Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
IU is ready to take on Tennessee in the Gator Bowl
Jacksonville, Fla. – The Indiana University Hoosiers have their eyes set on winning the Taxslayer Gator Bowl verses The Tennessee Volunteers. This is the biggest bowl IU has played in decades. The Gator Bowl is the sixth oldest college bowl and the first to ever be nationally televised. Under coach Tom Allen Indiana has had the best season it’s had since 1993. Winning a bowl game would be huge as IU hasn’t won a bowl game since the Copper Bowl in 1991. That means no one on their team was even alive the last time IU has won a bowl game. If IU can win this game it will be the first season they have nine wins since 1967. That was back when OJ Simpson was still playing. This game is a rematch of the 1988 Peach Bowl in which the Volunteers took the win.
It’s been four weeks since IU’s last game, which was an overtime win against Purdue. Players have used this time to recover, spend time with family, and focus on getting this bowl win. Coach Tom Allen was quoted as saying, “Bowls are not to be taken for granted.” This is a great attitude to have as this is a big time bowl, and would be a big time win for the Hoosiers. This Gator Bowl has already exceeded 55,000 in ticket sales, making it the biggest Gator Bowl in three years.
IU will have offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer for one last game. The signal caller has been hired to be the head coach of Fresno State next season. Coach Allen stated that he has not begun searching for a new coordinator yet and will focus on this bowl win, before beginning his search.
Indiana QB Peyton Ramsey looks to make his first bowl appearance, and will have a tough time against a Tennessee pass defense that has only allowed 150 passing yards per game. IU is 0-2 this season against teams with top 20 pass defense. The high powered Hoosier passing attack will have to be on it’s A game. Tennessee QB Jarrett Guarantano has been excellent since taking over mid season with a QBR of 149.34, which is fourth in the SEC. Indiana Wide receiver Whop Philyor will look to lead the way for the Hoosiers with his 69 catches, 1001 yards, and five touchdowns. While Tennessee Wide Receiver Jauan Jennings charges ahead with 57 catches, 942 yards, and eight touchdowns. Jennings will be suspended for the first half of the game for stepping on the head of a downed player in Tennessee last matchup. This should help the Hoosiers tremendously in the first half. IU running back Stevie Scott is still questionable and may not be healthy enough to play.
This will be a great match up that I believe will be close.
My Prediction:
Indiana Hoosiers 38 – Tennessee Volunteers 35
Should I trust product reviews on Social Media?
Final Reflections
Final Reflections
By Lee Cummings
This has been a very interesting yet taxing course. I am a big social media person, but I have never had to post so much on twitter in my life. Attempting to keep up with the count is not easy to do, but its something you have to press on to get done. I also did not use linkden much until this course, and have made many connections using it. Linkden has become a very valuable tool. I have been getting job offers on Linkden and have connected with my police academy instructors on it.
Doing this course while living in police academy has been very difficult, but has made my posts pretty interesting. I have been using our #j360 hashtag to chronicle all the shooting, driving, fighting, and learning we are doing at the police academy. Trying to keep the post count when I’m not supposed to have my phone on me during class is hard, I sneak it in to get some cool shots of our training. I actually think that doing this course while attending police academy have made my posts a lot more interesting than that normally would have been otherwise. A lot of cool stuff that the public doesn’t normally get to see goes on here, and getting to share that with my college classmates is pretty cool.
Learning about social media seems to be the key to keeping and getting followers, and protentional using social media to boom a business. I learned that Netflix, became the biggest movie company without owning any movies. I also learned that the biggest mobile purchasing app isn’t a bank, but is Starbucks. I also learned that Air Bnb Is the largest hotel chain, but does not own any hotel rooms. It appears that social media and the digital age has made it possible to have a successful business without actually owning any real estate or property.
I found it interesting to know that Instagram is the #1 social media application and that everyone is connected to it. ). Search Engine Optimization sounds like an important tool for getting my social media platform expanded. I also learned that google has a certification for SEO. Learning how we can use YouTube to search for things, and that YouTube has better search features than google does is incredible.
