So in the end, Do I like Blogging?

Blogging... blogging, blogging and blogging. I'm not sure still if I like, it. I appreciate it more than I did before. I think blogging is great if you actually have something to say. So heres my list of people who should blog.

1. If your a person of public interest
2. If you have a specific knowledge
3. If you are reporting on something regularly
4. If your blog is actually entertaining
5. If you have an interesting story/ideas
6. If you are affiliated with an organization
7. If you want to answer questions

and I'm sure there's more type of people who should blog, the only people who shouldn't are those you just write about their day, would you call your friends and tell them about your lunch for 4 minutes.

My guide for blogging is think about what you would tell people at a lecture. If you have something that you would book a lecture hall and talk to 100 people about confidentially, blog about it. Otherwise, just live life until you have something to share.


Here's one more blog I'd like to share, www.ihatethis.org. I'm not sure if we need more hate, but my god it's good to have a rant.

Over and Out

P.s

Please Grade my Twitter, Data everywhere and this post.
Thanks and god speed

Project B: Video for YouTube

This is my YouTube video about YouTube,



Now I really got into this assignment, unfortunately maybe I got to into it and It went for 9:26 minutes. The crazy thing is that my first attempt went for 21 minutes, so it's an improvement. Now, I choose to do a sociological critique of Youtube. Because Youtube gives the ability for people of all demographics and cultures to converge, comment and share their opinions on all kinds of video data. It gives us access to moments in history, amazing images and videos such as close up animal documentaries and a wide variety of entertainment jus to name some of the things Youtube offers. The thing I found fascinating, with over a million people using it per day and all the different demographics of people that use it. This is the most popular videos as viewed my our 'new media culture'.

1. Evolution of Dance: 121,068,126 views
2. Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend: 120,016,435 views
3. CANSEI DE SER SEXY Music is My Hot Hot Sex: 114,281,553 views
4. XXX PORN XXX: 107,724,928 views
5. Lezberado: Revenge Fantasies: 104,500,164 views

Almost sad I find, thinking about how far we have come. And looking at how amazing Youtube is, these are the top 5 things we use it for. It reallysays something about how "civilized" we are as a society.

I've talked about this with some of my friends, and common criticisms I received for this idea is that a under 30 demographic is the main demographic that use Youtube. But in 2006, it was reported that 100 million people use Youtube, and logic an odds say that there is going to be people of all ages, education and cultures use this. So really, it doesn't matter if we think that younger people use it, Youtube is primarily used for these things. Anyway, I found this interesting never the less.

over and out

Data Data Everywhere, why don't we just sit and stare.

The biggest thing I have learnt from this unit I feel is the sheer amount of data available to me no the internet. And not only the amount but the way its presented. Long gone are the days of just reading a journal article, online paper or just a word based website to get your information. No, now we can view our data as an interactive image. Either with graphs, or videos or interactive visualizations, etc we are lucky enough to get our data in forms that we would not have access to 5 years ago. Below I'll attach some examples

40 Useful Infographics

This information page is presented in an appealing and exciting manner. These are all simple facts that could be presented in bullet point form, but intertwining them with fun pictures makes it more appealing to an audience and I know personally I prefer to learn like this.

What New Yorkers Like and Dislike about their City

The information here is presented really creatively, its a simple data graph but mixing it with flash makes it instantly more attractive and almost fun to navigate

Kayne West CGI

This last video is amazing and shows us how far technology has really advanced. They have created a human (in this case Kayne West the popular rap/rnb singer) and turned him into a CGI image. This to me is a perfect example of how far we have come in manipulating data. We can turn a human being into a virtual character.

This is just a few examples of the visual information that is everywhere, so don't just sit and stare. Get out there and have a play. Trust me it will make your day

WEB 2.0, what does it mean to me

From my understanding Web 2.0 is the evolution of the web to let everyday people control it more. I think it is the ability for the every man to add to the internet by blogging for sharing photos and such. Here's a video that helps give a clearer perspective. (This concept is still hazey to me, but never the less lest see what we have)



hope that helps, it gives me a little bit of clarity (but secretly I'm still in the dark)

Over and Out

API, no sure if I exactly understand it

API to my understanding is a file that has the ability to be added on to. Things like Youtube and Twitter, etc But still my understanding is very limited so I did some reading up on this. Its the interfacing of files and sharing. Here's an example



Look, to be honest I still don't fully understand this concept, nor is my brain inclined like this. But it's pretty cool and it's wicked that we have technology like this.

