In previous posts I was discussing the origins and how to make a podcast. This was my first time making a podcast before and it is so simple. I created an account on soundcloud and then recorded a conversation between me and my friend Maddie. Maddie is abroad with me and we are both leaving in about a week. Reflecting on our trips that we have taken over the course of the semester it is difficult to choose only one. However, Maddie really liked Munich during Octoberfest, and I would have to agree with her. But boy has it been a fun semester traveling around Europe!
Now that my previous post described the origins of a podcast it is important to know how simple and easy making your own podcast is. First you need to edit or create an audio file. Then once you have created an audio file you need to upload it. You can use any of the following services: Soundcloud, blip.tv, Ivoox, or youtube. The last and final step once you have uploaded it, is distributing your podcast! You again can do this through Blip.tv, podomatic, or feedburner which is hosted through google. With these three simple steps you can understand why podcasting has become so popular. In a future post I will upload my own podcast to display how simple the process is and how you can do it too!
Podcasting can be dated back to 2003- 2004, which seems later than I thought it was. This new phenomena allowed people to listen to what they want, where they want, wherever they want. Podcasting can be both audio and video, however audio came before video podcasting. People often think of audio podcasting when they think of podcasting. Some of the early podcasting pioneers agree that the term podcasting comes from the evolution of the Ipod and broadcasting. Although you do not need an Ipod to listen or watch a podcast, the technology and evolution of the Ipod has made podcasting increase in popularity. This video discribes podcasting in “plain English.”
Corporate blogs can be very beneficial to the organization as it is a blog that published by the corporation in order to maintain and reach the corporations goals. This type of blog can be used to make announcements, to talk about policies, and to clarify any public relations issue. With corporate blogs they are able to reach their target market much more quickly than they used to before web 2.o, and their market is able to respond with comments. I believe that corporations blogging can allow easy communication between their customers and makes the company more transparent. In order for a corporation to have a successful blog they need to answer comments frequently, post often, and even have high power individuals write on it. Because of the sense of conversation in blogging it provides more credibility to the organization than just the corporations website. For instance, I took a look at PepsiCo’s blog and they also utilize the blog to show their customers the “goodwill” they are doing. On November 15th they posted about PepsiCo Dream Machine Recycling Supports Syracuse University Veterans Program. Without their corporation’s blog people may not have been as aware of this event. I think large corporations should put time towards their blog and have important people such as the CEO post fairly frequently as it will only do beneficial things for the organization.
When traveling to Barcelona one must go to the beautiful sandy beaches as they won an impressive tittle of being the best urban beaches in the world from both the National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. Barcelona has seven beaches making 2.8 miles of coastline. Barceloneta and Sant Sebastia are Barcelona’s two largest and oldest beaches both stretching for almost 4,000 feet of coastline. These two popular large Barcelona beaches are known for nice restaurants, night clubs, and the boardwalk that stretches between the two beaches. The Olympic Port separates the other five beaches from Barceloneta and Sant Sebastia. These beaches are named Nova Icària, Bogatell, Mar Bella, Nova Mar Bella and Llevant. These five smaller beaches were opened when Barcelona hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics, when buildings along this coastline were knocked down. Before the 1992 Olympic games Barcelona was known for “turning its back” towards the sea and not having it pretty to the eye as it now is. As prior to the Olympic games it was a very industrial area made of the port and factories. A great deal of gentrafication went on before hosting the Olympic games- especially along the coast line.
The summer beach season in Barcelona usually is from the middle of March to the middle of October, however you will always find people along the coastline doing activities. In recent years the Barcelona has improved services on the beaches including the addition of extra waste bins, more than 200 people cleaning the beaches and special beach police patrols to maintain safety along the beach front. There are over sixty red cross life guards on duty and two boats during the beach season in Barcelona. Swimming in Barcelona is very safe and there are no dangerous currents close by the shore. The high number of patrollers along the coast make the visitors and residents feel safe while they participate in various water activities.