I also loved learning about how Public Relations has changed due to the digital age. Now that the digital age has arrived Public Relations is very easy to do. Media such as TV, and radio are still used, but are almost obsolete at this point. Most fortune 500 companies hire a social media team to post to social media accounts such as: twitter, facebook, Instagram, tiktok, and snapchat. Before with TV and radio the consumer could not reply and be heard. Now with social media the consumer can instantly respond and communicate with any company they please. The consumer has much more power now than anytime in modern history due to social media and the digital age.
Doing my video was very fun. I haven’t posted many things to my YouTube account and posting this video to it should bring me some views. I have noticed that a lot of famous Instagramers have good Youtube pages. I also noticed that people with a lot of YouTube followers are also big on Instagram. Having a lot of followers on Instagram can equal big business. Getting a lot of views on Youtube equals extra money. Social Media can be a way to use the internet to sell yourself as a product. I would like to use the information I’ve learned in this class to make a slice of life video blog. I can also use what I learned in this class to get a bigger following in my video game reviews, and sports article previews. This class has taught me so much that I would like to do more advanced versions of it to continue to grow my marketing skills.
I also loved our virtual class sessions and enjoyed seeing my fellow classmates. Getting to know my classmates via virtual class sessions and our #j360 hash tag posts was awesome. We got to interact with our classmates in a way you normally do not get to interact with classmates in a normal class. I also thoroughly enjoyed our professor Ben Risinger. Professor Ben was very energetic, and positive. His energy was amazing and kept me interested and focused in the class. I also enjoyed how he interacted with us as students.All in all this was a great class with many good experience learned. Learning to use social media to my advantage and to help promote myself is awesome. I will use social media to spread my music and hopefully gain a larger audience to hear my perform my orchestra music and sing. I would love to sing full time. I can also use what I learned in this class to promote my sports articles and previews, as I would also love to be a journalist. Finally I can use the social media skills I learned in this class to promote my video game reviews. I love to review video games and score them so that people can know if they should buy them or not. Video games are expensive and knowing if one is good or not is key. I can also use what I learned in this class to get more views streaming video game playing, and get more views on Youtube. This was a great class and I am happy that I attended it. My final reflections of the class are that I highly recommend it and greatly enjoyed it.
PlayStation 5 rumors and specifications
By Lee Cummings
It feels like just yesterday I was waiting outside in the cold lined up down the street anxiously awaiting my turn to get my brand new Playstation 4. It was however 6 years ago and now I feel old. Now it’s almost time for that excitement all over again as Playstation 5 sits on the horizon.
Sony officially announced that we should have our hands on the Playstation 5 near the end next year, 2020. The Playstation 5 will not be discless so those who prefer the art, box and disc of their games are in luck. The Playstation 5 like the 4 will have both downloadable and disc games. The Playstation 5 is rumored to have a price point of $499. Anything more than that would be a huge risk, and could cost Sony sales.
The Playstation 5 is rumored to have backwards compatibility with the Playstation 4, and 8K resolution support. The new SSD for the Playstation 5 will be 19 times faster than the current PS4. The Playstation 5 will have 100Gb disks used in an optical drive that can play 4K blu ray discs. PS5’s new sound technology is rumored to be better than anything anyone has ever heard, especially with headphones on. Its rumored that cloud based gaming will take a much bigger role in the Playstation 5, and that remote play will be a key feature with many upgrades.
With 8K graphics, and a whole lot of power, Holiday season of 2020 is looking bright, and the Playstation 5 is the sun giving off the light. I can’t wait to get my hands on this monster and unleash its glory on my eyes.
Indiana can earn its rank back with an upset over #12 Michigan. Michigan Wolverines at Indiana Hoosiers football game preview.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57154487/861370920.0.jpg)
Article by Lee Cummings
Indiana can earn its rank back with an upset over #12 Michigan. Michigan at Indiana football game preview.
