On Internet Fragments, Ugh

Here's an interesting article about Internet slang that Sarah Olah sent me. Writer Teddy Wayne calls the single words or incomplete sentences ("This," "Preach," "Ugh") that often accompany links or photos on the Internet "fragments." And, he notes, they "are indicative of how quickly we pass judgment while on the Internet without investigating an issue too deeply. We share articles and videos that conform to our prejudices but rarely seek our opposing views, and hardly ever link to them unless it’s to mock them." It's an excellent point that we would all do well to remember.

Clever Nod to the Past

I've always enjoyed clever magazine covers, especially those that harken back to the past.  That's the case with this week's Sport Illustrated cover, which features Creighton star Doug McDermott and two members of the school's dance team.  It's a recreation of the 1977 Sports Illustrated cover photograph that featured Indiana State legend Larry Bird. Few magazines have the rich history of Sports Illustrated. It's great to see a nod to that past.

Who Do You Dance For?

While hundreds of students have been dancing throughout the weekend at Penn State's annual Dance Marathon, dozens of photojournalism students have been making images answering the question, "Who do you dance for?" Faculty members John Beale and Will Yurman set up a portrait studio on the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center, and their students have been making beautiful Instagram photos of not only dancers, but also staff, family and friends. More than 500 pictures have been made by the students. They truly capture the spirit of what makes the Dance Marathon the remarkable event that it is.

Kiss of Life redux

The moving photograph of a Miami woman giving mouth to mouth resuscitation to a baby during a traffic jam yesterday is understandably getting a lot of attention.  Miami Herald photographer Al Diaz is rightly being praised for helping the baby get attention before doing his job and taking pictures of the scene.

It reminded me of an even more dramatic photograph of someone saving another person's life more than three decades ago.  Rocco Morabito of the Jacksonville (Fla.) Journal got the dramatic picture of an electrical lineman giving mouth to mouth resuscitation to a fellow lineman. It won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for photography.

What Critics Wrote About the Beatles

Countless pieces have been written about the 50th anniversary of the Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. One of the most interesting is in the Los Angeles Times and quotes opinions of the group.

Newsweek: "Visually they are a nightmare, tight, dandified Edwardian-Beatnik suits and great pudding bowls of hair. Musically they are a near disaster, guitars and drums slamming out a merciless beat that does away with secondary rhythms, harmony and melody. Their lyrics (punctuated by nutty shouts of "yeah, yeah, yeah") are a catastrophe, a preposterous farrago of Valentine-card romantic sentiments…."

Boston Globe: "They … sound like a group of disorganized amateurs whose voices seem to be fighting each other rather than blending…."

Chicago Tribune: "We think the three B's of music — Bach, Beethoven and Brahms — have nothing really to fear from the Beatles, even though Presley wired them his blessing last night."

Los Angeles Times: With their bizarre shrubbery, the Beatles are obviously a press agent's dream combo. Not even their mothers would claim that they sing well. But the hirsute thickets they affect make them rememberable, and they project a certain kittenish charm which drives the immature, shall we say, ape.

I always appreciate it when news organizations admit they got things wrong and even manage to poke a little fun at themselves.  Needless to say that was the case with the Beatles.

Facebook Turns 10

Facebook is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week. A few numbers about the social networking site that I found amazing:

1.26 billion: Number of people who use Facebook. If the site was a country, it would be the second largest behind only China.

10 billion: Number of messages sent between users every day.

150 billion. Number of photos uploaded to Facebook by September 2013.

1.3 trillion: Number of times the "like" button was pushed between its launch in February 2009 and September 2012.

Cost of Super Bowl ads continue to rise

An interesting story in Business Week explains how and why the price of Super Bowl commercials has risen so much since the first game in 1967.  One of the reasons that the game commands ever-increasing prices from advertisers is that viewers don't change the channel when a commercial break comes on.  The audience levels for advertisements are higher than for the on-field action.

And how much is a 30-second advertisement at this year's Super Bowl expected to cost? A cool $4 million.

(Thanks to Max Massey for pointing out the Business Week story.)