Good job team!! muy bien

For this post we had to do critiques of other student’s blog posts. In my group for the iMovie project I had Jessica and Justin so therefore I had to do their critiques on the following posts. Doing this sort of blogging was not my favorite since I myself am awful in writing anything so to critique somebody else was a challenge. But, the following is split up into Jessica's and Justin's own sections so there was no confusion.

Jessica's Posts:

90's Child

Jessica and I had similar experiences with the Internet the first time around. Although she set up her parents email address and my mom set up mine, we both used email. She is right on topic with the amazing advances of the Internet and how far it has come. When she states that the Internet was “amazing and lame” she never really specified why it was lame, but she went on to describe the problems she had with it. Those problems were definitely problems we all dealt with when it came to using the internet for the first time, including sharing the slow dial up with the phone line in the house. I remember being able to look up lyrics to my favorite songs online and that was the coolest thing you could do. She backs up her statement “the internet is the only way I can function” by listing several reasons how she uses it daily. A lot of the things she does are more for convenience. It really makes me wonder how we could do all of these things that she does, before we could search anything online. Especially navigating our way around.

Web 2.0

The article has very strong viewpoints of what web 2.0 is as well as a personal insight on what Jessica learned. She didn’t know that everything she has been doing on the Internet was considered 2.0, but now that she knows it has lived up to her personal expectations and she has begun to notice the difference in speed and how much better the graphics look. The links Jessica chose to include in this review supported her points very well, especially the one at the end about how web 2.0, as wonderful as it is, leads to an invasion of privacy because of its openness. However as much as people are worried about this there would be no turning back to Web 1.0 only moving forward to Web 3.0 which may or may not have better security settings. Jessica presents a very forward and simple front for those who might want to find out what Web 2.0 without all the technical terms. Especially with the list of 6 things that web 2.0 is. She supported her links and statements with appropriate material.
Danger, Will Robinson!

I do not agree with the first statement in the positives section, although there are many things we can do easily and cheaper on the internet, in no way is it the same as real life. People do things on the Internet that they would never do in real life. However Jessica backs up her reason for agreeing with the statement by stating examples of things made easier in her everyday life that’s to the World Wide Web. I agree that social networking creates an easy bond between people and their loved ones who may live far from each other. The fact that Jessica’s family and friends stay in touch through Facebook is awesome. In the negatives of social networking portion Jessica said she thought that using ad space on Facebook was a good idea. I agree with that, it is a quick easy way for word to spread, which is what social media is good for. When she gave the example about the scientist and the photographer, I was a little confused but she was correctly stating that people should be aware of what they post online because once it’s out there, it’s out there. I 100 % agree with Jessica’s last statement, on the proper grammar and spelling use. The language used on the Internet even has its own name. “Leet Speak” is shorthand, slang of the English language, which is most common. Social networking is not meant to be scholastic, so I see nothing wrong with improper spelling and use of grammar as long as someone can see the difference.

Inspire me!

Jessica painted a picture in her blog for someone who might not have seen the videos she was watching. However this post had a few spelling mistakes that showed she might not have re-read it before posting it. Also she could have started off with a brief description of what a self-portrait is. Her description of the first self-portrait had some points I agree with, including that the text in the video was helpful from keeping it too monotonous. The second description, Jessica said that it made her think of “a picture is worth a thousand words.” That is a very solid reference to describe the video, especially since she backed it up by stating that the author didn’t use text or music with words. Kia is right on with her third review. She makes solid points about why everything in the self-portrait works with the message being conveyed, for example that the portrait was in Black and White which helped portray the raw emotion and that the use of animation fit perfectly. I agree that it was definitely one of the best videos we had to watch on the creative side, and how brave the man was for putting his story out on the Internet. I hope it was an encouraging thing to help him lose weight, I feel as though if you want to do something telling everyone you’re going to encourages someone even more in order to not let others around them down.

Justin's Posts:

 

All Access Pass

It is very true that kids used the Internet instead of the phone to talk to more than one or two people at a time. It’s too funny that for a while I also used my old AIM screen name for user names for the longest time. With all the different log-ins and passwords it’s easier to keep most of them the same. Justin uses great examples of the differences between the Internet back then and now. When he states that it was more convenient than using the phone even with dial up and now it has pretty much replaced the phone that is very true. When he mentioned that people use social media to meet other students at their school, it was interesting because originally Facebook was created just for college students to be able to network with each other. How awesome that you could literally meet your roommate before you lived with them. The point about the businesses using Facebook is also very true. Things on Facebook and twitter have the power of spreading like wildfire, which is great for any business or message to reach mass amounts of people at a time, and because of Web 2.0 they can interact with the people receiving the message.

