Podcast for class, Fancy Episode. 


This is a project for my class called, "Who Wants to Date An English Gnome?"


Twitter.

I do have a twitter. I find it most useful to find out information about musicians, celebrity, and some news. I enjoy knowing where artists are and when they are working on their music. One person I follow the most is John Legend, one of my favorite artists. He usually posts what he is working on, where he is, and with who. He even interacts with his fans useing the @ symbol. I don't tweet daily, occasionally I do but I enjoy looking at others tweets. I like seeing what people are doing and I use twitter or facebook to check out what is going on in the world, along with the news. 
Some things can get a little too much, just like on any networking site, such as the Billy May's page. Like any other site it has its ups and downs. Although I don't use Twitter everyday, I do enjoy checking out tweets. As for apologizing on Twitter, I think that could be one part of an apology but there should be more. Because everything is all about media now I do think part of the apology is alright to come out on Twittter.



Creating A Website.

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In class, we are learning to make websites. In order to make a website, you must come up with a central theme and then have your website appeal to a certain market, when creating it. Creating a website includes time commitment, so the more time you have to invest, the more inclusive all of your information can be. Two other large parts of making a website, are the title and domain name because these are two important aspects that will attract the market of people and make it more easily accessible. You must also make sure your website is easy to use and the layout is clean and effortless to read and scroll through. You must keep your readers interested so they will stay on the site and also come back to visit. You may want to link other pages to your website that pertain to your information or will help your reader get back to your website if they forget the link. Simple titles and relevant pictures will keep people interested in your site and will keep the site easy for you to maintain. If you were to make a website, what would it be about? What would you link to your website? What kinds of pictures would you put up to relate to your information? What website(s) would you look at to get an idea to create you own? What websites do you think work best in relaying information to their market? What is their market that they are trying to spread their information to? Do they have any links connected to their page?



Podcasts.

I wasn't exactly sue what a podcast was when we began talking about them, so I never listened to one before. After I learned what a podcast was I listen to a few and learned some are more interesting than others. I learned that iTunes now has video along with audio podcasts. Out of the podcasts I listened to, I enjoyed some of the comedic ones. If more people knew of podcasts I think they would become more popular. It might just be the newer generation that is not as well aware of them but I would enjoy listening to podcasts when going on a trip or vacation. I think the popularity of podcasts could increase with iTunes if they are advertised more. I never payed much attention to the tab that says podcasts but now I will look more often at them when I check out new music and videos.



Youtube.

Youtube is one of the most popular websites I know of. I use it to watch music videos, listen to music, watch TV shows occasionally, and watch other videos that are shared. I think it has become so popular because it's a website that everyone can use and enjoy. Some videos are not appropriate for everyone but Youtube can be used in a positive light. I definitely think a lot of good has come out of it because as we've seen some younger kids use Youtube to post videos and then they can become very popular and even make it to TV. For example, there's a boy who makes videos and he goes by the name of Fred Figglehorn on Youtube. He made it to a teen show called iCarly. 
I think it's interesting how people can link videos others have made to different websites and such to share things they like. I think Youtube could turn into another social network site if profiles become more defined or if people can have profiles without posting any videos, and just being able to comment. As for Youtube being another form of cyber bullying, I think this can happen with any site. It depends on the maturity level of the people using the site. If people leave positive comments and advice on the videos than the site can turn out to be more influential but if people act immaturely than the site will go down the drain. I think that Youtube has a lot of helpful and valuable information but it also has videos and such that are considered garbage. I really enjoy using Youtube to watch new music videos, funny videos, and also informative videos about current events.



Wikipedia.

I have used Wikipedia many times but it is not the only resource I rely on. I use Wikipedia to get a foundation when researching or if I need to look up something quickly on google and wikipedia shows up as a source of information. I don't believe it is that great of a reliable resource and I always double check what information Wikipedia gives me. I never actually open Wikipedia.org and search for information, but it is one of the common websites that shows up when I do a google search. I've never found a large amount of information that was wrong on Wikipedia but I have found small things. I think some people do go on Wikipedia to post incorrect information to be funny because it is an open website but it is not hard to decipher true and false information on the site.



