Group Video Ideas

1.  For the first idea for the group project, I thought about freshman year of college and how many students are living on campus or moving out of their parent's house to venture out on their own. When you go to college, you're basically doing things on your own, separating yourself from coming out of high school to being in college on your own.  I was thinking that each person could tell a little bit about their college experience and what it was like for them when they first came to college. 
2. Going from my third idea for my self portrait, I think it would be cool to show how our generation is so attached to the Internet and cellphones. It's becoming a huge problem, especially with social interaction starting to dwindle down. We've kind of been separated from reality, as the Internet and cellphones have become the focus for many of us. For the video, I would show how people use their phones and get some images of them using the Internet (Facebook, Twitter, etc) or texting as another example. 
3. Also coming from one of my self portrait ideas, a lot of people have a certain hobby or something unusual that they do that many people think is weird. For example, many people think that my liking of Japanese and Korean culture is weird, and it separates me from people a lot of the time, because they don't know what I'm talking about. I think that everyone has this "secret love" for something that many would think is unusual, which separates them from certain people. For this idea, I was thinking of doing interviews of people who are willing to share and also from our perspectives of something that we like, but people don't really approve or think highly of.

Self Portrait Video Ideas

I really don't like taking videos of myself, but I'm excited for this project and to learn how to use IMovie. I think it will be a cool learning experience. So here are my ideas:

1. Talking about myself: Going with the theme of separation, I think that each person has their own separate story to tell. Not everyone has gone through the same things that others have gone through and not everyone is the same. Everyone is different in their own way. For this idea, I would basically talk about myself. For example, hobbies, where I'm from, just the basics of who I am as an individual person. Also, I decided to do this by describing things that are on my desk and showing my desk, so people can get a sense of who I am.

   
   
     

   2. My interest in Japanese/Korean culture: Going with the theme of separation, I really like Japanese and Korean culture. I love everything from the customs, the television shows (when I have time to watch them), music, etc. Unfortunately, I don't have any people around me that share that liking of Japanese and Korean culture like I do. Also from this, I’m kind of separated from everyone else because I’m separated from American culture in a way. For this idea, I would talk about how I got into the music and how it can be hard to not have anyone to share it with, since many people think that it's weird that I'm interested in it.

   
   
   
   

    3.   My third idea is to talk about the Internet and cell phones and how people are kind of separated from real social interaction nowadays. I think it's becoming a huge problem in our society, and it's kind of a universal topic to talk about because many people use the Internet and use their phones on a daily basis. For the visuals, I was thinking about maybe talking about how I use my phone, showing my phone, etc. This could also be a good idea for the group project as well.

   Sorry about the format for the numbers. For some reason, it's messing up so I'll edit the numbers a little later.
   

Wiki Project Comments

Katherine Guenther's Blog Url: http://cyberrebel9.blogspot.com 
I thought you did a great job on your Buffalo Wiki page. I liked how it was really informative, and you seemed to have covered every aspect of the park. The pictures that you included gave me a good visual of the park. It makes me want to go there, even though I have never hiked a day in my life! I also enjoyed reading and learning about the back history, such as the massacre and the paranormal activity. Although, I would have liked to see more information on that though. Maybe if you added in another ghost story or something to that affect. All in all, I think you did a great job with your wiki page. I enjoyed it!
Wiki Link: http://buffalo.wikispot.org/Devil%27s_Hole_State_Park

Shane Canning's Blog Url: http://shanecanning17974.blogspot.com
I thought that your article was very informative and I enjoyed reading it. I thought that the steps that you mentioned were very useful and informative. You also added a bit of humor in the first step, which was nice as well. The steps were also simple to follow. To some people, planning a trip is just too much for them, but I think that you made it seem less of a challenge and achievable for people who do want to travel. All in all, you did a good job with your WikiHow. I liked the article and it's a great article for people who want to travel, or are thinking of travelling.
Wiki Link:http://www.wikihow.com/Do-a-United-States-Road-Trip-on-a-Budget

