Awards 2010 - Best Secret Keeper

Today we learn who is the best person to keep a secret a secret in Gap. I'm surprised that anyone won!

The award goes to Sarah-Michelle!

The full tally of scores is below:

Sarah-Michelle IIII
Linda III
Kitty III
ShafaIII
Marta III
Khus II
Tajinder II
Atia II
James T II
Tufail I
Lira I
Neville I
Mo I
Matt I
Natalie I
Anis I
Amel I
Arif I
Christine I
Isabelle I
Beatrice I
Maria I
Frankie I

Awards 2010 - Best Looking

Here's the only category anyone really cares about:

You narcissistic people!

It's time for you to learn who is the BEST LOOKING

And the award goes to the prize pony of Gap, herself: KITTY

The full tally of votes and nominees are listed below.

*BLOGGER NOTE* It's wonderful to see the amount of people on this list, and good to learn that appeal can be found by everyone in anyone

Kitty IIIII I
Tajinder IIIII
Alex IIIII
Sarah-Michelle IIII
Khus III
Amel III
Tufail II
Hamza II
Linda II
James T II
Saifur II
Diana II
Joshy II
Krista I
Matt I
David I
Agniezka I
Victoria I
Anis I
Arif I
Shafa I
Lira I
Dan I
Teodora I
Jay I
Annika I
Most female employees (according to *a**e)

NEXT: Best person to keep a secret

Awards 2010 - Most Generous

Today we will learn who is most generous person in the store. Store is a broad term for where we are, but here's one broad for where we are termed who is undoubtedly generous:

MARTA!

Full tally of votes underneath:

Marta IIIII III
Hamza IIII
Isabelle IIII
Amel IIII
James R III
Atia III
James T II
Lira II
Alex I
Maria I
Natalie I
Emma I
David I
Arif I
Sandra I
Tajinder I
Shafa I
Oscar I

NEXT: Best Looking

Awards 2010 - Loudest

On this glorious day, we shall now learn who the public have deemed the loudest person in the store. In a landslide victory, it's none other than an unstoppble hat trick for the cleverest and funniest, perhaps in part due to his loudness: MATT

This is what you call landslide: Check dem shitz OUT!

Matt IIIII IIIII IIIII II
Lira IIIII I
Amel IIIII
Jennifer II
Tufail I
Alex I
Atia I
Shafa I

Next, learn the shocking truth as to whom is THE most generous in the store

Awards 2010 - Best Dressed

It's time to learn who in the store is voted by the majority as the best dressed: the person is..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Hamza

Full tally of results below:

Hamza IIIII IIIII
Tajinder IIIII II
Kitty IIIII
Sarah-Michelle IIIII
Tobe III
Atia II
Dan II
Victoria I
Saifur I
Anis I
Beatrice I
Delicia I
Linda I
David I
Diana I

Next: the loudest

Awards 2010 - Worst Zone & Worst Shift

A special mystery double bill this time, and after having to have sat through the cheesy self indulgence of the best this and the most so and so-est, it's time for a break. Now, prepare to learn the shocking news as McLeron.blogspot.com announces that the worst zone is

FITS

...and the worst shift, as voted by you, the accosted sales associates, is:

11-8

The full tally of results, found below:

worst place to be zoned
Fits IIIII IIIII IIII
Till IIIII
Front IIII
Mens II
Back of womens II
Body II
Baby II
Kids II
Stock Room I
Visual Room I
Window I
Logo I
Staffroom III

worst shift
11-8 IIIII IIIII IIIII I
1.30-10.30 IIIII III
2-11 IIIII
7-4 III
Overnight II
10-7 I
7-11 I

Next, find out: the most generous

Awards 2010 - Best Manager

And now the category that no one wanted to vote for, best manager!

The winner is...Dan!! (And so he should, he does run the place.)

To see how narrow the win was, see below:

Dan IIIII IIII
Daria IIIII III
Joshi IIIII II
Marta IIIII I
Emma IIIII
Jen III
Agniezka I

Next, a mystery double bill of award results!

Awards 2010 - Best Customer Service

Today, we can finally put it to rest that we now finally know WHO has the best customer service.

And that person is...Andreas!

