Blog Post 9: Search and People Power

2004_google_ipo.gi.home

I couldn’t get the link to the videos to work, but I found the videos on YouTube anyway and recognized them from Zmikly’s Fundamentals of Online Media class last semester, so I’ve seen it before.

First of all, the host is very distracting. His bobbing head and wild gesticulations make me a little dizzy. I don’t want to make fun of him, maybe he has tourette’s or something.

NapsterBad_1

Companies come and go, but never so quickly as in the digital era! I remember using “Excite” when it was a search engine, and it’s pretty amazing that they could’ve bought Google back in the day for $1 million.

The internet has changed how we consume music and how many of us watch movies and television. It’s changed how we shop and how we choose restaurants. I remember using Napster too, and I remember the whole Metallica lawsuit. In fact, these videos make me feel really old!

Blog Post 9

Browser Wars

I didn’t realize that Microsoft wasn’t interested in the web at first, which is not what I would have thought. I don’t like the way that Microsoft tried to bully everyone.I’ve never really been a fan of Microsoft, and I am even less of one after watching these videos.  I think Bill Gates seems really annoying and like a liar after watching him in the tapes. It kind of confused me when they were talking about Gates doing a lot of philanthropic work, because he seemed very selfish. Another thing I thought was interesting is that Jim Clark is from west Texas, where I am from and, that all the people trying to start Mosaic were so young, its inspiring.

Search

It still shocks me when I am reminded of how short of a time it has been since the internet really took off. It feels like its always been here. I love that Yahoo! (Jerry and Davids Guide) started as a way to win a game, it goes to show that one idea can turn into something huge. I also like how advertising is changing. Even though people don’t like to watch commercials and get irritated by advertising, I think its great that advertising is on the internet. I really like the way Facebook is advertising by advertising to peoples interest by using the internet as a market research tool. I know that is a privacy issue, but I enjoy the advertisements that point me to places I would like to go or things I would like to buy. Another thing that I thought was interesting is how Bill Gross was saying he just tries to fix problems and how to make things better. I think that’s a great way to create things that people will want. Lastly, I also really like Google’s motto “Don’t Be Evil” and the way that they don’t want to bully other companies.

Bubble

I realized that Amazon and Ebay were two huge companies, but I didn’t realize that they were the first companies to sell products online. The things I thought were really neat about how these two companies started were that Amazon started by wanting to make a huge library and that Ebay was made without a business plan, from someones home computer.  Also, it is crazy how fast these companies grew. The way this video explained public key cryptography was really great. I have learned what it is before, but I was really confused on how it worked. Now I understand it even more. I still cannot believe that people still thought the internet was a fad into the late 90s. I liked what was said about the bubble “The pain it caused was the price of progress.” That is something I really believe in. People don’t want to move forward with things, like giving people health care, giving everyone equal rights, recycling, because they don’t want to put in the effort or the money it takes to make progress. The way people were about computers, should be eye opening to people that progress takes work.

People Power

I couldn’t believe the idea of iTunes was started by Shawn Fanning as a teenager. It’s crazy how much the internet has changed society. Who would have thought that teenagers could be making money posting things to Twitter, that you could make and sell your own things on Etsy, or that you could become famous overnight on YouTube. I think it is so interesting to look at how much society has changed in the past few years, and even more interesting to see where it is going.download--the-true-story-of-the-internet

Blog Post 8 – Final Multimedia Project

For my project I will be making a website for a documentary that I’m making about my house and the inhabitants that have lived there.

AT THIS POINT I’M THINKING:

My home page would highlight the documentary itself. Other pages would include photo slideshows of behind the scenes of the film’s production as well as a slideshow of images of the house. I’ll have a bio page about the current and previous tenants. I’d also like to highlight the creative works of people that have lived there i.e. their music or visual art.

farmer Jax

8. Final Project

Tomorrow, I hope to cover the East Austin Urban Farm Tour, visiting four farms in Austin that are working to bring local food to the community.

This, despite the fact that Texas was recently voted the number 1 worst state to eat locally, based on the number of farmers markets, CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture), food hubs and the percentage of school districts with farm-to-school programs.

I don’t really know the story, yet. My press credentials haven’t even gone through yet, I’ve been communicating with the PR lady for the past week. So, I’m not really sure what my final project is going to be. But, this topic seems interesting and important to me, so I’m going to give it a whirl.

Anyway, that’s it. Wish me luck. And meet me back here next week to see how it pans out!

Theta Chi Fraternity at Texas State University

My Fraternity’s national home page and website. http://www.thetachi.org/

My fraternity is brand new here on campus and even though we are about 3 years old and up and running hardly anyone knows what we are about and what we do here at Texas State. This web site shall be dedicated to making students more aware of what Theta Chi Fraternity is about. Last week our national head quarters told us that we were accepted for Charter ship which is a huge deal. For some, like myself, have been here from the very start and have put in a lot of money, time, and effort into making this a successful organization that stands out above all others. I feel this site will allow incoming freshmen, who wish to rush a fraternity as a freshman, will get a full understanding of what we are about and what our name is here on campus. Every chapter is different and has its own values and stories that make it the greatest on every school campus so I’d like to make this one dedicated to the chapter here at Texas State.

