For the completion of my Portfolio I project I chose the following blogs for certain sections. Many overlap because I find these certain ones to be the very best presentation of my effort. Hope you all enjoy!
Coverage:
*9-11 and the Web: This panel showed how the internet and blogging became an outlet for many people to show their anger and sufferings to a certain group of people.
*What a weird word...: During this panel we learned about Wiki's and how the are created.
*Add a little of this...: This is where we learned how to spice up our blogs with color and different fonts. This helped us each show our personality through our blog.
*Is it wrong or right?: This panel discussed file sharing. During class we got into a rather large discussion about the principle of sharing files on the Internet but we were cut short because of time. This was our way of getting what we felt out for to our classmates.
*Who Knew...?: During this panel we talked about Interactive Fiction. We actually got the oppurtunity to play a few games, and this is my reflection on IF.
*The Weblog Handbook: This is the first book we read. It gave us the basics on blogging.
*Hot Hot Text: This was the second book. This book gaves us tips that aided in creating our newsletter.
*Writing For The Web: The third book we read that described to us techniques, we as bloggers, could use to keep people interested in what we are writing.
Depth:
*Who Knew...? : Here I discuss the interesting world of Interactive Fiction
*Is it wrong or right?: Here I talk about File Sharing and the ethics that go along with that
*Add a little of this...: In this blog, I talk about how you go about spicing up your blog
Interaction and Discussion
*I'm so disgusted: This blog talks about an activity that angered me a little
*Is it wrong or right...?: File sharing and ethics
*9-11 and the Web: The role of the web after 9-11
Xenoblogging
*Stefanie Robb: In this blog, I explained about my live journal and the differnce if has when compared to a blog
*Victoria Mara: In this blog, I commented on a poem she put in by Shel Silverstein
*Vanessa Kolberg: Here, I commented on a question posted by Vanessa about thinking.
Wild Card:
*A Tribute: This was my tribute to Christopher Reeve. I truly think he was an exceptional human being and I was very sad to see that he had passed.
When this presentation came up I was really excited. I love to know what people think and feel about events that have such a huge impact in the lives of Americans. Obviously, 9-11 had a huge effect on everything involving our country. My fellow classmate Ryan Burger, gave a wonderful presentation on it.
The one part I really enjoyed was the link to the remembrance of the event. It is always nice to get another viewpoint on something as impacting as 9-11. I also enjoyed the section where Ryan talked about the pre-9-11 warnings. I, myself, am torn between believing that there were warnings to these attacks that could have saved several hundreds, even thousands, of lives.
I was upset because this presentation was cut short, but the information Ryan did cover was done very well. I'm pleased to see people taking a stand and voicing there opinion on such an important issue.
When I took this class, I really didn't think that I was going t have to change my writing styles that much. In actuality, I did. Nothing to drastic, I don't think, but it changed none the less.
When I have to write papers, I usually clump things from the same source together, given that it makes sense, so I don't have to site numerous times. On the Internet, I find myself looking for words I can link to. This is definitly not something I thought I would ever do.
Basically, Writing For The Web, re-explained to me how to write for the Internet. There aren't really a lot of factors, it's just that you need to make sure you complete them or people may not want to read what you have to say. These certain components are:
-Chunking. People don't like to see one long paragraph. Make several smaller paragraphs, so people feel comfortable reading it.
- Don't drag on and on and on. People don't like to sit and read fourteen pages that basically reiterate the same point.
-Use bulleted lists. This will better help people get the basics and give them less reading to do. Remember people are lazy.
-Make sure you know what kind of audience you are trying to reach. Don't write for children if you want adults to be your audience and vice versa.
-Links! Use plenty of links. They help you get your point across without having to type it word for word. Link a certain word to a page and the reader can click that link if they want further information.
All three books I have blogged about, The Weblog Handbook, Hot Text and Writing for the Web, have been extremely helpful in turning me into a better Internet writer. I hope they will do the same for you.
Ok, now I have never ever heard of a Wiki. I thought when Dr. Jerz brought this up he was studdering, I really did. But I soon learned it was something really interesting. I never knew you could go on in and add or delete something someone else wrote, legally. I mean, sure if you hacked into their computer or something, but certainly not by doing nothing wrong. Boy was I shocked!
