Touch The Screen

Touch screens have changed the way we look at media. A touch screen is an electronic digital display and can detect the sense of a persons hand or finger. The first touch screen was developed by inventor, E.A. Johnson at at Royal Radar Establishment in 1965. Touch screens didn't gain much recognition until around 1975 with the PLATO project. The HP-150 was one of the first touch screen computers made in 1985. From there popularity of touch screen phones continued to grow and were being added to devices like phones. Today we have many devices that offer touch screen capabilities. We've seen it with the iPod, iPhone, and most recently the iPad. We are developing touch screens computers. The Apple company is best known for their high speed touch screen gadgets. Today a touch screen is a part of every day normal technology. Pretty soon we could be having touch screen everything!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchscreen

Wingardium Leviosa

There's no question that the Harry Potter series and movie franchise has grown to extreme popularity around the world. J.K Rowling, the author of the 7 Harry Potter books was born in July 3, 1965 in England. The idea that would soon grow into the Potter phenomenon started while she was waiting for a train back home to London in 1990. In 1998 the first publication of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone in the US and Philosopher's Stone in the UK. And from there the books popularity began to sweep the nation. Along with the first book, came six others. In October of 1998 Warner Bothers Co. bought the film rights to the first two installments for nearly 7 figures. From there is was history. Today we have read and watched the characters of the Harry Potter series grow and fight through difficult challenges. We even have a Harry Potter World theme park in Disney World. There's no question that "the boy who lived" has made its way into main stream media and is there to stay.





http://www.jkrowling.com/

Fox News

Fox News Channel also just referred to as Fox is a cable accessible news channel and provides its watchers with updated current events. The channel was created by Australian mogul by the name of, Robert Murdoch. In May of 1985, Murdoch announced that he wanted to create a network of stations to compete with other high earning news channels like, CBS and NBC. At the start of Fox only 10 million households were able to access and watch the channel. We know today that Fox is one of the leading new sources for viewing in households all around the world. In May of 2008, Fox launched its new high definition channel. Fox news has expanded to not only being viewable by television, there is also Fox Radio and Fox online for quick and easy access. Today Fox has effected the media greatly with influencing the country on both world and political issues. Who knows if what we are being told is true or not, but people still use it as a resource for finding and learning new information about the world and its people.

The DVD

DVD stands for digital video disc. It holds more information than a compact disc and VHS and in much higher quality. In 1994 Philips and Sony gave the announcement that they would be developing a new high-compact device as we all know as the DVD. The device would be the same size as a CD just with 5-10 times the capacity. This was revolutionary because, nothing like this had ever been invented before. With this invention there would soon be the creation of the DVD player. There was also a lot of competition with other leading software and movie companies for creating similar devices too the DVD player. Today, there are many companies that make DVD, but they're soon to become out-dated as Blu Rays and other forms of medium are coming out with even higher definition.



http://www.miqrogroove.com/writing/history-of-dvd/

Movie Theaters

Movies theaters have become increasingly popular over the years as huge blockbuster films have made the big screen. The first motion picture was in 1896 at the Koster and Bails Music Hall in New York City. In the 1920s movie theaters began to boom. Movie theaters tired to make the most lavish and ritzy looking movie theaters as kind of a competition with each other. Having these kind of lavish buildings started a new era for more intricate architecture. More recently, movies have become more advanced and movies in 3D are becoming increasingly popular with the aid of 3D glasses and high definiton screens and filming equipment. IMAX theaters have also become popular with displaying movies on very large and high definition screens. Today movies bring people together for gathers and watching great movies.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_theater

