VoiceBox.

Nicholas is back to school.

2008-10-08T23:52:14Z

maverick9825: ok so im in english and im having trouble putting thoughts onto paper Sun and Storm: yuuup maverick9825: im writing about this maverick9825: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROpmVabrBB8 Sun and Storm: the dreaded blockage. Sun and Storm: OOO! my stud! maverick9825: i have to write an appeal to the reason maverick9825: appreal to emotion maverick9825: and appeal to credibility Sun and Storm: i LOVE this commercial. maverick9825: yea me too Sun and Storm: of the commercial? maverick9825: yeah maverick9825: we're learning about like rhetoric Sun and Storm: what do you mean by an appeal? maverick9825: like you as the viewer maverick9825: appealing to this commercial Sun and Storm: oh haha okay maverick9825: like emotion passion for hockey Sun and Storm: okay so tell me your thoughts so far maverick9825: i dont know i hate doing this maverick9825: well reason for appeal Sun and Storm: HAHAHA nicholas come on lemme get it outta ya maverick9825: the reason for the appeal for me is the talent that is being taken place maverick9825: its sidney crosby Sun and Storm: what's appealing about it--think about it... your audiences are going to be different. or is this just YOUR personal view? Sun and Storm: okay so it's just about you. maverick9825: i think Sun and Storm: that's a good start. you can talk about how hard it is and how much practice it takes to be able to execute those kinds of shots Sun and Storm: basically you want to expand on your reasons as much as possible Sun and Storm: it's appealing because he's the essence of athleticism, you know? Sun and Storm: is the paper concerned at all with what the ad is selling? maverick9825: see this is why i ask you for help Sun and Storm: all men, and even many athletes strive to be as good as sid maverick9825: yeah maverick9825: it just says appeal to reason maverick9825: and then a bunch of blank spaces for me to write in Sun and Storm: haha Sun and Storm: think of the tagline too, i am what i am Sun and Storm: the ad is telling the audience that it's brand can help you better your unique talents maverick9825: yeah Sun and Storm: so that's your reason... now what enforces that Sun and Storm: he's wearing all reebok when he's doing the different activities in the commercial Sun and Storm: weight lifting, off ice training, his uniform on the ice maverick9825: yeah i think i got it now maverick9825: i just went up there and asked her Sun and Storm: HAHAHAHA Sun and Storm: you're cute maverick9825: i HAAAATE working in groups more than anything Sun and Storm: oh is that what you're doing? maverick9825: yeahh Full Sail University gives each student a laptop. It comes in handy, haha.

I love my mom.

2008-09-20T17:21:28Z

About 5 minutes ago: "Oh honey you need somebody who is truly as wonderful as you are. You are a little little girl yet. My mother always told me that if you can't be truly happy when you're alone than you will never find anybody who makes you whole anyway." Amen, mom. Amen. I'm working on that...

That's my boy.

2008-09-12T06:42:10Z

My baby brother is my angel. He's a senior at Hempfield Area High School, and he'll be 18 at the end of November. I heatedly moved out of the house that was built around me as a baby the day I graduated high school due to complications from my parents divorcing. I moved in with dad, and Dougie stayed with mom. It's been that way ever since, and though we're about 5 minutes away from each other, with our schedules we're lucky if we see each other twice a week. And every week the person he continues to grow into never ceases to amaze me. Dougie was always a special kid, he was memorizing books by the time he was two. A stranger would have thought he was actually reading, because he knew what words were on what pages.When Disney released "Beauty and the Beast" he had the prologue memorized. You know the scene, where you first see the castle? His memorization skills remain uncanny today, and his mental math abilities are reminiscent of "Rainman." I believe he was 10 when he reached third degree black belt in the Tang Soo Do discipline. I always say he's good at anything he wants to be good at. Today he's a first-team All-Conference defensive lineman, and offensive left tackle for the Spartans, as well as a co-captain. He's also the starting heavyweight on the wrestling team. He had no experience in either sport previous to high school. I suppose his dainty 6'1" 280 pound frame tells the story: he was made to crush people. Haha. Our mom says that he's a "refrigerator with a head." He basically consumes any doorway he passes through. He has a heart of gold, though. He never hangs up without saying he loves me, and will still give me a kiss in front of his jock friends. Now that I'm done gushing, my main point for blogging this was to share some recognition my baby bro's been getting, and he most certainly deserves it. He's the essence of sportsmanship in my opinion, but of course I'm a little bias.

Q&A with Doug Knight of Hempfield

This originally appeared in the September 4, 2008 issue of the Tribune-Review on page C7. It was a killer spread over 2/3 of a page.

Both appeared in the print version of the Tribune-Review. The top was from the August 30, 2008 edition and appeared on the front of the Sports page. The bottom was from an issue last season, I'm not sure of the date.

This currently appears on TribLive. Do not make him angry. He benches 345 pounds and squats 460.

Good luck this season, Dougie! I love you.