Web 2.0 and You

The first sentence “is thought to be a bunch of things in one” sounds a little weird, maybe “is considered to be many things in one.” Also “can create there own page” should be “their.” Wikipedia is a unique example of Web 2.0, I never thought of that being Web 2.0! I guess you could say it is Web 2.0 in its rarest form, because anyone is allowed to contribute and change whatever is put on there. Justin statements about people wanting things now and right at their fingertips and how they are always looking forward to the newest thing are very true. Some of the information, though very good, is repetitive. For example how Web 2.0 cannot be defined is mentioned twice and how people want info at their fingertips. Web 2.0 is great for anyone being able to create their own websites is true, but why? Why would someone want to create a website for anything?

Pros and Cons of Social Media

Justin’s opening statement is very true, social networking is a huge part of every one’s life, and it makes it incredibly easy to stay in touch, and communicate with each other. He mentions that it might be affecting face-to-face communication, which is very true. Now that everything can be done alone, people no longer need to talk to each other in more intimate settings which can lead to a lot of negative things. He makes an interesting point that the privacy issue on Facebook isn’t a big deal. That you can see what someone is like on Facebook, but you can also see what someone is like when you see them at person in public places, and you can’t turn off those privacy settings. He also mentions that marketing off Facebook is a positive instead of a negative which is true, however I believe that ads on various websites are getting to be over abundant in which most people tune them out until the content they want to watch is ready, so the point never really gets across to the viewer .I agree with Justin’s point that social networking can make people feel included with their peers despite the fact that they might be different. It is again also great for businesses to spread word about their product and receive feedback from the customers.

Self Portrait Discussion

This blog post could’ve started with an intro about what a self-portrait might be instead of just going right into the video reviews. In the first review the word “text” was used in almost every sentence. Also there could’ve been a little more background description on what the video was to give the reader a better photo of what else was in the video. Justin mentions that the person should have used more images, what kind of images? In the second review Justin painted a better picture of what was happening in the video. There were a lot of typos though, such as “unique angels” and a lot of repetition about how he really liked the video. He did make strong points about how the self-portrait was creative and that the person in the video narrating it himself really reinforced this. The third review is also really repetitive about how he liked the video, thought it was professionally done. It was also a bit confusing because then he went on to say that there was too much text and someone would have no idea what was going on without the text. Again, he could’ve painted a little bit better of a background on the video for someone reading it instead of repeating how much he liked the video, how it looked professional and how much he enjoyed watching it.

 

 

The task of critiquing someone else’s critique was a task all in itself. When you become so close with your group members you want to give them praise, and relate to them instead of tearing apart what they had written. But, in the end the things you say and the edits you make can only help better a person. Overall I think Jessica and Justin did a great job.



 



Hey, that [insert your name] is pretty responsible with [insert your gender-specific possessive pronoun] use of Facebook

Facebook has become a social networking powerhouse. Facebook has become a definite way for people to get themselves out there and really explain and show who they are, and give people an insight on all the things that represent them. Facebook is forever changing, as well as the people who control their pages. There are constant updates with the site, whether for the good or bad Facebook will never be the same from when it initially came about. Everything is completely different and will forever be changing.

