An open letter to future citizens of the blogosphere

Dear future blogosphere citizens,

I am speaking to you from the realm known as new media.  The place moves fast, very fast and it is also is vast, quite vast.  When Captain Kirk said he wanted to boldly go where no man has gone before, he must've ended up in the galaxy of new media.  Even though new media is large and almost quite intimidating, it is also one of the most user friendly, dynamic platforms we have ever seen.  In this world you are about to venture out to, there are so many applications that allow for the user to be interactive and generate their own content.  So many people have the power to now broadcast anything and everything from newscasts to podcasts, but with great power comes great responsibility.  Here are a few words of advice on how to handle this brave new world:

Being a new media writer means you need to be both immediate and dynamic

As opposed to the old days of the newspaper (Pre-internet) in which the stream of information and breaking news had about a 24-hour shelf life, everything in the world of new media has a window that lasts anywhere from minutes to hours.  Information is constantly being uploaded/downloaded and applications such as Twitter, Blogger, Tumblr, YouTube, and Facebook statuses allow users to break any sort of information at the click of a mouse.  As an aspiring new media writer, it is important to always keep track of what is going on.  Keep in mind that if you have any followers who subscribe to the information you upload, it is important to update them quickly because they are constantly consuming your product.  Another important tip is to be brief in your posts.  With the rise of new media, there has also been a decrease in this generation's attention span, therefore short posts that get right to the point are always best.  In fact, it is so vital to be brief, Twitter, puts a 140 character cap on updates because they know how pivotal it is to get information out quickly.

As important it is to be quick and immediate with the uploading of information, it is equally vital to be dynamic and quickly adapt to the ever-changing media landscape.  In the case of new media, change is always happening and some applications have a shelf-life as quick as the information that is being uploaded.  For example, MySpace came and went, e-mail is starting to become obsolete, and some people are starting to think Facebook (the darling of the new media world) is too clunky.  Right now, Twitter is the buzz word and it is also the main application being consumed in new media.  As a result, you need to be able to be dynamic, adapt to the changes, and always find a way to stand out above the crowd.  This time in our media landscape is a very awkward, but hopeful time.  Newspapers are finally starting to go the way of the dinosaur and as a result, reporters are being dropped left and right.  For the first time ever, Hawaii is a one newspaper town because of the swift changes in new media.  However, not all is lost.  The rise in new media has allowed for an innovative way to stand out above the crowd through the practice known as "Citizen journalism".  Since there aren't as many reporters, there isn't as much coverage of news around the island.  As a result, we, as users of new media, can take it upon ourselves to use the tools digital media has to offer and be our own independent journalists and reporters.  Blogger, Tumblr, YouTube, Twitter, even the iPhone are just some of the many applications and products that allow us to create our own content and produce items intended for mass consumption. Gone is the age in which we only need our information from high and mighty journalists and anchors, new media allows us to stand out from the crowd.

New media is a large and powerful entity and here are some specific imporant tools that you will be using:

Twitter-The most innovative and revolutionary of the tools.  Twitter allows users to "tweet" updates, something that is very similar to the Facebook status update, but Twitter allows for only 140 characters at a time.  The tweets can be very effective because it allows users to interact with each other on a social and business level.  Almost anything can be used as a Twitter update and citizens can constantly be made aware of ongoings around town.  As consumers of new media, it's important to know that Twitter is innovative for business and news.  Citizen journalists can both post links and give updates to their stories one tweet at a time.  All in all, twitter is the perfect platform to use to stand out as a user of social media.

YouTube-While Twitter allows you to constantly update Tweets, YouTube allows you to take your information further and produce a full blown video broadcast.  As a consumer of new media and probably "citizen journalist", YouTube is THE platform to use if you want to broadcast any sort of information.  

Apple Products (iPhone, MacBook, MacBook Pro)-  From the installed cameras to the applications that allow for video chatting, Apple provides the perfect tools for any sort of new media user.  Whether you want to produce broadcasts or podcasts, these set of products even have the quick, user friendly editing software you could use to make great, effective productions.  If new media was a country, than the creators of Apple Products can probably be considered the founders.  It's your job as consumers and producers of this media to be the movers and shakers of this world.

