McGraw-Hill CEO confirms tablet release date

In class today there were some people talking about whether or not tomorrow Apple Inc. would be announcing the new tablet. So, I decided to do some research of my own since there were opposing views on the issue.

What I found was that the CEO of McGraw-Hill Terry McGraw spilled the beans in an interview with CNBC today: Apple is in fact announcing the tablet tomorrow – Wednesday January 27, 2010. He also went on to say that McGraw-Hill will make its books on the tablet.

"With the tablet, you're going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific," McGraw said.

We will have to wait to see if this really pans out since the tablet will be based on the iPhone operation system. Personally, I want to stare at a bright screen as little as possible – that includes TV, computers, and iPhones. I prefer E Ink technology on the Kindle way better: I can really see myself reading a complete book on it.

Let the tablet wars begin.




Skip to 2:50 if you would like to hear his statement.

In the Chamber

On January 18, 2010 I attended a play called In the Chamber. It consisted of two monologues: one about our healthcare system, and another about the way that animals are mass-produced now. Somehow, both of these were connected by the prologue of both actors in bed together.

Out of the two monologues, I preferred the one written and performed by Gordon Tanner. It was a monologue concerning the mal-treatment of pigs in a Manitoba farm. Since our diets have become very meat heavy, farms have responded by mass-producing animals. Why he decided to use pigs over anything else to talk about, only he knows. He also trails off the topic quite a few times, and even began talking about quantum physics. It left me saying: please, just get to the point. That part was a little rusty.

Although his monologue was about half an hour too long (it lasted almost one hour), he definitely managed to deliver a great acting performance. He sets up a power point presentation in his hotel room and makes a video tape about his recent realization that all that he has worked for is contributing to the torture of animals, and at one point, to the death of thousands of pigs standing in a pile of their own feces.

Although he does have a good point, he really should have talked about the cruelty of all mass-produced animals, not just pigs. This makes it seem that only pigs are the victims; when we all know that it’s not just pigs that have it bad.

As well, there seemed to be a lot of inside jokes that only the people in the first row seemed to find funny. There were some odd times when people at the front row would almost fall to the floor laughing; the rest of us would just look at each other wondering what we missed.

The second monologue was about how we have a faulty healthcare system; who doesn’t? I mean, which country doesn’t have a faulty healthcare system? They all do. Since we have socialized healthcare people make it their mission to complain how the system is faulty. We're lucky to even have it socialized to begin with! Unless you have a solution in mind, I would suggest not bringing up the issue.

I appreciate that monologues are incredibly hard to write and perform. But I mean, why paint such a horrible picture of the world? Both monologues would have been more powerful if instead of pointing out faults, which is incredibly easy to do, they would have provided solutions to the problems. That’s all it takes. Spreading the word is not enough now a days, our world now requires immediate action.
This play gets the sad face.

Coke Vs. Starbucks

Wow, you can always count on coke to have the best marketing campaigns. After all, a cola is just a cola. Watch this video to find out more.




Originally this post was going to be about Starbucks Love Project, but this video has that beat! The kids at that campus will be talking about Coke for months to come, and there is nothing better than some word of mouth advertisement.
The line at the end implies that there will be similar events happening elsewhere.

Starbucks Love Project probably required ten times more work, but rarely anyone knew about it – other than the people who participated in the video. Their PR strategy was to pass it off as a way to raise money/awareness for AIDS research, but in the small print you can read that the maximum amount of money they will donate is $50,000. Better than nothing I guess, but to me, this was a marketing campaign that fell flat.

156 Countries Sing Together for the Starbucks Love Project
Uploaded by Communiketing. - News videos hot off the press.

Chihuahuas fly to new homes

I remember having a conversation with my brother about the movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua after watching a trailer at the movies. It showed Chihuahuas dancing, playing bongos, and jumping in pools. You know which one I’m talking about, don’t you?



We soon realized that even though we found the trailer, and the premise of the movie, funny – in a ridiculous way – that it wouldn’t be long before people would go out and buy a Chihuahua. Of course, it wouldn’t be long before those same Chihuahuas started being dropped-off at animal shelters.

This is in fact the case now. Dogs started "piling up" in California shelters. Even though the demand for Chihuahuas is low in California, it is still high in other states.

So along comes Richard Branson of Virgin America and his pseudo events (An event or activity that exists for the purpose of media attention) and saves the day! The dogs had a red-carpet departure, and got to ride in regulat passenger seats. Virgin America saves the day yet again.

According to ABC the dogs are being flew as far as Toronto! In return, Richard Branson and Virgin America get the publicity they need. I mean, if you are going to use the strategy of a pseudo event, why not make it for a good cause. Just look at them...they're so cute, and now they have a loving home.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Welcom to Buzz Vids and More

So what is making news on YouTube and Dailymotion? Let me do all the hard work of finding that out for you.
What are the websites that are up-and-coming? Let me do all that research for you too.
So stop by every week to watch, discuss, and find out what is creating a buzz.