A must see for graphic novel fans

2008-07-28T18:51:07Z

WATCHMEN

I am ecstatic! I read the graphic novel for Topics in Media Aesthetics with Dr. Wendland last year and really enjoyed it.
The trailer looks phenomenal and I will definitely be paying for a movie ticket to see this!

I'm on vacation!

2008-07-21T15:36:41Z

And...

Me (11:20:44 AM): hahaha i have sent 8 e-mails since 9:56
Leslie (11:20:51 AM): gooodd
Leslie (11:22:56 AM): youre a mover

...But after this, I'm going shopping! [Yeah, I removed the screen names - even though hers is on Facebook and mine is my e-mail address. I guess that's just a netiquette habit]

The Washington Monument [May 25, 2008]

2008-05-26T20:24:34Z

I took this photograph yesterday. Apparently my camera didn't like the new batteries. That was the only photo I was able to take, and from much farther away than I would have liked - I was even walking when I snapped it. Luckily it's a beauty. Talk about a rat race! I had a fantastic time but I will never go to D.C. again during a holiday weekend. Museums were nearly pointless as they were more like an amusement park. Actually, I've been to amusement parks where there was more of a traffic flow. I just started letting people bounce off me at one point. At any rate, the weather was beautiful (as you can see, not a cloud in the sky), the company was grand, and there were over 300,000 motorcycles there yesterday.

Yearbook Arrives with Altered Photos

2008-05-20T00:28:27Z

First of all, I'd like to thank AOL Mail for displaying daily top news in a convenient, small Flash slideshow appearing as soon as I log in. It's an excellent service (also where I got the last blog entry from), that does not interfere with viewing my mail and since I barely get to watch any TV let alone have time to watch the news, it keeps me posted on all the hot topics so I gain at least a small chance of having intelligent conversation from day to day. :-)

This headline that caught my attention about 5 minutes ago:

Yearbook Arrives with Altered Photos

Photo credit: Sonya N. Hebert, Dallas Morning News Clearly the same photo (they use the same picture for the yearbook and ID cards) but the body is clearly altered as well as her hair. First of all, I think this is so absurd that I'd swear journalists make this kind of stuff up, but it's real. It's hard to believe as an editor who publishes numerous photos of mainly people, and newspapers are disposable. What I mean by that is, people read a newspaper and generally throw it away or recycle it as an impromptu umbrella or gift wrap. A yearbook is a keepsake of cherished memories, a place where students attempt to present themselves at their best, that I'd like to say is priceless but are usually upward of $100 in most high schools today. My junior high year books were $50 and only a quarter of the size of the high school year book, which my little brother, a junior, just paid $85 for. It's just ridiculous that anybody would consider altering these photos let alone actually doing it. I do think the request to have the heads the same size and the eyes line up doesn't make sense. How did the high school expect Lifetouch to do that with out altering the appearance of the students? I could understand making the top of the heads line up, or perhaps the shoulders... Regardless of the picky request, the employee who did this deserves to lose his/her job, and I sincerely hope nobody in the photography industry hires them again.

Nugget of interview knowledge

2008-05-19T04:03:12Z

The 10 Biggest Minutes of Your Interview Posting this as an archive for myself first, but also with thoughts of the recent graduates - congratulations to you all and best of luck!

EL200: Project Portfolio

2008-05-08T18:24:31Z

Hello, and welcome to my weblog where this entry is the final compilation of my term project for EL:200 Media Lab at Seton Hill University. This is a course taken for 0-1 credits for participation with the campus newspaper, The Setonian, for which I currently hold the position of editor-in-cheif. For my term project, I undertook updating The Setonian production manual which was last done in 2005 by then editor-in-chief Anne Stadler and Amanda Cochran, news editor (who went on to the top role after Anne). Basically the manual needed sorted through and organized. Most of the content was fresh and concise even from three years ago, but I added a few things like articles on editorial position duties written by other Setonian staffers, a handout on QuarkXPress, and other "examples" like article assignment formats.

Informal Reflection- reflection on my term project

Relevant Communication:

Portfolio 1

Portfolio 2- Second report of progress on my project within portfolio 2

Boord Talks Business- My article on Jennifer Boord, who was business manager for The Setonian until this semester, as per the class assignment to contribute to my project

One Page Handout- This is a handout I included in my revised version of the production manual on layout tips and reminders

Heart.

2008-05-07T06:06:29Z

Photo I took of Paul and I a few days ago. I changed it to black and white while it was still on my camera, and my fan happened to be right between our faces, under our noses, so I took care of that with Paint. Yes, Paint.

