Christmas Ideas for 2009

Here are some toy ideas for buying children this Holiday Season! Here are two different lists from two different websites. I wanted to compare and see if any gift ideas were similiar and there were two or three. Click the links to get a further information about the toys!

TOYS R’ US

1. Bakugan Battle Brawlers

2. ChixOs Pink Design-A- Luxury Loft

3. Color Me a Song

4. Disney Netpal

5. Disney-Pixar Toy Story Interactive Buddies Talking Action Figures

6. Disney Princess: Just One Kiss Princess Tiana Doll

7. Fast Lane All Terrain Vehicle

8. Laugh & Learn Learning Farm

9. Little Mommy Baby Ah-Choo

10. Mindflex

11. NERF N-Strike Raider Rapid Fire CS-35

12. Star Wars Home One Mon Calamari Star Cruiser

13. Transformers Constructicon Devastator

14. Wii Sports Resort

15. Go Go (Zhu Zhu) Pets Hamster

POPULAR GIFTS FOR 2009 WEBSITE

Top 5 Christmas Toys for Girls 2009

Barbie Twilight:

Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster:

Littlest Pet Shop Adoption Center Playset

Moxie Girls Doll Sets

Webkinz

Top 5 Christmas Toys for Boys 2009

Lego Track Turbo Remote-Controlled Car

Transformers Toys Action Figures

Bakugan Brawlers

Mega Bloks Magnext Battle Strikers Tournament Set

D-Rex 2.0 Prehistoric Interactive Dinosaur

Top 5 Christmas Toys for Toddlers and Babies 2009

Elmo Live Encore

Smart Fit

Kid-Tough Digital Camera

Laugh & Learn Learning Farm

Elmo Tickle Hands

1 comment 12/08/2009

Have You seen the Christmas 2009 Target Commercials?

The past few weeks we have been seeing more and more Holiday commercials to advertise for Christmas products. The few commercials that disappoint me this year are those made by Target. As I watch a different variety of commercials they all present the same thing to me : No Santa Claus. The way the commercials are worded are giving me the impression that they are saying there is no such thing as Santa. Unfortunately, I cannot find a YOUTUBE video or an online source but be aware the next time you are in the car listening to the radio or watching TV. Let me know if you have noticed these same commercials! What do you think? Is the media slowly ruining Christmas for young kids? Or do they just think kids won’t understand? Let me know your thoughts!

1 comment 12/08/2009

I found the answer! No more Twitter Rampages!

For all of you, in our class, and maybe other classes that are assigned to tweet a certain amount of times a day and truly dislike it, I present to you TWUFFER! With this application on Twitter you will no longer need to have a “Twitter Rampage” because you “pre-post” your tweets. All you need to do is sign into Twuffer and create a tweet, choose the date, and the time and your tweet will appear without you having to actually log on during the day and tweet. Too bad I didn’t find this sooner because like most people you do not have a computer at hand to tweet during the day.It is still possible for you to sign in a post about your blogs and other exciting things that you would like to share but if you know on Mondays you will not be by a computer till night time just type your tweets the night before!

The only con that I have found so far, is that I programmed my tweet to go off at 2 and it definitley went out like 40 minutes before but that is okay with me. Also your time choices are only on the hour. You cannot say 12:15 or 12:30.

This application will be useful for teachers because you can post tweets for your day, such as “Lunch at 12:15″ or “I have a break at 1:30 while kids are in gym class” , this will give people around you a good time to see what your work schedule is like.

I’m definitely using this application for the last week!

Add a comment 12/06/2009

Start following her on Twitter!

DULCECANDY87- I follow DulceCandy on both Twitter and Youtube. I first found her through Youtube because she gives hair and makeup tutorials. I love her fashion sense and she is very inspiring. The way she gives tutorials are extremely easy to follow because she is so precise with it. It seems like she uses a HD camera so you are able to  see everything so clearly. When we received this assignment in class to follow people that interest you on Twitter I knew she was going to be one right away.

As I look at DulceCandy87′s page I find that she follows 96 people and she has 17,749 followers. WOW is all I can say. Those two numbers are extremely different from each other. As I look through her 96 people I find celebrities like Khloe Kardashian and Jessica Alba. She follows the US Army because she was in the army and overseas for a few years. Since she is into fashion she follows magazines such as US Weekly, InStyle, and Allure Magazine. She is also into all cosmetic stores/lines like Sephora and Lush.

Before I looked at who she follows I knew her interests were fashion and cosmetics but looking through her Twitter friends I found out that she is mostly following Magazines, brand-names, celebrities, and other gurus. She isn’t looking at what her friends are doing or family but its more of looking for more ideas and keeping with the trends of her fashion world.

Add a comment 12/06/2009

YOUTUBE

As the semester is coming to an end and we are filled with final papers and nights of studying we are all just wanting break to come faster and faster. When I was told that for homework we had to watch a video entitled,  “An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube” which was 55 minutes long I was not excited. I actually came up with a plan to watch it in 15 minute intervals. Once I began watching the video I sort of rolled my eyes at it but before I realized I was hooked to it and I watched it straight through the 55 minutes. This video is basically showing/ proving how Youtube, this online source of media, is completely changing the lives of people. There is a sense of connection these “Youtubers” have with each other. Some post videos to inspire, entertain, or even to talk about their lives. The audience is able to post feedback or even post a video in return. Millions of people post videos every day and millions of people watch them. The real question is, Why do care what people are posting? Why do we want to find out their backgrouds if we will never actually meet them?