Blogging websites (Blogger and Tumblr)-  While these sites may soon be obsolete because of the fact they aren't as focused on immediacy and brevity like Twitter, blogging websites are great outlets for the new media user that aims to create full blown platforms.  Blog sites are great because they allow the user to create pages that link to other sites and users.  There are full blown blogging communities, all interlinked with each other and being a user of new media would allow you to be a part of that community and upload your own information.

As a user of new media, then you are probably going to have to interview people, here are some tips when taking on this task:

-Formulate a list of questions beforehand

-When interviewing, let the conversation flow-start it off with some of your own questions, then ask questions based off of how the interview goes

-Take note of non-verbal speech

-Take note of the surroundings in an interview 

-Always try to formulate the story 

-Always try to interview in person, avoid e-mail interviews

-IF you have to do an e-mail interview, then be precise with questions you want to ask

All in all the world of new media is a beautiful, exciting place.  There are so many applications that allow you to be your own boss and create magical things.  You can be independent in the world of new media, however, you have to remain dynamic and always be on your toes with the changes.  There is a reason there isn't a textbook for new media.  Books are old and by the time it's published, all of the information in it would be obsolete.  In fact, Apple would have probably made another iPhone by the time you read this letter.

New Media allows for you to be a writer, producer, editor, director, camera person, blogger, photographer, all in one, but remember this....THE LANDSCAPE IS ALWAYS CHANGING , SO ALWAYS FIND WAYS TO STAND ABOVE THE CROWD.

With that said, go forth and enjoy the world of writing for new media.  It's an amazing place.

Mark Carpenter

Blog responses

http://surfpizza.tumblr.com/post/1663880436/triple-crown-blues

-I really liked the story about the surfers being real jerks and getting all nuts when you were just trying to help.  A super interesting blog would be about how there are so many jerks like that in the surfing community and that the "aloha brah" spirit isn't all it's cut out to be.

http://hpuhutch.tumblr.com/

-This is a great post.  I've seen Pepper many times and they are a lot of fun to watch.  Along with Natural Vibrations and Ooklah, they are one of the better local bands.

http://matildaw.tumblr.com/post/1595466999/the-steelpan
-Very, very interesting post.  I always wondered what that instrument with a cool sound was.  It has very unusual origins and I would love to hear more from "pan" artists.

http://iamcharlieparker.tumblr.com/-It's always fun to read about things I don't know about and the piece on that Moody fellow was very informative.  It's cool to hear where a lot of music I've heard before has originated.

haolepino.tumblr.com
-After reading ur blog, I'm going to try to convince my mom to put a pair of Nikes on my Christmas tree. haha. btw, ur thanksgiving food looks super killer

The Eagle Rises

A couple of months ago I did a piece on Michael Vick and how he has gone from being an outcast to starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.  At the time, the fact that he was starting at all was newsworthy enough.  Fast forward to week 12 in the NFL and it's evident Vick is more than a starter, he's a legitimate candidate for NFL MVP.

After three-quarters of a season, Vick leads the NFL in passer rating, hasn't thrown a single interception, and has the Eagles on top of the NFC east.  In a league of uncertainty where anything can happen on any given Sunday, it seems Vick's dominance is the only guarantee.  There is one performance in particular from this season that has football fans and bandwagon climbers alike foaming at the mouth clamoring to buy his jersey.

On a Monday night game against the Redskins,  Vick tarred and feathered the Washington defense and managed to make an NFL team look like they should still be playing Pop Warner.  In a 59-28 rout, Vick scored three touchdowns (2 passes, 1 run).... IN THE FIRST QUARTER.  By midway through the second, the score was 35-0 and Vick still wasn't done.  Like he did so many times before his incarceration, Vick was the epitome of a dual threat and torched the defense with his arm and his legs on his way to scoring three more touchdowns.

 It's amazing what a little motivation and coming out of a dark place can do.