And All That Jazz

Musical theater "musical (noun): a stage, television or film production utilizing popular-style songs - dialogue optional - to either tell a story (book musicals) or showcase the talents of the writers and/or performers (revues)." Musicals have gone by many different names some include, operas, operettas, and burlesque. Musical theater in a sense has been going on since the 5th Century B.C.with the ancient Greeks who included music and dancing into their performances as a form of entertainment. The Romans then expanded on the Greeks idea of performance and continued to add music and dance to their entertainment theaters. In the Middle Ages, traveling groups of performers offered people shows with musical numbers and "slapstick comedies." Today we have the most common place and production companies of musical theater on Broadway most commonly found in NYC. Musical theater is still found across the world as a large form of entertainment for people. We now have well known shows like, Chicago, Hairspray, Hello Dolly, and many more. Today, a lot of feature films are being turned into musicals like the newest show of Spiderman The Musical.


http://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/resources.html
http://www.musicals101.com/erastage.htm

National Geographic

National Geographic, formally known as the National Geographic Magazine is the magazine made by the National Geographic Society. The first issue of the magazine was published in 1888 only nine months after the society was formed. There are 12 monthly issues of the magazine published each year. The magazine is known for publishing extreme and controversial pictures from people and places all over the world. Today National Geographic is most well known for its stunning pictures and information about the places around the world.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Geographic_%28magazine%29

Charlie Chaplin

Charles Spencer Chaplin was born, April 16, 1889 in London, England. Both of his parents were active and successful in show business and after the death of his parents, Charlie followed closely in their steps to into show business. At the age of fourteen he got a chance to act in his first legitimate stage play called, Sherlock Holmes and he appeared as "Billy the page boy." He then made his first appearance on camera in a film called A Night In an English Music Hall in 1913. In 1917 when his movie contract with Mutual ended he buried himself in his business of making his own film company. But in early 1918 he signed an agreement with a company called, First National Exhibitors Circuit and acted in films for them. In 1921 he completed his contract with the Circuit and went on to act and film his own short series. Charlie Chaplin was one of the first silent comedic actors. Many have enjoyed his comic expressions and over the top movements. With movies like, A Women of Paris, The Gold Rush, and The Circus. 

http://www.charliechaplin.com/biography/articles/21-Overview-of-His-Life

Marylin Monroe

Norma Jeane Mortenson more famously known as Marylin Monroe became the first "sex symbol" in America. She was born on June 1, 1926 and although she never knew her father, she overcame tough roads in her life growing up in orphanages and foster homes. In 1942 she married her boyfriend, Jimmy Dougherty. During that time, she met a photographer and that was the beginning of her modeling career. In 1946 she signed herself to her first movie contract. Then in 1953, she starred in the movie Niagara. She continued on with her acting career after attending the Actors Studio to play in movies like, Some Like It Hot which awarded her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy. Her fun and outgoing personality along with her stunning beauty made her highly likable to the public. Sadly at the age of 36, Marylin Monroe died. It's suspected overdose. Marylin Monroe has and still is a highly recognized public figure both for her beauty, fashion, and acting. Today we have many public figures both sex symbols, actresses, actors, and other people who are highly idolized by the public. Marylin Monroe was the start of it all in the female perspective.


http://www.biography.com/articles/Marilyn-Monroe-9412123?part=1

Fax Machines

Fax by definition means a method of encoding data then transmitting it over a telephone line or radio broadcast.You then receive the message through machine which produces a hard copy, line drawings, or photographs at a different location. Although the fax machine was invented a long time ago, it didn't become recognized by consumers until the 1980s. The first fax machine was invented in 1843 by Scottish inventor named, Alexander Bain. Fax machines changed the way we communicated with people today because messages were able to be transmitted for long distances in a much shorter time period. Today people still use fax machines, but mainly for business purposes.The fax machine was the beginning stages for today we have email,and text messaging. A version of high speed faxing from one person to another.


http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventors/a/fax_machine.htm