Michigan (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) Indiana (7-3, 4-3)
Indiana was finally ranked #24 in the country last week, before their narrow loss to Penn State. This is something Hoosier fans have been waiting for since 1994. This top 25 ranking is now lost as the Hoosiers have dropped to #26 in the country and out of the AP top 25. Indiana has played Michigan tough every year in recent memory even years it wasn’t a good team. Expect a possible upset as Michigan may be looking too far into the future at the upcoming matchup with Ohio Sate approaching the week after. Peyton Ramsey the Quarterback for the Hoosiers, has had a standout year, and has completed 72.7% of his passes for 1,673 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions. The starting quarterback for the Hoosiers Michael Penix Jr is out for the season, as well as the star left tackle Coy Cronk. The Hoosiers running back Stevie Scott is on pace for a 1000 yard season sitting at 808 yards on 165 rushing attempts. Hoosiers have hit the jackpot with receiver Whop Philyor as he has been unstoppable in recent weeks racking up 61 catches for 868 yards and three touchdowns. The Hoosiers entire receiving core is lined up with talent and can prove tough for Michigan’s secondary to handle.
Michigan’s quarterback Shea Patterson, from Ole Miss, has been on a hot streak. Expect a big game out of him and a challenge for the Hoosier secondary to contain his wide receivers. Michigan’s wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones is the top choice for Patterson. Expect Peoples – Jones to put up huge numbers against the Hoosier corners. The Wolverine corner back Lavert Hill, who decided to bypass the NFL and stay at Michigan, was an all big ten corner last year. Count on Hill to have a big game against Indiana’s QB Ramsey and his receiving core.
The last six seasons Indiana vs Michigan has been an outstanding matchup, but every year Indiana figures out a way to lose the game and not finish. Tom Allen has appeared to change that this year and Indiana has finally been able to finish and close out games. Indiana had #9 Penn State in it’s clutches last week but couldn’t pull of the victory. This week Indiana has Michigan at home, which could help turn the tides. But let’s be real the crowd in Bloomington is most likely going to be filled with more Michigan fans that Hoosier fans. This will feel more like a home game for Michigan unfortunately. This is the last chance of the season for Tom Allen and Indiana to prove their program has changed by getting a huge victory over Michigan. This will be a great entertaining Big Ten matchup, but Michigan will be playing to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive. I predict in the end just like the last six seasons Michigan will squeak by at the end or in OT.
Final score prediction:
Michigan 38, Indiana 31
Transformation of PR, marketing and communications in the digital era.
There are many things in regards to the transformation of public relations, marketing and communications into the digital era today. Public relations to start with has become very more user friendly and oriented thanks to social media. Many companies had no direct contact with their customer base, but now thanks to Twitter, Facebook, and social media platforms, users can now instantaneously respond to public relations departments of their favorite companies. The companies can also use this as a way to be more personal and in touch with their customers and create a larger customer base. A great example of this is Arby’s social media page which uses nerd, anime and video game culture to relate to its fans, thus causing more people to eat Arby’s.
Marketing and communications have done similar things due to the digital era. Marketing can use social media platforms to communicate and focus their ad campaigns and ad strategies to the userbase they want based on the information that the social media companies sell to the ad companies. Communication has changed in ways major companies can now do meetings and strategy sessions. Most meetings are now use zoom or other sort of video web based communications to hold meetings which saves on office space. Saving on office space can really help a company focus money on salary and other areas of marketing public relations and communication.
The digital age has really ushered in huge changes in a short amount of time. User and customer bases now how more power than they have ever had in the history of capitalism. Now that the user and customer base has a voice digital marketing and public relations have to be way more in touch. Being in touch and relating to your user and customer base is key to staying relevant and keeping your products directed in a manner that causes revenue and following. Gaining massive amounts of followers can help a small company defeat a brick and motor company any day. There for the digital age has spiraled the small business forward and given the small business power they otherwise would not have.
PR In the Digital Age
Public relations has changed a lot in the digital era. Public relations used to use analog media to inform people. Such examples are radio commercials, television commercials, news paper advertisements, magazine advertisements, billboards, and more. It used to be very difficult to reach a massive amount of people. Radio, and television did not guarantee that you would hit your target audience. And magazines did not guarantee to be bought in large quantities.
