So how do we give to others in need while still taking care of our family and friends? Here are some great resources that empower us to give without even writing a check. Some of these sites will seamlessly make donations to charities while you shop, while others will help you clean out your house and send along items you no longer have use for to those who do. Please take a moment before the stress of the season takes its grip to have a look and find the cause that speaks to you. Here are just a few.

Give While You Shop

Goodshop.com and GiveClicks.com. Here are two sites where a portion of how you spend goes to charity. Select your cause, shop and donations are made. Want to donate to a loved one’s college education? Enroll your credit card info at UPromise.com and use this portal to access hundreds of stores you probably already shop at….added bonus: whenever you use enrolled credit cards on or offline – you’re donating!

Clean House & Give Back – A Great Way to Recycle

Give your gently-worn shoes via SolestoSouls.com,where your donations are distributed to those in need, whether due to financial hardships or natural disasters. You can also help others in their search for employment by donating your previously (but gently)-worn business attire at CareerGear.org (for men) or TheWomensAlliance.org or DressForSuccess.org (for women).

Kids can give back to by donating their stuffed animals, children’s books and blankets via ProjectNightNight.org.

Happy Holidays

Mutt Media on cyber bullying

You can’t pick up the newspaper (or, if you prefer to read online, peruse the headlines) lately without coming across one story or another where the phenomenon of cyber-bullying isn’t discussed. The effects of this online form of bullying can be severely traumatizing for the victims and can lead to isolation, depression and suicide.

Children have always been bullied, whether in the playground, in school or on the very blocks that they live and play. It remains a disturbing part of growing up; a seemingly random assignment of torment to particular kids, sometimes with provocation and more often, without any. Bullying today has been taken to new heights with the emergence of social networking and the ability of our children to be constantly “plugged in” whether via their computers or cell phones.

What was once limited to the time kids spent in and around the school or playground has now infiltrated our homes on a 24 hour rotation without end. Kids are not only using Facebook, but text messaging, AIM Instant Messaging, YouTube and video chats. The ability to virally reach an infinite audience – even those we don’t know personally, has given new meaning to the word torment. There is, quite literally – NO ESCAPE.

What can we do to stop this? In a word? PARTICIPATION. If that word is not enough, then here’s another. WATCH (closely!). TALK is a good one, too. As parents, we have got to step up and engage with our children. Find out what they are doing online, and just as you would correct their manners at the dinner table, do so with their behavior in this forum.

Don’t even get me started on monitoring your children’s “harmless” photos that they post and tag for all to see. That’s a topic for another post.

For now, I will leave you with this thought. It is much easier to post your feelings, thoughts, etc (both naughty and nice) on a screen of some sort. Let’s try to encourage real, LIVE interaction whenever possible. So much gets lost or misinterpreted via emails, texting and the like. What ever happened to actually picking up the phone?

I will post instructions on how to limit your children’s computer time, which programs they use and for how long in a future post, but for now – dialogue!

I, for one, would hate to think that one of my kids could be participating in cyber-bullying a classmate or friend – or worse – to be on the receiving end of this awful behavior and taunting.

Here are links to just a few of the articles of interest on this subject.

Rachel Neblett, Cyber bully victim

Click here if you’d like to read the official press release announcing Suffolk County Legislator Jon Cooper’s co-sponsorship of an important bill that will criminalize cyber-bullying against minors.

Some cyber-bullying resources and sites of interest:

• Stop Cyber Bullying Now
• Cyber Bullying Research Center
• Real life Stories
• Alexis Pilkington (Local Long Island Girl posthumous Facebook Page)
• the story of Rachel Neblett (another girl who committed suicide)

Photo courtesy of NY Times blog

These days I’m into branding. Logos. Due to the nature of what I get to do for a living and in pursuing my degree, I get to really evaluate things that maybe one wouldn’t stop to notice. I do it for work, for inspiration or sometimes, just because I have to.

This week I’ve been asked to look at logo redesigns that don’t work. It’s a pretty subjective concept at first blush, but when you begin to research any subject, you find that people usually come down pretty hard on one side or another. There are two ways to look at this.

1. Examine the logo and react strictly upon your impression and whether it works for you.

or

2. Ask yourself (objectively), “Does this image still represent the brand I’ve come to know and trust?”, “How does the redesign change the image of the company?”

I’m going with #2 for this assignment because a logo redesign doesn’t have to just look pretty or appealing. It’s important that all of the positive traits of the company still be exploited, while bringing a fresh, updated look. I’ve spoken here about the bomb of Tropicana’s redesign, when the public outcry resulted in a rush back to the old packaging. (See Daily Bone 9.3.09)

After a bit of research, it seems that DR undertook not only a complete redesign of the logo and signage but an overhaul of their overall brand, their offerings and their approach according to an interview I read on Brandweek with DR Chief Marketing Officer Joe Jackman. The firm DeVito/Verde was hired to spearhead the project. Just this week, the store introduced a new line of private label products called DR Delish and paired it with the new slogan, “Your City, Your Store”. By December, the goal is to have 100+ new items for sale under the DR umbrella – all being glueten free with no trans-fats, reduced calorie and made with natural ingredients. Some of these will (or do) include fresh sandwiches, new cosmetics and a Doctor on Premises program.