Facebook and I have been long time friends, since 2007 we have had our ups and downs and I consider us still going strong in our relationship.  A good amount of the time I get sick of how much everything keeps changing and how annoying some of the new functions are, especially when it changed over to timeline I was not a happy camper. Yes I always complain about people’s daily update on what they are doing that very second, constant invites to events I will never go to, and just the daily jibber jabber on how someone’s baby daddy’s ex-girlfriends cousins sister is a bitch fills up my newsfeed, yet I keep my Facebook and go on it every day because myself and many others can’t get enough of it and have to be in tune to everything going on always. There will always be the people who bitch and complain about how they didn’t want a certain someone to find something out well new flash if you put it on the web its fair game and you’re an idiot for not changing your privacy settings or blocking said person, a lot of employers today will check a person’s Facebook before hiring them to check them out and see if they really are qualified for the job. I have known more than one person who has been fired because they were stupid enough to call in to work but post on Facebook that they were out shopping at the mall. Everyone needs to learn to pay more attention about what content they are putting out for the world to see. I am always careful about what I am putting on Facebook because I don’t know what future employers might look at it or who might see it, I’m friends with my little cousins and some of their friends and I want to be viewed as a good role model. That also goes for what you post on someone else’s page. The one article talked about how they conducted a survey seeing who was alright with having people have access to their profile. The majority of the people only agreed to posting things that were ok to their family and friends and even people they didn’t know rather than posting things that were inappropriate and gave them a bad rap.

I use Facebook mostly to keep in contact with the people who I don’t see on a daily basis and the friends I made while working at Disney who live all around the world. I worked at Disney in 2008 and after that experience of meeting people from England and Madrid and many other places keeping in contact with them on Facebook was the easiest outlet to do so. I can constantly send messages back and forth without any hassle of using any other outlet. Except now a days I have 300 different aps on my phone to talk internationally or the option to just Skype with my friends. But, it’s nice to see what they are doing and with my close friends Facebook has become an outlet to stalk people and gossip about what people are doing with their lives (we are mean girls). Facebook can also be used as an amazing marketing tool; you can get your name out there and do advertising for the low cost of FREE! You don’t have to pay to promote your business or event. The last project we worked on we did some amazing work for organizations or companies that didn’t have any acknowledgment on Facebook.

Everyone has their own separate reasons for using Facebook and what they actually do with it. In some cases like mine they use it to keep in touch, some may use it to meet new people, and others could utilize it for events. But, there will always people the people who live in their parent’s basements who are 55 year old virgins who have nothing else to do with their lives then spread viruses, spam people and hack into people’s accounts. By giving people the permission to access your information you are giving them the permission to spam and attack everyone on your friends list.

As a class we were instructed to make separate Facebook pages due to the fact she didn’t want to know anything from our personal lives. This makes complete sense because it connects to mixing business with pleasure; I don’t trust that my friends wouldn’t make a mockery of the project or class so It made me feel at ease that we weren’t allowed to use our personal one, my school life and personal life are on two completely different ends of the spectrum. Our secondary accounts are only business and school related content that are only going to be viewed by the class and our professor. But with that being said I don’t quite understand how smoothly my personal profile works and my brand spanking new one keeps locking me out and I can’t stay logged into it for more than a minute.

In regards to my information on Facebook and whether its private or public, it is very public because I am careful and cautious about what I put on there and what I want people to see or know about me. If I think something isn’t appropriate for my friends, family, or employer to see then it doesn’t go on Facebook, simple as that. I will never understand why some girls and guys thinks it ok to post half naked pictures on the internet or doing drugs and stupid shit along those lines. Anyone has the ability to access your account.

At this very moment there aren’t any specific etiquette rules in place for Facebook uses. But, if I were to enforce some rules they would be:

1. Don’t update your status with cryptic messages
2. Sending a HUGE mass private message is uncalled for, so that whenever any one of the 200 people respond to it, you think you have new and exciting mail
3. Countdowns to a not life changing experience are unneeded ex) 125 days till I wash my hair
4. Don’t post chain statuses asking you to post whatever it is in YOUR status to “spread the word”
5. Chill with the pregnancy/baby picture overload
6. calling in sick for work yet making your status “Crazy Night… Still Bombed!” is a no no
7. posting awful pictures of people and tagging them is just rude
8. don’t add people you work with/for and talk about bad experiences in your life that those people shouldn’t know about which can also go along with don’t diss your workplace/co-workers/boss whilst forgetting they are part of your network.
9. carrying out personal conversations only you and another person are in on. A lot of people just don’t care.
10. Posting important news (death, wedding, pregnancy) instead of calling people individually
11. Application overload is also uncalled for, I don’t want to play your stupid games and if I wanted to I would make my own decision to do so
12. Adding people you are not friends with is kind of creepy and not safe
13. Last but not least don’t make a fake page

 

I feel that I have never had an awkward situation because of Facebook from what I had posted because I am really careful about that kind of stuff but then again I can be an airhead at times so saying that it never happened would be a lie. But I do know of many people who have been caught in sticky situations. I actually know someone who broke up with their girlfriend via Facebook status and tagged her in the status so all her friends and his friends could see it happening.