Now that the digital age has arrived Public Relations is very easy to do. Media such as TV, and radio are still used, but are almost obsolete at this point. Most fortune 500 companies hire a social media team to post to social media accounts such as: twitter, facebook, Instagram, tiktok, and snapchat. Before with TV and radio the consumer could not reply and be heard. Now with social media the consumer can instantly respond and communicate with any company they please. The consumer has much more power now than anytime in modern history due to social media and the digital age.
The digital age has also influenced public relations in the news, and government. Now that your average Joe has a voice to be heard instantly, the masses can collectively do things to make change. When something isn’t agreed upon by the people they can turn to social media to find justice. Companies used to have a dictatorship on what they said and produced for you. Now you can not only talk back to the companies with your wallet, you can talk back to them with social media. There have been many political issues, consumer goods, products, sports, and news items that have been changed due to peoples reactions on social media. An example of a sports team that made a difference on social media is the New York Giants. When Eli Manning was benched last year the uproar on social media got him back his starting QB job. So in conclusion, the digital age has greatly improved digital marketing by giving the everyday man a voice to be heard. Now companies must hear the people, and appease us.
IUPUI A Great Indy University
IUPUI is a great university to attend. IUPUI stands for Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. I am a huge fan of IU so I enjoy how the school has embraced mostly IU logos. IUPUI has a lot of great things to offer, and recreational activities. I love how big the campus is, and seeing my fellow classmates walk around the school. The cafeteria has a great selection of real restaurants for food, and being able to use my school ID to shop at surrounding grocery stores and places to eat is a huge plus. I can use my student ID even in Bloomington at many different places to eat, which is an amazing resource for a college student.
IUPUI also has many awesome athletic programs. The basketball is division 1 and has produced great athletes like NBA star George Hill. The volleyball and soccer teams are also top notch and very exciting to see. IUPUI has an outstanding cheerleading program as well. With great recreational activies to greatr sports IUPUI is an amazing school. Also having the clout of Indiana University or Purdue University on your degree goes a long way in the job market.
The major I have selected is Liberal Arts with a minor in epidemiology. I already have an associates in Information Systems, and have worked IT for 3 years. So a bachelors in Information Technology would not have made much sense. Therefore I went with Liberal Arts since I love music, and Epidemiology so I can continue onto the masters degree of that program. I have always been a musician. I performed in the Warren Township Symphony orchestra for 4 years, and have composed many pieces of electronic and orchestra music.
IUPUI also is in downtown Indianapolis which is one of the top 15 largest cities in America. There are a lot of restaurants and entertainment in downtown Indy. IUPUI is also close to Broad Ripple which is a great place for food, concerts and entertainment as well. There are many more things to do in a big city like Indy versus a smaller city like Bloomington or Lafayette. IUPUI also has a large graduation rate, with over 7000 students last year alone. Not many schools are as dedicated to making sure a student graduates as IUPUI. There are also many different schools to choose from when it comes to getting degrees. Seventeen schools is quite a large amount. There are also a ton of students and people to meet with 23,000 students attending the school even surpassing Indiana University Bloomington.
Being able to take classes online is also a very big reason I chose IUPUI. I am a very independent learner and learn very well on my own. Classes that I can do online on my own make me a much more successful student, and makes finishing school much more convenient and easy working a full time job with crazy random hours.
So in conclusion IUPUI is as great school that is in a large city with many things to do. The attendance and graduation rate are excellent. There are many extra activities to do, a great gym, good entertaining sports teams to watch, online classes, convenience, and much more. I am very happy I chose to attend IUPUI and am looking forward to graduating next year.
Battle for the AFC South. Texans at Colts NFL Week 7 matchup preview.
The Indianapolis Colts host the Houston Texans this Sunday in Indianapolis. Once again it is that time for the big time division rivals to do battle. The past few years the Colts and Texans games have had big playoff implications and this game doesn’t look to be any different. With the Colts sitting at 3-2 and the Texans at 4-2, whoever wins this game will be alone as number 1 atop the AFC South. Both teams are coming off of huge declaration victories over Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Colts defeated Kansas City 2 weeks ago, and had a bye last week, while the Texans defeated Kansas City this past Sunday.