I hate concepts, Ignorance is bliss

I now realise I hate concepts, jargon and terms used to define things especially when it comes to internet technology. HTML to API, considering this new web 2.0 with the new forms of data visualation. I have now become a further believer of the old adage, ignorance is bliss. This blog post was going to be originally about multiplicity, but instead I've decided to can my speal on something I don't fully understand. Because really most likely I was just going to write maybe 100 words, hopefully more on a vague outline of what it is. Making it so ambiguous so I couldn't possibly be wrong. Attach a video as a further explanation or example and wham bamm thank you mam I am done.

Instead I decide to have a good old fashioned rant so maybe you (as the reader and marker) can learn more about me and hopefully breakout from these monotonousness blog postings. Firstly, how do you guys mark this. This must get so tedious, blog after blog after blog. All trying to be an individual, stand out yet still be academic. I've looked at the NMP blog roll and their all good yet the same. Because this assignment has perimeters, none of these blogs can be truly unique and they all in the end, tend to become similar. This is not the units fault, this may be educations fault because there rules and guidelines for how one assess students, and this makes it awkward for a creative course. But back to my original point, how do you mark this. Will this post be even read, as it is not one of my assigned posts to read. Who knows (well you do).

Fuck, there we are. I'm swearing in an academic piece because thats my dream. I'm gambling on the fact that this post will not be read. Anyway, I hope this has not been taken as an attack on this unit, because honestly I consider this unit the best one I have done this semester, I have learnt the most from it, because realistically I doubt I would have 'blogged' or explored some of the new technology available on the web without it. And that's what uni is about isn't it, actually learning. People put so much importance on grades, that we forget that we pay to come here. We pay to better ourselves.

I'm curious if I offered someone a guaranteed HD in a unit, would they turn up and do any of the coursework at all, when did I stop wanting to learn and just adhere to a system. Look I'm going to go one for ages, but this is really one of the only posts I've enjoyed because I've actually expressed myself. So i'm going to give you something back, one of the most amusing Youtube videos I have seen. Its amazing how I utilise an amazingly informative resource like Youtube.

Anyway
Over and Out sport fans

Design, it what makes the internet beautiful

Design is an hugely important factor for web pages these days. Long gone are the days where we just view a blank page with writing on it. Here's some design tips from the New York Times Tech section.

DO LEAD BY EXAMPLE
You should never assume the user understands your model or the goal behind your Web site. This means that you should know the purpose behind your site so that you can effectively relay it to the reader. A commercial Web site may have different needs — an online shopping cart, for example — from a personal one.

Assuming you are still reading this post, remember also that attention spans are short, all the more so online where leaving a Web site is just a mouse click away. This means you should never make the reader work to understand your Web site. Make sure that your navigation bar is both visible and clearly labeled. Any hyperlinks should also be clearly distinguishable from normal text, as should any visited versus nonaccessed links. Do not use hard-to-read or tiny fonts — Arial and Helvetica are generally good bets. Animated GIF files should also be kept to a minimum. Also make sure to include a smart search box.

DO MAKE THE WEB SITE SEARCH ENGINE FRIENDLY
Whether your Web site is for professional or personal use, you should design it with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. It’s better to use Web-safe fonts, for example, over graphic heavy text.

DO YOUR RESEARCH
Look at Web sites you like. Almost all sites have a core layout. Find a template you like and use it as your springboard.

DO TEST YOUR WEB SITE
Test your site in advance of its launch and regularly thereafter, even if you plan on updating it only infrequently. Make sure your site works on different browsers — especially Internet Explorer and Firefox — as well as across different fonts and screen resolutions. Broken links not only prevent a visitor from getting access to their desired information, but also present you in a less-than-flattering online light.