Full tally of scores below:

Andreas IIIII III
Joshy IIIII
Victoria III
Matt II
Marta II
Atia II
Anis I
Hamza I
Cahit I
Wayne I
Shafa I
Arif I
Isabelle I
Saifur I
Jay I

Tune in soon to find out: WHO is the BEST MANAGER

Awards 2010 - Most Funniest

Today we find out the winner of the most coveted and important prize of all: who is the funniest employee? It gives me great pleasure to announce the winner is...A TIE. Congratulations Matt and Tufail!

The full voting list is below:

Matt IIIII IIII
Tufail IIIII IIII
James R IIII
Shafa IIII
Christine III
Tajinder III
Atia III
Anis III
Sarah-Michelle II
Khus II
Lira II
Alex II
Andreas II
James T I
Amel I
Jennifer I
Mo I
Neville I
Delicia I
Emma I

Next we learn who gives the best customer service?

Awards 2010 - Most Cleverestestest

The one, you've all been waiting for, the answer to the most pressing question submitted to Brompton Road - who is our cleverest employee?

The answer is...Matt!

The full list of scores in this category below:

Matt IIIII IIIII
Anis IIIII III
James T IIIII I
Joshy IIII
Saifur III
Atia III
Cahit I
Arif I
Dan I
Marta I
Kitty I
Tajinder I

Next...find out: who is the funniest employee?

Awards 2010 - Most Talented

Over a million people voted, and only about 40 got counted, and your winner of the coveted Most Talented prize is...

...David!!

The full tally of results
David IIIII II
Natalie IIII
Kitty III
James T III
Loic III
Delicia III
Marta II
Matt II
Khus II
Linda II
Anis II
Arif I
Larkin I
Atia I
Andreas I
Saifur I
Jay I
James R I
Victoria I

Awards 2010 - Most Likely To Make You Smile

Kicking off with the Employee Most Likely To Make You Smile...the winner is Tufail!

Full tally of nominations and votes:

Tufail IIIII I
Matt IIIII
Andreas IIIII
Shafa IIII
Anis IIII
James R III
Tajinder III
Atia III
Delicia II
Marta II
Alex II
Sarah-Michelle II
Amel II
Linda I
Francisco I
Lira I
Wayne I
Hamza I
Dan I
Loic I
Tobe I
Isabelle I
Arif I

Next...Most Talented

ILtL: S2 - Signs and Meanings

Introductions: Learning to Look
Session Two
Signs and Meanings
Semiotics or semiology is the science or study of signs or sign systems. You heard me.
The study was put forward by Swiss linguist Ferdinand Saussure
Pierce applied the study to make it scientific
Barthes applied the study to pop culture and media
Semiotics is vital for seeing how a message is communicated.
Essentially, this study gave credence to the belief that language is constructed by people so meaning is not fixed. Like how Buddha says there is no ‘I’ because we are always changing.
There are three types of signs:
1.) Symbol – made up of words and letters
2.) Iconic – which uses pictures and graphics to send a message
3.) Indexical – relying on knowledge of future causality i.e. inferred by body language
Signs are a dyadic model; there are two aspects to a sign: the signifier (the form that the sign will take) and what’s signified (the message communicated)
When I write my essay, I must find the signifiers and what’s signified and use them to back up my point.
Signs adhere to codes and conventions. The ingredients to a sign system are initially meaningless, but when applied with a structure and order, the message is clarified. For example 314151 may look like ascending numbers spaced with 1s, but add a decimal point: 3.14151 it becomes
Repetition helps us get used to this, and it becomes automatic and reflexive despite irregulars e.g. the past tense of ‘I go’ should be ‘I goed’ but it’s actually ‘I went’
Signs communicate through a system of difference. Saussure maintained that a solitary word has no meaning, and it is their relation to other words that give it a definition. For example dark is not an applicable term without the knowledge of light.
Similarly, Barthes describes signs as dyadic because they work two ways, with a denotation (the initial visual) and its connotation (cultural knowledge)
This sign ∝ is simply a squiggle, but its connotations give it a depth. It means ‘proportional to’ but also means vesica piscis, the Jesus fish, not only stopping there, it is Aphrodite’s symbol, and also connected to the Syrian sea goddess Atargatis, and in Ancient Egypt, the fish was often associated with Isis and Horus.
The link between signifiers and what’s signified is arbitrary.
Most things work through convention and our established understanding, our cultural knowledge.
Semiology is linked to Structuralism, a term coined by Levi Strauss, which like semiotics is all about an established order of society and its binary oppositions. For young to be a relative term, there must be old. There are rules of exclusion and associations, which don’t allow for much autonomy is society. For example if you are a woman, you are required to be dominated by a guy.
Semiotics has been criticised for simplification, as has structuralism. This criticism is what’s known as post-culturalism and post-modernism. Semiotics is not great in that it doesn’t assess what the audience ends up doing, only the implicated message.
Following on from this, signs are polysemic – it means there are many possible scenarios through the signs.
To prevent the sign from being polysemic, measures are taken to make the sign easily comprehensible and understood. This measure is known as anchorage. Anchorage is quoted as being there ‘to fix the floating chains of signifieds’ by Barthes. This is sometimes rather brazen and shamelessly unsubtle.
Adverts regularly resort to myth, thus perpetuating myth. For example, to sell alcohol, you must market it towards men because men are typically boozy beer-soaked swilling drunkards.
Brap! Donezo.