The Colts’ Offense will only have a chance if the running game can get going and keep going. The passing attack is effective but not very productive when it cannot rely on the running game. If healthy expect a heavy does of Marlon Mack accompanied with Nyheim Hines and Jordan Wilkins. The Colts are averaging 183 yards a game rushing, and are ranked in the top 5 rushing attacks in the NFL. Nyheim Hines is a huge asset in the passing game with the second most reception attempts on the team. The Texans are a top 10 run defense and ranked number 8. So this should be a good matchup.
With T.Y. Hilton in the game Jacoby Brissett has been incredible, even when Hilton is double covered Brissett finds the open man. Brissett is completing an outstanding 64.7 perfect of his passes this season. One major issue with the passing game though is the Colts are averaging just 6.4 yards per attempt. We aren’t seeing Brissett take many chances down the field. Brissett’s amazing decision making though has only cost him 3 INTs all season, which is remarkable for a young QB. Brissett has been in the zone in the red zone this season and Houston Ranks 23rd in the league in red zone scoring allowed, expect Brissett to throw some big ol TD’s in the red zone Sunday. The Texans Passing game is ranked 24th against the pass so the Colt’s may not have to rely as heavily on the running game as usual.
The Texans passing game is very similar to the Colts. Very high percentage and accuracy. Deshaun Watson is throwing for a nearly 70% completion rate at 69.7%. Deshaun Watson is similar QB to Patrick Mahomes, so the Colts should employ a similar tactic to keep him off of the field as they did against Kansas City.
The Texans have a great running game with two good backs that share the ball in Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson. But that’s not all they have in the running game, Deshaun Watson can also sprint down the field for huge chunks of yardage on passing plays. This will create some interesting matchups on defense. Colts linebacker Darius Leonard should be back for this game, and the Colts will need him protecting the middle of the field against this run heavy offense. Jabaal Sheard was a welcome force returning against the Chiefs, and will be relied on heavily to bring the pass rush on Deshaun Watson. Jabaal Sheard and Darius Leonard as a combo should also be a brick wall in run stopping defense.
The Texans Defensive Back Bradely Roby will be out for this game and the next four weeks, leaving a gaping hole in the Texans secondary. The Texans will also be without wide receiver Kenny Stills who is still battling a hamstring injury.
Clayton Geathers should be returning to the field along with Darius Leonard. The bye week was absolute perfect timing for the Colts as major players are returning from injury. Darius Leonard missed 3 games with a concussion, Clayton Geathers missed the last game against the Chiefs. Both players have cleared concussion protocols and will be ready for this Sundays matchup. Malik Hooker is still questionable and did not participate in practice. Coach Frank Reich stated at Monday’s press conference that Hooker could possibly be in practice sometime this week. Wide receiver Parris Campbell injured his abdomen in the Raiders game, and was out during the victory over the Chiefs. Coach Frank Reich stated that Parris Campbell’s status is still unclear.
The Indianapolis Colt’s losing defensive end Kemoko Turay was a huge blow to the defense. To make up for Turay being placed on the injured reserve list the colts have signed free agent defensive tackle Carl Davis. Davis formerly played for the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. Hopefully Davis can fill the pass rushing shoes of Kemoko Turay.
Sundays AFC South Divisional Matchup of the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans should be a great one. Once the season draws to an end I am sure this matchup will be talked about again in regards to the playoff picture. Both teams have young accurate QBs and a run heavy offense. I predict a low scoring game, and that whoever holds on the ball last or longer will win. This will be a game of whoever wins the time of possession wins the game. Whichever team can hold the line and keep the running attack at bay will have the advantage. The Colts are 1-1 this year at home, and don’t appear to have an advantage in that point. Whereas the Texans are 2-1 on the road. The Colts usually have the Texans number and have won four out of the 5 last games. Watson is having the better season, but Brissett is starting to make a name for himself replacing the all pro Andrew Luck. All in all be ready for some good gritty AFC South Rivalry division football, it’ll be a ground pounder or a barn burner.
A book review of Engage!: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New web.
