Comm 352: Webpages!

The navigation for each site is as follows:

http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/1-lar-desouza

1. The Gutters 

• The homepage showcases the newest comic, ( I linked to the very first to have some consistency)
• The sections below each strip is the navigation as it allows movement between each comic.
• Tabs for "About" "Home" "Archive" "Artists" "Submissions" and the "Shop" allow easy access to just about any segment you may need for the site. 
• I can't begin to fathom a means of improvement for this set up as it works well, especially in the archives section which displays the dates of the works. as well as which artist worked on it.

    http://www.thedrunkenmoogle.com/

     

      2.  The Drunken Moogle

• Little difficult to navigate but allows you to search for specific drinks you are looking for.
• Could use an upgrade navigation-wise as opposed to having to look for things.
• Posts newest drink as they are submitted or reblogged.

        http://www.minecraft.net/

         3. Minecraft

• Easy access to the resources and the tabs are very intuitive, yet simple.
• Has spot for you to buy the game straight up if you know you want it.
• Great to have the statistics updating towards below a video example of the product.
• Latest news feeds are also a great touch to keep people updated about the product and its creator.
• Not much really needs added other than a calendar for upcoming events and scheduling.

Comm 203: Social Media to the extreme.

If you knew every idea in my mind it would scare you. It would scare you that one person thinks and feels so many things all at once. That one person may think of everything and nothing all at the same time.

Frankly, I don't want you to know. I don't want you to know how I busted my right eyebrow in grade school and now live with this stigma that I feel my face is uneven. Also, I don't want anyone to know about the scar along my hairline, I keep my hair long for that. I also don't want anyone to know about the time I lost myself to anger and nearly put someone in the hospital. I don't want any of that divulged, nor any of my other secrets.. because they are mine.

People are allowed to have secrets. Things about them they want no one else to know. We are complex that way. We are human that way. To know everything of every moment is a scary thought. We as a people already worry too much what everyone else is doing, saying, or thinking about one another. Do we really need more? Do we really need to fully in the know about one another?

I think not. We need mystery. We need one another, and yet for some it is harder to be close to others than most. Some worry how others receive them, while for others it is just a simple fact that they love everyone like I do, and simply want to be around them. Humans have thorns, as all the most beautiful things do. We cannot go on thinking we can always keep them from people, but we can't let some program do it for us.

If technology is to become more, we have to become more.

Comm 203: Pen is Mightier than the Sword?

In direct response to the CNN Article:
 "Latest battlefield in Mexico's drug war: Social media" 

tonynetone

Many great minds throughout history have had to fight oppression to give the world their message. Galileo was definitely one of them and his exploits were punished just as many others had even though he was right.

There is a funny thing about truth, justice, and ideology. These three things rely on:

• Mindset of the society they are established in.
• Culture of that society and what is deemed alright by their standards.
• History and ultimately the experience of the people.

No two situations are ever alike, and in the drastic world we live in today it is difficult to determine what should be done even though history has many instances of what we "could" do. No public interest factors into all of it and ultimately determines what is to be done. More and more the situation in Mexico worsens and less and less is heard about it due to petty news like celebrity scandal and political smokescreens. The people "have" to "want" to be educated, because no matter what one is to do, they are still just a one if no one will listen to them. Truth of it all, people don't start caring until it impacts their own backyard. 

Comm 203: Scott McCloud, Prepare for the Rapture!

Apreche

Mr. McCloud has done a great deal to bring his new vision of what comics should/could be. The main problem we face, as with any sort of medium, is those that are too zealous in what the ideas already are that changes cannot be made. Depending on the source, I commonly call these individuals "fanboys." People who see the way that certain things are and either fight vehemently against it, or work to keep it from ever being changed.

This contradicts McCloud's ideal of "Learn from Everyone" in the worst sense as many will choose for nothing to be done or too much to be done. It's a sad day when great ideas get replaced just because they aren't the "newest" thing to come out.