In conclusion, you have to be smart about what you post on Facebook. Anyone at any given time anywhere in the world could be viewing your page and getting your information. Facebook could be the result in whether you get that job you wanted or getting a stalker in the matter of seconds. We all need to classy and remember that the internet is forever, just because you think you deleted that picture of you jello wrestling or smoking a joint it is still somewhere on the internet and can be found.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To communicate or not to communicate that is the question

This blog post will be about the necessity of communication in creating a group and an event page on Facebook. For this Facebook project all of us had to create five group pages for organizations or businesses that didn’t have any kind of affiliation with Facebook that alone was a task in its self. It was at times very difficult to find groups that weren’t already on Facebook (since everyone is on Facebook) but once you got over that slight trap it was smooth sailing from there until you moved on to your next page. When creating these kinds of pages communication plays a big part in the process. The need to know how to communicate with people if you have any questions on the design factors or say you don’t have a Facebook and need help setting one up, you also need to be able to know where to look for information whether it be on the web or through people you know who work at the places you have chosen or maybe they have family and friends that work or volunteer there. Every detail needs to be correct from the pages correct name, correct address and especially all the information you are posting needs to be 100% correct. You are becoming a branch off of these organizations and getting their names out there for people to hear and learn about. Maybe because of this project we can make a difference and get more people involved.

The Self Portrait Effect: "You will regret that cell-phone self-portrait in the bathroom mirror one day"

Introduction
A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. For this blog we had to only choose three videos from a very long list of student self-portraits made by many different kinds of people. The three videos I chose to speak about were the ones that really stuck out to me and that I enjoyed watching. These three were all done in different yet similar ways and all managed to capture your attention and tell a story. Not saying any of the others weren’t done well just these ones were my personal favorites.

“Life is a Ride”

When I first put on the video I didn’t know what to expect from it, the description posted only said it was a self-portrait with a strong narrative about a tragic event in a student’s life. The opening of the video was amazing and set the story for everything else that was about to come. The transition from the person on the bike to the wheel chair I thought was brilliant; right then and there you knew that the tragic event was a bike accident. What makes the video a strong visual narrative? This narrative is very strong because it can really grab everyone’s emotions seeing how this person’s life was drastically changed; also it might hit close to home for some viewers and have the same similar story of having a normal life one day to being completely different the next. For me it hit home because it reminded of the day I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes I was 8 so I was "normal" for a few years then completely thrown into this new way of life.  The transition from black and white to color video shows the drama of the situation and then the addition of the photos, with the text, really ties the video together. He does a great job of telling a story and showing that he didn't let this incident ruin his life. His visuals also tell the viewer that he wouldn't change a thing, and that his ride has more meaning and impact.


“My Most Important Self Portrait”

This video was all around amazing. From the technique he used with the stop action and drawn imagery with chalk, to the story he was telling, he really thought out what he wanted to get out of this and what he wanted people to feel from it. This video is a very strong narrative because the black and white aspect shows the drama behind it and almost gives you the sense of pain this man has been going through to lose weight and not be obese anymore. He is confronting his obesity and showing everything he has to go through each day, like temptation for fatty foods and how he has to situate the way he eats, to not just eat whenever he is depressed or bored, but to eat when hungry. He is expressing his feelings and showing how much weight he is losing over time.  This is another video that can hit very close to home for many people and watching this video and seeing that someone else is going through this struggle can give others hope that they can achieve this goal. It’s an awesome thing to see the progress he had made even at the 2 minute mark you can see some of the transformation.  I personally would love to see more; it’s like a cliff hanger movie that ends before you can actually see the true ending which I think makes it a good concept.