A book review of Engage!: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New web. Right out of the gate I’m docking points off of my review score for this book for the excessively long and ridiculous title. Why anyone would give a book such a insanely long name is asinine. This book is not meant for small businesses, and appears to be geared towards mass sale at universities and big businesses.
Now that that gripe is out of the way, it is a decent book. The author Brian Solis’s information and message is very inspiring. Although I did really enjoy the book, it seemed as if it was way too long. This book should not have been as long as it was, and had a lot of what appeared to be fluff added to it to create extra length. The grammar was bad, there are sentences that made absolutely no sense that just had tons of words added to them for no reason. I’m not an English major but the run on sentences were legendary. There is no way this book should be 316 pages at all.
The book appears to be slightly outdated, and could use some updating. Social media rapidly changes and this book is mostly geared towards new marketers and not people who have done some sort of social media marketing before. I already knew from using social media that it is a great way to connect with and learn about customers, I feel that this day and age that common sense. Not sure why a book would be needed for this knowledge. The latter half of the book is downright boring, and is where the padding really packs on. This is without a doubt a book for someone who did not grow up with or is very new to social media. I feel this book would be a lot more popular with older readers or those not very tech savvy. A lot of the information just seems like common knowledge to me.
The latter chapters of the book really miss their mark by targeting the corporate world. Social media is the birth of small businesses that are using that technology to become big. So I just don’t understand why you would target the strict marketing corporate background. The “Engage or Die” slogan used is just laughable in today’s social media age. There is so much said, but not much on how to do.
I do like how the book was setup as if it was some sort of school course. There was great information in the book that I can use to help start my own company. Treating a company like a human being is an excellent idea. I also liked the detailed process to find your present situation and making it better. The book breaking up in sections like Social Media 101 all the way to Social Media 901 makes it very easy to read and follow. I can see why this is a book that is read in colleges. The explanations behind the marketing, public relations and social media strategies are fantastic. The first few chapters are must have reading for anyone in marketing. The stories and examples of how businesses got their success shows factual proof of how these strategies can be affective. There are some very high level insights in Engage and Brian Solis appears to have a plan for you. The plan however appears to be marketed towards big business and corporate and not so much small businesses.
I do like how the book shows you how to manage your brand, manage your vision, and create your presence in social media. The information about listening and learning to your audience is key. The information about treating your business like a human is gold. The information about using effective plans to communicate and run social media is great. Also the information about how to measure and judge a return on your investment was outstanding. Social media is equal to customer service, social media IS customer service.
I’ve seen this book in many offices at various places I work, so it appears to be popular. But what I’ve also noticed is that none of these people who have read this book are doing anything big with social media at all. I think the book is just too outdated, too behind the times.
I will try to use the information I got from the book to help out my social media platforms if I ever develop a business, but I have found other information on YouTube and various other places that are just plain better.
I don’t have a business to market, and I mostly use social media for personal reasons. I am very much into sports and science as well, and social media has put me at my game in knowing the latest sports and m I create and write music, as well as sing. Twitter, Instagram, facebook, and soundcloud have all done a great deal to get my music out to the public, and I have a song that has over 1000 plays currently. I have even been tweeted by a grammy winning artist who praised my rendition of Tears On My Pillow. If it wasn’t for social media, none of the many people who have heard my music ever would have. So I am not sure where I could apply many of the things in the book.
The book is a great public relations book, but as a social media guide it’s simply outdated. If only it was a short essay or article it could have been much greater. There just isn’t enough information to warrant the 316 pages at all. I’m assuming there was a page limit on how many pages have to be written for the book to be published because the padding is ridiculous.
All in all I did not enjoy reading the book. It had very good information but as I stated before it had too much padding. Also the grammar was odd, and there were many run on sentences. Some of the sentences made me actually laugh out loud. A lot of the information is common knowledge this day and age. Social media is expected to be used by all companies big or small. People get most of their news and information from social media now. The book greatly needs to be updated. Engage! Needs to greatly be shortened. I would rate the book a 4.5 out of 10. Maybe back when it was first written it was better.
Eternal Lee's Gaming 