Perez Hilton's Blog Site

Perez Hilton’s celebrity gossip page has become one of the most well-known online tabloids there is. And the best part? The celebrity-crazed crowd no longer have to walk to their local convenicence store and shell out three dollars to read up on celebrity gossip, but can get it for free in the comfort of their own home! It can also be updated far quicker, so instead of knowing where Jessica Simpson was shopping yesterday, you can know where she was shopping four hours ago. This site and others similar to it are becoming more and more common, and could very quickly become the magazine tabloids of the future. Because we have no degree of involvement with these celebrities, which is a situational factor that influences our perception of others, we have no interest in judging them kindly or fairly. Perez Hilton realizes the lack of offence people will take at his comments, and criticizes and mocks celebrities every chance he gets. However, as long as our society keeps craving celebrity news, the Perez Hilton blog site, and others like it, probably aren't going anywhere for a while.

To watch a video of Perez Hilton mocking a celebrity click here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoKlMpCW0Vc

Airport Taser Death

After reading this article, I was shocked by the actions taken by the police officers that resulted in the death of Robert Dziekanski. Although this article does not explain what happened to make them take such action, I can not imagine a reason strong enough for them to shock him repeatedly with a Taser. If these Tasers can be so potentially harmful, they should be further investigated to decide if this item is actually needed in the police forces. However, although the new video showing footage of the event is a strong piece of evidence, members of the public should refrain from passing judgement and getting too worked up before further investigation is put into the situation. As we learned in Christopher Dornan's Printed Matter, newspapers and the media can very easily write their papers with a certain slant, manipulating the view of the reader. We should be critical of articles like these, and make sure we are informed before we make a final decision.

To read more about this incident, click here:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071116/taser_friday_071116/20071116?hub=CTVNewsAt11

The Tabs

Take a look at any magazine rack, and one can easily see that our society’s obsession with celebritys’ lives has spiralled out of control. The tabloid covers scream such important headlines as “Brad’s mom can’t stand Angelina!”, “Tom and Katie sleeping in separate bedrooms!”, and “Britney-DIVORCE KEVIN NOW!” Why is it that we are so fascinated by the details of other people's lives who we will never even meet? One of the common perceptual tendencies of humans is that “we tend to favour negative impressions over positive ones.” We love to read about the screwed up lives of the rich and famous and reflect that, although we ourselves are neither rich nor famous, we are at least getting through life with a bit of decency and class. Every little negative aspect of a celebrity's life, from a rocky period in a relationship to a sudden weight gain, makes us feel better about our own. The tabloids know this, which is why we very rarely see headlines stating what a wonderful and committed relationship Actress Y is in, or what a forthright character Actor X is. Although it's a sad commentary on our society, this Tabloid-mania does not seems to be dying down anytime soon.

To see an advertisement for a Star tabloid from 1977, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWs6Zc3VNsI

NBC executive slams Apple for “killing music industry”

My advice to Jeff Zucker ? Stop acting like a whining child because you’re embarrassing yourself and your company. NBC clearly knew what they were signing on to when they registered with Apple’s iTunes, so why is he complaining? The article states that Steve Jobs of Apple “refused to budge on the fixed-pricing model for iTunes shows”, but if NBC was not happy with this pricing they never should have signed on. If they didn’t make as much money as they were hoping it’s no one’s fault but their own. Telling any one company they “killed the music industry” is a vast overstatement, as one company alone will never be capable of doing this. If anything, the huge success of iTunes has only demonstrated our society’s love of music and willingness to pay for it, rather than simply download it. Jeff Zucker is falling prey to the common perceptual tendency of how “we judge ourselves more charitably than we judge others,” which is clearly evident with his warped perception of the situation. We all do it, just most of us don’t get nationally quoted in Variety magazine.

What to do with ex-PMs and all that pent-up bile?

Is there anything wrong with ex-PMs fading away and leading normal lives after their political reign? I see no reason for this to be a problem...when the rest of us lose our jobs, we don’t get special privileges. When someone applies for the job of prime minister, they know what it entails, and it’s not leading a celebrity lifestyle for the rest of their lives. Throughout their reign, a prime minister's main concern is imaging -the exercise of creating a public self. Apparently, as soon as their reign is over, this facework imaging drops, and their whining and complaining true selves kick in. The fact that, like ex-American presidents, the prime ministers don’t get smothered in security and attention is a good thing. Our tax dollars can go to more useful things than protecting “their fragile egos.”

To watch a short video of President Bill Clinton being treated like a celebrity, click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5weah80IMa4

Sex and Marriage with Robots? It Could Happen.

When I first read this article that stated, “robots will become so human-like in appearance, function and personality that many people will fall in love with them, have sex with them and even marry them,” I was a little surprised, to say the least. Despite the remarkable technology that is out now, a robot will never be able to satisfy a person in the way another human can. Is it really love if one half is only being programmed to feel it? We wouldn't want our friends or family to be robots, so why would it be different with romantic relationships? We discussed some of the basic needs we satisfy by communicating: the need for pleasure, the need for affection, and the need for inclusion. But interaction with a robot could never satisfy these needs. We need a thinking, communicating person to talk to and love. Once the initial novelty wears off, the robot is no more than metal and wires.

That being said, if in forty years I'm alone and desperate, I may take a different approach.

Voters Roundly Reject MMP

The mixed-member proportional voting system could be very beneficial to Ontario, and hopefully will be used in the following years to come. The fact that 37 percent, a significant number, voted for the MMP shows that it could change in further elections and win the majority. This article stated that “many voters simply didn’t get the information they needed to decide.” I found this to be true through personal experience, as I had to actively research the MMP to figure out what it was all about, and several people I spoke to were voting for the current system simply because it was familiar and therefore made sense to them. The MMP gives individual voters a more significant voice, and with it, certain parties would be more accurately represented.

To watch a short clip promoting the MMP system, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEs9ZZS3O2U