Reflective post #3

Now that the project is over, I'm kind of sad. I had a lot of fun putting it together. The only thing I wish I was more savvy at was doing the codes to add a banner or something to my page, but I'm still very satisfied with what I have. I'm glad that I quickly switched gears from my other project and immediately started to change everything, otherwise I'm not sure I would have it finished in time. I liked how mine didn't really have a story per se, but a purpose. I made it so that it wasn't just for the serious yogi looking for tips on how to better their practice, I used it as a way to communicate to people about yoga, both the fun things and the serious things. The only thing I wish I had more time to do was play around with video and podcasting. That's something I'm going to definitely continue messing around with in the future. This blog is something I could continue doing, to be honest. I feel that it has a different feel to it compared to other blogs I have read. It doesn't really do much to inform, but it's just a fun site to go to if you're interested in learning more about yoga. And I put a bunch of links to refer to in case someone stumbles on my blog and wants more information.

I liked this project. It's good to know how to use different media, not just for professional reasons but just for fun as well. And especially if there is a specific purpose behind the project, it gives you a chance to have a lot of fun with it, and then you want to see what else you can do. Keep this project!

Social Media

A couple of weeks ago I started using different forms of social media. I tried LinkedIn and Virb. What I noticed about these two was how different they were from other social media sites. The typical social media sites are for people to connect, or reconnect, with friends and family. Myspace and Facebook have created quite the craze among the youth in society. Prior to this class, I had never heard of either LinkedIn or Virb, so naturally I wanted to tr them.

I registered on Virb, and played around with it. It is very much like myspace except not only are you allowed to have a blog and photo capabilities, you can even load up videos on to your site so people can view them. I thought that was pretty neat, since you can view photos on Facebook and Myspace, but I had never found a place where you can upload videos. I became very excited, seeing how I uploaded my video project on to my Virb account.

Next, I tried LinkedIn. I know some people at the company I intern for use LinkedIn more as a business social site rather than just a normal social site. A lot of companies post intern and job opportunities on this site, and find people who they feel will be a good asset to their companies. Once I signed up, within a week, I found at least 10 people who used the website as well. I like LinkedIn in, because since I am graduating soon and am going to be looking for a job, the website provides me with the opportunity to basically post my resume on there for people to see.

Multimedia site under construction (Reflective blog #2)

My multimedia project has its own website. Click here. Enjoy.

I have a lot to keep doing. I had one idea, but it really wasn't working for me, so now I've totally switched gears. This basically happened overnight. I'm still needing to put videos up and figure out a podcast, but it's coming together. The page is called "Essence" and it talks about yoga for the mind, body and soul. I'm doing interviews of people who practice either meditation or yoga to talk about their experiences with it and everything. I'm using wordpress, which has been proven to be very helpful. I'm just figuring some more stuff out. Hopefully I will have it done by this weekend. I'm very excited to see how it all turns out.

Everyone's trying to catch a peek

So it looks like Yahoo! is trying to find a way to allow people to view the profiles of various advertisers on their site. Toni Schneider, CEO of Wordpress, brought the idea of an open system a few years back to the company, and of course, like every other semi-brilliant idea, they shot it down. But Schneider is not the only one to be thinking about this. Other companies are also looking for a way to bring advertisers' information out in the open for people to view. Apparently, slowly but surely, Yahoo! is working towards this direction, planning on having its members able to sign on once and gain access to all of its programs. The point of this is to try and get each individual under one roof, so to speak. They will be able to track various kinds of data from these combined profiles.

I honestly do not see the point in this venture. I don't understand who would benefit from looking at the profiles of these advertisers. I feel that, yes, they would probably benefit from the combined profiles of Yahoo! members, but I can't see the other way around. If I could ask Yahoo! anything about this situation, I would ask, "what exactly is the point of this?" Plain and simple. :)

Getting Started

Since I'm just starting the project, my expectations are a little low. I have an idea of making a website with photos and video about endangered Pandas because I love pandas and not everyone knows a lot about them. I wanted to provide it as a tribute to help save them and also provide links to organizations that also has the goal of saving them. At the start of projects I usually just go at it and see what I come up with. What I decide to do usually changed throughout the process, so I try not to stick to things too much. I think at the end it would be good because not only would I be done, I've learned a lot about how to use different forms of media, and the multimedia project could actually prove to be pretty useful. It's hard to say how much time any project will take. All I have to do is start it, and hopefully I'll get it done. I'm kind of excited to see how it will turn out.

NAB 2008 and Tim Robbins

Don't upset an actor on a mission. Tim Robbins has been accused of attacking the nation for its participation in the war in Iraq. After hearing of these accusations, the actor decided to speak at the National Association of Broadcasters' annual to deliver a hilarious, yet still attacking speech for both the nation and the viewpoints of the nation in the media.

Robbins criticized new media, like XM radio for example, saying that it got in the way of telling the truth when it came to President Bush and former President Clinton. He also criticized how the media does not report on important issues like they used to, and how some media consider the goings on of various celebrities more important than other more important issues. It is good that he said this because the media is supposed to be a way for the public to get information about different things that may be going on. It is their responsibility to deliver truth to society, and when they spend so much time delivering news about celebrities and their mishaps, they lose sight of why they are really here. Robbins wants the media to use their resources to take society into a more enlightened age, and not pollute the news with meaningless stories.

I think that it is good that me made this speech, because of his status in society, people will more likely listen to what he has to say. He is one of the few people that I know that has addressed this issue. An issue that I'm sure many people have noticed recently. He brought up very many good points about how the media needs to revert back to reporting important news, and not just "gossip-type" news.

My video project.

I am very excited to present my video project.  I'm sure it will win many awards. 

At first it started out as a story about my sorority and how we are moving.  There has been a lot of frustrations, and also a lot of comedy that has come out of this process.  What ended up happening, is the night before we were moving, some of us kind of snapped, and decided to "kill" an ugly wicker chair that has been in our house for decades.  We thought it was ugly and decided to whack it a few times.  We didn't realize that we were going to take it as far as throwing it off our roof.  Ssshhhh.

To view it, click here.  Enjoy.