DON’T GET FLASH DRUNK
Or for that matter color or graphics drunk. When choosing your color palette, a minimalist approach is best. This is not to say you should avoid all design effects like drop shadows, only that you should ideally use them to communicate your goal and not just because you can.

DON’T ELIMINATE ALL WHITE SPACE
Some Web sites have a policy of no white space, also known as the blank space between text or other graphics. Here’s why yours shouldn’t. If used well, white space can help direct a reader’s eye to specific information you want highlighted. White space can also cut down on clutter and create invisible boundaries across texts. A no-white-space policy may result in a disorienting reader-based experience.

DON’T MAKE THE USER WAIT
Your Web site should load quickly. Don’t make the user follow along with a load box. If you insist on having music with your site, give the user the option to mute it. On the home page and elsewhere, keep pop-ups, banner ads and other ad-like content to a minimum, if not nonexistent. If you’re a Firefox user, you might try the Yslow add-on (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5369), which analyzes the speed of your page. Another useful add-on is Firebug (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1843).

DON’T BOUNCE AROUND
In other words, keep the look of your Web site consistent throughout. If your logo is on the upper left hand side of your Web site, for example, keep it there across all pages. Also make sure to have a tab on every page that lets users link back to the home page. If the reader has to rely on the browser’s back button to navigate around, you didn’t do your job. As a test, ask yourself if you’d be able to navigate your site if it were written in another language. Facebook keeps its layout the same irrespective of language so that even though I don’t speak Afrikaans, I can still get around Facebook’s Afrikaans language site.

DON’T CLUTTER THE HOME PAGE
Make sure your home page is clean and not overrun with links. The goal is to provide the reader with enough information to enter your site, not to scare them away.

DON’T FORGET ABOUT CONTENT
Content is ultimately king. Good Web design highlights the content and adds to it without detracting from the Web site’s goal. Still, good design alone doesn’t cut it. Text matters, so keep your paragraphs informative but short. Simply put, seek out the fluff and cut it.

What are your design rules when it comes to Web sites? Which sites do you think are really good (or bad examples) of Web design? Please add your two cents in the comments below.

Good Olde HTML

HTML started off as a simple markup for text. It was really basic way to do add a little bit for formatting to what was at the time a text only web. The tags where simple: links, text, bold, italic. Then there was some layout tags left, right, center. Then more layout tags, table, div, span and font. Pretty soon HTML was being used to represent the graphical visions of designers.

But now we have amazing tools like dreamweaver or frontpage, so do we still need HTML. I'm saying no but never the less it's good to know where web design originated from. And I went on a few forums and alot of people cross mingle a program like dreamweaver with their own codes to get their desired result. So, html is a tedious but a good thing I think, and really the foundation of our internet as we know it.

Procrastination, I live for it

I love procrastination, according to the ever reliable wikipedia (which personally I think is more reliable then people give it credit for

Procrastination is a behavior which is characterized by deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite procrastination as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. Psychology researchers also have three criteria they use to categorize procrastination. For a behavior to be classified as procrastination, it must be counterproductive, needless, and delaying.
For an individual, procrastination may result in stress, a sense of guilt, the loss of personal productivity, the creation of crisis and disapproval from others for not fulfilling one's responsibilities or commitments. These combined feelings can promote further procrastination. While it is normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological or physiological disorder.

The word itself comes from the Latin word procrastinatus: pro- (forward) and crastinus (of tomorrow). The term's first known appearance was in Edward Hall's The Union of the Noble and Illustre Famelies of Lancastre and York, first published sometime before 1548. The sermon reflected procrastination's connection at the time to task avoidance or delay, volition or will, and sin.




and here is a new favourite online game of mine. I've played it six times so far today.

from the inventors of stick cricket, I give you stick tennis

Motivational pictures, how I love thee

If you have ever worked in an office no doubt you would have received one of these "motivational emails". These are hillarious and I feel a little simply laughing at it. But these photos point out some of the weird stuff in the world. Lets have a look.