The Barcelona beaches are known for having small bar huts on the sand which are called “chiringuitos.” These beach bars are very popular as the atmosphere and view are incredible. They serve drinks, and food, play music, and have their chairs positioned towards the water so no one misses the beautiful Mediterranean view. There are also very nice night clubs along the beach front. Such as, Opium Mar, Shoko, CDLC, Catwalk and several others. These are restaurants and beach night clubs that attract visitors and some locals. They are trendy places where people go with an expectation to eat good food and enjoy a night out with the view of he Mediterranean just feet away from them.
As you might have picked up on the beaches in Barcelona have different vibes and “personalities” depending what the beach goer is looking for. For example, the beaches go from south to north in Barcelona and as does the party scene. The party beaches for students and tourists where their are popular night clubs are the southern most beaches which are Barceloneta and Sant Sebastia. These two beaches are closest to Barcelona’s city center. There is a nudist t beach on a section of La Mar Bella beach. Previously, people were unofficially allowed on the Sant Sebastià beach, however this section of the beach was never officially a nudist beach. Since the nice W Hotel was built and new beach front restaurants were established in the area nudists are no longer allowed on this section of the beach. A petition is under way to make this the second nudist beach in Barcelona. Lets get to know the beaches more, starting with Barceloneta. As we already know Barceloneta can get quite busy and is lined with resturarants and bars, the beach also has interesting architecture on it. One being a statue fr
om the artiest Rebecca Horn called Homenatge a la Barceloneta. (Pictured on the right). Sant Sebastia is very similar to Barceloneta, being a popular beach for both locals and tourists. Llevant beach was the last beach created on Barcelona’s coast line which was opened during the summer of 2006. Bogatell beach is a less commercial beach that has local cafes and bars. Bogatell is known to be more of a local crowd. Nova Icària has similar amenities as the Barceloneta beach with umbrellas and cafes however you often have more space and it is not as crowded. Finally, Mar Bella is the last beach on Barcelona’s coast and is known to be a good beach for people with disabilities. It is located near a large shopping mall, and since it is fairly quite fisherman are often seen on this beach. However, if you are looking to experience a fishing beach town travel thirty minutes on the train to a fishing village named Sitges, which offers seventeen gorgeous beaches. (Pictured below). Surfing has become increasingly popular as a water activity in Barcelona over recent years. Although, Barcelona is not known for having large waves there is still a large audiance of surfers in the Fall, Winter and Spring. However, to the the dismay of the local surfers, there are fewer beaches to surf on now that the city has added breakwaters in front of the Barcelona beaches. These breakwaters reduce the waves to break onshore, which makes swimming safer during the summer and reduces the erosion on the beaches during the Fall and Spring storms. Since the addition of breakwaters in Barcelona Stand up Paddle Surfing is growing in popularity as a beach activity.
Beach is called “playa” in Spanish and “platja” in Catalan in case you are trying to ask locals about the incredibly popular place. The great thing about Barcelona is that it has everything to offer from being a historical European city and also a beach town. Visitors to Barcelona can have their urban sightseeing and big-city experience while also having a relaxing beach vacation.
Recently I visited a radio station in Barcelona called Catalunya Radio. I have never been to a radio station before, however I was surprised by how much material and different genres of radio were produced from Catalunya Radio. They have stations for twenty-four seven information, modern music, and classical music. Being from Chicago I often listen to Chicago´s B96. Although I have never visited B96´s station, I know that they only provide modern music unlike Catalunya Radio which has much more on their plate. It makes me wonder if it is hard to focus on an audience because Catalunya radio has different stations to focus on different target groups. During the tour they expressed that they have a variety of different platforms their audiences can reach them on such as Facebook, Twitter, SMS, E-mail etc. I believe they need all of these platforms because of all the different types of audiences they are reaching. I went on their websites to see if these different platforms were obvious but they did not seem evident to me. The only way it seemed to contact them was through a message on their website. I feel that it may be easier to handle the different platforms by directing their audience to their website and having the different options of platforms directly on their website. However, I could be missing this option as I do not speak Catalan. For example, when I went onto the B96 website, the first thing you see on the side is the different ways to contact them with direct links. It was interesting to learn about the radio in Spain, and when I get home I want to learn more about mine locally and how it works.
