Posts Tagged ‘news’

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Steve Jobs

October 6th, 2011 by Manda | 2 Comments | Filed in Technology

It’s crazy to think that a man who revolutionized the way we use technology on a daily basis is now gone.

I do all my personal computing on my MacBook. I listen to music on my iPod every day during my commute to class and work. I was attached to the hip at my iPhone (which now is a wonderfully functional iTouch).

It’s not just me that’s been affected by Jobs and his legacy, either. One can only look at the success of Apple, its many flagship stores, and the abundance of Apple products in our daily lives. One of my professors connects his iPad to a projector to show us videos. The computers in the journalism wing at my school are all iMacs. When I networked with LivingSocial at a career fair, I signed up for their newsletter on an iPad. 99% of the people I know own at least one Apple product.

Obviously Apple will continue to be groundbreaking and innovative in the future, but it’s weird to think that Steve Jobs is gone.

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Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Floods, and Now a Terrorist Threat

September 8th, 2011 by Manda | 4 Comments | Filed in Life

First there was an earthquake. Then there was Hurricane Irene. Now there is massive flooding from Tropical Storm Lee. And now, in light of the 10th anniversary of September 11 this Sunday, there is a terror threat.

I guess there’s nothing like starting the academic year off with lots of dramatic events…

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Political Elections in a Global Context

August 22nd, 2010 by Manda | 5 Comments | Filed in Politics

This past weekend, Australia held a federal election. From what I’ve gathered based on my Australian friends’ tweets and skimming related headlines in Google News, Tony Abbott, the leader of the conservative party, is tipped to win by a razor thin margin. Jess has a fairly good summation of the whole election debacle in Australia from a non-conservative’s point of view, for those who are interested.

Several months ago, the UK held an election for a new prime minister as well. The UK had a hung parliament, which was a big deal, and there was a bit of a kerfuffle in sorting out the new governing party. Again, most of the information I got about it was through my friends’ tweets, with a pinch from the Google News headlines.

I wouldn’t know about any of this election information (in Australia, in the UK, or any other country) if I didn’t have friends in those countries, both online and offline, which alerted me to the fact that there was an election occurring and prompted me to do some independent news research. None of this election stuff is really covered in the US media. The only election in recent years I can recall getting any US media coverage is that of Iran in 2009, which is obvious because of what happened with the protests. I know that whenever the US has a presidential election, the entire world covers it in the media. But when other countries have elections, US media is largely indifferent.

I remember in the lead-up to the 2008 US presidential election, a friend of mine from England told me he thought that the entire world should elect the US president, not just US citizens. He said that because the entire world is affected by who the US chooses, the entire world should vote. I guess that’s why US presidential election media coverage is global while elections in other countries get no coverage in the US. Whomever countries like Australia and the UK elect as their leader largely do not affect the US1, but the decision in who becomes the leader of the free world impacts everyone.

  1. I told a friend about the current election debacle in Australia and his response was, “Why should we care? It’s not like Australia is going to suddenly turn against the US no matter who they elect.” [↩]

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