VoiceBox.

A must see for graphic novel fans

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:51:07 -0500

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!

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:36:41 -0500

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]

Mon, 26 May 2008 16:24:34 -0500

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

Mon, 19 May 2008 20:28:27 -0500

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

Mon, 19 May 2008 00:03:12 -0500

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

Thu, 08 May 2008 14:24:31 -0500

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.

Wed, 07 May 2008 02:06:29 -0500

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

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:31:07 -0500

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)

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:01:31 -0500

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.

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:58:11 -0500

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)

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:32:54 -0500

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

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:32:00 -0500

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

EL336: Kirschenbaum (Chapter 3)

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:11:04 -0500

From page 133 of Mechanisms: "...must of what we tend to essentialize about new media is in fact merely the effect of a particular set of social choices implemented and istantiated in the formal modeling of the digital environments in question." I think what Kirschenbaum is trying to say here is that our ideas about new media are based on the choices we make when using the new media--which I would absolutely agree with. This is especially true when playing Interactive Fiction (IF) games. If an inexperienced IF player sits down at a program such as Inform 7, it's been to my knowledge that they want to type natural commands such as, "go toward the door" instead of "north" or "walk north" or "go nortth." The inexperienced players want to type commands how they speak, not knowing the computer does not comprehend such commands. This type of user would become frustrated because they would never make any progress in the game and therefore write-off IF altogether. My mother is the same with word processors. She doesn't have the kind of education to know what choices to make in the program- she doesn't know how to center align text, or italicize text, etc. She can type efficiently, but that's because she already knows the choices to make--simply hit the appropriate key. Even if she accidentally hits enter and makes a line break, she becomes flustered because she doesn't know what she did to get there in the first place, so how could she possible correct her actions? New media can make us feel unintelligent because society, in general, I think, feels that that they should automatically know how to operate it. Sending an e-mail or typing a document in a word processor these days, for our generation, is common knowledge. When I pick up my friend's Curve, which is a new modle of a cellular telephone by Blackberry, I'm baffled because the interface is so different from most other cell phones. This era of time craves technology, but it is human nature to fear something new and different from the norm. For example, I would never get an Mac computer, even though they're releasing some extremely powerful and efficient computers, because I need to have my left and right mouse buttons. Although I'm now accusomed to using Macs when producing The Setonian, and in digital imaging and graphic design courses I've taken, I could never own one. Had I grown up as a Mac user, I'd be singing a different tune. I'd rather sacfifice cutting edge technology for comforting familiarity. This might be why until last May, I was using a Compaq Presario from 1998, which I had to reformat about 7 times over the years I had it.

EL338: Kirschebaum (preface, chapters 1 & 2)

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:15:22 -0500

From the preface of "Mechanisms" on page xi: "As one turns the pages, the drawings, some printed with uncured photocopy toner, rub and smear--a book that cannot help but to be remade in the act of reading." First of all I'd like to say that William Gibson was naive of technological process when he intended Agrippa to be read only once. I understand the tactic, but did Gibson really think that this sort of disappearing hyperliterature would work? It's not even a matter of using technology to capture the words, for example copy and paste, but the reader could write the lines down as he read the fleeting lines. Perhaps he tried to convey that words only pass us by from day to day and how we let them affect us is our choice. Anyway, I chose this line from the preface as my first agenda item because it struck me for the obvious reason of after reading it I asked myself, "can we remake books just by reading them?" In Gibson's case, the answer is yes because of the choices he made when going through the writing and publishing process of Agrippa. The smearing of the toner leaves marks on the book individual to the initial reader, and whomever picks up that copy of Agrippa some years down the line, they will form their own impressions not only from the original text but from the altered pictures of the previous reader. Take away the uncured toner. Can we still remake a book by reading it? The only answer I have is undefinite, yes and no. Clearly the printed word is permanent, therefore readers have no way of altering those words simply by reading them; however, I thought about note-taking in the margins, but there the act of not just reading but writing is involved. Chapter 1, Page 42: "With electronic text we are always painting, each screen unreasonably washing away what was and replacing it with itself." -Michael Joyce, 1992 This line I feel marks the difference between print and electronic text. As aforementioned, the printed word is concrete and everlasting. Though electronic text is indeed published material, it isn't permanent as printed material because electronic text can be altered and quickly republished by millions of people (with computer access of course) at any given time of day. I found it interesting and true that Joyce likened electronic text to painting. When I think of painting, I think about the process of layering the colors and palcing my brush on just the right point on the canvas, because once the brush stroke passes over the easle, that paint cannot be removed. It can be blended and covered, and smeared with futile attempts to wipe it away. Electronic text is similar, the original form remains the same but others come along and add to it, take away from it, argue with it, etc. In this sense, Wikipedia could be likened to an enormous painting that's never finished.

I love Movable Type 4.0

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 10:47:30 -0500

On behalf of my sanity, I would like to thank Dr. Jerz for upgrading to Movable Type 4.0, because I was up until 4 writing the previous blog entry for my portfolio, which I'm still not finished with, I have another paragraph to go. I was finishing my work for Monday last night after work so I could spend the day today with my WONDERFUL boyfriend, Paul, who proceeds to get up before me this morning and get on my computer. After a while, while I was rolling around in bed in and out of sleep, I realized I'd left the in-progress blog entry open. OH. NO. Yes, he closed the browser. After bounding out of bed, lighting a cigarette, throwing the lighter across the desk, and telling Paul to get out of my sight, I clicked on "Write Entry" and saw a link that said, "A previous version of this entry has been saved." Hallelujah, baby, hallelujah. Paul is alive, I am awake, and we are both happy. I guess I still love him, kinda. :-)