As you can see this is B96’s website and on the far left is links to reach the radio station.
As technology has evolved it has caused politics to use new and improved forms of web 2.0. An excellent example of politicians using web 2.0 is Barack Obama during his campaign for president. A large reason for Obama’s success was how he utilized the internet in his favor. Obama took his brand of “Hope” and used this brand across platforms during his campaign. Obama used Facebook, Youtube, and other various forms of social networks in order to connect directly to individuals. I believe a large reason for the Obama’s success in wining the presidential elections was his capability to connect directly to the people using web 2.0.
Multimedia journalism is interesting because it makes a combination of different content forms and publishes all the information together. Multimedia journalism takes a great deal of work because of all the different sources and outlets of content. Using several different forms of media does not necessarily mean that it is a multimedia story. In a multimedia story the many medias must be intertwined and run smoothy from one to another. Most news websites use texts, videos, and pictures but using these media types does not automatically make it a multimedia story because often these are standing alone and not telling a story from one media type to another. Multimedia journalism is getting more common as technology tools are making the daunting task easier.
With the rise of technology and the internet citizen journalists are becoming increasing popular in order to access hands on information at events quickly. People are often at the right place at the right time such as the person that tweeted a picture of when the airplane landed in the Hudson’s river. Technology has allowed citizens to publish situations if they are at the right place at the right time. Wikipedia defines citizen journalism as “the concept of members of the public playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information.” This YouTube video displays the top moments of citizen journalism.
On October 5, 2011 Steve Jobs passed away after a long fight with cancer. Jobs has caused the world to reflect on his amazing philosophies and leadership roles he had at Apple. He grew the company exponentially, and changed the concept of society 2.0 and web 2.0. When the first Macintosh computer debuted in 1984 the stock was being traded at $3.50, and now on the day Steve Jobs passed away the stock was being traded at $348. That statistic alone displays the power the company has and how much Jobs grew the company in the past decade. Different forms of technology have had to adapt to Apples platforms in order for their own company to benefit as well. Such as making speakers for ipods, AUX outlets in cars and home systems, itunes, application creators and the list goes on. Jobs had been able to innovate products that consumers didn’t even know that they would want, or that could exist. Jobs was looked up to by society and Apple employees, he was a well liked CEO. On a part of Apples website they have a page for “Remembering Steve Jobs“, and it says “Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.” This page portrays the popularity and inspiration Steve Jobs had not only within the company but around the world. Apple has produced product after product that have changed the way people communicate around the world, obtain information, and use technology in order to entertain themselves. Apple has positioned themselves in the technology society of hyping the products to consumers in order for consumers to feel as though they need that product. When one of Apples products is released people are waiting at wee hours in the morning to buy the new innovative product, even if they don’t fully understand the capability of the product. There is countless amounts of press regarding Apple and Steve Jobs changing communication and information in the world. However, this clip displays the exponential growth Apple has had with Steve Jobs leading the way. The world understands how influential Steve Jobs was and the history he has made. It is said that he might be the best CEO of our generation, because it seems as though he was the whole package. Not only was he able to invent products that no other company could he changed the ways of marketing and advertising these products. Apple has lost an inspiring and unbelievable human being, and hopefully the company will continue to grow and release popular products.
om the artiest Rebecca Horn called Homenatge a la Barceloneta. (Pictured on the right). Sant Sebastia is very similar to Barceloneta, being a popular beach for both locals and tourists. Llevant beach was the last beach created on Barcelona’s coast line which was opened during the summer of 2006. Bogatell beach is a less commercial beach that has local cafes and bars. Bogatell is known to be more of a local crowd. Nova Icària has similar amenities as the Barceloneta beach with umbrellas and cafes however you often have more space and it is not as crowded. Finally, Mar Bella is the last beach on Barcelona’s coast and is known to be a good beach for people with disabilities. It is located near a large shopping mall, and since it is fairly quite fisherman are often seen on this beach. However, if you are looking to experience a fishing beach town travel thirty minutes on the train to a fishing village named Sitges, which offers seventeen gorgeous beaches. (Pictured below).
Cooking in Barcelona 