Blu Ray

Blu Rays abbreviated as BD are a new optical disc format developed by the Blu Ray Association. In 1992 inventor Shuji Nakamura from Japan came up with the first compatible blu ray disk. It was formatted to be able to play back, rewind, and record high definition movies. Blu Rays also store large amount of information. Unlike DVD which use a red laser to scan the disk and play the movie, blu rays use a blue violet laser. Unlike DVDs blu rays can be made backward compatible. The blue violet laser has a shorter wave length allowing it to have great precision with the images being delivered. It also allows a larger amount of data to be stored on a smaller devise. Today, blu ray is supported by the top 200 consumers electronics. Blu rays have expanded the way we can view movies, in the way that TV aren't the only way of viewing HD videos and television broadcasts. Now through blu rays we can watch movies with the precision of high definition. 

http://www.blu-ray.com/info/

Google Google Google

Two men by the name of Larry Page and Sergey Brin meet at Stanford University in 1995 and in 1996 they began collaborating on a search engine called BackRub. In 1997 they both decided that their newly invented search engine needed a new name...They decided on Google. Google was a play on words, the original word being googol, referring to a  mathematical number with 100 zeros after it. Using the word Google was to refer to the infinite amount of information accessible through the web. It's interesting that in 1998 the co-founder of Google Andy Bechtolsheim wrote a check for $100,000 which the company currently didn't have towards what we know now as Google Inc. one of the biggest companies in the world. Today, Google is the largest search engine in the world. But it does have competition like, Yahoo, Bing, AOL, Wikipedia, and many other sites that provide a lot of information. 

http://www.google.com/corporate/history.html

High Definition TV & Movies

HD or high definition television refers to any resolutio that is higher than SD or standard resolution. The most common resolution is 720p or 720 pixels. The beginning of HDTV started in 1970 in Japan at the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation and after nearly 35 of try and failure the high definition TV started making its way to main stream. Today as we have seen, analog TV or screens that don't contain up to date high definition or digital features are almost obsolete and don't work with current cable or satellite companies. HDTV delivers a much higher resolution than any other resolutions such as SCTV. High definition has changed the way we watch television and watch movies. When we look at high definition screens the resolutions are so high that it can be hard to differentiate the image from real life.


http://www.audioholics.com/education/display-formats-technology/hdtv-past-present-and-future-part-i-history

Kinect With Xbox

The Xbox Kinect is revolutionary in the aspect of controller free gaming. Before the Kinect there were things like the Wii which captures the players movements via sensor but you still needed a controller. The Kinect allows the users to interact with their full bodies. Just by a wave of your hand, you can activate the sensor and you can access your own personal avatar. The game counsel also is capable of responding to the users voice. Using your voice you can control a series of HD movies and games. The Kinect also has digital skeletal tracking which allows it to track whether the users moves from left to right or is jumping up and down. Another revolutionary aspect of the Kinect is that it has facial recognition by using Kinect ID, it collects physical information stored on your profile. This new invention to the gaming world suddenly has changed everything we thought about gaming. Before the Kinect every type of gaming system involved some type of handheld controller or device. With Kinect we are able to be hands-free while gaming making it one step closer to a more interactive gaming world.



http://www.xbox.com:80/en-US/Kinect/GetStarted

LCD Projector Screens

A LCD projector is a video projector used for displaying images and videos. The LCD projector was invented by a man named Gene Dolgoff. His original idea came from trying to use a light valve to regulate the amount of light that passed through, this eventually was a bit unsuccessful so when liquid crystals became assessable he used those, hence LCD meaning liquid crystal display. Projectavision, Inc in 1988 which was the first LCD projector company. Today, the only companies making LCD projectors are Japanese companies known as SONY and EPSON. We use LCD screens with TVs, and computer screens. Today they are a part of everyday life and aid in the communication of media. 

