DOS AND DON'TS OF WEARING RED LIPSTICK

From the time I was a little boy, my mum always wore red lipstick and had her nails and toenails painted red. I thought this was just the most beautiful thing in the world. I always think of her when I see a tube in the store. The mystery of the red lipstick has subsided in this new age where everyone is wearing the infamous Ruby Woo lipstick by MAC, and the funny thing is, it seems to fit everyone! Red is classy, bold and so sophisticated, but it must be worn right to pull it off.

Ladies, follow these steps so people won’t tell you it isn’t your best colour. That will be embarrassing! Don’t wear red lipstick the wrong way by following my simple rules.

1. Know What Shade Is Right for You

Here’s the thing about choosing a good red lipstick: there are many color shades suited for various skin types. You’ll need to try on many before you find one that works for you. They come in a variety of shades, such as orange shades of red, pink shades of red, and even cool bluish-reds. A safe and general rule is that women with fair skin should lean toward true reds with no orangey tones, while medium-skinned women look best in pinkish or orangey reds. Dark-skinned women should go for darker shades and even sport purple and wine-colored shades of red. This may take some trial and error to find what works for you, so be patient! Finding a good lipstick shade can take years, but don’t just go for the infamous red light red and expect to pull it off the first time. With all the many shades out there, it might not hurt to go to a makeup counter and have a specialist make recommendations.

2. Bring Back The Lip liner

Many people think lip liner is outdated, but when it comes to red lipstick, it is your best friend! The great thing about using lip liner with red lipstick is that you won’t see it like you will when wearing other shades, if you make sure to match up the lip liner to your lipstick correctly. The point of using lip liner with red lipstick is so it locks the lipstick on your lips. There’s nothing worse than finding you had smudged red lipstick on the outside of your mouth after a date! Or, worse, finding it above or below your lips. We don’t want you looking like Bozo the Clown, sweetie!

 3. Choose Your Outfit Accordingly

When choosing to wear red lipstick, you’ll have to base the entire rest of your outfit around it. Red is bold, striking, and can be brilliant if worn the right way. Yet, when it isn’t, it can be tacky, trashy and tragic! We want you to look your best, so wear red lipstick with a complementary outfit. Red looks great with solid black, such as little black dresses or a suit, and it also looks great with most evening gowns, and jeans with a leather bomber jacket for a more fashionable twist. It also pairs well with simple ballet flats, a brown or black outfit, and with a leopard accent such as a scarf. Just don’t overdo animal print with red lipstick; that’s a big no-no! Also, if you’re wearing sweats, leave the red lipstick at home and put on a gloss to keep things simple.

4. Don’t Let It Migrate to Your Teeth

Red lipstick is so bright and noticeable, that you can bet if it gets on your teeth, people will notice you, though not in the way you were hoping. To prevent this, be sure to blot your lips, and try an old trick well known to women everywhere. Insert a clean finger into your mouth, close your lips around it, then pull the finger out. You’ll get rid of the excess lipstick found on the inside of your lips this way. Just be sure to wash your hands after.

5. Make Sure Your Teeth Are Pretty And White

It can’t hurt to whiten your teeth regularly if you’re wearing red lipstick. Red lipstick does not look good on yellow-stained teeth from coffee, tea, or other dark beverages or tobacco. Ever seen a flashy white smile with red lipstick? It’s gorgeously bold and alluring, while also still looking clean and ladylike. If you’re going to wear red, wear it right and keep your teeth white!

6. Put Away The Pink

Whatever you do, don’t wear anything pink with red lipstick. This is a huge fashion no-no, and a red lipstick nightmare. This is a terrible clash of colors and will take away from the simple bold effects red can offer and seem overstated and nasty instead.

7. Tone The Rest down

When wearing red lipstick, be sure to tone the rest of your makeup down by using subtler, skin-friendly shades. For example, red lipstick pairs well with light brown eyeshadows better than dark black eyeshadows, or purples. Don’t wear rosy red blush with red lipstick, but go with a softer blush shade. Also be sure to get a clean, pressed powder to keep your skin looking soft and polished. Make sure you don’t overstate your eyeliner and embrace a good mascara!