Activist Sites. 

I think activist sites are very effective, not only do they proide valuable information but they have different points of view offered. So if you are undecided about a certain topic you can research activist sites and find out more. I definitely think that activist sites, such as EFF will draw ack visitors. It's not that I don't look for activists sites but it's more that I don't realize that most exist. After finding out about these different activist sites I will now go back and visit them more often. It's just like Facebook, when I didn't really know anything about it or know how to use it, I ignored it. But now that I have knowledge of what Facebook is used for I use it more often. 
I think both activist sites and social justice sites are definitely helpful tools, they just need to be used properly, just like any other webpage. I had never heard of EFF or Social Justice Journal. If I had learned learned of them I wouldn't have learned valuable information such as information of protesting, migrant labor, and ar from the Social Justice Journal website and information about your privacy online, or lack of privacy from EFF. I think these issues are much more important for web users because they are more informative on information you would not likely know about.



Social Justice. 

As I looked for a social justice website I found the Social Justice Journal . It was formed in 1974 and is a quarterly nonprofit educational journal that tries to promote human dignity, equality, peace, and genuine security.It is much more informative than a commercialized website. It has different issues about different topics of social justice such as policing protest and youth, migrant labor and contested public space, and war, crisis and transistion. You are able to suscribe to this journal and the proceeds go to continuing education and research for this journal. There are also donations you can make instead of suscribing. This and other sites like it should be more widely publicized because they contain information about real things going on in the world. They're not just websites that get out the lasest gossip, trends, and popular items; they actually have meaning. It is important for these websites to be thriving rather than websites that concentrate on superficial things. If people can spend hours of facebook, twitter, or myspace daily then they should be able to take part in daily and social news around them. And possibly donate not only some of their time but maybe a few dollars to help someone or something out. Instead of having silly or useless advertisements in the side columns of facebook, they should have more useful and pertinent imformation about our society and world today.



Facebook Groups.

I think groups are more carefully planned than fan pages. Fan pages and groups can both be random but a fan page is more of just an announcement that you do or do not like something while a group actually tries to promote a specific thing. For example, I'm part of a fan page that says "I need a vacation." This is simply a page that is saying something about me, I need a vacation. Then, I am part of groups that promote different clubs and this gives me information of when parties are going on or different events/bands, etc. I do agree that a very helpful group was the Saint Rose Accepted Class of 2012. I met a lot of people and learned different things from them and became friends with some of the people and I felt safe becoming part of the group. I also do like the different groups that DJ's and promoters make on facebook because I feel as if I know what's going on with Albany nightlife and if I want to go out, which a lot of students do, then I know where to go.



Facebook Ruined My Relationship.

I do think facebook is a major part of a lot of relationship problems but all new technology is. People have become too dependent and obsessed with technology that it gets them into a lot of trouble. There is no filter and people become too comfortable with sites like facebook where they think they can hide affairs and such. It is our nation that has gotten out of control with new technology and people don't know how to control themselves because they are never taught properly how to use it. Just think about how in school you are taught to act properly in public but there are no classes or lessons you can really learn in schools for using different technology or the internet. Regardless, people do need to know how to take responsiblity for themselves but we do need to inform people especially younger people on how to properly use sites, especially facebook. I know relationships that have been ruined from facebook. It lets you communicate with almost anyone, so people see this as an escape from real life. 
I think people who have had affairs, even ten years back from today, were able to be caught much easier because of less technology and websites. It wasn't as common to be on the internet all day and talk to anyone from anywhere and I feel this is why connecting with people in this day and age is so difficult. There are so many distractions and ways to have multiple relationships without anyone really finding out. It is upseting that people use new technology and media for selfish ad irresponsible reasons.



Facebook.