MaryLou Badawy's Blog Url: http://maryloub925.blogspot.com
I enjoyed your article a lot, it made me hungry! I'm always up to trying new foods and this recipe looks good and simple to make. I really liked the pictures that you included in your article. It gave a great visual for me on how it should look and be prepared. I also thought that your instructions were well written and easy to follow. I wasn't confused at all when reading the steps, so that was a plus for me.
My only concern about the article was when you talked about the ingredients in the optional section (pomegranate molasses, powdered sumac, and pita bread). I would have liked a section as to where you can find these products in stores. Personally, I've never heard of the molasses and sumac so I just didn't know if they were sold at a certain store or in a regular grocery store.
Other than that, I really enjoyed your article!
Wiki Link: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Traditional-Lebanese-Fattoush

Elenni Davis Knight's Blog Url: http://edk12.blogspot.com
I thought that this was an interesting topic to cover. Misogyny in hip hop is a big topic, and I think it's awesome that you shared the information because it's becoming a huge problem in the hip hop scene. It's nice to know that there are organizations who are trying to raise awareness about the problems. I didn't know about this group until I read your article, so I learned something new today. I think the article was very informative and well done. You shared a lot of information about this group. The one suggestion that I have is that it would have been nice to mention some other groups out there similar to the Black Girls Rock group. Other than that, I think you did a great job on your Wiki page!
Wiki Link: Beating The Beats: The Black Girls Rock! Foundation

China Stephen's Blog Url: http://chairenea.blogspot.com
I thought that your article was well written, and it had some good tips and advice about how to convince your significant other to participate in Valentines Day. I liked the introduction a lot with the description of the boyfriend playing Call of Duty. I thought that made a lot of people in relationships relate to that type of situation. The humor caught my attention to the rest of the article. My only problem with the article was with the first step, but that's just my personal opinion. I wouldn't dote on my significant other just to celebrate V-day. He can get his own food (haha!). I also liked your closing remark. It summed up the article, and talked about not getting wrapped up in the day. The link from the APA was also very interesting. I liked how that was added in as well. Overall, I liked your article and good job!
Wiki Link: http://www.wikihow.com/User:Stephecr01

My Wikihow Page

Here's my Wikihow page. It was a good learning experience. Tell me what you think!

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Anti-Valentines-Day-Nail-Design

Web 2.0

My Opinion on Web 2.0

Honestly before starting the class, I had never heard of Web 2.0 in my entire life. Looking back on it now, I realized that I've been using it for quite some time now. For me, Web 2.0 is an upgrade from the old Internet. It's more interactive in a sense, and the way that information is given to us now is different and easier. Also with blogging and social media, it's easier to customize, produce, and publish your content without even knowing that much.

I think that Web 2.0 is definitely making a difference on the Internet. Now, information is at the tips of our fingers and we can easily access and do things not like on the old Internet.

On the other hand, Web 2.0 does have a downside: nothing is really private anymore, especially with social media. It’s kind of scary to think that anyone can access our information.  People on Twitter and Facebook share all these pictures and statuses for the whole world to see basically. Those pictures stay there forever, there’s no deleting them.  

The thing that gets me the most is the advertisers. It bothers me that after going on a site, I see advertisements on a different page for the same site. Does it really need to go this far for you to get me to pay attention to the ad and click on it? It’s annoying and it’s an invasion of privacy.

It can only go up from here with Web 2.0, but I question how far we're actually going to take it. I mean, it's pretty advanced as we speak. Who knows what they could do next with it? For all we know, it could take us over completely (oh wait, it kind of has already).

Even though we use Web 2.0 on a regular basis, I don't think that it should be getting all the hype.  It’s basically the same Internet, just a little more advanced. Don't get me wrong, I use it frequently, but in a few years, there's probably going to be a Web 2.5 or 3.0 out there. They always do something like that.

 I think that it's good in a way, but it's just going to be the same thing over and over again just with some minor tweaks.

What in the World is Web 2.0? 

What in the world is Web 2.0? What's so special about it?

We've heard this being talked about and questioned, but people still don't know what it means.

Ever heard of YouTube, Facebook, and Wikipedia? Those are examples of Web 2.0.