If you wear red lipstick, let me hear from you, your experience.

TECHNOLOGY AND THE TRANSIENCY OF RADIO

Radio has been the preferred mass medium of communication in Africa and other parts of the world. For a long time to come, radio will remain to be the favoured mass medium of communication. In the age of an abundance of media it might come as a surprise to some that he oldest means of mass broadcasting – radio – is not only holding its own but managing to increase its audience (Fleming, 2002, p.5). Radio is endlessly adaptable. Even though there are challenges from other media, radio continue to be popular because of its ability to adapt to changes including technological advance and changes in the world. Stephen Bernard (2002) notes, “radio’s ability to survive in a competitive media environment has always depended on how well broadcasters tap into social, cultural and technological changes” (p.17). It is a fact that improvement in technology has made radio broadcasting simpler. This is to say that, getting items to air using digital technology is quicker than the old analogue system and the sound quality is better, but the advancement in the quest for technology cannot question the transiency of radio. Radio is transient and no matter the age within which we find ourselves, radio’s messages are fleeting.

Mass media, including radio performs the basic function of educating, informing and entertaining. Radio has its form and nature and that its characteristics. Among the characteristics of radio are radio has speed and it is simple, radio makes pictures, radio is person-to-person, radio is cheap, radio is transient or a one chance medium, radio is selective, radio lack space and radio has music. Some people think that due to the coming on of technology the transient character of radio is no more, but that is not true. In the midst of technology the transiency of radio cannot be questioned.

Radio is the process of sending and receiving messages by electromagnetic waves, a transmitter or a receiver is used for his sound broadcasting. According to Ul Hassan (2010), radio is a technology that transmits data to a remote point where a receiver detects that signal with the use of wire. Radio comes through the process of radiation. Radio broadcasting is a wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Audio broadcasting can be done through cable radio, local wire television networks, satellite radio and internet radio through streaming media on the internet which is supported by technology. Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. It is also seen as the application of science to meet an objective or solve a problem. Technology has affected every aspect of life including radio but cannot stop the transiency of radio.

The transiency of radio is the fact radio messages are “irredeemable”. This is to say that, they are “irrepeatable” in the sense that once transmitted, the message is gone, unless otherwise, a repeat broadcast is scheduled. Even then, the message is so quickly changing fast that the listener is unable to re-play the message the same time it is broadcast. Radio is said to be a one chance medium. The listener has only one chance to listen and understand and technology has not changed it in any way. On radio, what is being said does not exist any longer unless you record it and even that when it is being played again, it is fleeting because it is passing quickly and if you miss something and you want to go back, to have to go through the problem of stopping it, rewinding it and playing it again. Advancement in and the quest for technology, has not touch the transient nature of radio. The words on radio have a momentary life. After it is spoken, it disappears unlike newspaper or printed books that you can always refer to.

Technology has brought a lot of changes to radio but it cannot question the transient nature of radio. Radio is still transient and the messages are fleeting. Technology, without a doubt has brought so many good things to radio and even made working on radio easy. Technologies such as, multi-track and digital recording enhances this aural medium potential (Hilliard, 2008). There are some computer programmes like Podcast, Hulkshare, Sound Cloud, YouTube, just to mention a few of them, that are used to record radio programmes and played back later. For example, a podcast is a type of digital media of an episodic series of audio radio, video, PDF or ePud files subscribed to and downloaded through the web syndication or stream online to a computer device. Some radio stations and presenters rely on these technologies to record their programmes and put them on their websites or on social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Flicker, and so on, to be played later. It is believed that for instance if you miss the live show, you have a chance of listening to it again so its takes away radios transiency but I personally do not think so. Even when you log on which ever network and you decide to play the programme back, the messages are still fleeting and they pass quickly and go and you will only have to rewind it to get the part you did not get well. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and some other big media houses do podcasting to cater for people who missed the shows live but it does not question the transient nature of radio.

Kojo Ampofo who is popularly known as DJ Black on Joy fm records all his on air programmes and podcast them to be listened to later but if one goes to the podcast plays it, it is still fleeting just like live radio. The only thing here is that you can pause it, stop it, rewind it, play it but does not change the fact that radio is transient.

