Budget Cuts at the CBC and Getting a Job in Journalism

I love writing this blog. It’s an outlet for me to share what I think about movies, TV and Internet, topics that are eternally fascinating to me. At the same time, I’m working on my Master of Journalism degree, improving my writing abilities and my analytical skills. But as of this moment, I have no idea whether there’s a job waiting for me when I graduate. After the federal budget that was handed down this week, my future is even less certain.

Why? Because this year’s budget has put our venerable public broadcaster, the CBC, on the chopping block for a total $115 million in cuts. I’m not saying that all Canadian journalism students are earmarked for careers at the CBC, but the cuts should serve as a wake-up call to all working and up-and-coming journalists in Canada. Sooner or later, our “safety net” will be gone, and we’ll all be on the high wire trying to stay alive.

The Vortex: The Bourne Legacy, Batman’s New Vehicle, and More

In this edition of The Vortex, I have a pile of movie news to share with you, and a healthy dose of pop culture and tech stories, as well. One of the biggest developments this week was a raft of images, both official and otherwise, from the set of The Dark Knight Rises, including looks at Batman’s new vehicle and Selina Kyle/Catwoman. Then we had a couple of casting announcements: actors reprising roles for the upcoming Bourne movie, and Mike Myers signing to appear in another Austin Powers movie. On top of that, I found a collection of cool bits and pieces of pop culture, including a Calvin & Hobbes/Back to the Future mash-up T-shirt. All that and more lies below in The Vortex!

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Why I (Kind Of) Hate the Apple Store

I have a confession to make: I kind of hate the Apple Store. It might seem strange, considering the rabid popularity of Apple products. Nevertheless, I now avoid their store locations like the plague. Ever since my last visit (maybe even a few times before that), I find them to be overcrowded, noisy and mostly unnecessary.

Perhaps it’s just me being a little bit uptight, but I think there’s something a bit wonky with the way people demonstrate their public love for Apple. It speaks to the fascinating stranglehold Apple has over its fans, and suggests that Apple is really a colossal hype machine, albeit one that sells a relatively dependable, well-designed line of tech products.

The Coming Cloud Storage Arms Race

Over the past few months, I’ve been hearing a lot about a trio of services being launched by Amazon, Google and Apple. Each company is has been generating buzz with the announcement of new services that will store your music and other media “in the cloud”; available on any computer or mobile device once you sign in. In theory, the idea seems great: a gigantic backup for all your files, with no worries about failing hard drives or tedious file transfers. But what are each of the tech giants really offering? Are there any downsides to trusting your precious data to Amazon, Apple and Google?

Today on Professionally Incoherent, I’m going to provide a closer look at Amazon Cloud Drive, Apple iCloud and Google Music, and try to determine the pros and cons of these services. As always, I’m curious to see what you have to say about these cloud storage options, so sound off in the comments after the article!

Tablets – Buy them because they’re shiny (and useful)

I’ve been following (and participating in) what might be described as the latest mainstream tech trend over the past few months, and I decided to make it the focus of today’s post: tablet computing. Rather than just tell you about the device I use (an Apple iPad 1), I’m expanding this post to include some musings on the tablet platform as a whole. Extra credit if you’re currently reading this on a tablet yourself!

I first got my tablet through a pilot project at Memorial University in St. John’s, NL, where the school wanted to measure the effectiveness of providing students with iPads to use in class. We were given 16GB WiFi-only models, and later the school gave interested students the option to buy theirs out at the end of the semester for a reduced rate. Over the following four months, I really became attached to my iPad, not so much because it’s an Apple tablet, but because of the advantages I believe any tablet can offer to its users.

Reboot

Hey guys – this is going to be the inaugural post on a reinvigorated robertsnow.wordpress.com! I originally created this blog after completing a course at Memorial University in St. John’s  (Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada) that required students to write regular blog posts. Most of my entries for the class were posted to a general class blog, but I recently thought I’d reboot this page and use it to post thoughts about three things that really interest me: Film, TV and Internet culture. Hope you enjoy reading what I think about these topics.

By the way, I am in no way sponsored by any companies/organizations or sanctioned as an official reviewer. I just like sharing my thoughts about media and tech, and figured some of you might be interested. Watch out though – I have a tendency to get into some pretty heavy analysis at times (I have a degree in English lit and a number of film theory courses under my belt). Let me know if I’m getting a bit wordy, but feel free to argue with me about my thoughts – I love a good debate. Keep checking for updates, as the first real post is coming soon!