See, you’ve been using it this whole time.

According to the website www.webopedia.com, "Web 2.0 is the term given to describe a second generation of the World Wide Web that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and share information online”.

Web 2.0 is basically the users. We publish the content and we share it. It’s become the new way to share information with everyone.

One of the many features that we use in Web 2.0 is social media. Social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace have changed the way that users interact with each other, whether it is pictures, updated statuses, or even the games feature especially on Facebook and MySpace.

Another unique feature that social media has is a new and innovated way of sharing information with each other. Now with the click of our mouse, we can read news articles on our Facebook and receive the news quicker than ever.

But, it’s not all fun and games when it comes to Web 2.0.  One of the major problems with Web 2.0 is privacy. Users have to be aware of what they post on Web 2.0 outlets.

 Nothing is private anymore. Everyone and anyone can see and possibly edit your content. Pictures are forever on the Web for everyone to see, you name it.

Despite the negatives, Web 2.0 is here to stay and it’s probably not going away anytime soon.

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/Web_2_point_0.html

http://www.kcnn.org/resources/journalism_20_chapter2

http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html

How to Make An Anti-Valentines Day Nail Art Design

Valentine's Day, the celebration of love, is just around the corner. Many celebrate it with their significant other, but for some, it can be a lonely day or you just don't care for the holiday at all. So for all the singles out there, I've prepared a simple, fun, and comical way to do anti Valentine's Day nail art. This design can be used for any time of the year as well and is great for short and long nails.

First, take out all your supplies. This will give you easy access to everything, so that you can avoid messing up your nails in the process of taking something out.
Make sure your nails are clean and file them to the desired shape that you want.

Apply a base coat to all your nails. The base coat helps to prevent staining and peeling on your nails. You’ll also have a more polished look if you use a base coat.

Wait until the base coat is completely dry before you start with your nail polish.

Apply 1-2 coats of white nail polish to your nails, or until the color is opaque. You could also start out using the red, black, or pink nail polish, and make the heart one of those colors if you wanted to.

Wait until the nail polish is completely dry.

Get a piece of paper or paper towel and put a couple drops of red (can also be black or pink) on it.

To make the heart: Make a dot and make a line down with the dotting tool. Do the same to the other side.

Fill in the spaces that you feel need to be filled to make the heart look fuller.

Wait until the heart is completely dry.

Next, grab the black (red or pink)  polish and place a couple dots of polish on a sheet of paper or paper towel. Or if you have those colors in stripers, that will also work.

To be continued...

Group Discussion

Reminiscing about how the Internet used to be striked up a very interesting conversation about different encounters and experiences about our first time using the Internet.


http://biancabrunettecom336.blogspot.com: Bianca's experience was kind of funny, but very serious. She talked about when she was younger, she was an avid AOL Messenger user (as was the whole group), and she was talking to someone in the chat rooms. The person asked Bianca a rather disturbing question, but at the time she really didn't understand what it meant. She asked her mom about what it meant, and Bianca was banned from using AOL. She also talked about A/S/L, which means age, sex, and location. I found that we all had the AOL Messenger aspect in common and we had some bad experiences from them. During the group conversation, it was ironic how we used the messenger when we were younger, and now we don't really use it anymore.  Bianca also talked about the AOL discs that you would get in the mail every time AOL needed to be updated. 

http://cyberrebel9.blogspot.com: Katherine talked about how she played a lot of games online, especially the ones on Cartoon Network. There was a Batman game that she really enjoyed, but she just couldn't beat it. In the end, she asked her dad to help her beat it because she became so frustrated with not being able to win the game. Games were a hot topic in the group as well. We talked about Oregon Trail, which I'm sure everyone has played at least once when they were a kid. Also, Mavis Beacon was a popular game. It was a typing game to help you better your typing skills. 

Some other things that we talked about was that dial up was very slow, and that everything is faster now. Also, the use of chat speak. The most used by everyone was probably "lol". It was interesting to find out that we don't really use it anymore, and that people older than us (parents, etc) now use it more that we do.