Engulfed in Technology? Final thoughts and reactions.

When I was watching both of the sixth sense videos I was wondering, "so where is this amazing technology since it has been 3 years." I grew up in a household that only used a computer for gaming across the house with my dad. My parents used it for work but my siblings and I spent the majority of our time outside. We didn't have cable and only used the t.v. for watching movies when we got tired of playing board games and the weather wasn't nice enough to play outside. I still don't own a smart phone and I don't really see a need to anytime soon. The world I grew up in is going to be far different from the world that my future children and future nieces and nephews will have had. I have cousins who already have more technology to keep them entertained then I still have as an adult. 


The world is moving to be more and more digital and there are some amazing advanteges and priviledges that come along with this digital era. Ever since the invention of the smart phone, we no longer have to sit and wonder what that person's name was in that one movie, or what is the capital of that one country. We can simply whip out a smart phone and google it. When it comes to sharing information or needing information this technology has become greatly appropriate, but I do wonder if this digital world is moving too fast. I don't feel as connected when I visit my parents house because the cell phone service is very limited and the internet connection is hit and miss. Instead of getting out in the world to connect to others we sit inside and Facebook chat or Skype. 


While we will continue to keep inventing and producing, I believe that we need to start trying to live in the moment of the physical real world. The digital world is amazing but it should just be used for the necessity of information sharing and receiving and to make our lives easier. We need to make a concentrated effort to live physically whenever possible. I have been making an effort to enjoy the time I am spending with my friends instead of trying to figure out who else can join or what else to do. 





Just another normal day in the neighborhood. 


Final thoughts: I have coded for websites before but I haven't used the Adobe Suite as much as I have this quarter before. It was interesting working with Photoshop in ways that I haven't before. It has been somewhat frustrating getting to know the in and outs of godaddy.com but I feel comfortable in the amount of time and effort I have put in to the website. One of the biggest challenges that I faced this quarter was working late at Costco and then have to finish my homework and be able to make it to class. I wasn't aware that I would be working so often but I have made it through I suppose. 
In week 4, I blogged about my experience with Twitter. I would like to say I have taken the time to use this vast social networking site more often but I honestly haven't. I still generally only use it to link to my Facebook account to update my status when I don't have access to a computer. 
One of my favorite sites to visit when I have free time is http://9gag.com/. If you have not been introduced to this site enjoy! 

C.R.A.P. Website Design and My Need for Technology

CRAP: while this may sound like a load of bull, CRAP is actually a technique to make website design more intriguing and interesting. We have been discussing this in the while in the process of setting up personal websites in my Communication Technology course. As we learned in class C.R.A.P. stands for contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity.


Contrast:

• make different things different
• bring out the dominant elements
• mute lesser elements

Repetition:

• repeat design throughout interface
• be consistent
• create unity

Alignment:

• create a visual flow
• visually connects elements

Proximity:

• group related elements
• seperate unrelated elements

While in the process of creating a website about art and photography, C.R.A.P. naturally fits into play. I have to consider what is most visually appealing when places separate pieces of art next to each other. One of the pieces of contrast that I have decided to work with is letting the work speak for itself. Along with repetition, every page will have the same header but the background will be white. The alignment will focus on the work and about the artist. This is where I will also be relating elements that are similar, so the about me will have the picture of the artist while all the other pages will only have what she has done. 

From http://www.grantasticdesigns.com/5rules.html

5 rules of web design

• Your web site should be easy to read
• Your web site should be easy to navigate
• Your web site should be easy to find
• Your web page layout and design should be consistent throughout the site
• Your web site should be quick to download

From http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/web-design/current-style/ Ben Hunt describes that modern web design is all about simplicity and on this blog he describes and shows what modern simplicity is.


Another subject we were supposed to explore for this blog has to do with our need for constant contact with technology. I am always connected to my phone, and often carry around my Macbook with me too. My contact list in my phone is full and in order to save friends numbers now I have to save and lock a text message. I tried going without technology but since the only alarm I have is on my phone, and class starts at 8am, it was impossible to avoid technology. Even on the weekends I work with technology as a cashier at Costco so my world is fully engulfed in technology, and I don't even have a smartphone yet. 

For this post I'm going to be blogging about my experience with Twitter. I have had a twitter account in the past but never used it so this time I actually got past just creating an account. I found it has many great features and allows you to see such a large group of people it makes it really interesting. One thing I noted right off the bat though was that anyone can see anything you post so be careful what you write. It could easily get you in trouble at work by what you post. In the past I had only used to to update my Facebook status from my phone due to the fact that I do not have a smart phone and Twitter allows you to post and link it to your Facebook so you can update via text message.

A research group did a study on Twitter and found that 40% of the Twitter content is considered pointless babble, just something to keep in mind when looking at the statistic that only 4% of the content was news. To keep your searches and content more relevant people use Hashtags (#) or look at the trending pages to see what is current and being talked about. It has become very useful in countries that have a very censored government as a way to bring news into those places.

Another useful service Twitter introduced is the ability to shorten URL's. Since your post can only be 140 characters long this provides a way around having long links that would be able to be shared on twitter.

So far I have had a pleasant experience on Twitter and plan on continuing to use it more often. The second part of my post today will be talking about web building on Weebly. My classmates and I recently created a site about Bellingham and the places to go eat and drink that the common visitor may not know about. The site is hiddenhotspot.weebly.com and I found was very easy to create. The tools they offer make web site building easy and simple. I haven't found an easier way to create a free website. Oh yea, its FREE! There are other options that you can pay for but we managed to create a great website with all the features that we needed.

It's a basic drag and drop format and you can choose to have pre made shells to work off of. It is also very easy to go back and edit later. All you have to do is log in and start editing then remember to publish your updated site when you are done. All the tools you need are in a handy tool bar that is very easy to navigate. I didn't know there was such an easy way on the web to create a site until I came across this site. I highly recommend it and plan on using it again.

Podcasting  is quickly becoming one of the most influential media sources in the world. Not only are there audio podcasts but video podcasts as well. I have several that I follow on Itunes such as the Best of YouTube podcast which sends you YouTube videos that are becoming very popular and even some new ones that many haven't seen before.

There are many different ways to go about creating a podcast but my favorite is using Garage Band. It is very simple and easy to use and there are tutorials all over for using the program. It's cheap and easily available. There are many different features and it has a ton of built in pre designed sounds and beats for intro's and outro's of the podcast as well as being abundant with sound effects.

Audacity on the other hand is free and also simple to use but doesn't have  quite as many features as Garage Band has. Unlike Garage Band, Audacity is compatible with all platforms whereas Garageband is only compatible with Mac. Also Audacity has more options when it comes to compatibility with different languages and audio formats. It really comes down to what you need to do with it.
This site gives a great breakdown of the technical differences between the two different programs, http://sound-editing-software.findthebest.com/compare/2-26/Audacity-vs-Garageband.

On the always helpful How Stuff Works website they have a breakdown with all of the different things you will need to know about creating your podcast. The link is provided here for the site. http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/podcasting5.htm

Not only does it direct you to info about creating a podcast but also to other sites that teach you more about podcasting.

Hopefully this has been helpful and hope everyone had a great week!