Get A Life

Second Life is a virtual reality life game so to speak created by Linden Lab. The users are allowed to interact with people all over the world through what are called avatars. Users can explore the world build mainly by the people or "residents" of Second Life. You can make the avatar look how ever you would like and with the use of headphones and a microphone users can talk to other users as long as they are active. You can also chat with other users if talking to them isn't comfortable. In November of 2010, there were over 21.3 million registrations for the Second Life site. In second life there is an internal economy along with an internal currency known as Linden Dollars. Something cool that can be used to Second Life is the feature of a guide dog. Even if you don't use one in real life, the persons avatar can use one if desired. Although a study on the site showed a lack and somewhat inability for people who are visually impaired to use the site. Second life has changed the way people think of avatars and social networking sites. As you can form relationships, make houses, buy land, own businesses, etc just like in the real world but virtually.


http://icommonssummit.org/general_information/second-life.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life

The SIM Card

SIM stands for Subscriber Identity Module. These are often found in cellular devices today. This devise securely stores the service subscriber key or the mobile identification device on a phone. A SIM card can be transferred from one mobile device. Each card contains a unique ID number. The first SIM card was made in 1991 by Munich Smart Card Maker and was made for Finnish Wireless Co. Today SIM cards are found in pretty much any mobile device apart from phone from Verizon. SIM cards can hold information like, phone numbers. We use the cards to identify the company as well as identify the phone. The SIM card can also hold a number of SMS or text messages sent by that phone.

The Fast Food Franchise

So, you probably think that good ol' McDonalds was the beginning of the fast food era here in America right? Well, wrong. It actually was the restaurant called White Castle. White Castle began in Wichita, Kansas in 1916. People liked the idea of getting a hamburger, fries, and a drink for cheap. The idea soon began to boom and that's what our good friend McDonalds comes in. McDonalds was created in 1948 by non other than the McDonalds brothers. Their initial goal was to design a place where food was quick adn cost efficient. Good to see they've still held up to their original goals. They purposely didn't have tables or chairs in their restaurants because they wanted people to be able to eat their food on the go. McDonalds grew extremely rapidly but then came the competition. Places like, Burger King and in 1962 came the first Taco Bell and from there it's history. Today we have countless numbers of fast food places ranging in a variety of different foods like, mexican, the traditional american burgers, and even icecream has made its way into the fast lane. There's no doubt that fast food in the media has grown tremendously and continues to grow despite the recent years effects of trying to DO fitness and eat healthy. People just can't seem to get away from the efficient on the go meals.


http://ezinearticles.com/?Fast-Food-History-in-America&id=1502595

Conference Calling & Video Conferencing

Conference calling is where is call is placed and wishes to have more than one person in on the phone conversation. There also three-way-calling where only 3 people are in on the same conversation. Participants are usually able to call into their conference calls. There are different types of conference calling some included for business meetings, flat rating calling, party lines, prepaid conference calls, free calls, and premium calls. Another thing that has become more recent in relation to conference calling, is video conferencing. Conference calling through video allows participants to have more personal interactions and in more locations by using interface telecommunications devises. Simple invention of videoconferencing was established around the same time that the TV was invented. By the 1990s IP or internet protocol conferencing was made available. Conference calling has expanded media in the way that more people are able to receive the same message at the same time with much efficiency. People all over the world are able to communicate with each other and now with video capabilities people are able to share information face to face. We now have free applications along with the internet like Skype and other video chatting downloads.

Make Me Up

Makeup dates all the way back to the days of Cleopatra and the ancient Egyptians. Egyptians may not have been the first to use makeup, but they were the first to document the importance of using makeup on the face. It's also documented that the Romans used what we refer to today as eyeliner and mascara to accent their eyes too. During the European Middle Ages people adopted the idea of pale skin as it was seen as a sign of wealth. This continued into the Renaissance period but women in order to establish a sign of wealth started to use deadly elements like lead. But around the Victorian age people started to associate wearing makeup with prostitutes and actresses causing a decline in the use of face makeup. As surprising as it may be the modern makeup we think about today actually started in the 1900s. Tanned skin began to be associated with the working class and being out in the sun all day as similar to the Renaissance period where pale was a sign of wealth and by the 1930s makeup was available to all classes of society. Today, makeup is everywhere. There are thousands of makeup brands here in the US and around the world. We see commercials for a lot of makeup for brands like CoverGirl, Mayballine, and higher end brands like Mac and Lancome. We've come full circle as we are now using mineral makeup and earth friendly products that are healthy for the skin rather than killing people. Tanned skin is in again. Makeup though we may not think of it as a media aspect influences media and society in many ways. It influences the commercial aspects of media as we see it printed in magazines and there are ads of TV.