At this time three years ago Michael Vick was in a bad place.  Bankrupt and on trial for dog fighting charges, Vick had gone from all-pro quarterback to being public enemy number one with no end in sight.  In a span of a few months, the former first round draft pick went from being the face of the league to laughing stock. One minute he's leading the league in jersey sales and the next thing you animal activists are burning his uniform in  front of a courthouse.  Since his release from prison,  Vick has made all of the right moves.  From studying with Tony Dungy to working with the Humane Society, Vick is doing a phenomenal job staying out of the limelight and scrambling away from any bad press.

In that game against the Redskins, Vick ultimately finished with 333 passing yards, 4 passing touchdowns, 80 rushing yards, and 2 rushing touchdowns.  Although Vick is lighting up the scoreboard, the biggest difference seems to be is that he finally has a clear head.  Instead of making a big fuss with off the field activities, he's letting out all he has on the field.  If the Eagles continue to win and Vick continues to dominate, Vick will no doubt be a front-runner for Most Valuable Player, but today's Michael Vick probably isn't too concerned about that.

As he continues to run on the road to redemption and public acceptance, the Michael Vick of today probably cares more about being a More Valuable Person.

Kahuku Red Raiders football

The Kahuku Red Raiders is the football team of Kahuku High School located on O’ahu’s North Shore. 

The Red Raiders do a Haka, a Polynesian dance after victories.

Since 1999, the Red Raiders have appeared in the state championship game seven times, coming away victorious in five of them.  Kahuku is a dynasty in the sense that they have won the title under two different coaches, Siuaki Livai (2000, 2001, 2003, 2005) and Reggie Torres (2006).  Aside from holding multiple state titles, the Red Raiders have won the Oahu Interscholastic Association (OIA) title 10 times since 1998, a feat no other OIA team has ever accomplished.

On top of consistently being ranked number one in the state, the Red Raiders rank 43 among national high schools.  

In 2006, Kahuku ranked second in the nation in number of athletes playing at Division 1 schools, an honor that also explains why 15 of the school's graduates have gone on to play professional football.  

Although the Kahuku Red Raiders are one of the state’s top football teams, they are not without controversy.  

Kahuku celebrates another Hawaii state championship victory

Going into the 2010 OIA championship game against the Mililani Trojans, Kahuku was number one in the state, undefeated, and seeking another state tournament appearance. However, after a ruling by the OIA and the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, the team was forced to forfeit the championship game, relinquish all of their wins from the 2010 season, and not compete in the state tournament because of the use of an ineligible player.  

The ruling has left not only Kahuku, but many other bodies in the football community wondering would Kahuku win another state championship if they were allowed to compete in the tournament.

Links to controversial story:

OIA sacks Kahuku
Hawaii's top-ranked football team forfeits its season because one player was ineligible
http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/sportsnews/20101106_OIA_sacks_Kahuku.html

Kahuku players take news with poise
http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/20101106_Kahuku_players_take_news_with_poise.html

Community is eager to take action
http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/20101106_Community_is_eager_to_take_action.html

Bylaws dictate Kahuku's ouster

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20101110_Bylaws_dictate_Kahukus_ouster.html

"It's tough to finish like that, but we stayed together"

http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/20101110_Its_tough_to_finish_like_that_but_we_stayed_together.html

Kahuku disqualified from football playoffs

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=13454856

Judge rules against Kahuku football team

http://www.khon2.com/mostpopular/story/UPDATE-Judge-rules-against-Kahuku-football-team/94OzNhi-90uy6UTbdHEccA.cspx

Now Introducing your Hawaii Pacific University Football team!!!! say what????

Check out the article I wrote for Hawaii Pacific News on why HPU should have a presence on the gridiron and start a football team:

http://hpn.ehclients.com/stories/view/if_i_were_president

Mark My Word is now on Twitter

Come and follow me:

http://twitter.com/#!/makdizzle808

Are you ready for some football?!!!

Yes I know football season has been going on for months now, but this is just to let all Mark My Word readers know that I am working on a column/opinion piece for Hawaii Pacific News on why HPU should have a football team.

It's a pipe dream, but hey, it's worth a try.

Is Bill Belichick still alive?