Graphic Novels and their Japanese-counterparts often seem to come to blows with their fan bases for whatever reason. Many protest that the art-styles and characterizations make it too difficult to mesh the two into one conglomerate, but if one were to honestly take the time to compare what is popular between the two they'd find several similarities. All in all as much as McCloud can push for his dream world of what graphic novels can be, it is up to the people to continue and implement it.

Comm 203: Graphic Novels, and You!

GageSkidmore

With any media there is always that great potential. The great potential to fully create something of value and teach others a simple idea or something much more grand. The Graphic Novel has the ability to do many things while keeping a simplistic sort of set up if you decide to go with the conventional layout. As noted with many it also has the ability to expand and make use of new ideas and ways of thinking, but for now we can stick to the "classic" set up to keep it simple.

For the most part any sort of project or task can be conveyed in a Graphic Novel, but the much more abstract ideas take a bit of work. The interpretation and presentation are usually key.

The video above is not a graphic novel, but it shows how media can be skewed depending on the presentation. Same can be said with graphic novels. Few things to consider:

• People derive the greatest understanding with figures, thus why many warning signs are shown in cartoon figures in the form of comic strips to fully flush out any and all messages that need to be shown.
• Actions shown can always be much more informative or entertaining IE: "Oh, it was much funnier, you would have to have been there." Well with comics you essentially can be there without being there.

Ideas are terrible to waste, even more so for others to not understand the full message to the audience. As those working in media it is up to us to get the facts straight and educate people on a broader scale than most could. In the end we just have to make sure we impact things in a positive manner.

Team Socrates

lentina_x

Public speaking truly is an art that is slowly meeting its demise. More and more people fear public speaking for whatever reason. For this I feel PowerPoint is both a hinderance and a help.

In the correct hands PowerPoint can do wonders and amplify one's experience. Others it can bog down and severely hinder the immersion. Tufte and Byrne both make exceedingly valid points, but it is the person who can truly make or break the use of Power Point. 

• http://www.ted.com/ is one of the greatest examples of a website full of fantastic speakers that are able to incorporate and use powerpoint, all while being captive speakers. If anyone ever needs great examples of phenomenal public speaking this is the best source I could provide for you.

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

This video in particular inspired me a few years ago to really strive to be a teacher, at the time it was powerful, but later I found what I truly wanted from it. That goal was to be an inspiring public speaker. To give people a new lot or ideal in life is worth while. Giving hope and ideology is real power in a world full of so many fishbowls all trying to sit on the top shelf.

Powerpoint can help or hinder, as I said before, but it is truly up to us to use our resources in such a way that most definitely helps.

No longer a series of tubes..

After reading The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet by Anderson and Wolff I have a few ideas I'd like to touch on concerning the matter.

Sidpicky

Firstly I'd like to discuss how we as a society now hold knowledge to such a high degree in this day and age. The more up to date a person is the more valuable they are in whatever they are working on. The advent of new technologies as a platform for streaming information to new more mobile devices helps amplify this as many seem to be able to find information that, in decades before, would have simply been unknown until someone knew and explained it. Anderson and Wolff both give compelling arguments of the new world of media we live in as they give their renditions of who to blame for this new age of artificial society.

In many ways they are both right and it is difficult to argue with many of their points, but one point I agreed with fully, was this concept we have developed that applications such as social media sites now dictate how people interact. It is a sad day when others can see 500 friends on someone's page but see that no one ever actually visits that person in their home. It all comes down to what is more convenient for people. How it is so much easier for someone to simply "Like" or comment on something as opposed to discussing it further in a more social location. 

Few instances of how some are fighting back:

• Recently more and more commercials depicting how awkward and silly most of these social networking sites are.
• More information on what these sites do with your information that you post. Such as the used of your information for distribution to ad companies so that they may draw you in with fake advertisements. IE: "You like Darth Vader? Here are some Darth Vader T-shirts!"

In the end we will decide what is best for ourselves and see what we want to get sucked into and not. Hype and the trend of the day seem to sway people so much easier these days and all the rest of us can do is shake our heads and hope they wake up.