I do worry about what I put on facebook. i try to be as professional as possible and not share anything that I wouldn't want my parents or boss to see. I don't believe in putting up pictures, posts, or anything that would be harmful to me. I think your facebook says a lot about you and shows the way you represent yourself. I wouldn't want facebook to represent me in a negative light or stop me from getting a future job. I try to stay friends with only people I know and a lot of my family is on facebook also. I think facebook is a good idea if you use it the right way. And make sure you don't put too much personal stuff on your page. 



Boing Boing and Google.

What non-verbal communication to create images and convey who they are? How do they make it appealing?

BoingBoing uses lots of pictures and large bold fonts to convey their information. Their website is full of different articles but the pictures they show are visually appealing because they lead you to read the articles so you can connect the photo and text. They use very plain font and a basic layout but it seems a little cluttered. Once you click one article you are led to another which is a good trick for reader's to stay on your website. The website is still appealing even though there are so many articles.

Google has many nonverbal features which demonstrates what they represent. One feature called extensions, let's the person add new features and functions to their web browser. For example, just one click can take you to your favorite web application, such as Ebay. Other extensions can be used to browse photos, get directions, or shop online. Another cool feature is called bookmark sync. If you're constantly using more than one computer throughout the day then this can be handy for you. Enabling bookmark sync allows the user to synchronize all bookmarks on all the computers used. Google also makes a number of daily enhancements to their search features, as well. Now Google has launched hours and menu information if you want to browse for the hours or menu to your favorite restaurant. This makes it appealing to the user because it is quick, easy, and enjoyable. A fourth feature called answer highlighting helps the user to get information more quickly by delivering the likely answer to your question in boldface type. 



What Makes An Effective Blog?

The blog I choose was a personal fashion blog. I choose it because I enjoy fashion and different styles people come up with and I like to get inspiration from others. It has one author whose name is not mentioned but there is a picture of him. He worked in sales and marketing for high-end women’s fashion for fifteen years. He then took up photography and decided that he would take pictures of ordinary people with great taste in clothes to show others how to dress. He wanted to give to an audience of people who wanted inspiration for dressing so they could see what people are wearing all over the world. You can tell that someone interested in fashion will look at this for inspiration or help because his main focus of the pictures are clothes and different kinds of people. The photos are so bright, vivid, and eye-catching while the rest of the layout is so simple and clean. It really brings an emphasis of professionalism. And you can tell that he is a professional because he is constantly updating photographs and organizing his page very well. The fact that it is so clean and eye catching I think will make people want to come back to the site. Also, the fact that he was in the industry shows he knows a lot and maybe someone interested in going in that field could contact him and get some help from him. That’s what it seems like he is there for and made the page for. 
The different links offered are the Blog, Biography, Press, SartoriaList, and video. Blog is where all the photos are located and arranged by dates on the right hand side. Biography is where a photo of him is listed along with his life and history of the blog. Press is where it shows different articles he was featured such as Vogue and Esquire and his monthly page in GQ. Then the Sartorialist shows various men and women that made his “VIP” list and their favorite tailor, barber, drycleaner, and shoe repair for the men. While for the women it says ‘premiering soon.’ And the last section is the video tab where it shows videos of some of the people he has photographed. 

sartorialtist.blogspot.com



Plagiarism and Piracy.

The line between piracy and theft is very difficult to draw in this day and age because of how public everything is, just as Zuckerberg stated about Facebook. Hiding all of your information isn’t any easy thing to do when you are not sure of all of the access everyone has to it on the web. I believe people go to far when they make illegal copies of movies, songs, shows, etc. and make profit off of something that is not there own work. But I do believe in this day and age some things should be allowed to be viewed freely because it is promotion. Just as bands give out free copies or demos or their albums when starting out, the web should share music and movies that everyone has access to. Then, a lot of people will support these bands, either through album sales or concert sales. Most people have Internet now and it is very easy to listen to your favorite songs on Youtube and other sharing networks. Therefore, you are sharing something you most likely bought with someone else. This is the same as letting your friend borrow a CD or DVD. But when you aren’t supporting the music or television industry than I believe you are a thief. Every time one of those sharing networks is closed another opens so there should be some kind of agreement or contract that can help piracy and theft.