My Digital World

Posted in Lifestyle by

Journalists have been wondering whether digital publishing may take over print publishing completely. According to a survey recently conducted, they have every right to wonder.

Is it time to say buh-bye to newspapers?

Is it time to say buh-bye to newspapers?

In a survey taken by Australians aged between 18 – 30 with a balance of males and females (conducted by yours truly), more than half chose digital publications over print publications. Some of the reasons that supported this choice ranged from being easier to read than print to appearing more eco-friendly than print. The majority of those in favour of digital publishing thought that digital publications were easier to access via their smartphones or tablets and it could be done in the comfort of their own home, while print required more effort to obtain.

“I feel like in today’s modern society, it is more easy to grab a hold of a story, like if you hear something from someone, you can just Google it and it (the answer) [will] be there for you,” 18-year-old Morgan Graves-Burnnand said.

Justine Crowley, freelance media/creative consultant and book publisher, believes online publishing is popular because it is “more flexible all round.”

“Online articles and books enjoy more longevity than their print counterparts,” she said.

While she is a big advocate of digital publishing, Justine doesn’t think that it will completely take over.

“Print will still have its place, although it is clearly evident that online publishing is increasing.

“There are many people who still prefer to read a print book and/or magazine, yet more and more of the mainstream media is also dominating its publishing efforts online,” she said.

One of the main benefits of digital publishing that I have noticed with SolSat, Justine hit the nail right on its rearing head.

“Writers and editors enjoy greater flexibility in terms of working hours, and if you make a mistake – no sweat, your article can simply be fixed and re-published in nearly all cases,” she said.

Ain’t that the truth.

Thirty-five per cent of those surveyed, however, believed that they benefit more from print than digital.

“I find it easier to concentrate while reading hard copies of things,” Jason Miller, 20, said.

Scott Bailey, the editor of Rugby League Player magazine, believes when people can actually feel the publication in their hands, they can be a part of it.

“It’s hard to immerse yourself in what you’re reading [in digital]. When you’ve got a magazine in your hand, you feel involved in it and you feel a part of it,” he said.

Scott thinks that one of the reasons more young people are turning to digital publications because it is cheaper.

“When you wake up in the morning and you want to check the news, your mobile phone’s right there.

“We’ve been brought up in the computer generation and we’re used to stuff on the screen,” he said.

Scott said digital will never completely take over “because there will always be a need for print.”

– by The Black Widow

Check out Justine’s profile here. (The woman is incredible)
Check out Rugby League Player’s Facebook page here.

The Power of Music

Posted in Entertainment, Music by

Music is a powerful form of art which expresses the deepest emotions and thoughts that normal conversation wouldn’t be able to convey properly. Songs can invoke many emotions into the listener that wasn’t necessarily there before: joy, sadness, excitement, confidence.

My friend was telling me about this song he likes – Look After You by the Fray – so naturally I decided to have a gandy and see what was so great about it. Nekk minnit, drowning in my own tears. I don’t even understand what the song is about but listening to the chorus just tore me to shreds. Why? Listen to it for yourself. Maybe you’ll understand my pain.

The Fray... y u hrt mi 4?

The Fray… y u hrt mi 4?

Sometimes I can literally make myself cry just by thinking about a song that puts me into tears. A few of these songs include: Hurt by Christina Aguilera, Over You by Miranda Lambert, Man I Need by Jagwar Ma, Hurt by Johnny Cash and Secret by Seal.

On the other hand, I also use music to make me feel more confident. If you see me strutting like I’m on a catwalk with headphones dangling out of my ears, I’m most likely listening to something upbeat with lyrics talking about how damn good looking I am – or even something slow and sexy, like Get What I Want by Bitter:Sweet.

How do songs have such an influence on our emotions?

Songs can make you sad for many reasons, for example: it may remind you of someone or something, or the lyrics relate to you and it just sends you into a catatonic state. I asked a couple of my friends what songs make them sad and this is what they responded with. Get your tissues ready.