I would want to emphasis that, with the coming of technology which has brought a lot of blessing than curses to radio, radio remain to be a transient medium.

 BY: 

DESMOND LAMPTEY

GRADUATE JOURNALIST

RADIO XYZ, 93.1FM

REFERENCE

Bernard, S. (2000). Studying Radio. London : Arnold

Fleming, C. (2002). The Radio Handbook. London and New Year : Routledge Taylor and Francis Group.

Hilliard, R.L. (2008). Writing for Television, Radio New Media. USA : Thomson Wadsworth Boston.

Ul Hassan, T.A. (2011).  Brief History of Radio 

RADIO’S SAID TO HAVE MUSIC

Radio is used to educate, to inform and to entertain. As part of its entertainment functions, radio plays music. Radio has a rich array of music and the range of music radio provides is unprecedented. Radio is said to have music because radio has a huge library of music more than any music library in the world. With the coming of technology, one would have thought that, radio’s position when it comes to music will be taken over by the internet or other technological platforms but radio still has the most incredible range of music. Technology has rather made storage of music easier for radio and it continues to give out more different genres of music because radio stations can be found in almost all parts of the world. Radio is constantly changing and “throughout the last century, it  has adapted to cultural and technological change to remain a popular and distinctive medium despite the growth of television, cinema, cable and satellite service … and even the internet” (Fleming, 2002, pg1)

Radio is a technology that transmits data to a remote point where a receiver detects the signal with the use of wire (UL Hassan, 2010). Radio is also the transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves of radio frequency, especially those carrying “sound” messages. It is derived from radiation which is a principle that governs radio waves. Technology is a body of knowledge used to create tools, develop skills and extract or collect materials. Technology is also seen as the application of science to meet an objective or solve the problem. Technology has helped radio to improve on the way it stores music, thereby helping radio to give more different types of genres of music. Radio has got music and no other media or platform can change that.

Oxford English Dictionary sees music as a vocal or instrumental sounds combined to produce beauty and express emotions; the art of this is, the written signs representing this; something very pleasing to or welcome to the ear (p. 336). Music is a pattern of sounds made by musical instruments or singing or a combination of both, intended to give pleasure to people listening to it.

Hilliard (2008) stated that Radio, in the past and now is also music and talk. He mentioned that although talk and other non-music specialized format have recently increased on radio programming today is still principally music (ibid, pg. 302). According to Fleming (2002), most radio stations in the world are music based, and the style of each station is a crucial aspect of the station’s identity. Radio stations all over the world use music and the music they play are seen as a key component of its audience’s identity. Radio disc jockeys (DJ) use music to do their work on air. They bring a very rich array of music to the listener thereby increasing the music library of radio.

Now radio stations store their music on hard disk that is accessed either by a fader system or keyboard. In these times of technological advancement, radio can store more music. Hard disk can take a very large number of songs that makes the work of the DJ easy. Can you just imagine the number of radio stations around the world with hard disks to store music? It will be countless; multiplied by the number of songs each of the hard disks can take. Technology has rather come to reinforce the fact that radio has music and that it has an incredible and unlimited range of music.

Technological advancement has really helped radio musical library in a very positive way. Indeed radio’s said to have music and technology has been a blessing rather than a curse to radio. Unlike in time past, that, people used live instruments to produce music which also take a lot of time, now by the help of technology music is produced in a relatively short time. Technology has helped a lot of musicians and producers to release songs easily and in short time. Now a lot of songs being produced involve technology and it makes making music easier. As radio play these songs, it increases it library and this goes on all round the world. While people produce more Highlife, Hiplife, Agbadza and other local type of music, some other people somewhere also produce more  Jazz, Blues, Soul, Zouk, Ndombolo, Calypso, just to mention a few. These and many more are all played on the radio in different parts of the world. Radio has music that is unlimited. Radio plays every type of music and the range of music that radio gives is unprecedented to any found record in any record library in the world. Technology has played a very important role in this.