http://www.makeup-artist-world.com/historyofmakeup.htm

Reality TV Isn't Really Reality

Within the recent years, reality television has become a new genre. It presents "unscripted" dramatic, humorous, and scary accounts of documentation events generally featuring ordinary people rather than celebrities. Reality TV covers a variety of different mediums., examples including game shows, reality documentaries, and real life reality. Today shows have been spun to glamorize partying and teen pregnancy. In 1948, the first encounter with reality TV was  a show aired that showed different individuals reactions towards being pranked. Today, reality TV is sweeping with shows like, Jersey Shore, The Real Housewives of countless counties. The problem occurs in reality TV starts to glamorize things like, teen pregnancy, and drinking at partying. It effects the world of media because people watch the shows and sometimes begin to idolize figures that may not be the best influence on them. Media in the realm of reality TV has grown tremendously over the past few years. 

What I've Learned

To begin, media is much larger than I ever imagined, nor can I even comprehend how large it will be in the future. 


1. The first thing I have learned is the history of media. Learning about papyrus and the ancient Egyptian writing laid out a foundation as to what media derived from. Also learning about the early inventions like the printing press helped to me understand how the media we have today started.


2. The second thing I learned in this class was, how far media has come and much further we are going with it. Today we have social media sites like Facebook that allow people from all over the world to communicate with each other through the internet. We’ve gone from not knowing much about the world in ancient times, to being able to look up a global satellite on the internet and see other country with the click of a button. We can capture images in vivid details, and smart phones that allow us to download thousands of different applications, do so many different things as well as take high resolution pictures within such a small devise.


3. The third thing I’ve learned is, that the fast expansion of media can be something to fear. There are many conspiracy theories linking social media, and a lot of electronic devises to the government. I’ve learned that having everyone closely utilizing the world of media, some people may be able to take advantage of that fact.

iTunes

iTunes is a music database library where you can download, store and purchase music. The first Apple iTunes store launched in August of 2003. The idea was to have people accessible to buy music from online. The online store allowed their users to also download their music onto iPods and today other Apple devices like the iPhone, iPad, and on computers. Early in the days of iTunes it was only available to costumers in the US. Now it's available world wide. The one issue iTunes has had was their compatibility software known as DRM. Companies have argued about the restrictions that were put on their programs. In its first year iTunes sold over 70 million songs. WOW! iTunes is expanding every day with new artists who are adding their music and making it available to the public. iTunes is a free download program that allows the users to preview music before it's purchased. You can also buy movies, and games for your devises. iTunes was revolutionary invention which changed the way of music to the world.

Do You Tube?

YouTube is a video sharing website that has expanded tremendously within the last 6 years. Users are allowed to upload, share, and view videos with users around the world. You don't have to have an account to watch videos on youtube either. YouTube was started by two men by the name of Chad Hurley and Steven Chen. The idea for YouTube was developed in 2005, and on Feb 14, 2005 the domain name for YouTube was activated. Within the last 6 years, this site has opened the communication gates for people around the world. YouTube was one of the first sites of it's kind, breaking the mold for media today. You can post full length videos with HD (high definition) capabilities. YouTube is bridging the communication gap once again with its astounding ability to allow users to watch, share, and upload their videos for the world to see providing it's users with great opportunities.

Fun Fact: Justin Beiber was discovered off of YouTube.

Youtube.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube