homes use all of the proper mechanisms to conserve energy rather than us it up. It houses energy saving appliances, lighting, improved windows and insulation to cut down on heat costs and a lower energy output. These are the types of start up companies that are going to be making the money in the near future. Their solutions however costly they may be now will pay off in the long run. We can only use the planet for so long before we need to allow it some breathing room. There are really no other planets out there for us to use.
The sprawl we have all created is massive. We are moving into the homes of mountain lions and deer and pushing them into the arms of hunters. We are creating more and more and giving less and less. I think I wrote early on the blog about planting a million trees for every number of houses we build. We need to use less of our natural resources and more of our intelligence to create for the long term.
Week 12
In our class today we looked into the problems of New Jersey's environmental state. We are the most densely populated state. We have many factories in the northern part of the state. Much of the waste was dumped into the Passiac River. There is the Delaware river that could be damaged. The natural population of fish and wildlife that we have changed forever.
Good thing that we are a fairly rich state and are making money as well as polluting the natural air. The worst site to see when driving down the shore, mainly Ocean City, is crossing the bridge and seeing a nuclear reactor. This is the first thing I want to see when I am ready to go down the beautiful blue ocean and see a nuclear reactor starring me straight in the face. It is like the article says a "toxic legacy" is being left on our natural habitats for wildlife in the state. No wonder all the bees are leaving.
Good thing that we are a fairly rich state and are making money as well as polluting the natural air. The worst site to see when driving down the shore, mainly Ocean City, is crossing the bridge and seeing a nuclear reactor. This is the first thing I want to see when I am ready to go down the beautiful blue ocean and see a nuclear reactor starring me straight in the face. It is like the article says a "toxic legacy" is being left on our natural habitats for wildlife in the state. No wonder all the bees are leaving.
Week 11
Finally the saving grace is here. All my questions comments and concerns are answered. The possibilities are endless it seems. Through the semester we have looked at all the problems that have contributed to the environment. We never really sought for a solution just talked about the need for one. It was mentioned that we needed to alternative energy and conserve our resources but now the answers are here.
The low emissions of hybrid cars are still harmful to the environment but are made in such a way that slow down the hyper drive addiction to oil and uses another form of energy to power its engine. I was also completely unaware that there was a wind power field in Delaware. It is less expensive than that of solar power which we are years away from being able to sustain ourselves. "What he found was that Delaware’s coastal winds were capable of producing a year-round average output of over 5,200 megawatts, or four times the average electrical consumption of the entire state." I found this statistic staggering. I wonder what coastal town would be able to field enough turbines to power part of the state. Imagine if every state was able to sustain itself on wind power alone. There would be no need for all of these solar and oil power players that are making millions on what seems like an addiction to cigarettes.
The idea of the Volt sustaining one gallon of gas for 100 miles is incredible and helps in the conservation effort. In this part of the class there were so many options to explore to fix or slow down the problem. We have finally found some solutions. The one that I liked the best was the wind field idea. I find the wind turbines fascinating the way in which are able to power the entire state. Installing these turbines along with the conservation efforts of the Volt we can fight this problem and start the GREEN REVOLUTION!
The low emissions of hybrid cars are still harmful to the environment but are made in such a way that slow down the hyper drive addiction to oil and uses another form of energy to power its engine. I was also completely unaware that there was a wind power field in Delaware. It is less expensive than that of solar power which we are years away from being able to sustain ourselves. "What he found was that Delaware’s coastal winds were capable of producing a year-round average output of over 5,200 megawatts, or four times the average electrical consumption of the entire state." I found this statistic staggering. I wonder what coastal town would be able to field enough turbines to power part of the state. Imagine if every state was able to sustain itself on wind power alone. There would be no need for all of these solar and oil power players that are making millions on what seems like an addiction to cigarettes.
The idea of the Volt sustaining one gallon of gas for 100 miles is incredible and helps in the conservation effort. In this part of the class there were so many options to explore to fix or slow down the problem. We have finally found some solutions. The one that I liked the best was the wind field idea. I find the wind turbines fascinating the way in which are able to power the entire state. Installing these turbines along with the conservation efforts of the Volt we can fight this problem and start the GREEN REVOLUTION!
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