The sections that I’d want to have present of this page would be a Home page to introduce us and who we are. A members page and a little description of who everyone is and their positions and accomplishments. Then a page dedicated to our achievements, philanthropy and fundraising activities. I’d also like to incorporate a page dedicated to just photos of our fraternity so others can see what fun we have. Lastly I’d like to have a page on whom to contact if you are interested in rushing and a form that potentials can fill out so as to  give us a bit of information on who that new potential is.

Here is a slight preview of us as brothers having fun and what we do.

Blog Post 8- Final Project

I am going to do my final project over Texas Carpet Baggers, a handmade bag line in Austin, TX. I helped the out the owner a few Christmas’s ago when she  was just starting her bag line. When I left her things were starting to fall together and her bag line was starting to take off. The reason I want to do this page on TCB is because these bags are unique, handmade and they try to stay local with the materials they use. Another thing that is really neat about her bags is that her husband carves the oak handles and bottoms of the bags himself. These are the pages that I would include

Logo

Home

  • I would have a slideshow of the bags and a brief summary of what TCB is.

About TCB

  • I would interview Becky about what exactly TCB is, and about herself and what made her want to start a bag line.

  • I would have a video interview also.

How Bags are Made

  • Information about how the bags are made, what materials are used, why the bags are so unique, what it mean for the bags to be handmade, and talk about the quality of the bags

  • I would include a video of the process of making the bags.

TCB Bags

– Damn Purse

– Miss Kitty

– Totes

– Overnight bags

  • This section would have a drop down menu where you could click on the different bags that TCB makes, with photos of each bag and a description.

Blog Post 8 for Jeremy Goble – Final Project

For my final multimedia project I am going to cover the recent research and conservation efforts being done by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, TX. I am going to film a video documentary with interviews from employees, volunteers, and hopefully Executive Director Susan Rieff on-camera. I will also get tons of photos and film of flowers, landscape, people, workers, critters (butterflies, bees, birds, turtles), as well as some old stock photos of Lady Bird Johnson to highlight how the center came into existence as well as its original mission. My 5 pages will be as follows:

  • Origin (History) – about Lady Bird Johnson and Mission Statement of the Wildflower Center

    Lady Bird Johnson
    Lady Bird Johnson
  • Conservation
  1. Highlight sustainable use and conservation of native plants and landscapes
  2. Seed banking
  3. Invasive species
Conservation is a concern for the LBJ Wildflower Center
Conservation is a concern for the LBJ Wildflower Center
  • Land Restoration
  1. Restore landscapes after development
  2. Permaculture – using native plants that are adapted to the region
  • Research
  1. Botanical research affiliated with the University of Texas
  2. Green Roof” research to reduce impact of global warming
  • Education
  1. Current programs for kids and adults to educate them on native plant maintenance as well as get kids outdoors
  2. Volunteer opportunites
Luci & Ian Family Garden
Luci & Ian Family Garden

 

Taylor’s 7th Blog Post

I delved into the SXSW session with Adobe and Soul Pancake called Content Creation With Soul. Adobe sessions were tagged with #AdobeSXSW, and many were tweeted by Adobe’s various handles, like @AdobePremiere and @AdobeAE.

There are a lot of takeaways from the session, but I’ll be brief in this post.

The panel talked about Kid President’s Pep Talk video. I remember when my mother shared the video with me and how inspired she felt after watching it. I, too, felt inspired to share the video because it just makes you feel so great. In the panel discussion, SoulPancake CEO  and Executive Producer  Shabnam Mogharabi talked specifically about their mission to create digital content that makes people feel great. They’ve generated donations to various causes and have truly made a difference. How exciting and inspiring —  a media production company that can exist solely to create content that makes people feel good and inspires them to contribute to a cause.

This video generated more than $60,000 toward charities that support those living with osteosarcoma.

Seeing how widely these feel-good videos are shared gives me something to think about in advertising.

Project3 & links to friendly sites

The links I have attached were some links I have been recently looking at and found very easy to find my way around on. They are both very well constructed sites. The first link to Noxxic doesn’t change much when it comes to being shrunk on any device, it just stays the same however it uses alignment, proximity, repetition and contrast very well. The second link to Starrcompanies did however adapt to its usage when used on different devices. I went to their site a few times on my PC and my phone and things would turn into barns or in column form when it wouldn’t fit all on my phone screen. Though it was still very easy to explore the site.

 

 

Blog Post 6

For Project 3, I will be fixing up my video production group Neko Neko Films’ page. I’ll be working with my buddies to see what they would like to do, as well as doing some online card sorting and focus group style testing.

One of the mobile-friendly sites that I found was http://theawesomer.com. It is a multimedia blog. On the computer it is a grid of video, photos, or other multimedia that you can click on. On my phone, each post shows is lined one after another vertically.