Twitter, I hate Thee

Meet Twitter, the new kid in school. This social networking service seems friendly enough, plays well with other technologies, and is totally cool in a geeky sort of way.

Twitter invites anyone with a computer to open an account and get their own personal Web page. There, they can upload endless updates on their doings in 140 characters or less. Twitter members can invite friends to join or hook up with new friends via the service and receive instant updates from everyone with whom they choose to connect.

Now if you ask me , I think twitter is useless our a high paced professional who can only afford a couple of seconds to post a status on where they are going for lunch. But generally peoples Twitters are just stupid one line jokes or comments about peoples lives that are totally uninteresting and pointless. if Jensen@Sydscene is stoked that he had a healthy filling lunch, I don't wanna hear about it. Heres a link to someone I knows twitter page. Look at the status or tweets and tell me if there is one interesting one. And I know people will say, but my twitter is more interesting and I make funny observations, and the celebrity pages are cool and it's good to keep a list of what I've done.

One: your Twitter is not interesting or funny, and you are no better than people who tweet about their sandwiches.

Two: I have never read a good or funny Twitter from a celebrity, even if the celebrity is a person I otherwise enjoy.

Three: whatever utility Twitter might have as a small-scale personal diary or communication cloud is negated by Twitter's tendency to clog up with @ replies and other nonsense.

If modern web design means that breaking news comes through Twitter in between “Mm, a BLT” and “@tweetfan22 I had macaroni too!” then I want no part in the Internet of tomorrow.

The Ugly

Look I really underestimated how hard it was to find "bad" and "ugly" blogs. You can't really search terrible blogs in google or Technorati. It's more so by luck or lack of luck that one comes accross a shocking blog. I used up my best material on "The Bad" so here's my the ugly

Fail

The only thing wrong with this blog is that its a tad busy. Apart from this, I love this blog. It is HILARIOUS, and it points out everything ugly in the world. Not in a deep way, just you find the stupidest things in the world here.

Over and out

The Bad

So we've looked at the good in my opinion, lets have a glance at the bad

PopLife

This is my first example. The sites too busy in my opinion, The blogs are to short and frustrating not giving a link to and more information about their posting. One can easily confuse the advertisements for the articles or related links. Bad business all in all.

But to prove that I'm not biased his one of my friends blogs for their band. The blog is terrible, namely because they were to lazy to put any information on it

The Fighting League

That is all, god speed.

The Good Blogs

More on blogging from your favourite friend of Optimus Prime continued

The good –

Special and Book Club

Now I'm very biased about these because all these blogs are done by friends of mine. But saying this, looking at them it's clear that their successful blogs in my opinion. Aesthetically they are very pleasing. The provide information in a clear and concise way and lastly there's no bullshit. It's setup to inform you about their clothes and it those so successfully.
But beause its my friends blogs I'll choose another which I have no prior affiliation with...

Drum Roll

SBS Movie Blog

Why is it good, I like the look of it. I like what it shows me and its information and lastly it's realiable and not bullshit excuse my french. The next post... The Bad!

More on blogging from your favourite friend of Optimus Prime

I have decided my blog style is going to very relaxed but at the same time credible and hopefully well written.
I'm warming more to the whole blogging idea, there's some cool blogs which are informative, insightful and not to let alliteration down interesting. Yet at the same time there is so, so, so many useless blogs out their. In this blog I shall explore. The good the bad and the ugly of blog posts...

In the next post! Sorry sports fans but I've decided to break up this blog entry into four separate blogs. Just it's just to space it out a bit and enable RSS feeds without there being so many. Look maybe this is not the best way to do it, so if it isn't for all the people who are following my blog just tell me. Hearing from people is sick, cheers Dazz

First entry or entry first in pig latin

So I'm a student at University of Canberra and am creating a blog for a unit which is Networked Media. This is my blog, I have nothing of interest but blankness drives me to suicide.

My question of the day, does being a blogger make you self involved with an under current of desperation for everyone to hear ones own opinion or is it just a fun way to get ur opinions out there, I'm still yet to decide