The NFL is just like physics.

No, no, don't think that I'm going to get all Sports Science on this post and talk about the physiology of a Ray Lewis hit across the middle or how whenever Norv Turner is your coach in the postseason, Murphy's Law will apply.

I'm going to apply a much simpler law to the league: whatever goes up, must come down.

From 2001 to 2008, the New England Patriots were money.  In a span of four years from 2001-2005 they won 3 Super Bowls (two of which were back to back).  Although they lost in the '07 Super Bowl to the Giants, the Patriots were riding an 18-0 winning streak going into that game.  The duo of Brady and Belichick managed to have an NFL record 21 game winning streak from 2003-2004, including regular season and playoff games.  Even after Tom Brady was out for the season in 2008, they still scored an 11-5 record with Matt Cassell as their quarterback.


But ever since Brady's return, the Patriots haven't looked the same.  In 2009, they were bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Ravens, not to mention had one of the biggest collapses in NFL history when they blew a 17 point lead against the Colts.  This year started off strong with a simple opening win against the Bengals, but they got thrashed by the Jets in week 2.  Although they beat the Bills this past Sunday, their young and inexperienced defense allowed 30 points to a team with no quarterback.

This sort of downfall could be contributed to a number of reasons: bad drafting moves, Brady is still a little shaky after his knee surgery, the departure of too many experienced veterans (Asante Samuel, Mike Vrabel, Rodney Harrison), or maybe Belichick is getting a little too old and outcoaching himself.

We could come up with reasons till we are blue and red in the face, but one thing is certain: what goes up, must come down. Ask the Bills, Brett Favre, the Rams, Terrell Owens, the 49ers, or the Cowboys.

Until the Pats win another Super Bowl or Brady cuts his hair, it looks like the duo of Tom Bieber and his magical hoodie wearing coach has lost its luster and the Patriot dynasty is finally over, bud don't let Jared Larner hear any of this.

Check out Jared's take on the Patriots and how they are the greatest team known to man.

The Dregs of the National Football League

So far this NFL season has further validated a few things we already know to be true: The Steelers have a legit defense, the Jets are the team everyone loves to hate, Norv Turner will always let you down, and the NFC West is by far the worst division in the league.

Ok, sure Seattle has done better than expected and the Cardinals are barely surviving with Derek Anderson .  But, with 2 sub-par teams that had high hopes for this season (San Francisco and St. Louis), we very well could have a team in the playoffs that has more L's than W's.

Check out Bill Simmons' take on the putrid NFC West

The Rebirth of Michael Vick

Prior to serving a one and a half year prison sentence in 2006 for running an illegal dog-fighting ring, Michael Vick was an All-Pro quarterback in the NFL.  Since high school, Vick was widely regarded as the top running quarterback in the game and thought to be the future of the National Football League.  After his release from prison, Vick signed with the Philadelphia Eagles where he was delegated to a backup role…until now.  Last week Sunday, he started his first NFL game since 2006 and will be the starting quarterback for the rest of the season.

Coach Eric Shin weighs in on Vick’s play and how he is reinventing himself in the NFL post jail time.

Born and raised here in Hawaii, Coach Eric Shin is moving up quickly in the high school coaching ranks.  Although he is currently working with the Mililani football team, specifically with the wide receivers, Coach Shin, has also coached at Kaiser, Kalani, and Anuenue.  He has played at the high school, collegiate, and semi-professional levels.  Besides “majoring” in football, Coach Shin also has a public relations degree from the University of Hawaii, where he went to school after playing college football in the mainland. 

Click here to watch the in-depth interview

Punched in The Mouth: When trash talk goes wrong

Leading up to their Monday night season opener against the Baltimore Ravens, the New York Jets all but crowned themselves Super Bowl Champs.  The entire off season has been nothing about the J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS.  From Hard Knocks to Darrelle Revis to Rex Ryan to their off season acquisitions, New York filled the headlines and almost had everybody convinced that they actually beat the Colts in the AFC Championship game.