"The Art Of Motion"

Personally I have always been interested and intrigued by stop animation videos. They take a lot of time, work and dedication to come out with an amazing end result. My little brother used to make stop animation films with Lego's and he was always so dedicated into every little aspect, and because of that he made amazing videos that showed his hard work. This video gives a strong narrative because right off the bat it tells you what is going to be happening in this video and then goes right into giving you all sorts of different types of motion, from flying around, spinning, sliding, fighting, and rapid motion. Getting the viewers’ attention right away plays a good part in having a good narrative because you want to keep the person watching entertained and not bored with what is going on. The story of a guy enjoying his day then getting in a fight is portrayed very well, there is not one second where you are confused with the concept and there is no way you want to stop watching. Visually it looks very well done, I have seen many of these kinds of videos not done properly and some are blocky and didn’t flow well but this video looks nice and keeps you interested and doesn’t give you a headache. This student video I feel is perfectly done except for the very beginning I'm not sure if I like the zooming in of the man’s face.

The videos listed above have a strong visual narrative, visually convey their topic, and the viewer can determine whether or not it's a good video or if it needs work. I am ready to get started on our own self-portraits and trying to produce something that can be almost (keyword being almost) as good as those videos that we have watched. Hopefully our final product will be something that everyone will enjoy watching.

Web 2.what?

What exactly is web 2.0

Web 2.0 is a difficult concept to define.  It’s interactive with the sense you can Skype with people and play games against other people, it can be used anywhere due to the fact many schools, libraries, and restaurants to name a few have WIFI, and it allows for two-way communication through email, blogs, chats, or other means such as Facebook.  Many websites back in the day were very bland and didn’t have that much going for them but now because they have evolved in to being more interactive people can give their feedback whether it’s about a product or about a sports team and people can send messages on forums or through video.

Web 2.0 is very engaging and involved in the center of everyone lives. It stores important information and is being used more and more in schools where many classrooms have set up video classes with other students or at work for presentations.

Many people wonder if Web 2.0 is living up to the hype.  Indeed it is due to the endless possibilities on how far you can go. Through the web you can literally travel and conference anywhere and everywhere across the world. It’s almost like you can be two places at once through the safety of your own home. The contacts you can have are endless and the extreme potential one person can have is increasing significantly.  We hold so much power in our fingertips, the possibility to do anything is so near yet so far. The only downfall to the huge hype of web 2.0 is people are forgetting about the “real world”. People are becoming too consumed with being online, forgetting what real life interaction is, or what it is like to just go outside and have good people skills. But that is only a slight set back to all the good things we have accomplished and to what the future holds for the internet.

What Web 2.0 has to offer.

Web 2.0 has some of the most amazing features and technologies and easily trumps over anything else that even tries to compare. Some of the technologies that it has to offer are and include interoperability, user-centered design, interactive information sharing, and crowdsourcing.

Interoperability is the ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together. The term is often used in a technical systems engineering sense, or alternatively in a broad sense, taking into account social, political, and organizational factors that impact system to system performance. While using XML or RSS, all websites are accessible from PCs, Macs, phones, and iPads instead of just using one source.

interactive information sharing is any kind of sharing done through social media websites. Anyone who uses Facebook, Myspace, or Youtube who  share information in the form of photos, music, photos or anything digitally. You also have the choice to either have any of this information published for the world or to keep is private for only your friends and family. This form of sharing falls in four main design patterns: one-to-one sharing, one-to-many sharing, many-to-many-sharing and many-to-one sharing.

User-centered designs are a process in which the needs, wants, and limitations of any users of a product are given close attention at each stage of the design process. This is a multi-stage process because every interface needs to be tested. This is used at a service to the user where a program or software doesn’t have to be installed. An example would be Google.

Crowdsourcing is the process in which involves the outsourcing if tasks to different groups of people. This particular process can happen both online and offline. Crowdsourcing takes a task or problem and outsources it to a specific person also the idea behind this was the data would improve in time when more people use it and add more on to it. An example of this would be Wikipedia.
Wikipedia is a free, collaboratively edited, and multilingual Internet encyclopedia, all of the articles are collaboratively written by many volunteers around the world. As of recent there are 285 different language editions on Wikipedia and a total of 23 million articles, 4 million of which are in the English language. Almost all of these articles can be edited by anyone who has access to the site.

"The Web we know now, which loads into a browser window in essentially static screenfuls, is only an embryo of the Web to come. The first glimmerings of Web 2.0 are beginning to appear, and we are just starting to see how that embryo might develop. The Web will be understood not as screenfuls of text and graphics but as a transport mechanism, the ether through which interactivity happens. It will [...] appear on your computer screen, [...] on your TV set [...] your car dashboard [...] your cell phone [...] hand-held game machines [...] maybe even your microwave oven." -Darcy Dinucci

What we are doing with Web 2.0 is increasing our possibilites to explore the world through our computers and the freedom to contribute to this world as much as we want. We are contributing and participating in an amazing experience that is still growing and blossoming. The future holds such a greater involvement with Web 2.0. It is only going to evolve into something bigger than it already is.