IM: S1

Introducing Multimedia
Session One

What is the internet, good or bad?
The internet is good because...
...it provides entertainment e.g. downloading.
...it is a source of information e.g. journeyplanner
...enables immediate communication e.g. msn
...no censorship – freedom of speech
...FREE
...provides realms for personal development and education e.g. Wikipedia
...people with difficulties get opportunities
...it makes everything faster e.g. Michael Jackson’s death
...you can keep track of everything easier e.g. online banking

The internet is bad because...
...no censorship – too much freedom!
...digitising everything causes job loss e.g. Sayonara, Borders
...it’s untrustworthy e.g. Michael Jackson's death again
...turns being unengaged into a Zen-like experience
...unsafe – lack of security e.g. identity theft, fraud
...limits human interaction – promotes a loss of social norms
...perpetuates a false persona e.g. Lord Xandir Cliffclay of Moria is actually Rick Smedley from Milton Keynes
...piracy, copyright infringement e.g. www.*******.com
...no regulation, so you can be susceptible to addiction
...promotes marginalisation on non internet-savvy people
...shortening of people’s attention span e.g. when you

ILtL: S1

Introductions: Learning to Look
Session One

I discovered that Media is...
...a means of communication
...a marketing tool
...a source of entertainment and information
...an industry
...is dissected through vectors of message.

It is essentially a message sent from a sender to a receiver wrapped in a code. My job as a media student is to read between the lines and deliberate on the purpose, motives, and benefits of this message.

I am doing this course because...
...media has become ubiquitous,
...media is a massive fiduciary commodity
...the media lessens individuality – it creates an autonomic society e.g. LOSE 5 LBS IN 5 MINUTES!!
...it provides lively debate
...media incites a moral panic e.g. SWINE!!!
...media sways the political tide e.g. Roger Ailes’ campaign for George Bush against Michael Dukakis
...the media cannot be trusted e.g. ‘IT’S A BOY’ (Heather Mills’ daughter)/ Michael Jackson’s death

The media is an avenue for escapism; by investing in other people’s lives we are less concerned with our own. What is more important to me? Giving good customer service or the fate of Ben Linus? All media is a thin disguise for adverts. The ubiquitous media is saturated with commercials, subliminal, liminal, and super-liminal. In magazines, every second page is an advert. There’s product placement in the films I watch. Television is interrupted regularly for commercial breaks. If I want to download pictures of Emma Watson, I have to navigate my way through several pop ups and get linked away to PartyPoker and endure 10 agonising seconds for the advert to leave before getting the good stuff. The message is: SPEND SPEND SPEND. A redundant message because the internet, magazines, films, and TV require me to spend money before allowing me to enjoy them. Why do I enjoy them, anyway? Because Emma Watson is fit? Because you are expected, if not required, to have a view on who should win The X Factor? Are we all being lobotomised?

My personal target for this term is to update this blog. My action plan is to not beat around the bush and Just Do It. Just a little time the morning after a session to revisit my notes and publish them here. We’ll see ;)