“Heaven 911 Remix – the little girl’s voice and what she says makes me think of my nonno. I cry every time I hear it.” – Bianca Mureddu

“Dance With My Father Again – Luther Vandross… ’cause it was my grandpa’s song at his funeral.” – Ashton Leota

“Evanescence – My Immortal. I honestly have no idea why it makes me sad but it does. Maybe my subconscious can relate to the lyrics?” – Jennifer Silk

“Morning Has Broken by Cat Stevens, the song that was playing as my Nanna’s coffin was wheeled in at her funeral.” – Zac Pittas

“Moments in Love by Art Noise. There’s something about this song that inspires a wide array of emotions in me. I guess it’s because it’s a song that I normally play when I’m reflecting.” – Nick Bryson

If we as humans allow music to have such power over us, surely music is more than just a bunch of people singing words to music. Right?

– by The Black Widow

‘Tis The Season To Be…Frugal?

Posted in Lifestyle by

It’s the age old question we all face at Christmas: What do we do with all the shit gifts? In fact, I think it started with the baby Jesus who woke up on Boxing Day and said “WTF is Myrrh?”

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Despite knowing we’re never going to use the lifetime supply of handcreams given to us by various colleagues and Grandmothers over the years, we all feel a certain sense of obligation to keep them. In every household there is a drawer filled with unwanted mugs, tea cosies, soaps and candles that have never left the wrapper. Every year the pile grows and we’re forced to find more and more places to stash the miscellaneous items we would rather do without.

Unless you’re me. I’m a big fan of the four ‘Rs’: reduce, reuse, recycle, regift- especially at Christmas.

REDUCE- When it comes to Christmas, there are two old sayings to consider; ‘Less is more’ and ‘it’s the thought that counts.’ Wrapping tons and tons of presents in thousands of layers of bubble wrap and tissue paper is fun until you stop to think about how full landfill gets when everyone throws it out on December 26th.
I understand the excitement people get over giving gifts to the people they love, but I’m a huge advocate for gifts like sponsoring a Koala or buying a goat for a family in Africa. Gifts like this make everyone feel good and ensures that we don’t entirely destroy the planet before the next holiday season.

REUSE- Giftbags were a wonderful invention. Aside from being more environmentally friendly, gift bags eliminate the hassle of trying to wrap awkwardly shaped gifts like teapots and tennis racquets. Stick it in a bag and Bob’s your uncle.

RECYCLE- My Gran, bless her, takes half an hour to unwrap a present. She unties the bows, taking care to smooth them out so the satin doesn’t crumple and then moves on to the stickytape which she removes in slow motion to avoid tearing the paper which she then irons, folds up and uses the next year to wrap other people’s gifts in. As a kid I was a huge advocate for the whole ‘ripping into it like a madman’ thing but as a starving, unemployed uni student, I am suddenly a huge fan of saving paper so I don’t have to waste $2.99 on a roll of dancing Santas.

And finally, REGIFTING, an art form with more tactical rules than a game of Dungeons and Dragons.

  1. Keep a list of all the presents you don’t want and who gave them to you. The last thing you want to do is give crazy Aunt Betty the yaks wool socks she gave you the year before in exactly the same gift bag.
  2. Product packaging must be intact. You can’t regift a perfume if you’ve already opened it to take a whiff and decided that perhaps ‘Au de Gasoline’ wasn’t for you.
  3. Sometimes, if you think it’s shit, it probably is. Handcreams from the supermarket and $2 Shop makeup and candles are top of the regifting list. Nobody wants them, but we don’t want to waste them so we’re forced to decide between throwing them in the cupboard with Nan’s hankies or regifting them. My advice? Kris Kringle. I’m fairly sure that was a tradition started by an absolute genius who had a whole lot of shit to get rid of.
  4. Never regift with the original gift-givers’ community. If the ugly yellow teatowels came from a work colleague NEVER regift them to another work friend. The original giver is bound to find out and you will be shunned, Mean Girls style, until you quit your job and move overseas. To avoid an expensive international relocation, make two piles in the regifting cupboard. Label one as work and the other family/other. Each year, give the gifts from your family members to your work mates and the gifts from your colleagues to your Great Auntie Edna and the neighbours. Unless your work life and home life cross over, in which case you’re fucked.
  5. One -of -a -kind items may as well have a house- arrest bracelet on. If that little beacon beeps anywhere but your place, the gift-giver, their family, the Australian Government and possibly the CIA and the ICC will find out and torture you. Handmade/commissioned/specialty items are the hardest to regift. By their very nature, unique items always get noticed and you can’t run the risk of your neighbour’s best friend’s sister’s dog walker commenting on it and sending word back to the person who gave it to you. You’re best to keep the ugly paintings in the garage for someone else to deal with when you sell the place.
  6. Your reaction has to match the gift. Don’t open a shitty present and immediately start a one man melodrama. Gushing about how beautiful a scarf is and thanking someone eighty-five times in sixty-three seconds isn’t subtle. They know you hate it, you know you hate it and everyone else in the room is wondering which one of them you’ll be giving it to in twelve months time. A simple ‘Oh isn’t that interesting’ or ‘Gee, that’s different’ is all you need. Non-committal, semi-honest and reasonably painless. Done. Move on.

