Citizen reporting may be the way of the future
Posted by Melody Adhami in Everything Great on July 14th, 2009
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for me and though I have not had the time to write, all I have been doing is reading and watching news from around the word from the most unconventional sources.
Being in the interactive industry and particularly in the mobile space (Plastic The Mobile Agency), I have found the recent events around the Iran election and its tie with web and mobile technologies so impressive and in fact mind boggling. It all started for me on June 12th, 2009 when the results of the Iranian Presidential election were released and the masses of people who were outraged about the election results and the probability of fraud. Although one can not for certain claim that fraud has taken place, there are sources that hint towards such an event and even more compelling crowds in the millions on streets in protest of the results.
So what is so interesting, after all there was a similar such occurrence in the US less than 10 years ago and the world seemed to move on. Well the interesting part resides in the government that currently runs Iran and their policies for censorship of web, mobile and medial in general. What actually took place is that shortly after the election, the Iranian government put a ban on all foreign press, closed down all opposition media outlets, reduced Internet capability to about 10% and blocked of SMS services throughout most of Iran. What happened next has amazed the world and has changed journalism, reporting and media in the minds of many. Not minutes after the media ban, Iranian bloggers and tweeters started pouring onto twitter with images, videos, eye-witness accounts of the events taking place in a country trying to be covered by the media bans. Many front line protesters would go out during the days and bring back their reports during the evenings. It took about a day for CNN and other media moguls to realize that the news was no longer coming from journalists but rather citizens through twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets. In a sense we were no longer bound to hear the news from one source but we would get multiple accounts and several videos from all possible angles of a single occurrence. In almost all videos you would see mobile phones and video cameras capturing the scenes to share with the world. People without a voice were reaching through any means to get their stories out to anyone listening.
Journalism has forever been changed and twitter can no longer be looked as the micro-blogging tool that lets to notify to the world what you are having for breakfast. Rather it can be seen as a powerful tool that has given voice to those being silenced throughout the world. Thank you Twitter and Facebook for letting us bear witness to scenes that we would not have had access to a short 5 years ago.
Why can’t some people work as hard as the rest of us?
Posted by Melody Adhami in Rants on May 28th, 2009
I am an optimist and I have always refused to believe that government workers work less than the rest of us. But today’s incident has changed my optimism and in an awful economy like today’s, I think people need to work harder and increase our overall productivity.
I had to get a permit today (and I wont say for what because I don’t want to risk not getting it after this post) and I arrived at the department in city hall at about 3:40. The hours of this department online are stated as 8:30 to 4:30. So I made sure to arrive almost one hour before closing time just in case they wanted to leave 10 or 15 minutes early. I stood in line for about 15 minutes and as soon as I tried to register the gentleman behind the counter told me that they “closed the books” for today.
I had to pull my self back momentarily because I had no idea what this meant. They closed the books? Do they mean that they have a quota and they are not giving any more permits? Could it be that I can’t get one at all? I decided to ask and the response was that since they were closing shortly, and there were about 3 or 4 people in line ahead waiting, that I could not register to get my permit application looked at. So in other words, please return tomorrow morning and I can help you then is what the gentleman was trying to say. d I was angry and at that moment I could not tell why this small little incident had me fuming.
I decide to walk back and think about what had made me so angry and why? As I was walking past the busy financial district it suddenly hit me…. There are hundreds of people without jobs and others that are working around the clock (including myself) tyring to stayed employed in a crummy economy and that worker behind the counter tells me he “closed the books” an hour before the end of their day? The government makes money off of these permits so why can’t they function more like businesses and welcome new business with open arms? After All, they are making money and if they serve more people they will make more money, we will be more productive as a country. Bottom line is that I am sure we all see the inefficiencies in our public system and I think at some point, someone needs to take charge and demand more productivity.
Ms. Taken- Super funny
Posted by Melody Adhami in Everything Great on May 5th, 2009
It’s nice to see creative ways of advertising, especially piggy packing off of something already super popular. A while ago there was a funny video clip on Saturday night live and this company has re-written the song and is using it to sell their silly products (which by the way is absolutely ingenious). Take a look at this website Ms.Taken.