Example of new products/packaging:

DR Delish

Thus far, 30 of their 256 stores have been remodeled including a shift within the store of their products and placements of various inventory.

Personally and aesthetically, I like the new design as I think it looks more modern and simple. However, when I ask myself the questions above, I have to agree with the popular consensus that the redesign does not meet the objectives of brand recognition. I couldn’t find a good image of the new storefront, which is a complete departure from the two images shown here, using all grays and silvers, giviing a pretty futuristic and cold effect.

In my opinion the old logo was outdated and in need of a redesign, but the brand is going to now have to fight a bit to win back some great traction that they had with their customers. They should’ve kept a greater portion of the elements in the old logo, such as color or the interlocking letters.

What do you think? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Does the redesign make any sense to you? These are important questions when undertaking the branding of a company, especially one that has been around for 40+ years.

Here’s a link to a great article that was posted on Brandweek.com if you’d like to get some insights as to why the brand was redesigned and the philosophy behind their new offerings.

Jackman maintains that the campaign thus far has been successful, however I have found comments posted online by Duane Reade customers who have a different opinion, stating that the relocation of products within their store has left them confused. Another big complaint is that the staff at Duane Reade is not knowledgeable, friendly or willing to help when asked. Customer Service seems to be a huge complaint and now that consumers have many other choices such as Walgreens and CVS, they are inclined to go elsewhere. Those are items that no amount of “redesign” can fix but maybe their new products and look will generate enough buzz to bring people in and make them want to remain there.

Time will tell.

Top web site visit as of 7AM according To Alexa.com

When I went to sleep last night I plugged my phone into the charger and did a last check of my emails.

I saw a flurry of Facebook updates from friends who suddenly seemed really angry at Kanye West. No, I mean really angry. People calling him names and expressing their disbelief at his actions at the VMA’s (Video Music Awards).

I had spent the day working and the night watching True Blood, Hung and Entourage so I had no idea what the %$#%^&* was going on. So I did what any curious/lazy person would do at that moment. I updated my Facebook status to read, “what happened today? fill me in on the Kanye thing” (or words to that affect. Within minutes a friend sent me a YouTube clip. [Thank you ].

This is amazing to me. Amazing that Kanye was so rude and amazing that this was like the shot heard ’round the world.

I had the clip up here on this post but it’s been removed from YouTube by Viacom and AP.

Here’s the link to the most popular site according to the Alexa toolbar. He has subsequently apologized.

Have a nice day

Got to give credit for one of my virtual classmates (Vanessa) at the New School for posting this video to our class blog and calling my attention to it.

This cartoon was posted on You Tube and is a funny commentary on all of the current chatter surrounding social networking, micro-blogging and the like.

Hope you enjoy it. Post your comments! Thanks, Vanessa

No doubt some of my readers are familiar with this video, but even if you’ve seen it before, it’s great to watch.

Take 5 minutes out of your day and learn about the (r)evolution of web 2.0.

Let me know what you think. I never get tired of it!

Ikea changes font from Futura to Verdana

After 50+ years, the furniture store IKEA has changed it’s signature font from Futura to Verdana. For those of you who do not already know this (and why would you?), Verdana is a what we call web-friendly; this means that when you view it on your computer screen, it will appear as the designer intended and further, this will apply to all computer screens, using all browsers and operating systems.

With a font like futura, which was designed way before there was an internet, the words (or logo) will not look the same on the screen as it would in print. Then the designer must make a decision – what font would be a good replacement for the web?

Well, Ikea doesn’t need to worry about that any longer since Verdana is nothing if not consistant. Apparantly, this caused quite a stir on the internet. Google Ikea font change and you will see a host of articles from the Associated Press to Business Week and many assorted blogs.

Of course, I cannot present a piece of tech “news” without a little commentary.

While it seems on it’s face to be a somewhat insignificant news item, Corporate Identity is a really important component of any business. Ikea’s 50-year run with the Futura font has ensured that the logo and associated catalog, advertising and other printed media is instantly recognizable and associated with the Ikea brand.

Some of the online commentary has been in the vein of “who cares?” while others (typofile.com) proclaimed it “a bad day”. Change can be a very good thing, but when it comes to your corporate identity, you’d be surprised at how it can affect your customers and your bottom line.

Case in point – did anyone else notice the huge change in the Tropicana Orange Juice packaging? I did and I can say that it was lost on me. They have gone back since to get closer to their “roots” and it’s better now, but for awhile it was looking like the generic supermarket brand. Tropicana is a premium product and the package redesign simply did not reflect that. Consumers were in an uproar and so the decision was made to pull the plug on the new look.

Take a look and let me know which you prefer. No matter what your preference, we can all agree that the change was dramatic and the end result was not the desired one. No one wants their well-established brand to mistaken for something else.

A good lesson.

Re-designed Tropicana packaging

The preferred "oldie" version of Tropicana

Article Reprint discusses Media Studies in Education

The following is an article I came across that I found of interest.