Ok, quick overview. A Wiki is kind of like a webpage of information but people can go in and add or change something that may not be correct. Don't take my definition as being a good one. Check my fellow classmate, Michael's blog.
Anywho, we went in and played around with them. Since, I haven't had a lot of free time, I haven't been able to really go in and look at a lot of Wikis but I fully intend too. This is something that can aid people and I can help by adding something or changing wrong information. Don't know about the rest of you but that is definitly something I want to do.
We discussed how to personalize your blogs in class one day. Now, I didn't even know what the heck a blog was, so when we were talking about personalizing them, I was completly lost. But I eventually found my way.
My fellow classmate Valerie, explained how we can change the colors and font of our weblogs. I think that being able to do this is such a great thing. I mean this is a very good way of expressing yourself in more than one way using the same thing. Not only can I express through my writing and the words I choose to demonstrate my opinion about certain topics, but I can do so by the colors I choose to present my blog in. The can depict my personality or the overall depiction I have of myself.
I personally love making things different colors and can never really decide and this is so great cause I can change colors whenever I want. I'll leave the link below to the page where all the codes for the colors are. We also talked about making a blog roll. I personally still have problems with this so if anyone has any suggestions as to what I'm doing wrong, I will gladly accept them. Have fun making your blog your own!
"It's a bird... it's a plane... it's Superman."
Christopher Reeve passed away after developing a serious bloodstream infection. He then went into cardiac arrest Saturday, and died Sunday. Reeve was only 52.
Reeve's first claim to fame occurred when he took the role of Superman in 1978, performing all his own stunts in the movie. Reeve became an acclaimed actor and also an equestrian. However, in 1995 Christopher Reeve was thrown from his horse during a competition, and broke his spinal cord so severely, that his head actually had to be reattached to his spinal cord. This left him paralyzed from the neck down, confined to a wheelchair, and forced to breathe with a respirator. He did later return to do more movies after the accident such as a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window."
But it was from this accident, that Reeve began to do something that would make him a legend outside of being Superman. He began to look for a cure for paralysis. Christopher Reeve began to participate in stem cell research. Five years after his accident, Reeve gained feeling and could move his left index finger. Since, he had begun regaining sensation in other body parts, making the sky the limit for Reeve. Reeve always dreamed of walking again, and doctors believe that one day he would have.
Christopher Reeve, in some way or another instilled in us the drive to dream. He aspired to one day walk again, even though the odds were against him, and before he died, he made part of that dream come true. He also started a revolution for other paralysis victims can turn. He has given them hope for the future and will always be remembered for it.
So this is a tribute to you Superman, may you be at peace and guard us from up above.
Here are some more links about Christopher Reeves, and the controversy over Stem Cell Research.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/res_stem.htm
http://www.eonline.com/Facts/People/Bio/0%2C128%2C23%2C00.html
A few weeks ago, we discussed file sharing in our Internet class. I didn't know a lot about file sharing, but I knew the basics about it. I also knew about the controversy surrounding it.
Everyone remembers Napster right? Though I never personally used Napster, I do know people who did and loved it. Then the music industry got pissed off because "they were losing so much money." Of course we all remember that the leader of this group was Lars Ulrich from Metallica.
At first, I thought that maybe Napster was taking all this money illegally. But then I realized that the only person you ever really saw fighting Napster was Lars Ulrich. No other musician seemed to be as upset over it. Then I watched some different shows where it broke down where celebrities get their millions. Most of it, comes from concerts. Whether it is the tickets or the t-shirts, or whatever sold at concerts. Yes, they do get a hefty sum from selling CD's but it really isn't the main way of their money coming in. After seeing Lars Ulrich bitch and moan on the television every single day, I got tired of it, and found myself partially agreeing with the millions of teenagers who downloaded because the cost of CD's is outragous. $15 bucks for a CD, that you may only like one song? That's crazy. Like I said, I have never downloaded music but I understand teenagers points. Believe it or not, we aren't the rich ones here. We don't have money to constantly go out and buy a CD for one good song.