Best restaurant service in Toronto - Atelier Thuet
Posted by Melody Adhami in Everything Great on May 5th, 2009
I experienced the best service from a restaurant last week here in Toronto in the Liberty Village area. The name of the restaurant is Atelier Thuet and they are located in the Liberty Village in the King West area. I think I mentioned my colleague Casper Larski, who is quite funny but more importantly he is picky about his choice of eating….ok actually he is not super picky but when he wants something he will push until he gets it.
So he tells me that the best French Onion soup he has ever had is at this restaurant by the name Atelier and although we were starving, he manages to force me to drive him to liberty for this soup that he dreams about at night. We arrive at the restaurant and we pick up their brunch menu (which we shouldn’t have) and then we asked for the French Onion soup. The waiter (Kevin) says they are out of the French Onion Soup but he would drive over to their other location at King & Bathurst to get us the soup. We obviously had to go back to work but we told him that if he could call the place we would go over and pick up the soups.
The interesting twist to all this was that the other restaurant is NOT open for lunch and actually they are called biteme (just did a rebrand). The other interesting part was that they were doing a filming in the restaurant and they are closed for a week….but we show up to the door of the closed restaurant and pick up a special order of French Onion soup. We don’t pay for the soup and we have their nice dishes that we are asked to return…we are told to pay when we return the dishes. I don’t know if this kind of stuff happens to many people or not but this is definitely my first time. I was so impressed with their service and the soup was FANTASTIC. So if you love French Onion soup, you have to go to this restaurant!
New great presentation software-Prezi
Posted by Melody Adhami in Talent on May 2nd, 2009
Its hard to change your ways but sometimes, when a really great thing comes along you need to adapt and move on. I guess this is really how the world works. First there was walking, then came the horse and buggy and then the modern day automobile. So where am I getting with all this? I came across a new software for presentations and its really a new way of doing things. The software is called Prezi and its not conventional. Its not a slide show but rather a map or diagram that you can click and navigate through. It zooms into your sections and reveals different parts of your presentation. The great thing is that it allows for you to give an overall strategic picture of your topic….no one really needs to ask, how do all the pieces fit together, or what does that mean? I have only seen it and have not yet tried it but I will for the next presentation and will update how it goes.
Great muciscal talent- Nathan Flutebox Lee
Posted by Melody Adhami in Talent on May 2nd, 2009
Although my name would suggest I have some musical talents, in fact this is not the case. But I do appreciate good talent and it is truly amazing when one man or even two can make music that usually comes from an entire musical production. This is long but its really good…have a watch.
To twitter or not to twitter….
Posted by Melody Adhami in Gossip on April 30th, 2009
I would like to start by saying I am not a band wagon jumper and I knew about twitter far before Ashton Kutcher started using it….when only the techies knew about it. I thought it was interesting when I first stumbled upon it but now I think its just slightly obnoxious. I think that College Humour has done a great job at portraying this. Watch this and laugh away!
Lindsay Lohan’s e-harmony profile and now I like her again!
Posted by Melody Adhami in Gossip on April 14th, 2009
There is something to say about honesty that makes even the people you don’t like that much more desirable. Lets take Lindsay Lohan for example. For the past few years we have seen every gossip cover give their take on her life as an alcoholic, irresponsible and overall confused person. And I have to say I am a victim of believing everything I read in gossip press and have grown to dislike Lindsay Lohan and what she really stands for…well actually I felt that she really does not stand for much other than a really confused and messed up teen. Ok so I have my opinion of her as wrong as it may be and as skewed and unwarranted as it may be I have it formed.
I get a link forwarded to me this morning from a very funny friend (Casper Larski if you were wondering) and he sends me this Lindsay Lohan Profile from E-harmony. Why would someone in the right mind send this to me? I trust his opinion so I watch it on buzzFeed .