The genres of music on radio are varied. Now with the help of technology, we can listen to music from all over the world through internet radios. There are a lot of radio stations all over the world and now with technology, most of them are online. There are some radio stations specifically established for the internet. For example once you have access to the internet, you can use TuneIn, an audio computer programme which can be use to receive radio signals of radio stations all over the world; provided it is on the internet. This gives people all over the world to get access to different genres of music that radio has stored. Technology has come to help radio increase its musical library. Now with technology, I can be here in Ghana and listen to an Indian music from a radio station in India.

Radio has music and the technology advancement has really been a blessing to radio. Technology has really helped increase the music library of radio.  Technology brought internet radio and it has given us access to an incredible and unlimited range of music provided by radio. Technology has really reinforced that fact that radio has music and it is insatiable, inexhaustible and infinitiable.

 Desmond Lamptey

On-air person

Radio XYZ, 93.1fm

REFERENCE

Fleming, C. (2002). The Radio Handbook. London and New Year : Routledge Taylor and Francis Group.

Hilliard, R.L. (2008). Writing for Television, Radio New Media. USA : Thomson Wadsworth Boston.

Ul Hassan, T.A. (2011).  Brief History of Radio

m.articlesbase.com/education-articles/a-brie-history-of-radio-2169380.html

Science.education.nin.gov/supplements/nin4/technology/guide/lesson 1.htm

Aaron Tippin Ready to Fly Classic Plane: Boeing B-29 Superfortress is last operational craft of its kind.

Aaron Tippin, an accomplished pilot as well as country singer/songwriter, will be at the controls of a classic airplane when he flies into the Smyrna (Tenn.) Airport, outside Nashville, July 2. Airman Aaron will fly copilot aboard the Commemorative Air Force's famous Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, the only remaining flying example of the aircraft in the world. Aaron is a Commemorative Air Force member and also serves as a spokesperson for the organization.
The event is open to the public and will allow attendees to get up close with a variety of famous military aircraft. Cockpit tours of the B-29 are also available. The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is best known as the aircraft that helped bring about the end of World War II with its missions over Japan.
Aaron is a commercial, instrument-rated pilot and is also qualified to pilot a helicopter. On the musical side, he is currently part of a joint effort with fellow stars Joe Diffie and Sammy Kershaw on the album All in the Same Boat.

RELEVANCE OF ICT TO MASS COMMUNICATION

To deny the fact that Information and Communications Technology is not only important but crucial in Mass Communication is an understatement. In this post- modern world today, to live without knowledge of ICT is like having a pen in your hand without knowing what to do with it. Our world has become a global village without necessarily destroying our various cultures. Like the Radio and Television before it, the Computer has eventually become a home appliance that many people look at as an indispensable medium of communication. The purpose of this write up is to discuss the importance of ICT in Mass Communication. Let us begin with the definition of the terms.
According to Denis McQuail (2000), the term communication has many different meanings and definitions but the control idea is of a process of increased commonality or sharing between participants, on the basis of sending and receiving messages. Communication is the act of conveying information for the purpose of creating a shared understanding. It’s something that humans do every day (http://www.communicationstudies.com/what-is-communication ) . The word “communication” comes from the Latin “communis,” meaning “to share,” and includes verbal, non-verbal and electronic means of human interaction. Scholars who study communication analyze the development of communication skills in humans and theorize about how communication can be made more effective. The term mass describes a very large but amorphous set of individuals that engage in similar behavior, under external influence and are viewed by their would-be manipulators as having little or no separate identity, forms of organization or power, autonomy, integrity or self-determination (ibid). Many definitions of mass communication have been attempted. They range from simple “communication directed at the masses of people”, to more thorough and complex definitions such as Sydney Heads. He states: “Mass communication means the approximately simultaneous delivery of identical messages by high speed reproduction and distribution to relatively large and undifferentiated numbers of people”. Mass communication is the term used to describe the academic study of the various means by which individuals and entities relay information through mass media to large segments of the population at the same time. It is usually understood to relate to News paper and Magazine Publishing, Radio, Television, and Film as these are used both for disseminating news and for advertising.
Mass communication research includes media institutions and processes such as diffusion of information, and media effects such as persuasion or manipulation of public opinion. In addition to studying practical skills of journalism, public relations or advertising, they offer programs on "mass communication" or "mass communication research.
Information and Communications Technology or (ICT) on the other hand, is an umbrella term that includes all technologies for the manipulation and communication of information. Short for Information and Communications Technology, it is the study or business of developing and using technology to process information and aid communications (http://www.webopedia.com...).The term is sometimes used in preference to Information Technology (IT), particularly in two communities: education and government. In the common usage it is often assumed that ICT is synonymous with IT; ICT in fact encompasses any medium to record information (magnetic disk/tape, optical disks (CD/DVD), flash memory etc. and arguably also paper records); technology for broadcasting information - radio, television; and technology for communicating through voice and sound or images - microphone, camera, loudspeaker, telephone to cellular phones. It includes the wide variety of computing hardware (PCs, servers, mainframes, networked storage), the rapidly developing personal hardware market comprising mobile phones, personal devices, MP3 players, and much more; the full gamut of application software from the smallest home-developed spreadsheet to the largest enterprise packages and online software services; and the hardware and software needed to operate networks for transmission of information, again ranging from a home network to the largest global private networks operated by major commercial enterprises and, of course, the Internet.