EL336 Portfolio 3: From Print to Digital Culture

2008-04-29T05:31:07Z

Hello, and welcome to my first portfolio for EL336, an English course offered at Seton Hill University. This course is broken up into three modules: oral to manuscript culture, manuscript to print culture, and print to digital culture. The formal title for this course is Topics in Media and Culture--professors who teach this course switch up the material covered from semester to semester as they see fit. The topic that Dr. Jerz chose for this semester is the history and future of the book. So far in this course I've learned that these transitional phases in technology (yes, the book is a form of technology, though some of us fail to realize it) were frightening for those living during these phases and experiencing them first hand. Writing wasn't always considered a skill that every human needed to learn, and technology hasn't always been embraced the way it is in today's world. I've also learned that print made modern day education possible. The book is first and foremost looked at as an educational tool by the masses, but reading books is also one of the world's favorite past-times. Books made critical thinking possible--before the world of print existed, there was very little material to be critically thought about in the first place, and the material that did exist was very hard and expensive to get a hold of because it had to be hand-copied. The telephone is to our voices as the book is to the written word, it's an extension of reachability. In conclusion, I've learned that as the technologies of the book and printing become fortified by the Internet, much of their essence remained in digital culture, which is why new media transitions so well into education and academia. Below are links to my blog entries discussing my thoughts on the assigned readings for this course: ...::::Coverage::::...
All entries fall under this category since they all include a link to the assignment, a direct quote from the reading, and name the source. ...::::Depth::::...
Aarseth (5, 7, 8)- Noticing innovations in communication technology Choynowski- I discuss Dani's observation about hiding social anxiety through e-mail, instant messaging, etc. Sawyer- I discuss Kayla's question on how the typewriter affected mood upon it's lease to the masses Kirschenbaum (preface, chapters 1 & 2)- The Internet and making "disappearing text" permanent Kirschenbaum (Finish)- Why do Internet users feel the need to alter published work when making copies of it for online use? Doctorow (86-End)- Are there Haunted Mansion fanatics out there like the characters in Doctorow's book? ...::::Interaction::::...
WM Turkle- Leslie comments on my observations that the internet is a buffer for personas Kirschenbaum (Chapter 3)- Leslie, Dani, and Kayla comment on my observations on how new media makes us feel ...::::Discussion::::...
Rachel on Kirschenbaum Leslie on Kirschenbaum

EL336: Doctorow (86-End)

2008-04-29T04:01:31Z

From pg. 102 of Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, by Cory Doctorow: "Those are terrific," Dan said. "That guy must be a total fiend." The meshes' author had painstakingly modeled, chained, and animate every ghost in the ballroom scene..." This quote immediately made me stop reading, and start searching for real Haunted Mansion fanatics, and new media they've compiled dedicated to the mansion. I found several YouTube videos of videos that DisneyLand patrons taped themselves: Haunted Mansion Disneyland The Haunted Mansion ride-through at Disney's Magic Kingdom The 2006 Haunted Mansion Halloween Walkthrough Haunted Mansion Elevator Even a very rough start of a 3D model of the mansion (made with Blender)... 3d haunted mansion virtual ridethrough One of the same author's updates on the project (Liberty Square haunted mansion)... Haunted Mansion Facade An artists various representations of the Haunted Mansion paper model based on his 3d model made using Lightave 8.0 by Newtek I wanted to see if there were mansion fanatics out there like the characters in Doctorow's book, and I found them for sure.

Software chatter.

2008-04-23T23:58:11Z

Found this so interesting I had to blog it quickly... How Microsoft Word 2007 read this pasted line from a .pdf of an old book: *Click to enlarge* Okay, back to the paper...

EL336: Kirschenbaum (Finish)

2008-04-22T13:32:54Z

From page 240 of Mechanisms: "Indeed, there is strong argument to be made that digital information can best ensure its own longevity through its unprecedented capacity for proliferation, and textual theory must take this into account." This line comes shortly after Kirschenbaum cites a source who says there is no real way to "pull the plug" on digital text. He then goes on, after this, to say that users browsing for "Agrippa" will find some page errors, which were the first attempts at the document's erasure from the web. Somebody, or some group of people, tried to ensure the original intent of the author--that the text be ephemeral; however, there are always more groups or individuals who, for some reason, have the need or want to publish copies of "Agrippa" elsewhere and this immortalizes the digital versions of "Agrippa" even though they might have slight changes, which Kirschenbaum points out are "acts of deliberate intervention rather than an accident of [file] transmission." From page 161: "None of this considers the possibility that copies of Afternoon have been individually altered by their owners and put into circulation, intentionally or otherwise..." I chose this statement because I wanted to raise the question of why people feel the need to alter work that is not their own and publish it on the Internet? I understand that some people may have a reason to alter work, for example, students who are re-writing published pieces for creative assignments--but in this case, if they are being published on the Internet (or elsewhere for that matter) that the piece in it's original form should accompany the altered form. But how does the general public justify altering works by others? I think with today's Wikipedia world, that editing the works of others is commonplace and accepted online, however Wikipedia is a special case because those using the resource are knowledgeable in the fact that it is being edited by millions of people every day.

AIM: Rodriguez

2008-04-22T03:32:00Z

Leslie: "Really Stormy, who uses InDesign anymore? Nobody." *silence* April 21, 2008 11:30 pm