At first I think this has to be a spoof …is this someone that looks very much like Lindsay Lohan? The more I watch, the more clear it becomes that this really is Linday Lohan and she is candidly speaking about her life, her mistakes and all the events we have all probably read about in gossip magazines int the last few years. But hold on….she is not denying any of it…or making excuses…in fact she is in some sense admitting the things she has done and accepting herself with her flaws. I LOVE LINDSAY LOHAN! How one e-harmony advertisement has changed my view of someone I know very little about. It’s the honestly that I am particularly impressed with. I think that the world would probably be a better place if we could all take a lesson from Lindsay and be honest about who we are. Watch the video its funny and its good!
Continental airline staff not environmentally conscious
Posted by Melody Adhami in Rants on April 5th, 2009
So here I am on a continental flight from Las Vegas to Cleveland earlier today after the CTIA09 event and something happened that I really want to share with as many people as possible. On the last day of the CTIA event, we were honoured to be in the presence of ex US vice president Al Gore and naturally his speech was highly focused on environmental efforts to reduce global warming and in general each persons personal contribution to reducing our carbon footprint. I had heard his speeches before but this one touched me on a different level and made me really think about doing my part to slow and prevent further damage to our earth. Now I will bring you back to my continental flight- I was sitting in a 3.5 hour flight from Vegas to Cleavland and the complimentary beverage cart came by and I asked for water. Once I was done with my water, I decided to keep my plastic cup as I know I would probably want water once again. About one hour later, the flight attendant came back and asked once again. I told her that I would like some water and that it would be great if she could pour it into my cup as I did not need another one. She looked at me rather strange and insisted that I must get a new cup. I asked her why and she said that as a policy they do not “pour” into used cups. I thought about it for a second and wondered….was this like double dipping? Was she right? Could there be some transfer of germs if she poured water into my cup? I don’t think so….and anyone who thinks so is so ignorant and has taken this “germ” issue way too far. Lady…all I want is for you to take your bottle and pour into my empty cup….hold it as high out of my cup as you wish….but stop ruining the environment. If each person on that flight kept their first cup, then the waste from plastic would theoretically be cut in half and on those thirteen hour flights, they would reduce even greater. Then everyone could do their part to limit waste.
I would like Continental to look into their policies and provide scientific reason as to why “pouring” water into my cup is wrong and why they would not allow me to do my part to making this earth last just a few years longer. I’m not going to stop. I will ask on other flights and hopefully other airlines are more responsible.
Review of Encore hotel in Las Vegas (Wynn)
Posted by Melody Adhami in Trips on April 3rd, 2009
It is now my third day in Las Vegas and I though that I would do a quick post on how things are going here at the Encore hotel. I arrived pretty late on Tuesday night so fortunately there were no lineups or delays in getting checked in. In fact the gentleman at the counter was quite nice and I got a room upgrade to a panoramic view of the strip from the 54th floor.
The rooms on the upper-floors are quite nice. They are quite spacious although the regular rooms at the venetian were MUCH larger and the beds at Encore are only double and not queen which seems quite odd seeing that it is a high end hotel. Everything else in the room is pretty impressive. All the lights and curtains are electronically controlled so you don’t need to get out of bed when you are comfortable.
The lobby area and the casino are very nicely decorated. The theme seems to be Red and its nicely done with really great chandeliers. The fresh flowers in the lobby and throughout are exquisite and you can see the image below. The spa is really fantastic and when you enter the spa area to go into the pool it feels as though it was built yesterday. It looks so superbly clean that not a worry would go through your mind receiving any sort of treatment in their facilities. I did not visit the fitness center but I assume it is as nice as the rest of the hotel.
The pool area is also very nice although nothing out of the ordinary. There are plenty of chairs, towels, water and the drink service was up to par. The wind however was a killer and that is really a result of the time of the year. I was told that April and May have very high winds in the area.
Customer service was not the best and management did not address my issue. My minibar was broken and everything in it was warmer than room temperature. When I asked for water because the minibar was broken, they slapped me with a nice $5.00 in service room charge which seemed a big unfair as I wouldn’t have ordered it if my mini bar was working in the first place. They said they would fix it but again no one came for a few hours and when they did, it was about midnight so I told them to come back. They never came. I tried addressing the issues with management, they went to look into them and call me back and they never did. I also asked for more towels and that took about an hour to arrive. I assume that the hotel is still new and needs to bring their services to the acceptable level for a high-end Vegas resort.