IMPORTANCE OF ICT IN MASS COMMUNICATION:
One of the importance of ICT is that it has helped in the technological development of Mass Communication. With the increased role of the Internet in delivering news and information, mass communication studies and media organizations tend to focus on the convergence of, publishing, broadcasting and digital communication. The internet was created to provide easy access to much needed information, education and entertainment online. It provides less expensive option to these sources, because people can easily download an entire musical album from a website and use at a much lower fee. Also, introduction of this new technology has not only enhanced Mass Communication but also challenges the traditional concept of Mass Communication where according to the old definition, the source of Mass Communication message was defined as a large organization whose message is sent to a large heterogeneous scattered audience.
A case in point is electronic commerce on the internet which helps advertising agencies to advertise the products and services of their clients on the website which can easily be accessed by customers. Consumers are also able to shop on line at the comfort of their homes and offices which makes shopping easy.

Secondly, information technology has impacted positively on Advertising Agencies to increase productivity since they could easily access information on the customers of their clients through research on the internet, develop their advertisement and print hard copies of it, irrespective of the size of the copy. Likewise, public relations practitioners are able to easily analyse data collected from research on the internet and other sources and make it available to management.

Furthermore, media houses have also enhanced their performance with the use of information technology. They are able to gather more needed information and feed their audiences with current news and information through their website and other electronic media. They are also able to use the media to solicit views from their audiences on various issues. Similarly, press houses are able to plan the pages of their News papers and easily print the hard copies using this technology.

More so, the internet offers businesses information on the local and foreign stock market and the opportunity to trade their stocks. Financial institutions also make use of the information on the financial market to take decision. Government also uses information technology especially the internet to reach most of its publics. This helps to disseminate information on government policies and programmes. Political parties also make use of the internet and other electronic media to disseminate information on their selected candidates, party policies and programmes.
In spite of these benefits of ICT in Mass Communication, there are bad sides to it. The introduction of ICT, has rendered most communicators unemployed since their jobs can easily be done without them. Also, the inability to censor information on the internet or control certain information from reaching some vulnerable group of people in the society is a major concern to many people.

In conclusion, it can be realized that the development of Information and Communication Technology has impacted more positively on Mass Communication than negatively and so ICT plays an important role in Mass Communication.

WRITTEN BY:

DESMOND LAMPTEY

(SMOOTH OPERATOR)

GHANA INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISM & RADIO XYZ, 93.1fm

REFERNCES

http://www.communicationstudies.com/what-is-communication

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/I/ICT.html

Allen, R.R., Parish, S. & Mortensen, C.D. (1974). Communication : Interacting Through Speech. Charles E. Merill Publishing Co., A. Bell & Howell Company, Ohio.

McQuail, D. (2001). McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory. Sage Publication, Los Angeles