So before you rush out to do all your last-minute Christmas shopping this December, have a look through your cupboards and see what you’ve got stashed away from last year and go from there.  Remind yourself that regifting is not heartless or inconsiderate, it’s sensible, economical and environmentally friendly to boot!

– by Blaire Gillies

Sluts vs Players

Posted in Opinion by

So I was on the train the other day, casually minding my own business, when I heard a small group of girls a few rows down from where I was sitting (who looked to be in their late teens) talking about a “slut” they knew. Not bothering to keep their voices down – I’m assuming it was because there weren’t many people in the carriage – they gossiped with abandon about how this girl had supposedly been with many guys, and how people had found out and bullied/bad-mouthed her about it.

Now, I know what they were talking about is nothing out of the norm, but what was unsettling was that they seemed to relish the fact that she was being bullied. I won’t elaborate on how the girl was apparently bullied or to what extent, but the fact is that she was, and that these girls felt it was justifiable. At that moment, two things simultaneously popped up in my mind; I suddenly thought of pop artist Lily Allen’s latest single, Hard Out Here (where she sings about the inequality in treatment between promiscuous males and females), and mentally asked myself if these girls would relish or at least relish it as much if a promiscuous male was bullied, or bad-mouthed etc.

Lily Allen has a b***y p***y.

Lily Allen has a b***y p***y.

The answer in my mind was most likely not.

Because judging from other times that I’ve seen or heard people talking about similar matters, such males are only called reasonably offensive names and more often than not, they’re simply regarded as “players”. Whereas with females, the words “slut” and “whore” are often used with a heavy intent to denigrate them, and in some cases, almost make every word or action of hurt that comes their way seem justifiable.

So it’s obvious they earn heavier societal repercussions than their male counterparts do, and that is something I fail to understand. If, for example, both a male and female were to have the same (large) number of sexual partners and/or encounters – and the word “large” is very subjective here – it would most likely be the female who gets degraded and vilified more heavily. Lily Allen candidly sums this up with her lyrics, “If I told you ‘bout my sex life, you’d call me a slut…When boys be talking about their bitches, no one’s making a fuss…”

I know this topic/issue is nothing new, but having seen and heard people slut-shaming (as it is casually referred to) every so often, it’s irritating to see the discrepancy in treatment between both genders – especially when we’re supposed to be living in an era where males and females are equal, in a sense. I mean, I know it’s obvious that religion, culture, society/social norms and upbringing etc influences or helps to shape our views and opinions on these matters but to be honest, it’s simply unjust and demeaning to females, to say the least. Allowing males to do as they please in terms of sexual ventures and having any number of sexual partners without the harsh condemnation sets females back by far – in a way, it’s like restricting a right.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from being a misandrist, and I’m not going to inject my own views on promiscuity here either – as it is both unnecessary and irrelevant – nor am I aiming to sway other people’s views on it as it is a quite a complex and subjective matter – for example, people have different opinions on what it means to be promiscuous, or if it’s morally right or wrong etc. But what certainly needs to be pointed out is that in this day and age, females should have more rights than they have had previously, and having the right to be treated as equally as males in terms of sexual ventures and experiences is one of them.

– by Rosemary Nguyen