This article discusses an ongoing debate as to the validity of Media Studies in University environments. As someone who is currently immersed in a course of Media Studies at the New School (NYC), I can assure you that my classes are not only engaging, but deal in the most current, relevant and revolutionary of subject matter and instruction. My curriculum is focused on balancing the history and evolution of Media and it’s various theorists and theories as well as a great infusion of the most cutting edge advances in the industries that have grown from those.

Of course, teaching institutions vary greatly but my program has been around a long while and the courses are taught by learned professionals in their fields.

Enjoy and as always, your comments are welcome! Thanks to Social Media Mind on Twitter for leading me to this….

In defence of media studies

How do we judge if a subject is easy or difficult? Condemnation of media studies reflects a fundamental confusion about its aims

David Buckingham
Saturday August 22 2009
guardian.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/22/media-studies

It’s unfortunate for teachers and students that the exam results always come out in the midsummer silly season. It seems to guarantee a flurry of tiresome political rhetoric, in which their hard work, and the realities of contemporary education, are entirely ignored.

This summer’s great education debate has seen frequent mention of media studies ? a subject that is now a byword for dumbing down. Media studies, we are told, is one of those soft options now being offered to the deluded students of our state schools; while the privately educated elite are being stretched by real, hard subjects like physics and maths. Admissions tutors at a few elite universities apparently look down on such soft options. And shadow education secretary Michael Gove has even proposed that schools be allocated more points in the league tables for hard subjects than easy ones.

If anything is a symptom of dumbing down, it is the willingness of politicians and pundits to pronounce on things they know nothing about. But why would they bother to find out? It is so much more convenient for them to represent media studies as just a matter of ignorant chavs sitting around watching telly.

Much of the discussion of media studies reflects a fundamental confusion about its aims. On the one hand, it is chided for being not vocational enough: after all, media studies GCSE isn’t going to get you a job in the BBC. Yet on the other, it is condemned for not being academic enough: it is, quite hilariously, a Mickey Mouse subject.

But how might these arguments apply to other subjects? Do we judge the value of English degrees on whether they equip students to become professional literary critics? In fact, the employment rate of media studies graduates is higher than in most other humanities and social science subjects; and most of them are getting jobs in media-related professions, however precarious they may be.

The charge of being insufficiently academic is one that media studies students ? who routinely struggle with the complexities of social and cultural theory ? would find quite ridiculous. The academic study of the media dates back more than 80 years, and there is a vast body of scholarship on the sociological, psychological, cultural and economic dimensions of the media.

Indeed, there are many academics researching and teaching about the media at Oxford and Cambridge, and at most leading “old” universities. Meanwhile, competition for places on media studies degrees is intense, with required grades often much higher than for other subjects.

How do we judge whether a subject is easy or difficult? Is art difficult? For some it is as easy as breathing, but for others it is something they will always struggle to master. For some, maths must seem like a soft option, while for others it will forever remain a closed book.

The suspicion of media studies is very similar to that which greeted sociology in the 1960s, or English literature in the 1920s. Then, the suggestion that young people might study books in their native language rather than just in ancient Greek and Latin was little short of scandalous.

Now, the idea that young people might study the media of modern communication seems equally scandalous. Newspapers have been around for more than 250 years, the cinema for more than 100 and television for more than 60. Perish the thought that schools should recognise, and interrogate, their existence.

This suspicion is fuelled by some who work in the media, but who seem to regard what they do as somehow unworthy of serious critical attention. Or perhaps they find such attention threatening?

By all means let’s have a serious debate about how we teach media studies, and what it can achieve. But that debate needs to be based on more than ignorance and narrow-minded prejudices about modern culture.

guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2009
Registered in England and Wales No. 908396
Registered office: Number 1 Scott Place, Manchester M3 3GG

Joel Tannenbaum ordered to pay $675,000 for illegally downloading 30 songs

This is the second post I’ve done recently about court cases involving illegally downloaded music.

My first blog on the subject was on June 19th when we talked about the Minnesota woman who was ordered to pay $80,000 per song ($1.92 million) for her illegal downloads.

Today we talk about a guy named Joel Tannenbaum, a Boston University student whose penalty was not quite as steep – he only has to pony up $30,000 per song or a total of $675,000.

One question – isn’t it simpler and cheaper to just pay for your downloads?

I get it. Some people think listening to music is their G-d-Given right. Well, that’s a nice thought. But here’s another….what about the artists? I can get on board with the philosphy that the record companies are making out like the real bandits – they do. But when you download your music on the sly, you are short-changing a lot of people who worked on the record, including not only the celebrity artists, but many musicians whose names you do not know.

This is how they make their money! Back in olden times when I was a kid, we had to go out and actually buy the whole album just to hear that one song we liked. And, we could only play that album on a turntable or on a low-quality cassette tape or later, a CD.

Digital music is fantabulous…it goes with you everywhere and you can select your preferred artist, genre and create your playlists to accompany any activity you can think of.

Pay the .99 cents! They really mean it.