eyeOS poster project

While I was searching for an emerging technology for my poster for COM 435, I kept running across the words "cloud computing." I had heard of cloud computing before when I job shadowed the CEO of a small PR firm whose main client was a company working strictly in this new idea of putting applications, web sites, and the like in clouds that run from supercomputers in a different location rather than running on servers. After figuring out that cloud computing was too broad of a topic for one measly little poster, I ran across something a little more specific and something I could actually learn to use regularly. So, I decided to do my poster on a web site called eyeos.info. More information is available at eyeos.org.

A little bit about eyeOS:
eyeOS is an open source cloud web desktop. Basically, it allows you to access your own desktop from any computer or Internet accessible mobile device. If you can access a web browser, you can access eyeOS. Once you have signed into eyeos.info, you can upload files from your computer onto your web desktop. This includes images, PowerPoints, documents, spreadsheets, and other files you may have on your computer. You also have the ability to write your own applications and put them into the cloud.

Applications
eyeAddress Book: just how it sounds. Enter contacts into the address book and access it from any computer or Internet accessible mobile device.
eyeBoard: a public message board where you can chat with others using eyeOS.
eyeCalendar: update your calendar with events.
eyeDocs: word processor. Very simple.
eyeFeeds: manage your RSS feeds from your desktop.
eyeFiles: upload files from your computer to the browser desktop to access them from any computer.
eyeNav: a browser within a browser. It will keep your history for you to find the same web site easily from another computer.
eyeString: write your own applications.
eyePresentation: make presentation slides. A simple version of Microsoft Office PowerPoint.
eyeSpreadsheets: create spreadsheets. A simple version of Microsoft Office Excel.

Christmas music

Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday of the year. You really can't go wrong with the presents, eggnog, Christmas trees, and time to spend with family in friends. My only problem (not with Christmas itself) is the fact that people start playing the Christmas music way too early. I was in my car two days before Thanksgiving, and the station I was listening to began playing Christmas music. COME ON! I like to listen to the music maybe the week leading up to Christmas, but a month in advance is too much holly jolliness for me. There are only so many Christmas songs they can play then it becomes a game of who sings the exact same song better. If I could pass a law that Christmas music couldn't be played until at least the second week of December I would.

I LOVE Christmas but please please please don't play the music until December!

Blackberry Tour or Storm2

I am in desperate need of a new phone, and already have an addiction to the CrackBerry Pearl that I have right now. My problem is just deciding between the Tour or the Storm2. I really don't think I could go back to life without getting my e-mail sent directly to my phone and having access to the internet in the palm of my hand.

Some of the differences between the two that I know of is that the Storm2 is a touch screen (you kind of have to push it unlike an Ipod touch where you just slide your finger), while the Tour has the QWERTY keyboard. The Tour has a card already in it and the Storm2 has a 16GB memory card to store shows or whatever else you feel the need to store on it.

Storm2


Tour


p.s. it doesn't cost as much as the commercial says anymore!

'Tis the season for PURDUE BASKETBALL

To say I love sports might be a bit of an understatement. I'm crazy about sports, but there is nothing I love more than some good ol' Purdue basketball. Yes, I am a part of the paint crew; yes, I waited in a tent over night for 4 different basketball games last season; yes, I was there when we rushed the court after we beat Wisconsin in Mackey Arena; and yes, I will be there for all of the awesomeness that this season has to offer.

The past few seasons have been amazing, and I am hoping this season will prove to be nothing less. There has been quite a lot of talk about our freshmen on the team, but in my eyes we are not very deep as far as our bench goes. If our starting five get in trouble, the younger players are going to have to step up. I think once they get the first game jitters out from the 2 exhibition games we played in the past two weeks, our freshmen will be able to step up when we need them most.

BOILER UP!

interview

I can honestly say I haven't been through many interviews in my life, but today was the most grueling interview (or should I say series of interviews) that I have ever been through. I understand that the company wants to hire the right person, but I wasn't expecting all of my interviews today.

I had 8 individual interviews and 1 group interview with all of the people who interviewed me individually. It was a good experience, and I guess it made up for all of the times I wasn't interviewed. Overall, it went pretty well. I was one of three who were chosen for interviews, so I will know whether I got the job or not by next week!

New MyPurdue

As with all technology, when I started figuring out how to use MyPurdue they went ahead and changed it. It's not that much different from the old MyPurdue, but it has changed just enough to be annoying. I was finally getting to the point where I could easily navigate through the website that I only used to confirm registrations and sign up for classes, and Purdue decided to change it so I would have to look somewhere else for each of the tabs that I need to use. At least in the old MyPurdue the font was big enough to read. I feel like I need a microscope to find what I'm looking for now.

MyPurdue is changing much like Facebook did not too long ago. They think they have a problem, so they change it over night and confuse the hell out of everybody who was used to using the old version. Of course, it will grow on me, and I will be able to figure out how to navigate through the new just as well as I could with the old.

There are still tutorials on how to use MyPurdue. I'm more of a do-it-yourself person who just figures it out on my own, but I'm sure the tutorial would make things much clearer.

Why...