 

Wikihow: How to successfully make Lauren's love potion and a brief history on cocktails, bar tending and Gonzos bar

Bar tending can be one of the most competitive fields around. It's a job where you can make amazing money and having the time of your life or end up wanting to kill someone. But,  what in the end always puts a smile on my face are all the new people I get to meet, all the amazing stories I get to hear, and all the regulars that always come back to see me. I have been bartending for the last two and a half years and its something I have a real passion for, but with every job it has its ups and downs. Am I always flattered when people approach me immediately knowing I bartend at Gonzos or any of the other bars I have worked at? Yes, is it annoying that all my friends and family ask me to make them drinks all the time? Of course but I wouldn't change it for the world. I absolutely love what I do (who wouldn't when you make more than average on only working two nights a week) and I love the flexibility I have so I can focus on having my own life and being a full time student. On this Wiki I will talk about the history of cocktails and bartending, I will then talk about the bar that I work at and last but not least I will introduce and do a step by step description on how to make my "love potion" that I have created.

 History of Cocktails
The first known creation of a cocktail can be traced back to the 19th century, the very first cocktail that was created was the Martini which can be traced back to 1862 in California. During the 1920's the national prohibition act became the 18th amendment meaning it was "illegal to manufacture, sell, transport, import, or export any "intoxicating liquors." Even with this new amendment enforced many people still had ways of getting their hands on the illegal substance. In 1948 the Margarita was born in Mexico by a very wealthy socialite who was hosting a party and was playing a game where people had to mix drinks behind the bar and let the guests test them out, low and be hold when the three parts tequila and one part triple sec were mixed together it was a instant hit. Within the second half of the 20th century the cocktail became very popular, "with the constant creation of new drinks (with some strange and interesting names), cocktails have become increasingly popular. With drink names such as the Freddy Kruger, Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, Afternoon Delight and Sex on the Beach". (http://www.tree.com/food-dining/cocktail-history.aspx)



 History of Bartending

Bartending first became known thousands of years ago. In Rome ,Greece and Asian times many taverns were open for people to enjoy entertainment and to have a drink. We get the word pub from public drinking houses, which were where people socialized. Through the 14th century, most bartenders were the owners of the pubs and made their own liquor. "Bartenders first began honing their craft thousands of years ago. and being a bartender is more than just making drinks. At the heart of most nightlife or socialization, a bar often is where people gather and the bartender is truly the master of ceremonies, the one who keeps everyone refreshed plus entertained."
(http://www.ehow.com/about_4577485_bartending.html)



The Finest Dump On the Canal
Gonzos or otherwise known as the finest dump on the canal is a popular watering hole on the historic Erie Canal. Featuring the best in original and local musicians. Open till' close 365 days a year.

• Located: 7 Main Street, Lockport 1409
• Hours of Operation: 4pm-2am
• Phone number: 716-438-5765
• Website: www.Gonzo'sBar.com
• Serves food and drinks at amazing low prices
• Accepts credit cards (minimum of $10) and cash

Happy Hour is from 4-8 Tuesday thru Saturday with awesome drink specials. The kitchen is open:

• Friday 5-8
• Sat 5-12
• Sunday/Monday closed
• Tuesday 5-12
• Wednesday 4-11
• Thursday 5-11

The Tuesday Special is the Axel Burger which is a 12oz Cheeseburger with the works, Thursday nights we have 50 cent wings, Fridays we have fish fingers with fries and every Tuesday we have spin night where you can spin the wheel to receive discounted drink prices.

Customer Reviews:
"If you're looking for a cold beer with friends you can't beat Gonzos!"
"Great prices, excellent service, top notch entertainment."
"I love this bar! Always a great time! Best bartenders! Great owner!"