Now we all now Napster has since but shut down, but file sharing is still going on. If musicians really wanted to cut down on file sharing there are several things they could do. For one, cut the cost of CD's. They need to learn that their target audience does not have a lot of money to spend. Two, make single cd's with one song on them and sell them for less. Some kids only like one song on an albulm, and don't want the rest of the albulm so they don't go buy it. This cost the music world money. Even if they are selling singles at half of what they sell albulms, they would still make money.
Now is it wrong to share files? I'm not sure. People are torn on this issue and I am one of them. Yes it's wrong to steal but is downloading something that's already provided for you on the Internet stealing? I'd like some feedback. Give me some type of information that will help me choose whether it's right or wrong
Last Wenesday, Dr. Jerz gave a lecture on how the internet has basically turned into one giant scam. I never realized how many messed up people there are out there. Dr. Jerz had us all split into groups and type a certain phrase into Yahoo and see what came up and I was appalled.
I'm a Republican, well I will be when I can vote, but after typing in 'Miserable Failure' on Yahoo and seeing President Bush's homepage come up as the top listing, really pissed me off. Who has the right to add links using those words to describe the man who is running our country? Even if you don't agree with some of the things he is doing, the least you can do is show a little respect and human decency. People today are horrible. I'm can almost guarentee you, that some of the people that linked his website with miserable failure, voted for him four years ago. I'm almost 100% sure of it. I can understand being against the war, I partially am myself, but you can voice your opinion without being so cruel and heartless. I know that if I sat here and linked the word jackass with John Kerry's website, I would get so many people angry. It's the same when you do it to President Bush. People will get mad and defensive because he is the president. I don't really see the humor in that but I guess the sickos out there do.
I understand having a different opinion, believe me I do. I have them with most people concerning politics and other things. However, I know how to respect other people's opinions and I know how to give them a chance to make their point to me. I expect the same from them. The people who are doing all this crap on the Internet need to honestly get a life. Yeah, you're gonna get a reaction out of people, but later they won't even care because all you were doing was voicing your opinion but very poorly. They will soon pay more attention to the people who know how to properly voice what they believe and soon those of you who find humor in "rigging" things on the Internet to piss people off, will just be a very distant memory if not all together extinct from their memories. Whether you agree with me or not how good of a president Bush is, you need to at least show him respect.
Anyone got any comments? Let me know.
Jonathan and Lisa Price wrote the book Hot Text: Web Writing that Works. Since Dr. Jerz requested we buy it I did. However, I am actually really glad I bought it. It taught me how to hold a reader's attention while they are on my website or viewing newsletter Stefanie and I are creating. This book gave great tips like:
-Make sure that all the information you provide is current and reliable. People don't want information that is six years old and inaccurate.
-Make sure to have lots of media by way of sounds, pictures and enough links. Don't put to many, you don't want to overshadow the actual information.
-Headings are important. A heading will grab the reader's attention and make them want to look at your site.
There really isn't a whole lot extra that goes into creating a quality newsletter except to make sure you make the newsletter entertaining for the reader. Don't make it one big ad for some company. People don't want ads, they want something to entertain or inform them about some specific.
This book was so much help. If any of you are looking to create an email newsletter, I would highly suggest picking up a copy of Hot Text.
When the topic of Interactive Fiction came up I was less than enthused. Reading a story on a computer screen and typing commands, makes a game?? I sure didn't think so until Dr. Jerz, showed me that it can be fun. In class, we downloaded the file with games on it and began to play. We were required to play one 'Photopia.' It was great. I had so much fun playing the game.
Even though I don't know a lot about Interactive Fiction, I found it to be very stimulating thing. These aren't the types of games that involve you just answering questions, or coming up with stupid answers. These games require a large amount of creativity and thinking. These games would be great for little kids, to get them stimulated and thinking on a more creative level. Making versions of these for children and making them a part of a school curriculum, could be something that provides them with knoweledge, or thinking ability not present in most children. This would benefit them so much later on in their lives.
Interactive Fiction is a great thing that can help to possibly improve creativity in people and its just fun. I'll leave the link below so you can download the file and begin to play as well.