All I want to ask when it comes to looking for a job is why is it so hard to find an entry-level position job? I recently sent my resume and cover letter to a baseball team who was looking for a someone in public relations. It was first posted as an entry level position with most of the qualifications being recommended, but not required. Of course, I thought that this job looked too good to be true, but I applied anways because I need to start somewhere. Literally the next day after I applied for the job they took the posting offline and changed every requirement they had originally posted. The one qualification that really irked me though was that they were now requiring 5+ years of experience. What I would like to know is where are we supposed to be getting this experience from? Everybody is requiring experience, but nobody is offering it. An internship helps with maybe one year of experience, but after graduation you are still looking for an entry-level position unless your internship offers you a full-time job.

Don't get me wrong, it's obviously not impossible to find a job and there are some companies that are willing to give you that experience you are looking for. Since I am looking to get into sports PR, my example is of the Atlanta Braves trainee programs. They have a trainee program for just about every position available, and the one stipulation is that you must have a 3.0 GPA. So, yes, there are some companies nice enough to give us a shot, but I hate getting excited about a possible job only to find out that you need 5 or more years of experience just to be considered.

Finally moving on from dial-up

Throughout high school, I was used to having a slow Internet connection. It didn't phase me at all that I had to wait 3 minutes for a web site to come up because that was just the way dial-up is. However, when I got to Purdue and started using wireless my wait time decreased to just seconds for each new page to pop up.

Now when I go home I feel like I am disconnected from the world. (Thank the lord for my Crackberry!) In my first 3 years of college, I refused to get on the Internet at home because we still had dial-up thanks to our lovely tree line behind the house. We called EVERYBODY to try to get a faster Internet connection. EVERYBODY said no because of our tree line.

About a year and a half ago I asked my mom if we could get a wireless usb from Verizon that we could just plug into our computer and it would connect to the Internet and it would surely be faster than the ancient dial-up that was a complete waste of money. Of course, my mom said no when I asked, but about a month ago when my mom and sister were tired of using the slow computer they had the brilliant idea of getting the wireless usb from Verizon. They were so excited that they thought of it on their own until I burst out into a vocal flashback of me begging for this usb to give us the Internet.

I still don't use the computer at home because Verizon only allows 5GB of downloading and other things done on the Internet. I figured I'm on the computer enough at school to make up for the down time at home. I'll just stick to using the Crackberry for the small things like e-mail.

Hoping to start something new in West Lafayette/Lafayette

I am one of the directors of development for Boiler Communication, a student-run PR firm affiliated with PRSSA. So, basically I'm trying to increase our funding by coming up with some different fundraising ideas and implementing them. Here's my idea...one of our clients is the Lafayette Theater, and they are looking to get more involved with Purdue and the local community. I think it would be awesome to start an annual Battle of the Bands for people in West Lafayette and Lafayette. I'm hoping this will attract a lot of bands whether they are kids in high school or students at Purdue. It's still a work in progress and probably won't happen until next semester. I'll be pitching the idea soon though!

Martin Jetpack

Well, I cruising through the Internet looking for what to write as my next installment of Brooke's Blog, and just when I thought all hope was lost I stumbled upon something. Bidding on eBay for the chance to be a TEST PILOT FOR A MARTIN JETPACK.

My favorite part of the story is that in order to become a test pilot you have to bid for it on eBay. I found this on Wired.com with a direct link to the eBay auction, and sure enough it exists! According to the description of the product on eBay you only have to be 18 or older with a current driver's license, and weigh less than 90kg (roughly 198 lbs) to take 6 flying lessons over the span of 3 days in a controlled environment. Oh and did I mention that right now the bid you have to beat is only $35,101.00 and you need to travel the short distance to Christchurch, New Zealand (on the other side of the world)?! If you don't believe me just go to eBay and type in "Be a Jetpack Test Pilot." Now I know that most of you might want to think about it before you put your bid in for this chance to be a jetpack test pilot in all of its glory BUT you don't have that much time to think! As of right now there are only 6 hours and 13 minutes until the bidding is closed and the lucky person that is willing to pay $35,101.00 to hover a few feet off the ground takes away your chance to be a jetpack test pilot.

And just in case you were wondering...YES, you can bring your own motorcycle helmet to wear during your test pilot lessons.

Here goes my first attempt at blogging

When I first CODOed out of management and into PR I wasn't sure what public relations entailed, but I knew it sounded a lot more exciting and interesting than the numbers and confusion that came with economics and other management classes. Needless to say, I absolutely hated management and needed to get out!

Now that I am in my third and final year and taking more in depth classes, I'm realizing what public relations is all about. It's about being a jack-of-all-trades in the communications world. You must be able to speak effectively as you write and write as effectively as you speak. You must be able to know how to use all sorts of technology and social media. If you can't surf the Internet and find the things you need in a timely fashion, you can't meet deadlines. If you don't use your tools wisely you won't get the information needed to put together a great story. You are a speaking coach, a speaker, a journalist, and an information junkie taking in as much news as possible.

I'm not sure how PR professionals did their job back in the day without all of the technology we have today, but my hat is off to them. I will gladly use all of the technology I have from my computer to my cell phone to get the information I need for my next story.