They were talking the talk and almost walking the walk until they bumped into Ray Lewis and the Ravens.  Monday night's game was guaranteed to be low scoring with defenses dominating and offenses trying to get into rhythm, but no one predicted how sloppy the Jets would look on both sides of the ball.  While they managed to force turnovers, New York's success was marred by ridiculous holding penalties.  All night long football fans were waiting for the NEW New York Jets to show up, but it was all smoke and mirrors.

For an offense that spent the entire off season "re-vamping", the Jets struggled to get anything going and Mark Sanchez still looked like a rookie as he constantly missed open receivers.  New York went 1 for 11 on third down conversions and started their first game since Hard Knocks, getting knocked hard.  While the Ravens D is no slouch, it seemed as if the Jets were only beating themselves with stupid penalties and lack of communication from everybody.


 While Jets coach Rex Ryan is entertaining with his one liners and "Get Some!" attitude, he needs to realize that while trash talking can be motivating...it's only effective when you put numbers in the W column.  The Jets had hopes to fly high this season and while one loss only causes a delay, they better hope they don't spend the season grounded.

The Wait is Finally Over!!!!!!!!

After months and months of useless summer sports filler such as the LeBronathon, Tiger's feeble attempts to get back on top (no pun intended), regular season baseball, NASCAR, and tennis, football season is finally here again.

Although college football was a good appetizer for fans, nothing beats the entree of regular season NFL football.  There are many storylines going into this season to keep our eyes peeled every Sunday and Monday night, here are a few:

-Favre's "last" year
-The Cowboys quest to be the home team in the Super Bowl
-The New York Jets
-Boldin is a Raven, so is Housh
-Saints trying to repeat
-Big Ben's Suspension
-Peyton Manning's Revenge (By far the most important aspect of the season)

While we can make division and playoff predictions till we are blue in the face, I feel that we should get straight to the point and talk about what will define this season.  After 4 MVP awards, a Super Bowl title, and numerous passing records, 2010 will be the year that defines Peyton Manning's legacy. 

Tracy Porter's pick 6 in last year's Super Bowl did more than give the Saints their first championship. It also supplanted Manning as the league's top quarterback and has henceforth made everyone second guess whether or not Peyton Manning is really the greatest ever.

Leading up to last year's championship, all the talk was focused on Manning and how this win would cement him as the greatest ever, Mr. Untouchable, but on the way to receiving his second Lombardi trophy the Saints showed up and a lot of fans jumped off the Manning bandwagon (only 11 fans showed up to greet the Colts at the airport after the Superbowl).

Throughout his entire career, we have seen Peyton Manning constantly overcome adversity.  For example, when he came into the league he was tearing up the record books, killing the regular season, but he continually struggled against the Patriots.  It wasn't until he beat the Patriots in the playoffs en route to his first title, Manning was validated as a great quarterback.

But since his first title, there hasn't been any championship success.  If he had beaten the Saints, Peyton Manning would easily be considered the greatest quarterback ever.  All he would have to maintain his legacy is pad stats, avoid any potential scandal and retire gracefully (something which has hurt Favre's career). 

2010 is all about how Manning will respond to his critics.

He hasn't faced this sort of criticism since before he won his first Super Bowl and this year is his chance to show the media, fans, and rest of the league why he should be number one.

Until Manning goes Denzel in Man on Fire on the rest of the league, the main thing is footbal is finally back and it's the most wonderful time of the year.

The First Word

Mark Carpenter here presenting what I hope to be one of the more informative and entertaining blogs here at Hawaii Pacific University.  Mark My Word will touch on topics ranging from sports, movies, television, and HPU as well.

I am currently a junior journalism major and an aspiring sports anchor/commentator.  Born and raised here in Hawaii, I'm attending HPU on a presidential scholarship and hope to be graduating in Spring 2012.  Aside from being a student, I am also a PA Announcer for a number of  University of Hawaii sporting events such as women's volleyball, basketball, and softball.  I'm a huge fan of anything sports and hope to one day be living out my dream as an anchor on ESPN.

I'm really excited to use Mark My Word as an insightful and somewhat provocative bastion of ideas.

With that said, let's get talkin'.....