(Received information from Jerry the owner and also received permission to use image)

Lauren's Love Potion

One night not too long ago when I was extremely bored at work on a slow night, I made the decision to start messing around with different combinations of alcohol and juice. People would always come in asking for "something fruity" or to "surprise them," after a few failed attempts at making anything that tasted out of this world or new and original I finally came up with an amazing combination that is very deadly since all you can taste is juice in the drink but you have to be careful because the next moment you will be on the floor. I serve this drink to many of my customers and they all love it and the crowd age ranges from younger drinkers to older. It has been an instant hit at Gonzos.

1oz Southern Comfort

1oz Amaretto

1oz Malibu

6oz Pineapple Juice

Splash of Cranberry



• First you start off with gathering all the supplies and ingredients that you are going to need, these consist of: a drink shaker, any glass, ice, a bottle of Southern Comfort, a bottle of Amaretto, a bottle of Malibu or coconut rum, pineapple juice and some cranberry juice.

• The ice always makes the drink so fill your glass all the way up with ice

• Using your shaker (or just pouring into the glass if you don't own a shaker) you will start pouring in the ingredients. Working at a bar you would use the three count when pouring (you don't want to get anyone too drunk), so first take your SOCO and start pouring while counting to three.

• Next will be the Amaretto
• 
• And then the Malibu (or coconut rum)
• 
• Next pour in the pineapple juice once you are done pouring in the alcohol

• When done with the pineapple juice pour in just a little bit (a quick splash) of the cranberry juice just to top it off

• Once finished with all the ingredients take your shaker and start shaking like you have never shook before (if just using a glass take another glass and just pour back and forth)

Now you have successfully made Lauren's love potion, if you are not a lite drinker you can always put more liquor in at your own discretion. Always drink responsibly and enjoy :).



Social Media? I don't even know her

“Social media can be an enabler and an accelerator of existing core capabilities, values, attributes and plans. It can even be a catalyst for change. But it can’t magically create what doesn’t exist.” -Denise Zimmerman

Throughout the last couple years in our society, social networking has become one of the most popular ways to communicate with people. It has become easier and easier to put out information about us on the web and to send out a message to people in a very effective manner. Yes, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are the most popular social media sites and have created a lot of positives with keeping in touch with people, staying connected, meeting new people, and sharing a ton of media but every positive comes with a negative. The positive aspects of social media stand out to many people. We are able to connect with people who we have talked to or seen in years also we can stay in touch with people who we just met. The ability to connect with people from all over the world is an amazing thing and something that back in the day I personally never knew could happen. We are able to connect with people from all over who have the same interests and hobbies as us. Through social media we are able to receive instantaneous updates whether it is the news or weather. Our capabilities of being able to check out and look up anything we want and learn things what is surrounding us is amazing. We are able to form groups on the internet that allow us to connect with people with the same interests as ourselves and send information back and forth without any hassle.

 Social media has also produced many negatives. Many people set their settings to private so that only their friends and people they know can view their pages but "According to a 2010 Northeastern University and Max Planck Institute for Software Systems study, researchers created an algorithm to discover an individual's personal attributes by examining the one thing that most people leave public even when all other privacy settings are place: their friend list. Using the algorithm, researchers were able to infer many personal traits merely from friend lists, including educational level, university attended, hometown and other private data." Also in many cases some of the things you put online and think you have deleted are still able to be retrieved which can end up haunting you in the end. Another study has shown that anyone who uses 3 or more hours on a social networking site per day has shown possible "unhealthy behaviors in teens, including drinking, smoking and sexual activity. Hyper-networking was also associated with depression, substance abuse, poor sleep patterns, suicide and poor academic performance."

Also because of social media and social networking we are isolating ourselves from the real world and living real lives outside of the internet. It has been determined "that it can lead to a host of mental, psychological, emotional and physical problems including depression, anxiety, somatic complaints and many others". There has been many times where I have been hanging out with friends and we have realized that we haven’t talked once to each other due to being on our phones and on Facebook or twitter. Social networking can encourage poor grammar, spreading misinformation, exposing children to predators, decreasing productivity, increased risk of identity theft and cyber bullying.

 Social media is here to stay, it has become a large part of the world's every day function. Whether it is to communicate, look up information, send pictures, etc., it is rapidly growing and becoming better and better every day. I honestly feel that the positives and negatives are equal, for every positive there will always be a negative. Am I happy with how social networking is at the moment? Yes it’s an amazing thing to have, but could it continue to grow and get better? Of course. It's just scary how dependent people are on it.