As a student that uses Youtube occasionally for makeup tutorials or for school presentations/ projects I was not literate in what Youtube actually is and the capabilities it allows. Through watching this video I was able to see how people connect with each and inspire others through the “Free Hugs” video and even how people create music videos become superstars. This video was extremely informative and I think everyone who is interested in Youtube or everyone in general should watch this video because they will truly learn a lot. With that being said here’s the video! Enjoy.

Add a comment 12/03/2009

Facebook song

During class this week, we talked about Facebook and how it is our avatar. This avatar is constantly online to represent ourselves in the virtual world. Below is a video that is called “Facebook Song”. I found it funny how it related to our class discussion with pictures, friends, adn the information you share with yourself.

1 comment 11/22/2009

Twitter and Elementary Schools?

With all this talk about twitter I was wondering if children in elementary school would use it. I know young children are beginning to use computer technology more and more in the classroom why not use twitter? I found a website named ‘Twitter for Teachers’ ,where it gives ways teachers can use twitter in the classroom.  This website gives eight project ideas such as historic tweets, book lists, and even have tweet pals! They want to incorporate the children into tweeting by tweeting about books in 140 characters or tweeting with children from other schools. But the question is should twitter have a verification of age? Should children in elementary school really use twitter? When you think about it, when children tweet to children from other schools it is sort of like writing a letter. I personally think it is a great start for children to use technology because they don’t have to type a lot to be involved. But the downside is children seeing words or phrases they shouldn’t see? Who will monitor what they are looking at?

Add a comment 11/22/2009

Facebook

The first time I joined Facebook it was an exciting time because you had to be “invited” by someone or you needed a college email account. I felt special and one of a kind because not everyone was allowed to access this website. Soon after I got my “invite” the rules changed and allowed everyone to join. Gradually everyone in my graduating class had one which made it easier to meet people before going off to my freshman year at college because we all joined a group “MSM Class of 2011”. As a few years went on I began receiving friend requests from older cousins and then my own mother! There has been an outbreak of an older crowd who consume our News Feeds with quizzes and pictures of themselves when they were in middle school and high school. Who would of thought that this secretive website could turn into such a phenomenon over a few years.

I remember when Facebook changed its layout and everyone freaked out because no one knew how to work it and wanted to have the old set up back. But after a month everyone got the hang of it. I truly don’t even remember what the old Facebook even looked like. As I was reading the article “I’m So Totally, Digitally Closer to You” by Clive Thompson, I realized people were against the “Live News Feed” because there was no privacy because everything you did was posted. I figure if you don’t have the privacy you want why in the world are you even posting something you don’t want other people to see. Also, why in the world do you even have a Facebook? Websites like Facebook and Twitter have created friendships with people we may have never met.  I know I have because if it wasn’t for Facebook I would have never have talked to my boyfriend after we met at a party. It was Facebook that allowed us to have another conversation. Just like the article’s title people are becoming “digitally closer”.

Add a comment 11/17/2009

Children in the Media

What makes someone laugh or smile more than children? When you see a child do something cute everyone always laughs or smiles. During football games one of my favorite commercials are when the E trade babies are in their height chairs talking to the camera about stocks and/ or sports. These commercials always put a smile on my face.

Recently I have seen a Youtube video of a commercial for Evian water. This involves a bunch of babies on roller skates trying to sell Evian water. I thought it was one of the cutest and most creative video ever. Definitely beats the E-trade babies.

 

 

Add a comment 11/12/2009

White Lined Paper to Digital Paper

The three writing spaces that I use the most are notebook paper and mechanical pencils, my planner and my laptop. All three of these writing spaces fulfill the same objective but in three different ways. During class I am constantly taking notes in my college ruled white lined paper (I cannot stand writing on wide-ruled paper) with a mechanical pencil because I believe my handwriting is more defined and neater than using a pen. Every day I carry around my purple planner which is where I write down everything and anything I have to do whether it is practices, doctor appointments, or homework. I have been doing this since I was in high school and I never throw them out. It is as if they are a little diary of each year because I like to look back and remember what I did. Finally, the computer is what I believe I use the most. I am constantly typing up my homework or papers for class and also connecting socially with friends whether it is on Facebook or AIM. This semester I only bring my laptop to my 8 AM Intro to Sociology class because (1.) it is too early to function properly and (2.) my teacher speaks quickly so it is just easier to type everything she says. I would bring my computer to other classes but it is just so bulky and heavy to carry around all day long.

In “Writing in Technologies”, Jay Bolter states “remediation, in the sense that a newer medium takes the place of an older one, borrowing and reorganizing the characteristics of writing in the older medium and reforming its cultural space” (23).With that being said, I believe the paper and pencil has been remediated by the computer because the computer allows a neater and faster way of writing. When you open a Word document you can even see the digital piece of paper in front of you. The computer allows more functions for the writer whether it is spell check, deleting a sentence, or even having the ability to insert more paragraphs that a piece of paper will never offer.

Add a comment 11/10/2009